Rapture and End Times

When will the Rapture and the last 7 years of the Tribulation occur? Today’s headlines are alarming, to say the least. The news of the world includes some critical signs pointing to the imminent Rapture of the Church.

These include increasing “birth pains,” the invasion of Israel, a Middle East peace plan, the rise of the Beast and the False Prophet, increasing apostasy and the formation of a one-world government, global persecution of Christians, and the roll-out of the Mark of the Beast. In this post, we will examine the latest traction around fulfillment of these 7 signs.

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1. Increasing “birth pains”

While He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached Him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what is the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?”

Then Jesus replied to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many. You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these events are the beginning of birth pains. (Matthew 24:3-8)

“Then there will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars; and there will be anguish on the earth among nations bewildered by the roaring sea and waves. People will faint from fear and expectation of the things that are coming on the world, because the celestial powers will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is near!” (Luke 21:25-28)

The birthing example in Revelation 12 can help us to understand what is happening right now.

Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth… She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. (Revelation 12:1-2,5)

We have seen the incredible hardship on millions of people, including Christians, just in the last few years, with non-stop wars, natural disasters, global social upheavals, and economic devastation.

Climate change has destabilized the Earth’s poles, putting the rest of the planet in peril / The Washington Post, December 14, 2021

The ice shelf was cracking up. Surveys showed warm ocean water eroding its underbelly. Satellite imagery revealed long, parallel fissures in the frozen expanse, like scratches from some clawed monster. One fracture grew so big, so fast, scientists took to calling it “the dagger.”

“It was hugely surprising to see things changing that fast,” said Erin Pettit. The Oregon State University glaciologist had chosen this spot for her Antarctic field research precisely because of its stability. While other parts of the infamous Thwaites Glacier crumbled, this wedge of floating ice acted as a brace, slowing the melt. It was supposed to be boring, durable, safe.

Now climate change has turned the ice shelf into a threat — to Pettit’s field work, and to the world.

Planet-warming pollution from burning fossil fuels and other human activities has already raised global temperatures more than 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit). But the effects are particularly profound at the poles, where rising temperatures have seriously undermined regions once locked in ice.

The Arctic could get more rain and less snow sooner than projected. Here’s why that matters.

In research presented this week at the world’s biggest earth science conference, Pettit showed that the Thwaites ice shelf could collapse within the next three to five years, unleashing a river of ice that could dramatically raise sea levels. Aerial surveys document how warmer conditions have allowed beavers to invade the Arctic tundra, flooding the landscape with their dams. Large commercial ships are increasingly infiltrating formerly frozen areas, disturbing wildlife and generating disastrous amounts of trash. In many Alaska Native communities, climate impacts compounded the hardships of the coronavirus pandemic, leading to food shortages among people who have lived off this land for thousands of years.

“The very character of these places is changing,” said Twila Moon, a glaciologist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center and co-editor of the Arctic Report Card, an annual assessment of the state of the top of the world. “We are seeing conditions unlike those ever seen before.”

Though no place on Earth is changing as fast as the Arctic, rising temperatures have already brought similar chaos to more temperate climes as well. Unpredictable weather, unstable landscapes and collapsing ecosystems are becoming facts of life in communities around the globe.

None of this represents a “new normal,” Moon cautioned. It’s merely a pit stop on a path to an even stranger and more dangerous future.

Global greenhouse gas emissions are on track to keep rising. Governments and businesses have not taken the steps needed to avert catastrophic warming beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels. There is every reason to believe that instability at the poles — and around the planet — will get worse.

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She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.

The “male Child” represents all Christians who will be “caught up” (I Thess. 4:16-17) at the time of the Rapture.

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2. The invasion of Israel

God, do not keep silent.
Do not be deaf, God; do not be idle.
See how Your enemies make an uproar;
those who hate You have acted arrogantly.
They devise clever schemes against Your people;
they conspire against Your treasured ones.
They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation
so that Israel’s name will no longer be remembered.”
For they have conspired with one mind;
they form an alliance against You—
the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
Moab and the Hagrites,
Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek,
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre.
Even Assyria has joined them;
they lend support to the sons of Lot. (Psalm 83:1-8)

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, turn your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy against him and say: This is what the Lord God says: Look, I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws, and bring you out with all your army, including horses and riders, who are all splendidly dressed, a huge company armed with shields and bucklers, all of them brandishing swords. Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with shields and helmets; Gomer with all its troops; and Beth-togarmah from the remotest parts of the north along with all its troops—many peoples are with you.

