50 year cycle or end times?

[AlexanderJ]

The decline of morality is a product of the growth of government. The size of government is not cyclic.

I believe that this idea is in grave error. The decline of morality is a product, not of the growth of the government, but of the decline and fall of individuals from God's standards. What is the government but a group of individuals? If this individuals follow God's Laws, then there will be Morality in the nation, if not, then the opposite is true. The government cannot legislate morality; it cannot force people to do what is right (where law abounds, sin abounds more). Individuals, however, can choose to do what is right; they can "legislate morality" in their own lives.

[Bold Believer]

Michael Walzer in the Marxist journal Dissent was celebrating their successes against Western culture and pointed to the impact of feminism, gay rights, cultural pluralism, the change in family structure, rising divorce rates, changing sexual mores, abortion, successes in limiting gun rights, and the fading of Christianity from the public sphere.

The "celebration" won't last long. Life is short and God's wrath awaits.

Yeah...Magog. John warned of this, but today's Believer simply doesn't want to hear it. All the things written in the sentence above are the orders of Chief Prince Gog himself, and being carried out by Magog, his godless hordes. And they WILL come for us one day, and when they do, fire will fall from heaven and consume them all. (And Believers will be either resurrected from teh grave or metamorphosed (changed). That event will occur on the last day. See...eschatology is simple.

[Fez]

Here is a 50 year cycle... (one that makes sense to me...)

[ncn]

Here is a 50 year cycle... (one that makes sense to me...)

Now, now Fez don't be egoistic, one should always use a cycle made for two!

[Fez]

The decline of morality is a product of the growth of government.

Actually the opposite is true. The growth of government is because of a decline in morality.

Crime is up, terror is up, create a new department, fill it with posts, fund it, the list is endless. Porn, abortion, tax evasion, forced labor, all a decline in morality, all needing bigger and better departments to "control" them.

Umm, the bible is not cyclical. It has a start time and an end time, and if only it was our only blueprint, the decline in morality would not be an issue.

God's government is all we need. But we are blind.

[AlexanderJ]

The decline of morality is a product of the growth of government.

Actually the opposite is true. The growth of government is because of a decline in morality.

Crime is up, terror is up, create a new department, fill it with posts, fund it, the list is endless. Porn, abortion, tax evasion, forced labor, all a decline in morality, all needing bigger and better departments to "control" them.

Umm, the bible is not cyclical. It has a start time and an end time, and if only it was our only blueprint, the decline in morality would not be an issue.

God's government is all we need. But we are blind.

[rjp34652]

The decline of morality is a product of the growth of government. The size of government is not cyclic.

Tell that to the leaders of the major political parties. I really don't think you'll get very far with your argument in their ears. (Then again nothing the average citizen wants our politicians to hear seems to be listened to or considered at all.)

As for pinning morality to GNP or bureaucratic expansion, I think that's far too simplistic. Any student of social science or political science will argue that many factors contribute to cultural change. Morality is part of culture and cultural changes need to be tracked in order to determine trends effectively. There is one factor, however, that is never considered by social scientists when they draw their charts of cultural change. That factor is the influence of heaven on the affairs of men. Which brings us back to the theme of this thread.....

50 year cycle or end times?

Bear in mind that when Biblical passages and prophets talk about the 'end times', they aren't talking about the end of human history. Their language is usually indicative of the end of an age or the end of a culture. When God is involved those changes can be extremely dramatic if not cataclysmic. But history does go on...

Think about what happens when a man gets saved, really saved, right down to the bone saved. The age of sin and sinful habits in his life ends. It comes to a screeching halt! Sometimes that ending is quite dramatic, yet he doesn't die from the experience. Figuratively and spiritually perhaps, but not physically. I have a story or two in mind as I write this as I'm sure you do too.

Cultural and historical epochs or ages can be tracked on a calendar according to cultural change. Historians do it all the time when they peg cultural change to a date and event. Columbus sailed the ocean blue in fourteen hundred ninety two. July 4, 1776 December 7th, 1941 and September 11th, 2001 are dates which exemplify extreme cataclysmic events and cultural change. Biblically these changes are directed by the throne of heaven and can be linked to the Jubilee year.

According to Mosaic law every 7th day is to be a day of rest. Likewise every 7th year was to be a year of rest or sabbath year. When 49 such years have elapsed (or 7 groups of 7 years) the fiftieth year is dedicated to extreme changes. It is called the year of Jubilee and is supposed to consist of the forgiveness of all debts, the freeing of all slaves and indentured servants and the return of all real estate to the original owners among other things. In other words, the culture is reset to divine standards. When this does not happen, God takes a hand and things get really dicey.

