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As I have said in the past, I am not a real religious person. Raised in a southern Baptist family, I attended a very small family run church in a town so small that if you stood in the middle of town and spat in any direction it would land outside the limits. Most of you reading this should be aware of my feelings on the current state of most churches, if not I state that I do not believe that today’s churches are what God, or Jesus had intended. Most churches are a congregation place for the two faced, unfaithful hypocrites that are plaguing our planet.
However, whatever my personal views of the church are, I still have been instilled with certain values and very real beliefs from attending church as a young boy every week. As I have matured, I have often thought about faith and God, and allot about prophecy. The book of “Revelation” lays out God’s final plan for man. Growing up I never really gave the book a really good look, nor did I even really understand its meaning to a certain point, but the older I get the more of God’s teaching comes into focus.
Ever since September 11th, the entire planet almost has been on the edge of total all out world war, a war that I believe to be THE war of biblical prophecy. The apocalypse is near. I truly believe this now, no doubt left. The events of 9/11 were the spark that has ignited the flames of doom for humanity, day by day, month after month, we get closer, and closer to the return of Christ. The entire world is ready to annihilate each other and if we are not careful, we will sign our own death warrants. The first point that I would like to make is in regards to Chapter 24: Verses 6-8 of the book of Matthew.
“You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come, nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.”
Now if you look at the passage we read, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come, nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.”
This is no more prominently evident than the recent conflicts in the Middle East. The United States in a very open war on terror and the re-stabilization of Iraq after the ousting of Saddam, and the hunt for the man responsible for the 9/11 attacks Osama Bin Laden.
Israel vs. Lebanon, now this one is the one that really scares me. Israel is at war! Of course, some people may bring up that Israel has had a checkered past when it comes to war, yeah sure! Israel has only had its independence since the late 80’s and since then fighting has been minuet and contained until earlier last week. Lebanon attempted to capture two Israeli soldiers for a possible prisoner swap, but in the process, the Lebanese crossed into Israeli territory and killed eight others in the attempt. Israel, in my opinion, had every right to retaliate against the Lebanese they were after all invaded.
We have North Korea entering the nuclear arms race with tests of short and long-range missiles. China has recently been in the news as well highlighting their ability to be a world power, not to mention they as well are new competitors in nuclear arms race that still until this day has very ominous presence in the world.
We have terrorist attacks occurring around the world England, India, United States, and Egypt among others I am sure. These attacks are killing hundreds if not thousands of people in every attack. The human race is slowly being picked off by the evil of man and we cannot stop the horrible acts without compromising our beliefs in some manner, which is yet another of our downfalls.
“There will be famines and earthquakes in various places” finally, no one can refute this statement! In the past years, Earth has suffered some of the most horrible, and devastating natural disasters than ever before, not to mention that weather patterns around the world are changing, becoming increasingly more frequent and devastating. On December 26, 2004, the largest earthquake ever recorded hit off the coast of Indonesia, well over a 9.0, far from the quakes that southern California are used to. The earthquake sent a Tsunami racing around the Indian Ocean to parts of Africa, India, and Indonesia. The death toll skyrocketed as the huge wave made its way across the ocean. Indonesia being just miles from the epicenter of the quake was the first victim in its parade of death. Hundred’s of thousands died in a watery grave as the wave came ashore into the unsuspecting residents and tourists. The Tsunami continued to kill in smaller numbers as it slowly dissipated. If this was not bad enough, on July 17, 2006 a smaller yet devastating earthquake again hit off the coast of Indonesia. Whereas another tsunami streamed towards the island of Java killing 600, leaving 70 others missing, and 70,000 people misplaced from the homes. Earthquakes have become more frequent, and increasingly more powerful to the point that we cannot just look the other way.
The United States as well has had its share of natural disasters in the recent past. Hurricane Ivan, Francis, Jeanne and most of all Katrina wreaked havoc on the shores of multiple states on the coasts of the US. Winds in excess of a hundred miles an hour battered the low-lying communities to point where they are no longer recognizable to even the most familiarized residents. Storm surges that flooded New Orleans spread bacteria all over the city, corpses floated down the street among other disease-laden remnants of a once great party town. Ivan torn through Florida with a vengeance and eventually hooking back over the US, re-entering the Atlantic regaining strength and coming back for a slightly lessened second attack on the sunshine state. Jeanne moved extremely slowly as it passed over Cuba, which caused multiple deaths and massive damage to the poverty-stricken country.
