Bible2

Regarding n2thelight's comment: "satan will sit on the throne himself": ----- Revelation 13:2b refers to when Lucifer (Satan, the dragon, Revelation 12:9) will give the Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of the beast) Satan's own earthly throne (seat) and power, so that the Antichrist will have power over all the nations of the earth (Revelation 13:7). This is what Satan offered Jesus, if he would worship Satan (Luke 4:5-7). In the first century AD, Satan's earthly throne was in the city of Pergamos (Revelation 2:12-13), also called Pergamum (in what is now western Turkey). Satan's earthly throne could be the Great Altar of Pergamum, also called the Pergamon Altar, which in ancient times was sometimes included as one of the seven wonders of the world. ---------- It may not be just a coincidence that shortly after the Pergamon Altar was moved to Berlin around 1900 AD, both World Wars were started from Berlin, or that "the Nazi-era architect Albert Speer used the Pergamon Altar as the model for the Zeppelintribüne, 1934-37. The Führer's pulpit was in the center of the tribune" (Pergamon Altar - Wikipedia) (quote has been deleted for some reason). When the Antichrist is given power over the whole earth (Revelation 13:7), his throne could be located in the center of the actual Pergamon Altar, which he could move from Berlin to a main temple to himself (and to Lucifer/Satan) in the literal, rebuilt city of Babylon (in Iraq). For a temple to "wickedness" will be built in Shinar (Babylonia) (Zechariah 5:8,11), and the Antichrist is called "that Wicked" (2 Thessalonians 2:8). Also, the dragon has been the god worshipped in the city of Babylon since ancient times. ---------- Regarding n2thelight's comment: "Satan appears as Antichrist": ----- Note that Satan (the dragon, Revelation 12:9) is not the Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of Revelation's "beast"), but the one who will empower the Antichrist (Revelation 13:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:9), and who will be worshiped along with the Antichrist (Revelation 13:4). The Antichrist will be cast into the lake of fire over a thousand years before Satan is cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 19:20 to 20:10). The Antichrist and Satan are shown to be separate persons also in Revelation 16:13. But Satan could spiritually enter the man who is the Antichrist, just as Satan spiritually entered Judas (Luke 22:3).

Regarding Retrobyter's comment: "The Greek words 'en too ouranoo' mean 'in the skyi or in the atmosphere of this planet": ----- Note that there are three heavens (2 Corinthians 12:2b). The first heaven is the sky, the atmosphere, in which the birds fly (Genesis 1:20b). The second heaven is outer space, where the sun, moon, and stars reside (Deuteronomy 4:19). Where God resides is the third heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2b, Revelation 4:1-2), and so it is beyond outer space, in the sense of it being in a higher (i.e. a fourth) spatial dimension. And it is a physical place, for Jesus ascended there in his physical resurrection body (Acts 1:9-11, Luke 24:39). And Paul said that he could have visited there in his physical body (2 Corinthians 12:2). Also, Elijah and Enoch were taken up there in their physical bodies (2 Kings 2:11, Genesis 5:24, Hebrews 11:5). And the two witnesses will be taken up there in their physical bodies (Revelation 11:11-12). ---------- In the third heaven, there is currently a literal city fifteen hundred miles cubed (Revelation 21:16), which is called New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:2), the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22), the Jerusalem which is above (Galatians 4:26), and the Father's house (John 14:2, Revelation 21:2-3). In the future, God will create a new earth (a new surface of the earth) and a new heaven (a new first heaven, a new atmosphere for the earth) (Revelation 21:1). And then God will come down in New Jerusalem from the third heaven to the new earth to live with people on the new earth (Revelation 21:2-3, Revelation 3:12b). It is New Jerusalem which has the literal pearly gates and streets of gold (Revelation 21:21) which people ascribe to heaven. So what people think of as heaven, in the sense of living in bliss with God, will eventually be on the new earth. ---------- Currently, the third heaven is where paradise is (2 Corinthians 12:2,4). And paradise is where Christians go when they die (Luke 23:43,46). So Christians go to the third heaven when they die. Also, paradise is where the literal tree of life is (Revelation 2:7). And the tree of life is in New Jerusalem (Revelation 22:2). So when people go to paradise, they go to New Jerusalem. ---------- The earth's third heaven could be high above the north pole (cf. the connection between heaven and the north in Isaiah 14:13, KJV). Regarding what we today call "the northern lights", even though they can be explained by physics, they could still point to the location of the glory of the earth's third heaven. And Psalm 48:2's reference to the north could refer to the location of New Jerusalem in heaven.

