Category: end time

Posted in end time, prophecy

Children of the King

Posted on by elizabethprata

Jesus is everywhere in my life. He is in my prayers. He is in my studies. He is in the breeze that I see passing by. He is in the faces of believers I meet. But sometimes He arrives in unexpected ways, and in unexpected moments.

I work with children. Now, I see Jesus in children every day, all the time. I see Jesus most often in children, above and beyond anywhere else. But some days His sheltering wing is dramatically present.

I was strolling the elementary school playground, on duty, with all the kindergarten children playing outside at recess. In North Georgia at this time of year the weather is pleasant, warm, dry, and sunny. It was about 73 degrees with a light breeze under a warm golden sun. A boy was roaming the edge of the playground, a little too close to the edge of the hill for my comfort, so I went over. A little girl who always tags along by my side trotted along with me. I got to the boy and asked what he was doing, and he said just walking. Then he spotted a milkweed dandelion and bent over to pluck it.

“Look!” he exclaimed. His blue eyes and light sprinkling of freckles sparkled in the sun as he turned upward to look at me. He held the precious flower aloft and laughed. The girl laughed too. I said, “Blow on it.”

He did, and the milkweeds scattered like tiny snowflakes, drifting back onto his shoulders. He laughed with delight, and blew again.

“Can I try?” the girl asked.
“Sure,” the boy said.

Without hesitation he held it out to her, his entire arm extended. She grasped the tiny flower, and blew on the milkweed too and they both laughed together, the seeds drifting around them. I felt as if they were captured in a snow globe, the bubble of this moment in its warm, golden perfection and their laughter as the white seeds whirled around.

It felt nice, but the spiritual impact didn’t come until late that night until I had an opportunity to become quiet and commune with my Savior. He impressed on me the beauty of that moment again, but in slow motion. Golden creation. Pure joy. Pure generosity.

“I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” (Mark 10:15)

“But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. (Luke 18:16)

“So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun. When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth—people getting no sleep day or night—then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.” (Ecclesiastes 8:15-17)

Who knows His work in the moment the three of us shared, I cannot comprehend. I have seen what He has done, and though I do not comprehend what goes on under the sun, I know He is my Savior and is working in me all the time. His joy envelops me, surrounds me, and is in the light drifting down on us from the sun in heaven, His light. Do you take time like a child to notice even the tiniest details in God’s creation? If you notice them, do you stop your walks, toils, and labors to admire His handiwork and take delight and joy in them? If you were holding a most precious and wonderful discovery in your hand and someone came along and asked for it, would you unhesitatingly give it over? Do you laugh under the sun?

I do. I am a child of the King.

“Once I was clothed in the rags of my sin,
Wretched and poor, lost and lonely within.
But with wondrous compassion, the King of all kings,
In pity and love, took me under His wings.”

“Oh, yes, oh yes, I’m a child of the King
His royal blood now flows in my veins.
And I who was wretched and poor now can sing
Praise God, praise God, I’m a child of the King.”

I implore you to become a child of the King.You will know joy everlasting.
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Posted in barack obama, common ground, end time, prophecy

The falsity of seeking "common ground"

Posted on by elizabethprata

In a speech in Jakarta Indonesia this week, Obama said, “I believe today, that we do have a choice. We can choose to be defined by our differences, and give in to a future of suspicion and mistrust. Or we can choose to do the hard work of forging common ground, and commit ourselves to the steady pursuit of progress.”

Seeking common ground between Islam and Protestantism is a falsity that will have tragic consequences. Seeking common ground between Followers of Jesus and any religion is a falsity that will have eternally devastating consequences.

It is de rigueur now to try and appear to be ‘reasonable minded’ and ‘tolerant’ by spouting pabulum that says we have a starting place from which we can ‘bridge our differences.’ To paraphrase the current cultural conversations, I hear things like “we both believe in Jesus, that’s a good place from which to begin a conversation to find mutual understanding.” Mutual understanding and common ground by definition is a compromise. The definition of common ground is “a basis of mutual interest or agreement.”

Jesus is not a basis from which men debate until they decide they understand enough together to leave it and move on. Jesus did not compromise. He did not come to be common ground, He came to show us the Truth. 