In addition, I would like to point out that in the book of Revelation the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are called upon the Earth as the seven seals are opened each one a different color, and purpose.
Revelation 6:1-8 “[1] I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, "Come!" [2] I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest. [3] When the Lamb opened the second seal; I heard the second living creature say, "Come!" [4] Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword. [5] When the Lamb opened the third seal; I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. [6] Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!" [7] When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" [8] I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.”
One event that is foremost on my mind is the Russian nuclear power plant Chernobyl. On April 26, 1986, the World's worst nuclear power accident occurred at Chernobyl in the former USSR, now the Ukraine. The Chernobyl nuclear power plant located 80 miles north of Kiev had four reactors and while testing reactor number 4 numerous safety procedures were disregarded. At 1:23 AM, the chain reaction in the reactor became out of control creating explosions and a fireball, which blew off the reactor's heavy steel and concrete lid. The Chernobyl accident killed more than 30 people immediately. Because there was no containment building, a plume of nuclear fallout drifted over parts of the western Soviet Union, Eastern and Western Europe, Scandinavia, the British Isles, and eastern North America. Large areas of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia were badly contaminated, resulting in the evacuation and resettlement of over 336,000 people. About 60% of the radioactive fallout landed in Belarus, according to official post-Soviet data. According to the 2006 “Torch” report, half of the radioactive fallout landed outside the three Soviet republics. It is difficult to tally accurately the number of deaths caused by the events at Chernobyl, as Soviet-era cover-up made it difficult to track down victims. Lists were incomplete, and Soviet authorities later forbade doctors to cite "radiation" on death certificates. Most of the expected long-term fatalities, especially those from cancer, have not yet actually occurred, and will be difficult to attribute specifically to the accident; tobacco smoking will cause several thousand times more cancer in the same population. Estimates and figures vary widely. The 2005 report prepared by the Chernobyl Forum, led by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and World Health Organization (WHO). Attributed 56 direct deaths (47 accident workers, and nine children with thyroid cancer), and estimated that as many as 9000 people among the approximately 6.6 million most highly exposed, may die from some form of cancer (one of the induced diseases).
The reason that I bring up Chernobyl is simple, in a rough translation from Ukrainian to English. The word "Chernobyl" is taken from the Ukrainian word mugwort or WORMWOOD. Wormwood is noted for its intense bitterness (Deuteronomy 29:18; Proverbs 5:4; Jeremiah 9:15; Amos 5:7) It is a type of bitterness, affliction, remorse, punitive suffering. In (Amos 6:12) this Hebrew word is rendered "hemlock" (R.V., "wormwood"). In the symbolical language of the Apocalypse (Revelation 8:10, 11) a star is represented as falling on the waters of the earth, causing the third part of the water to turn wormwood. The name by which the Greeks designated it, absinthian, means "undrinkable." If you stop and think, the cloud of fallout representing the “Falling Star” would have caused enough radiation poisoning to the surrounding areas, as well as all over the world, make drinking water untouchable after the exposure.
Okay, so we have examined various events that have leaded me to believe whole-heartedly that the end is near. We have looked at 9/11, the war in Iraq, Israel’s war on Lebanon, Earthquakes and changing weather patterns, and we have looked into Chernobyl, or wormwood. In this section of A Revelation, I am going to look into the role that Iran is playing in the war on terror, and the war between Israel and Lebanon.
In a recent article printed in Newsweek Iran has been described as being “the peacekeeper” in the Middle East; however, they still continue to back Shiites in Lebanon and in Iraq. Iran has always been a formidable foe, one that the United States has had our differences with in the past, but with the recent events I begin to see Iran stepping from behind the “Dust” curtain to unite the Arab nations. Iraq, Iran, militants in Saudi Arabia, Israel, Lebanon, and Egypt will all eventually come together as one Arab nation. I believe this is the “super power” described in the Bible, the nation that will out last all others after the rise of the anti-Christ. Now do not get me wrong, it is not as I have inside information here, these are of course just my opinions, however all opinions are based on some fact. The fact is if Israel is at war then the end is not far off.