Regarding Retrobyter's comment: "Shalom, Bible2": ----- Shalom. ---------- Regarding Retrobyter's comment: "There is such a thing as a law of double reference": ----- Note that a verse can include two different meanings at the same time. For example, the "son" in Hosea 11:1b referred to the nation of Old Covenant Israel (Exodus 4:22) and its Exodus from Egypt. Also, the "son" in Hosea 11:1b foretold an event in Jesus' life (Matthew 2:14-15,19-21). ---------- Regarding Retrobyter's comment: "The Temple is already destroyed to the point that 'not one stone [is] left upon another'": ----- Note that the end of the second Jewish temple building (also called Herod's temple building) in Jerusalem in 70 AD did not fulfill Matthew 24:2. For the stones of the second temple's Wailing Wall (also called the Western Wall) still stand today one on top of the other, just as they did when Jesus spoke that prophecy. Matthew 24:2 included the Wailing Wall, for Matthew 24:2 was not referring only to the single, second temple building which stood in the center of the Temple Mount and which contained the holy place and the most holy place, but was referring to "all these things", all the plural "buildings"/structures/oikodome (G3619) of the entire second temple complex (Matthew 24:1). Indeed, Matthew 24:2 could even have been spoken just to the north and west of the Wailing Wall. For it was spoken just after Jesus had departed from the temple complex (Matthew 24:1), and one of the main temple-complex exits (called Wilson's Arch and bridge by archaeologists) was just to the north of the Wailing Wall, and at the same level as the top of the Temple Mount (see the temple-complex map-insert in the December, 2008 issue of National Geographic magazine). ---------- Also, in Matthew 24:2 the "here" can include not just the entire second temple complex, but every structure throughout Jerusalem. For the similar statement in Luke 19:44 applied to the whole city (Luke 19:41-44). Matthew 24:2 and Luke 19:44 could be fulfilled at the very end of the future tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24, right before and at Jesus' second coming (Zechariah 14:2-21, Revelation 19:7 to 20:6).

Are they thinking of Section 4? If so, it is improbable (at least so far) that Pence, and the majority of the Cabinet, and two-thirds of both the House and the Senate, would vote to remove Trump. For he would have to go completely off the rails. And so far, he is only showing more and more restraint, when faced with the awful realities of the world situation. Campaigning was a lark, with no real threat; he could make all sorts of absurd promises and claims. But now he knows that he can no longer do that. Too much is at stake, not only for himself, but for the country and the world.

Regarding "Two-State Solution Not the Only Path to Peace", there is no "Only". For a two-state "solution" would only bring more war, just as the break-away of Gaza from direct Israeli control has only brought more war. For the Palestinians, whether under Hamas or Fatah, will keep waging war against Israel until it is cast into the sea. They are adamant that "Palestine" is for Arabs only, despite the fact that the Arabs already control the gigantic territory stretching from Oman to Morocco. The Palestinians are simply Arabs, not their own race that needs their own state. Let the Jews have a little state of their own, from the river Jordan to the Mediterranean. They have nothing else in the world. And the Holocaust proves the extent of the irrational (the Satanic) hatred for the Jews. Let us not pave the way for a Second Holocaust. Let us not give the Arabs another inch.

