John on Nostr: From my pastor: MOST EMBARRASSING FAILED PROPHECIES OF DISPENSATIONALISM, candidate ...

From my pastor: MOST EMBARRASSING FAILED PROPHECIES OF DISPENSATIONALISM, candidate two
“The Revived Roman Empire”
The concept here is that, in the End Times, there will be a renewal or replay of the ancient Roman Empire. The Antichrist will be at its head, of course. It will consist of 10 member states and will be a terrifying force to be reckoned with, like no military power before it
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As with all the other Dispensational fancies, this one only survives by hiding behind that well-worn, gossamer dodge that says, “Yes, I know it hasn’t come to pass like we said it would, but God can make it happen in the future!”
But everything you’ve pointed at with great seriousness and excitement as a possible, present fulfillment has fallen away, even though you’ve been willing to stretch and mangle your own terms beyond recognition.
The failure in it is this: You think the Rapture is imminent. You believe the Great Tribulation could start tomorrow. But your own system absolutely must have Italy, and Rome specifically, as the head of the world-conquering military alliance mentioned above. It has to be up and running at the beginning of the seven years. You believe the ultimate Final Boss will go out “conquering and to conquer” at the onset.
At the very least you are of two minds. You think the Tribulation could begin today, but there is no hint of the Beast’s Italian end-times army mustered anywhere.
The very idea of such an army is laughable. God can do what He wants, but as things stand today, the idea is ludicrous: Italy currently spends a little more than Australia on its military, well behind several other European nations, and military powerhouses like Japan and South Korea. Its military size ranks at #31 in the world, behind behemoths like Eritrea and Morocco.
Now, to their credit, Dispensationalists have recognized for decades how inconvenient this is for their system and have sought to soften the blow of failure by suggesting that maybe “Empire” can mean “treaty organization” or “trade summit”.
And maybe it could be called Roman if Italy is simply a member, and not actually in charge of it. Maybe the United Nations armed troops qualify as some reflection of ancient Rome’s brutal conquerors who crushed whole countries. Only blind allegiance to a system, regardless of truth, could account for this word-salad twisting.
The European Union began in 1993 and many Dispensationalists were all a-flutter when the tenth member joined. This must be it! It’s all winding down now, baby! Well, the prophetically mandatory number of ten was quickly surpassed. There are well over 30 member states now.
Hey, believe what you will about what this “Roman Empire” must look like in its End Times incarnation. Knock yourself out. You just can’t consistently also believe that you could be raptured out of here at any time. That empire has to be ready to roll, as many things have to happen in a very short period.
You’ve seen what trouble it’s been for a well-funded, legitimate military force (Russia) to try to take over a single, much less powerful nation. And you think Italy is on the verge of conquering ten? C’mon.
Again, God can do what He wants, but at some point shouldn’t you be willing to go back and reassess your theories?

#faith #bible #christian #endtimes