Jesus didn’t come to earth and approach the Pharisees and say, Gee, you believe this, and I believe that, so let’s have a conversation and see if we can’t get together on the sum of our parts.” He is ALL the parts. There is only belief in Him. But which Him? What if this common ground you seek is really quicksand?

Catholics believe Jesus lived as the sinless Son of Man, died, and rose again. But they also believe Mary was sinless, that Jesus designated Peter to be Pope, that you can remain in purgatory and be prayed out by your friends and family. In effect, then, they believe that Jesus didn’t finish the job (John 19:30) but that sinful humans can pray a person into heaven, adding to Jesus’ work on the cross. And that our works can get us into heaven, again adding to His work in the cross. In effect, then, they believe Jesus is a liar when He said “it is finished” and we are saved “not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Eph 2:9)

The same goes for Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists. There is no common ground. The only common ground they share with us is that they are sinners in need of a savior, but the difference is we recognized that fact already and they have not.

Jesus said there is no middle ground. He is about division. Not commonalities.

“I come not to send peace on the earth but a sword.” Mt 10:34
“Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division;” Luke 12:51
“But Jesus said to him, “Do not hinder him; for he who is not against you is for you.” Mark 9:50
“The Jews who heard these words were again divided. 20 Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?” But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” John 10:19-21

Even when Jesus was walking the earth as a man and speaking directly TO the Pharisees, they either believed, or they didn’t. They were divided. Jesus said repent, or die. (Rev 2:16) Where’s the middle ground in that?

You believe, or you do not. You are His friend, or His enemy. You go to heaven, or you go to hell. You are saved, or you are not. It is either-or. The entire point of the end of the end time is a process that is slowly and inexorably removing middle ground so as to strip false notions away or leave people entrenched in their false notions. Which is why the more the common ground disappears, the more the Powers That Be say we need to find it.

There will be no fence-sitters by the mid-point of the tribulation. The False prophet will force all to receive a mark on their hand or forehead to worship the Beast, and if you do not take the mark because you choose to worship Jesus, you will be beheaded. (Rev 13:16-17; Rev 6:9; Rev 20:4) There will be no “common ground” then, you worship Jesus and live after martyrdom, or worship the beast and die after judgment.

It is my belief that the end of the end time is all about common ground shrinking. Commonality among and between religions will disappear. There will be only all the false religions, and believers in Jesus, with NO COMMON GROUND in between. “And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'”

Whenever you hear of someone talking of finding “common ground” with someone of another religion you have just heard a man who is seeking to establish truth on sand. (Matthew 7:26). And that never works.

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Posted in end time, prophecy

New volcano appears, wasn’t there days ago

Posted on by elizabethprata

East of the Indonesian island Java, in the sea between Java and Bali, a new island has risen from nothing within a few days. It is probably of volcanic origin. The location is not so very far from Tambora.
 So west of Java the Anak Krakatoa is active, in the middle of Java the Merapi is very active and east of Java a new island has appeared in the sea, which wasn’t there a few days ago. Fears of a coming mega-eruption is real.

The article is not in English. Below is abbreviated translation:

3 Nov 10 – Mounds that resembles a pile of rocks called the children of the mountain, is reported to arise in marine waters in the district of Jembrana, Bali. Some fisherman from the village of Pengambengan, Jembrana, Wednesday (11/03/2010) mentions, it appears the mysterious coral mound in the middle of the sea that separates the island of Java and Bali. Local citizens worry that the mysterious mound is the peak of the volcano, because the mound – which covers about one hectare – was conical shape like the top of the mountain. Although until now the mound did not show as well as volcanic activity, but a number of residents admitted misgivings sesuhungan now pretty much a disaster. “Some people say, if it erupts Takat Deken, could deplete this Pengambengan,” said Saihu. Although many people who suspect that Takat Deken is a volcano, Saihu own claim to not fully believe it.”
See entire article

That doesn’t look like just a pile of rocks to me!

