Light for the Last Days Magazine – October 2021 Edition

Global warming or cooling? Or end of days sign?

Over the past months we have seen a number of weather-related disasters hit the world.  In July there were devastating floods in parts of western Germany and Belgium after two months’ worth of rain fell in two days.  Parts of China suffered their heaviest rain in 1000 years, flooding cities and farmland and doing major damage to dams.  Nearly a million hectares of farmland was submerged, killing millions of animals, leaving no food or water for millions of people. Torrential rains also flooded parts of USA, India, Japan, Turkey, New Zealand.  Hurricane Ida devastated parts of America from Louisiana up to New York.

The west coast of America and the Mediterranean region were hit with extreme heat triggering huge fires in both regions.  One of the most catastrophic droughts in history has hit the west coast of America causing crop failures and animal deaths in Canada, USA and Mexico.  There have also been severe droughts in parts of Africa, in Iran and Siberia.

Whenever such an event happens it is followed by warning from politicians and the media that ‘catastrophic man-made warming’ threatens our future.  This means we must cut down on carbon emissions to save the world or face possible extinction.  Angela Merkel’s response to the German floods was to say that governments would have to go faster in their efforts to tackle climate change.  After surveying damage caused by Storm Ida President Biden said ‘Climate change poses an existential threat to our lives, to our economy.’

John Kerry, US special envoy for the Climate, said:

He called the Cop26 climate conference scheduled to take place in Glasgow this November “a pivotal moment” and 2021 “a decisive year”, as the world must get to grips with the climate crisis and rapidly slash emissions in the 2020s to have a chance of a safe future.  In preparation for this conference the UN’s IPCC released a document calling for drastic action to save the world from catastrophic global warming. Pope Francis, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, and Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew issued a statement calling on people of all faiths to take action to halt the devastating impacts of climate change.

I agree with the environmental cause in relation to looking after the natural world.  We should not be burning down forests, dumping plastic waste in the oceans and wiping out animal species and habitats.  It is true that the world faces a number of environmental challenges with life threatening droughts, floods and fires taking place.  But the one size fits all explanation that all this is caused by humans burning fossil fuels and therefore the answer is to stop doing this does not add up. 

The global warming narrative is that burning fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) has created a heat blanket that traps hot air on the earth and is causing the temperatures to rise, the so-called ‘greenhouse effect’.  Computer models predict rises of up to 4 degrees Celsius by the end of the century if we do not stop using fossil fuels.  This would make life impossible in many parts of the earth. 

Atmospheric scientists Dr. Gerhard Kramm, Dr. Ralph Dlugi, and Dr. Nicole Mölders have published a paper in the journal Natural Science that debunks the greenhouse effect equation, which they say is

(I have a copy of this for those who are technically minded)

The earth’s climate is incredibly complex.  The sun, ocean currents and wind direction have a much greater impact on the weather than human burning of fossil fuels.  Changes in these show there have been warmer periods in the past and much colder periods.  This happened at times when there was no electricity or transport systems dependent on burning coal, oil or gas. 

The weather appears to have been warmer in the time of the Roman Empire and in the Medieval Warm Period.  Then they were growing grapes for winemaking in the north of England (not possible today).  When the Vikings sailed to Greenland in around 1000 AD, the climate there was mild enough to grow barley.

During the Little Ice Age from 1303 to 1860 there were times when the Thames at London Bridge froze so thick that ice fairs were held on it and the sea around Holland froze.   One of the causes of the French Revolution in 1789 was the very cold summers that preceded it, causing poor harvests, with a result that the people were starving.  None of these changes in the weather had anything to do with human burning of fossil fuels.

What’s happening now? 

It is not true that there is universal warming taking place on earth now.  Cooling trends have been reported worldwide.  A recent study suggests temperatures in the South China Sea are colder now than at any time in the past 6000 years as average temperatures in Japan and north east China have cooled modestly.  Europe, North America and Asia had record cold weather last winter which continued into the spring, causing serious problems for farmers. Despite very hot weather in parts of the Mediterranean much of Europe experienced wetter and cooler weather than average in the summer of 2021.  In Africa the Kenyan government has warned of an ‘acute maize shortage’ in the coming year, due to reduced rainfall and unusually cold temperatures. Winds whipping up from Antarctica have brought snow and very cold weather to South America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand in their winter months this year and are now continuing into the southern spring. Record cold hit Brazil as heavy frosts have ravaged sugar cane, coffee and corn crops. 

