Posted by Drake, Jr. on March 22, 1999 at 00:00:59 {MW9hQZt3yw8IU}:
In Reply to: *THE MANNER OF HIS COMING... posted by Mary on March 21, 1999 at 12:29:36:
Nice thoughts, but....
Luke 17:20 says: "The kingdom of god is not coming with striking observableness, neither will people bey saying "See there!' or "There! For, look! the kingdom of God is in your midst."
And Jesus has to come as a "thief" and many will miss his coming.
So I offer that those who do see him, those eyes that do get to him must be those "nations of the earth" who are part of the Messianic arrangement. Those would be the ones who know who the Messiah is, but the Messiah himself would never present himself to the public as far as beginning a gathering around him.
Further evidence that those who see him would understand what was going on is that they would "beat themselves in lamentation." But why? It's because they would observe the Messiah at the time when he was out of god's favor, in a death-like state, as the "prodigal son."
Therefore, understand this is all part of how the Messiah would "appear in the clouds" and meet his followers "in the clouds." It would not be in a direct way, but they would have access to observe him.
The way that works out is by the Messiah being an entertainer. He would appear in public, but not as the
Messiah. Those who were on the "inside" of
god's arrangement who knew who the Messiah was, therefore, could go and "see" him, and they would beat themselves in lamentation over his spiritual state, but would not try and go out and
preach "Here is the Christ!".
That relates to the two specific references about those persons seeing the Messiah and then beating themselves in lamentation.
But as far as the heavenly manifestation of the "sign of the son of man in the clouds" that was a specific, miraculous event that occurred on December 26, 1992 that was observed by the chosen ones who were already part of the "nations of the earth" class who were expecting the Messiah in the flesh and under the specific circumstances of his coming. Thus the heavenly display verified Jehovah's choice for who the Messiah was to those who were looking on.
Of course, for all those not part of that arrangement, it is not expected that you would take the word of others who observed this. The coming of the Messiah, in many illustrations, takes place as a closed banquet with many being shut out. It's not a "public" gathering. Those who are chosen got a chance to participate in this.
So basically, we're not offering any explanation, but just saying that we saw it, it happened, and here's the date, December 26, 1992, if you can harmonize the scriptures then its helpful information for you.
If not, just keep awake. Whether or not this is true will be confirmed in time. Just keep in anticipation and make sure what you are expecting is in consideration of all the scriptures. Keep an open mind.
Thanks for your comments. This is not as simple and direct as we would like, and this information is not for everyone, and the Bible prophesied that this would be a time of spiritual "darkness" and "gloom" for many.
Drake, Jr.