“Be prepared and get yourself ready, you and all your company who have been mobilized around you; you will be their guard. After a long time you will be summoned. In the last years you will enter a land that has been restored from war and regathered from many peoples to the mountains of Israel, which had long been a ruin. They were brought out from the peoples, and all of them now live securely. You, all of your troops, and many peoples with you will advance, coming like a thunderstorm; you will be like a cloud covering the land. (Ezekiel 38:1-9)

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Analysis: If Israel strikes Iran, Hezbollah’s Nasrallah will obey Iranian orders / JNS, December 28, 2021

While Israel has refrained from publicly setting clear red lines to act as precise markers for a threshold that, if surpassed by Iran’s nuclear program, would trigger an Israeli attack, it is clear that Jerusalem has been sending warning signals about Iran’s approach towards the danger zone.

These warnings appear, in part, to be growing louder in the vacuum left behind of a lack of a credible American military threat in the event of an Iranian decision to break out to a nuclear weapon, and Washington’s priority of pivoting towards superpower competition with China and Russia.

As Israel’s warning grows louder, and Iran’s nuclear program continues to make progress — particularly in the area of uranium enrichment, and the centrifuges that enable it — it is natural to wonder about the multiple scenarios that a theoretical Israeli future strike could lead to.

History has demonstrated that the course of wars is not deterministic, and the question of what would follow an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear sites is no different.

However, some contingencies appear to be more likely than others. The Israel Defense Forces, in its stepped-up planning for contingencies, must build up its readiness for them all, and particularly for the most severe one.

The key question is whether Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah will launch a full-scale assault on Israel from Lebanon if he receives the order from Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei to do so.

In light of the fact that Hezbollah poses the number one conventional military threat to Israel today, and that any multi-front conflict would be dominated by the Lebanese arena due to Hezbollah’s enormous arsenal of projectiles, this question is a top priority issue for the Israeli defense establishment’s planners.

It is impossible to imagine a scenario in which Nasrallah would reject an Iranian directive to act in retaliation. The next question centers around the scope of that retaliation. Should Iran instruct Hezbollah to enter into a full-scale conflict with Israel, it would be difficult to imagine Nasrallah turning this down as well.

A highly religious man, Nasrallah should be expected to follow through on the orders of the Iranian “mothership,” which is not only the source of Hezbollah’s radical Shi’ite Islamist ideology, but also its funding and force build-up.

After all, it was Iran that sent Hezbollah into the bloody battlefields of Syria for years. Any hopes that Nasrallah would limit Hezbollah’s response to an Israeli attack on Iran should therefore not guide Israeli policy, planning or resource allocation.

It is difficult to gage how seriously Khamenei is taking current Israeli threats about the consequence of further nuclear progress — but as Israel continues to enhance its long-range military capabilities, and its readiness for full-scale conflict with Iran and all of its proxies simultaneously, Jerusalem’s posture in Iranian eyes will be more difficult to dismiss.

The IDF has received billions of shekels to improve its Iran strike capabilities, and the Israeli Air Force has placed this capability at the top of its entire agenda for the year 2022.

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2022’s Biggest Challenges Come From Russia and Iran / American Coalition Against Nuclear Iran, January 2, 2022

UANI Chairman Senator Joseph I. Lieberman writes: “The biggest challenges the U.S. will face in 2022 won’t be Covid-19 or inflation but Russia and Iran. The way the Biden administration handles these two hostile, despotic governments may determine how secure our country will be for years. Moscow and Tehran are testing the administration’s foreign policy, which, in its first year, has been more principled than muscular. The mortifying withdrawal from Afghanistan made allies around the world insecure and enemies, including Russia and Iran, opportunistic. Russia has massed its troops on Ukraine’s border, ready to invade it and subjugate its people.”

