I think the battle of Gog and Magog and Armageddon and the Desolation of Abomination and all that end-of-the-world turmoil with the nations of the earth coming against Israel, etc. has already happened. Physically. Look at World War II. How can it not be the fulfillment of such prophecies? How could there be a more epic end-of-the-world conflict than the unspeakable horrors and genocides and mass debauchery of the twenthieth century? I certainly hope there won’t be more.
What if the prophecies have already been fulfilled, and we don’t even realize it? What if we’re entirely missing the mark by still looking for outward signs, when the true conflict and climax we face is primarily a spiritual battle?
Very interesting thought. I’ve always been taught that there will be an escalation of physical violence, however, I now find myself wondering if that idea is grounded in anything. I do often find it sad that people put so much emphasis on the physical signs of the apocalypse as opposed to the spiritual.
My uncle published a book on the end of the world. He’s broken it all down to a science. According to him, most of the plagues of Revelation have already taken place, and we’re currently in the half hour of silence. The world will be baptized by fire in just a few more years. That plague, methinks, won’t be overlooked.
My brother believes that we’re generally missing the mark in looking toward a second coming at all. Instead we should be looking toward our own personal second comings, i.e. second anointing. There’s definitely an overlooked parallel there.
I’ve always thought that any cataclysm or miracle that could be viewed by the masses as a direct fulfillment of ancient scripture would be at odds with the way God works. So to me it does make sense that a lot of these things have come and gone and most people (including of our faith) don’t even realize it.
There’s certainly a lot of Christian groups who are of the opinion that we’ve already entered the long-awaited “millennium”. In a lot of ways, we really have. For example, France and Germany have made formal pacts to never again go to war against each other. Europe as a whole is so utterly tired of war, so much better educated, and having graduated from the nationalistic sins of their fathers, I just can’t see anything to rival the atrocities of WWII ever rising again on this planet. The world as a whole is more tolerant, enlightened, and, through modern technology, very much capable of godly things. I think we’re growing into the millennium.
I agree with your brother but, for me at least, I think it helps to try and keep some perspective on the physical goings on in the world. Becoming obsessed with the second coming and signs is definitely not healthy but I don’t think that means we should ignore world events (in this case Israel specifically). I’ve seen church members go to both extremes.
I love the optimism of the last two sentences but I find myself often wondering if modern technology has actually made us more tolerant and enlightened, I just don’t know…
World’s been worse since 1945 — cultural Marxism as been put in place which includes feminism, multiculturalism, mass non stop immigration and White genocide eversince!