Regarding FresnoJoe's comment: "Working Hard, Russia Grabs And Grubs Whatever Lands She Can": ---------- Is that why she is the largest country (by far) in land area in the world? Also, is she like a big old she-bear, reaching down her claws into North Korea and Iran, secretly turning them into nuclear-weapons and ballistic-missile arsenals, to bring havoc upon the world? If so, why, if not to be able to annex even more land into her gullet during the ensuing chaos. No one can stop her (before Jesus returns), except the future Antichrist, who will subjugate every nation of the earth (Revelation 13:7b-8). Putin forgets that he could die at any time by a heart attack or stroke (cf. Psalms 22:29b), or by poisoning by a member of his own security services, like how Stalin was poisoned to death by his own Beria. ---------- Matthew 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Regarding Retrobyter's comment in post #114: "This isn't talking about some mythical person called 'Antichrist.'" ---------- Note that any person is an antichrist who denies that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ (1 John 2:22), or who denies that Jesus is the human/divine Son of God (1 John 2:22b), or who denies that Christ is in the flesh (2 John 1:7). The spirit of antichrist which will animate the future Antichrist has been working since the first century AD (1 John 4:3; 2 Thessalonians 2:7a), animating many antichrists since that time (2 John 1:7). ---------- But the existence of many antichrists (1 John 2:18) does not contradict that there will be an individual man (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4,9, Revelation 13:4-18) who is commonly called the Antichrist, just as on the side of good, the existence of many sons of God (John 1:12) does not contradict that there is an individual man (Jesus Christ of Nazareth) who is the Son of God (John 20:31). ---------- Also, the idea of the individual-man Antichrist does not have to be explicitly referred to in scripture as "the Antichrist" in order for it to be true and supported by scripture, just as, for example, the idea of the Trinity does not have to be explicitly referred to in scripture as "the Trinity" in order for it to be true and supported by scripture (e.g. Matthew 28:19, John 1:1,14, Acts 5:3-4). ---------- The man commonly called the Antichrist will be the fulfillment of the individual "man of sin" (2 Thessalonians 2:3) who will sit (at least one time) in a third Jewish temple in Jerusalem and proclaim himself God (2 Thessalonians 2:4, Daniel 11:36). He will fulfill the individual "man" aspect of the "beast" who will come (Revelation 13:18) and bring the world into the conscious and open worship of Lucifer (Satan, the dragon) and himself (Revelation 13:4,8, Revelation 12:9). He will rule the earth for 3.5 literal years (Revelation 13:5-10, Daniel 7:25, Daniel 12:7), and will have a miracle-working False Prophet (Revelation 19:20, Revelation 16:13), who by amazing, Satanic miracles (2 Thessalonians 2:9b), such as calling fire down from heaven (Revelation 13:13), will deceive the world into worshipping a speaking (possibly an android) image of the Antichrist (Revelation 13:15), and receiving a mark of the Antichrist's name or gematrial name-number (666) on their right hand or forehead (Revelation 13:16-18). The Antichrist and his False Prophet will ultimately be cast into the lake of fire at Jesus' second coming (Revelation 19:20), while at that time Satan will be bound in the bottomless pit for a thousand years (Revelation 20:1-3). None of these things has happened yet. ---------- The idea of a future, individual-man Antichrist was correctly recognized in the scriptures by the church from early on. Irenaeus (born c. 140 AD) used the term: "speaking of Antichrist, [Paul] says, 'who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped'" (Against Heresies 3:6:5; 2 Thessalonians 2:4); "...by means of the events which shall occur in the time of Antichrist is it shown that he, being an apostate and a robber, is anxious to be adored as God" (Against Heresies 5:25:1; 2 Thessalonians 2:4, Daniel 11:36, Revelation 13:8); "...when this Antichrist shall have devastated all things in this world, he will reign for three years and six months, and sit in the temple at Jerusalem" (Against Heresies 5:30:4b; Revelation 13:5; 2 Thessalonians 2:4, Daniel 7:25, Daniel 12:7); "...the number of the name of the beast ... the name of Antichrist" (Against Heresies 5:30:1; Revelation 13:17c-18). ---------- The gematrial numerical values of the letters in the Antichrist's personal name will add up to six hundred and sixty-six (Revelation 13:17c-18).

Regarding inchrist's comment in post #106: "You do realize then Christ was alive going into the 70th week, where he is to be cut off?": ---------- Note that in Daniel 9:26, the original Hebrew word (karath: H3772) translated as "cut off" can refer to when a peace treaty/covenant is "made" (Genesis 21:27). The first century AD fulfillment of Daniel 9:26a was at the Crucifixion, when the true Messiah, Jesus, made the New Covenant (Matthew 26:28, Hebrews 9:15-17). But a future fulfillment of Daniel 9:26a will be when the Antichrist makes a peace treaty, which will be a fulfillment of the covenant in Daniel 9:27 and the league in Daniel 11:23, with a future, ultra-Orthodox Jewish false "Messiah" in Jerusalem, after he and his followers are militarily defeated by the Antichrist (Daniel 11:22-23). So this future fulfillment of Daniel 9:26a can refer to this false Messiah being "cut off" in the sense of being "covenanted", peace-treatied. ---------- This treaty will allow this false "Messiah" and his followers to keep a third Jewish temple which they will have built on Jerusalem's Temple Mount (after they or great earthquakes have destroyed the Muslim structures there), and to (mistakenly) continue to perform the daily Mosaic animal sacrifices in front of the temple for at least seven years (Daniel 9:27a), so long as they give up the outer court of the temple (Revelation 11:2a) to the Muslims so that the Muslims can rebuild the (by that time destroyed) Al Aqsa Mosque on the southern end of the Temple Mount and resume worship there. After "cutting" this treaty (Daniel 9:26a), the Antichrist could appear before the "many" (Daniel 9:27) nations represented at the U.N. General Assembly, and "confirm" (Daniel 9:27) that for at least seven years he will keep this treaty with the ultra-Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem, using this as purported proof to the world that he is (in his words) "a man of peace, and no Hitler". ---------- In Daniel 9:27, "he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease" refers to when, only some 3.5 years after making the peace treaty of Daniel 9:26a,27a and Daniel 11:23a, the Antichrist will break the treaty, attack the third temple, stop the daily Mosaic animal sacrifices, place the abomination of desolation (possibly a standing, android image of the Antichrist) in the holy place (the inner sanctum) of the temple (Daniel 9:27b, Daniel 11:31, Matthew 24:15), and then sit himself (at least one time) in the temple and proclaim himself God (2 Thessalonians 2:4, Daniel 11:36). Thus could begin the Antichrist's literal, 3.5-year Luciferian (Satanic) worldwide reign of terror (Revelation 13:4-18, Revelation 12:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:9). ---------- At the very end of the future tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24, the Antichrist (Daniel 11:45) and the world's armies will pillage Jerusalem right before Jesus' second coming (Zechariah 14:2-21). And at the second coming, there will be tremendous earth changes in the vicinity of Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:4-5). These events could result in all of Jerusalem's structures, including the third temple and the Wailing Wall (also called the Western Wall), being broken down so that not one stone will be left upon another (Luke 19:44, Matthew 24:2). Then the returned Jesus (Zechariah 14:4, Acts 1:11-12) will rebuild Jerusalem and make it the capital of the world (Zechariah 14:8-19, Micah 4:1-4). He will also build a fourth temple there (Zechariah 14:20-21, Zechariah 6:12-13). It will serve a similar function for the church during the future millennium (of Revelation 20:4-6) as the second temple served for the church in the first century AD (Luke 24:53, Acts 2:46, Acts 22:17), and as the temple building in heaven (Revelation 11:19) serves for those in heaven (Revelation 7:15).

