Raptureready.com Commentary for Oct. 20--The Damascus Prophecy /Not So Mighty Dollar

[billiefan2000]

http://www.raptureready.com/rap16.html

and what do you think of what is said.

[Wile E. Coyote]

I think that what is said is quite funny ... in a ridiculous sort of way.

It is just as likely that the economic collapse of America could result from aliens abducting millions of workers or from some terrible disease that wiped out all software engineers.

I also think that the language level on that page is pathetic. Is it geared towards children or was it written by a child? Every sentence is a simple sentence, making it feel choppy and immature.

Ah! It has rubbed off on me!

[Upchurch]

Bible prophecy predicts that someday the city of Damascus will be turned into a "ruinous heap." Because the city of Damascus has never been destroyed, this prophecy is obviously yet to be fulfilled.
The trouble with these sort of vague prophecies is that it is obvious. Of course the city will someday be distroyed. All cities will someday be distroyed. If not through war or through the fall of its civilization, then by the sun exploding. I could with equal certainty prophesize that my house will one day become a ruinous heap, though it may take a thousand years or more.

[headscratcher4]

As it was prophesy -- i.e. a prediction about a future event -- how do you know they weren't refering to Damascus Maryland? Hmmm?

Maybe it is Damascus Maryland and all of you Rapture Ready types are looking for signs in the wrong part of the world...

Just a small contribution to the discussion.

[billiefan2000]

Originally posted by Upchurch

The trouble with these sort of vague prophecies is that it is obvious. Of course the city will someday be distroyed. All cities will someday be distroyed. If not through war or through the fall of its civilization, then by the sun exploding. I could with equal certainty prophesize that my house will one day become a ruinous heap, though it may take a thousand years or more.

You have a point but have you read Isaiah 17:1 which says:

The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from [being] a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.


DO YOU THINK WHAT IS GOING ON WITH SYRIA IS JUST A COINCIDENCE or maybe what many Christians believe about that Bible Prophecy in Isaiah and what is happening right now with Syria maybe a true fulfillment of Bible Prophecy.

[Nyarlathotep]

Originally posted by billiefan2000

DO YOU THINK WHAT IS GOING ON WITH SYRIA IS JUST A COINCIDENCE

Yes and no. You see those words were written thousands of years ago. Given thousands of years, ANY city will someday become a ruined heap. If it had said said something like "Two thousand and five years after the birth of the messiah, Damascus shall become a ruined heap" and indeed Damascus was destroyed in 2005, I would be impressed. however the way it is phrased, it could be anytime between when the words were written and the heat death of the universe. I just don't find that impressive.

I confidently predict that the day will come when New York, Paris and London will be ruined heaps. I just refuse to say when. Does that make me a prophet too?

[Yahweh]

Originally posted by billiefan2000


You have a point but have you read Isaiah 17:1 which says:

The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from [being] a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.


DO YOU THINK WHAT IS GOING ON WITH SYRIA IS JUST A COINCIDENCE or maybe what many Christians believe about that Bible Prophecy in Isaiah and what is happening right now with Syria maybe a true fulfillment of Bible Prophecy.

I dont think anyone would be reacting if no one ever called that particular passage a prophecy.

It is the same phenomena when someone leaves a note in a bathroom claiming that they will blow up a building or harm a person. In the case of the Bible, I think the paranoia is unwarranted.

Just a quick unfulfilled prophecy from Isaiah:

13:19-20


13:18
Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eyes shall not spare children.

13:19
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

13:20
It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.

These verses falsely predict that Babylon will never again be inhabited.

Edited: Oops, missed a verse!

[headscratcher4]

DO YOU THINK WHAT IS GOING ON WITH SYRIA IS JUST A COINCIDENCE

What is going on in Syria today has been going on in one form or another for 2500 years or more...

Damascus, Syria has been the object/victem/under threat of distruction from Persians, Isrealites, Romans, Muslims, Christians (during the Crusades), Ottomans, Frensh, British, Isrealies and others I've forgotten.

You look at history and see a mere moment and think: "Ah, only this moment fulfills prophesy...it must be so..."

But history betrays you. Incident after incident, epoch after epoch and each filled with moments, facts, coincidents, individuals and movments coming together to create prophetic fulfillment, and than melting away into the historical landscape. Damascus, where it sits geographically, its politics and its religion have lead to repeated incidents where believers such as yourself could point to prophesy and say: "certainly, this is the expected moment. Everything fits. It can be no coincidence..."

And than, the moment passes and the big "oops" is stifled ...

[The Central Scrutinizer]

Originally posted by billiefan2000
http://www.raptureready.com/rap16.html

and what do you think of what is said.

