Presidential Political Purulence
An infection is spreading among the American populace. It isn’t of the bacteriological or viral sort in the biological sense. But, it is an epidemic in some ways more virulent, more septic. It seems to have contaminated society at every level–even Christian pastors I would have thought would have been biblically vaccinated against the anti-God strain.
Unrestrained by apparently any prophylactic inhibitor, such as media censorship or even Moral Majority-type protective shielding, the salacious show goes on. And, it is made manifest before the nation and the world in an observably, unabashedly shameless display.
It shouldn’t surprise, one must suppose. We’ve had hints of such lasciviousness within the White House, particularly since JFK’s passing–that is, since enough time has passed that historical spelunkers have exposed the sexual trysts in the White House of Camelot’s leader way back there fifty-plus years ago.
A president was later deemed a “crook” by the Watergate inquisitionist. But, other than often-expletive, deleted language discovered on the infamous recordings of the Nixon White House, there was nothing even remotely approaching the sexual goings-on like during the Kennedy White House years.
Many accounts of LBJ and his rather raw and rowdy approach to the presidency have since produced accounts of sexual debauchery in the White House. But, until Bill Clinton, all was kept in the Oval Office closet. That closet was opened for all to know when that president’s activities with the young intern within the small study just off the oval room was uncovered.
That down-and- dirty activity–a paraphrase of how Obama’s preacher, Jeremiah Wright, put it–opened the once-high office of the presidency to the cesspool humor and conversation once reserved for the porn magazines and shops where only the most derelict would openly venture.
Now, on the presidential election debate stages where once the all-important issues and events of our time were heard, we are subjected regularly to debased topics once only discussed in those forbidden books such as in Xaviera Hollander’s The Happy Hooker.
Talk of male and female genitalia are in today’s political discourse thrown about in vulgar, slang invectives as readily as Richard Nixon might have once thrown accusations that John F. Kennedy was too young and inexperienced for the presidency.
It is an astonishing thing to consider–the Nixon-Kennedy debates (or any other) as against what we are seeing now.
I remember the kind of gutter talk we are hearing by presidential candidates today thrown about by teenage boys during junior high and high school when I was in the ninth grade or so. Back then, those lunkheads–of which I was much too often one–would never deign to bring that sort of conversation out into the light of adult society.
Now, we have presidential wannabees talking about such things–right out in front of the bright lights and cameras, proudly airing their braggadocios salaciousness for the world to hear.
There is, obviously, according to the polls, a vast, reality show-type audience that is entertained by all of this new “populist” political trash-mouth talk. Those who aren’t necessarily amused or entertained by it sit in silence for the most part, overlooking the degree to which the once most- respected office in the land is being debased and degraded.
Some of this silent sort, as I say, are recognized names within evangelical Christianity. It is most distressing to have to acknowledge that this is the case.
This is not to put down any one presidential candidate, or to build up another. My only exhortation to the reader is that you use much discretion and pray for godly discernment during this crucial election season.
We are in prophetic times, of this I have no doubt. America is subjected to this presidential political purulence at a time when powers and principalities in high places intend to assert their wickedness upon a generation ripe for the coming Antichrist rise to power.
The Scripture that comes to mind should serve as a mirror into which we, the voters, should look, while doing our best to move in a direction other than moved the once-condemned people the Scripture depicts.
Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.
I will surely consume them, saith the LORD: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them. (Jeremiah 8:12-13)
Prophetic Particulars – Conclusion
Those of us who look at world conditions through the lens of the pre-millennial, pre-tribulation scope of things to come believe ours is the correct view of Bible prophecy. We reach that understanding, in part, when considering that 1) Israel must be at the center of world controversy at the very end of the age; and 2) Antichrist can’t be revealed as the man of sin until believers of the Church Age are removed from planet earth.
Now, the details of developments on the geopolitical last-days’ landscape grow ultra-fascinating. We have shown that Israel has become the center of controversy, exactly like Zechariah the prophet foretold that nation will be at the end of the age. We have looked at how this prophetic stage-setting has eventuated, with America’s alliance with and influence upon Israel bringing the Jewish state to the center of the end-times spotlight.
At the same time, we’ve delved into how the United States of America has gone into decline like the deteriorating visage of a terminally ill cancer patient. Why is the U.S. not mentioned in Bible prophecy? Perhaps we are learning why, as previously dissected, with America’s wealth currently being siphoned by the geopolitical power that will one day have a military force that will kill one-third of all peoples on earth at the time China and others of East Asia rampage into the Occidental world across the dried-up Euphrates River.
American tax dollars are paying for the equipping of that future juggernaut, it appears. America’s decline seems related to the country’s movement away from friendship with and close support of God’s chosen nation. Again, America looks to be key to developing prophetic stage-setting when thinking on what’s going on with the area of the world out of which history’s final and most despotic tyrant will emerge. Antichrist’s launching pad will be Europe–the area of ancient Rome, the prophet Daniel foretells (Dan. 9: 26-27).
Europe spawned World Wars I and II, and was in near total shambles following the Allied victory over Germany, Japan, and Italy. The Marshall Plan, conceived, implemented, and paid for by the United States, rebuilt that prophetically destined continent.
The European Common Market came into being in 1957, engendered by the Treaty of Rome. This followed a number of European nations agreeing to form the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951, which was implemented in 1952. Other agreements moved European nations closer, like the treaties establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). The formation of the European Economic Community (EEC) brought Europe to the point of coming into the prophetic picture as what will one day form the revived Roman Empire. Point is, none of these developments would have happened as they did if not for U.S. rescue of Europe from the ravages of WW II. This isn’t meant to give America undue accolades. The U.S. would, itself, never have existed if not for the God of heaven’s divinely appointed purpose for the American republic in end-times development.
The intricate linkages with the U.S. economy have kept Europe–and the western world, for that matter—at an elevated economic level never attained in history. The interlinkages of America and its dollar with all of these nations mentioned in Bible prophecy are nothing short of miraculous, when one truly studies the details involved. America’s loss of economic power is presently having a deleterious impact on most every nation on the planet–except, perhaps, China, which, again, looks to be the entity assigned by destiny to be the chief agent for siphoning wealth and power from the most materially blessed nation to ever exist.
