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NASB | John 5:19 ¶ Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 5:19 ¶ So Jesus answered them by saying, "I assure you and most solemnly say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself [of His own accord], unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever things the Father does, the Son [in His turn] also does in the same way. |
Subject: First Century Second Coming? |
Bible Note: Hello Brad. "And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky..." Title: The Works of Josephus Author: Josephus, Flavius Wars of the Jew 6.5.3 (289) Thus were the miserable people persuaded by these deceivers, and such as belied God himself; while they did not attend nor give credit to the signs that were so evident, and did so plainly foretell their future desolation, but, like men infatuated, without either eyes to see or minds to consider, did not regard the denunciations that God made to them. Thus there was a star resembling a sword, which stood over the city, and a comet, that continued a whole year. Also, WAS something seen? Title: The Works of Josephus Author: Josephus, Flavius Wars of the Jews 6.5.3 (296-300) Besides these, a few days after that feast, on the one and twentieth day of the month Artemisius [Jyar], a certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared: I suppose the account of it would seem to be a fable, were it not related by those that saw it, and were not the events that followed it of so considerable a nature as to deserve such signals; for, before sun-setting, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor were seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding the cities. Moreover, at that feast which we call Pentecost, as the priests were going by night into the inner [court of the temple,] as their custom was, to perform their sacred ministrations, they said that, in the first place, they felt a quaking, and heard a great noise, and after that they heard a sound as of a great multitude, saying, “Let us remove hence.” Now, "seeing the Son of Man coming on the clouds" versus "if they say here is Christ or there is Christ, don't listen because my coming will be like lightning flashing from west to east" (both paraphrased for brievity) is contradictory. We'll either see him, or we will not see him. It should be noted that "coming in the clouds" is often indicative of "wrath" or "judgment." Psalm 18:7-13 7 Then the earth shook and quaked; And the foundations of the mountains were trembling And were shaken, because He was angry. 8 Smoke went up out of His nostrils, And fire from His mouth devoured; Coals were kindled by it. 9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down With thick darkness under His feet. 10 He rode upon a cherub and flew; And He sped upon the wings of the wind. 11 He made darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him, Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies. 12 From the brightness before Him passed His thick clouds, Hailstones and coals of fire. 13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens, And the Most High uttered His voice, Hailstones and coals of fire. Isaiah 19:1 The oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt; The idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence, And the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them. Ezekiel 38:9 “You will go up, you will come like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you.” Nahum 1:3 The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, And the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. In whirlwind and storm is His way, And clouds are the dust beneath His feet. I see an established precedent for a symbolic interpretation of Revelation 1:7 based on previous apocalyptic language which is decidedly unique in its phraseology. So again, if the coming can be interpreted as a coming of judgment (and there is an established precedent to say it can), using the figurative invisionment of the Lord coming in the clouds, is it possible that the coming of the Lord came, and while people were looking for a physical man riding a horse with all the host of heaven, instead the form of his coming was a cloud of wrath and judgment? Thus it was seen, but missed, it happened, but was not documented as such, but was still documented inadvertently. If you read my most previous post, you will see that I am of neither persuasion. I do not hold to preterism or premillenialism. Both theories are lacking and are unable to maintain their position without having to allegorize passages to suit their understanding. So understand that I am present an objective discussion, not an argument in favor of preterism. Xerxes |