I didn't read it (I never click on any of your links), but if I had read it, I have a feeling it would confirm that you are an idiot.

[a_unique_person]

Billiefan,

have you ever considered that The Rapture has already happened, but you and all your friends were left behind with the rest of us?

[Zep]

It's all tosh, Billifan, all tosh. The rantings of deluded authors two millenia or more ago, transmuted through umpteen translations, committed to writing in ancient languages and then translated AGAIN to others, edited to be "politically correct" (for about 300AD) and finally translated AGAIN into English some 1300 years after that, with who knows how many more PC edits done then. And all by the hand of man.

And now you and the RR creduloids read it as though it were immutable and unchanged from the first day it was conceived, purely on the grounds that it is "God's word"?? How conceited is that!

[the_ignored]

Man, are these guys full of themselves! They think that their conspiracy theories (http://www.rr-bb.com/showthread.php?postid=1264918#post1264918) are right, and that they're wiser as a result!

We are so hated and dispised because we know the WHO, WHAT WHERE, WHEN, WHY, and HOW about what is going on in this world. Our eyes are being opened to something that only those of the Divine God Himself has set in place. He is warning us and telling us to expect things to move quickly. All signs are in place right now!
The people at the top know we know what is happening and that is why the world looks down on us. This 'tower of Babel' symbol at the meeting in Spain was the latest incident. World leaders of different languages met together to discuss money for rebuilding a land where it all began. Yet, Christians are the ONLY ones putting two and together! We are so blessed to have wisdom. May we use it wisely in these times.
Peace.

[Ladewig]

Some prophecy scholars have long speculated that the U.S. would be pushed from the world stage by some type of major calamity.

Wow. That there is some kind of exegesis. I never imagined that the U.S., much less the U.S.'s role in international affairs, would be mentioned the the Bible.


I strongly believe the rapture of the Church could easily be the reason why the U.S. drops off the economic radar. With our nation already up to its eyeballs in debt, the removal of millions of hard-working and tax-paying Christians would generate a crash that would easily rival the days of the "Great Depression."

Of course one of the major economic differences between the Great Depression and the Rapture, is that the millions of Christians will be leaving all their assets behind. The first people to get into these empty homes, businesses, and churchs will be experiencing quite an economic upturn. I guess the best preparations I can make now are borrowing tons of money from devout Christians because when they fly away I won't have to pay it back.

[UnrepentantSinner]

I strongly believe the rapture of the Church could easily be the reason why the U.S. drops off the economic radar. With our nation already up to its eyeballs in debt, the removal of millions of hard-working and tax-paying Christians would generate a crash that would easily rival the days of the "Great Depression."

Hard working? Tax paying? Do they mean like Kent Hovind (http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/hovind-decision.html)?

Personally I'd be more impressed if the Prophecies actually mentioned Washington or Germany or India rather than cities and countries that existed at the time of the prophecies.

[ktesibios]

The prophecy bug has been around for a looong time. Here's some commentary on it from Mark Twain's The Innocents Abroad (1869):

"The fashion of delving out fulfillments of prophecy where that prophecy consists of mere "ifs," trenches upon the absurd. Suppose, a thousand years from now, a malarious swamp builds itself up in the shallow harbor of Smyrna, or something else kills the town; and suppose, also, that within that time the swamp that has filled the renowned harbor of Ephesus and rendered her ancient site deadly and uninhabitable to-day, becomes hard and healthy ground; suppose the natural consequence ensues, to wit: that Smyrna becomes a melancholy ruin, and Ephesus is rebuilt. What would the prophecy-savans say? They would coolly skip over our age of the world, and say: "Smyrna was not faithful unto death, and so her crown of life was denied her; Ephesus repented, and lo! her candle-stick was not removed. Behold these evidences! How wonderful is prophecy!""

The entire section on Smyrna, Ephesus and prophecies conerning them is at:

http://wyllie.lib.virginia.edu:8086/perl/toccer-new?id=TwaInno.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=38&division=div1

and is worth reading.

About the economic effects if all the fundies were suddenly to disappear, a' la "rapture":

There would suddenly be a lot of real and personal property lying about ownerless, and fewer people seeking to buy such things. Bigger supply + smaller demand = lower prices, no?

The available work force would be smaller. That should produce lower unemployment. Bye-bye jobless recovery.

And, best of all, we could enjoy our higher standard of living without a bunch of smug little prats constantly waving their Sacred Gobbledybook in our faces. WOOT!





:wink8:

[Darwin]

Mark my words,my children.;
there´s an area down there in the west,and a disaster shall come down there and bad stuff will happen to some.Regardless,sun will rise in the morning.

You can worship me later.