Monthly Archives: April 2020

April 26, 2020 · 18:35

Hurt Not the Oil and the Wine

And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. (Revelation 6:6)

The Wuhan bug[1] continues to impact the world economy. Without a doubt, the virus presents an undeniable threat to human health, especially to those who are immunocompromised. However, contrary information from independent sources not linked to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) or the World Health Organization (WHO) claim that the threat, however real, does not rise to the level of severity warranting the draconian measures that have been implemented around the world. Those measures threaten to plummet our nation and the world into the worst depression since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Currently, our national unemployment rate is around 17% and rising. Economists point out that the unemployment rate during the Great Depression rose to around 25%, and they fear that ours may go beyond that.

Due to the menacing outlook, many are turning to the Bible for answers, and some believe we are entering the Tribulation spoken of in the Book of Revelation. I would remind Christians that we are not there yet, but it is coming. Christians will not be around to experience the Tribulation, but we can see the stage being set if we pay attention.

The Covid-19 pandemic qualifies as a “pestilence” of which Jesus spoke. “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places” (Matthew 24:7). The Greek word translated “nations” is ethnos from where we get our English word, “ethnicity” and “ethnic.” These are people groups regardless of national boundaries. We frequently hear accusations of “racism” against one ethnic group or another simply because of disagreement on points of view. Famines increase around the globe and the heightened threat to the global economy will only exacerbate the problem. Pestilences, like the Wuhan virus, will only get worse. Earthquakes are occurring more frequently and with greater intensity regardless of what the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reports. (Keep in mind that government agencies often withhold information from the public to prevent undue panic.)

The sixth chapter of Revelation outlines the beginning of the Tribulation when the Lamb breaks open the seven seals of the scroll[2] – the title deed to the earth. The first seal presents a rider on a white horse sent forth to conquer.[3] He is given a bow, but no arrows and a crown indicating that his conquest is through diplomacy rather than through war. In the past, some saw this rider as Christ because of the crown and white horse as seen in Revelation 19. However, that makes little sense since it is Christ who is opening the seals. More recent students of end-times prophecy see this rider as the Antichrist making his appearance on the earth. This seems a better option to me.

The second seal reveals a rider on a red horse who is given power to take peace from the earth. We can see this develop as world economies collapse and nations become desperate to maintain their sovereignty.

The third seal brings the black horse rider carrying a balance scale in his hand. This rider represents the economic crash. When John saw this rider, he said, “And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine” (Revelation 6:6, emphasis mine). The Greek word translated “penny” is dēnarion or a “denarius” – the equivalence of a day’s wages. Wheat and barley were grains for the making of bread. Imagine inflation at a rate that a loaf of bread costs an average day’s wages today. If one earns $15 per hour in an 8-hour day that means a loaf of bread would cost $120! But what strikes me about this verse is the prohibition against harming the oil and the wine.

One of the problems created by the world-wide draconian shelter-in-place regulations is that fewer people are driving, airplanes are grounded, and the demand for oil has virtually disappeared. The glut of oil on the market has driven the price of oil in the negative direction. Oil producers need to keep pumping oil if only to keep their equipment working, but they have no place to sell it or to store it. The oil market is hurting.

The heavy-handed measures by many local leaders have closed down many businesses where people tend to congregate – restaurants, gyms, entertainment venues, etc. – by classifying them as “non-essential.” Sadly, churches have come under this classification. However, liquor stores do not fall into this category. Do not hurt the wine.

No, we are not in the Tribulation. Bill Gates wants to vaccinate everyone in the world against this pandemic with a vaccine that will include some kind of biometric device that will track everyone being vaccinated. Some see this as the “mark of the beast.”[4] However, there can be no “mark of the beast” without a “beast.” That said, the technology for such a “mark” is here.

What do these things tell us? The time of the Tribulation looms just around the corner. If that is true, the Rapture of the Church is even closer. Look up, Christian, for your redemption draweth nigh.[5]

Reader, are you prepared for what lies ahead? Get ready; read my page on “Securing Eternal Life.”

