Why is the Harlot not in the lake of Fire?

by rhodesboy 16 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • rhodesboy
    rhodesboy

    Here is a link to a previous thread on Babylon the Great - The Devil is in the Details: http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/bible/198811/1/The-Devil-is-in-the-Details

    The watchtower in question quotes: '' The annihilation of the most reprehensible part of Babylon the Great will serve as a prelude to the total destruction of that wicked world empire of false religion.''

    The Watchtower infers the execution of the ''man of lawlessness'' (christendom) is a sign that Jesus has initiated the Great Tribulation. I speculate that humans who make up christendom killed at this time are not going to Gehenna during this introductory phase of the destruction of Babylon the Great.

  • prologos
    prologos

    rhodesboy, The lake of fire at that point, (after) not "at" the end of he 1000 year reign of Christ must have already obliterated A&E, Judas, some first century clergy to name a few. ; So, its not an exhaustive, complete list.

    BtG has already her feet toasted for good, Fire is also mentioned by peter for the earth and heavens that are now. So, just to make sure of their fate the FP and beast are mentioned specifically, because their total end was not directly dealt with before. --- Too bad we did not get in Rev. a comprhensive list of gehenna-bound individuals, because it would have stopped the endless vascillations about resurrection prospects of sodom and gomorrah citizens, hitler and his ilk etc.

    . a comprehensive inspired list for the second death. it would end the endliss vascillating over the resurrection of cain, the sodom and gomorahites and our favored deceased enemies.

  • rhodesboy
    rhodesboy

    Point taken prologos! I concur that Adam & Eve, Cain, people drowned in the flood, Sodom, Judas and some Pharisees are all in the lake of fire by the time the Great Tribulation starts. However I find it interesting that during times of judgement by God, survival was a sign of divine favour. Noah, Lot, the first century christians (fleeing Rome's attack on Jerusalem) lived and yet the Watchtower society would have us believe that christians can die during the Great Tribulation and still have divine favour. This in my opinion is unprecedented and not in keeping with the salvation theme of the biblical examples in the past. This added to my earlier point that human entities have never been used as a means of executing the second death. Any thoughts?

  • Larsinger58
    Larsinger58

    First of all, there are TWO great tribulations and you must clearly separate the two. If you try to combine them, you'll get things wrong.

    The first GT happens before the 2nd coming and the majority of "holy ones" are actually killed. The days are cut short so that ALL the "holy ones" are not killed. So this is definitely not Armageddon! This first GT is the HOLOCAUST and the holy ones who are killed (2/3rds, Zech 13:8, 6 mil out of 9 mil) are natural Jews.

    The 2nd GT is the one that occurs after the 2nd coming and leads into Armageddon. In this case, the faithful survive. No righteous ones are killed at Armageddon. What about the trauma of the "great tribulation"? Well, for one, God is not going to selectively kill of the majority of the world's population by lots of natural disaster. NO. The governments are destroyed by simply destroying people who are loyal to those governments. The context is a lot of bodies that are eaten by birds leaving lots of bones to bury. So it will be more like men killing other men, turning on themselves and the rest much like in ancient Egypt with the wicked falling dead as God killed the firstborn of Egypt. Why create all kinds of natural disasters destroying the world to be inherited by survivors, who have to rebuild a post-nuclear disaster like world vs. them instead having a big shopping day the day after Armageddon, grabbing the spoils of all that were killed at Armageddon! Why shouldn't the survivors inherit a basically intact world? The spoils of this world become theirs. The Bible indicates no manufacturing will be necessary for seven years! That being the case, the actual physical effect of Armageddon would not kill off a lot of the intended survivors. They might have to hide out someplace to come out to a lot of dead bodies, but no big hurricanes, earthquakes and disasters to ruin the earth for the survivors!

  • Satanus
    Satanus

    Simple. After rough sex, she's in no mood for a hot dry place. Instead, she opts for a nice, relaxing soak in her granite jakuzzi. It's scented w herbs and overflowing w bubbles. She has glowing inscence and candles all round the room. Her favorite champagne is on the low table, beside the tub. Lights are low. Rose petals cover the floor and mixed in the bathwater.....

    S;)

  • snakeface
    snakeface

    The harlot DOES go into the lake of fire...first the wild beast eats her up. So whle she is in the beast's belly, the beast goes into the lake of fire, where the beast poops her out thru his...well you know.

  • Bobcat
    Bobcat

    If you follow the order of events presented in Revelation chapter 16 (verses 16-21), the nations are gathered to "Armageddon" prior to the "great earthquake."

    Thus, all the events listed from verses 17 through 21 (which includes 'Babylon's being handed the cup of God's wrath - v.19c) happen at "the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon." Saying that "Armageddon" occurs after Babylon's demise is technically incorrect. "Armageddon" doesn't "occur." "Armageddon" is a "place," a location (Greek topos - from which we get 'topography'). Events, such as Babylon's destruction and the "War" mentioned in 16:14 all occur 'at the place called Armageddon.'

    Just as another point of note: Your argument depends on the 1995 WT understanding that Jesus ordering of the "goats" into the "everlasting fire" occurs midway through the great tribulation, that is, after "false religion" is destroyed. Note that in Matthew 24:14, after the preaching, "then the end will come." Verses 15-20 describe immediately prior to "the end." Then verses 21 and 22 describe great tribulation with 'no flesh being saved' except for God's intervening for his "chosen ones."

    Having said all that, I can see where you are coming from in your reasoning. And if you were to accept the Society's speculative explanations, then I could see your conclusion also. What you are concluding would be a logical conclusion if you accept the Society's explanations as a premise. Oddly, though, I don't think the Society would agree to your conclusions. I believe the Society maintains that 'the door is shut' when the great tribulation begins, even though their explanation of the 'sheep and goats' parable would argue otherwise.

    Take Care - And I did enjoy following your explanation. It has some 'outside-of-the-box-thinking' qualities to it.

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