Category: prophecy

Posted in prophecy, tuareg

Civil fighting in Mali worsens, France goes in, and calls UN Security meeting

Posted on by elizabethprata

In April 2012, I had written about a series of coups and counter-coups in the north western African nation of Mali. The tribal people Tuaregs had wrested control from the democratically established government and declared an independent state in Azawad. ‘Mali?’ you ask. Think Timbuktu. Here is a map

You note that Mali borders both Algeria and Niger. It has been almost a year since that uprising and the situation has dramatically worsened.

From American attorney Matthew Belcher’s Facebook page, a good summary: “The Tuareg rebels are Berber nomadic tribesman caught inside the borders of four different Northwest African countries (the western “Maghreb”) within the French sphere of “influence”. They have for decades sought independence and hoping to take advantage of the recent southern-Mali power vacuum seized the north Saharan-area of Mali and proclaimed an autonomous region for the Tuareg people. However, a power struggle then erupted in the north between the Tuaregs and local al Qaeda-linked radicals, who wound up in control of a large area as the Tuaregs retreated.”

The problem is that if Al Qaeda establishes a base and operates in that region it would be a catastrophe for the world in the long term (the terrorist group can can reach out to Boko Haram in Nigeria, the GIA in Algeria, etc.).

The Pulitzer Center for Crisis reporting published a good summary today as part of a e-book (you can purchase) regarding the situation.

Dispatches From the Lost Country of Mali
“What happens when a country suddenly splits in two? In 2012, Mali, once a poster child for African democracy, all but collapsed in a succession of coups and countercoups as Islamist rebels claimed control of the country’s north, making it a new safe haven for al Qaeda. Prizewinning author Peter Chilson became one of the few Westerners to travel to the conflict zone in the following months to document conditions on the ground. What he found was a hazy dividing line between the uncertain, demoralized remnants of Mali’s south and the new statelet formed in the north by jihadist fighters, who successfully commandeered a long-running rebellion by the country’s ethnic Tuareg minority to turn Mali into a new frontier in the fast-morphing global war on terror.”

Mali only earned their independence from France in 1960, and neighboring Algeria got their independence from France in 1962. France is interested in that part of the world, and despite other African countries and the UN have been talking and talking and talking and talking about doing something about Mali, this week, France stopped talking and went in.

France bombs Islamist strongholds deep in north Mali
“French fighter jets pounded Islamist rebel strongholds deep in northern Mali on Sunday as Paris poured more troops into the capital Bamako, awaiting a West African force to dislodge al Qaeda-linked insurgents from the country’s north.  The attacks on Islamist positions near the ancient desert trading town of Timbuktu and Gao, the largest city in the north, marked a decisive intensification on the third day of the French mission, striking at the heart of the vast area seized by rebels in April.”

In last April’s essay, I said to “note that the nations just to Mali’s north, that African northern tier, are both Arab Spring nations, and also Gog-Magog nations, meaning, nations that are prophesied to ally with Russia and Turkey and Iran to attack Israel in the last days.”

Let’s take a look at the nations prophesied to come together to attack Israel in the last days in a battle that Ezekiel describes in Ezekiel 38-39:

Magog: Southern Russia and Northern Iran.  The Baltic States. All areas with a Muslim majority. Turkey & Armenia. Iran, Sudan, Ethiopia, Libya. Not just the borders of those nations today but larger tracts. The Northern tier of Africa, in other words. For more information on the nations involved etc. see Joel C. Rosenberg’s essay on the Gog/Magog battle

The incursion of France into Islamist-held northern Mali also is another intensification of the East against the West which is really Islam against Christianity. As North and South Sudan split along religious lines last year (northern being Islam and southern being Christian) and the northern tier of Africa is prophesied to ally with the other Arab states and attack Israel in the last days in the Gog Magog war. The Mali situation is another indicator of rapid prophetic shifts in preparation for the end-game seismic shift we know as The Tribulation.

Posted in economy, israel, prophecy

Israel’s economy in 2012: did the recession affect her?

Posted on by elizabethprata

A few days ago, a reader asked me to look into the Israeli economy, to see if this past year had impacted it more than other countries. Of all the world’s nations, Israel had been consistently in the top echelon of nations that were growing in many different sectors, irrespective of the downtown. 2012, especially the latter half, saw a slight change in that.

The Israeli economy is slowing, but not as much as the rest of the world. Here is the news from the last week:

 CBS report: Israeli economy declining
Gad Lior, Published: 12.26.12, 15:16 / Israel Business
Figures released by Central Bureau of Statistics point to slowdown in nearly all industries in August through October. Bank of Israel sees similar trend

“The Central Bureau of Statistics has released a negative report pointing to a decline in the Israeli economy. The few positive figures included in the report are still worse than in previous months. The figures reveal that the total export of services fell by 4.5% in October, amounting to just $2.2 billion, following a lower drop of 1.8% in September. The export of business services dropped 8.4% compared to the previous month, with revenues from tourism falling by 2.5%. It should be noted that the data are seasonally adjusted, considering the fact that some of the High Holidays took place in October. Without the seasonal adjustment, the declines would have been sharper. A 2.9% drop was recorded in industrial production in August through October, excluding the high-tech industry. The entire industry, including high-tech, registered a 3.5% increase.”

“A sharp 4.6% decline was recorded in the proceeds from sales to the local market of Israel’s industrial factories. The same period also saw a 0.4% drop in the number of hired workers’ jobs in the manufacturing industry and a sharp 2.7% drop in the number of working hours in industrial factories. Things are not looking good in terms of the proceeds of all industries either. Although August through October saw a 3.3% increase in the income according to an annual calculation, May to July recorded a double increase of 6.5%.”

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GDP expanded 3.3% last year in slowest annual pace since 2009

The Israeli economy grew in 2012 at its lowest rate since the economic crisis of 2009, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported yesterday, citing preliminary figures.

“Israeli GDP grew only 3.3% in 2012, after two years of higher growth: 4.6% in 2011 and 5% in 2010. In 2009, which was a difficult year for the global economy, Israeli GDP grew only 1.1%”

The article above presents a graph, and you know how much I love graphs, but they also can be used to skew the data or alter the reader’s perception. Here is the graph:

GDP low rate growth

Though the tag “Netanyahu’s government” makes the graph seem like the blip in the economy is his fault, I think recovery in 2009 from the negative to ABOVE where the economy was in 2005 is astounding. We’ve all become used to the downturn, recession whatever the economists are calling it today. But the fact is, the 2008 crash was a global failure that tanked whole nation’s economies (Iceland…Ireland…).

Germany is called the engine of the European Union’s economy. So let’s compare Germany’s GDP before the crash and afterwards to Israel’s. Click to enlarge–

You can clearly see Israel is far ahead, even in these dark days.

However, the prophecies indicate that no matter what happens in the near term, Israel will be abundantly rich in the future. So rich, the alliance recorded in Ezekiel 38-39 makes Israel’s further neighbors jealous. (Ezekiel 38:13).

In recent years, Israel has discovered huge oil, shale, gold, and gas reserves. It won’t take long for Israel to begin extracting, producing and then exporting. I wrote about some of that, here.

I’d said,

“Remember this promise of blessing from Deuteronomy 33:19 -“They will summon peoples to the mountain and there offer sacrifices of righteousness; they will feast on the abundance of the seas, on the treasures hidden in the sand.” God gave Israel treasures, among them, riches under the sea and under the sand. Matthew Henry Commentary says that this prayer is a prophecy, that they would keep His favor and that the tribes shall always receive the earthly blessings that the Lord had bestowed on them: including what was under the sea and under the sand.”

No matter what the economic forecasters say, this is what God has said about Israel:

“Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, “My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.” . . . Listen to Me, you stubborn-hearted, who are far from righteousness: I bring My righteousness near, it shall not be far off; My salvation shall not linger. And I will place salvation in Zion, for Israel My glory.” (Isaiah 46:9-10, 12-13).

No matter what, God has blessed Israel with the promise of salvation. There is no greater treasure.

Posted in earthquake, prophecy

Earthquake update: how was 2012 compared to previous years?