Regarding missmuffet's comment: "North Korea has just tested a ballistic missile. How do you think the WH will react to that?": Do you mean besides mere verbal condemnations? If so, there is not much that the WH can do, for at least a couple of reasons. First, were the WH to bomb North Korea's missile facilities, NK could then bombard Seoul with thousands of rockets and missiles, killing hundreds of thousands of South Koreans. Second, the ultimate power behind NK could be not China, which is almost universally assumed, but Russia. For Medvedev met with Kim Jong Un, in a train in Siberia, right after Un came to power. And Medvedev could have ingratiated himself with Un by promising to protect NK from the U.S. by secretly helping NK to develop nuclear weapons and ICBMs and SLBMs, which could be used as a threat against the U.S. should it ever attack or invade NK. ---------- Regarding the U.S. strengthening its Pacific allies, this would be done through providing them with robust ballistic-missile defenses such as THAAD and Aegis.

Regarding the OP, someone might ask: "Could Christians be persecuted in the future simply for asserting from the Bible that homosexual acts are sinful?" The answer would be "Yes". For such an assertion could become an illegal act of "hate speech", punishable by fines and imprisonment. ---------- A move toward this point could even have started. For example, recently the New York Times (98% of its readers say that they never pray) held a forum for evangelicals, the point of which was to basically accuse evangelicals of causing the Orlando shooting (against homosexuals), because of the evangelical teaching against homosexuality, which it is said puts homosexuals "in danger". Of course, the Orlando shooting was done by a Muslim, not a Christian. But in the twisted, Satanic world of political correctness, no evil can ever be ascribed to Islam (even though Islam, even in its moderate forms, opposes homosexuality no less than evangelical Christianity), whereas any evil whatsoever can be ascribed to evangelical Christianity. ---------- Also, political correctness loves to paint any evangelical teaching against homosexuality as "homophobic" or "hateful", as if evangelical Christians are actually fearful (phobic) of homosexuals, or actually hate them, when in fact evangelical Christianity simply states (from the Bible itself) that homosexuality is sinful (Romans 1:26-27). It would be like pedophiles saying that Christians (or even New York Times readers, for that matter) are "pedophobic" or "hateful" for being against pedophilia, which pedophiles prefer to call "man-boy love". Or it would be like people who are into bestiality saying that Christians are "beastiphobic" or "hateful" for being against bestiality, which people who are into bestiality prefer to call "inter-species love". ---------- So, along with the acceptance of homosexuality, do not be surprised if the world (in the name of "love") eventually begins to accept pedophilia and bestiality as well, so long as (in the world's words) "the child or animal involved in each case is okay with the activity, showing no signs of distress, but instead consent, and even actual enjoyment". ---------- And then pedophiles and people who are into bestiality will walk around with "Love wins" signs at anti-Christian rallies.

Regarding Cletus's comment: "they want to label some as bigots": That is exactly right. Yet someone may ask: "But has not homosexuality been proven to be genetic?" The answer would be that even if it could be, so could alcoholism, criminal violence, and schizophrenia. Human genes in their current, fallen, corrupted state have nothing to do with proving what is moral, or what is good mental health. ---------- But while homosexual acts are sinful (Romans 1:26-27), we too easily forget that homosexual acts (Genesis 19:4-5) were not the only sin of Sodom. For "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy" (Ezekiel 16:49). How many of us who love to rail against homosexuals are nonetheless "just like Sodom" with regard to our pride, our fullness of bread, our abundance of idleness, and our refusal to strengthen the hand of the poor and needy? How many of us who in our self-righteousness love to place ourselves above homosexuals, even if we are completely free from all sin, will still be judged for our self-righteousness (Luke 18:9-14)? ---------- But, at the same time, the truth must never be discounted that homosexual acts, if they are not repented of, will, like any other unrepented sin, keep someone from ultimate salvation (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). But people are not set free from homosexual desires, or any other sinful desires, through legal restrictions placed upon them. For legal restrictions have no power at all against sinful desires, but can even help to revive and inflame them (Romans 7:8-9). Only Jesus has the power to set people free from the sin of homosexual acts, just as any other sin (John 8:34-36). ---------- The list of sins which will ultimately keep even Christians out of the kingdom of God (if they do not repent from them) is quite long (Galatians 5:19-21), and some of these sins are quite common within the church today. So why is there such a focus by some Christians upon homosexuality alone? Why does not the church also focus on, for example, its own very-widespread practice of divorce and second-marriage adultery (Mark 10:11-12)?

