Amos {3:7} Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. 

In the Left Behind series, as well as in many other similar works of both fiction and non-fiction, the Rapture occurs totally by surprise. As a result, airplanes, ships, cars, trains end up being uncontrolled with horrendous results. Of course, this is just the beginning of the terror that sweeps over humanity as millions of people and all of the children before the age of accountability suddenly vanish in the manner that Paul described as such:

1 Corinthians {15:51-52} Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 

The word rendered as “twinkling” in English is from the Greek “rhipe” (pronounced “hree-pay”) according to Strong’s Concordance. It compares it to “a jerk of the eye” in the sense of its rapidity.

Taking a quick look through the internet gives various estimates as to how fast that is, all come in at less than a second. At the time Paul wrote his letter, there were no devices capable of measuring small amounts of time accurately as the ones we have today, so it might actually be instantaneous.

Needless to say, the sudden disappearance of millions will be the most universally frightening event humankind has ever experienced up to that point. But will some people be given an early warning shortly before this happens? That’s the possibility we’ll consider in this article. From the opening quote from Amos, I believe it might be the case.

Adam and Eve

From the very beginning of the Bible, God always let someone know what he had in mind. Adam and Eve were told to be the stewards of his creation and to procreate (Genesis 1:28). He also gave them more details including the rule regarding the Tree of Knowledge and the consequences if they did. Well, we all know what happened, right? Adam and Eve could not plead ignorance of the rules. This made their acts those of willful rebellion.

Noah 

Genesis {6:5-8} And GOD saw that the wickedness of man [was] great in the earth, and [that] every imagination of the thoughts of his heart [was] only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

As we reflect on God’s interactions with the human race, he always let someone know what the deal was before dramatically stepping into history. Let’s take a look at Noah and the Flood. Noah was somewhere between 500 (Genesis 5:32) and just over 600 years old (Genesis 7:11) when God told him to begin working on the Ark. If we consider just how big this ship was (450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet tall), how much construction material required, and the very basic nature of the tools available, the time required to complete it must have been great. Add to this a steep learning curve because it is unlikely Noah, or any member of his family were professional shipbuilders so this project could have taken decades.

Perhaps just as difficult as the task at hand was dealing with the neighbors. Recall that the society at that time was so bad that God determined it was necessary to wipe it out and start over. I suspect that it was even worse than today, although it seems we are well on the way toward replicating those conditions. Noah and his kin must have had a truly dreadful time dealing with the taunts, maybe even occasional sabotage of this project. (You can get something of the idea by seeing how the world deals with believers today.)

In this instance, God let Noah know what was coming a long time before the Flood was to occur and it seems certain Noah passed the message on, rejection of it notwithstanding. Significantly, God also followed it up with a final alert right before the Deluge was to come. (Genesis 7:1-10) Let’s keep that in mind.

Abraham 

Genesis {18:17, 20-21} And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do . . . And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.

The Genesis narrative which follows the above quotation recounts the discussion between Abraham and God concerning the latter’s decision to destroy those two cities. That the Lord would consider sparing them if only ten “righteous” people were found in them is a clear demonstration of his mercy and reluctance to inflict a “scorched earth” policy (literally, in this case) even upon people who so richly deserved it. Yet he also knew, in his omniscience, that there was one man and his immediate family who would not roll over for the evil of their society. Out of all the people in those desperately wicked cities, only four were found to be worth saving.

Lot

Genesis {19:15-16} And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.  And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. 

Lot and his family got advanced notice about the destruction God was about to send on Sodom and Gomorrah, just a matter of hours ahead of time. Lot even warned his sons-in-law, but it appears they had the same attitude about it that Noah’s contemporaries did. As a result, only Lot, his wife, and their two daughters got out. Unfortunately, only three were to ultimately survive because Lot’s wife paused to look back upon the destruction and was killed in the process. Once again, there was a warning right before the event. 

The Israelites in Egypt

Exodus {11:1} And the LORD said unto Moses, Yet will I bring one plague [more] upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go hence: when he shall let [you] go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether. 

For over 400 years, the Israelites had resided in Egypt, initially as a small family of refugees welcomed by its pharaoh because of his high regard for Joseph, Jacob’s son who had been sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. Over the centuries, their descendants “lived long and prospered” to such an extent as to cause great fear concerning them to arise in the mind of the increasingly hostile Egyptian ruler of Moses’ time. To deal with this perceived threat, this pharaoh imposed harsh labor upon the Israelites for beginners, culminating in infanticide as his paranoia grew.