Notes:

[1] “Wuhan Bug” – https://erniecarrasco.com/2020/03/15/wuhan-bug/

[2] Revelation 5

[3] Revelation 6:2

[4] Revelation 13:18

[5] Luke 21:28; James 5:8

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April 24, 2020 · 15:17

Which Sounds Best?

Read this out loud:

¹The Lord is my shepherd;
    I have all that I need.
²He lets me rest in green meadows;
    he leads me beside peaceful streams.
³    He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths,
    bringing honor to his name.
⁴Even when I walk
    through the darkest valley,^[a]
I will not be afraid,
    for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff
    protect and comfort me.
⁵You prepare a feast for me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You honor me by anointing my head with oil.
    My cup overflows with blessings.
⁶Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
    all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the Lord
    forever.

Now read this out loud:

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

²He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

³He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

⁴Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

⁵Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

⁶Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Which reading “sounds” better? Both are renderings of Psalm 23. The first is taken from The New Living Translation, (copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation). The latter comes from the King James Version of the Bible.

Today, many translations of the Bible exist. Sadly, the purpose behind most of these translations is that of profit (not prophet). I could argue about the inferiority of modern translations based mostly on the source texts (mostly in the New Testament, but some in the Old) used in their translations, but I’ll lay that aside for now. One of the goals of the King James translators “was to produce a Bible that would ‘sing’ with beauty and power and would retain literal faithfulness to the Greek and Hebrew texts, which had themselves been written with majestic musical beauty” (Henry M. Moris, The Henry Morris Study Bible, p. 2152).

If this were my only reason for sticking with the KJV, it would be enough. It just “sounds” like Bible. However, the KJV is the only English translation (with the exception of perhaps the Geneva Bible) that was translated from the Textus Receptus – the “Received Texts,” aka, the “Majority Texts.” All other modern translations use the Westcott-Hort Greek texts which utilize old manuscripts that were rejected by early church fathers. There is much information available to the reader who really wants to investigate. For now, I will just leave it at that.

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April 19, 2020 · 10:00

Unprecedented

For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. (Isaiah 64:4)

Tune your television to any news station you like these days and you will hear the word “unprecedented” repeated often. The rapid worldwide spread of the Wuhan Bug[1] is unprecedented. Those infected by the virus display no symptoms for up to 21 days yet remain contagious and spread it to others unknowingly. That is unprecedented. The shelter-in-place orders around the world are unprecedented. The effect of the virus on the global economy is unprecedented. The loss of employment in the United States (and around the world) – currently over 17% — is unprecedented. Many store shelves are empty of cleaning supplies, drinking water, assorted food items, and TOILET PAPER. It’s unprecedented. Patients cannot see their doctors for routine matters, and if they do get an appointment, they get the “third degree” to ensure they are not infected before they can be seen. That is unprecedented. When allowed out of our shelter, we find a few other people taking care of necessities hiding their faces behind surgical masks and some even wear rubber gloves. That is unprecedented!

The Wuhan Virus initiated all kinds of unprecedented events that have sent our nation and the world reeling. However, other unprecedented events taking place in our world are ignored by the media and few people notice.

Rome displaced and scattered the Jews all over the world in 70 AD. For almost 2000 years, the Jews have been scattered among the nations.[2] Yet, though they have gone from one nation to another, they have maintained their ethnic identity, their religion, their customs, and even their native language. At one time, even in my lifetime, scholars considered Hebrew a “dead” language, but even that has survived and revived to be the official language of Israel. That is unprecedented! And after almost two millennia of the Diaspora, they have returned to the homeland given to them by God.[3] The barren, desolate land that no one desired for two thousand years now blossoms as a rose.[4] This too, is unprecedented.

Other unprecedented events are happening that the media fail to report due to the intense unprecedented focus on the Wuhan pandemic. For example, East Africa is suffering from an unprecedented plague of locusts of “biblical proportions,”[5] and it is moving north threatening the Middle East.

