Plagues. Pestilences and Earthquakes
All the while a devastating plague of locusts, which began after the first cases of Covid 19, is now sweeping across Africa, the Middle East and into China too, but almost nothing is being reported on it. Also, as of yesterday, Monday morning, Seismograph Stations had recorded 658 earthquakes and aftershocks in less than two weeks in and around Utah. Even these two major news events are unnoticed. All our senses are focused on a tiny, unseen, but world-wide virus.
No one needs to be told that these are unprecedented times. We are obscessively focused only on what is immediately killing those around us, called Covid 19, the Coronavirus. But, for three such rare plagues to fall upon the earth, in a cluster, at the same time, not only exacerbates the suffering but magnifies the absolute uniqueness of this dissonant triad. The Spanish flu which killed millions world-wide, and the plague of Egypt come to mind.
All the while a devastating plague of locusts, which began after the first cases of Covid 19, is now sweeping across Africa, the Middle East and into China too, but almost nothing is being reported on it. Also, as of yesterday, Monday morning, Seismograph Stations had recorded 658 earthquakes and aftershocks in less than two weeks in and around Utah. Even these two major news events are unnoticed. All our senses are focused on a tiny, unseen, but world-wide virus.
No one needs to be told that these are unprecedented times. We are obscessively focused only on what is immediately killing those around us, called Covid 19, the Coronavirus. But, for three such rare plagues to fall upon the earth, in a cluster, at the same time, not only exacerbates the suffering but magnifies the absolute uniqueness of this dissonant triad. The Spanish flu which killed millions world-wide, and the plague of Egypt come to mind.
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Swarm of 650 earthquakes rattles Utah, Idaho and California, experts say (Herald Leader News)
More than 600 earthquakes have hit across Utah and surrounding areas after a 5.7-magnitude quake struck near Salt Lake City about two weeks ago, according to University of Utah Seismograph Stations.
As of Monday morning, the University of Utah Seismograph Stations, or UUSS, recorded 658 earthquakes as part of a series of aftershocks.
On March 18, a 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck Magna, west of Salt Lake City, McClatchy News reported. The quake was felt from Idaho to California, according to McClatchy News.
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Like a biblical plague, locusts swarm East Africa
(From Los Angeles Times)
Schistocerca gregaria, better known as the desert locust, has smitten East Africa like a plague from the Bible.
On a continent that has suffered repeated outbreaks of Ebola and is now fighting the coronavirus, the locusts may pose no less of a challenge. Hundreds of billions of them have conquered territory in at least eight countries, overwhelming governments and aid organizations while consuming crops and grazing land so rapidly that experts fear widespread famine.
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Jesus foretold of such events, as those above, happening in tandem, when he answered his disciples' question, "When shall these things be? and shat shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" Jesus answered their question with a series of signs and then concluded the "signs generation" with these words, "This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." (v.34) Was Jesus speaking there, in Matt. 24, of this very generation, my generation, which were living on May 14, 1948 and saw the re-establishment of the nation of Israel and the signs we see today? Is it possible that many of that generation, who saw that first, last days, key prophecy fulfilled, will also see Christ's return? It may or may not be that soon, but, yes, it IS entirely possible.... even probable.
Matt. 24
"And as he (Jesus) sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
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Jesus foretold of such events, as those above, happening in tandem, when he answered his disciples' question, "When shall these things be? and shat shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" Jesus answered their question with a series of signs and then concluded the "signs generation" with these words, "This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." (v.34) Was Jesus speaking there, in Matt. 24, of this very generation, my generation, which were living on May 14, 1948 and saw the re-establishment of the nation of Israel and the signs we see today? Is it possible that many of that generation, who saw that first, last days, key prophecy fulfilled, will also see Christ's return? It may or may not be that soon, but, yes, it IS entirely possible.... even probable.
Matt. 24
"And as he (Jesus) sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25 Behold, IAa have told you before.
26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
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And this from The Jewish Voice
A Restored Israel and Jewish Jerusalem
We affirm that the re-establishment of Israel and
Jerusalem returning to Jewish sovereignty is key in our
understanding of the times and seasons in which we are
living. According to the Bible, at the End of Days, Yeshua
returns to Jerusalem. Specific prophecies about Israel and
Jerusalem have been fulfilled in modern times:
Israel reborn in a Day:
Isaiah asked, “Who has ever seen things like this? Can
a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth
in a moment?” (Isaiah 66:8). After nearly two millennia
and a succession of foreign rulers, on May 14, 1948,
David Ben Gurion declared the restoration of the
Jewish State, Israel.
Jerusalem Restored to the Jews:
“Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until
the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Luke 21:24
TLV). Signs of this prophetic fulfillment have begun
rapidly falling into place since the re-establishment
of the State of Israel in 1948.
The Desert Will Bloom:
The prophet Isaiah foretold a time when “the desert
and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will
rejoice and blossom” (Isaiah 35:1). In her short time
of existence as a modern State, Israel is known for its
abundant flowers and produce. Desert lands have
become fertile farms.
The Hebrew Language Revived:
According to the prophet Zephaniah, God would
restore to the peoples a pure language (Zephaniah
3:9). In the late 1800s, Russian immigrant to Israel,
Eliezer Ben-Yehudah, revived the ancient Hebrew
language, giving the returning exiles of Israel a
common language.
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