Moses miraculously escaped the pharaoh’s edict and was adopted into his household. After learning of his heritage and killing an Egyptian in defense of a fellow Hebrew, he escaped into the desert and ended up in a land where he received his assignment from God to return and free his people – a task he only reluctantly accepted. I’m sure his reticence was further reinforced when he found that even his own people didn’t initially believe him when he got back to Egypt. (Exodus 5:20-23).

Nevertheless, he persisted with them and, at the same time, warned the pharaoh what would happen if he refused to let the people go – backing it up with unmistakable supernatural signs as evidence. Now if one wants to find fault with the Egyptian leader’s obstinacy, recall that such stubbornness was to be a recurring theme on the part of his own people as Moses led his people for forty years across the wilderness.

Oh, by the way, don’t forget that God did give Moses a final “heads up” in Genesis 11, telling him that after one final plague (the one that would kill all the first-born in Egypt, human and animal) the pharaoh would at last yield and let his people go.

A Pattern of Disclosure

The Bible itself is an on-going revelation of God, first to the Jews, and then to the rest of the human race. It words and warnings have persisted across thousands of years of history. But it doesn’t stop there because it also shows us what’s ahead of our own time. We’ve already seen the God provide long- term warnings and often short-term ones in the examples above. The Bible contains many more such occurrences, but I think these fairly disclose the pattern. Regarding the way the world will be in the Last Days, we’ve already been given a long-term look ahead in both the Old and New Testaments, but will there also be a more immediate warning just before the Rapture itself?

The Big Question 

Joel {2:28} And it shall come to pass afterward, [that] I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

This exact line was quoted by Peter at the very beginning of the Church (Acts 2:14-17), and I am certain this has continued in the intervening 2000 years. Will our “sons and daughters” prophesy and our old men “dream dreams” to a much greater degree as we watch our world slipping ever faster into the darkness which promises to intensify into the worst time in human history (Matthew 24:21)? Will extraordinary times produce extraordinary experiences? It is my belief that they very well might.

It seems that, for the most part, the world rolls along in a manner of “sameness” much as wise King Solomon described in Ecclesiastes:

Ecclesiastes {1:5-9} The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea [is] not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. All things [are] full of labour; man cannot utter [it:] the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.  The thing that hath been, it [is that] which shall be; and that which is done [is] that which shall be done: and [there is] no new [thing] under the sun.

Except for changes in technology and specifics, we humans pretty much travel the same route across the centuries. People are born, live their lives, have families, and die. Their descendants do the same thing. Yet every once in a while, we see something unprecedented during which God needs to directly intervene and make possible the “impossible,” such as in the examples given earlier.

Yet those events all pale in comparison to that one-time God literally stepped onto our world as one of us in the man, Jesus Christ. From that miraculous event, the world has never been the same. I think it is very possible that in the very near future, the world will again be profoundly changed when Jesus himself steps into history again to take his own off this disintegrating planet when he calls us to meet him up in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). Once we are safely gone, God will initiate on those left behind the kind of judgment and justice this fallen race has earned by continually ignoring all the warnings God has provided by those chosen across the ages to be his messengers.

Separating the Wheat from the Chaff

End-of-the-world predictions have probably been going on since the first humans encountered something drastic occurring in their environment. Volumes could be written on these alone. Limiting our range to “end of the world” date predictions, here are just three examples of “fake prophetic news:”

William Miller: October 22, 1844 (Nope!)

Harold Camping: End of 1994, May 5, 2011 (Sorry, Mr. C. – wrong on both counts!)

Watchtower Society (Jehovah’s Witnesses): 1925 (Obviously not!)

Jesus himself warned us of this sort of thing in the Olivet Discourse. False prophecy and prophets were the first items he listed. Some of these deceivers would even claim to be him:

Matthew {24:4} And Jesus answered and said unto them*, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. [*His followers.] 

Mark {13:5} And Jesus answering them* began to say, Take heed lest any [man] deceive you: For

many shall come in my name, saying, I am [Christ;] and shall deceive many. [*His followers.]

Luke {21:8} And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am [Christ;] and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.