Posted on by elizabethprata

Now that the last day of 2012 is here, I updated the earthquake chart I’d posted on Dec. 23 to see how many we have had this year, in comparison to previous years. 2012 surprised us by being the first year after three straight years in which the number of quakes in  magnitude categories had exceeded the average number set by the USGS. See for yourself (you can click to enlarge):

You can see that the average number of quakes in the magnitude 5 range far exceeded the United States Geological Survey annual average. The number in the 8 range surpassed the annual average expected quakes for that magnitude. And the number of quakes in the 7 range came close but did not surpass the annual average. And the number of quakes in the 6 range did not come close at all. Data from USGS.

An earthquake shall precede the Great and Terrible Day of the LORD:

“And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. (Zechariah 14:4)

Here is some other earthquake news which indicates some heavy earthquake activity in localized areas of the world:

Over 3,000 Noticeable Quakes Hit Japan In 2012
“Quoting the Japan Meteorological Agency, the NHK broadcaster reported that a total of 3,134 quakes had been felt across Japan until Sunday (December 30) which is about 1,000 more than the annual average from 2001 to 2010.”

The article goes on to show that even though Japan endured many quakes in 2012, there was a noticeable decrease in number of quakes from the year prior (when there were 10,000).

Earthquakes are visible tokens of the LORD’S power over the earth and heavens:

“Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.” (Hebrews 12:26)

Costa Rica saw most seismic activity in past 62 years during 2012
“According to the Costa Rican Volcanology and Seismology Observatory (OVSICORI), after the magnitude 7.6 earthquake which occurred on September 5th, 2012, the country registered the highest level of earthquake activity it has seen in 62 years.”

Given the numbers of quakes for the last three years reported in the article above, a graph of them would look like this:

Revelation records that in the time of the Tribulation there will be some major, MAJOR quakes. The word in the Greek is mega seismos and you can tell even without using a translator that they are big ones.

Revelation 6:12, Revelation 8:5, Revelation 11:13, Revelation 11:19, Revelation 16:18 record future quakes. The verse in Revelation 16 says that it was a quake such has never been seen on the earth before by man, ‘so great was that quake’.

The Guardian Las Vegas reports,  
Don’t panic! Preliminary data suggests earthquakes are indeed increasing worldwide
“Earthquakes and Volcanic eruptions have always been closely related. For instance, if you look at a map of quakes worldwide and compare it to a map of volcanoes, you’ll find that they match closely. … In recent weeks, earthquakes have exponentially increased in magnitude worldwide, worrying some researchers as they provide the fuse that ignites volcanoes. … In recent weeks, worldwide earthquake data indicates an increase in the magnitude and a significant increase in the frequency (magnitude > 5.5) of earthquakes.”

The bible says that earthquakes are often accompanied by volcanic eruptions:

“He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: he toucheth the hills, and they smoke.” (Psalms 104:32)

So that is your final 2012 earthquake update! (Unless  something happens in the next 5 hours, which I hope it doesn’t!)

Posted in earthquakes, prophecy, rapture

By the numbers: how many earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, & bank failures were there in 2o12?

Posted on by elizabethprata

At the end of each year I like to look at the numbers. I look at what God has said will happen in the last days and check the quantifiable data. Not that we need data to cement the truth of God’s word. God’s word is unique in that it alone IS the barometer for truth. As such it stands alone. But on Christmas vacation, I like something to do. Mentally, it’s a neat exercise, lol. Take it for what it is.

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Aliyah

The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile. Large scale immigration to Eretz Israel and later Israel began in 1882. (Wikipedia)

Aliyah is the Hebrew word for immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel. It is a difficult and complicated process. It’s not like you pick up your passport and one day decide to emigrate to Israel. It’s rigorous, and not everyone makes it. That is why it is called “making Aliyah”.

The LORD said He will gather them all back to the Land. So we watch the immigration of Jews to Israel because of what he has said, notably in Ezekiel and Micah.

“I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob; I will gather the remnant of Israel; I will set them together like sheep in a fold, like a flock in its pasture, a noisy multitude of men.” (Micah 2:12)

“Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations and then assembled them into their own land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations anymore.” (Ezekiel 39:28)

This has never happened before, that all the Jews are back in the land, so we watch.

In 2011, it was reported, “On Israel’s 63rd anniversary its population stands at 7,746,000 people, a 2% increase (150,000 residents) compared with 2010. In comparison, on the night of its establishment, the State of Israel consisted of only 806,000 residents.”

Aliyah Jumps 20% in 5771 (2011)
“Aliyah to Israel rose by nearly 20% during the Hebrew calendar year of 5771, compared to the previous year, the Immigration and Absorption Ministry announced Thursday. Over 21,000 immigrants settled in the country since last Rosh Hashana, with the majority from the former Soviet Union and North America. Immigrants also arrived from Europe – mostly France and Britain – and South America. The Ministry also said that some 2,800 immigrants came from Ethiopia, double the number in 5770.”

It appears that in 2011, more Jews came to Israel from America than emigrated from Israel to America, a reversal of the long-term trend. That trend kept up this year, 2012.

The year 2010 ended with a 16% increase in the number of new immigrants to Israel.
The year 2011 ended with an almost 20% increase over 2010.
I have not been able to find 2012 statistics for Israel immigration

It makes the fourth year that emigration to Israel from North America is significantly up. It doesn’t take much to see what the catalyst might be.

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Volcanoes

“When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood,” (Revelation 6:12)

How can an earthquake blot out the sun? If the earthquake is associated with volcanic eruptions it easily can blot out the sun. This has happened before, in Iceland with the eruption of Laki and in 1883 with the eruption of Krakatoa. Both times, global weather was dramatically altered for a period, as huge amounts of ash was spouted into the air. World temperatures dropped when the sun’s light was dimmed. Sunsets were glowingly beautiful for a year after Krakatoa.

Scientists call the phenomenon dry fog. “The sun, at noon, looked as blank as a clouded moon, and shed a rust- coloured ferruginous light on the ground, and floors of rooms; but was particularly lurid and blood-coloured at rising and setting.” (Gilbert White, of the Iceland Laki eruption, 1783).

In North America, the winter of 1784 was the longest and one of the coldest on record. It was the longest period of below-zero temperatures in New England, with the largest accumulation of snow in New Jersey and the longest freezing over of the Chesapeake Bay. A huge snowstorm hit the south, the Mississippi River froze at New Orleans and there was ice in the Gulf of Mexico. (Wiki)

So yes, earthquakes combined with volcanic eruptions will have a devastating effect on the earth, moon, and sun. You can read more about dry fog here.

The Smithsonian Institute has a Global Volcanism Program which keeps track of volcanic eruptions. I plotted their data for every year since 1950. I tallied up each decade’s number of eruptions and averaged them. Then I plotted the results on a chart.

The chart is below. You can see a big jump in the number of volcanic eruptions for the decade of the 2000s.

Data Source- Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program

Raw Data: Average number of eruptions worldwide in the decade of the
1950s – 52
1960s – 56
1970s – 57
1980s – 59
1990s – 58
2000s – 70

Here is some data plotted long-term, using the same source, to view a longer-term trend.

Data Source: Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program

Raw data:
YEAR #eruptions
1850 22
1860 33
1870 24
1880 30
1890 39
1900 34
1910 43
1920 32
1930 38
1940 46
1950 49
1960 57
1970 55
1980 66
1990 55
2000 67
2010 69
2011 56
(*2012 data not available yet)

Here’s the Atlantic’s roundup of 2012 volcanic activity, with cool photos. They said that “Out of an estimated 1,500 active volcanoes around the world, 50 or so erupt every year” but that has not been true since 1998. That was the last year that any year had 50-something eruptions. The only exception was 2011 when 56 erupted. For half of the 2000s, over 70 erupted, and the other half over 60 erupted.

I believe the data shows that volcanic eruptions are increasing in number and in impact.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wealth

Here is a graph of United States Bank Failures, as per the FDIC website. In looking at the raw data and the graph as visually presenting the data, it is clear that events after 2008 were dramatic.