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One of the critical signs are pointing to the imminent Rapture of the Church is the invasion of Israel. This invasion was foretold in Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38.

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3. A Middle East peace plan that allows for the Temple to be rebuilt

He will make a firm covenant
with many for one week,
but in the middle of the week
he will put a stop to sacrifice and offering.
And the abomination of desolation
will be on a wing of the temple
until the decreed destruction
is poured out on the desolator. (Daniel 9:27)

One of the critical signs are pointing to the Tribulation and the imminent Rapture of the Church is a comprehensive peace plan (a covenant with the Antichrist) that allows the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple. We believe that this Peace Treaty will begin the dark one “week” or 7 year period called the Tribulation, and that this will start very shortly. The Rapture will occur before then.

Gantz hosts Abbas at his home, in PA leader’s first meeting in Israel in a decade / The Times of Israel, December 28, 2021

Defense Minister Benny Gantz hosted Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at his home in Rosh Ha’ayin on Tuesday night. It marked the first time the Palestinian leader held talks with a senior Israeli official in Israel since 2010.

The meeting was Gantz and Abbas’s second since the new Israeli government was formed in June. According to the Defense Ministry, it lasted two and a half hours; part of it was Abbas and Gantz alone.

“The defense minister emphasized the shared interest in strengthening security cooperation, preserving security stability, and preventing terrorism and violence,” Gantz’s office said in a statement.

Gantz also told Abbas that he intended to continue advancing “confidence-building measures in civil and economic fields,” according to the Defense Ministry.

Israel’s military liaison to the Palestinians Ghassan Alian, widely known by his position’s acronym COGAT, also participated in the meeting on the Israeli side.

Key Abbas adviser Hussein al-Sheikh, the Palestinian official responsible for managing ties with Israel, accompanied Abbas, along with Palestinian intelligence chief Majed Faraj.

Al-Sheikh said that the two had discussed political questions and settler violence, among other subjects.

“The meeting dealt with the importance of creating a political horizon that leads to a political solution… as well as the tense conditions in the field due to the practices of settlers,” al-Sheikh said in a tweet.

Gantz first spoke on the phone with Abbas in mid-July. The two later formally met in Ramallah in late August, marking the first such high-level contact between senior Israeli and Palestinian decision-makers in over a decade.

The opposition Likud party criticized the Tuesday night meeting in Israel, saying that “the Israeli-Palestinian government of Bennett is returning (Abbas) and the Palestinians to center stage” and warned that “it’s only a matter of time until there are dangerous concessions to the Palestinians.”

Hamas, the terrorist group that rules Gaza, slammed Abbas for meeting with Gantz, calling it “reprehensible and condemnable.”

“This is an attack on the uprising taking place in the West Bank,” said terror group spokesperson Hazim Qasim, in an apparent reference to a spate of recent attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians.

Abbas’s last official meeting in Israel took place in 2010 when he met then-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his official residence for peace talks. The peace process has been largely moribund in the last decade with Netanyahu working to undermine Abbas and push the conflict with the Palestinians to the margins.

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The agreement will be violated by Israel’s enemies half-way through the 7 years, and the One World leader will take the Lord’s place in the Temple and declare himself to be God. He is the Beast (or Antichrist).

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4. The rise of the Beast and the False Prophet

You said to yourself:
“I will ascend to the heavens;
I will set up my throne
above the stars of God.
I will sit on the mount of the gods’ assembly,
in the remotest parts of the North.
I will ascend above the highest clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.” (Isaiah 14:13-14)

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to Him: We ask you, brothers,  not to be easily upset in mind or troubled, either by a spirit or by a message or by a letter as if from us, alleging that the Day of the Lord has come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way. For that day will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits in God’s sanctuary, publicizing that he himself is God. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4)

They worshiped the dragon because he gave authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to wage war against him?”

A mouth was given to him to speak boasts and blasphemies. He was also given authority to act for 42 months. He began to speak blasphemies against God: to blaspheme His name and His dwelling—those who dwell in heaven. And he was permitted to wage war against the saints and to conquer them. He was also given authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation. All those who live on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name was not written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slaughtered. (Revelation 13:4-8)

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Confab of rabbis from Islamic nations whisked off for surprise visit with Erdogan / The Times of Israel, December 24, 2021

ISTANBUL (JTA) – Rabbis from across the world filled the halls of Istanbul’s Conrad hotel this week for the inaugural conference of the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States (ARIS). They were expecting two days of networking, discussions of Jewish law and simple camaraderie over their shared experience of supporting Jewish life in Muslim-majority countries.

