WE ARE LIVING IN BIBLICAL APOCALYPTIC, REVELATORY TIMES

Adapted from an article by Wallace B. Henley, Exclusive Columnist of Christian Post

Jesus, in His Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24) pulled back the veil and gave us a glimpse of the state of the world prior to His second coming. “The coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah,” says Jesus (Matthew 24:37). The core characteristic of Noah’s day was that of a time when there is no “king”— no legitimate, respected, authority — and every person did “what is right” in his or her “own eyes” (Genesis 21:25).

Randomness nurtures paranoia and desperation. The randomness of evil characterizes prophesied “end-times.” Hardly anything reveals that in our own day as do sudden mass shootings and their frightfully random locales and motives.

But there is another lifting of the veil in our age, revealing the styles of attempted governance in such an unstable time. Christ’s Revelation visions given to the apostle John and distributed through him to the churches in all eras are full of signs that are unfolding in our time. The big one was the reestablishment of Israel as a nation in May 1948 with the Hebrew language.

Another example, Saint John has a vision of a beast rising out of rough, heaving seas, symbolizing restless, turbulent nations. The storms of evil and tragedy are so great that a man of intrigue emerges, who promises peace and tranquility and is eventually worshipped and received as a savior (hence, anti-Christ).

The coming Satan Conference in Boston will be the largest ever put on by The Satanic Temple. It is already sold out. Surely, an indication of how godless the USA has become.

Recent events in the USA provide a peek at the world to come and its desperate efforts to resist chaos. A glimpse behind the “curtain” of our day on history’s stage shows that regimes to come might either be police states or cyber-surveillance states, or a mixture of the two.

For one thing, leaders in cities and states where individuals and groups pushed for the defunding and reduction of police departments are now regretting their decisions because of intensifying anarchy.

This is exactly what has happened recently in Los Angeles. The newly installed mayor, Karen Bass, wants to add 1,000 officers to the police force and has come under criticism from progressives who supported her in the mayoral election.

New York is adding more than $60 million to hire more officers to police the city’s subway system, staggering under random assaults.

Rather than constituent complaints about turning such metropolises into police states, there is widespread public support.

Back to the apocalyptic element: How could an “Antichrist” gain control of governance? The answer: By promising to end the chaos. People living amidst random disorder will be driven by desperation that will compel them to support anyone whom they think will bring order. This is how tyrants gain control across history.

We are also seeing now how nations can become cyber-surveillance states. This is a society where artificial intelligence and other cyber functions can be used to force people into compliance with the worldview and values of the governing powers, or the party line. With chips already being implanted in hands, the prophesied Mark of the Beast is an obvious next step for ultimate control.

China is giving the world a glimpse of this phenomenon presently through its social credits score program. As one observer put it, “The state uses vast quantities of data and cutting-edge artificial intelligence to build a nimbler form of authoritarianism capable of exercising unprecedented social control … The ultimate goal is a perfectly engineered society that automatically neutralizes dissidents while rewarding those who comply with lives of convenience, safety, and predictability.”

When the mayor of one of America’s largest cities becomes desperate enough to call for the hiring of 1,000 police officers despite an earlier determination to defund the police department, and when China, a huge nation, plans to use artificial intelligence to track its citizens’ allegiance to the nation’s dominating political party and its philosophies, worldview, and values, it’s time for the church to take a fresh Holy Spirit inspired look at the many end times scriptures that God has given us so that we would not be surprised when these events unfold. The Bible reveals the only way this world will have peace is when Jesus is ruling and reigning with the Saints in His coming Millennial Kingdom.

The purpose of the thousand-year reign is to allow for the fulfillment of the promises God made with Jesus, Israel, the Saints, and the Creation to vindicate His Holy name.

Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. Ezekiel 36:22-24

UN WARNS MILLIONS COULD DIE OF MULTIPLE FAMINES

Surely, Christians at least, must now recognise we are living in Biblical “end times”. The famines, pestilences, economic hardships and apostasy (churches compromising with the world’s values) evident in the world match exactly the signs Jesus gave His disciples in the Olivet Discourse of the time before His return to rescue His saints, prior to pouring out His wrath on an unbelieving world.