Posted in brookings, end time, prophecy

Another sinkhole: Brookings OR

Posted on by elizabethprata

Huge sinkhole opens in front of Brookings City Hall
“A 20 foot by 30 foot sinkhole opened in front of Brookings City Hall overnight Sunday. The 23-foot deep hole was discovered by Brookings police officers at about 1:30 a.m., Lt. Donny Dotson said. City crews worked through the night to discover the extent of the damage and prevent the situation from worsening, Public Works Supervisor Bob Schaefer said Sunday afternoon. “They were able to stabilize the walls a little bit,” Schaefer said. Police department offices are close to the opening. Police will monitor the hole hourly. If there are any changes to the hole, crews will return. There is no immediate danger to city structures, but a large portion of Elk Drive crumbled into the hole. Elk Drive is closed between Fifth Street and Ross Road and is not expected to open for some time, Schaefer said. There will be no easy fix, as water from broken culvert gushed through the deep hole, carrying away even more soil. “This is going to be fairly extensive,” he said. “It’s very unstable ground and the weather isn’t good.”
Read more about the sinkhole in the Wednesday, Nov. 10 edition of the Curry Coastal Pilot”

Video: “The hole stopped expanding just 15 feet from the police department and officers say it could have been a disaster to their emergency systems.  Now city crews are fighting the flowing water in the hole trying to keep it from reaching a sewer line 10 feet away.”

Now, a sinkhole produced by broken water pipes is not a cause for alarm and it is actually quite common. Prior to this I’ve refrained from posting such incidences because they are simply a failure of infrastructure with happens normally. But what is not normal are the increase in pipe breaks (for no reason). Remember the 2M people out of water in Boston when the water main broke? Or the River Iska disappearing overnight? The times are getting soooo hectic and sooo obviously strange, that I post this in case more information comes out when daylight hits. And it’s of minor interest, anyway.

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Posted in benue, end time, merapi mega eruption, prophecy

Benue eruption explained, by the government

Posted on by elizabethprata

On Saturday I posted about an incident that occurred in Benue State, Nigeria. This state is on the border of Cameroon, and the incident was reported in two news outlets to have been some kind of eruption on the mountain district of Mkomon. The original story told of eyewitnesses hearing and feeling a great vibration of the earth, then the mountain exploded and lava came gushing down. Many thought it was a volcanic eruption, but no volcanoes exist in that area. The reports were specific in their eyewitness account and of the damage done to property. One boy was reportedly killed. The reports said that the area now lacked roads, were cut off, and had no drinkable water. But today the Benue government said that it was not an explosion but a landslide:

“Benue State Commissioner for Water and Environment John Ngbede has debunked media reports that there was a volcanic eruption in Kwande Local Government Area. Ngbede said there was a landslide in Mkomon district, Kwande Local Government Area, and not a volcanic eruption. He said there was a heavy rainfall and vibration in a mountain bordering the community with the Republic of Cameroun. The commissioner said rocks rolled down from the mountain and destroyed houses. He said the vibration pulled down trees. Ngbede said a volcanic eruption would have had a more devastating effect. Kwande Council Chairman Terlumun Akputu said the geophysical movement of rocks claimed one life and destroyed farm lands. He said the community of about 150 residents lacked access road, potable water and other social amenities. The council chairman urged the Federal Government to assist them and construct the road linking the community with Cameroun.”

So all the details between the Government version and the eyewitness reported version except one are confirmed: lava. The government said that this was the third such landslide in the district. However, if you ask me, the locals who have experienced this before know the difference between landslides and a volcano eruption.

But the mystery continues, and we still lack pictures.
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Posted in end time, Obama, pharaoh, prophecy

Obama is not antichrist, but he is an antichrist-type

Posted on by elizabethprata

When Obama came on the scene in 2007 and 2008 many people wondered if he was the antichrist. Not a few people said that. Some websites were even launched about it. Daniel 9:27 said that the antichrist will confirm a covenant with the many, but Paul said that the ac will not be specifically revealed until the rebellion occurs: “Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.” (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4). So Obama isn’t the antichrist… but he is an antichrist-type.

The bible shows us many men who were precursors to the antichrist prophesied to arrive at the end of days. These men of past history were a run-up to the real thing. They all share some qualities in common. They made promises to the Jews…and broke them. They were arrogant, rebellious toward God, believed in idols, and tried to cut off the Jews from being a people or Israel from being a nation. Their feelings toward the Jews ranged from oppressively hostile to genocidal. And many of them were megalomaniac tyrants, living richly off the backs of the people they were supposed to protect and defend.

I am speaking of Antiochus IV as one antichrist-type. He sacked Jerusalem and in the space of three days, killed 40,000, and sent another 40,000 into slavery. Herod was another one, as a half-Jew, posing as devout to inculcate the friendliness of the nation, but then thinking nothing in his megalomania of trying to cut off Israel from being a nation by massacring all the boys under the age of two. His lying and duplicity toward the noble Magi was another indicator of his lawlessness.