...The Antichrist will then fulfill Daniel 11:36 and 2 Thessalonians 2:4 by sitting himself (at least one time) in the temple and proclaiming himself God. By the power of Satan (the dragon, Revelation 12:9), the Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of Revelation's "beast") will then rule and be worshipped by all the nations of the earth for 3.5 literal years (Revelation 13:4-18), and will physically overcome Biblical Christians (not in hiding) in every nation (Revelation 13:7-10, Revelation 14:12-13, Revelation 20:4-6, Matthew 24:9-13). ---------- Also, from the day on which (antitypically) "the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be 1,290 days. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the 1,335 days" (Daniel 12:11-12, Revelation 16:15). Also, because the Antichrist will fulfill Daniel 11:31 antitypically (Matthew 24:15) and will fulfill Daniel 11:36 for the first (and only) time, then he will also fulfill all of Daniel 11:21-45 (the first part of it antitypically, and the rest for the first and only time) when he arises on the world stage, for that passage refers to the career of the same man. And since the Antichrist will fulfill all of Daniel 11:21-45 when he arises on the world stage, then just preceding his arising on the world stage, Daniel 11:13-19 could be fulfilled antitypically by a future, Iraqi Baathist General completely defeating and occupying Israel and Egypt with a huge Iraqi Army (Daniel 11:15-17; in verse 17 the original Hebrew word translated as "daughter" is "bath").

Regarding Sister's comment in post #99: "The Abomination of Desolation is an End Time Event": ------- That's right, even though the "abomination of desolation" in Daniel 11:31 was typically fulfilled by the abomination of desolation in 1 Maccabees 1:54, which occurred in the holy place (the inner sanctum) of the second Jewish temple in Jerusalem in the time of Antiochus IV. For per Jesus' statement in Matthew 24:15, the church will see the abomination of desolation in Daniel 11:31 fulfilled (antitypically) in the future, when the church will see the abomination of desolation stand in the holy place (of a third Jewish temple in Jerusalem). This future abomination of desolation could be a standing, android image of the Antichrist (Revelation 13:15) which his followers ("they") will put in the holy place of the temple (Daniel 11:31) to be worshipped (Revelation 13:15), after they have stopped the daily Mosaic animal sacrifices which the ultra-Orthodox Jews will have restarted in front of the temple (Daniel 11:31). This image will pollute the holy place of the temple (Daniel 11:31)...

Gnosticism is an ancient religious movement which says that everything material is inherently evil, while only that which is pure spirit can be good. Gnosticism teaches that all humans used to be pure spirit and dwelling in bliss from all eternity in a purely-spiritual heaven, called the "Pleroma", until by some mishap, humanity fell into the material universe and became trapped in fleshly bodies. Gnosticism reviles YHWH, the God of Biblical Christians, and the Creator of the material universe and of all fleshly bodies, as an evil, subordinate deity, a "Demiurge", who is keeping humans imprisoned and suffering in fleshly bodies and in the material universe. ---------- Gnosticism became one of the main enemies of the early church, and it will become the greatest enemy of the church during the future tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24. For the Antichrist will be a Gnostic. He will teach the Gnostic/antichrist lie that Christ is not in the flesh (1 John 4:3). And the Antichrist, like the Gnostics, will utterly revile YHWH (Revelation 13:6, Daniel 11:36). The Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of Revelation's "beast") will instead bring the world into the conscious and open worship of Lucifer (Satan, the dragon) and himself (Revelation 13:4,8, Revelation 12:9).

Regarding the quote in post #1: "they're not going away and should be allowed the freedom to practice their plural marriages": Since the legalization of same-sex marriage has already occurred, the legalization of polygamy will be the next step in the preparation for the future Antichrist's, Gnostic one-world religion. ------- But someone may ask: "Since it is wrong for Christians to be against miscegenation, is it not also wrong for them to be against same-sex marriage?" The answer would be "No". For while the Bible is not against miscegenation (Numbers 12), it is against homosexuality (Romans 1:26-27). So when the U.S. government, for example, struck down anti-miscegenation state laws in the southern U.S., it was not going against Biblical Christianity. But if the government ever forces Christians to support same-sex marriages, it will be going against the Bible. And so it will become anti-Christian, helping to prepare the way for the future Antichrist and his Satanic, one-world religion (Revelation 13:4-18). ---------- One part of the Antichrist's Gnostic, Satanic religion will be to forbid marriages outright (1 Timothy 4:3). And legalizing same-sex marriage is just the first step toward this goal. For the next step will be to legalize polygamy, that is, to allow whatever number of people, whether males or females, in any combination, to enter into "group marriages" (for example, consisting of three women, or three men, or six women and four men, etc.). Then the next step will be to declare the whole idea of marriage as "obsolete". Indeed, it will even be declared to be "evil", from the Gnostic (that is, the Antichrist) point of view (cf. 1 John 4:3; 2 John 1:7), which sees the whole idea of a physical existence, especially one forming new people into physical bodies (that is, forming offspring through marriages) as an abomination.