How, then, do we determine which, if any, modern messages and those delivering them concerning the coming of the Rapture itself will be valid? Here is my own two-step litmus test:

1) Does the prediction go against anything Scriptural? If it does, then it fails the ultimate test. ( 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21). In this regard, be a Berean! (Acts 17:10-11)

2) Has the person or organization made an inaccurate prediction before? If it does, then he, she, or it is unreliable. Pay no attention. (Deuteronomy 18:22)

Feel free to add more qualifiers to your own list, but I suggest that the two above are a good place to starting. 

Conclusion 

As we can see, God always makes sure that his messages and warnings find their way to those to whom he intended. Whether or not they are accepted by the general populace, and, tragically, often they are not, is totally up to each individual.

Significantly for us, Jesus specifically warned that the condition of the world again be like those of Noe (Noah) and Lot (Luke 17:26-29). The growing and accelerating immersion of society into evil echoes the former, and its acceptance of sexual deviancy replicates that of the latter. Furthermore, research into the genetic manipulation of living organisms brings forth a very real potential of replicating the kind of Nephilim hybrids which lived on Earth just prior to the Flood (Genesis 6:1-4).

Does this mean that we are presently on the verge of a time when God will find it necessary to once again intervene? If this is so, isn’t it possible, more than that – probable – that he will choose modern-day messengers to receive and disseminate a final warning just before the that intervention, namely, the Rapture?

Jesus said:

Luke {21:28} And when these things* begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. *Refers to all the signs he himself and the Bible told us about the Last Days.

Last Question 

Are you ready to receive and accept such a message today?

Going through the news, the headline jumped at me in a startling jolt. Life does indeed imitate art—for certain when it comes to Bible prophecy.

“Whole Foods Ushering in Mark of the Beast with New Palm-Scanning Payment System”

The headline instantly took my thoughts to my first novel, which I started writing in about 1977 and was initially published much later, in 1999. Jacob’s Trouble 666 is the title, and it’s still available on Amazon.com in reprint.

The book was an attempt to portray through fiction what life might be like for the world and particularly for Jewish people during the earlier time in the Tribulation era. Even though the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:7) is about the last half of the Tribulation, my story covered basically the first half of the seven-year Tribulation period, following the Rapture. I envisioned—or tried to—the technologies as they might develop by the time that cruel moment of horror inflicts Antichrist rule upon the planet.

Here is a portion of that story written sometime around 1979, as I recall.

An old man shuffled tentatively into the checkout lane, avoiding the gaze of the checker. His broad head was bowed as if he sought to hide beneath the upturned collar of the ragged gray coat he wore. “You got an IN, mister?” Her question cut the air in a tone of disgust.

“Yes… Yes… See here.” The man let his eyes meet hers fleetingly while he pulled back the sleeve on his right arm and moved his hand to a position beneath the countertop Decode scanner, activating an ultraviolet light which made visible a bar code tattooed on the back of his hand. At the same time, the number appeared on the INRU screen:

5DD197920- J

Looking at the screen, the checker pushed a button, and data was added to the display.

5D019792O-J IN5DR – O – CREDIT LINE – D

“You don’t have any drawing rights, Jew! Take these and put them back where they belong!”

The little man shrunk deeper into the oversized coat, although he made a meek protest. “Please— but madam, I…”

“Just get these things back on the shelves, Jew!” She shoved the items roughly at him, cursing beneath her breath. Her outburst drew the attention of others in the Product Center and caused the controller to stiffen to alertness from his position near the exit.

While all eyes were on the frightened man, he moved from the counter and nervously replaced the foodstuffs on their various shelves. His face taking on the bloodless look of a man terminally ill, his only wish was to be gone from the Product Center.

“Are you Jew?” The controller collared him, snarling the question through clenched teeth.

“Answer me, old man!”

He slammed the smaller man hard against a nearby wall, then pushed his elbow into the captive’s throat. Unable to answer and growing dizzy because of pressure exerted on his windpipe, the man ceased to struggle against his powerful captor, who jerked and ripped at the overcoat, sending buttons flying when the coat tore open.

The controller pulled the coat apart, exposing a yellow, thread-stitched Star of David on the gray, tattered shirt.

“Why are you hiding this?” the angry policeman demanded, jabbing his finger into the center of the symbol. “You know it’s forbidden to conceal being Jew!”

Here’s the link to the novel.