Nero and Hitler were also antichrist-types. Nero was a run-up to the antichrist in one regard asking people to bow down to him adding himself to their worship, killing Christians who refused. Pharaoh was an antichrist-type. He was king of Egypt, which at that time was similar to being king of the world, as the Antichrist will be. Pharaoh persecuted the Jews mercilessly and had no pity on them in their hard bondage. Pharaoh defied God,saying, “Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go.” (Ez 5:2)

And now we have Obama. Obama is not the antichrist but he is an antichrist type, closely mirroring Pharaoh. Obama harbors hatred for the Jews, and is oppressing them through silence in the face of persecution, silence in Iran’s aggression, and silence at the UN. He lives luxuriously as a Monarch, despite piteous cries from the hungry. He defiantly rebels against the Lord, while pretending devoutness as Herod did. Obama has even been called a Pharaoh three times in his short tenure as President. “Expectations raised by Obama’s brief visit to Cairo are almost messianic. Souvenir shops are selling pendants with the caption “Obama – new Tutankhamen of the world.” (Left, An Egyptian vendor displays a handmade copper plaque reading “Obama, New Tutankhamun of the World” at his shop in the Khan el-Khalili market area in Cairo on Monday. AFP/Getty Images) The image was named “Obamatut“. Obama didn’t call himself Messiah, but the name was attributed to him many times, as here “A messiah won’t be landing at the Heliopolis airport Thursday. Nonetheless, the expectations raised by Obama’s brief visit to Cairo are almost messianic.”

In another strange case of the Obama-Pharaoh attribution, Obama this time noted the similarity to a Pharaoh hieroglyph himself. While visiting the tomb of Qar in Egypt, Obama saw a hieroglyph on the wall that looked exactly like him. Despite there being present so many other hieroglyphs, Obama noticed this one and pointed to it, saying, “Hey that looks just like me! Look at those ears!” The tour guide leading the group said later that he thinks Obama looks more like King Tut, the famous boy-Pharaoh.

This week, Obama and his wife flew to India for a ten day tour. His jaunt is costing the American taxpayers 200/million a day and he is also taking 34 warships (including 2 aircraft carriers), a fleet of 40 armored limos (20 of them decoys) and taking over the entire luxury hotel in which he decided to stay. The UK Daily Mail noted, “Probably not since the days of the Pharaohs or the more ludicrous Roman Emperors [like Nero??] has a head of state travelled in such pomp and expensive grandeur as the President of the United States of America. While lesser mortals – the Pope, Queen Elizabeth and so on – are usually happy to let their hosts handle most of the security and transport arrangements when they venture beyond their home shores, the United States creates a mini-America on the move to ensure that nothing is left to chance.”

Pharaoh. Antichrist-type. We got what we deserved.
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Posted in bible, end time, famine, prophecy, quart of wheat, revelation

National Inflation Association says a loaf of bread could soon cost $20 USD (or one denarius)

Posted on by elizabethprata

A loaf of wheat bread may soon cost $23 due to skyrocketing food price inflation
Within a decade, a loaf of wheat bread may cost $23 in a grocery store in the United States, and a 32-oz package of sugar might run $62. A 64-oz container of Minute Maid Orange Juice, meanwhile, could set you back $45.71. This is all according to a new report released Friday by the National Inflation Association which warns consumers about the coming wave of food price inflation that’s about to strike the western world. NIA also projects that by the end of this decade, a plain white men’s cotton t-shirt at Wal-Mart will cost $55.57.”

“The report highlights how despite cotton rising by 54%, corn rising by 29%, soybeans rising by 22%, orange juice rising by 17%, and sugar rising by 51% during the months of September and October alone, these huge commodity price increases have yet to make their way into America’s grocery stores because corporations have been reluctant to pass these price increases along to the consumer. In today’s dismal economy, no retailer wants to be the first to dramatically raise food prices. However, NIA [National Inflation Association]  expects all retailers to soon substantially raise food prices at the same time, which will ensure that this Holiday shopping season will be the worst in recorded American history.”