Regarding "What has Russia done to deserve this?", the answer would be its annexation of Crimea, its invasion and occupation of eastern Ukraine, its massing of armaments and troops in Kaliningrad and along the borders of the Baltic and Eastern European states; its stirring up of rebellion among the many ethnic Russians living in the Baltic states, its possible assistance to North Korea in its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, its "false flag" bombings in Ryazan, its continued poisoning, shooting, and blowing up of innocent dissidents who threaten to expose its crimes, and on and on. It truly is an Evil Empire (not the precious Christian People, but their Czarist masters, who threaten them with arrest, torture, and death should they dare strive for democracy and transparency). God help them. God deliver them.

Similarly, Christians can know how perfectly the Old Testament foretold the suffering and death of Jesus Christ for our sins and his rising physically from the dead on the third day (Acts 26:22-23; 1 Corinthians 15:1-5, Luke 24:44-47). For His suffering and death for our sins was foretold in Isaiah 53 (cf. Acts 8:32-35; 1 Peter 2:24). And His crucifixion experience was foretold in Psalms 22 (cf. Matthew 27:46,35). And His not remaining dead was foretold in Psalms 16:10 (cf. Acts 2:31). And His rising from the dead on the third day was foretold in Hosea 6:2 (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:4, Luke 24:46, Colossians 2:12). And the fact that Christ's New Covenant gospel (Matthew 26:28) would go forth to save both Jews and Gentiles was foretold in Isaiah 49:6 and Isaiah 42:6 (cf. Acts 26:23b, Luke 24:47). For some other examples of how Jesus Christ fulfilled Old Testament scriptures at his first coming: he fulfilled Deuteronomy 18:15,18-19 (cf. Acts 3:22-24, Luke 24:44), and Zechariah 9:9 (cf. Matthew 21:4-5), and Psalms 118:22 (cf. Acts 4:11), and Isaiah 9:1-2 (cf. Matthew 4:12-16), and Psalms 110:4 (cf. Hebrews 6:20).

Regarding the quotation: "and then hold a retrial at which he could be acquitted": ----- Do they mean acquitted by reason of insanity? For there are only 3 choices which regard to Jesus of Nazareth: 1. He truly is the Messiah/Christ. 2. He was a liar/charlatan/blasphemer. 3. He was insane. ----- At his first trial before the Jews, the second option was decided upon (Mark 14:61-64). ----- But for Christian Jews and Christian Gentiles, they have already been assured by how perfectly the Old Testament itself shows even the deity of Jesus Christ. For Jesus Christ being uncreated, his having existed forever, from everlasting, is shown in Micah 5:2c (cf. John 1:1,14, John 8:58, Colossians 1:16-17). And Jesus Christ being YHWH the Holy One, from everlasting, is shown in Habakkuk 1:12 (cf. Acts 3:14, Micah 5:2c). And Jesus Christ being the human/divine Son of God due to his virgin birth is shown in Isaiah 7:14 (cf. Matthew 1:22-25, Luke 1:34-35). And Jesus Christ being the mighty God is shown in Isaiah 9:6 (cf. Titus 2:13). And Jesus Christ being YHWH the good shepherd is shown in Psalms 23:1 (cf. John 10:11, Mark 10:18). And Jesus Christ being YHWH who will set his feet on the Mount of Olives at his return is shown in Zechariah 14:3-4 (cf. Acts 1:11-12). And Jesus Christ being YHWH the Redeemer who is the first and last is shown in Isaiah 44:6 (cf. Revelation 2:8, Titus 2:13-14). And Jesus Christ being YHWH the great I AM is shown in Exodus 3:14 (cf. John 8:58). And Jesus Christ being one God with God the Father, equal in divinity to God the Father, is shown in Isaiah 45:5-6 and Isaiah 43:10b (cf. John 10:30, John 20:28, Philippians 2:6); for they show that YHWH is the only God, and that he has always been and forever will be the only God.