Ice locked at the Earth’s poles is growing, confounding the predictions of global warming causing ice free passages through the Arctic Ocean.  Large areas of Greenland gained record levels of snow and ice this year.  The North Atlantic, Pacific and Southern Oceans are cooling and glaciers are thickening and gaining mass.  Early falls of snow hit the mountains in India and the Alps in Europe, where ski areas opened earlier than usual after heavy deposits of snow.  Despite the claims of the IPCC average earth temperatures have actually cooled by 0.7 degrees Celsius since 2016. 

The main drivers of the weather are the sun, wind direction and ocean currents.  Changes in all of these are taking place and affecting our weather now and humans are powerless to make any difference to these. 

One such change is the absence of sunspots leading to a ‘solar minimum’ in the next decade.  This causes colder weather and affects the direction of the jet stream.  Instead of flowing in a generally straight line from west to east, the solar minimum causes the jet stream to flow in a wavy direction, bringing very hot weather from the tropics to some parts and very cold weather from the poles to others.  For information on this watch a short video ‘The changing jet stream’ on Electroverse website. 

There are also changes in ocean currents affecting the weather especially the el Nino / la Nina phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean.  When la Nina happens it sends cold water to the surface of the Pacific which affects climate bringing colder weather.  La Nina is happening now.

The politics of global warming

This kind of information generally does not feature in what people are told by the government, at school, university or on the mainstream media.  The send out a consistent message that humanity is threatened by ‘catastrophic global warming’ and therefore we need to change the way we live by cutting down (or cutting out) the use of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) to create electricity and transport systems. The way to do this is through some kind of global government overruling national governments.

The UN is actively promoting this idea.  UN Secretary General Guterres gave his ‘Common Agenda’ speech to the General Assembly on September 10^th.  He painted a picture of a world facing a perfect storm of simultaneous crises, including the pandemic and climate change, and called for ‘multilateralism with teeth.’ This means globalist governance bodies would claim binding legal authority over what they call ‘global public goods,’ by taking power and control from national governments to itself.  He promoted a ‘Common Agenda’ with centralised planning at a global level (Agenda 21 / 30). 

It is interesting that almost all leaders of western nations (including Boris Johnson’ have said they want to ‘Build back better’ after the Covid crisis.  ‘Build back better’ is a slogan used by the World Economic Forum in what they call the ‘Great Reset.’   The reality is that they want what they have called a ‘Global Reset’. 

One of the leading lights in this programme is Klaus Schwab.  I have written about him in previous editions of this magazine, with information on the ‘Great Reset’ proposed by World Economic Forum.  This brings together leaders of government, industry, media and education, to work for a global solution to global problems.  Schwab says this will ‘only come about through some form of effective global governance.’ He says this will create ‘a new social contract that honours the dignity of every human being.’ In other words, his ‘Great Reset’ is an updated blueprint for the New World Order and world government.  He also made the connection between the Covid crisis and the ‘Green New Deal’: ‘At first glance, the pandemic and the environment might seem to be only distantly related cousins; but they are much closer and more intertwined than we think.’

One of the connections is that both issues make people afraid of something that is going to destroy their lives (Covid or global warming), unless ‘global governance’ steps in and saves us. This will result in a reduced population, which submits to the control of a global government backed by an all-seeing technology taking control of our homes, our money, our thoughts and our social lives.  

Here are a few quotations to show that this has been something wealthy globalists have been working on for some time.

In the 1993 Club of Rome Report, ‘The First Global Revolution’, we read:

Ottmar Edenhoffer – 2008 to 2015 Co-Chair of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC):

This has almost nothing to do with environmental policy anymore.

Dr. John Holdren, Obama’s Science Czar writes:

Daniel Botkin – emeritus professor:

Young people have been told that their future is at stake and so many have joined environmental activist groups wanting governments to bring in the Green New Deal now in order to save the world. They are motivated by fear of the future and are unaware that they are ‘foot soldiers’ for very wealthy power brokers who want to impose a new form of tyranny upon the world. 

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest person ever to serve in the US Congress, has said:

The teenage activist Greta Thunberg told world leaders in 2019:

Many like Greta Thunberg are calling for an extreme response, moving to zero carbon burning now.  The only way to get there is to shut down our society, ban cars and planes, bring in a radical change in agriculture, industry and transport which would soon lead to no food, no jobs, no money and freezing to death in the winter. 

Even the partial measures being proposed will lead to a reduction in ability to travel, and an increase in poverty and joblessness.  Costly green measures will contribute to economic decline of western nations and an increase in the poverty of the developing world. 