What they weren’t expecting was to be whisked off to the Turkish capital of Ankara, on a private plane sent by Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to have dinner with him at his presidential palace.

Rabbi Mendy Chitrik, the Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Turkey and director of ARIS, only got the news that the Turkish president would receive them hours before the conference was set to begin.

According to Chitrik, Erdogan stayed with the rabbis for two hours discussing a variety of topics.

“The president has listened very gracefully to all of the rabbis, has spoken in very strong terms against antisemitism and Islamophobia and has reiterated the Turkish stance that denying the Holocaust is a crime against humanity,” Chitrik told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, adding that Erdogan also voiced his support for the construction and renovation of synagogues in Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

“I value our renewed dialogue with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett,” Erdogan noted to the rabbis, according to the government-aligned outlet Daily Sabah.

Despite continuing trade relations with Israel, the Turkish government also hosts the leadership of Hamas on its soil and is a major funder of Palestinian causes in Gaza and the West Bank.

The Turkish president reiterated that position but called on the rabbis to be part of the solution.

“We all have to strive for peace in the Middle East,” he said. “We do not want to see any conflicts in this geography that is home to three Abrahamic religions.”

“I believe that a solution that prioritizes the sensitivities of all religious groups living in Jerusalem can be achieved,” he added.

“We are forward-looking rabbis. We are working in communities in the Muslim world, and we are looking to strengthen Jewish life. There are many things in the past, but we are looking forward, working on the present and working for the future,” Chitrik said.

The meeting concluded with Turkey’s Sephardic chief rabbi, Isak Haleva, gifting the Turkish president an ornate menorah.

The surprise meeting with Erdogan replaced a visit to Istanbul’s Jewish museum and a gala dinner at Neve Shalom, the flagship synagogue of the Turkish rabbinate.

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Turkish and Armenian envoys to meet in Moscow next week / Al-Monitor, January 5, 2022

Special envoys from Turkey and Armenia will meet for the first time on January 14 in Moscow, their respective foreign ministries announced on Wednesday.

Ankara and Yerevan lack diplomatic relations. But in December, the neighboring countries agreed to name special envoys to lay the groundwork for normalization.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry named career diplomat Serdar Kilic, a former Turkish ambassador to the US, as its special envoy. Armenia appointed deputy parliament speaker Ruben Rubinyan as Kilic’s counterpart.

Turkey shut its borders to Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with its ally Azerbaijan, which was locked in a bitter war with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. In 2020, Ankara backed Baku in its latest conflict with Yerevan over the disputed enclave, which after six weeks ended in a Russian-brokered truce.

Turkey and Armenia’s relationship is also strained over the mass killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of Ottoman forces beginning in 1915. Ankara has long denied that a genocide took place.

The planned meeting comes as Turkey seeks to mend ties with a number of other countries in the region, including Israel, Egypt and several Gulf states. This week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced plans to visit Saudi Arabia in February.

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The Bible shows that the Antichrist will be a peace maker and will be very wise in the beginning of his rule. At first the Antichrist will seem to solve many of the world’s problems and he will be considered great in the eyes of most in the world.

 

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me: “Come, I will show you the judgment of the notorious prostitute who sits on many waters. The kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and those who live on the earth became drunk on the wine of her sexual immorality.” So he carried me away in the Spirit to a desert. I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and 10 horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls. She had a gold cup in her hand filled with everything vile and with the impurities of her prostitution.

On her forehead a cryptic name was written:

BABYLON THE GREAT
THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES
AND OF THE VILE THINGS OF THE EARTH.

Then I saw that the woman was drunk on the blood of the saints and on the blood of the witnesses to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished.

Then the angel said to me, “Why are you astonished? I will tell you the secret meaning of the woman and of the beast, with the seven heads and the 10 horns, that carries her. The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up from the abyss and go to destruction. Those who live on the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast that was, and is not, and will be present again.

