Posted by Drake, Jr #1 on March 23, 1999 at 23:06:14 {MW9hQZt3yw8IU}:
In Reply to: ***THE MANNER OF HIS COMING... posted by Gari on March 23, 1999 at 19:51:21:
Part 1
Dear Gari,
You ask some very important questions and I will simply provide my latest explanation. You may accept this or not. But it is important that you've asked these questions:
>>And Jesus has to come as a "thief" and many will miss his coming.**********
This is true. This means he comes in secret, at least at first.
>>I understand this passage to mean only quickly, like a thief. When you think there is peace and
safety,then sudden destruction
cometh.
That's an interesting interpretation. Perhaps we can agree, at least, that when the Messiah is finally revealed, he would have already been present for a while. That is, persons at different stages will become aware of his Coming, AFTER THE FACT! So perhaps we can extrapolate that whatever we expect as far as the Messiah's Second Coming is concerned, that for most, he would have been present already for a while without us knowing it. When he is announced, it will be by someone who has already been here for a while.... That's a thought.
****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*******
What
about Revelation 1:7. What does "every" eye mean to you? "....
I agree with you that this statement, as translated does seem like every single eye on the earth will see him. But if we examine other scriptures, there are reasons to understand this in a special context. At the moment, it seems to be some way of the Bible indicating that he would be in "public view" thus every eye would see him. And that is SPECIFICALLY FULFILLED by the Messiah during a period of one year when, "like lightening that flashes from the East to the West" it would be a brief period of exposure, but a broad exposure.
Those who "see him" of course, beat themselves in lamentation. Why? They recognize him. Remember, the eagles as well, are said to be around him, those eagles knowing where the "body" is, but they are like vultures around a dead or dying body. This addresses the specific nature of the Second Coming as the "prodigal son" wherein during the time he is observed, he is away from God's house and in a death-like state. Thus the eagles, the far-sighted ones, it is their eyes who will see him, and it is they who beat themselves in lamentation because of the death-like state of the Messiah.
Specifically, however, since this is just one man, a single individual, how would all these gathered ones, the "nations" who make up the 144,000 or some part of them, get to see him? What was arranged, so that these "nations" in secret could see him, was that he would appear publically in the theatre and on television, particularly during a specific short period of time. Thus those persons would were gathered as the "eagles" who are also the nations who eyes would see him in this death-like state which would result in them beating themselves in lamentation over the sadness of his death-like state, could actually visually observe him while he was on stage as an actor.
Thus in this sense,
"every eye will see him" becomes a euphemism for this individual being available to be seen in public and is prophetic that those who are part of this phase of the second coming who know who he is and know he is coming in the flesh and are
watching him, those
eagle-eyed "nations" surrounding him, it is in this way that "every eye will see him."
In that regard also, it seems clear that the "nations of the earth" is also a limited and specific reference to that group who would actually recognize him. Biblically, the "earth" in particular references either the Bible, as a first ground of Bible truth versus the sea which represents all kinds of philosophies and doctrines, as well as Jehovah's arrangement is associated with the earth.
As you also know, often the Bible speaks in terms of those tho come to life and those who are "dead" with respect to those who come into knowledge and a special relationship with Jehovah. Thus the "inhabited earth" is exclusive of everyone in the entire world, but inclusive of those who are specifically a part of Jehovah's divine arrangement. That is, those "nations of the earth" are those nations within the god-approved arrangement based upon them coming to life based upon accurate knowledge of scripture.
So I have nothing to offer except this. That the "nations of the earth" is a general term for everybody in the entire world..... OR, it is a specific Biblical reference for those who are specifically part of Jehovah's arrangement represented by being "alive" as well as on the "earth."
With that in mind, of course, the 144,000, the Bride Class, which specifically is the focus of the kingdom of the heavens, is made up of many "nations" ultimately. The final character of the 144,000 Bride Class is one distinctly of various nations, who were grafted in to take the place of the natural Jews. Thus "the nations of the earth" from my standpoint as I understand it now, is a specific reference to those anointed ones who make up the bride class who are part of those witnessing the second coming.
And this makes sense. Since when they see the Messiah in this death-like state during the prodigal son stage, they "beat themselves in lamentation."
So in very direct and basic terms, "every eye will see him" is directly prophetic that those of the anointed who were gathered to wait for the Messiah would have an opportunity to personally see him in the flesh during the time of his being unfaithful and away from God's house. So that was fulfilled, since he was available during a short period of time, like ligtening, from "eastern parts to western parts" when he appeared on stage from the East Coast of the U.S. all the way to Hawaii.
Thus, if you were of the anointed, and you knew who the Messiah was, and you wanted to see him, "in secret" which is the nature of Jesus' gathering with the anointed ones, "in the clouds" which means in a clouded way, in an indirect way, then at one point you could see him by simply buying a ticket to one of his performances, which occurred from the East Coast all the way to Hawaii.
And in Hawaii, he appeared at one time for 30 days straight. The beauty of Hawaii is that it is a resort. Remember, a lot of emphasis is put on the
Bride Class being invisible to Satan's organization. They are always
operating in secret and never directly acknowledge the Messiah, though they know who he is and, of course, would want to see him in person if they could.
Thus it was just a matter of pretending you were going on vacation in Hawaii.
Anybody can do that.
That's different than say, if you lived in Dallas, Texas, going all the way to Oklahoma City just to see a road show. So this was a great cover since no matter where you were, in case he didn't come to your city,
you could then travel to Hawaii and see him in a public nighclub. The height of anonymity.
So that's what that ends up meaning. The prophecy that his presence would be like lightening and he could be seen from Eastern parts to Western parts, relates directly to "every eye will see him", those "eyes" referring to the "nations of the earth" which is not the whole world, but those part of the godly arrangement of the Bride Class who were gathered to see him. It is they who would have a rare opportunity to actually see him by virtue of his making a public appearance.
Now think of the alternative. The Messiah is a single individual living a private life. How can the the anointed ones get a chance to see him? How can they see him without acknowledging him? There is no way as long as that person had a private life. So this was accommoted, quite nicely, by him being a public entertainer for a while. Thus anyone of the anointed, quite anonymously, could have the opportunity to see their Messiah in person.
What is also beautiful about that is, it's not like a quick appearance. It's not like someone just passing by like a head of state whom you want to see. This was an opportunity to be seated anonymously in the theatre where you could be able to stare at that person for the 10-20 minutes he was on stage performing. So the theatre offered a very special opportunity for observation for those who could take advantage of it.
Yet it was still completely anonymous. The specific fulfilment of from "eastern parts to western parts" addresses that at one time this person could be seen from the East Coast all the way to Hawaii. So technically, anyone who really wanted to see him could, and he fulfilled this by what he actually did.
And finally again, the "earth" does have a specific reference Biblically to something pertaining to god's arrangement. Remember the
Lamb-Beast of Revelation that "comes out of the earth" specifically different than the 666-Beast which comes out of the sea. This shows the corruption of god's anointed arrangement pertaining to the temple organization which specifically
relates to Jehovah's Witnesses.
So sometimes there are secret meanings hidden in the scriptures that we have to pay attention to.
So the "nations of the EARTH" is a term that could be applied to a limited and specific group, those who would actually know what they were looking at, and this seems to be consistent with what has acctually happened.
Continued.