The ominous bubble of economic catastrophe is building hourly for America and all nations of planet earth. There is almost certainly no human way to prevent it from eventually bursting. It becomes more obvious by the day to those who see prophetic developments from a premillennial, pre-Tribulation viewpoint that it is only God’s staying hand that prevents the explosion that will collapse the global economy.
I believe–again, based on what I know to be the pre-mil, pre-trib view God’s Word presents regarding prophecy yet future–that it will be the Rapture of the church (all born-again believers in Jesus Christ) that will burst that explosive bubble.
All stage-setting factors are in place–in detail—for the coming to power of Antichrist and his regime of murderous tyranny. It will be an economically driven dictatorship of absolute control over buying and selling, as Revelation 13:16-18 clearly presents.
That “prince that shall come” (Dan. 9:26) can’t appear on the world stage (2 Thess. 2:3) until the church is removed to heaven when Jesus Christ calls all believers to be with Him (John 14:1-3; 1 Thess. 4:16-17; Rev. 4:1). It is upon the Rapture that this world’s immense bubble of false security based upon Satan’s lies will burst and the humanistic structures of false hope will come crashing to dust.
The singular, most fascinating detail out of all of prophecy to remember is the following: “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21).
His name is Jesus!
Rapture Delayed
We have looked a number of times in this column at those who mock the end-times message and the Rapture in particular. Because those who scoff have been of the abrasive, unbelieving variety for the most part, there is a standard Bible verse reply I’ve usually employed in response.
The scriptural reply has most often been intended to let those mocking know that they are, in actuality, fulfilling Bible prophecy.
Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. (2 Peter 3:3-4)
As of late, however, such a reply doesn’t quite fit that which should compose an appropriate response. That is because the questions are coming weekly from genuine believers in the Pre-Trib Rapture of the Church. These Christians are worried–some very worried.
These look around them and on every side they see and feel the satanic pressures from this fallen sphere closing in. Issues and events –the very ambience in which they find their lives engulfed–generate thoughts that their circumstance is beginning to look much like the Bible’s description of the Tribulation itself.
To illustrate the growing angst, I’ve chosen the email of one such Christian brother who wrote this past week. His words pretty much get right to the point of the many other emails expressing like emotion. Here it is in its entirety:
Why is the Lord delaying the rapture? It should have happened years ago. We would be in the millennium now enjoying true peace and prosperity without the suffering. I don’t get it. It’s God call of course but 58 million aborted babies in the US since 1973, Christians tortured and murdered worldwide, people who believe in Jesus longing for his return suffering immensely. I don’t get it where is our Lord and Savior?
The emailer didn’t use any soft nuances of greetings or any other niceties. He just laid his spirit-distressed emotions right out there.
You don’t answer such gut-wrenching concern with the apostle Peter’s prophecy as given above. This child of God is worried. He is puzzled; he is perplexed. It’s the kind of questioning I’ve heard in my own kid’s anxieties when they were young and felt disappointed for one of my failures or the other to keep a promise. “Dad should never let me down like that” is the tone.
Only, this perceived unkept promise isn’t from an imperfect, human father. I say “perceived unkept promise” because the promise isn’t unbroken whatsoever. The error is in the question of the imperfect child asking it. His Perfect Father will, as always, be one hundred percent faithful to keep every promise made.
The Lord Jesus, Himself, in His ascended position, said the following to John the Revelator:
Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. (Revelation 3:10)
Jesus said it, and that means the Heavenly Father said it–promised it! Jesus said that He and the Father are One. They are inseparable–one and the same–the first and second Persons of the Godhead–the Trinity.
God cannot lie, the Scripture tells us. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. God keeps His promises. So, this brother in Christ, like all the other believers who look to the “blessed hope” of Titus 2: 13, who are in fear and worry while watching this fallen world closing in, need an answer from the Word of God.
The Heavenly Father gave the answer to Peter to pass along to us, just a bit farther on in Scripture. The answer to why the Rapture hasn’t occurred as soon as almost all of us wish it would occur is, at least in part, wrapped up in the following:
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)
The Tribulation that will follow this Age of Grace will be filled with horrors that even John, under divine inspiration, had trouble describing. The Lord wants to provide every moment possible during this present dispensation for those lost in their sin to come safely into the shelter who is His beloved Son Jesus Christ. God wants this for the lost, because, following the Rapture, making the decision to accept Christ for salvation will be more difficult by a multiple of factors. Facing beheading is but one of those factors!
That is the reason–or at least a primary reason–the Rapture hasn’t yet occurred in this generation, according to God’s Word.
That said, I must take notable exception with the emailer’s contention that God is “delaying” the Rapture. You can take this to the bank–well, to the banks the way they used to be–God is not delaying the Rapture. It will happen precisely in the twinkling of the eye at the moment the Father has determined.
Jesus said:
But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. (Matthew 24:36)
God knows exactly the instant He will send His Son to get His Bride, make no mistake. There is no delay.
On that note, issues and events closing in on us show that we are almost certainly very near that exhilarating moment of instantaneously finding ourselves face to face with the Lord Jesus. Just how near we are to the Rapture–if we could indeed know–would likely allay all fears.
I’m excited to tell you that my new book, Rapture Ready … Or Not: 15 Reasons This Is the Generation That Will Be Left Behind, is at present being prepared within the publishing process. Because of the lateness of the prophetic hour, I sense to a degree never experienced before that this is a book I’ve been commissioned to write. We will be able to tell you more soon, Lord willing.
Prophetic Particulars – Part Two
Every examination of prophecy about the very end of the Church Age that deals with the nations and their individual and collective fates/destinies must begin and end with Israel. Therefore, we continue looking at details of modern Israel as juxtaposed against all nations–thus to determine how the minute elements of ongoing developments in geopolitics are setting the prophetic stage for Christ’s return.