Raw data, number of FDIC bank failures per year: Some of the source was from FDIC,
2000 – 2
2001 – 4
2002 – 11
2003 – 3
2004 – 4
2005 – 0
2006 – 0
2007 – 3
2008 – 25
2009 – 140
2010 – 150
2011 – 92
2012 – 51

The rest was from here
1999 – 8
1998 – 3
1997 – 1
1996 – 6
1995 – 8
1994 – 15
1993 – 50
1992 – 181
1991 – 271
1990 – 382
1989 – 534
1988 – 470
1987 – 262
1986 – 204
1985 – 180
1984 – 106
1983 – 99
1982 – 119
1981 – 40
1980 – 22
1979 – 10
1978 – 7
1977 – 6
1976 – 17
1975 – 13
1974 – 4
1973 – 6
1972 – 2
1971 – 7
1970 – 7
1969 – 9
1968 – 3
1967 – 4
1966 – 7
1965 – 5
1964 – 7
1963 – 2
1962 – 1
1961 – 5
1960 – 1
1959 – 3
1958 – 4
1957 – 1
1956 – 2
1955 – 5
1954 – 2
1953 – 2
1952 – 3
1951 – 2
1950 – 4
1949 – 4
1948 – 3
1947 – 5
1946 – 1
1945 – 1
1944 – 2
1943 – 5
1942 – 20
1941 – 15
1940 – 43
1939 – 60
1938 – 74
1937 – 75
1936 – 69
1935 – 25
1934 – 9

As Dave Manuel wrote at the site I linked to above, he said, “As you can see, the worst single year for bank failures since the introduction of the FDIC came in 1989. This was at the height of the savings and loan crisis in the United States, and was also the same year that the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) was formed.”

Even though the failures seem to be subsiding since 2008, in comparing 2000 when 2 banks failed to 2012 when 51 banks failed, it is still a 2,450% increase. Comparing the number of banks failed in year 2000 to year 2010 the percent increase is 7,400%. However we can see that the current recession exceeds the 1930s Depression but is far smaller than the 1980s recession in terms of banks failed. Remember Enron?

Still, it’s hard to be poor…

“A poor man is shunned by all his relatives–how much more do his friends avoid him! Though he pursues them with pleading, they are nowhere to be found.” (Proverbs 19:7)

But sometimes it’s better not to be rich…

“Here now is the man who did not make God his stronghold but trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others!” (Psalm 52:7)

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Wars

Jesus said the end time would be characterized by wars and rumors of wars. (Matthew 24:6). While wars have always been among us, beginning with the violence of Cain against Abel and fanning out into tribal and national wars that meet the benchmark of an actual national conflict, the end time is noted to have them in increasing number. (Definition of war: “an armed conflict (interstate or intrastate) with at least 1000 battle related deaths in one year – where a state is one of the belligerents.”

I noted last year in the annual data roundup that “John MacArthur preached on the end time verses in Luke 21. He cited the Encyclopedia of Wars as a source and offered the following numbers. He said that in the 1000 years prior to Christ’s coming, there were 170 recorded wars. This number excludes skirmishes, conflicts, disturbances, etc. In the 1000 years after Jesus, there were 50 wars. In the 500 years after that, 100 wars. In the 300 years after that, 250 wars. In the last 200 years, there have been 500 wars. And in the last four years (not depicted on graph) there have been 20 wars.”

I have not updated the data from last year, as I do not own Riley’s Encyclopedia of War and any other sources are too scattered to be quantifiably credible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Earthquakes

One of my favorite tracking by data variables to follow is the number of earthquakes in any given year. God definitely speaks through earthquakes. It is a constant in His vocabulary. Jesus said that His Second Coming would be presaged by “earthquakes in diverse places” (Matthew 24:7) and Revelation is rife with devastating quakes that are prophesied to be used as a judgment upon the wicked. (Revelation 6, 8, 11, & 16).

I got the data from US Geological Survey (USGS). The “Avg Yrly” column is the average number of quakes the USGS says usually happen in a year. If more quakes happen in the next week I’ll update. Click on any graph to enlarge.

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Ultimately, the Lord said He will come at a time unbelievers do not expect. (Luke 12:40). He will come like a thief in the night, when unbelievers are not paying attention. (1 Thess 5:2). However, believers must stay alert. (1 Thess 5:4-8). Joel Rosenberg wrote,

“In describing these “labor pains,” the apostle Paul echoes the words of the Lord Jesus when he explained in Matthew 24 and Luke 21 that the world will be experiencing “birth pangs” in the last days (1 Thessalonians 5:3). Thus, while we don’t know exactly when or how the Rapture will occur, it seems to come not specifically during a time of intense “contraction” (major wars, terrorist attacks, etc.), but during a time of “release,” a time when things seem to the non-Christian world to be relatively more peaceful and safe than they had previously been (1 Thessalonians 5:3).”

I recommend Mr Rosenberg’s essay explaining the rapture. he uses clear language and bible verses. He also addresses many misconceptions, such as the claim that the rapture is a theory, that it isn’t in the bible, or that it will happen after or during the tribulation. (It will happen before).

Keep looking for Him from heaven, keep living for Him on earth. Today may be the day…

Posted in end times, prophecy

Prophecy and News round up

Posted on by elizabethprata

Well, the world hasn’t ended. The Mayan Apocalypse (so far) seems to have been a bust. So what other news is happening in the world? What news is there that the bible indicates would be happening in the last days? Here is a survey of headlines that in my opinion rise to the top in prophetic importance.

The economy is important to keep a watch on. It’s not only important because we’re participants in the economy, and not only because we are affected by the economy, but because the economy will completely fail and be taken over by the antichrist.

Revelation 6 and Revelation 13 show this. As an institution God set up, trade, commerce, finances, and money, as with all things on earth, it will be completely corrupted. The last 7 years of the Tribulation will be a time when sin saturates everything, completely. This includes the economy.

Revelation 6:5-6, “When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!”

The symbolism of the scales are explained by Barnes Notes:

“Scales or balances are the emblems of justice or equity (compare Job 31:6; Psalm 62:9; Proverbs 11:1; Proverbs 16:11); and when joined with symbols that denote the sale of grain and fruit by weight, become the symbol of scarcity. Thus, “bread by weight” Leviticus 26:26 denotes scarcity. So in Ezekiel 4:16, “And they shall eat bread by weight.” The use of balances here as a symbol would signify that something was to be accurately and carefully weighed out.”

Bread will cost a day’s wage. This indicates scarcity and/or hyperinflation. There will still be luxuries like oil and wine for the rich to buy, which indicates that some will be super-rich. It seems there will be a a huge gap in the rich and the poor. Revelation 18 shows us that the merchants lament their trade when Babylon falls, and what they lament are luxuries. A healthy trade in wealth-items had been going on all the while the poor starve for lack of bread. That gap is widening now.

ECONOMY

Retailers Hammered by Winter Storm ‘Draco’
“When I was running other people’s money, I had a rule: If a retailer blames the weather for bad results, sell the stock. Good merchants understand climate volatility and plan accordingly. No exceptions were made and no excuses were accepted. That is until now. The winter storm that shutdown most flights in and out of O’Hare yesterday and is threatening to do the same to most of the eastern seaboard over the next two days comes at an inconceivably horrible time for retailers. Draco, as the storm is being called, may not be of historic magnitude in terms of storms but it will go down in history for U.S. merchants.”

With retail trade as tenuous as it is already, a several day loss at the only time of year people feel free to spend money to excess, and even to spend money they don’t have, is a drastic problem.

Greek austerity – it’s just like aftermath of World War Two
“In the Greek mountain town of Kastoria, less than an hour from the Albanian border, Kostas Tsitskos (88) can’t afford fuel to heat his home against the winter’s cold. So he and his son live in a single bedroom, warmed by a small electric heater. When temperatures fall below freezing, Tsitskos spends most of his time in his bedroom and rarely leaves the house, he said. For meals, he and his son move the electrical heater to the kitchen. … The household price for heating oil in Greece reached €1,266 per 1,000 litres in the second quarter of this year, surging 48pc from a year earlier, according to the International Energy Agency. The same quantity cost €861 in the UK and €790 in New York. … Tsitskos has relatives in Astoria, New York, who have considered returning to Greece to retire and he cautions them to stay in the US. He would leave if he could afford it, he said. “I was expecting a different type of life,” he said. “There’s nothing that makes me happy. I’m living just to live.”

