Rapture and End Times

“For indeed, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and everyone who commits wickedness will become stubble. The coming day will consume them,” says the Lord of Hosts, “not leaving them root or branches. (Malachi 4:1)

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Global Catastrophic Events Unfold: Authorities Respond to Unprecedented Challenges Future News Report

[Washington,D.C., October 4, 2024] — In a series of unprecedented events, the world has been rocked by multiple disasters over the past 48 hours, prompting widespread panic and chaos on a global scale. Reports pouring in from various regions have detailed a sequence of calamities, including the sudden disappearance of millions of people, increased UFO sightings, internet crashes worldwide, the invasion of Israel by Russian and Iranian forces, and a massive 9.8 magnitude earthquake in the Middle East followed by airbursts apparently from meteorites.

The cause of the disappearances remains shrouded in mystery, with authorities launching thorough investigations to unravel the perplexing phenomenon. The most severely impacted nations include the United States, Nigeria, China, Brazil, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Germany, Kenya, and India, where communities are reeling from the sudden loss of their citizens.

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Witness accounts of UFO activity have surged across multiple countries, with descriptions varying from unidentified flying objects of diverse shapes and sizes, fueling speculation and intrigue amidst the chaos.

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The global internet crashes have inflicted severe disruptions to communication networks, impeding vital communications and severely affecting businesses and daily operations worldwide.

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The invasion of Israel by Russian and Iranian forces has plunged the region into a state of emergency, prompting swift international condemnation and urgent diplomatic responses.

The colossal 9.8 magnitude earthquake in the Middle East, subsequently downgraded from 10.4, has wrought widespread devastation, leaving communities shattered in its wake. The ensuing airbursts, believed to be from meteorite impacts, have compounded the catastrophic situation, exacerbating the already monumental challenges faced by affected regions.

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Authorities are appealing for calm amidst the turmoil, urging citizens to heed evacuation orders and emergency directives. Rescue and relief efforts are currently underway, with responders working tirelessly to assess the full extent of the damages and provide critical aid to affected populations.

In a rare show of unity, President Erdogan of Turkey and the Vatican are set to issue a joint report, extending support and solidarity to those affected. Turkey has pledged to offer safe haven to refugees fleeing the devastation.

Additionally, the North American Union has mobilized emergency funds to assist the hardest-hit areas, underscoring the collective resolve to confront and overcome this unprecedented crisis.

As the situation continues to unfold, further updates and information will be disseminated to the public, ensuring transparency and accountability in the face of adversity.

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This fictitious news report could very well become reality one day soon, as events continue to unfold, leading up to what the prophets called the Day of the Lord:

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Iran Can Build Nuclear Bomb in One Week, Signaling ‘Extreme Danger’ for Western World, Report Says Washington Free Beacon, February 5, 2024

Iran has enough weapons-grade uranium to produce its first nuclear weapon within a week and a total of six bombs within a month, a scenario that is increasingly likely to unfold as conflict in the Middle East reaches critical levels, according to a report from a watchdog group.

“The volatile situation in the region is providing Iran with a unique opportunity and increased internal justification for building nuclear weapons while the United States and Israel’s resources to detect and deter Iran from succeeding are stretched thin,” the Institute for Science and International Security, a watchdog group that monitors Tehran’s atomic program, warned in a report published Monday. “Iran’s nuclear weapons capabilities are more dangerous than they have ever been, while its relations with the West are at a low point.”

The findings signal “extreme danger” for the international community and marks the “first time” the institute has issued such a determination since it began reporting on the Iranian nuclear program’s threat level in October 2022. In May 2023, when the last report was published, Iran’s total threat score was calculated at 140 out of 180. This year the score reached 151.

Hamas’s war against Israel, which is being supported by Iran, has significantly increased the likelihood that Tehran races to build a functional nuclear weapon, according to the report. The United States is now in its third day of airstrikes against Iranian targets across the Middle East, threatening to ignite a broader conflict with Iran that could consume the region and increase Tehran’s rush to become a nuclear-armed power.

