[b:0b2be7d46f]Paul wrote:[/b:0b2be7d46f]
probably not. I don't think that the majority here are preteristic.
Its feels good to agree with Paul. On other more controversial and critical issues (the NBA playoffs) I think he's a little off, but on this issue he seems to be right on.
I don't know which escatological camp I fall into (still searching), but I agree with what Paul said in his first post.
Coming from a dispensational background, I can't tell you how many times I've heard it asked when Matthew 24,etc was taught, "Who is the YOU referring to?", and the answer was always the "Jews. So in this passage we're on Jewish ground".
I've heard others, who are more closely aligned with Harold Campings latest teachings, say that "you" is referring to the church, since Peter and the others were Christians.
When I read the passage, I see three possibilities. Jesus was talking to:
1. Peter, James, John, and so forth, who were men...
2. who were Jews...
3. and who were also Christians
I don't have all the difficulties ironed out, but the first choice makes the most sense to me. Jesus was talking to the disciples as men, not as representatives of a particular group, whether that be the Jews or the Christians. When Jesus said "you shall see", I think he was saying that the people he was speaking to would see these things.
As a side note, I've always thought it'd be a little more consistent if dispensationalists would ask the same questions of Revelation 4:1 as they do of Matthew 24. If we cross-reference the Matthew 24 passage with the corresponding passage in Mark, we find that John was one of those Jews represented by the "you" in Matthew 24.
Mar 13:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately,
When we go to Revelation 4:1 and ask the question "Who does John represent?", to be consistent we'd have to say that since John is Jewish, he's representing the Jews. So, its not the church that gets raptured in Rev 4:1, its the Jewish nation.
Anyway, my thoughts about Rev 4:1 are the same as the Matthew 24 passage. When it says that John was told to come up hither, it means that John the man came up hither and was given a new revelation.
Just some thoughts,
Bob
[Edited on 6-4-2004 by blhowes]