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CONTEMPORARY PROPHETS? Today, its not just the religious world that is warning us that we (the world) are headed for chaos. "Prophets" in the academic, scientific, and political world have left most religious leaders far behind in a continuous barrage of warnings. In the very shocking study done at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the "Club of Rome", and presented it in the book, Limits to Growth, the computers, time after time, told the same story: "Without a complete change of basic values and goals at individual, national, and world levels, there is no chance to avoid international catastrophe. Six thousand years of recorded human events make it fairly obvious that Man's trend is toward self-seeking– not toward the noble goal of the world's best interests. George Borgstrom cautioned as early as 1960: "It is sobering to realize that no part of the world, in the event of serious crop failure, is more than one year away from critical starvation, and even the rich United States, with all of its surpluses, is not more than two years away." William and Paul Paddock (Now Discredited 2002) warned in 1975:their sobering book, Famines-1975!, that "the crisis of population explosion versus static agriculture is indeed formed. The nations of the undeveloped world are no longer grain exporters, they are grain importers. There is no more unused land to bring into cultivation; even the deficient marginal land is by now in use. Huger is rampant throughout country after country, continent after continent around the undeveloped belt of the tropics and subtropics. Today's crisis can move in only one direction– toward catastrophe. Today, hungry nations; tomorrow, starving nations." [November 21, 2002 – I am strongly convinced that the plagues indicated in the prophetic Scriptures will be an obvious work of God. When I first wrote on this subject I leaned towards man creating these problems. It was quite a mistake on my part to assume so. That man, in any way, would be able to alter what God has done, “. . . and He saw that it was good . . .” was so presumptive on my part. God will do those things in His way when the time comes. It will be a shock to humanity in that it will be sudden and beyond human explanation that these things come to pass. It is beyond conceit that any man would think that what God created could destroy what God had made. SEAL NUMBER FOUR: THE SPECTER OF PLAGUES Pestilence is another word of epidemics. Whenever you have a combination of poverty and famine, disease is close kin. How could disease of epidemic proportions happen in a world of miracle drugs? There are two ways. Recently, while I was waiting in a doctor's office, I browsed through some of the professional journals. One of the articles intrigued me. It described the new "super bacteria" (article on super bacteria in PDF)that are developing remarkable resistance to all known miracle drugs. The article went on to say that doctors around the world are becoming alarmed at the possibility that certain of these bacteria could give rise to the greatest outbreak of dreaded diseases that the world has ever seen. It is unfortunate that I didn't jot down the name of the Journal for reference. As today's events remind us so emphatically, (Note: This was written in 1991 before America experienced the 9/11 attack on New York and Washington.) another way epidemics could sweep the world through bacteriological warfare. Iraq has this devastating potential in its "yet unused" arsenal. For a fraction of the cost of a single hydrogen bomb, scientists can produce a bacteriological bomb that would wipe out the entire population of California! Nineteen hundred years ago as Jesus was telling His disciples that the world would be like just before He returned to set up His kingdom on earth, He said: Luke 21:10-11 Then he said to them: "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven. (NIV) As our present day world conditions increasingly fall into the pattern that Jesus spoke of, it may sadden the believer but it should give us a sense of intense anticipation that WE ARE INDEED the generation that is standing on the brink of seeing the inevitable return of Jesus Christ to this earth! SEAL NUMBER FIVE: MASS MURDER OF BELIEVERS Today, 2002, we are more familiar with the term, “Weapons of Mass Destruction.” Revelation 6:9-11 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed. (NIV) The opening of the fifth seal reveals something which Christians have shrunk back from with compassion for nineteen centuries– the knowledge that countless brothers and sisters in Christ must seal their new-found testimony with persecution and martyrdom during the Great Tribulation. It is a sobering fact that if people will not give their hearts to Christ NOW, while it is easy and small cost is involved, when the Tribulation Judgment sets in, although they can still be saved, it will be "so as by fire." Those who become believers after the Tribulation has started will be easy to identify. The Antichrist will require that all men on earth worship him as god. All those who refuse to profess this allegiance by receiving the Antichrist's identifying mark on theirforehead or hand will be prohibited from buying or selling. Since Revelation 14:9-11 warns that all who DO receive the mark of the Beast (the number 666) will suffer eternal judgment at the hand of God, true believers will obviously refuse the mark and suffer the wrath of the Antichrist instead. Revelation 14:9-11 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name." (NIV) SEAL NUMBER SIX: THE FIRST NUCLEAR EXCHANGE Revelation 6:12-17 I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?" (NIV) The opening of the sixth seal introduces a tremendous earthquake. Earthquakes have always been a particularly terrifying experience for people to go through. It has been estimated that in the past four thousand years earthquakes have caused a loss of THIRTEEN MILLION lives. Experts agree that the frequency of earthquakes is increasing significantly, and that "killer quakes" are happening more often now than ever before. Professor R.A. Daly tells us that "by fare, the most awful earth shock is yet to come." So many authorities have warned Californians to EXPECT a giant quake along the