And I hadn't abandoned my promise of replying to you regarding the question that you asked yesterday. I used up my 25 posts last evening and so couldn't get to you. I was gonna answer you over in the original thread before this day is out. But, much of what I posted today to "Individual" in a topic he initiated addresses, to a great extent, that which you inquired about. Here is what I said in that post:
Individual:I have several points to make with regards to your title-question.
1) Yes, from one particular standpoint man's system is in its "last days".
2) Jesus' prophecy of Matthew 24:7 hasn't even began to be fulfilled.
3) The fact is, is that Jesus never suggested that "earthquakes" would be a part of the "sign" that would indicate the imminence of his presence and the imminence of the end of the worldly system of self-government.
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Now, to expand on point 1: Any student of the Bible should know that God has determined to tolerate man’s system for the duration of what it takes to allow for 7 "kings" (of a certain sort) to have held sway over the earth. The 13th chapter of Revelation, when properly understood, provides the basis for what I just said. Also the 2nd and 7th chapters of Daniel augment these conclusions. There is no denying that the system has entered its 7th phase (7th head of the wild beast), and, one would think, has used up quite a bit of its allotted time … because this 7th “king” has been reigning since the 6th “king”, Rome, fell.
With regards to point 2: What shows that Matthew 24:7 has yet to be fulfilled is the fact that nothing that has happened to date has produced the required results. What I mean by that is that there has not been strife between nations that has resulted in the collapse of man’s governmental system of things. Any astute student of the Bible should be able to recognize the connection between the “death-stroke” that is to befall the 7th head of the wild beast and Jesus’ prophecy of Matthew 24:7. It therefore becomes obvious that Matthew 24:7 hasn’t undergone fulfillment as yet, simply because the death-stroke (a collapse) has not happened. Neither of the two world wars produced such a death-stroke, also referred to as the “sword-stroke”. The fact that it is called a sword-stroke is really a dead give-away that there is a connection to be made between it and the international strife that Jesus foretold at Matthew 24:7. It might be noted also that the 6th chapter of Revelation is helpful in that it adds weight to these conclusions.
As to point 3: There are a few scholars of the Bible that know that the Greek word “seismos” (Matthew 24:7), translated as “earthquakes” in the great majority of versions, has no reference at all to that which today is commonly referred to as “seismic” activity. Instead, it is understood by these to refer to shakings of the established system itself. Such shakings of course are to be experienced as a result of the great, yet to be realized international strife that Jesus said would take place as a consequence of Satan having been confined to the earth. The fact is, is that there is substantiation in the 24th chapter of Matthew itself that Jesus said nothing at all about “earthquakes”. And this is one reason that I have come to appreciate the Society’s interlinear translation, the KIT. It seems to be unique by reason of the fact that, in a certain way, it makes the admission that Jesus didn’t say “earthquakes”. For example, if you have the KIT, turn there to verse 7 and what you will see under the Greek word “seismos” is “[earth]quakes”. By enclosing the word “earth” in brackets it is shown that the word earth is not part of the expression. Of course there are different sorts of “shakings” (which is what the word “seismos” actually implies) that have nothing to do with earthquakes, there being several examples in the Bible. And, had Jesus actually meant “earthquakes”, then there was a Greek word at his disposal that he could have used in conjunction with the word seismos to express that. But he didn’t do that, leaving it to the discretion of his disciples to decipher what he meant. And, there are those that have done just so.
Friday