Meanwhile China will not cut back on carbon emissions.  China’s ‘carbon footprint’ is growing at the fastest rate for more than a decade, as the country burns a record high of 12 billion tonnes of CO2.  China is planning to build 43 new coal fired power stations and steel works in 2021, which is the equivalent to the annual carbon production of the Netherlands.  It needs this to support its output of goods which it then exports to the rest of the world. 

So China puts up its ‘carbon footprint’ while Europe and North America reduce theirs by shutting down factories.  As a result, there is a transfer of wealth and power from the west to China.  In the process western nations are coming more and more under the kind of technocratic control system now existing in China.  This is pushing the world towards the antichrist agenda. 

Bible prophecy and the environment

The Bible does indicate that there will be a crisis in the environment in the last days, with an increase in earthquakes, famines and natural disasters. 

Isaiah 24.5-6 says:

In Romans 8 we read, the whole creation groans and labours with birth pangs as it eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God (this means the 2^nd coming of Jesus). 

Jesus spoke of the time of the end, when

In Revelation 8 we read of trees burnt up, fish dying in sea, waters polluted and undrinkable, sun blotted out. In chapter 16 it says that men are scorched with great heat from the sun.

Many of the calamities described in Bible prophecy do not imply man-made disasters, but a cosmic shaking of the earth, with judgements from God poured out.  One of the things Jesus speaks of is signs in the sun, moon and stars.  There are some interesting things to note on this subject.

Solar flares (signs in the sun) may be linked to the prophecy in Revelation 8.7. 

An article in Prophecy News Watch comments on this:

‘John’s wording is compact and precise and tells us exactly what he’s seeing. Based on the wording of the text, many theologians and astrophysicists claim that what is being described could be the occurrence of a coronal mass ejection (CME) from the Sun hitting the Earth!

The surface of the sun consists of dense, super-heated Plasma. Think of the sun as a ball of liquid fire – burning at around 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and not as having a surface that is on fire – but is literally fire through and through. CMEs are always being emitted from the sun, but should a large one on an unprecedented scale directly strike the Earth; this dense superheated plasma would push away part of the Earth’s atmosphere. This would expose the stratosphere to the minus 150 degrees Fahrenheit temperature of space which would instantly crystalize the moisture within the stratosphere. As the CME pressure wave continues to push through the atmosphere, it would compress the ice crystals into hail balls. This is exactly what is being described within the text of Revelation. John described that before one third of the Earth was burnt up, “there came hail and fire”; seemingly contradicting states of matter. As the CME continues into the stratosphere, it would then vaporize all planes, birds and flying insects which also complies with the next description from John that the coming of hail and fire was “mixed with blood”. The CME would then continue to the surface of the Earth where John clearly described that this hail, fire and blood is then, “cast upon the earth” – burning up one third of the trees and grass! As you can see, John’s description is specific and intended to be in chronological order; describing exactly what one would expect if an unprecedented CME did indeed strike the Earth.’ 

Signs in the moon.  NASA (North American Space Agency) has noted is a potential ‘wobble’ or slight shift in the moon’s orbit which could happen soon.  They say a moon “wobble” will cause higher tides than usual leading to an increase in flooding of coastal regions (including cities like London and New York) in the mid-2030s.

As a result, we would see the sea and the waves roaring.

Signs in the stars (bodies in space).  News is just in of a very large comet entering solar system.  It will come by earth in the next few years, and hopefully it will not hit earth. However, governments are looking at the possibility of an asteroid strike, again something which lines up with the prophecy of Revelation 8:

Signs in the heavens, sun, moon and stars!

These things will happen during the great tribulation period, as a divine judgement on a world that is shaking its fist at God.  We are beginning to see the forerunners of these events taking place as the earth is shaken by disasters.  Jesus said when you see these things begin to take place,

We are not going to stop these things from happening.  Certainly, the measures proposed to save the world from ‘global warming’ will have no effect on the catastrophes which the Bible says are coming on the earth in the last days of this age. 

The only answer will be the intervention of our Creator, as the Lord Jesus returns to put right what is going wrong with our world and cause the earth to be full of the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.  Let us then prepare our hearts to welcome the coming Messiah, Yeshua, our Creator and Redeemer and soon coming King.

The bad guys are winning.  …. But not for long

Wherever you look in the world, you see evil ascending and people subjected to wicked forces, crushing freedom, causing conflict and bringing in tyranny. Good is called evil and evil is called good (see Isaiah 5.20) and those who turn to the LORD put themselves in danger (Isaiah 59.14-15).  All of this is happening in fulfilment of prophecies of the last days of this age found in the Bible:

The Fall of Afghanistan

In August 2021 the world was transfixed with images coming out of Kabul as the Taliban complete their lightning progress in capturing Afghanistan and the Afghan government collapsed overnight.  Thousands of desperate Afghans tried to flee, especially those involved in the former regime or helping the US / NATO forces. 