Previously, we looked at how Israel and Jerusalem are at ground zero for the diplomatic world. The international community correctly sees this as the place on earth most likely to be the ignition point for World War III. It is intriguing to dissect with the scalpel of Bible prophecy each and every layer of development in the geopolitical issues and events of our time that involve the modern Jewish state. Iran is a most fascinating case in point.
Persia, as we have looked at many times, is listed as a key player that assaults Israel in the Ezekiel 38-39 Gog-Magog prophecy. Modern Iran is at the center of what was ancient Persia, as we know.
With Iranian Shah Mohammed Rezā Pahlavi being in power through most of the 1970s, Israel didn’t have to be overly concerned about neighbors to that section of its north. One reason was because America’s military, particularly the U.S. Air Force, worked closely with the Shah’s air force in training and maintenance missions. I can report this from more-or-less personal secondhand information, because my own father-in-law was in charge of all aircraft maintenance for American-made military aircraft in Iran’s arsenal through 1976. The shah was America’s friend, even if sometimes being beastly in treatment of his own people, and looking down his nose at Israel to his south.
Point is, Bible prophecy students were hard pressed to see how the Gog-Magog force could ever be formed, with this arrangement in place. We know what happened, as we think on how quickly things have fallen in place one event after the other since the shah’s fall in 1979.
America, under the Carter administration, was run out of town, literally, with the coming of the Iranian Revolution, as the Islamists came to power under the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Iran became increasingly bellicose against the West, and, of course, became blood-lust determined to erase Israel and every Jew off the map.
Russia and the present Iranian regime have become working partners at many levels, the most troubling at the nuclear level. The Gog-Magog nucleus has formed between Russia, Iran (Persia), and Turkey (Togarmah) within less than two years.
It’s also prophetically amazing to watch a most-asked question among prophecy students in process of being answered by the flood of developing issues and events. Why is America not mentioned in Bible prophecy? It is the most powerful nation ever to exist… Again, it is intriguing to consider that America was instrumental in all of these developments–as one would expect the most powerful nation ever to exist to be, I suppose.
America “defeated” the Soviet Union” through tactics involving cold war attrition–and the heart of that antagonist became again “Russia.” This territorial rearrangement aligns almost precisely with the ancient geographical area called “Rosh,” the leader of which the prophet Ezekiel foretold will be “Gog” of the Gog-Magog war against Israel.
The United States has slipped from its ultimate superpower status since that time of the Reagan-led peaceful defeat of the Soviet Union. Under the Obama Administration, America’s economic standing, thus its fiscal hegemony over the other nations of the world, has declined, some say precipitously. Prophecy students of the premillennial, pretrib perspective can point with a certain amount of credibility to the fact that America’s slippage coincides closely with this nation’s bringing pressure on the Israeli government to give in to demands that they give up land for peace with their Islamist neighbors.
At the same time, China, which most students of the premill, pretrib viewpoint of Bible prophecy believe is the chief nation that will make up the “kings-of-the-east” force that will one day kill one-third of the world’s population, is draining U.S. economic power while buying up American assets. America is, in effect, funding the development of the awesome military force predicted in Revelation 9:16 This would have been flabbergasting to even consider during those Reagan years, and that hasn’t been that many years ago. China! Of all nations on earth–China has answered the question: Why is America not mentioned in Bible prophecy? The United States can also be seen as instrumental in the details of developing Bible prophecy regarding the region that is foretold to spawn the world’s most despicable dictator.
Daniel the prophet said that this “prince that shall come” will emerge from the people that “destroy the city and sanctuary.” Most premill, pretrib students of Bible prophecy view this to mean that Antichrist will come from the area of Rome–from Europe, in general—as the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple in A.D. 70. Again, the viewpoint is important to recognize, because the premill, pretrib view–in almost every instance of examination of prophecy yet future–provides logical placement, thus explanation, of what we have watched develop in world headlines–especially since Israel became a nation again May 14, 1948.
America’s influence has been absolutely profound in bringing the modern Jewish state into prominence. My book, The American Apocalypse: Is the United States in Bible Prophecy?, details the intricacies of America’s part in that rebirth. The United States’ influence in bringing modern Europe into prophetic configuration is only slightly less profound. Next time, Lord willing, we will continue looking at the many facets of those and other developments toward fulfillment of the final prophecies leading up to Christ’s Second Advent.
Prophetic Tech Part Four – By Ed Wood
Revelation {13:16-18} 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. * the false prophet
I open this article with the same passage I used in its predecessor because there is still more to cover on this topic – that of the Antichrist’s absolute control of the future world. One of the best ways to control someone is to control his or her personal finances. Let’s face it, throughout history, and probably even before written history existed, this has always been the case. The people who had greater resources, or were believed to have them, have always called the shots over those who didn’t. The tribe that could hunt better either because it had access to the best hunting areas, or had better weapons or prowess, or even simply outnumbered a neighboring tribe could easily tell the latter what to do. It might even get to the point of the second becoming the vassals of the first.
With the passage of time this principle has been a constant. Even the modern system of employer and employee is based on one having greater economic resources than the latter. In fact, until the Twentieth Century when workers began to organize, the relationship could be extremely one-sided. However the shadows of those pre-union times were starting to reappear in the closing two decades of the previous century up and continue even in a country as sophisticated as the United States up to this very day. Now please understand, I am not a socialist pushing to redistribute wealth by legislation. Yet in recent years we have seen corporate greed push good jobs overseas to the detriment of the employees of those companies that helped them prosper in the first place. Tax legislation has actually helped them do just that, making it more economically attractive to move their operations out of the country. It seems to be a very basic unfairness in having the very people being forced out of work by such actions actually having to subsidize it by their own annual tax burdens.
The condemnation of the exploitation of workers even shows up in the Bible!
Jeremiah {22:13} Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; [that] useth his neighbour’s service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;
Malachi {3:5} And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in [his] wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger [from his right,] and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.
Of course, in the U.S. the situation today in no way approaches the deplorable state of virtual (and actual) slavery that widely exists in some other nations, even to the trafficking of human beings, something the Bible clearly states that God will handle in his own way in the future to those doing such loathsome things to their fellows.