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Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi to open in 2022 / Vatican News, June 15, 2021

The Abrahamic Family House, which encloses a synagogue, a church and a mosque in a single complex, and which is scheduled to be inaugurated in 2022, is 20 percent complete, the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity (HCHF) said in a statement on Tuesday. The Committee, which is also supervising the project , said it is inspired by the 2019 Document on Human Fraternity. Constructed on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, the project is closely followed by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam Ahmed el-Tayeb of al-Azhar, who endorsed the design, the HCHF said.

The Abrahamic Family House derives its name from the Old Testament biblical figure, Abraham, who is recognized and greatly revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims.

“The Abrahamic Family House epitomizes interfaith harmonious coexistence and preserves the unique character of each religion,” said Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Department of Culture Abu Dhabi and an HCHF member. He said, “It personifies Abu Dhabi’s vision for human fraternity and embeds coexistence into the already diverse cultural fabric of the UAE. Overseeing the development of this iconic project is inspiring and reflective of the UAE efforts in realizing the values of the Document on Human Fraternity and fostering its lofty principles.”

He explained that the names of the three houses of worship recognize the work of the Grand Imam, Pope Francis and Moses Ben Maimon, and “harnesses their teachings to forge a message of goodwill for future generations around the world”.

The “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together”, simply called the Document on Human Fraternity, was signed on February 4, 2019, by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam during the Pope’s visit to Abu Dhabi.

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Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. Because lawlessness will multiply, the love of many will grow cold. (Matthew 24:11-12)

Chrislam is our 21st century act of syncretism, by trying to promote a culturally designed combination religion of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism in the interest of peace. This interfaith apostasy is our modern version of the worship of the golden calf (created by Aaron as a combination of  the Egyptian bull deity and the God of Israel). The Lord ordered Moses to go down the mountain at once to stop this abomination.

The stated goal of the “Chrislam” interfaith movement was to promote understanding between different religions to increase acceptance of others, and to facilitate cooperation between faiths for humanitarian service projects. The actual result is the preaching of Islam in many Christian churches – and the beginnings of a umbrella organization that will ultimately form a one-world religion.

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. But every spirit who does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist; you have heard that he is coming, and he is already in the world now. (1 John 4:1-3)

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5. Increasing Apostasy and the Formation of a One-World Government

Bible prophecy foretells a 10-nation military alliance that will rise out of a revived Roman Empire (the European Union) and will come under the control of the Antichrist (Daniel 7:23-24). Unknown to many Christians, a 10-nation military alliance appeared in Europe in 1995, called the Western European Union (or the Brussels Treaty Powers).

These 10 nations are members of both NATO and the European Union. What bound them together was a mutual defense obligation under Article Five of the modified Brussels Treaty, which meant that an attack against one would be an attack against all.

Yet, on March 31, 2010, the 10 nations announced that they had agreed to terminate their alliance and transfer the Western European Union’s powers to the European Union – which, under the Lisbon Treaty, has developed a mutual defense obligation that includes all the EU member states.

One-world government / The Spectator, May 4, 2019

The undeclared aim is one-world government – and you may rest assured that it won’t be the Gettysburg version of ‘of the people, by the people and for the people’. A former British Labour cabinet minister and EU Commissioner, Peter Mandelson, once famously said ‘We are now entering a post-democratic age’ and he wasn’t kidding. Their vision of the future is one where power resides solely with a global elite of politicians, bureaucrats and business leaders. For one-world government to be achieved the concept of the nation-state must first be discredited.

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He also said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute was seated, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages. The 10 horns you saw, and the beast, will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, devour her flesh, and burn her up with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to carry out His plan by having one purpose and to give their kingdom to the beast until God’s words are accomplished. And the woman you saw is the great city that has an empire over the kings of the earth.” (Revelation 17)

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6. Global Persecution of Christians

Then they will hand you over for persecution, and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of My name. (Matthew 24:9)

Christians all around the world are facing extreme persecution. 11 people are killed because of their faith in Christ each and every day. In fact, the number of Christians facing persecution around the world has increased by the tens of millions in the last year alone.