There has been a charm offensive by Taliban commanders saying they will adopt a more moderate approach to running the country and represent the entire Afghan population, not just the fanatical minority who subscribe to its extremist interpretation of Islam. Reports that are coming in from those on the ground tell a different story.  

Shukria Barakzai, an Afghan politician and journalist, revealed some of the horrors which she has heard occurring as the Taliban bore down on Kabul:

The new Taliban government gives the lie to the fantasy expressed by many in the US and UK that we are now dealing with a kinder, gentler Taliban.  Its members include bloodthirsty terrorists, responsible for deadly attacks, kidnappings and massacres of ethnic Afghan communities.  There are also those with past links to al-Qaeda and ‘one of the major opium drug lords’ in western Afghanistan. 

The Taliban are destroying women’s rights imposing the ghastly black robes on them that crush their identity and humanity.  They are closing down any other influences, ideas and beliefs that are not in line with their hard-line interpretation of Islam.  They are forcing people to go to the mosque to pray five times a day.  They may be good at imposing their Islamic tyranny, but it is almost certain that they will quite incapable of running the country, meeting the everyday needs of the people for money, food and work.

Rules from the Taliban
  The Taliban enforce a strict Islamic Law on the people and places that they control in Afghanistan. The Law is called Shari’a, and is based off of the Taliban’s interpretation of the Koran, or the Islamic Holy Book. The rules are very strict, and provide harsh punishments if they are not followed. Many people claim how these rules deny citizens their basic human rights, but the Taliban continues to enforce them anyway.

Rules Against Women
  Many of these rules are set against the women in Afghanistan. Women and girls cannot work, go to school, or even leave their house without a close male relative. They also cannot leave their home without wearing a chardi, which is a head to toe veil that they can’t wear brightly coloured clothing under. This makes it nearly impossible for a woman to live a life outside of her home. Also, women are banned from make up and nail polish. These clothing regulations are very harsh, and seem to keep women from expressing themselves. On the rare times that women are in public, they can’t really interact with men. Girls can’t talk to young men, and women can’t ride the same bus as men either.

Rules Against Men
  The Taliban also has some strict rules for men as well. Men must always have beards that they are not allowed to shape or trim. They must wear white caps or turbans too. Imagine not having control over your own appearance? For both women and men, this seems like a very hard way of living. One last rule for men is that they cannot approach a female without first being introduced by a male relative. People in these areas affected by the Taliban definitely do not have the freedom to be themselves, on any level.

Other Rules
   The shari’a enforces some pretty broad rules too, not just those against men or women. You must wear traditional Afghan clothing, and non-Muslims, Hindus, and Jews must wear some sort of yellow on them. Whether that be a yellow outfit, or just a yellow cloth to show who they are. Outfits and appearance seem to be one of the main things the Taliban is worried about. The only other basic rules that there are include the banning of displays of pictures of animals and people, Muslim families can’t listen to music, and that the Taliban controls the media. It’s very easy to agree that these rules deny afghans their basic human rights.

Punishments
  Not only are these rules extremely strict and specific, but so are the punishments if the rules are broken. All crimes come with a punishment in the shari’a. These can range from public beatings, violence, and even the death of those who have disobeyed. There have been many accounts of those who have been beaten in the middle of the street for a slight break in the rules. It is impossible to get around the laws. You can either be punished severely or killed, or you can follow the extreme rules that are set. ”Because of the continued conflict, the average Afghan’s life expectancy is forty-seven years”(Bobic 2). The average life expectancy of an American is about seventy-six years, which is 29 years more than an Afghan. How is this any way for someone to live? – Rules of the Taliban (weebly.com)

Christians are particularly vulnerable, because under sharia law, Christian converts from Islam do not have any rights at all.  There have been reports of a number of Afghans turning to Christ before the Taliban takeover, downloading the Bible and Christian material to mobile phones, studying the scriptures in small groups and telling others about Jesus.

Under the Taliban, anyone who has chosen to leave Islam and embrace Christianity will be considered ‘apostates’ and subject to Sharia’s deadliest consequences:

Taliban leaders are also searching phones.  If anyone is discovered to have downloaded a Bible or Christian material they are in danger of death. The Taliban have spies and informants everywhere.