This is but one more demonstration of just how powerful a role economics has always played in shaping the course of our lives and those of our ancestors – a principle that the coming world dictator will exploit as no one ever has been able to do before, thanks to modern technology.
Cash or Charge?
An Efficient Medium if Exchange. Before the idea of currency became dominant, barter was the only way to conduct business. If you had extra livestock, you could trade with neighbor for his extra grain. Or head into the village and swap a cow for some tools. He, in turn, could swap the cow for ore to process into more tools, etc. It was simple enough, but obviously limited. After all, cows are pretty large animals and not easily portable. (And how would make change??) Even if they walk by themselves it’s still a pretty slow process. If the deal fell through, a person would have to walk the creature all the way back home.
The answer is to use some kind medium both parties agree has a value to “do the deal.” Some Native Americans used seashells. Gold and silver were ideal and until the last century the U.S. and many other countries based its paper currency on physical deposits of both. Concerning coins, they could be made out of metals themselves such as gold, silver, or in the case of pennies, copper. A long time ago, America issued paper “silver certificates.” The paper note was a really “bill” that said the government owed you a dollar’s worth of silver for your note. A person could actually turn it in and get the silver. Now our paper money is labeled merely as a Federal Reserve Note, no longer backed up by silver at all. If you think about it, the only reason this works is because everyone using dollars agrees that they’ll accept them for payment for goods and services. The important concept here is that as long as all parties accept on a medium of exchange, business can go on.
Another feature of currency is that it is a “bearer instrument.” Whoever has it in his or her pocket has the right to spend it any way her or she wishes. This is different than writing or receiving a bank draft – i.e. a check. This is intended only to be useable from a specific party to a specific party. Get caught issuing or cashing one of these documents fraudulently and you could find yourself in prison. Credit cards work on the same principle.
The last feature of cash verses a check or credit card is that for all intents and purposes, the transaction is anonymous. With the latter two, an electronic record is produced containing the name of the purchaser, the merchant, and even what was bought. For the most part, this is very beneficial for all concerned because such records allow everyone to keep track of their finances. However for those involved in less than legitimate activities, these records can be used to prosecute them. Of course, catching criminals is an activity we can all support and as long as the system isn’t abused, there isn’t a problem. More on this later!
One more important point I’d like to make is that there is a definite trend worldwide toward what is called a “cashless society,” one in which currency becomes totally supplanted by electronic banking. This means that more and more every person’s financial dealings will be recorded in a computer someplace. If this kind of system becomes universal, then without a credit card or other medium of electronic access, you won’t be able to buy or sell a thing! Is any of this starting to sound familiar?
The Mark of the Beast – Frightening Possibilities
In the last article we’ve seen that the implantation of small, self-contained electronic circuits into pets and people is already a reality. We’ve also seen external devices such as smart cards and speed passes and their almost magical properties already being used to electronically perform financial functions. The fusion of these technologies on a large scale seems only a matter of time and if underway before the Antichrist actually shows up will no doubt be co-opted by him and his False Prophet henchman.
If a tiny electronic chip can be imbedded into a credit card, or speed-pass device, or even a pet, then why not into human beings? Guess what? It has already been done! From the Daily Mail we have:
Australian man who’s had a microchip inserted into his hand so that he can do more with the iPhone 6…maybe
By Louise Cheer for Daily Mail Australia Updated: 02:12 EST, 8 September 2014
- Advertising director Ben Slater had the microchip inserted two weeks ago
- It was implanted in the webbing of his hand at a Melbourne tattoo parlour
- Mr. Slater hopes the new generation iPhone will be able to read the chip
- He is able to open doors and switch on lights without touching anything
I suspect that the longer this technology exists, the more it will become a part of every- day life, just like the cell phone is presently. I can imagine a sales pitch for such a device for a financial access chip going like this:
“Stop worrying about losing your credit card or having it stolen! With ‘BankChip’ you’ll never have to worry about that again. And how about convenience? Why, just walk into the store of a participating merchant, make your selection, and simply walk out the door. Our electronic inventory systems will automatically record your purchases and debit your account. No more waiting in long, annoying lines! Sign up today and receive a special bonus. Log on to our website for further details.”
I am quite sure it will start out as a completely voluntary offer and that a lot of people will be eager to be among the first to sign up. So when the Antichrist and False Prophet appear on the scene a lot of their work in this regard will already have been done for them. But the Revelation passage concerning this appears to indicate that there will be hold-outs that’ll need some arm twisting to get them on board. Those that still refuse will be effectively shut out of the economy. How they’ll survive, if they do, is anyone’s guess.
But this is only part of the story. It will get a lot worse for those who do enroll!
No Hope, No Escape
Revelation {14:9-10} And the third angel followed them *, saying with a loud
voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive [his] mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. *Two other angels who were mentioned in the verses preceding this passage.
Not only will people be required to get marked to participate in the economy, but they will have to worship this coming “man of sin” as well. The reason is that three and a half years into the seven year Tribulation he will occupy the rebuilt Holy of Holies and proclaim himself as “God.” Here are the two relevant passages that describe this:
Daniel {11:36} And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
Revelation {13:11-15} And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by [the means of] those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
We see from the passages above that in order to be able to “buy and sell” people will have to get marked in some way on (or perhaps “in”) the forehead or forearm. But before they can receive this “mark of the beast,” they’ll have to worship him first. What we also learn is that once this all takes place, there is no tuning back. For these people there are no second chances, no way to ever make things right.
For me, I’ve always had a hard time trying to make this fit in the account of God’s Son who forgave even those who’d condemned him to the most appalling and horrible kind of death one can ever imagine and even in his agony did the same to one of the criminals crucified with him. Yet there is one unforgivable sin that I can point to in the Bible, as explained by Jesus himself:
Mark {3:28-29} Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.
This in itself is puzzling and I cannot say with certainly exactly what “blasphemy against the Holy Ghost” is. The best answer I can come up with is a refusal to believe in Jesus, who was empowered by that self-same Holy Spirit:
John {1:32-33} And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. * John the Baptist
Furthermore, this neatly ties in with something that Paul also said:
Romans {8:14-17} For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons
of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with [him,] that we may be also glorified together.