The UN warns that millions could die in ‘”multiple famines of biblical proportions” in pandemic. Note the use of the word biblical. Look what else Jesus said Christians can look forward to during the time before His return; persecution, betrayal even death. Pastors are you preparing the church to be disciples and part of preaching the gospel of the kingdom to all nations despite the coming tribulation?

“And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:7-14

An estimated 300,000 people could begin starving to death daily in “multiple famines of biblical proportions” within months amid the coronavirus pandemic, warned head of the World Food Program David Beasley.

Describing the coronavirus pandemic as “the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II” in a presentation to the United Nations Security Council Tuesday, Beasley warned that the number of people suffering from hunger could go from 135 million to more than 250 million and urgent action was needed, especially when it comes to vulnerable populations in conflict-driven countries.

“If we can’t reach these people with the life-saving assistance they need, our analysis shows that 300,000 people could starve to death every single day over a three-month period,” Beasley said.

Remember, most of these countries are already suffering from unprecedented locust plagues.

BIBLE PROPHESIES “END TIMES” CATASTROPHES

Even before this coronavirus outbreak, the global economy was really starting to slow down.  Economic numbers were absolutely dismal all over the world, and many experts were warning that we were right on the verge of the next global recession.

Now that this outbreak has erupted, we definitely have much more momentum in a downward direction. Very challenging times are ahead, although most people still don’t understand what is happening.

We are moving into a time when everything that can be shaken will be shaken.  The global financial system is on the precipice of utter disaster, we we witnessing great civil unrest and political shaking all over the world, the drumbeat of war grows louder and louder, weather patterns are going absolutely crazy and seismic activity is on the rise all over the planet. For born again, Bible believing saints, as events unfold exactly as predicted in God’s Word, it is confirmation that our Heavenly Father’s plan for Jesus to return and rule and reign on this planet for 1000 years is on track and not too far distant. Saints are you preparing to rule and reign with Jesus in the Millennium?

Japan’s biggest contraction in more than five years adds to escalating concerns among policymakers about the length of a likely recession in the world’s third-largest economy as the impact of the coronavirus and a plunge in oil prices causes markets to slide and the yen to gain.

Japan’s gross domestic product was already contracting badly in 2019. It had shrank at an annualised pace of 6.3 percent from the previous quarter in the three months through December, 2019. Economists surveyed had predicted a fall of 3.8 percent, flagging the adverse impact of a sales tax increase, weak global demand and typhoon disruption.

Consumer spending fell 11.1% after the national sales tax was raised in October to 10% from 8%. During the same month,Typhoon Hagibis ravaged a large swathe of the country.

Capital spending declined 14.1% and exports slipped 0.4% due to the fallout from the U.S.-China trade war.

“I’m getting ready for another contraction in Japan’s first quarter. There just aren’t any positive factors to build a positive growth forecast,” said Mari Iwashita, chief market economist at Daiwa Securities Co., flagging her view that the economy is likely falling into recession.

“There is a good chance of Japan’s economy falling into a recession,” Yoshiki Shinke, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, said before Monday’s data was released. He flagged the risks of supply chains being affected if the outbreak was prolonged.

The coronavirus is taking a toll on the number of Chinese tourists to Japan and manufacturing activity due to the economy’s close ties with China, prompting some economists to forecast a contraction lasting two quarters.

The following is how Zero Hedge summarised the recent economic data that we have seen come out of China…

While not perfect, and certainly not a comprehensive view of what is really taking place “on the ground”, the above data is a useful real-time indicator of how the people in China perceive the threat of the coronavirus pandemic, and one thing is abundantly clear: as the pandemic spreads further without containment, and as the charts above flatline, so will China’s economy, which means that while Goldman’s draconian view of what happens to Q1 GDP is spot on, the expectation for a V-shaped recovery in Q2 and onward will vaporise faster than a vial of ultra-biohazardaous viruses in a Wuhan virology lab.

As far as the coronavirus is concerned, the key will be what happens to the number of confirmed cases outside of China.  Over the past week that number has roughly doubled, and if that keeps happening every week we will soon have a full-blown global pandemic on our hands.