The Taliban is now armed to the teeth with $83 billion worth of U.S. military equipment that they have captured after Afghan security forces collapsed, in some cases without a shot fired.  They are holding victory parades showing off U.S. supplied weapons, armoured cars, helicopters and more.

The Taliban’s victory is a great boost to the Islamist cause and another sign of the last days events recorded in the Bible.  Islamism fits into the prophecies of evil going from nation to nation stirring up trouble among all nations, bringing perilous times, particularly to those who believe in Jesus.  It is one of the many antichrists, if not the Antichrist (1 John 2.18-23).  It has a form of religion, but denies the power of God, which is the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 1.16).  It denies the central message of the Gospel that God was in Jesus Christ reconciling the world to Himself (2 Corinthians 5.19) when He died for our sins, was buried and rose again from the dead (1 Corinthians 15.3-4). 

Many moderate Muslims do not go along with the extremist programme and are decent citizens of their countries, willing to live in peace with their neighbours.  They too are threatened by the radicals who call them compromisers. There are fears that Afghanistan will again become a base for terrorists to operate out of, threatening the west, Israel and the moderate Muslims.  

The radicals justify their actions by appealing to traditional Islamic teaching and to the Koran, quoting verses like these:

In other words, Muslims should fight non-believers and make them convert to Islam or die.  According to Sura 9.29 Christians and Jews who had communities before being conquered by Muslims may continue with their religions, but as second-class citizens forced to pay the Jizya tax as ‘dhimmis’, so-called ‘protected people’ under Islam.  This only applies to Christian communities that existed before the Muslim conquest of their lands.  Those who convert to Christianity from Islam have no rights at all.  Along with pagans they only have the choice to convert back to Islam or be killed.

Islam believes it has the last word from God, Mohammed is the last prophet, the Koran is the final book from God, replacing the Bible and Christianity.  It takes some stories from the Bible, rewrites them and changes their meaning. 

For example, Jesus is a prophet, not the Son of God.  He did not die on cross and rise from the dead as a sacrifice for our sins.  He will come back but as a Muslim to enforce Islam on the world.  I have written more about this in a booklet ‘Bible or Quran’ available from Light for the Last Days.

According to traditional Islamic teaching the world is divided into two parts, the Dar al Islam (House of Islam, where Muslims rule) and the Dar al Harb (House of the Enemy, where non-Muslims rule).  If a country has once been Islamic it should remain Islamic until the end of days.  If it falls to non-Muslims, then Muslims should engage in jihad to return it to Islam (Israel and Spain are two countries which fall into this category). 

The ultimate goal is the conversion of the Dar al Harb (House of the Enemy / non-Muslim world) into the Dar al Islam (House of Islam). They see their conflict with the west, the United States and Israel in particular, as part of the end of days conflict preparing for this event. 

The Fall of America? 

Many news commentators compared the events in Kabul with the fall of Saigon to the North Vietnamese Communists in 1975.  They recalled scenes of helicopters ferrying people out of the US Embassy, and desperate people who had supported the US backed regime in South Vietnam trying to flee from the triumphant Communists.  Certainly, it was a valid comparison, but I was reminded of the time when the Soviet Union evacuated from Afghanistan in 1989.

The Russians went into Afghanistan in December 1979 to prop up the Afghan Communist government which came to power after a coup in 1978.  At one time there were 100,000 Soviet troops there, helping the Afghan army.  But they ended up fighting a losing battle with the ‘mujahadin’, Islamic fighters supplied with arms and help from the US CIA.  Many Russians died there and the war became unpopular back home.  Soviet President Gorbachev announced withdrawal of Russian forces, which was completed in February 1989.  After the Soviets left there was a period of chaos in Afghanistan out of which the Taliban came to power in 1996 and established the ‘Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.’  They were ousted from power in 2001 following the US led invasion of Afghanistan after the al Qaeda 9/11 terror attacks on America.

The Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in February 1989 was the beginning of the collapse of Soviet Communism.  Its client states in eastern Europe had one revolution after another in 1989, leading to the countries of eastern Europe from Poland down to Bulgaria leaving the Soviet orbit and coming into the western EU / NATO orbit.  In 1991 the Soviet Union was dissolved and separated into independent states, Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic states, and the Muslim republics in south.  

After 70 years of Communism, it collapsed, which many saw as a judgment of God on its atheist tyranny.  Part of the reason for this was that by this time hardly anyone really believed in Soviet style Communism any more, including its President Gorbachev, whose ideas of ‘Glasnost’, (openness) and Perestroika (restructuring), were changing the Communist system.