Without the operation of the Holy Ghost, one can never accept God. Without that, one is lost. Therefore, it would seem to me that those who accept the mark of the beast lose their ability to ever change their minds and repent. Since we are exploring the role that technology might play in the days to come, is there anything that exists today that could possibly be involved? What about this procedure described by staff members of the Mayo Clinic in a web posting?
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a procedure that uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells in the brain to improve symptoms of depression. Transcranial magnetic stimulation may be tried when other depression treatments haven’t worked. With TMS, a large electromagnetic coil is placed against your scalp near your forehead. The electromagnet used in TMS creates electric currents that stimulate nerve cells in the region of your brain involved in mood control and depression.
Presently this procedure is administered via an external magnetic coil placed near the forehead, but who is to say that it could not be done via some manner of implanted device? Maybe even inside the forehead? Isn’t it interesting that this is also one of two locations for the “beast mark?” One can also wonder just how far this “mood control” function can be pushed. It seems to me that electronic mind control would be the perfect means of controlling entire populations, right down the Antichrist’s alley, don’t you think? It is also easy to imagine that once a person is “chipped” with some manner of internal TMS device losing his or her free will – including the ability to ever change one’s mind! Among the choices lost would be the paramount one of ever turning back to God!
Electromagnetic mind control might be supplemented with implants that deliver measured amount of drugs directly into the bloodstream. We don’t have to wait for such devices to be invented yet, either because, like the implantable microchip, they also already exist! From Kurzweil AI | Accelerating Intelligence News we have:
MIT spinoff Microchips Biotech has partnered with Teva Pharmaceutical, the world’s
largest producer of generic drugs, to commercialize its wirelessly controlled, implantable, microchip-based devices that store and release drugs inside the body over a period of years.
Concluding Thoughts
As with our past explorations into the role technology may play in making the nightmare world of the Antichrist a reality, we now have added an economic system so rigidly controlled by electronics that virtually no one will be exempt. Couple this with devices that can literally control one’s very thoughts by remote control and even the very word “freedom” may no longer be remembered.
I do not pretend that the technologies I’ve described will cause the nightmare world of the Antichrist to come to pass exactly in the ways I’ve described them, but it is clear that we have reached a time when they could at any time!
Paradoxically at a time when human technological prowess has reached unprecedented heights, it has in its arrogance become dismissive of God and subsequently increasingly ignorant of what he has revealed of the days to come in the pages of his Word. As such, when the Antichrist and his False Prophet walk onto the world stage, most of humanity will welcome them both with open arms, never realizing just how badly they have been deceived. The human race won’t be able to say it was never warned, will it?
Next time we’ll look at how technology may be used to change the very nature of life itself.
The Crisis Awaits
President Obama recently made the statement, in effect, that anyone who tells us the economic situation in the United States is not getting better is “peddling fiction.” This he said despite the fact that the debt clock is ticking at a rate that will soon have Americans and generations to come owing beyond $20 trillion. Extrapolated out over an extended number of years, some economists are saying unfunded liabilities of this nation amount to in excess of $200 trillion.
Like it or not, believe it or not, you and I are being swept along by the tide of human history toward something profoundly ominous. Hourly news accounts, no matter how much they’ve been doctored to try to present a recovering national and global economic picture, engender fearful concerns about things to come.
It is almost impossible to grasp the causes and effects of the evil shaping and moving America and the world toward a destiny the supposed best minds on the planet can’t determine. However, that inability to define the problems, much less find solutions, doesn’t stop them from making seemingly wild stabs at trying to channel all of us into a drastically changed economic national and world order.
But, are their attempts really wild stabs, or is there method to their madness?
History is replete with attempts to reshape national and even global economic realities. Money equals power and power exerts control upon this fallen planet. Power is the ultimate endgame of all who seek it for themselves.
Henry Kissinger put it this way: “Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.”
The declaration can be understood in recalling the most ancient of accounts of an infamous personality seeking the greatest of all power:
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. (Isaiah 14:13–14)
Humankind’s determination to do the same—acquire the power to which the angel named Lucifer aspired—hasn’t changed since the serpent first told Eve that she and Adam would be like God if they ate from the fruit of the forbidden tree (see Genesis 3:5). Tracing the serpent’s trail of power madness to a later time recorded in the Bible (Genesis chapter 11), Nimrod was the would-be one-world- order builder of his day, following the Great Flood of Noah’s time. He, like every megalomaniac since, lusted for God-like power.
Man’s lust for power continues to grow; he has not learned the lessons of the past because, as a whole, he regards the Word of God as irrelevant to the governance of the earth. One philosopher of renown, George Santayana, put it this way: “He who does not remember history is condemned to repeat it.”
The corruption that God saw and condemned in antediluvian times, which caused Him to destroy all upon the earth except eight people, has again reached a dangerous level. Dictators prove the truth of another bit of philosophical wisdom, this by Lord Edward Acton: “All power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
In my estimation we see this level of power being sought in the words and actions of the current presidential administration. Circumventing the U.S. Constitution at every opportunity because this president has “a phone and a pen” poses a danger to this republic. To at the same time have another branch of government that is supposed to act as a check and balance to an out-of-control executive, yet does nothing to present opposition, creates real and present danger to this nation.
While mainstream media types of network and cable seemingly sway acceptingly in the mesmerizing economic flute notes of the charmer — the real peddler of fiction — the immediate future looks ominously bleak, according to true financial experts who are without the benefit of the mainstream’s ubiquitous microphones and cameras to get out their warning. The nation and the world are about to experience economic collapse the likes of which has never occurred, is their message.
These are most all in agreement. There will come a trigger point, or a tipping point. This will be one moment in time, and it will prick the immense financial bubble that the money powers that be have manipulated to this point of crisis we face.
My own belief continues to be that it is God’s great hand of control rather than the would-be economic masters that has prevented the bubble from bursting. The crisis awaits the moment in time when the Lord, Himself, will burst the bubble.