The Islamic Republic continues to make “progress on developing sensitive nuclear capabilities, … increasing its nuclear weaponization efforts beyond breakout.”

Iran has the ability to “break out and produce enough weapon-grade enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon in a week, using only a fraction of its 60 percent enriched uranium,” according to the report. “This breakout could be difficult for inspectors to detect promptly, if Iran took steps to delay inspectors’ access.”

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Why Some Insiders Fear This Is the Year North Korea Will Fire Nukes DNYUZ, February 5, 2024

In his most intensive drive for power over the Korean peninsula since his father’s death more than 12 years ago, North Korea’s Kim Jong Un is mounting a blitzkrieg of weapons tests and rhetoric. His goal: to convince both his own people and his enemies that he’ll risk a second Korean War to reunite North and South Korea under one-man rule.

Buoyed by his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kim is shipping artillery shells and missiles for Russian forces bogged down in Ukraine while spreading fears of a grand plan to take over South Korea. The dream is to fulfill the vision of his grandfather, regime founder Kim Il Sung, who tried and failed to conquer the South in the first Korean War.

Kim’s big talk, his decision to give up all pretense of dealing with South Korea, above all his dedication to a nuclear program capable of inflicting mass death from Northeast Asia to the U.S., has experts forecasting more and bigger weapons tests—on top of unremitting threats.

“It looks like Kim Jong Un is talking about absorption by conquest,” said Nicholas Eberstadt, long-time researcher at the American Enterprise Institute. “What’s changed since last year? We know that North Korea is preparing for nuclear war on the Korean peninsula.”

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Iran, Russia, and China set for joint naval exercises amid escalating Middle East tensions essanews.com, February 7, 2024

The precise location of the maneuvers was not disclosed. However, the last year’s trilateral exercises took place in the Gulf of Oman in March.

The Iranian news agency Tasnim referred to the exercises as a “war game” and underlined that the army extended invitations to numerous other countries.

This year’s exercises occur in the context of increasing tensions in the Middle East. The Houthi rebels, supported by Iran, have been launching rocket attacks and drone strikes on warships and commercial vessels in the Red Sea. They justify their actions by expressing support for the Palestinian group, Hamas, which is currently engaged in an armed conflict with Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip.

In retaliation, the U.S. and British armed forces are conducting operations against Houthi targets in the Yemen regions currently under rebel control.

Although China has not officially condemned the actions of the Houthis, Reuters reports that Chinese officials have requested assistance from their Iranian counterparts to halt attacks on ships in the Red Sea instigated by this armed group.

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NATO’s Steadfast Defender 2024: Unprecedented Military Exercise Signals Alliance Unity and Preparedness NATO, January 26, 2024

In a significant display of military prowess, NATO announced its intention to conduct STEADFAST DEFENDER 2024 in the coming months, the largest military exercise in Europe since the Cold War. With approximately 90,000 troops from all 31 NATO Allies, as well as partner Sweden, participating, the exercise is poised to test and refine NATO’s defence plans for reinforcing European defences against a near-peer adversary.

The announcement by U.S. Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Operations and head of U.S. European Command, has garnered widespread attention. STEADFAST DEFENDER 2024 is designed to provide valuable insights for enhancing NATO’s defence plans, improving interoperability, efficiency, and resilience. This effort aims to demonstrate NATO’s commitment to collective defence and send a robust message about its readiness to protect all Allies in the face of emerging threats.

The exercise is strategically located in several key European countries, including Finland, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Events will take place from the end of January to May 31, 2024, divided into two parts.

During the initial phase (End of January to mid-March), the focus will be on maritime reinforcement across the Atlantic and in the Arctic. The second phase (mid-February to the end of May) will shift to using deployed reinforcements across all domains, from the Arctic to the Eastern Flank.