Similarly, years later, when the Antichrist claims to be God (2 Thessalonians 2:4, Daniel 11:36), and starts forcing the world to worship him (the individual-man aspect of Revelation's "beast") and Lucifer (Satan, the dragon) (Revelation 13:4-8, Revelation 12:9) and an image of the Antichrist (Revelation 13:15), if many Muslims had said that he was the Mahdi, some of them could say that they were mistaken. Also, these actions by the Antichrist will result in a fatwa, a death sentence, being issued against him by radical Muslim clerics, which fatwa Islamic terrorists could then try to carry out by waging all-out jihad ("holy war") against the Antichrist. For they hold most strongly to Islam's tenets that no man can be God, that Lucifer/Satan is evil, and that no image can be worshipped. But the terrorist part of Islam (just as even the moderate part of Islam, and just as even public, Biblical Christianity) will eventually be wiped out during the Antichrist's future, literal 3.5-year worldwide reign, when everyone (not in hiding) will be forced to either convert to the Antichrist's religion of Gnostic Luciferianism or be killed (Revelation 13:4-18; 1 John 2:22; 2 John 1:7). ---------- Also, even though Jews today do not go around killing people for religious reasons, by the time that the Antichrist declares himself to be God, some ultra-Orthodox Jews, led by a miracle-working false "Messiah", might also feel inspired to try to kill the Antichrist for blasphemy, especially when he will commit it (at least one time) even within their own (future) temple (2 Thessalonians 2:4) in Jerusalem, and he will defile that temple (Daniel 11:31,36, Matthew 24:15). The Antichrist could also sit (at least one time) in every other religions' holiest shrine and declare himself to be God there as well. For example, he could sit in Islam's Kaaba in Mecca, in the Sikhs' Golden Temple in Amritsar, in Catholicism's St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, etc. This could result in the radical adherents of every religion becoming so enraged at the Antichrist that they will all attempt to assassinate him. But they will all fail to defeat him, for he will not be defeated until he is cast alive into the lake of fire at Jesus' second coming (2 Thessalonians 2:8-9, Revelation 19:20).

Regarding KittyBubbleFlowers' comment: "All of this is pursued to usher in their own eschatology. The appearance of the 12th Imam": ----- The Twelfth Imam is also called the Mahdi. ----- Regarding the Muslim "Mahdi", during the Antichrist's rise to power, before he declares himself God (2 Thessalonians 2:4, Daniel 11:36) and begins his 3.5-year worldwide reign (Revelation 13:4-18), if he greatly increases the military and political power of the Arab world, which is mostly Muslim, many Muslims could declare him to be the Mahdi. They could do this even though he will not fulfill most of the detailed Muslim prophecies regarding the Mahdi. For the Muslim prophecies regarding the Mahdi are not Biblical, and so nothing requires that they will all be fulfilled. Also, the Antichrist could reject the solely-human title of the "Mahdi", in his own mind, as being far beneath what he sees as his divinity. And before he declares himself to be God, if he rejects the title of "Mahdi" publicly, he could pretend to do so for humble reasons, saying something like: "Oh, no, I am not the great Mahdi, but a humble peacemaker who wants the best for all Arabs and for all mankind, no matter what religion they may presently follow", etc. ---------- Also, the first person whom Muslims will declare to be the Mahdi may not even be the Antichrist. For before the Antichrist arises on the world stage (Daniel 11:21-45), an Iraqi Baathist General could lead an all-out war against Israel which will result in Israel's total defeat and occupation (Daniel 11:15-17; in verse 17, the original Hebrew word translated as "daughter" is "bath"). This Iraqi Baathist General could then be hailed by Muslims worldwide as the Mahdi. But he will subsequently suffer a defeat (perhaps in Algeria), and then he will mysteriously disappear (Daniel 11:18-19), so that the Muslims could say that they were mistaken in thinking that he was the Mahdi.

The Iranian statement is utterly stupid for at least 3 reasons: First, you do not try to get the U.S. to back down on sanctions over Iranian ballistic missiles by threatening to use those ballistic missiles against the U.S.'s closest and most faithful ally in the Middle East. Second, Israel could probably employ its highly-advanced anti-missile defenses (some of the most advanced in the world) to shoot down any ballistic missile shot all the way from Iran. And, third, if Iran ever did manage to strike a part of Tel Aviv with one of its ballistic missiles, Israel would then unleash its nuclear bombs on every major city in Iran, sending it back to the Stone Age (like how Israel reduced southern Beirut to utter rubble in retaliation for Hezbollah targeting northern Israel with numerous rockets during a war some years ago).

Regarding Scott Adams comment: "I know many will disagree, and possibly try to club me to death if I walk on campus": ----- This brings to mind the scripture: "the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service" (John 16:2b). Currently, the "God" of the Berkeley fanatics is "political correctness". But soon it will become Satan (the dragon) himself, who will inspire them to even behead Biblical Christians: "And they worshipped the dragon" (Revelation 13:4a); "the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan" (Revelation 20:2); "and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God" (Revelation 20:4). ------- We are in the final generation, that generation which will consciously and openly worship Satan himself as God. And they will gleefully kill anyone who dares to disagree with them.