“By the end of the decade”…that is only 9 years away! Actually, I believe that the food inflation will come much sooner than that. Revelation 6 shows us how dire the famine conditions will be by the time the Third Seal is opened –

“And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, ‘A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine. (Revelation 6:6)

A quart of wheat is about a liter, or about 4 cups dry measure.

A denarius was a day’s wage.  John 12:5 shows us a relative value-  “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” The Greek translation of this verse is that the words ‘year’s wages’ is ‘triakosiōn denarion’, or three hundred denarii. If three hundred denarii are a year’s wages, one denarius would be a day’s wages, roughly.

The website Archaeology.com, by the  Archaeological Institute of America states of the denarius: “VALUE- One day’s wage for an unskilled laborer or common soldier, about $20 in today’s terms.”

Bible’s right again!
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Posted in end time, prophecy, rapture

An exhortation to believers

Posted on by elizabethprata

Praise the Holy Spirit, our Guide, and our Teacher! I have been thinking and praying and appealing to the Spirit this morning. I believe the rapture is VERY near. Whether you think near means tomorrow or next year, either way, compared to the past 2000 years since the Church began, or 6000 years when God first told Eve of a coming Redeemer (Gen 3:15-16), a few days or weeks or months is near.

We spend at least 8 hours a day at work (hopefully). Dividing our 24 hour day into three parts, then that means there is a one-in-three chance that the rapture will happen while we are at a workplace. Undoubtedly there are people at your work who do not believe in Jesus, or who believe wrongly. Perhaps there are Mormons or New Age pagans or Muslims who work with you. Imagine what it will be like after the rapture, especially if you work in a primary school as I do. It is my belief that the children will go, along with true believers. Suddenly the place will be deathly and eerily quiet. Or the opposite of a deathly quiet will occur, cacophony of noises as machines veer crazily out of control. Your machines at the shop will halt, the cash register ceases, the forklifts crash.

What then? What will the people left behind think? Where are they to turn? THE BIBLE.

Here is an idea: if you purchase a bible or two and write a short, loving letter to tuck inside it. Mark certain passages within it that will show the left-behind person what has happened and what to do next. Give it to them. Time is of the essence, because soon after the rapture (and we don’t know how long, an hour, a year?) the lie will take root. The Lord will harden their heart (2 Thess 2:11; Jn. 12:40; Rom. 9:18). Perhaps mark out John 3:1-16, Nicodemus’ conversation with God, sparked by his question “how can one be born again?” Or Acts 16:16-31 sparked by the jailer’s question to Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Certainly Matthew 24 (the Olivet Discourse) so they have a roadmap of what will soon happen, and 1 Thess 4:13-18 the rapture passages in context, and Rev 6, the first judgments. Pray to the Spirit as to what verse to highlight, and whom to offer this Word.

I know it will be uncomfortable conversation. It is not easy to approach an unbeliever and talk of heavenly things, salvation and judgment. But if you are loving and warm, you work with them every day after all, ask them just to hear you out and keep the bible just in case, (“What harm can it do? Indulge me” you could entreat). The Spirit will being these things to mind at the time they need it. Have that conversation, so that the Spirit will cause remembrance upon the person in the time immediately after the rapture. These people will need somewhere to turn to discover what has happened. If they get safely to a tv, then all they will hear is lies. If they have a bible nearby with a highlighted roadmap pointing to Jesus, then they have a better chance of finding the cross.

Will you do it? Don’t delay.

Posted in benue, end time, nigeria, oil volcano, prophecy

Volcano erupts in Nigeria?? (UPDATED)

Posted on by elizabethprata

Update at bottom
Volcanic eruption in Benue, one person feared dead
News Nov 5, 2010; By Peter Duru, Makurdi

“A volcanic eruption has occurred at the mountainous Mkomon district of Kwande Local government of Benue State with one person feared dead while properties worth millions of Naira have also been destroyed. Residents of the affected community have deserted their homes in search of safer place. Sources of portable water have been polluted by the heavy magma emitted from the eruption. Vanguard gathered from eye witnesses that there were heavy vibrations around the mountains at the border with Cameroun Republic, followed by eruptions at six points on the mountainous terrain. The vibrations spewed magma which covered streams and hand dug wells and the entire community leaving the people without portable water. At the moment, there is panic amongst the people who are said to be cut off completely from the rest of the world as a result of the occurrence and damages to roads and bridges which was occasioned by the heavy vibration.”