The end of Communism was followed by a brief time of freedom before Putin brought in a new form of dictatorship in Russia.  Russia has now moved its forces into the Middle East via Syria which may well be preparing for the fulfilment of the Bible prophecy of Ezekiel 38.

The decline of the West

Will the retreat from Afghanistan cause a similar decline of America?  At the G7 conference earlier this year President Biden was talking about the need to project western values into the world, but what are these values and who believes in them?

America and its allies (UK in particular) have attempted ‘nation building’ in countries like Afghanistan and Iraq, wanting to bring democracy, human rights and the rule of law.  The problem is that this programme has lamentably failed in the Muslim countries and is also failing at home.  There is a massive loss of faith in its traditional values in America and the West.  Values backed by Christianity have been replaced by the diversity ‘woke’ agenda, with a strong Marxist input, the promotion of homosexuality, transsexuality, and the belief that all gods, or no gods, are equal, thus removing Christianity as the main faith.

On June 6^th, just two months before the Taliban takeover, the US Embassy in Kabul put out a tweet promoting LGBT rights, celebrating LGBT Pride month and flying their rainbow flag.  Not really a good idea in a conservative Muslim country which considers homosexuality a sin and where the Taliban were threatening to take over.

At home the US and the western world are in the grip of an identity crisis threatening the future of society.  Schools and universities teach young people to despise traditional Christian moral values and the history and culture of the west.  American cities, especially the ones that have embraced the BLM idea of defunding police, are in the grip of lawlessness, violence, drugs, homelessness, which many people are fleeing from. 

The Covid pandemic has battered the economy and heightened tensions between those who support government policy and those who see it as leading to a new form of dictatorship and depopulation.  It has a massive debt situation (nearly $29 trillion) which is impossible to resolve, leading to inflation and the potential collapse of the economy.  The status of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, one of the major sources of American power in the world, is under threat.  Economists are predicting the likely crash of the dollar within the next year or two.

Here is one analysis from a vocal critic of the current state of America:

‘As the world watched in dismay, the fall of Kabul painted a vivid picture of the crumbling of the United States of America. The US military, hell bent on going “woke” with transgenderism and gays in the military, is utterly unable to protect its own personnel overseas, and has been impotent in protecting the US southern border.  As Biden’s rigged regime is ending, so is the United States of America as a “united” nation. With outrageous levels of fiat currency money printing, the collapse of the rule of law, blatantly rigged elections, government-enforced censorship of conservative views, media-fomented racial animosity, left-wing efforts to defund the police, racist Critical Race Theory indoctrination in the schools and even a CDC director “doctor” who cannot admit that only women can get pregnant, the once great United States of America has fallen into a pathetic, laughable state of self-mockery and collapse. Beyond the incredible corruption that now characterizes the US federal government, the United States of America remains steeped in dark, demonic sin stemming from mass abortions, infanticide, organ harvesting from babies, the transgender indoctrination and mutilation of children, the rejection of God and the embracing of Lucifer across pop culture.’ 

Mike Adams naturalnews.com. 

He recommends his readers to prepare now for the coming collapse of the USA.

How does this affect Israel and the Middle East?

Already we are seeing the United States is in retreat from the world stage.  In July a conference was held in Baghdad to discuss the future of Iraq with regional Middle East powers present, plus France representing the EU, but with America absent.  The EU is now talking of creating its own army independent of NATO, citing American weakness seen in the Afghan situation as the reason for this.

China has held talks with Taliban leaders to discuss the possible takeover of the Bagram Airfield, abandoned by the west in their flight from Afghanistan.  They will consider whether Chinese workers, soldiers and other staff could use this to advance the interests of the Belt and Road Initiative.  This is a major ongoing Chinese economic development strategy, extending Chinese trade and influence into Central Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa. China is taunting America as it steps up its aggressive policies in the South China Sea, threatening Taiwan.  If China does try to take over Taiwan, this could either result in another US retreat, or a nuclear war, if America moves in to defend Taiwan.

As an ally of Israel and the Sunni regimes of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the USA has played a major role in keeping radical Islamists, especially the Iranian Islamic regime, in check.  Now it is wavering on this front also.  Biden is continuing to push for the resuscitation of the disastrous Iran nuclear deal, granting Iran nuclear weapons and global legitimacy.  In doing this he and the western leaders are turning a blind eye to the ever-increasing violations of human rights in Iran, appeasing the mullahs of Iran instead of holding them accountable for their crimes against humanity.  Biden’s policy now increases the threat from Iran to Israel and raises the possibility of war between Israel and Iran. 

