Some are pointing to Old Testament passages that predict the destruction of Damascus and a civil war in Egypt

sifilings
Bible, Theology & Philosophy
Prophecy
Egypt
Syria

Some see biblical visions of doom in Syria trouble

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Easton
Sun, 09/08/13 3:05 pm

“Christian bookstores … report that book sales of prophecy-themed works by charismatic minister Perry Stone, Pastor John Hagee and novelists such as Joel Rosenberg have increased in recent weeks since tension in Syria and Egypt escalated.

‘We sold a lot of Perry Stone books, and he’s really good with the end times…’”

And, there you have it.

It’s not “prophecy”, it’s “profit - see?”.

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Ron Bean
Sun, 09/08/13 9:01 pm

The Andromeda Effect, Buzzards on the Plains of Jezreel. The “Beast” Computer in Brussels. The 10 nation European Common Market as the toes of the Beast. There have been various versions of Harold Camping Lite for years.

I’m not looking for signs….I’m looking for the Savior!

(

"Some things are of that nature as to make one's fancy chuckle, while his heart doth ache." John Bunyan

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jimcarwest
Mon, 09/09/13 4:48 am

Prophecy is a legitimate area of Bible study. You can’t read the Scriptures without realizing that a large portion pertains to the future. God has given His people advance notice of coming events. While it is not easy to interpret prophecy, believers are not sinning to weigh its import to their lives. Titus 2:11-13 enjoin us to “look for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.” One must exercise caution in making pronouncements about what event constitutes a “fulfillment of prophecy,” owing to the many false prophets that have appeared over the course of Christian history. But our Lord tells us to “watch” for His coming. Certain prophesied events cast their shadow before them and allow for a low level of speculation and conversation among believers which serves to keep alive that sense that “the Lord may come in our lifetime,” in fact, He may come today. It’s called the doctrine of imminency. Rev. 1;1-3 encourage believers to ponder and reflect on the future revelation of Jesus Christ.

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T Howard
Mon, 09/09/13 11:23 am

[jimcarwest] Prophecy is a legitimate area of Bible study.

Agreed. However, it should not be the main area of Bible study for a believer.

[jimcarwest] You can’t read the Scriptures without realizing that a large portion pertains to the future. God has given His people advance notice of coming events. While it is not easy to interpret prophecy, believers are not sinning to weigh its import to their lives. Titus 2:11-13 enjoin us to “look for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.”

Titus 2:11-13 does not mean we should spend our time trying to figure out the latest theory on end times prophecy. It means we should be looking forward to the parousia and living in light of it. Prophecy wasn’t given to us to satisfy an ungodly desire to know God’s timing, but to exhort us to be and to make more and better disciples (see Christ’s response to the disciples in Acts 1:6-8). This is where prophecy conferences and prophecy nut jobs go wrong.

[jimcarwest] One must exercise caution in making pronouncements about what event constitutes a “fulfillment of prophecy,” owing to the many false prophets that have appeared over the course of Christian history.

How about we just refuse to make pronouncements or give ear to those who do?

[jimcarwest] But our Lord tells us to “watch” for His coming.

And, Jesus meant by this to develop elaborate eschatological charts, to write fictionalized accounts and to make movies about it, and to speculate about every middle east incident in the news? Somehow, I’m not convinced.