Assuredly, "no-one knoweth the day nor the hour" when 'the Son of Man' will return..."not even the Son [Himself]...but the Father only". And as Jesus the Christ, Israel's rejected Messiah, later admonished His eagerly-awaiting disciples, just prior to farewelling them (upon this present globe) forever, such "times and seasons" were to be kept top secret in the meantime, being 'put in[i.e. under] the Father['s] own authority".
So far so good, but was that all that Jesus said upon the subject? Did He not at least reveal the tenor of that fearsome time like no other, a time moreover "[w]hen there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world...no, nor ever shall be [again]" - a time elsewhere described as "the time of Jacob's trouble"?
Most assu5redly He did...and in no uncertain terms to boot. Yes indeed. So where do we begin? Well, the gospels themselves are never a bad idea, and how about the selfsame (end-time) passage - and related ones, 'parallel passages' as they're usually referred to? Yes, let's begin there.
Cognizant as we set out upon this biblically-delineated journey that 'today' (now yesterday) in the Northern, and likewise in the Southern, Hemisphere(s), is an important date - and not only in the secular scheme of things. For 'Halloween' - 'All Hallow's Eve' as the witches and wizards, and indeed even the Medieval Church itself 'christened' it - is not only a cherished 'oblation to the devil' (and/or his earthly representatives), but, incredible fact that it is, wonder of wonders even, it was the very day that what became known as the 'Protestant Reformation' was given a critical spark that has never since been extinguished, or ever will. For it was the very day that a then-obscure monk from Wittenberg, Germany, nailed his now-celebrated '99 theses' upon a church door and thus forever revolutionized Christendom. A revolution, as with the invention which enabled it, the printing press, conducted and carried through without worldly weapons, tactics or *bloodshed.
*Yes, I'm well aware that violence between the Church of the Day and its dissenting defectors has been a matter of **historical record over succeeding decades, even centuries, but could I respectfully suggest - again, upon good historical authority - that such Christless, unChristlike, Christ-denying behaviour - upon the part of any and every 'party' (both individual and collective) concerned - was not only in itself a wholesale rejection of the very spirit of Christ and selfsame Reformation, and so didn't truly represent its very essence, but that that Reformation achieved its revolutionary results entirely despite and in spite of the tactics which were sometimes employed (by Protestants that is, for the Roman Catholics engaged in the same were only ever involved in what is known as the Counter-Reformation) either in wholesale ignorance of the Very Founder of the religion, and/or, as often occurred, by a blatant denial of his winsome, loving and loveable spirit, alongside an adoption of the self-righteous, judgmental spirit of Jesus' earthly adversaries, chiefest amongst whom were the notorious Pharisees.
**Speaking of which, may I include a few words and observations regarding a BBC World discussion this very morn (New Zealand time) in which a number (three or four) 'learned divines' ***expostulated, ****expounded and otherwise *****expatiated.
***/****/*****According to my trusty Chambers Concise Dictionary, meaning, respectively: 'to remonstrate/discuss/claim'; 'to expose, or lay open the meaning of; to explain; to interpret; to explain in a certain way'; and 'to range at large (usu. fig.): to enlarge in discourse, argument, or writing' [i.e. upon some matter or topic under consideration]. All of which the aforementioned folk did, and did they what! But more about that in my second part, following some desperately-needed early shuteye tonight, for without it one really cannot achieve a helluva lot, I've concluded over many years and decades of hard-earned experience!
To Be Continued...
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