Volcanic eruptions in Benue
• 1 killed, property destroyed
From ROSE EJEMBI, Makurdi, Saturday, November 6, 2010
“Tragedy struck yesterday in Mkomon District, Kwande Local Government Area, Benue State, a border community to Cameroun, when volcanic eruptions on a mountain claimed the life of one person as well as destroyed property worth millions of naira. Saturday Sun gathered that the tragedy occurred while residents of the community were attending the annual thanksgiving service of the local church. Terzungwer Iorhemen, a member of the community, told our correspondent that midway into the thanksgiving service, vibrations on the earth overwhelmed the area, located at the Cameroun boundary. “While the thanksgiving service was going on, we suddenly noticed heavy vibrations in the mountain bordering the area with Cameroun Republic, which was followed by a sudden eruption from six points on the mountainous terrain,” he said. He disclosed that the vibrations were followed by the eruption of lava from the mountain covering wells, streams, trees and houses in the area, leaving residents with no other option than to flee for their lives.”

The bible says, “Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.” (Luke 21:26). And the GREAT SHAKING continues! I hope your heart is shaken, people, and you realize it is God shaking your shoulder as His call to you to wake up, wake up from your deathly slumber.

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Well, it’s been a day later and there are no other reports on the event and no pictures. I’m officially suspicious.

Posted in end time, prophecy

Experts worried about increase in sinkholes

Posted on by elizabethprata

Still more sinkholes…One opens up in Dunedin
[Pinellas County, Tampa Bay area, Florida]
“Dunedin Fire Rescue responded to a sinkhole that opened up in residential Dunedin Wednesday.  Officials say a call came in at about 7:50 p.m. reporting a 20-by-20 foot hole that opened up in the yard of a home at 253 Park Circle S.”

The Florida Insurance Department is nervous about all these sinkholes appearing: “Starting this month, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation is going to begin surveying Florida property insurers about their experience with sinkhole claims, in an effort to get to the bottom of the simmering controversy over whether there really are more sinkholes in the Sunshine State these days. … the number of sinkhole claims being made appear to be rising in a dramatic fashion. Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state’s second largest multi-peril home insurer, told a state Senate committee during a hearing on the sinkhole issue that the number of claims being made to the company has more than doubled since 2005.”

Source: here, and here. Not the new sinkhole reported on above. Just an example of a past FL sinkhole.

I wrote an essay about sinkholes in July 2010, “Is the earth cracking up?” I followed it up three days later with another essay because more sinkholes had opened up in the interim. I addressed the issue a month later, here, and again last week. Actually, I’ve been reporting in the earth cracks many, many times. If you search the box at the top right of the blog with the word sinkholes, you will get 4 pages of results. I believe there is biblical precedent explaining the increase of sinkholes, and I do believe the earth is cracking up. It will continue to do so until it is destroyed and then renewed as described in 2 Peter 3:10-12 and a new earth (and a new heavens) is formed as described in Rev 21:1. It was nice to see a definitive, quantitative number, though, from the FL Dept of Insurance. It feels like the number of sinkholes are increasing, but seeing some data helps keep us on track with an orderly calm and a presence of mind, rather than going off like a half-cocked gun saying the sky is falling and wringing our hands and over-reliance on feelings.

The pace of the warnings from God (the birth pangs) is definitely increasing, as birth pangs do before the big event. In the bible, the birth pains phrase are used frequently as an illustration of how the Lord will operate in a particular situation or era. In 1 Thess it is written: “While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.” (verse 5:3). A woman knows the general timeframe in which she will give birth, and that does not vary. Nine months is the gestation period. But she could give birth two weeks late or two weeks early. It is not known exactly when, only the timeframe.

Other examples of the bible’s use of the birth pangs allusion include, “The heart of the warriors of Moab shall be in that day like the heart of a woman in her birth pains” (Jer 48:41); “pains of a woman in childbirth will come on him: he is an unwise son,” (Hos 13:13); “They will be terrified, Pains and anguish will take hold of them; They will writhe like a woman in labor … They’ll writhe like a woman giving birth to a child.” (Isaiah 13:8).

Not only the physical pain of childbirth is described, but the emotions that accompany it. Fear, uncertainty, terror, helplessness, and awe at this painful, bloody process that brings about new life.

Do not sink in the sinkhole! Stay lifted up as you lift up His name, He who is in control of it all!

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