Earth’s magnetic poles are shifting at an unprecedented rate. “For most of the 1900s, the physical North Pole was moving westwards around 10 cm each year towards Canada’s Hudson Bay. Then all of a sudden, in 2000, it changed direction moving 75 degrees eastwards and began moving east at a rate of around 17 cm annually. Nobody has ever witnessed such a change. This is completely unprecedented! Now the North Magnetic Pole is moving rapidly and erratically. Today it is now moving at a pace of 55km PER YEAR!!!!! This is creating a real crisis because the entire world GPS system was based upon a fairly stationary location for the North Pole” (emphasis mine)[6]. The relatively rapid change surely affects the earth’s crust. “[The] north magnetic pole’s inexorable drift suggests that something strange – and potentially powerful – is taking place deep within Earth. Only by tracking it, said University of Leeds geophysicist Phil Livermore, can scientists hope to understand what’s going on.”[7]

All the unprecedented happenings going on around the world gives one pause to think, “What is going on? Are we entering the time of Tribulation?” Jesus gave us signs to look for at “the end of the world,”[8] But He said, “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” (Matthew 24:6, emphasis mine). The signs we see today should alert us that Jesus is coming back very soon as He promised,[9] but we are not in the Tribulation right now. How do we know? “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)” (Matthew 24:15). The “abomination of desolation” is the Antichrist, “the beast”[10] that will set up a one-world system at that time. However, even now, political leaders around the world are calling for a one-world government that can manage outbreaks like the Wuhan Virus and bring order to all humanity. This too, is unprecedented.

We who compose the Bride of Christ should not live in fear like the rest of the world. The worst is yet to come, but the Bible promises that we will not be around to experience the seven years that are determined for God’s people, Israel.[11] “That day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition [i.e., Antichrist]” (2 Thessalonians 2:3). Antichrist has not been revealed yet, so we know we are not in the Tribulation now. I believe Antichrist is alive today. So why has he not shown himself? “And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now [restrains] will [restrain], until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming” (2 Thessalonians 2:6-8, emphasis mine). The One who restrains (letteth, KJV) is the Holy Spirit who indwells the heart of every true believer, the Bride, the Church of Christ. He will be “taken out of the way.” When He leaves, we leave.

This is known as the Rapture of the Church. “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [go before] them which are asleep [dead]. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up [harpazō, snatched up, i.e., raptured] together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17).

When millions upon millions of Christians around the world disappear “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:52), the world will be stunned, more so than with the Wuhan Virus. That day is coming very soon. That too will be unprecedented.

Reader, are you prepared for that soon coming day? If not, please read my page on “Securing Eternal Life.”

Notes:

[1] “Wuhan Bug” – https://erniecarrasco.com/2020/03/15/wuhan-bug/

[2] Deuteronomy 4:27; 28:64; Jeremiah 9:16; Ezekiel 12:15, et al.

[3] Ezekiel 37

[4] Isaiah 35:1

[5] Africa locust plague worst infestation in decades: ‘Even cows are wondering what is happening,’ Fox News.

[6] Magnetic Poles Are Moving Rapidly as Never Before – Precursor to a Pole Shift?

[7] Earth’s Magnetic North Pole Has Shifted So Much We’ve Had to Update GPS

[8] Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21

[9] John 14:1-3

[10] Daniel 9:27; Revelation 13:1-10

[11] Daniel 9:24

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April 12, 2020 · 10:00

The First Day of the Week

The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. (John 20:1)

The unbelieving Pharisees sought a sign from Jesus proving His credentials. “But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas [Jonah]: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:39-40).

Most of us know the historical account of Jonah the rebellious prophet of God who ran in the opposite direction of where God had sent him. God has a heart for the lost. The Bible tells us that “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9, emphasis mine). So, God commanded Jonah to go preach to the wicked Assyrians, the mortal enemies of Israel, in Nineveh. These were mean people that tortured and abused their victims harshly. All the neighboring nations feared and hated them, and Israel was next on their menu. Jonah wanted nothing to do with them, and he especially did not want God to bless them in any way. So, rather than obey God’s command, Jonah boarded a ship bound for Spain (Tarshish).

You know the story. God sent a storm that put the ship in danger. Jonah confessed of his rebellion to the crew and they tossed him overboard to appease the Lord, quiet the storm, and calm the sea. The second chapter of Jonah describes the “sign” to which Jesus referred.

God prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. Much ink has been spilt in attempt to identify the creature that swallowed Jonah. Some think it could have been something like a whale shark; they certainly are large enough to swallow a man whole. Others propose it was a whale, but a whale is not a “fish” and the Hebrew uses another word for whale, tannı̂yn, which means “sea monster,” or any large sea animal like a dragon or sea serpent. But the Hebrew word used, dâg, means “fish.” If the scholars would just listen to me I can easily resolve the question. The “fish” resembled nothing that we might recognize because the Bible says that God “prepared” this fish specifically for this occasion. The Hebrew word “prepared” is mânâh and it also means “to weigh out; to allot; to appoint.” God designed this fish for an appointment with Jonah.

It is difficult to imagine any man surviving the ordeal of being in the belly of a fish for three days. It seems from Jonah’s prayer that perhaps he actually died. He says, “I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice” (Jonah 2:2). The Hebrew word translated “hell” here is she’ôl, the “abode of the dead.” It was understood to be the place where the spirits of the dead resided. The Greek word for the same place is hadēs. Jesus referred to this place when He spoke of the rich man who died and went to “hell” (hadēs).[1] Jesus said that when the rich man arrived in this place, “…he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame” (Luke 16:23-24). Obviously, the man, though he was physically dead, retained all of his senses.

Likewise, Jonah describes his experience in Sheol. He says, “For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple” (Jonah 2:3-4, emphasis mine). Jonah sensed the separation, yet he maintained the hope that one day he would see the “holy temple.”

Jonah prophesied in Israel, the Northern Kingdom, which had no temple. The only Temple resided in Jerusalem, so it seems that Jonah referred to the Holy Temple in heaven of which the earthly Temple was modeled.

Jonah also hints of his death when he says, “I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God” (Jonah 2:6, emphasis mine). The word “corruption” (Hebrew: shachath) can also be translated “destruction.” Jonah continues, “When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple” (Jonah 2:7). Again, Jonah’s prayer ascended to God’s Holy Temple in heaven.

Jonah died in the belly of the fish, and God revived him after three days and three nights.[2] In like manner, Jesus said He would be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights and rise again.

Jesus died on the cross on Passover. He was our Passover Sacrifice.[3] His death paid the debt of our sins. They buried Him before sundown on Passover and rolled a heavy stone over His tomb. Pilate sealed the tomb with his official seal and posted a Roman guard to watch and ensure that no one tampered with the sepulcher.[4] Then, after three days and three nights in the grave, like Jonah, God raised Jesus from the grave on the first day of the week. Jonah died again eventually, but Jesus lives on. Forty days following His resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven[5] where He awaits His return to this earth.

The “sign of Jonah” was for the unbelieving Pharisees, who, after His resurrection, continued in their unbelief. The validity of the sign continues even unto our generation. Christ has risen. The tomb is empty. Doubters continue in their rejection hoping that one day someone will find His bones and say, “Here He lies!” But they fail. One day, maybe soon, they will gaze into the sky and behold Him in all His glory “this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).

Reader, if you are not prepared for that day, please see my page “Securing Eternal Life” before it is too late for you. And as Jesus said, “be not faithless, but believing” (John 20:27).

Notes:

[1] Luke 16:19-31

[2] Jonah 1:17

[3] 1 Corinthians 5:7

[4] Matthew 27:62-66

[5] Acts 1:3

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April 5, 2020 · 10:00

A King In Israel

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. (Zechariah 9:9)

In my last article, I recounted the early history of Israel.[1] The period of the Judges lasted between 450 and 500 years (my estimation). The Book of Judges ends with this sad assessment: “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). Israel finally got a king to rule over them. By popular consent, God allowed them to choose a king for themselves, Saul, a Benjamite.[2] But Saul was not the king God had in mind for them. From the time Israel entered Egypt and prior to their enslavement, God had already determined that the king would come from the tribe of Judah.[3] This king’s reign would be eternal. “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be” (Genesis 49:10).

Saul was a miserable failure as king. Only two years into his reign, he disobeyed God by doing things his own way rather than waiting on God’s direction. God took the kingdom away from Saul, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king” (1 Samuel 15:23).