Regarding heretoeternity's comment: "Jesus said in Matthew 19.17 to enter into life keep the commandments, and He goes on to identify the ten commandments...": ----- Note that Matthew 19:16-19 does not mean that Christians after the Cross have to keep any part of the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law's ministration of death, engraven in stones (2 Corinthians 3:6-18, Romans 7:6). Also, even before the Cross, when Jesus was asked which Old Covenant commandments had to be kept for eternal life, he only said five of the ten commandments had to be kept (Matthew 19:18-19a) and that one other Old Covenant commandment which was not one of the ten commandments also had to be kept (Matthew 19:19b, Leviticus 19:18). And elsewhere, when Jesus lists the Old Covenant's two greatest commandments, neither of them are from the ten commandments (Matthew 22:37-39, Mark 12:29-31). He answered these ways because loving others (both God and people) fulfills the spirit of every Old Covenant commandment (Romans 13:9-10, Galatians 5:14, Matthew 7:12).

Regarding heretoeternity's comment: "Apostle John said in 1st John 2..those who say they know Him and keep not His commandments are liars and the truth is not in them": ----- Note that 1 John 2 does not refer to the commandments of the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law, which included the letter of the ten commandments written and engraven in stones (2 Corinthians 3:7, Deuteronomy 4:13). For on Jesus' Cross, for both Jews and Gentiles (John 11:51-52), of all times, the letter of the entire Old Covenant Mosaic law was forever abolished (Ephesians 2:15-16, Colossians 2:14-17; 2 Corinthians 3:6-18), disannulled (Hebrews 7:18), rendered obsolete (Hebrews 8:13, Galatians 3:2-25, Galatians 4:21 to 5:8), taken away and replaced (Hebrews 10:9) by the better hope (Hebrews 7:19), the better covenant (Hebrews 7:22, Hebrews 8:6-12), the second covenant (Hebrews 8:7, Hebrews 10:9), of Jesus' New Covenant law (Galatians 6:2, John 1:17, Matthew 26:28, Hebrews 12:24, Hebrews 9:15), so that the law was changed (Hebrews 7:12). ---------- All believers, both Jews and Gentles, of all times, are delivered from the letter of the entire Old Covenant Mosaic law, and should not keep it (Romans 7:6; 2 Corinthians 3:6-18, Galatians 2:11-21), or have any desire to keep it (Galatians 4:21 to 5:8, Galatians 3:2-25). Believers keep the spirit of the entire Old Covenant Mosaic law (Romans 7:6) by loving others (Galatians 5:14, Romans 13:8-10), by doing to others as they would have others do to them (Matthew 7:12). ---------- The New Covenant is a new law (Hebrews 7:12,18-19, Hebrews 10:1-23), consisting of Jesus' New Covenant/New Testament commandments (John 14:15), such as those he gave in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:19 to 7:29) and in the epistles of Paul the apostle (1 Corinthians 14:37). These commandments exceed in righteousness the abolished letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law (Matthew 5:20-48). So there is no reason why any believer should ever want to go back under the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law (Galatians 3:2 to 5:26). It was just a temporary schoolmaster (Galatians 3:24-25), a temporary shadow (Colossians 2:16-17), which God set up because of sins long after he had set up the original promise of the Abrahamic Covenant, and long before he brought that promise to fulfillment in Jesus' New Covenant (Galatians 3:16-29, Matthew 26:28).

Regarding heretoeternity's comment: "Jesus said in Matthew 5 Heaven and earth will pass away, not one thing will be changed in the law until all is fulfilled...": ----- Regarding Matthew 5:17-18, this means that Jesus came the first time not to abolish the prophecies in the Mosaic law and the Old Testament prophets regarding the Messiah's/ the Christ's first coming, but to fulfill all of those prophecies (Luke 24:44-48; e.g. Acts 3:22-26, Isaiah 53). Matthew 5:17-18 cannot mean (as is sometimes claimed) that Jesus came not to abolish the letter of the commandments of the Old Covenant Mosaic law, for he did come to do that, on the Cross (Ephesians 2:15-16, Colossians 2:14-17, Romans 7:6; 2 Corinthians 3:6-18, Hebrews 7:18-19). Also, Matthew 5:17-18 cannot mean (as is sometimes claimed) that Jesus came to fulfill the letter of all of the Old Covenant Mosaic law's commandments, for he could not possibly have done that. For example, some of those commandments applied only to women after childbirth (Leviticus 12:4-8), or to wives suspected of adultery by their husbands (Numbers 5:19-31). ---------- As the Christ (Matthew 5:17, Luke 24:44-46), the mediator of the New Covenant (Matthew 26:28, Hebrews 12:24, Hebrews 7:22, Hebrews 8:6-9), Jesus had the divine authority to contradict the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law's commandments and replace them with his own, even better, New Covenant commandments (Matthew 5:38-44, Matthew 19:7-9, John 8:5-7), such as those he gave in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:19 to 7:29) and in the epistles of Paul the apostle (1 Corinthians 14:37; 1 Thessalonians 4:2). And as the Christ, Jesus had the divine authority to allow his disciples to break the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law's commandments (Matthew 12:1-8).