I'm about to show you a bit of what happened on the last two Jubilee years. Bear in mind, though, that the Hebrew calendar is involved in these calculations, not the Gregorian calendar that we use. Note that Hebrew calendars aren't as exact and precise as the Gregorian calendar. For example, the Hebrew calendar begins somewhere around Sept./Oct of one year and ends in Sept/Oct of the next year. That fact alone can make a mess of any calculations one might care to make for future or predicted events. I'm not going to attempt that here except to let you know when the NEXT Jubilee year is due. For those who care to learn more, please Google Jubilee year calculations and you'll get all the info you need.

Jubilee years of the Christian twentieth and twenty first centuries.....

1916-17 (this was 7th Shmita/49th year, following year 1917-18 is Jubilee)

General Allenby captured Jerusalem from the Turks in Dec. of 1918.

1965-66 (this was 7th Shmita/49th year, following year 1966-67 is Jubilee)

In 1967 Israel captured Jerusalem in the 6 day war.

* 1968 <---- major paradigm shift in global culture

2014-15 (this will be 7th Shmita/49th year, the following year 2015-16 is Jubilee)

- 2015-16 ???

I'm not even going to hint at what might happen in 2015-16, but if the trends of divine intervention continue I think it isn't unreasonable to expect a rather big jolt considering what's happened in the past.

One last suggestion is to point you to a google search of 'what happened in the year 1968'. Make sure your seat belt is fastened when you do it.

- 1968 -

Most historians shudder at a single great event in a given year. When two or three happen, an entire nation can be affected. The list of events in 1968 is so long I can only provide a short list. Cultural, economic and political changes were so severe the political and cultural leaders of ALL the nations on the planet literally thought that human civilization was coming unglued.

No less than five nations experienced changes in government - including France. That's right. The entire government of France collapsed that year. President Charles de Gaulle had to flee to Germany in an attempt to pull his country together again. England believed they were on the verge of national insurrection! Thousands died in demonstrations.

Assassinations ruled including Robert F. Kennedy, Rev. Martin Luther King and a US ambassador in Central America to name a few. The Tet offensive began in Viet Nam. Now considered to be the turning point of Americas war in South East Asia, it also ended a time when Americans believed everything they heard from Washington. Americans had been told they were winning the war and by the time Tet ended It was obvious we weren't. This disconnect between Washington misinformation and public credulity came to be called the credibility gap and it happened in 1968. Riots burned our cities from one end of America to the other - and around the globe as well. When was the last time you heard about a riot that resulted in millions of dollars in damage? In '68 there were a lot of them! Entire sections of cities were destroyed - everywhere. Google the Chicago riots to learn what happened in just one town.....or Watts.

Cultural changes included the 'cultural revolution' in China which began to get real traction in 1968. Before it ended millions would die in it's wake. The broadway musical HAIR began its run that spring and ushered in post-modernism and New Age theology. The opening song 'Age of Aquarius' was a hit even though astrologers admitted they had no idea when the age of Aquarius would really begin. The hallmark of the age was supposed to be peace, but peace would definitely not rule the stars in 1968.

Rosemary's Baby was released to movie theaters in June and was immediately hailed as a dramatic triumph. It was the first satanic movie to be accepted by the general population. Periodicals widely admitted that main line protestant denominational churches were in decline and wondered what would happen next. The Death of God movement began in earnest and congress passed a law that uncoupled gold from the dollar - allowing US currency to float on its own merit. Today we all know what a bad idea that was (except congress of course)!

The nightmare that was 1968 went on and on. Google it. Nothing, and I mean nothing, was ever the same after that year.

And another change in the 50 year cycle seems to be imminent. There are no clear skies on the horizon that I can see.

Can you?

but that's just me, hollering from the choir loft...

but that's just me, hollering from the choir loft...

Edited January 19, 2013 by rjp34652

[The_Patriot21]

Actually, I think both sides of the 50 year cycle here, are accurate. If we go back through history, there are roughly 50 year cycles in americas history, where things get worse, then they get better, and repeat. However, each cycle, is progressively worse then the previous. As in one cycle gets really good, then ends, then the next good cycle gets good, but not as good as the previous, and so on and so forth. As far as it repeating? well, right now, I think this cycle may not get better at all, it may well have bottomed out, but only time will tell.

[Hall7]

Trust in God's perfect timing