This past week I sat down and watched the remake to the movie The Omen, now I do not usually quote movies as part of my testimony, or part of my own beliefs but the beginning of the movie just made me think. They took biblical prophecy and really brought it down to earth for all people to understand. You do have to think though that the movie itself is about the apocalypse. The Omen chronicles the birth of “Damian” also known as the beast, or the Anti-Christ. In the opening scenes your are privy to information of the upcoming apocalypse as if you were a high ranking church official (I believe they were Catholics) but, the information that they were reviewing had me floored at the ability to take old world scriptures and translate them into today’s society, into current events.
They spoke of the Word Trade Center towers falling to the earth. They spoke of the space shuttle Columbia that exploded on re-entry as being the star falling from the heavens. I would like to take a deeper look into these events as they were portrayed in the movie, because to be honest with you they make perfect sense and the accuracy of the information is phenomenal. In the opening of the movie, we are set in a conference room as one minister instructs the room with the following information.
“When the first angel blew his horn wind and rain pounded the Earth.”
January 2000 – December 2000
A record number of natural disasters hit the world and a rising population is likely to make future years even worse, as it most defiantly has.
The year 2000 was warmer and wetter than usual. The mean temperature of 23.3 degrees was the eighth highest on record and the mean minimum temperature of 21.5 degrees was the sixth highest. The annual total rainfall of 2752.3 millimeters was 24 per cent above normal. The mean atmospheric pressure of 1011.9 hectopascals was the fifth lowest recorded. Seven tropical cyclones necessitated the hoisting of Tropical Cyclone Warning Signals. However, no Signal No. 8 or higher was hoisted. January 2000 was warmer and wetter than usual. The monthly mean temperature was 1.2 degrees higher than normal. It was cooler and drier than normal in February. March was again drier but warmer than normal. April was warmer than normal and marked by unsettled weather and heavy rain. The total rainfall of 547.7 millimeters, more than three times the normal figure, was the highest record for April. The Black Rainstorm Warning Signal was issued on 23 April. May was drier than normal. Prolonged periods of sunshine brought very hot weather to Hong Kong on the last three days of the month. The Very Hot Weather Warning was issued on May 29 for the first time. June remained warmer than usual. Despite a mean relative humidity of only 78 per cent, the lowest record for June, the month was also rainier than usual. The Black Rainstorm Warning Signal was issued on June 12. A tropical depression formed rapidly over the waters just to the south of Lantau Island on June 18. It necessitated the direct hoisting of the Strong Wind Signal No. 3. The tropical depression then crossed Hong Kong and landed near Tsuen Wan before dissipating rapidly. July was slightly drier than normal. Typhoon Kai-tak and another Tropical Depression necessitated the hoisting of the Standby Signal No. 1.
Hong Kong was affected by unsettled weather with heavy rain due to passages of troughs of low pressure and tropical cyclones in August. The Standby Signal No. 1 was hoisted for Typhoon Bilis and Severe Tropical Storm Maria respectively during the month. The Black Rainstorm Warning Signal was issued on 24 August. September was drier and slightly warmer than usual. Severe Tropical Storm Maria headed towards the south China coast on the early morning of September 1 and the Strong Wind Signal No. 3 was hoisted. Typhoon Wukong also necessitated the hoisting of the Strong Wind Signal in the month. October was warmer and wetter than normal. It was also a windy month with the Strong Monsoon Signal hoisted on 13 days of the month. It was cooler and wetter than usual in November. During the passage of Severe Tropical Storm Bebinca, the Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal was hoisted for duration of 89 hours, the longest for a tropical cyclone in November. December was warmer and wetter than usual.
“When the second angel blew his trumpet mountains of fire came tumbling down”
September 11, 2001
The movie equates that this as the destruction of the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers.
“When the third angel blew his horn a flaming star fell from heaven like a burning torch”
February 1, 2003
Space Shuttle Columbia exploded and broke up in the skies over Texas and fell to the earth like a falling star from heaven burning like a torch.