JACOB’S TROUBLE – 666

The news item, then, as I say, jumped out and smacked my realization. We are at a point no doubt even past the technological development stage of the AI and other advancements which I tried to imagine back then. The following news item excerpt maybe will further enlighten.

Thanks to its acquisition by Amazon, Whole Foods Market is quickly morphing into the grocery store of the New World Order with a new cashless payment system that allows customers to wave their palm over a scanning machine in order to pay for their food.

Instead of having to hand over cash or a credit card, Whole Foods customers can simply wave their hand (and maybe soon their forehead?) through the machine and voila: purchase made.

According to an Amazon FAQ, the palm-scanning technology analyzes “the minute characteristics of your palm – both surface-area details like lines and ridges as well as subcutaneous features such as vein patterns” in order to identify a customer and allow for rapid purchase.

This biometric scanning tool is branded as a faster, easier alternative to paying with a credit card or cash.

The system is officially called Amazon One and it allows for Amazon Prime users to link their accounts and receive discounts and other promotions every time they opt to wave their palm through a kiosk at Whole Foods rather than pay with cash or a credit card… The ultimate goal is to completely phase out paper and coin currency and replace it with a cashless system. Amazon via Whole Foods is paving the way for this by testing out the new system at its Seattle locations. (“Whole Foods Ushering in Mark of the Beast with New Palm-Scanning Payment System,” NaturalNews.com, RR News  April 30, 2021)

Technology has caught up to and surpassed my imagination, it is obvious. Bible prophecy manifests for all who are willing to believe God’s truth that the Creator of all things knows the end from before the foundation of this now-fallen world. Life doesn’t really imitate art. Bible prophecy presents life in a story filled with truth only the God of Heaven can foretell.

The end-times electronic economic system of controlling the masses was written about by the Holy Spirit-inspired pen of John the Revelator on the Isle of Patmos.

And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. (Revelation 13:16–18)

Let’s pay attention to developments all around us. It is only upon doing this that we can truly anticipate the call we who belong to Christ can expect to hear soon.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17) 

Recently, a well-known evangelist was saying on the TV program he and his wife host that a Great Awakening is coming. This is what I’ve heard over the months since the time the 2020 presidential election approached. “The Great Awakening is on its way” continues to be the declaration by many of the conservative ilk in the arena of government, politics, and the ideological arena of societal and cultural thought.

By this, these proponents of that belief, I infer, mean that the people of the world—particularly those of the United States—will awaken en masse to the evil the radical leftists of the world and nation are perpetrating.

This was the first time, however, that I heard a person I considered to be a truly believing Christian leader of his spiritual magnitude say that a Great Awakening is on the way. I must be fair and tell you that I didn’t listen to the program, so can’t say for certain what he meant by the term; I can only say that he and his wife had as their guest that morning Dr. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas. They were going to talk about Dr. Jeffress book involving Bible prophecy, so I presume the term the host used in his promotion means the same Great Awakening in general, as predicted by the secular proponents of the matters involved in that term. Whether the TV show host was referring to a geopolitical/cultural/societal awakening or one of a spiritual nature, I don’t know.

The fact is, though, that the term “the Great Awakening” is used more and more often in venues outside of mainstream media. The people favoring things proposed by the term look for there to be an uprising by the vast majority. These will, it is believed, grow in such resistance and opposition to the so-called “woke” movement and all attendant to that insanity that the evil it all represents will be forced back into the proverbial box that restrains such deviation from normalcy.

In the world of those who are Bible believers, I perceive a mindset that equates the term “Great Awakening” with the matter many believe is a coming, worldwide revival. These declare that before Christ’s return at Armageddon there will be a tremendous turning to God. In some cases, they declare that a great multitude of souls will be saved in this predicted revival movement.

Many among those who believe that we are seeing a “Great Awakening” in the spiritual sense thought that Donald Trump’s election and subsequent support for faith-based causes was the onset of this “revival.” The economy and many social and cultural changes were, it seemed, poised for things improving to the point that America would be made great again in the sense the Founding Fathers intended. We were to again become a “Christian” nation, as in America’s founding. We wanted to get back to thinking more of the good of everyone rather than the uplifting of the few who rule rather than govern.

That altruistic outlook was a noble one. That was something worthy of longing for, even though the nation has never been truly a “Christian” nation in the purest sense. There have always been the bad and ugly to go along with the good. But the Make America Great Again movement came to a jolting halt with the sudden appearance of COVID-19.