San Andreas Fault that people who live anywhere near it tend to keep their fingers crossed! Yet, amazingly, hoards of people, almost defiantly, seem to be herded, as though by Satan, to a most certain doom. The earthquake of this sixth judgment will be "the granddaddy of them all." The particular Greek word used here actually means " a violent, catastrophic shaking." This meaning coupled with the darkening of the sun and moon, leads me to believe that the Apostle John is here describing an earthquake set off by a nuclear explosion. Remember now, John had to describe phenomena of a very ADVANCED TECHNICAL AGE IN TERMS OF HIS FIRST CENTURY UNDERSTANDING. In and around some cities, late at night, you will notice a very smoggy moon in a ghastly red. The sun is actually obscured from sight on many days. And this is only SMOG! – A mixture of pollutants and moisture creating a deadly lack of oxygen in the air. Think what the contamination of multiple NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS COULD DO! We have all heard the threat of Saddam Hussein of Iraq. He has reportedly mined all oil well-heads of his country. And as the on-going war on Iraq [because of his terror and rape of a neighbor, Kuwait] continues, we are led to believe that POSSIBLY a great before unheard-of environmental catastrophe could very well happen before our very eyes in the next few days. It has been shown by experts on television a hypothesis of what COULD happen if he does set off explosions of all these 300 or more well-heads at once. A thick black fog of oil and ash would cover as much as one third of the world – changing our seasons in such as way as to prevent the harvesting of crops. Could it be that this is an indication of a point discussed above concerning world hunger may be closer than we think? "Look up, your redemption draweth nigh!" Luke 21:28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. (KJV) In a recent study I did concerning nuclear weapons, the discovery made was that science has perfected a "cobalt bomb" – one of the most lethal weapons known to man. A cobalt bomb is made by placing a SHIELD OF COBALT 59 METAL around a hydrogen bomb. By this comparatively simple operation, the destructive capacity of the hydrogen bomb is doubled. More significantly, however, the radioactive contamination of the cobalt bomb is tremendous. Scientists have dubbed it "the dirty bomb" because of its fallout. This is what I believe may be pictured in Revelation 6:12. Iraq's dictator, Saddam Hussein, is known to have worked hard trying to add this weapon to his arsenal. He continues, even today, to warn the world that it has not yet seen the beginning of his war power in action. He has threatened to give us all a "great surprise." Just imagine for a moment what would happen to all of our troops, some nearly 500 thousand of them, settled and dug into fox-holes all around the borders of Iraq at this very moment. Yes, it would also destroy his forces. Consider his pride!. If he sees that there is no hope for his survival, his physic has shown that he would fall back on anything at his disposal. He has already killed thousands in prior events with poisonous gas--the Curds, and ethnic minority in his own country, and as well his use of chemical warfare in his recent war with Iran! He would rather die in a nuclear holocaust than surrender to Allied Troops in Saudi Arabia. This may well be what is indeed pictured in Revelation 6:12 . Verse 13 states that "the stars of heaven fell to the earth." This word used here for star can refer to either a star or a meteor. In this verse it seems more likely that meteors are intended. When meteors first strike the atmosphere of the earth, they glow with a fiery red color. Man-made satellites glow the same way when they return to earth. Four nights ago, Israel watched in horror what turned out to be exactly that--a man made meteor [Russian] returning into the atmosphere and disappearing into the Mediterranean. Just last night [January 20, 1991], television from the Saudi Arabian wasteland, showed this very same descriptive account of missiles being shot down and how they appeared to us in our very homes – even as the events took place. "Look up! Your redemption draweth nigh!" In re-considering verse 13, we are led to understand that what is being referred to here is more than ordinary meteors. Russia has for some time had what is called a "fractional orbital bomb." If Russia has had it for some time, it is only logical to believe that Iraq also NOW has the same device. Remember, Russia has recently withdrew some 3,000 scientists and advisors from Iraq. This " fractional orbital bomb" consists of a dozen or so nuclear-tipped missiles which can be fired simultaneously from an orbiting space platform. A similar device was shown to us on a News Network broadcast that can now be dropped from conventional airplanes and artillery. The initial warhead explodes in the air high above the area to be affected and then drops hundreds, possibly thousands, of individual explosive devices on the earth below – all exploding individually on contact. Just suppose for a moment that these individual explosions were of the cobalt-hydrogen variety! Our efforts have been made, so far, to only destroy Saddam Hussein's military machine with the minimum loss of life to civilians. On the other hand, he has no care for life in any form. He will use any device at hand to proceed in his evil conquest. God help us! Because these missiles come straight down from the sky, they can strike multiple targets simultaneously and with virtually no warning. When these missiles streak through the air, they look like meteors showering the atmosphere! Revelation 6:14 The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. And the atmosphere was pushed apart like a scroll when it is rolled together. (KJV) Do you know what happens in a nuclear explosion? The atmosphere rolls back on itself! It is this tremendous rush of air back into the vacuum that causes much of the destruction of a nuclear explosion. John's words in this verse are a perfect picture of an all-out nuclear exchange. When this happens, John continues, every mountain and island will be jarred from its present position. THE WHOLE WORLD WILL BE LATERALLY SHAKEN APART! TOP> Revelation ~ Index Home ~ Index