China has seen a sharp increase in government opposition to religion, including Christianity, as the Chinese government has destroyed crosses, burned Bibles, closed churches, and is forcing believers to sign papers renouncing their faith in Beijing and several other provinces, demanding loyalty to the atheist Communist party in power.

The local officials in various provinces of China routinely raid the homes and churches of Christians who are seeking to peacefully practice their faith. More and more Christians are forced to practice their faith in secret.

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Release International: Persecution of Christians to increase in 2022 / Metro Voice, January 7, 2022

West Africa is expected to be a hotspot for persecution of Christians in the coming year, according to the newly released Persecution Trends report from Release International. The organization pointed to several countries of concern.

Sub-Saharan Africa. Islamist extremists are gaining ground in the Sahel region of sub-Saharan Africa. In Burkina Faso, jihadists targeted Christians in the northern part of the country in 2021, forcing churches to close and meet in secret. Attacks ranged from bombings, killings, kidnappings and school burnings to assaults on religious leaders and places of worship.

Nigeria. Attacks by Boko Haram terrorists, IS fighters and Fulani militia continued throughout 2021. These attacks could escalate in 2022 as political campaigning gets under way ahead of the 2023 general election. In the past, attacks by Boko Haram and Fulani extremists have increased during election periods.

Afghanistan. 2021 was a tumultuous year for Afghanistan, with the Taliban taking over the country after the failed Biden withdrawal of American troops. “In 2022, there is a very real threat of higher levels of violent persecution in Afghanistan,” said Paul Robinson, CEO of Release International. “Our partners tell us that Christians who are unable to follow the outward forms of Islam, such as praying at the mosque and saying the shahada, the Islamic profession of faith, will stand out more clearly. This increases their vulnerability to persecution and the pressure on them to conform.’

North Korea. Food insecurity is a major worry in North Korea, where observers warn famine is looming once again. As winter tightens its grip, many could face imminent starvation. In the 1990s, up to 3.5 million North Koreans died of hunger. According to some estimates, more than 10 percent of the population lost their lives. Further instability in the country could lead to increased persecution in what already is one of the most hostile countries to Christianity in the world.

India. Attacks against Christians are rising, and more states are imposing anti-conversion laws. This comes as growing numbers of the Indian underclass, the Dalits, are turning to Christianity. Right-wing Hindu nationalism is on the rise in India. Militant Hindus have called for religious conversion from Hinduism to be made illegal across the country. Several states already have passed anti-conversion laws.

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7. The roll-out of the Mark of the Beast

Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

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Vatican Calls for New World Economic Order / Fox News,  October 24, 2011

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican called Monday for radical reform of the world’s financial systems, including the creation of a global political authority to manage the economy.

A proposal by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace calls for a new world economic order based on ethics and the “achievement of a universal common good.” It follows Pope Benedict XVI’s 2009 economic encyclical that denounced a profit-at-all-cost mentality as responsible for the global financial meltdown.

The proposal acknowledges, however, that a “long road still needs to be traveled before arriving at the creation of a public authority with universal jurisdiction” and suggests the reform process begin with the United Nations as a point of reference.

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The world is accelerating towards digital IDs for all / Decrypt, April 10, 2020

The United Nations, World Economic Forum, and Big Tech have been working together to create global digital IDs since 2014, in an effort recognized by the World Bank as important for sustainable development. Now the coronavirus is pushing this development even further.

The coronavirus pandemic has already prompted a shift towards a digital everything—including digital ID. With many people working from home, conferences are now being held virtually, work is being done remotely and people are having to sign documents electronically. But to prove that you’re you, digital ID is a must.

According to Jacob Nordangård, PhD student at Linköping University in Sweden and a speaker at the Eighth International Conference on Climate Change, this shows the world needs a global pandemic response.

“The COVID19 outbreak, with all its tragic consequences, happened to be the perfect trigger event to show the world the need for a global coordination and management of the planet, as well as the need for [a] technological surveillance regime in order to track and monitor all people and diseases (and the global value chains),” he said, in a blog post on April 6.