Suddenly, the globalist agenda continues to be on the rise. The insanity represented by the proposals and demands the radical left envisioned for America—which we thought could never be accepted by normal people—became the track the nation seems be following to its perhaps fatal detriment.

So it seems that whether considering the term “the Great Awakening” or the term “great end-times revival,” either’s trajectory is on track to eventuate as thought. The movement is in the opposite direction.

The way things are tracking, however, is in sync with Bible prophecy for the end of the age.

Again, for those who are new as readers of our commentaries, the pre-Trib view of Bible prophecy is that before the Tribulation (the last seven years of this Age of Grace, or Church Age) arrives, Jesus Christ will call all believers to Himself in what is called the Rapture.  Paul the great apostle foretells this in 1 Corinthians 4:51–55 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18. Jesus first gave indication of this great event in John 14:1–3, and later gave the promise to us through John in Revelation 3:10.

Jesus, while on the Mount of Olives, just before His crucifixion, answered His disciples as to when He would return and the signs of His return. He gave a number of signals to look for, which we have covered many times.

He said that when we see these things (stage-setting signs) begin to come to pass we are to look up and lift up our heads for our redemption is drawing near.

We’ve given details over and over about the Tribulation (Daniel’s seventieth week). It will be a terrible time, Jesus forewarned, such as never was before, nor will ever be again.

These issues and events are literally in every direction and are proliferating exponentially. We are not witnessing things that look as if we can anticipate a “Great Awakening.” Things don’t in any way appear that people, either the lost or believers in Christ, are turning en masse to God in complete repentance, obedience, or worship.

I wish I could report that I observe otherwise, but I cannot. Just as Paul foretold, evil men and seducers are getting worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. The reprobate mindset prophesied by Paul in Romans 1:28 is front and center through our headlines.

All that said, there is good news, however. God the Father in Heaven and God the Holy Spirit, who is everywhere all the time, is at work restraining wickedness at every level throughout this evil sphere.  As bad as it seems, all is being prepared for God the Son—the Lord Jesus Christ—to make His appearance and put an end to the madness into which the world is devolving.

Heaven’s Great Awakening is just around the corner of Bible prophecy. For believers in Christ, that much-wished-for end-times revival is but one twinkling-of-an-eye moment away. The Rapture will bring for each and every child of God an awakening the likes of which is beyond fully knowing at this darkening, earthly moment.

Every believer of this Church Age who has died will, in that glorious moment, awaken to new life that is everlasting. Those who are alive at that instant will have all senses awaken to fantastic vistas that were beyond comprehension while in these earth-bound bodies.

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. (1 Corinthians 2:9)

Disturbing statistics about the nation I love bring again to mind the question: Why is America not mentioned in Bible prophecy?

It is the apex nation of history so far as concerns achieving material wealth and moving forward technology that defines the term “modernity.” America has been, as we’ve noticed on many occasions, among history’s most spiritually blessed and God-centered nation-states. Of course, we’re quick to recognize and state the obvious. That seems now a thing—for recent generations, at least—of the distant past.

Every day and in most every way it can be said that the US as currently constituted has turned our back on God and most things of the Heaven-directed sort. We watch on an hourly news-cycle basis while the political power wielders who committed electoral larceny work incessantly at trying to take apart this nation one constitutional safeguard after another. And they do so without seemingly significant push-back from all but a very few.

Sadly, it appears that a majority of we the people, rather than oppose things going on to destroy this once-great republic, just fall in line like proverbial lemmings. Evidence of this acquiescence is the very large number of people who accept an almost totally unproven and non-FDA approved vaccine. With government-engineered, fear-engendered COVID-19 at the center of the coercion, they are willing to give in to government directives to comply, if they want to be able to be American citizens in the same sense as before the so-called pandemic. Only, there is little chance of that ever being allowed to happen. Implied in this government demand that all be vaccinated with an unproven injection is that a vaccine passport is forthcoming. All will have to have it—or else stay sequestered within the confines of one’s home, I presume.

I don’t intend by this rant to advise in any way that one should or should not take the vaccine. That is a personal decision (at this point at least.) I’m more than implying, however, that I object strenuously to government, by proxy, forcing us to be jabbed, as it is termed by some.

I say “by proxy” because the politicians, very wise in their end-times deceit and treachery, are in league with big-business interests. They will, no doubt, let the business entities take the blame for requiring the vaccine passports that are undoubtedly on the way.