“When the fourth angel blew his trumpet the sea rose up and swallowed 200,000 people.”
December 26, 2004
The largest earthquake ever recorded hit off the coast of Indonesia, well over a 9.0. The earthquake sent a Tsunami racing around the Indian Ocean to parts of Africa, India, and Indonesia.
“When the fifth angel blew his horn a star fell from heaven to earth and to him was given the key to the bottomless pit.”
Okay, so in the movie they equate this to be a meteor or an asteroid that is falling to the earth. However, no such event has taken place nor is any such event scientifically predicted to be taking place in the near future.
I am a huge science junkie; I love anything that has to do with space, and the natural order of things. I watch a very large amount of educational shows such as National Geographic, and History Channel documentaries and I could never forget the science channel with all of their space-oriented shows. I have been aware of a N.E.O. (Near Earth Object) named 99942 Apophis previously known by its provisional designation 2004 MN. Everything I have gathered for this report is crucial, and pertinent to our point. 2004 MN, or 99942 Apophis is very interesting to the science community even if most danger scientifically has been disproven. However, as a believer in a power greater than my own, the government, or most scientists I know that just because it can be proven harmless God is still yet in final control.
Initial observations indicated a relatively large probability (up to 2.7%) that it would strike the Earth in 2029. Additional observations provided improved predictions that eliminated the possibility of an impact on Earth or the Moon in 2029. However there remained a possibility that during the 2029 close encounter with Earth, Apophis would pass through a gravitational keyhole, a precise region in space no more than about 400 meters across, which would set up a future impact on April 13, 2036. This possibility kept the asteroid at Level 1 on the Torino impact hazard scale until August 2006. It broke the record for the highest level on the Torino Scale, being, for only a short time, a level four, before it was lowered. Additional observations of the trajectory of Apophis revealed the "keyhole" would likely be missed and on August 5, 2006, Apophis was lowered to a Level zero on the Torino Scale. As of October 19, 2006, the impact probability for April 13, 2036, is estimated at 1 in 45,000. An additional impact date in 2037 has been identified; however, the impact probability for that encounter is 1 in 12.3 million.
Regardless of whether or not NASA claims there is not danger from Apophis God can still make sure that the order of things stay on the right track. Who is to say that Apophis is not what the fifth angel sounds in Revelation.
“When the sixth angel blew his horn the beast was freed from the bottomless pit and wreaked havoc on the earth.”
This as well was portrayed in the movie with pictures of the dead, wars, famines, Disease, Pestilence, etc…
I believe both mentally and emotionally that the demise of the human race is just around the corner. Now we must realize that we cannot stop these events, but as human beings, we have an uncontrollable urge to survive, to live on but only the elite will rise to live, as heaven will reign on earth.
I as a Christian I know in my heart that this has been going on for quite a few years now, and there is not anything anyone can do about it except pray and ask for forgiveness, because if you are “Left Behind” you will wish you had. God is a loving God, however as any Christian knows he is also a vengeful God. I implore everyone to look deep into your hearts and deep into your soul and ask yourself, “Am I ready?” If you answer yes, that is great. That is more than I can say. I am not afraid I am not going to walk the streets of gold. Myself, I am afraid of how I am going to finally pass to the next existence. The events that will transpire that finally have me being welcomed by my Mother & my Pappaw. I miss them so very much and I cannot wait for our long awaited reunion. If you answered no, I am not ready for the lord to return then let me suggest a prayer to get you to the streets of gold.
You can pray right now and ask God to come into your heart and receive the new birth. Simply talk to Him as you would talk to another person. You might pray a prayer similar to this:
“God, I come to you in the name of Jesus, I do not know you personally, but I want to know you. I believe that Your Word, the Bible is true. I repent for hardening my heart toward you, and delighting myself in things you hate. I do not want to go to hell; I really want to be free of my sin. Dear God, I ask Jesus to come into my heart and cleanse me of the guilt of my sins and give me the power to overcome those sins. I want to be your child and learn of your ways. Keep me from evil and save my soul. I am asking to receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord so that I can experience God's love and plan for my life. Amen.” If you said that prayer and meant it from your heart, you are now a child of God.