If one studies carefully the news of late, it becomes clear that the term “cashless system” is coming more and more into vogue. The economic gurus at the highest levels — in human terms and in supernatural, satanic terms — seem to be preparing a system of Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). They want to do away with physical currency and go to the cashless, computer system so they can carry out their sleight-of-hand, monetary machinations electronically.
The marks-and-numbers system of economics of Revelation 13:16-18 is more than just on the drawing board. We are seeing it come to pass in our daily news. All that is required for its implementation is the crisis that will bring it forward. I am convinced that crisis will be created by the Rapture of all who name the name of Christ.
Prophetic Particulars – Part One
We have been observing prophetic developments in these commentaries for years. So, why present an article on prophetic matters in an over-all sense as if it was covering something new?
I hope, in this multi-part essay, to do something significantly different. Rather than look in a broad, general way at the major issues we cover so often, I want to take a look at the fascinating, specific way these prophecies have been brought into focus at a time I believe is the very end of this dispensation, the Age of Grace (Church Age)–i.e., I want to look at some of the more intricate details of the dynamics and circumstances that have shaped each of the major prophecies for this very hour.
Geopolitical Details
Modern Israel, as we consistently say, is the number-one signal of where this generation stands on God’s prophetic timeline. That nation is, therefore, the best example in the geopolitical arena to use for focusing on details of issues and events shaping the stage-setting for Bible prophecy fulfillment. The student who watches Bible prophecy develop from the premillennial, pretrib viewpoint has, with clarity others can’t see, I think, seen Israel come back into its own land, with its ancient national language restored. It did so following a miraculous rebirth into modernity on a single day, just as prophesied (Isa. 66: 6-9). The intricate details of the amazing rebirth are there to be gleaned by the hundreds, if not thousands.
Pressured in AD 135 through genocidal action by Roman Emperor Hadrian to leave their homeland given them by God, the Jews scattered into many nations of the world. God’s chosen people never truly found peace; rather, they mostly encountered persecution and death during the intervening centuries leading to coming back in large numbers following the Balfour Declaration of 1917.
Hitler’s perpetration of genocide upon the Jews during the time leading up to and through World War II, culminating in the Holocaust, shamed the world into allowing a Jewish state to be reborn. What Satan meant for evil in trying to thwart God’s promise to Israel being fulfilled, God turned into good. However, demonic rage by the false religion of Islam continued to fester, breaking into all-out warfare against Israel on numerous occasions. God Gave Israel the victory in every instance that nation was attacked.
Now, to look at the clearly observable, detailed kinds of prophetic movement wrought by recent events involving the modern Jewish state. Zechariah the prophet declared the whole world will turn against Israel and Jerusalem, in particular, at the end of human history. Israel’s refusal to give in to demands by the Palestinian Authority (PA)–merely the proxy entity for all of Israel’s Islamist Arab and Iranian antagonists– has brought condemnation of practically every nation on earth.
We’ve all watched the anger spew from the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, and from the leadership of practically every nation represented in the UN General Assembly. They threaten to grant the PA its request for nationhood, using much of Israel’s land, including East Jerusalem, in which to establish the new country’s capital. The U.S. presidential administration has thus far, in my estimation, shown little more than token interest in opposing this assault on Israel’s sovereignty.
Israel’s only true friends left on the planet consist mostly of evangelical Christians, particularly those who see with the clarity mentioned above through the premillennial, pretrib prism. When the Church–the Body of Christ—is called out of this fallen planet, Israel will be alone, or so it will seem.
But, not so.
At that moment when all seems lost, Michael the archangel will stand for that chosen people (Daniel 12: 1). God Himself will deal with and for His chosen people and the city He equates to the “apple” of His eye. All is shaping into the prophetic picture, with details filling in moment by moment the matters involved in getting to the total fulfillment of every jot and tittle that is foretold. The intricacies of the peace process provide details that fascinate the student of Bible prophecy, for example.
The development of the atomic bomb (an invention of Jewish scientists, incidentally) and the hydrogen bomb, for that matter, has caused a worldwide furor stemming from the Middle East. Israel is at the center of the controversy, of course. Israel has nuclear weaponry and is threatened with extinction–as the Jews always are. They have vowed, “Never again!” Never again will they be subjected to genocide without fighting to the death with those who want every Jew on the planet dead.
Israel is, as of a year ago or so, completely surrounded on all but the Mediterranean side by those whose avowed intention is just that–to eradicate the Jews, thus the nation of Israel.
The world knows that the end of the human race through nuclear war could easily begin at Jerusalem. Thus, that city is ground zero for the entire world’s attention, just as Zechariah and other prophets foretold. Isaiah prophesied that a peace covenant will be made over this very city. It will be a covenant that will, in fact, be made with “death and hell.” It will bring the wrath of God down on the whole world for forcing such an agreement upon His chosen people and upon His most beloved city. (Read Isaiah 28: 15, 18.)
America is at the heart of just such a covenant-producing process. The “Roadmap to Peace” has been a part of world diplomatic jargon for more than a decade now. Jerusalem, with the strong-arming of the diplomatic world to make Israel stop building in that city and with the PA (the Islamist world) demanding that Jerusalem be given over to them, is at the epicenter of the coming earthquake of wrath as foretold by God Almighty through His prophet, Zechariah.
“And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth” (Zechariah 14:12).
God willing, we will continue to look next time at the fascinating details that are filling in more and more of the end-of-the-age prophetic puzzle.
Supreme Decision
Just as suspected, the year 2016 is on track to be a pivotal year in the shaping of biblically prophetic destiny. The sudden loss of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia will produce ramifications far beyond those posed by this sitting president further stacking that court with yet another justice of likemindedness to his own ideological bent.
The ultimate decision involving replacement of the constitutional champion that was Scalia will perhaps, in one way or another, help determine the future course of all of mankind.
American Founding Fathers, whether fully aware in every case that they were listening to the directives of the Almighty, gave Americans yet unborn a republic based upon Judeo-Christian principles. And, indications are overwhelming that almost all of them–even the deists like Franklin and Jefferson–knew that Providence had a divine hand in winning the War of Independence and in composing the liberty-laden document that is the U.S. Constitution.
