Why Jesus Christ May Be Returning in 2017 Part 2
As many Christians are now aware, thanks to the dedicated research of Scott Clarke, the date of the "great sign in the heavens" described in Revelation 12:1, is now widely thought to be rapidly approaching.
"A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head."
So how did Scott come to his conclusions? I'll let him speak for himself:
In case you don't have time to watch Scott's videos, the essence of what Scott has discovered is as follows:
In 2010, Scott came across a prediction by another person on a prophecy forum, which was for a date in 2011.
He analyzed the astronomical alignment described by that person, and decided it was not accurate.
This started a pursuit by Scott for the actual astronomical alignment described in Revelation 12:1.
By using an astronomy software program called Stellarium, Scott found an alignment on September 23, 2017
which matches every facet of the verse you read above. He then uploaded his first video to YouTube, describing what
he found, in July 2011. You can watch that video below:
Now, many other YouTubers have taken Scottie's research on board, and are convinced that September 23 2017 may be the date for the rapture. Why? Because of Revelation 12:5:
"She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne."
The Greek word translated as "snatched up" used in the original manuscript of the Bible is "harpazo", which translated into Latin became "rapturo" from which we get our English word rapture, the most commonly used word for the event predicted in multiple places in the Bible, whereby the body of Christ, the church is taken to heaven at some point in the future.
The interesting thing about Revelation 12, and in particular Scottie's rendering of it, is the description of a "male child" being snatched up or raptured to God and his throne. Scott has read a lot of books, and one of them which he gives credit for as the source for his interpretation, equates the body of Christ to the male child. This kind of makes sense, because if Christ is seated at the right hand of God, then at some point His body must also go and be seated at the same throne. Logically, that must happen after each of these saints has either died and gone to heaven or is alive at the time Christ returns. The resurrection must precede the rapture according to 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18:
"15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words."
So, there you have it... As a man called Ripley once said, Believe it... or not...
When I was baptized on December 21, 1980, I remember reading the following verses to the congregation of Milford Baptist Church in Auckland, New Zealand:
Matthew 28: 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
It's a passage that is commonly read at baptisms, but the part that really stuck in my mind was the last 4 words: "end of the age". I already knew that the age Jesus was describing was the church age that had just begun as He spoke those words, but what intrigued me was the possibility that the end of the age could happen in my lifetime. For more on that, you can go and read Part 1 in this series:
https://steemit.com/life/@auskiwi/why-jesus-christ-may-be-returning-in-2017-part-1
Hint: For anyone who has read this far, there may be a reward for upvoting and/or resteeming this post.
You'll have to decide for yourself whether you want to test the waters on that possibility.
It's kind of like, what if the above information turns out to be true, what rewards are waiting in Heaven?
You will find out if you put your faith to the test - and maybe sooner than you think!
great post auskiwi! keep it up! and thanks again for following!
It's stupid to pick a day because those predictions are always wrong.
I believe before the Rapture we'll see a massive attack on Israel by Russia, Iran, and other countries that was predicted in Ezekiel 38 and 39. God himself will intervene supernaturally to protect Israel.
That has to come first because it says later in Ezekiel that the Israelites will burn the weapons for fuel for the next 7 years.
To say that "those predictions are always wrong" because they have always been wrong in the past is stating the obvious. Yes, we know that the rapture has never happened before, but one day it will happen. But I take your point that the Gog Magog war hasn't started yet. Perhaps it will start in the next 4 weeks, perhaps not. Certainly we have reached the point that Iran and Russia have full control of Syria. so much so that Netanyahu recently met Putin and expressed his concern about the Iranian presence in Syria. But I believe there is something significant about this sign. Perhaps it is a forewarning of something which will happen after September 23, not exactly on the date. All we can do is watch and wait...
2017 is almost at it's end.. and North Korea still need few years to master Nukes
Maybe God isn't waiting for Krazy Kim to master Nukes and blow us all to Kingdom Kome. Maybe Kingdom will Kome first lol.
Nobody knows when the Lord will arrive and least of all be predicted by "astronomical alignments". All we have to focus on is being a truthful follower of the Word.