Angelos Tzortzinis/Bloomberg

Caption: Greece Austerity Diet Risks 1930s-Style Depression. Wage and pension cuts have heightened tensions in Athens and other Greek cities as the economy shrivels and an anti-foreigner party flaunting a swastika-like insignia won 18 seats in Parliament.

Imagine how eagerly the people will embrace any leader who comes forward with a solution to their lack. By the time the antichrist comes, and the economy will have worsened (fiscal cliff, anyone?) imagine how they will clamor to do what he proposes…

And if you know your history, the aftermath of WWII bore the beginnings of the European Union. The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was a six-nation international organization serving to unify democratic countries of Europe during the Cold War and create the foundation for the modern-day European Union. It was first proposed in 1950. In other words, scarcity brings union. People look toward each other when things get tough. This will be fulfilled ultimately in the ten nation conglomerate of Daniel 7:7.

RUSSIA

Next is Russia. I included news about them because they will figure prominently in the Gog-Magog alliance prophesied in Ezekiel 38-39. They are a protector nation and ally of Syria and Iran, nations which (among others) attack Israel in the last days. This attack is what God uses to supernaturally show Himself in the earth and thus bring Israel back to Him in covenant. So we watch Russia… and its leader.

Vladimir Putin goes on offensive against US
“Vladimir Putin signalled his support for a controversial new law that would ban American citizens from adopting Russian orphans as he issued a fierce verbal attack on the United States. Mr Putin said that despite Americans being “up to their ears in a certain substance” made up of their own problems, they still insisted on highlighting Russia’s ills. “Why does one country consider itself entitled to spread its jurisdiction to the entire world?” he said in his characteristic rapid-fire delivery. “Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo – people are kept in prison for years without being charged, they walk around in shackles like in the Middle Ages. “They have legalised torture inside their own country.”

The jackals are skulking closer to the wounded carcass that is America, eh?

SYRIA

Next: we watch Syria because of the prophecy in Isaiah 17 that Damascus will be destroyed and its environs devastated and depopulated. The verse at 14 seems to indicate that the destruction will happen quickly, even overnight. I can’t imagine many weapons that will depopulate a place faster than either chemical weapons, or nukes.

Syria fires more Scud missiles as refugee projections climb
“The head of NATO condemned the Syrian government’s return to firing Scud-type missiles yesterday, saying they were “acts of a desperate regime approaching collapse.”

Syria’s chemical weapons transported towards Lebanon
“Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has moved some of his chemical weapons arsenal in the direction of Lebanon. If one reads between the lines of a report written by David Ignatius this week in The Washington Post, it is not hard to make the jump between that trip and the possibility of such trucks — or missiles carrying warheads with their contents — crossing the border.”

WEATHER

Crazy weather! It was another year of incredible weather extremes. The disasters that have occurred in America are unprecedented in US history during 2012. There were 11 billion-dollar weather disasters that hit the U.S., a figure exceeded only by the fourteen disasters during the previous year of 2011. But 2012 cost us more. Wow.

Remember in past posts, I mention the superlatives. Bad weather in and of itself is NOT an indicator of the nearness of the time, but when weather keeps getting worse, and worse, and worse, topping itself, it is an indicator. When meteorologists use superlatives like “biggest storm” or “most vicious in a hundred years,” etc, that is an indicator. God ordains each thing that happens on earth (Ephesians 1:11; Romans 11:36), and He controls the weather. If a weather event isn’t ordained directly by His hand, then He has allowed it to occur as a natural course of the effects of sin’s decay on the world. Either way, as we get closer to the time, the weather will be increasingly haywire.

With this next news piece, we have news of a once in ten years storm, which compared to recent storms and also the mythological Mayan apocalypse, barely rates a ‘pffft’. I’d mentioned before that we were running out of superlatives to describe the unprecedented weather events, and now it seems the ability to describe them has subsided to not even being bothered unless it is of unimaginable size or impact. In other words, a few years ago, a ten-year storm would be big news. Nowadays it isn’t.

Not-quite-apocalyptic storms hit Israel
“Sure, the Water Authority says the weather system is a once-in-a-decade event, but it’s not the end of the world. Though no once-in-a-civilization, earth-wrecking storms surfaced, the Israel Water Authority said the severity of Friday’s storms represented one of the most significant winter weather events of the past decade. Over 100 ml of water fell in some towns in the North, and the Kinneret lake rose some 6 cm, Army Radio reported.”

Storm lashes Northeast with wind, rain; thousands of flights disrupted
“With Christmas around the corner and winter officially arriving Friday, travel headaches brought on by the first big storm of the season continued — with disruptions now plaguing Northeast airports due to wind and rain after the Midwest was socked Thursday.”

Johnston Iowa

Ukraine and Russia hit by extreme cold snap and heavy snow
“Cold weather has killed 37 people in Ukraine so far this month as temperatures reached minus 23 Celsius in parts of the former Soviet republic. Night temperatures are expected to drop to -28C (-18F) in northern, central and eastern Ukraine this week. The cold snap followed heavy snowfall which left some areas covered with as much as 53 cm (21 inches) of snow. Cars were blocked for 18 kilometres (11 miles) overnight on Saturday on the main road between the capital Kiev and Lviv, officials said.”

A woman looks through an icy window in a bus in Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, on Friday

Cold snap claims nearly 200 lives in Russia, Eastern Europe
“MOSCOW: A vicious cold snap across Russia and Eastern Europe has claimed nearly 200 lives, officials figures showed today, as forecasters warned it would last until Christmas Eve. In Russia, the cold has killed two people in the past 24 hours, the Ria-Novosti agency reported, citing medical sources, bringing the total number of deaths over the past week to 56. The freeze had also left 371 people in hospital. Thermometers have been stuck below minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit) in Moscow — and below minus 50 degrees (minus 58 F) in some parts of Siberia — for a week.”

Ouch. I really feel for those folks.

VOLCANOES

Volcanoes are becoming more active. The undersea Pacific Ring of Fire is also becoming more active. It should be noted that Ecuador’s Tungurahua volcano is a constantly active one. However, the next volcano that is listed in the news, Russia’s Kamchatka, is not.

Ecuador’s rumbling Tungurahua volcano spews more hot rock from crater
“QUITO, Ecuador – The Tungurahua volcano in central Ecuador keeps spewing gas, ash and red-hot rock, forcing hundreds to evacuate from their homes. The country’s Geophysical Institute says incandescent rock shot from the crater of the 16,479-foot (5,023-meter) high mountain fell about half a mile (a kilometer) down its flanks. Explosions early Wednesday rattled windows 9 miles (14 kilometers) away, while rain-borne ash has been falling to the southwest of the crater.”

Russian volcano erupts – video
“A volcano in Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka peninsula, which has been dormant since the 1970s, erupts, spewing lava and sending clouds of ash into the air. A crack about 5km long appeared on the slope of Plosky Tolbachik. The lava poured into a river valley, destroying a volcanologist research base and a tourist campsite, both of which were empty at the time.”

Geology Professor Erik Klemetti reports in his eruption update for December 17, 2012, “Across the globe in Indonesia, Lokon has also been keeping active with numerous explosions, like this one from earlier today. That same brief Reuters report claims that Lokon has experienced over 800 explosions over the last 6 months, an impressive number to say the least. The plumes from the explosions are reaching 3-4 km / 11-14,000 feet. Lokon is joined by Paluweh in this week’s Global Volcanism Program Weekly Volcanic Activity Report and another 6 volcanoes are on Orange Alert status according to PVMBG.”

Guatemala’s Pacaya Volcano spits ash, gases
“GUATEMALA CITY – Pacaya Volcano, located 47 kilometers south of the capital, has had increased activity in recent days with ash and gas being released into the air, said the Institute of Volcanology (Insivumeh). On Wednesday, the institute issued a preventive alert and recommended the National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (Conrad) to keep monitoring the 2,500-meter-tall volcano, located between the departments of Guatemala City and Escuintla. “The activity yesterday [Tuesday] was a manifestation of reactivation, so people should be aware of developments in coming days,” Insivumeh experts said.”