Moving on from the producing of that founding document, the writings of the founders show they recognized that it was not merely an existential deity that started the national ball rolling then left America to its own devices. It is more than obvious that the one and only God’s mighty hand has been on this most materially blessed nation to ever exist throughout its coming up 240 years of nationhood.
Antonin Scalia was consistently a Supreme Court justice who, with each decision he rendered, demonstrated that he believed that our God-influenced Constitution should be defended and preserved. With his passing, we are faced with the possibility that it is a document in danger of degeneration to ineffectiveness at best and to complete disregard at worst.
The Supreme Court has teeter-tottered on the fulcrum of cultural dichotomy, particularly since 1963, with the decisions to eliminate Bible reading and prayer from public schools. By this, I mean the traditional, God-fearing part of America was on one side and the America that wanted no such constraint on the other. Anti-God, humanistic gravity has consistently been tugging the nation downward with succeeding Supreme Court decisions. We witnessed a dramatic increase in the latest such tugging during the year just past.
And, now we face action by a president who, immediately upon Scalia’s death, announced he will nominate a replacement within the ten plus months left of his presidency. We don’t have to wonder very deeply about the sort of nominee that will eventuate. All that is necessary is to consider Mr. Obama’s ideological forays into jurisprudence at the Supreme Court level over the past seven years.
With decisions of the land’s highest court steadily slanting toward the anti-Constitutional side, and now the loss of perhaps that court’s strongest voice for preservation of the document the Founders gave us, we indeed face perilous times.
America, I put to you, is now moving rapidly downward on the slide into national oblivion. It is agonizing to have to say it. But, the facts are staring us in the nation’s rebellious face.
America’s Supreme Court and its problems are but a reflection of that rebellion. We have sown to the winds disregard for God’s biblical guidelines for upright comportment. We are beginning to reap the whirlwind of reprobate thinking and conduct warned about by the apostle Paul in Romans chapter 1.
Perhaps the final straw for Heaven’s Supreme Court is we the people allowing a wicked leadership to turn America against Israel and take up the cause of those who are vowed to destroy the Jewish state. What are even more compelling as evidence of the nation’s rebellion are the so-called Christian churches of America joining in the cursing of Israel. We hear every day of those churches that have joined in the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction) movement to punish Israel for “occupying” land that these say doesn’t belong to Israel.
To add insult to injury, these proclaim that they–the church–have replaced Israel as inheritors of the promises God gave Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Israel, they declare, has forfeited the claim to the promises and is no longer God’s chosen people. The Lord is finished with that people.
That is what these would-be usurpers of God’s promises say. But, here is what the Lord God of Israel says in His Holy Word:
This is what the Lord says, “He Who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar–the Lord Almighty is His Name; Only if these ordinances vanish from My sight,” declares the Lord, “will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before Me.” (Jeremiah 31:35-36)
Just as the above promise is still in effect, so is God’s warning of Genesis 12:3. America, if national repentance is not forthcoming, faces a Supreme Decision far more serious than the replacement of a U.S. Supreme Court justice.
God’s Global Cooling for D.C.
Mr. President, tear down this wall…What wall? The wall your administration has erected between the American people and the nation Israel.
The Gallup Poll told within the recent past that by a wide margin, we the people of the United States believe Israel is not the problem in the Middle East, or anywhere else. By a margin of more than 60%, we have made it known that we want America to continue to embrace the Jewish state as a close friend and ally –the only true ally we have in that violent part of the world. Yet, you, Mr. President, and those you send as interlocutors in that one-sided, so-called peace process consistently lock arms with Israel’s blood-vowed enemies to try to bully that nation to give in to demands that will never end as long as Israel exists.
Israel’s enemies–and that list includes every Arab state to one degree or another—want Israel eradicated.
The massive snow and ice your White House and D.C. received the other day is a not-so-gentle reminder that the God of Israel will never let that happen.
You have touched the apple of the Almighty’s eye, and continue to do so by your joining the nation of Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement that seeks to marginalize Israel.
You directly dare the God of heaven to do anything about your obdurate stance against Him. The current shaking your fist in the face of the Almighty is but the latest of such defiance.
Almost at the same moment you took step towards joining the European Union in an boycott of Israel, D.C. was blasted with near-record blizzard conditions.
The U.S. is now requiring goods originating from the West Bank (also known as Judea and Samaria) to be labeled separately from products from the rest of Israel, following the European Union’s crackdown on products from the disputed territories.
Such weather and “natural phenomena” have manifested after many egregious actions against Israel, as has been documented by John McTernan and Bill Koenig. The snow storm came as a departure from normal winter weather in the area of the nation’s capital. To be sure, it was a mild forewarning of what is to come, Mr. President, if your actions, and lack of action, continue on the course you have chosen with regard to Israel.
We are not currently witnessing God’s judgment and wrath with this snow event, or with other such “acts of God.” When His wrath–His judgment–does fall, it will be, Jesus prophesied, a time more terrible than any that has ever existed on planet earth (Matthew 24:21). But, God is warning yet again, I’m convinced, that dealing with Israel is a deadly serious matter in His interaction with mankind. The closer the time of Christ’s return, the more intense will become His forewarnings.
America has been Israel’s friend, her protector, in human terms. America has, therefore, been blessed of God beyond any nation in history, with material wealth and godly moorings of Christianity at our very foundation. But, the tide is turning, as anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear can discern.
Economic catastrophe looms on the national horizon to such a degree that this great nation’s fall will literally bring the entire world down, when it crashes. And, it’s not a matter of if that will happen, but when. We have been experiencing an economic earthquake for months–even years–and the shaking is getting worse. But, the shaking is mild–very mild, my spirit tells me—compared to the shaking that is coming upon this country and world. Much of the quaking–socioeconomic and geophysical–is a direct result of the way America and the world are dealing with the nation that the God of heaven has, in His absolute authority, determined cannot be destroyed. Satanic forces are ratcheting up everything possible to keep God’s promises to Israel from being fulfilled. There is bound to be such titanic shaking as we are presently experiencing while the biblically prophesied battle between what secularists call good and evil takes place. Be assured–the outcome of that battle is already determined.