Not long after, Samuel the prophet anointed God’s choice for Israel’s king, a young shepherd boy, a young man of the tribe of Judah and resident of Bethlehem, David, the son of Jesse.[4] During David’s reign, Israel followed the Lord and the Lord helped David conquer most of the land God had promised to Israel. After 40 years on the throne, David’s son Solomon became king, and the spiritual state of the nation slowly started to degenerate again, in part due to the king’s own practice of marrying pagan women and bringing their pagan worship into the land and even participating in their practices himself.[5] It is said of Solomon that he was the wisest man alive, but his behavior brings that into question. However, toward the end of his life, he finally did wise up. He wrote, “Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity … Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:8, 13-14).

Regardless, the damage was done. The leaven already permeated the loaf. Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, rejected the advice of his old advisors, listening rather to his young cronies. This ended up dividing the kingdom with ten tribes to the north and only Judah and Benjamin remaining of David’s kingdom.[6] Both kingdoms soon fell into idolatry once more, Israel (the Northern Kingdom) first followed by Judah (the Southern Kingdom) later. Israel was conquered by the Assyrians and displaced from the land never to return. Judah fell to the Babylonians and was carried away to Babylonian captivity. After 70 years in Babylonian captivity, the Medo-Persian Empire under Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to their land to rebuild Jerusalem and their Temple.[7] However, Israel never really became an independent state again. They were always under some other nation’s thumb. For over 400 years, they longed for their promised Messiah of whom Daniel foretold, “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times” (Daniel 9:25). The day would come when their king would come and throw off the oppressive yoke of Gentile nations and make Israel great again, as in the days of David and Solomon.

After 400 years, nothing had changed. Then one Sunday morning their long-awaited king made His entrance. However, they did not recognize Him. They were expecting a strong military general that would overthrow the Romans and set up a kingdom equal to or greater than that of Solomon. Perhaps the expected king would expand their borders to include all the lands God had promised.[8] But rather than ride in on a white stallion with a flashing sword and dazzling armor, Jesus rode in on an unbroken donkey’s colt.[9] Rather than the pomp and pageantry of a conqueror’s parade, Jesus was greeted by the cheers of the poor and downcast. “And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest” (Matthew 21:9); and “Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest” (Luke 19:38). The religious leaders, those who should have recognized His presentation, considering the specificity of Daniel’s prophecy,[10] despised the thought of this lowly Galilean being king and rejected His claims to deity. “The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after him” (John 12:19). “And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples” (Luke 19:39). Had these kept silent, Jesus answered them, the very rocks would cry out in proclamation of His kingship.[11]

A few days later, their rejection would be complete as Pilate presented Jesus to them, “Behold your king!”[12] “But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar” (John 19:15, emphasis mine). Rejecting their true King, they preferred rather to remain under the thumb of their oppressors.

This came as no surprise to Jesus. Earlier He confided in His disciples, “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour” (John 12:27, emphasis mine). His kingdom, at this time, was not an earthly one. His kingdom was not for the Jews alone, but “that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Before going to the cross, He made this promise. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:1-3, emphasis mine).

His disciples were naturally curious as to when that time would be. “And as he 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?” (Matthew 24:3, emphasis mine). Jesus gave many indicators of His return at “the end of the world,” but He cautioned, “All these are the beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:8). Jesus spoke of wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes in different places, famines, and pestilences.

All these things are taking place today. The naysayers point out that these things have occurred throughout history. Peter foresaw such “scoffers.” “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (2 Peter 3:3-4). The truth is that these things have never occurred with such frequency and with such unity. The convergence of all of these signs is “unprecedented” (to borrow a term in frequent use these days). Consider the pestilence the world experiences today, the Wuhan virus. This bug has brought the world to a standstill and threatens not only the lives but the livelihoods of millions of people. The world’s economies are on the verge of collapse, and this is but one of the signs of which Jesus spoke.

The time is near. Soon there will be a King in Israel and His Kingdom is forever. Jesus will reign on earth for 1000 years.[13] The world seeks a one-world government ruled by fallible men. Jesus will bring a one-world government, “and he shall rule them with a rod of iron …” (Revelation 19:15). After that, in a recreated heaven and earth, He will reign forever in the “New Jerusalem.”[14]

Are you ready to live with King Jesus in His eternal kingdom? If you are not sure of your eternal destiny, read my page on “Securing Eternal Life.”