Here is The Atlantic’s “2012: the Year in Volcanic Activity” with some really great photos. They write,
“Out of an estimated 1,500 active volcanoes around the world, 50 or so erupt every year, spewing steam, ash, toxic gases, and lava. In 2012, active volcanoes included Guatemala’s Volcan de Fuego, New Zealand’s Tongariro, Russia’s Plosky Tolbachik, Chile’s Puyehue, Italy’s Etna, and a new island appearing in the Red Sea. In Hawaii, Kilauea continues to send lava flowing toward the sea, and locals living near Mexico’s Popocatepetl continued to deal with ashfalls. Collected below are scenes from the wide variety of volcanic activity on Earth over the past year.”

That “50 or so” per year is not correct. It hasn’t been correct for a while. You’ll see the data soon. I am preparing my annual year-end report in numbers of volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, etc. It is called “by the Numbers” and it will be up in a day or so.

MYSTERY BOOMS/SKY NOISES

Who knows what those weird noises are?! They have been occurring for several years. The reports come from credible sources. When they occur, official government agencies deal with numerous calls and then make statements. YouTube and other video recordings capture the noise and they are posted on the internet for all to hear. I’ve written about them before, several times. I’ve speculated they may be leak-over from spiritual battles in the heavenlies. The roar of invading host, as it were. They may be something related to Jeremiah 25:31 —

“A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.”

Or they may be something we can’t comprehend. In any case, they are still happening.

The weird sky noises continue to happen and when they do, they continue to baffle. It isn’t quarry work and it isn’t earthquakes. Those have been ruled out. And no military activity as taking place either. Those are the three main culprits that cause loud noises like these, and they have been ruled out.

Columbia County (GA) Booms Continue To Baffle Community
“Columbia County residents are stumped over the origin of a mysterious series of loud, wall-rattling booms that have been shaking their eardrums -and homes- several times over the last few weeks.”

PESTILENCE

Luke 21:11 says that there will be pestilences as a sign of the end time. Pestilences are a contagious or infectious epidemic disease that is virulent and devastating.

Whooping Cough on the dramatic rise: Maine cases tripled
“Reported cases of whooping cough in Maine more than tripled this year, in line with a national trend that resulted in the worst year of pertussis infection in the United States in more than 50 years.”

source

Vermont is experiencing an outbreak too. Their cases this year have doubled over the previous next highest year of number of cases.

Pertussis outbreak has state encouraging vaccinations for adults and children
“Vermont is experiencing the most severe outbreak of pertussis, or whooping cough, in documented history. While state numbers show the vaccine’s inefficacy in the Green Mountain State, top health officials say there’s no better solution. The 568 cases the state has so far recorded this year are double the previous high of 283 cases set in 1997.”

In the UK, cases have doubled.

Whooping cough outbreak continues but cases have dropped.
“The biggest outbreak of whooping cough for 20 years is continuing but experts said cases have dipped slightly. The number of new cases recorded in November dropped for the first time in 18 months, but experts warned that the disease does usually die down in winter and it may not mean the outbreak has peaked. … So far this year there have been a total of 8,819 cases, higher than in any year since the 1990s.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The point of posts like these is three fold, mainly. First, we recognize God’s sovereignty in all things. the news headlines may say that there is travel “chaos” but in heaven there is no chaos. God is in control of each and every thing, including our lives. God is a mighty rock in a weary land!

Secondly, He said He will come again and take us to where He is. This is known as the rapture. All believers who are dead will be resurrected into glorified new bodies, and we who are alive will be taken up with them into the air where we will meet Him in the clouds. This will be a real event. It is not a theory. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:50-54.)

So then, if He will come back a time we do not expect, how will we live from day to day? In expectation? Do we long for Him? Do we know the signs, or are we looking at life signs and not spiritual signs, much to our shame and rebuke? (Matthew 16:1-4).

Third, we take comfort in these words! He will return and right all things! He will hold us close and wipe our tears. He is the Good Shepherd who takes care of His sheep. He will install us in His fields, to lay down in good pasture, with still waters. Heed the words of David:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,c
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4)

Whether He is near on His day of the rapture or He is near because he is indwelling us, He is near! Call on the mightiest name in the universe, your friend, Jesus.

 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:18). Look for Him and live for Him. Selah

Posted in doomsday, end time, jesus, Mayans, prophecy

What is the opposite of a Mayan doomsday? Jesus’s Peaceday

Posted on by elizabethprata

Mayan doomsday hysteria is overtaking people, towns, whole nations. According to an incorrect interpretation of the long count Mayan calendar, (Baktun) the world is supposed to end tomorrow. The fascination with this calendar and its prediction of global doom has apparently affected many, many people. Crimes are being committed. Deaths are occurring. Government decisions are being made.

O, would that they would do the same by taking the bible seriously! If people changed their lives, thought of their mortality, made decisions based on the truth and fact of a REAL doomsday that will come for every human who ever lived…what a world this would be. Alas, it is not.

But be that as it may, the troubles of the mind are bubbling to the surface. The intuitive fear that every human has is giving rise to actions that are caused by those fears.

And what are those fears? Follow me on the progressive thought: The bible says eternity is set in our hearts. (Ecclesiastes 3:11). It says that we are influenced by the general revelation of God in nature, (Romans 1:20; more here) and also that we have been influenced by special revelation which is the spoken Word, miracles, visions, dreams, and Jesus. And if we are influenced by God in those ways, we also intuitively feel the weight of our sins, (2 Timothy 3:6; Isaiah 1:4). Therefore we understand deep in the recesses of the darkest corner of our minds, that we are accountable for them. Each individual in the world at some point before their death, unless they were a babe or cognitively impaired, have pondered the eternal question- what happens after death? Is this all there is?

Not knowing the answer to that question bothers people. Of a mundane day to day living, the issue doesn’t come up so often. However if a person is confronted with a horrific event, such as the Newtown School massacre, they think about it. Or if they receive a dread diagnosis, they think about it. Or if they approach old age, they think about it. It’s natural to wonder.

Not having the answer, some people go more crazy and frantic when faced with a looming appointment with mortality. For many today, that looming appointment seems to them to be the Mayan end date and alleged pagan Apocalypse. People really are going crazy. See this news from around the world:

Almost 1,000 doomsday cult members arrested in China
Police in China have carried out further arrests of members of a doomsday cult for spreading rumours about the imminent end of the world, state media say.
State media terms Almighty God an “evil cult” – the same description it applies to the banned Falun Gong group.

As ‘Doomsday’ Looms, Serbs Cash In On Mystical Mountain
If doomsday really falls on Friday, the residents of this Serbian mountain region are cashing in while they can.  “We’re booked out December 20-23. We have a New Age convention and guests are coming because of the end of the world,” said Nebojsa Gajic, manager of the 160-bed, Communist-era Millennium Hotel on the slopes of Mount Rtanj.  The region is selling itself as the best place to survive the looming apocalypse–which will fall on December 21, according to mystics whose calculations depend on the ending of an era in the 5,125-year-old Mayan calendar.

Dec. 21, 2012: Fearful ‘end of world’ callers flood NASA
If there’s one government agency really looking forward to Dec. 22, it’s NASA.  The space agency said it has been flooded with calls and emails from people asking about the purported end of the world — which, as the doomsday myth goes, is apparently set to take place on Dec. 21, 2012. … NASA decided to do “everything in our power” to set the facts straight.  That effort included interviews with scientists posted online and a web page Brown said has drawn more than 4.6 million views. [italics mine]

School Districts Cancel Class Due To Doomsday Talk, Potential Threats
Thousands of students will have an extra long holiday break after school administrators in at least two Michigan counties decided to cancel classes because of talk surrounding the shootings in Newtown, Connecticut and rumors connected to the Mayan calendar predicting the end of the world.  Five districts in Lapeer County and 20 districts in Genesee County posted announcements Wednesday evening cancelling classes Thursday and Friday. … Additionally, rumors connected to the Mayan calendar predicted end of the world on Friday have also surfaced,” a letter from Matt Wandrie, Superintendent of Lapeer Community Schools said.

