Signs of Times

[Bold Believer]

Revelation was written to FIRST CENTURY believers. The 666 prophecy was fulfilled in Nero. There is no 'the' Antichrist. Antichrist is never mentioned in Revelation, nor in any other books except for the letters of John. In those letters, John explains exactly what an antichrist is. Nero was not 'the Antichrist'. Nero was the man in Rev 13, Mr. 666. The madman who persecuted the Church for 42 months. The man who received the fatal head wound. The man who demanded worship. The man who nearly brought the Empire to an end. He's dead. Stop worrying about him.

No, it was not. Nothing in Revelation fits Nero or anything else in the 1st century. Don't you ever get tired of barking up the same dead tree trunk?

Preterism is about the least viable form of eschatology there is. Easily disproved and even easier to dismiss. And it uses really, really poor hermeneutics.

I'm a partial preterist. Not a preterist. Big difference. My eschatology is NOT so easily disproven, which is why you keep attacking it, and that's fine, because as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. My hermeneutics do not require the use of a newspaper or the watching of the evening news, nor do they change every time a new helicopter shows up in the world arsenal, or some new leader arrives on the world scene to allegedly be 'the antichrist', or every time some new computerized inventory system or ID system appears to be 'the Mark of the Beast.' The things I believe in this regard (and others as well believe similarly) are historically true and theologically sound. Pre-millennialism...not so much.

[PeterH]

Revelation was written to FIRST CENTURY believers. The 666 prophecy was fulfilled in Nero. There is no 'the' Antichrist. Antichrist is never mentioned in Revelation, nor in any other books except for the letters of John. In those letters, John explains exactly what an antichrist is. Nero was not 'the Antichrist'. Nero was the man in Rev 13, Mr. 666. The madman who persecuted the Church for 42 months. The man who received the fatal head wound. The man who demanded worship. The man who nearly brought the Empire to an end. He's dead. Stop worrying about him.

Nero was not thrown into the fiery lake alive with his false prophet by the King of Kings. Nero might have been a type of Antichrist but he wasn't the Man of lawlessness aka Son of perdition aka The Beast aka The Antichrist.

Revelation 19:19-21

19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. 20 But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. 21 The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.

These are future events.

As to trying to figure out who he is, that's rubbish.

1 Thessalonians 2:6-10

6 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

This clearly states that he won't be revealed until it is time. And there will be very little doubt of who he is to the saints, if we're even here.

They are PAST events.

Are you sure Nero is not in the Lake of Fire? I wasn't there. I can only read what John wrote and go from there. John says the Beast is in the Lake of Fire. Since Nero personifies Rome (as Christ personifies the Church, as Washington and Lincoln personify America for examples) remember as well, the Beast is both a NATION (Rome) and its 6th emperor (Nero), and when John writes he isn't always clear which he refers to. One has to read and determine which John is speaking of. The false prophet is his religious agent (apostate Judaism, that part of Israel which rejected Jesus as Messiah, primarily the leadership). Apostate Judaism is for all intents and purposes to the cause of salvation, in the lake of fire, as is Rome for being the agent of Satan.

That's pretty far fetched especially when you continue reading Revelation 20. If what you say is correct then we're past the 1000 year reign of Jesus. Following that reasoning Satan has already been bound then released and judged. As well the great white throne judgement has already taken place. How do you account for that?

If what you say is true then we are living in a time 1000 years after the events in Revelation 20 have taken place.

[rollinTHUNDER]

I'm a partial preterist. Not a preterist. Big difference. My eschatology is NOT so easily disproven, which is why you keep attacking it, and that's fine, because as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. My hermeneutics do not require the use of a newspaper or the watching of the evening news, nor do they change every time a new helicopter shows up in the world arsenal, or some new leader arrives on the world scene to allegedly be 'the antichrist', or every time some new computerized inventory system or ID system appears to be 'the Mark of the Beast.' The things I believe in this regard (and others as well believe similarly) are historically true and theologically sound. Pre-millennialism...not so much.

Partial, full, neo, psuedo, makes little difference. Any form of preterism is in error and renders biblical prophecy and it's interpretation within itself mute. Prophecy is not interpreted, within the Bible, in the way that either partial or full preterists interpret it. Preterism is 100% incompatable with the way we see fulfilled prophecy treated within the Bible itself, like the rules for interpreting prophecy suddenly change. They don't.

Preterism and replacement theology became popular due to the fact that God scattered Israel in AD 70. They believe the church replaced Israel, even though scripture says that we are grafted into Israel. They don't believe the Jews occupying the land today is Israel, because of their continued unbelief. They ignore and disregard the fact that there are many prophecies that foretell of how God will bring them back into the promised land from all of the nations where they were scattered.

The light should have come on once Israel re-entered the promised land again, but many believers are still blind to it and unwilling to accept it, even after reading it straight from God's holy prophets. It's true that two thirds of the Jews living in the land when Christ returns will be cut off, but 1/3 will be the remnant that will be protected and enter into the millennial kingdom, after they flee to the mountains after the abomination of desolation. And they will survive armageddon and the great tribulation. In any event, they are back in the land again now to stay, and scripture says that they will never be removed from it again.

These prophecies should be a wake-up call to preterists. Hopefully they will wake up before it's too late and their faith is found lacking when the Lord returns. There is no reward for unbelief. There are many things in prophecy that are hard to understand, but a lack of understanding should never over-ride our faith in God's Word. We are not called to understand everything, but we must believe even when we don't understand. God's Will will be done whether we understand it or not.

Like the old saying goes: You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.