You can chill out dude. Happy to talk to you if you got some points or something we should look at.
If you've really done your digging, you know learning this stuff takes time.
When you say the original texts, lemme know what you're talking about.
The actual prophetic answer (you asked!): So it can be desecrated by the anti-christ.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+24&version=NKJV
You're looking for verse 15 in the link above, which is less clear than most Christians will admit. But, if you're actually interested, here's what leads up to this and why Christians assume a third temple will be built.
It was prophesied that the Jews would lose their land and one day return to Israel. Amos 9:14–15
I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. I will plant them in their land, And no longer shall they be pulled up From the land I have given them,” Says the Lord your God.
It's actually talked about a lot (also see Isaiah 41:9, Isaiah 43:5–6, Ezekiel chapters 37-39), and the whole thing is kind've a wild prediction given the timeline.
Bear in mind that the Christians believe the Jews are currently spiritually blind and separate from God. They still support the Jews because the bible says that those who bless Israel will be blessed and to pray for peace in Jerusalem.
So, the Jews are going to build the temple because well, they're divinely driven to do so...
“And he [the prince] will make [some translations say ‘confirm’] a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate [some interpretations say, set up an idol on the wing or precipice of the Temple], even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.” (Daniel 9:27; see also 2 Thessalonians 2:4)
...Christians believe that, though Jerusalem and Damascus will be destroyed, this whole process will eventually lead to the Jews (the ones that survive the End times... The bible seems to suggest most won't) to accept Jesus as the true messiah.
Anyway, it's a lot, and there is loads more. But for me, if you've read biblical prophecy to any significant extent... It gets real hard to think we're not living near the end times it describes, and a lot of it happens to involve Israel.
Jesus came to set the captives free bro. Luke 4:18.
Left, right... It's all dumb. There's a spiritual world out there, and it's about staying right with God. Read your own bible, and pray your own prayers, don't have other people do it for ya. Love your neighbor... unless they try to eat you... Ya know. Do the thing.
Read yourself some biblical prophecy man.
Daniel 9 will show ya Jesus appeared right when that prophecy predicted the Messiah would show up.
Ezekiel 37-38 talks about Israel becoming a nation again (arguably in the latter days).
In my opinion, we're seeing baby versions of the book of Revelation/Daniel/Mathew 24 play out now. Contractions/Birth pains. The entire world getting deceived by Pharmacia seems to be a bit on the nose.
Things will get much worse, then much better. There's hope, but it's spiritual.
Even if you consider yourself to be a logical science minded individual, why not take a look at some of the wild stuff in the Bible?
Makes sense. I've kinda bounced around in my beliefs too. Was raised super religious... Came to hate it... Thought of God as "the unknown," essentially the idea/force behind every mystery we don't understand, for a long portion of my life. Started looking for specifics in religions the last few years, when I came to the conclusion that the amount of evil in the world didn't make a lot of logical sense. Seemed to be a spiritual component on that side that was a little more sure of itself.
Haha, but anyway... Heck ya brothaaarrrr
There's a knights templar organization? Is that part of free masonry?
You seem like somebody I'd genuinely get along with in real life. I've definitely had a lot of these thoughts. Granted, at this point in my life, we disagree over some stuff, but I bet we'd have a good conversation over a beer.
Like, I don't think the earth has consciousness. I think... well here... I believe this verse in Hebrews -
"By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible."
I know the Bible tends to jam people up when they don't believe in it. World's greatest cliche and all that. But I'm not trying to preach to you as much as I'm trying to support my idea here, because I know the idea of organized religion is nuts.
You ever looked into the non-biblical evidence we got of Jesus' existence? If you haven't, check it out sometime man, read what Tacitus wrote. It verifies a bunch of biblical accounts. It's quoted in the first part of this article (which I admittedly haven't read in its entirety).
https://reasonabletheology.org/jesus-outside-the-bible-1-tacitus/
If you can get yourself convinced Jesus existed in a historical sense, then read the prophecy we got on Jesus that we know came before his arrival (thanks to the dead sea scrolls), like daniel 9 just as one example.
I think there's a reason talking about Jesus still gets people so worked up regardless of what side of the fence they're on. And I honestly don't believe it's just because Christianity was the world's most successful cult. I think we live in a supernatural world we hardly understand.
I don't mean to prod. I'm just genuinely interested... Are you able to talk about what the oaths are (in a general sense)?
I have a solid knowledge of the Bible and a decent familiarity with the apocrypha. I believe Jesus came to set us free. And I don't think the prophecy surrounding that is coincidence. That said, I'm still curious what your thoughts are. Outside of some drunken conversations in front a bar in my younger days, I don't think I've really picked anybody's brain about the Masons who was actually in the organization. Do Freemasons follow the Bible?
...And I'm realizing that's probably not something you're super allowed to answer, so feel free to ignore it. Still curious about the oaths though.
Interesting. What is Lucifer then, and is it safe to assume the masons take get additional details from gnostic texts? Does the apocrypha play a role at all?
I get what you're saying. My assumption was that Free Masonry had some structure similar to Catholicism, in the sense that what average Catholic folks believe seems to be a lot different than what the upper echelons of "the church" believe.
That's a fair point. So, you wouldn't describe him as something like a Free Mason Pope, for lack of a better term, from centuries gone bye?
Also, if you feel like sharing, I'd be curious to know what you believe. Do you think Lucifer plays a role (as something other than Satan, maybe even something good) to many Masons?
Did you watch the whole video? It covers a lot of what you're asking and goes on to point out some of Pike's more wild beliefs in his own words.
About 4 minutes in is your explanation that yea, it probably was a hoax, at least in part.
"I have given them dozens of times on this forum. You don't read, You never read. You just remain in your ignorance. In your nice and safe "Christian" bubble."
Lol. Is that where you think I've been? Funny, all this time I was under the impression I'd been against Christianity for the last 15 years.
Looks at all the good read books... which aren't original sources.
Yea... It's me... I'm the religious one...
Good talk.