Chinese police suspect man who stabbed 23 kids ‘influenced’ by doomsday rumor 
Chinese police said Monday that the man who stabbed 23 children in a rural Chinese elementary school just hours before the Newtown, Conn., massacre may have been “influenced” by doomsday predictions. A belief that the Mayan calendar predicts an apocalypse this Friday, Dec. 21, has gained peculiar currency here. And the knifing spree is the darkest manifestation yet of how end-of-the-world rumors have taken hold in China.

People are taking this thing seriously. Too bad they are all wrong. They are going crazy. And they do not need to.

Oh, the Lord may rapture His believers any day, and the last 7 years of doom on earth may begin. That last 7 years does include days of darkness as the Mayans “predict”, and asteroids and comets and other doomish happenings. But if it does occur it will not be because the Mayans said so, it will be because GOD said so.

However, the heartbreaking concepts in all this are two-fold. First, that people and governments are making decisions based on a false prediction from a lost cult of the Mayans. Their religion means nothing and it came to nothing. Chances are that naught untoward will happen tomorrow. Sadly, many people who have either committed suicide, or killed someone or went underground or sold all their stuff will sheepishly understand they made an eternal mistake based on false intel.

Secondly, what we’re seeing with all the hullabaloo is the roiling of usually placid waters of apparent unconcern with their eternal destiny. People hide or suppress the turmoil of fear and uncertainty underneath. (Romans 1:18). We don’t usually see a person’s turmoil. Big events stir up that inner turmoil. That is what we’re seeing today.

In this case it is the specter of doom in the form of an ancient pagan prediction. However, even the Newtown massacre prompted full churches and candlelight vigils in the search for meaning among the face-off with death and its eternal question.

Source

source

“Oh, the raging of many nations–they rage like the raging sea! Oh, the uproar of the peoples–they roar like the roaring of great waters!” (Isaiah 17:12) Isaiah likened the turmoil of nations with its endlessly raging peoples to the roaring seas. So did Luke:

“And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves,” (Luke 21:25)

Isaiah’s use of roaring is from a Hebrew word hamah that means to ‘murmur, growl, roar, be boisterous’ and that is exactly what we see when a great many people across the world at once are forced to face mortality and confront their conscience with the question of “what happens after death?” Like a Mayan apocalypse. They murmur, growl, become boisterous, just like the raging sea.

One can be peaceful, placid, and avoid the roiling of waters by being in Jesus. HE brings peace, and only HE brings peace. Without Him, there is no peace. And no answers.

“For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;” (Ephesians 2:14-15)

“To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:79).

The Apocalypse is coming. It is not the Mayan apocalypse, but the Jesus Apocalypse. Apocalypse literally is from the Greek word apokalýptō and Strong’s concordance defines it as:

“properly, uncover, revealing what is hidden (veiled, obstructed), especially its inner make-up; (figuratively) to make plain (manifest), particularly what is immaterial (invisible).”

The last book of the bible is Revelation and it reveals the things of the last days. It reveals to one and all the terrible wrath of God leveled upon the world for their sins. He reveals what He will do.

In Amos 3:7 it is written, “For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets”

and in this case He revealed His intentions to John, who was also instructed to write it down and thereby it becomes instructive to us in this generation.

“The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. … Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.” (Revelation 1:1-3, 11)

We are meant to read the book and to understand the price that pride and sin and rejection of Jesus brings. Surely the LORD does nothing without revealing it…and He has. The Mayans have not.

You have been warned, as every generation has been warned since the generation of John and the closing of the bible with the words of Revelation He ordained John to write.

Wrath is coming. But the Peace that passes all understanding is also revealed. (Philippians 4:7). That also, is yours for the choosing. I beg and plead with you who do not believe, I entreat and urge those who do believe but are falling away. I am not so proud that I would not beg you in abject tears to heed the words of Jesus the Christ who is and who was and who is to come again.

It may be today. It may be tomorrow. It may be next month. Or your very death may cause you to slide in due time toward the eternal destiny He has set before us. (Deuteronomy 32:35). There are only two destines for every person who ever lives: eternity in hell away from Him, and eternity in heaven with Him.

As Paul wrote in the great book of Romans,

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect”. (Romans 12:1-2).

What is the will of God, you ask?

“For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:40)

Believe on Jesus, the resurrected God-man who was slain for the sins of the world, and who took YOUR wrath as the substitute. Repent and believe. And then you will no longer wonder about your appointment with mortality. You will KNOW.  You will never worry about anything so foolish as a Mayan apocalypse again. It is His delighted pleasure to reveal to you your destiny which is peace and glory and perfection and joy. His peace is amazing. Jesus is amazing. Come join us in His peace, I beg you.


Posted in end of days, joel c. rosenberg, prophecy, rapture

Joel Rosenberg asks, ‘Is it the end of days?’ Pete Garcia asks ‘What about the rapture?’

Posted on by elizabethprata

Joel Rosenberg wrote a very good essay answering this question. He has details and scriptures over at his blog.

Here is an excerpt:

“Jesus cautioned His followers not to speculate on the exact time of the Rapture or the Second Coming. In Matthew 24:36, He said that “of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” But “day and hour” is a very narrow slice of time. By giving us at least fifteen other specific signs that would be happening in the last days, Jesus clearly wanted us to know when the time of His return was rapidly approaching.”

“Why? He gave the answer in Matthew 24:42, when He said, “Therefore, be on the alert.” He reinforced the point in the next verse, when again He urged His followers to be “on the alert.” In Matthew 24:44, He stressed this critical point for a third time. “You also must be ready,” He insisted, “for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.”

“Followers of Jesus Christ who study these signs are coming to the conclusion that they are being fulfilled today and that we are, in fact, living in the last days.”

They have no idea precisely when Jesus will return, of course. But given how closely world events are tracking with Bible prophecy, they find themselves increasingly motivated to “be ready…”

That is what prophecy does for us. It makes us urgently ready. It is so important to study it and honor it. As the Proverbs say,

“Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.” (Proverbs 29:18).

Knowing that Jesus could return at any moment is exactly a restraint! Prophecy restrains us. It’s like an extending leash for your pet. If you take the leash off, the dog runs and runs and sometimes runs into a car. On the leash he has room and yet he is restrained from danger or from wandering off the path.

Or like your teenager, if they have the house to themselves and know that they have hours and hours of unsupervised time, how much trouble will they get into, as opposed to knowing the parents could come back at any moment?

You might enjoy this essay from Pete Garcia, called “The Rapture“. Here is an excerpt–

“For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

A Shout: The three times that the New Testament records Jesus shouts in the New Testament, notice what happens:

-One man, Lazarus resurrected (JN 11:43)
-Many tombs opened and dead saints resurrected (MATT 27:46, 52)
-Millions resurrected. (1 Thessalonians 4:16)

Christ’s verbal command is powerful enough to raise the dead because Christ, having been resurrected, holds the keys to death and hell and is singularly able to command death to obey His voice.”

We serve a holy and glorious God! Go on your way today praising Jesus for all that He is and all that He is doing. We will soon meet Him, and what a morning that will be!

Posted in frankenflies, jesus, key west, mutant mosquitoes, pestilence, prophecy

Unleash the Frankenflies!

Posted on by elizabethprata

Dengue Fever is back, and it is causing a fever among health officials. Outbreaks worldwide are increasing, and the Florida Keys are one of the places American officials are especially concerned about. World Health Organization (WHO) said in recent years it has become a major international public health concern. In 2010, Puerto Rico had the largest outbreak in history, reported health officials at the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta.

“The first native cases of dengue fever in Florida in more than 70 years began appearing in Key West in 2009, and they’re becoming more common…It’s not clear why the mosquito has become more abundant, reported Time Magazine in 2011. 2010 was a watershed year, with 2009 having had 22 locally acquired cases and the next year that number leaped to 66.

As of 2010 dengue fever is believed to infect 50 to 100 million people worldwide a year with 1/2 million life threatening infections. It has dramatically increased in frequency between 1960 and 2010 by 30 fold.