Knowing that this request isn’t likely to produce the desired answer, ultimately, I still must make the plea as one given the commission to forewarn during these prophetic times. Mr. President, please do all within your power to see to it that America comes down on the winning side. Regardless, Israel will be the winner. We have the Word of the Creator of all that is who has made the following promise: “This is what the Lord says, ‘He who appoints the sun to shine by day, Who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar — the Lord Almighty is His Name; Only if these ordinances vanish from My sight,’ declares the Lord, ‘will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before Me.'” (Jeremiah 31:35-36)
Tribulation Light
Regarding the title above, I don’t mean to imply light being shed on the Tribulation–although that is part of what I hope will be done. By using the term “Tribulation light,” I mean we are now seeing issues and events occur in this Age of Grace much like, but not actually those prophetically scheduled for, the seven years of worldwide horror leading up to Christ’s Second Advent–i.e., those issues and events are but similar to those much more horrific, apocalyptic events; foreshadows of things to come.
There are several specific prophecies expounded upon by Jesus while giving His Olivet Discourse that I would like to examine as being “Tribulation light” events in our headlines today.
The Lord gave these as recorded in the following prophecy:
Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. (Luke 21: 20-21)
I would like to probe a bit into the less-prominent “Tribulation light” prophetic indicators within the above Scripture before getting into that which I view as most pronounced in these days so near the end of the Church Age.
Jesus was foretelling that these troubles will be unprecedented in their ferocity during the Tribulation era when God’s wrath will fall upon incorrigibly wicked mankind. He exhorted that when those with discernment see these things begin to happen, they are to know that His return is drawing near. Note, the Lord said when these things “begin” to come to pass, those with discernment are to “look up…for your redemption draws near” (Luke 21:28).
Jesus said as recorded in other places that these issues and events will be like birth pangs. They will come upon end-time’s mankind like pains a woman experiences during the incrementally increasing contractions of having a baby. That is, these pains will begin in a milder manner than they will become the nearer the moment of birth.
Earthquakes, Jesus said, will mark the beginning of “sorrows” (birth pangs). Again, these, obviously, staying within the birthing analogy, will be lighter in severity than they will become during the full-blown Tribulation when Christ’s return is about to happen. We are told in Revelation that there will occur the ultimate earthquake as Christ is breaking through the black clouds of that terrible time. Every mountain will fall. That describes a mighty earthquake indeed!
Anyone who reads the news as presented in our Rapture Ready News section knows of the reports of tremblers from around the world. There seems no geographical region of the planet that isn’t experiencing seismic activity on an increasing scale. All of these quakes are light in severity when compared to the Revelation description of the final quake that will bring every tall structure on earth crashing down. However, the cumulative effects have prophetic evidentiary significance, it becomes ever more obvious.
Just within the past days, we have the following posts:
- 5.7-magnitude earthquake felt in New Zealand capital
New Zealand’s capital city Wellington was rocked by 5.7-magnitude earthquake on Tuesday (Feb 9), according to the country’s earthquake monitoring service. - Massive earthquake hits near Papua New Guinea island of Bougainville
A 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit near the Papua New Guinea island of Bougainville early on Tuesday morning. The undersea quake struck at 3.19am local time… - Taiwan Quake Kills at Least 18 as Search for Missing Continues
A strong earthquake rocked a region of Taiwan that’s a hub for chipmaking suppliers to the likes of Apple Inc. and Qualcomm Inc., killing at least 18 people - 5.2 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Nepal, Tremors Felt In Bihar
- Earthquake shakes Tokyo, no tsunami risk
An earthquake has struck close to Tokyo, shaking much of the metropolitan region. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, and no tsunami - Chile earthquake: Strong tremor strikes near Tongoy and La Serena
A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 has struck off the coast of central Chile, centered off Tongoy and La Serena, seismologists say. - Strong earthquake hits Solomon Islands
A magnitude 6.4 earthquakes hit the Solomon Islands at 12.19am today, according to the Malaysian Meteorological Department.
Such reports continue in a never-ending cyberspace headlines crawl. The tremors are coming with increasing frequency and intensity.
The second “Tribulation light” indicator I pluck from the Luke 21:20-21 Olivet prophecy Jesus gave is the matter of “pestilence.”
To be brief, I bring to your attention the things we have seen develop most recently in this regard. Remember the Ebola scare of a few months ago. Think of the HIV natter that was on the front pages and growing, seemingly, uncontrollably. And now it is the Zika virus that is apparently spread by mosquitoes and which has no medical defense to combat it.
There is growing concern among the medical research community that many of the pestilences are in the process of mutating–developing resistance to antibiotics and other forms of combating disease.
The Tribulation era will see these diseases become full-blown. The toll in human life will be beyond comprehension.
All of these above-mentioned developments are but sidebars to the real story regarding signals that show how near this generation is to the Tribulation era.
“Nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom”: This is the real scriptural crux of proof in thinking on where we stand on God’s prophetic timeline.
“Nation” in the Greek language, as used here, is “ethnos” or “ethnic” in English. Jesus was predicting that the very end of the age would produce great ethnic upheaval. People will be raging against each other for reasons of race. Likewise, the Lord said that “kingdom against kingdom” will mark the era leading up to His Second Advent.
Is there any doubt whatsoever that these indicators are in our headlines today? In the very streets of America, there is ethnic rage that sometimes boils to the uncontrollable level. The rioting in places like Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore, Maryland, leap instantly to mind. Such rage is at the heart of problems around the world. Religious fervor, inciting ethnic hatreds, mark this generation as the one Jesus must have had in His omniscient mind when giving this prophecy.
We are experiencing today “Tribulation light” prophetic birth pangs on a moment-by-moment basis. It will be fascinating, as watchers on the wall, to see what 2016 will bring. We, as born-again believers, hope it brings the shout of the Lord Jesus: “Come up here!” (Revelation 4:1)
Terry James Prophecy Line 