In the latest outrageous move, the US Democrats are removing funding for Israel’s Iron Dome defence system which protects Israelis from Hamas rockets fired from Gaza.  Biden’s Democrats have now surrendered to the anti-Zionist, anti-Semitic left.  

US Middle East policy is also bolstering the Palestinian Authority at Israel’s expense at a time when the Palestinians seem to be losing faith in their leaders and in any peace process with Israel.  Palestinians continue to pocket money from the US and other Western donors, while at the same time moving closer to Hamas and further from any peace with Israel.

The government, schools, mosques and media spread endless messages of hate against Israel, denying its right to exist and calling for it to be replaced with a Palestinian state, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.  Gaza is already in the hands of Islamists committed to Israel’s destruction. The Palestinian Authority may be taken over by Hamas, which would bring the radical Islamists to the gates of Jerusalem. 

Israel now has two states to the north, Syria and Lebanon, in a state of collapse, with Syria occupied by Russian and Iranian forces. Jordan and Egypt are also in danger.  Iran has supplied huge numbers of missiles aimed at Israel to Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon and is strengthening its forces in Syria, confronting Israel on the Golan Heights. 

Russia is now going back on the friendly arrangement President Putin had with Israel’s former Prime Minister Netanyahu and taking a hostile position towards Israel.  It is taking measures to stop Israel mounting attacks on Iranian strongholds in Syria and Iraq.  And we have America in retreat and no longer a strong backer of Israel.

Is this leading to the Gog and Magog war of Ezekiel 38-9?

In this war the combined Russian and Islamic forces (including Persia / Iran) come against Israel in an invasion from the north aimed at destroying Israel (Ezekiel 38.1-12).  

Israel’s Arab and western allies mount a protest against this action but do nothing (Ezekiel 38.13):

One interpretation is that Tarshish represents Britain and by extension the United States.

Then God moves in and supernaturally destroys the invading army from the north saving Israel from destruction (Ezekiel 38.14-23).

As a result, Israel turns to God (not necessarily yet to Jesus as Messiah), and the Antichrist arises from a European alliance in the region of the former Roman Empire, backed by the UN (Revelation 13 and 17).  He makes the seven-year covenant prophesied in the book of Daniel 9.27. 

This treaty with Israel promises peace, but turns out to be the covenant with death of Isaiah 28.  It breaks down half way through and leads to the abomination of desolation and the final period of great tribulation prophesied for the last days in Daniel 11-12 and Matthew 24.

In the course of the Gog and Magog war there will be a great earthquake in the land of Israel, resulting in walls falling to the ground (Ezekiel 38.19-20).  This may include the Dome of the Rock and al Aqsa mosques on the Temple Mount, as well as the Western Wall in Jerusalem, where the Jews pray.  As part of the agreement the Antichrist allows the rebuilding of the Temple, which he later defiles, placing his image there to be worshipped as a god.  This is the abomination of desolation standing in holy place, which Jesus said would set off the final period of great tribulation before His return to earth (Matthew 24.15-22).  The Jews realise they have been deceived and flee from the scene and the final period of trouble begins.

This leads to Armageddon, when the armies of the world gather at Jerusalem (Zechariah 14, Revelation 16 and 19) and the Lord Jesus returns to earth in person, bringing an end to the war and throwing the Beast and the False Prophet straight into hell.  He will stand on the Mount of Olives to the east of Jerusalem from where He will begin His Messianic reign, bringing peace and justice to the earth for 1000 years (Isaiah 2, Revelation 20).  Jerusalem and the Temple will be rebuilt and become the centre of the good world government of the Messiah. 

The bad guys will then lose everything, including their eternal souls.

The question is ‘Will you be on the losing side or the winning side?’ 

Don’t be a loser.  ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved’.

Hope for the Future

The human race is not in a good place right now. We have all suffered through the Covid pandemic and now we see more problems coming on the world. Money problems, social breakdown, environmental problems, disease, poverty, violence, drugs, family breakdown, and conflict – all these and more are causing many people around the world to be fearful of the future and ask ‘Where is it all going?’

When we read the Bible we find that these things happening are a sign of the last days prophecies coming to pass. These prophecies tell us what will happen in the days before Jesus returns. When He comes again He will come as the ruling king Messiah with all the power of God to put the world to right.

Before He comes there will be a time of trouble on the earth. In the first stage of this process, where we are now, these things will be happening:

This will be followed by a great time of trouble on earth, known as the great tribulation. This would cause the end of the world, if God did not intervene to stop it:

Some things prophesied for the days before Jesus returns are these:

• There will be a crisis in the environment. Isaiah 24 speaks of the earth being defiled or polluted under its inhabitants. In Revelation 8 we read of trees being burned up, fish dying in the sea and the waters becoming polluted and undrinkable.