Dengue is a fever brought by “the bite of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, dengue infects an estimated 220 million people a year — 2 million of whom develop a severe form called dengue haemorrhagic fever, which has no known cure. And it can be extremely painful,” reported the Time Magazine article. Quoting NPR, Time’s article continued,

“Dengue is considered a serious public health threat in Key West, Hawaii, south Texas and other Florida counties where it has been reported. But compared with its resurgence in Latin America, the outbreak in Key West is relatively minor.”

It is serious nonetheless, because officials do not know why it is happening. “The state’s public health veterinarian said in 2010, “We do know that we used to have dengue in Florida,” … “Why we’re currently experiencing an outbreak, I can’t answer that question.”

The FL Department of Health web page today states, “The number of dengue cases in Florida travelers returning from the Caribbean, Central and South America is higher than normal. If you are traveling to a tropical or sub-tropical area, you can protect yourself from dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases by following the suggestions on our Prevention page, including using insect repellent. You can get more information about Traveler’s Health at http://www.cdc.gov/dengue/travelOutbreaks/index.html”

So both locally acquired cases and foreign returnee-cases are on the rise.

In order to combat this disease, Florida officials are about to, as the Russia Today article wittily states, “Unleash the Frankenflies.”

Hundreds of thousands of mutated mosquitoes could soon be unleashed in Florida, but don’t worry: scientists say they have a plan. It might sound like something out of a low-budget horror film, but the US Food and Drug Administration really is considering whether or not they should allow scientists to send thousands upon thousands of genetically altered insects into the wild. If all goes as planned, mosquitos modified by some serious Frankenstein treatment will be introduced into the Florida Keys and ideally mate with skeeters that carry the deadly dengue fever, passing along in the process a fatal birth defect that will hopefully eradicate the offspring before birth. From there, scientists say they expect the population of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes infected with the dangerous disease will be decimated in only a few generations without causing any major implications for the native ecosystem. “The science of it, I think, looks fine. It’s straight from setting up experiments and collecting data,” Michael Doyle of the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District tells the Associated Press.

This will not end well. Even the guy they interviewed seemed to be saying that on paper it should all work out. He thinks.

But we know that when you start monkeying around with the natural order of things, it doesn’t work out. God told Adam to name the animals, not remake the animals. (Genesis 2:19-20). When man accepted the fallen angels’ ways and human-angel mutations happened, God shut it down. (Genesis 6). When man tried to re-make his own little world, at the Tower of Babel, God shut it down. (Genesis 11).

I the late 1800s, kudzu was imported from Japan as a shade foliage, and now we call kudzu “the weed that ate the south.” When sugar-cane beetles began overrunning the cane fields in Australia, they brought in cane toads to eat them. Now Aussies have a much bigger problem on their hands.

“The much maligned venomous cane toads earned their bad reputation shortly after being released into the Australian ecology in 1935 with the hope that they would control the destructive cane beetle population. They turned out to be failures at controlling beetles, but remarkably successful at reproducing and spreading themselves. About 3,000 cane toads were released in the sugarcane plantations of north Queensland in 1935. They now number well into the millions, and their still expanding range covers thousands of square miles in northeastern Australia.” (source NatGeo).

So this unleashing of genetically modified mosquitos has me skeptical just on the basis of past failures.

In addition, look at the end of history as prophesied in God’s word. Luke 21:11 Jesus promised there will be pestilences at the end of days. Revelation 6:8 again states the same, and gives specifics: a fourth of the world will die by sword, famine, pestilence and beasts. Death by beasts could include animals losing the fear of man and stalking them in their own attempts to get food, or the prophecy could mean rats,  fleas, ticks, mosquitos, and other dirty animals that traditionally have unleashed massive plagues on man.

Either way, the end time is a time when God is showing us through repeated warnings that He is in control. At some point the issues of today will increase beyond man’s ability to solve and control them. Science will fail. Governments will fail. God will strip away all man-made reliance on anything except upon HIM. It will be painful and it will mean death for many. Turn to Jesus now in reliance on His holy name and His good and great plan for your life. It is not painful, but blissful. Don’t wait. There are worse things coming for the unbeliever than mutant mosquitos, and there are wonderful things coming for the believer.

To become a believer you should repent of your sins, being sorry for these crimes against God, and pray to Jesus to forgive you. He was sent as the substitutionary sacrifice to pay God’s penalty for your sins, (the penalty is wrath) and God has accepted Jesus as the sacrifice, proving this by raising Him from the dead after three days. Jesus is in heaven now but He is coming back to judge the living and the dead. Believers will already be in heaven, safely dwelling in glorified bodies with Him. Sound good? It is! It is the GOOD NEWS of JESUS CHRIST!

Posted in paul, prophecy, timothy, ungodly

Paul’s warning to Timothy about church godlessness in the last days

Posted on by elizabethprata

Paul wrote to Timothy as a warning, “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

This verse is meant to be understood that people in the church will be acting this way. If you can imagine people in the church acting that way, how much worse the general population will be. In the church they will be appearing to try and be godly, and fail. People outside the church won’t even be trying.

Of the second verse in the passage, Wesley’s Notes say,
“For men – Even in the church. Will be – In great numbers, and to an higher degree than ever. Lovers of themselves – Only, not their neighbours, the first root of evil. Lovers of money – The second.”

Barnes Notes explains,
“For men shall be lovers of their own selves – It shall be one of the characteristics of those times that men shall be eminently selfish – evidently under the garb of religion; 2 Timothy 3:5. The word here used – φίλαυτος philautos – does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. It means a lover of oneself, “selfish.” Such a love of self as to lead us to secure our salvation, is proper. But this interferes with the rights and happiness of no other persons. The selfishness which is condemned, is that regard to our own interests which interferes with the rights and comforts of others; which makes self the central and leading object of living; and which tramples on all that would interfere with that. As such, it is a base, and hateful, and narrow passion; but it has been so common in the world that no one can doubt the correctness of the prophecy of the apostle that it would exist “in the last times.”

Whoa. That is bad. The one place where there is supposed to be love…will be lacking of it in many places. Or at least, there will be a pale imitation and when push comes to shove, it will be revealed as ungodly love. I think that is the worse condition. To be faked out, I mean.

Here are some examples of selfish and ridiculous behavior in the general population that are a harbinger of what is coming to the church. As Barnes said, ‘been so common in the world that no one can doubt the correctness of the prophecy of the apostle that it would exist “in the last times”‘ in the church too. These news articles are from my local daily and local weekly. I live in a low crime area that is fairly rural. As soon as a few years ago I left my front door unlocked for the day. (Not anymore, things are always locked up tight.)

9-year-old moons bus driver, spits at police
“A 9-year-old girl mooned a school bus driver Friday afternoon and generally behaved so badly the driver had to pull over on the Outer Loop and call authorities, according to an Athens-Clarke police report. As an officer boarded the bus, he wrote he saw the girl trying to kick the driver. He convinced the girl to leave the bus with him, but once outside she tried to run away, the officer said. The officer managed to catch the girl before she got into the street and handcuffed her after she said she wished a vehicle had hit her. In the back of his patrol car, the officer said the girl repeatedly kicked the glass divider. He had to call for back up so someone could bring him a device to restrain her legs, according to the report.”

It goes on, the things the girl did. She attends a special alternative school for unruly children. The sad part is that she had to be handcuffed because she almost ran into traffic, and when the policeman was cuffing her she said she wished a car had hit her. It is so sad that children are so broken so young, that they defy educational authorities and even civil authorities like police officers. At age 9?! Decades ago, can you imagine the culture would have devolved so quickly to so taint the tender youngsters?

Even the older youth don’t know any better. See this story about a spate of police calls for youths n buses being transported home from the Middle School and High School in my county. And this next article, is simply outrageous.

Drunk UGA student urinates on shelves in Athens store
“A drunken University of Georgia student damaged merchandise valued at hundreds of dollars when he urinated inside a downtown Athens convenience store early Friday morning, Athens-Clarke police said. Austin James Smith, 23, of Lawrenceville, relieved himself in an aisle at Lay-Z-Shopper on East Clayton Street shortly before 2:30 a.m., damaging $200 worth of snacks and $100 worth of household items, according to police.”

