I
used to think I was living in the last days. Those guys on
TV seemed pretty sure of it. That one dude sure did memorize a
lot of Bible
verses. A verse from this book and a verse from that book.
Then he'd read a paragraph out of a newspaper that supposedly proved
that those prophecies were being fulfilled right before our
eyes.
Seemed too complex for me to understand, so for the most part,
I just took their word for it.
They
talked about new technology that could be used to put a mark on
your head. They talked about the European Union. They talked abut
the devastation
possible with nuclear weapons. They talked about the New World Order.
Those guys really knew their stuff. Impressive.
For
a long time I never heard anyone really question the idea that
we were near the end. Some argued about whether the rapture would
be before or
after the tribulation, but I didn't hear any Christian teacher or pastor
challenge the notion that we were in the last days.
And
then I'd read my Bible. Wow. Sure
seemed like Jesus was saying the tribulation and His coming in
the clouds were going to be in
the first century AD. He used the term "this generation." He
said that some of the people that were there with him would be
alive when this stuff happened. The book of Revelation used the
word "soon" and "quickly" and said the time
was "at hand." That confused me.
I
remember hearing a preacher say that the Apostles thought that
Jesus would come back in the first century, but they were wrong.
Wait a minute! How do we know they thought that? Because that's
what they indicated in the parts of the Bible that they wrote.
So if they were wrong, then the Bible has errors in it. I don't
believe that.