This is to say that in the near future you might not be allowed to go to Walmart or any other place to shop, or ride in public conveyance without your papers—yes, much like Nazi Germany began the Reign of Terror during der Führer’s rise to dictatorship.

The papers of vaccination are the new normal the powers that be want us to accept. And this while Dr. Anthony Fauci says we need to keep the masks on in public and avoid gathering.

All this, in my view of Bible prophecy, demonstrates the terrible effects of turning one’s back on God, which we mentioned at the beginning.

Is America the Babylon of Revelation 18? This is a query we’ve been over many times here, and others have explored on many occasions in Bible prophecy studies. I’ve indicated that I believe there are parallels that are hard to dismiss between that doomed, future city-state that will be destroyed in one hour and our beloved America. Time factors show, in my view, that it would be hard for another all-dominating empire-type state such as America has been to develop in the area of ancient Babylon—if Christ’s return is close.

I don’t hold that America and the prophesied Babylon are one and the same. I simply weasel out by saying it looks to me like there is a possibility that they are.

And when I see the description in Revelation chapter 18—“has been a golden cup in God’s hand”—I think of this Heaven-blessed nation.

As stated many times, we have spread the Gospel—carried out the Great Commission—as no other nation to ever exist. We have been blessed with the technology and travel capability to do so.

America has blessed God’s chosen nation Israel as no other nation has blessed that people. The US was instrumental in bringing about Israel’s rebirth in 1948 and has stood as a sort of big brother to protect the Jewish state since.

This blessing of Israel, too, is now on the dangerous side of down-trending with the Biden administration and a seeming increasing hostility toward Benjamin Netanyahu and the Jewish state.

The “golden cup” nation called America, it seems, is now cankering—rusting and deteriorating by the day. As a matter of fact, it has become rather a cesspool of Sodom-like activity in a significant way.

The following somewhat frames this truth.

There are a lot of things that we want America to be great at, but spreading sexually-transmitted diseases is not one of them.

And the numbers tell us that cases have been rising at a particularly frightening pace since 2015…

For 2019, health departments across the U.S. reported 1.8 million cases of Chlamydia, an almost 20% increase since 2015; 616,392 cases of gonorrhea, more than 50% higher than 2015, and 129,813 cases of all stages of syphilis, a whopping 70% increase, the CDC said.

So why is this happening?

Well, an NPR article on this subject is pointing out that dating apps have made finding casual sex easier than ordering a pizza…

There are many factors that contribute to the rise of STDs, and syphilis in particular.

In the gay community in San Francisco, for example, the rise of mobile dating apps like Grindr and Tinder made finding a date “faster than getting pizza delivered to your home,” says Dan Wohlfeiler, an STD prevention specialist and co-founder of Building Healthy Online Communities, which uses these apps to improve gay men’s health.

These dating apps are particularly popular among young people and in the gay community, and this is clearly showing up in the case numbers…

Additionally, gay and bisexual men and younger people also faced an increased burden. According to the report, gay and bisexual men made up nearly half of all 2019 primary and secondary syphilis cases and had gonorrhea rates that were 42 times higher than heterosexual men in some areas, whereas people aged 15 to 24 years accounted for 61% of chlamydia cases and 42% of gonorrhea cases.

It is important to keep in mind that chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis are just three pieces of a much larger puzzle.

According to the CDC, there are dozens of STDs currently spreading in the United States.  Approximately 20 million new STD infections occur in the U.S. every single year, and at any moment in time approximately 110 million Americans are dealing with a sexually-transmitted disease. (“We’re #1”: Yet Another Ignominious All-Time Record High Is Established In The Late, Great United States,” by Tyler Durden (article by Michael Snyder), ZeroHedge, April 15, 2021)

America, in significant, wicked ways, has now become like the sexually debauched days of Sodom of Lot’s day. There seems no turning back, although we should pray and work toward that changed trajectory.

This all means that Jesus, and His time for stepping out on the clouds of Glory to call His Church to be with Him, might be even at the door of Heaven. We who are called by His Holy Name can take comfort from His own Words. We can take comfort because all we are seeing might mean that things are now like they were in Lot’s day when God intervened. The next Intervention, I believe Jesus is saying, will be the Rapture!

Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. (Luke 17:28–29)