Gross, gross, gross. What, was he raised in a barn?

This next one happened a few miles up the road from me. Scary.

Hull residents alarmed at finding severed dog heads on front porch
Four days have passed and no more severed dog heads have been left on the front porch where Zachary Osburn lives in Hull. For two days straight — Nov. 23-24 — the heads of dogs were found on the steps leading to the home where Osburn, his sister, and girlfriend all live on Old Elberton Road. Osburn called the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, which sent a deputy to investigate the bizarre matter, but the motive for someone leaving the heads, or even how the dogs died, is a mystery. … “My sister didn’t even go to work the first night because she was so shook up about it,” he said, explaining that his sister refused to take a close look at the head.”

I’d be shook up, too. It seems demonic, like something people do in satanic cults like voodoo, or in the ancient days of bloody pagan practices.

I am sure that examples abound of people doing strange things like these in your area too. But the interesting thing is that the Paul wrote that men will be selfish, brutal, slanderous, uncontrolled… etc., in church! The heightening of bizarre behavior outside the church seems to me to be a dark stain that is slowly encroaching into the last sanctuary- the local worship place. When it starts seeping in in greater force, I wonder what that would look like? Would it look like the above, youths showing up drunk to worship and urinating on the couch? With youngsters so out of control in AWANA that the police have to be called?

I know one thing Paul’s prophecy looks like, is spiritual abuse. I’ve written about that before, several times. Spiritual abuse is performed by men who seem godly, adopting a form of it but denying its power. At root, abusive pastors, leaders, deacons, teachers etc are selfish, because they deny God’s power so they can exalt their own power. Spiritual abuse is brutal.

I’d imagine that being slandered in church is a terrible blow to a Christian, too. We open ourselves up to trust levels we don’t even do in families or workplaces. When our character is impugned by someone who had purported to love the truth, it is a severe blow. Paul knew this. In 1 Corinthians 10 he spends a good deal of time defending his ministry. After Paul founded it, he left the Corinthian church to check on his other churches. Immediately, false teachers swooped in and through small lies and big ones, not only succeeded in making the Corinthians doubt Paul’s teaching, but their doubt extended to impact against the spread of the Gospel. When a person’s character is doubted it destroys their teaching. Maybe it was those fake-godly men he was remembering when he warned Timothy about future encroachments of other ones inside the church.

Note how Paul ended the first set of verses at verse 5: “Avoid such people.”

We are not just to intellectually note that such people exist in the church. We are not simply to mark when it happens. We are to DO something about it. We are to avoid them.

Referring to the verse in Corinthians, Phil Johnson preached about spiritual warfare, saying, “A lot of times spiritual warfare calls us to engage with people who look like, and pass themselves off as, ministers of righteousness.” (2 Corinthians 11:15).

Again, I wonder how this will play out in real life. This command to “avoid such people” is a difficult thing. I mean, if you notice a deacon in your church, or a teacher or leader who is displaying one of the characteristics above, as a pattern of behavior that impacts the peacefulness of the church or the witness of the Gospel (not as a one-time error- please don’t jump to conclusions), how do we avoid them?

Do I alert the media? Change my pew? Get off the committee? Quit Sunday School? It is a difficult thing. I suppose of someone was caught stealing the tithes or molesting the children it would be clear that avoidance would be the least of the actions taken. But if they were slandering? Being ungrateful? Unappeasable? Taking Paul’s recommended action seems to me to be trickier to enact. But we must. It is prophesied to happen and the recourse is a command, not a suggestion.

I don’t have the answer yet, but I am sure that with further study and prayer the Holy Spirit will illuminate my mind. He is great to help bring the bible to life and its precepts to action. But I’m not looking forward to the day when the behavior such as Paul listed above comes into the church. But I wanted us to be aware of its prophetic imminence and to start praying how to keep loving even when people who faked us out for many years turn out to be brutal, slanderous, selfish etc toward us. Be ready. And part of being ready means being strong in our faith because when it happens to you, it will make you want to lie down and quit. We have to strengthen our armor now.

The great opportunity we have is that when the ungodly ones are revealed in our lives and our worship, our witness can be even brighter for Jesus, pointing to Him as the way and the truth and the life. Darkness is prophesied to steal into the pew, the pulpit, the classroom, but we are forewarned. We will be ready, we will be peaceful, loving, and bright with His glory, having prayed for strength and love to ride the waves of the coming church brutality and selfishness.

Our home is in heaven, and soon, we will never have to guard ourselves again. We will never have to gird ourselves with weapons. We can just…be. Cling to this thought, wonderful people:

“Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20)

Posted in jesus, jews, nazi, prophecy

Hungarian politician’s call for a "Jew-list" sparks protests

Posted on by elizabethprata

Thousands of Hungarians protest against compiling lists of Jews posing ‘security risk’
Over 10,000 have come out to an anti-Nazi rally in Budapest to demonstrate against a proposal of a far-right leader to draft lists of Hungarian Jews who may represent a “security risk”. The government and opposition parties both joined the protest.
It all started when Marton Gyongyosi of the of the Hungarian Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik), the country’s largest far-right party, stated that it was time to determine “how many people of Jewish origin there are here, especially in the Hungarian parliament and the Hungarian government, who represent a certain national security risk.”
Gyongyosi argued that this was needed because of the tensions after an eight-day attack on Gaza. He also said that Hungary’s Foreign Ministry had “rushed to make an oath of allegiance to Israel.”
After the statement, Gyongyosi issued an apology, but still reaffirmed that Hungary needs to be cautious of “Zionist Israel and those serving it also from here.”

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The hatred that satan has fomented in them, the LORD will push forward to its inevitable conclusion. Just as Pharaoh was given an opportunity to let the Israelites go, his heart hardened and he refused. As 1 Samuel 6:6 says, “Why should you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? After he had dealt severely with them, did they not send the people away, and they departed?”

Matthew Henry says of the Samuel verse, “Sinners lengthen out their own miseries by refusing to part with their sins.” At a point God deems perfect, He ends the argument and decides for them, rendering the judgment He sees they need. Sometimes this includes pushing forward what is already in their hearts to a conclusion. The entire Tribulation will be a time when humanity’s God-hating, sin-loving choices will be brought forward to fill the cup of wrath to the top. After Revelation 13, humanity’s choices will displayed in black and white, (take the Mark of the Beast, or not), their hearts will be set like concrete, and there will be no going back.

Some examples of how God pushes forward what is already in their hearts can be found in Isaiah 19:14-
“The Lord has poured into them a spirit of dizziness; they make Egypt stagger in all that she does, as a drunkard staggers around in his vomit.”

And Ezekiel 38:21,
“I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Lord GOD. Every man’s sword will be against his brother.”

And Zechariah 12:2a,
“I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling.”

It seems that the protests in Hungary fit the prophecy above. Once again, Jerusalem makes the surrounding peoples reel, as in this headline too, when Palestinian Authority’s Abbas said that their flag will wave in East Jerusalem.

The hatred of Jews we see rising so fast is not a personal one. It is all a spiritual battle. Always remember, “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)

Now is the time to remember that Ephesians verse each and every day.

The Hungarian politician did not ask for the “Jew-list” because he suddenly decided to become suspicious of Jews, it was satan’s influence which put that on his heart. The protests by the Hungarians were not against the politician who had asked for the “Jew-list” but were organized by Jewish and civic groups

The leader of one of the political parties in Hungary who participated in the protest said, “He added that “genocide is always preceded by lists,” arguing that it was unacceptable that “people should fail to learn the lessons of the past 100 years.”

It is unacceptable. But they will still fail to learn, because satan will continue to foment hatred of God’s people. And the lists, I imagine that in the Tribulation the lists will be voluminous. Who can buy or sell, who is a Christian or a Jew…

God is long-suffering. “And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,” (Exodus 34:6)

But He has appointed a Day when His wrath will take over from His long-suffering. When we read of events like that protest in Hungary and the increasing call for rounding up the Jews, we can practically see the evil spirit being poured out by satan. God’s  plan is advancing and that means our prayers should become more fervent too.

“My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.” (Psalms 5:3)