• There will be a breakdown of moral and social values ‘as in the days of Noah and Lot’ (the Great Flood and Sodom and Gomorrah). These were days of great violence and sexual immorality. (Luke 17.26-37, Genesis 6, Genesis 19).

• There will be a development of technology, with knowledge increasing and new inventions changing our lives. This will bring in a new economic and political system out of which the last world government of the beast or antichrist will emerge (Daniel 7, 12, Revelation 13).

• There will be a restoration of Israel as the Jewish people return to the land of Israel (Ezekiel 36). There will be hostility to Israel from the surrounding nations, but Israel will survive with God’s help (Psalm 83, Ezekiel 38-39). Jerusalem will be a source of international tension, leading to the last battle over Jerusalem which will end with the return of the Messiah Jesus to the earth to set up His Messianic kingdom, reigning from the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem. (Zechariah 12-14, Isaiah 2, Ezekiel 40-48, Revelation 19-20).

• There will be confusion in the area of religion. False prophets and false messiahs will lead people astray (Matthew 24.11) and there will be a push to unite faiths in the cause of world peace (Revelation 17). This religious system will not be based on the truth of God’s word and will oppose and persecute those who truly believe the Gospel. Despite this the true message of the Gospel will go out to all nations (Matthew 28.18-20).

At some stage in this process an event will take place which will cause a great shock to the world. It is known as the ‘rapture of the church’ when the Lord will take those who believe in Him out of this world to a place of safety:

Jesus spoke of this event happening, when one shall be taken and one shall be left. He said it will happen as a thief in the night (in other words something which will take people by surprise). He told us to be ready for it at all times, because it will come unexpectedly and we will not know the day or the hour when it will come. Matthew 24.36-44

This will be followed on earth by the seven-year period of the great tribulation in which the Antichrist will come to power and there will be a series of disasters or judgments coming on the earth. Revelation 6-18

If you’re on a sinking ship, like the Titanic, what can you do about it? You can’t plug up the holes to stop it sinking, the only thing you can do is to get onto a lifeboat and be taken away to safety.

We, the human race, are on a sinking ship.  To be saved from perishing on this ship we need to get onto the lifeboat which is salvation in Jesus the Messiah.  We must repent of our sins and believe on the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation and then get onto the lifeboat for salvation and eternal life.

When Jesus came the first time, He came to fulfil the prophecies of the Suffering Servant Messiah, dying as a sacrifice for our sins, particularly Isaiah 53 which speaks about the one who was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, one upon whom the Lord has laid the iniquity of us all.  This He did when He suffered and died on the cross, fulfilling Psalm 22 where it speaks about his hands and his feet being pierced, fulfilling so many prophecies which point to the death and resurrection of Jesus as a way in which God is going to put right the problem of sin in the human race and redeem us.  For more on this go to our articles on Messianic prophecy 

Also https://messiahfactor.com/psalm-22/ and https://messiahfactor.com/the-suffering-servant-of-isaiah-53/ (Copies of these articles available on request).

Jesus did not fail in one single prophecy of the first coming of Jesus the Messiah. Having defeated Satan at the cross, He rose from the dead, He ascended to heaven from where He sent out the Holy Spirit and from where He will return when He comes the second time.

So, if Jesus fulfilled the first coming prophecies, He’s going to fulfil the Second Coming prophecies.  He will return with all the power of God at His disposal to bring an end to the age, judge the world and set up the Messianic kingdom in which He will rule in peace and justice for 1000 years.

After the 1000 years are finished, Satan will be released from the abyss where he is to be bound, make his final doomed rebellion against the Lord, which will result in his total defeat and being thrown into hell for eternity.  All those whose names are not written in the Book of Life will also be cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20.11-15). Then this earth and the heavens (universe) will be burned up and God will create a new heavens and new earth in which there will be eternal righteousness and peace.  2 Peter 3, Revelation 21-22  

So what should we do about it?  The answer is quite simple:

To have a part in the coming kingdom of God put your trust in Jesus as your Saviour. There is a heaven to gain and a hell to flee from. Jesus loves you. He died for you and He is coming again soon. He wants you to be among those who are ready to meet Him, by accepting Him as your Saviour today.

Hope for the Future leaflets available for distribution at £2 per 100.  Talk on the subject available on CD for £2 or at https://bridgelane.org.uk/sermons/hope-for-the-future-tony-pearce