Numerous governments around the world are beginning to roll out mass surveillance systems in an attempt to slow the pandemic. But privacy advocates are worried that when these measures have be…

Tech companies and governments are already working together to build surveillance apps in order to control the spread of the coronavirus. There are at least 60 apps trying to collect this data—but while some are privacy-first, others are dystopian hellscapes.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates said, in a TED Talk last month, “Eventually we will have some digital certificates to show who has recovered or been tested recently or when we have a vaccine who has received it.”

A global identity system
Microsoft is already a founding member of a platform designed to create a global identity system, which could be used to track the spread of outbreaks, called ID2020.

ID2020 launched an alliance, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and consulting firm Accenture, in 2017. The alliance’s main goals were also defined that year: to develop and test technological solutions for digital identity, and to work with governments and “existing, established agencies to implement these solutions.”

In the same year, the World Economic Forum stated, in a report called Digital Borders, that its goals—including for a global digital ID technology—should be prioritized because of threats such as pandemics.

The report identified key problems with the growing global population—in particular, the expected growth of international travel over the next decade. But in order to find a solution to such global problems, it said that a global digital ID is necessary.

“Yet, the proposed solutions are based on the premise that individuals have a recognized identity, when 1.5 billion people today do not,” the report stated. To ensure that such a framework is inclusive, the report added, “the broader issue of identity and digital identity has to be addressed to determine how to create effective and efficient digital identity management through acceptable global standards and norms.”

“The objective is to combine and enable the customer’s sharing of data and verified identity through a platform which, in turn, creates an effortless experience by connecting systems, facilitating passage and improving security,” it said.

Could a global digital ID threaten privacy?
A global digital ID could be used to track the spread of the coronavirus, to monitor travel and restrict the movement of those who are infected. In China, it’s already common to have your body temperature checked when you enter a building, if this data was matched to your ID—then you would have an identity that proved you weren’t infected.

But here’s the catch. It would give governments a lot of information and control over their citizens—which could be a bad idea.

Nordangård argues that the “utopian smart society” that is currently being built by ID2020 and its partners around the world may lead to people losing access to all basic human services—unless they opt-in and have their digital identity recorded.

“Just like the Social Credit system in China,” he added.

With governments around the world stepping up work on digital currencies, the world might be digital before we know it.

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NBC News Promotes Convenience of Getting a Microchip in Your Hand / Summit News, October 18, 2019

NBC News celebrated the prospect of “millions” of people getting a microchip implanted in their hand as a likely future outcome.

The segment is introduced by pointing out that people who have taken the chip do not need to carry keys, ID, credit cards or money.

It points out that embedding microchips in humans has long been a feature of dystopian fiction like Black Mirror, but that in Sweden “the microchips are already here.”

The piece also celebrates how the same contactless technology has “made cash pretty much obsolete in Sweden.”

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Already we are constantly hearing about the “New World Order”, or “global community”, and these buzz slogans are slowly sinking in as the world heads towards an international financial and political system, a cashless society controlled by a computer data base that covers the entire globe, keeping track of every man, woman and child, where they cross borders and when they buy and sell–exactly like the one predicted in Revelation chapter 13 nearly 2,000 years ago!

Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. (Revelation 13:11-18)

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As you have seen, the news of the world includes some critical signs pointing to the imminent Rapture of the Church:

1. Increasing “birth pains”

2. The invasion of Israel

3. A Middle East peace plan that allows for the Temple to be rebuilt

4. The rise of the Beast and the False Prophet

5. Increasing Apostasy and the Formation of a One-World Government

6. Global Persecution of Christians

7. The roll-out of the Mark of the Beast

A multitude of signs converging, and when added up, point to our imminent Rapture.

I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:50-52)

According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18)

If you are not sure that you are a member of the family of God, you can accept Christ into your life right now, by praying:

“Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins.  Please forgive my sins and give me the gift of eternal life.  I ask you in to my life and heart to be my Lord and Savior.”

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Reader Comments:

Luke 21:28 When these things begin to happen, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Wake up and look up be ready to meet Jesus in the clouds any day any time now!

GISMYS_7, January 16, 2022

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Whoever makes the front cover of time magazine, could be the a.c.

teamventure, January 16, 2022

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