STEADFAST DEFENDER 2024 is a multi-domain exercise, incorporating land, air, sea, cyber, and space operations, which has been a major focus of doctrinal development at NATO Allied Command Transformation. It involves deploying forces from North America and other parts of the Alliance to Europe. Over several months, complex multi-domain operations will be conducted across thousands of kilometres, thereby enhancing civil-military cooperation and national and collective resilience.

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What is the Day of the Lord? Why would anyone want it?

Woe to you who long for the Day of the Lord!
What will the Day of the Lord be for you?
It will be darkness and not light.
It will be like a man who flees from a lion
only to have a bear confront him.
He goes home and rests his hand against the wall
only to have a snake bite him.
Won’t the Day of the Lord
be darkness rather than light,
even gloom without any brightness in it? (Amos 5:18-20)

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The big picture:

The phrase “day of the Lord” usually identifies events that take place at the end of history (Isaiah 7:18-25) and is often closely associated with the phrase “that day.” One key to understanding these phrases is to note that they always identify a span of time during which God personally intervenes in history, directly or indirectly, to accomplish some specific aspect of His plan.

The Old Testament passages referring to the day of the Lord often speak of both a near and a far fulfillment, as does much of Old Testament prophecy. Some Old Testament passages that refer to the day of the Lord describe historical judgments that have already been fulfilled in some sense, while others refers to divine judgments that will take place toward the end of the age.

Blow the horn in Zion;
sound the alarm on My holy mountain!
Let all the residents of the land tremble,
for the Day of the Lord is coming;
in fact, it is near—
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and dense overcast,
like the dawn spreading over the mountains;
a great and strong people appears,
such as never existed in ages past
and never will again
in all the generations to come.

A fire destroys in front of them,
and behind them a flame devours.
The land in front of them
is like the Garden of Eden,
but behind them,
it is like a desert wasteland;
there is no escape from them.

Their appearance is like that of horses,
and they gallop like war horses.
They bound on the tops of the mountains.
Their sound is like the sound of chariots,
like the sound of fiery flames consuming stubble,
like a mighty army deployed for war.

Nations writhe in horror before them;
all faces turn pale.
They attack as warriors attack;
they scale walls as men of war do.
Each goes on his own path,
and they do not change their course.
They do not push each other;
each man proceeds on his own path.
They dodge the arrows, never stopping. (Joel 2:6-8)

The earth quakes before them;
the sky shakes.
The sun and moon grow dark,
and the stars cease their shining.

The Lord raises His voice
in the presence of His army.
His camp is very large;
Those who carry out His command are powerful.
Indeed, the Day of the Lord is terrible and dreadful—
who can endure it? (Joel 2:10-11)

.1 big thing:

The day of the Lord is a reference not only to a single day, but also to a period of judgment called the Tribulation. This period of intense suffering lasts 7 years. The midway point is called the Great Tribulation, and is highlighted by the invasion of Israel.

The New Testament calls it a day of “wrath,” a day of “visitation,” and the “great day of God Almighty” (Revelation 16:14) and refers to a still future fulfillment when God’s wrath is poured out on unbelieving Israel and on the unbelieving world. The Scriptures indicate that “the day of the Lord” will come quickly, like a thief in the night (Zephaniah 1:14-15; 1 Thessalonians 5:2), and therefore Christians must be watchful and ready for the coming of Christ at any moment.

Going deeper:

All indications are that the President of Turkey, Erdogan, is going to do everything in his considerable power to overturn the Ottoman defeat of 1917:

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Making Turkey great again: How Erdogan rode to reelection on a nationalist wave Los Angeles Times, June 2, 2023

ISTANBUL — Before Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan snatched victory in the hardest fight of his two decades in power, a ubiquitous campaign poster showed him in dark sunglasses and a black aviator jacket with military patches alongside images of drones, ships, tanks and a ghostly national flag.
“He won’t leave the homeland unprotected,” the poster’s slogan said. “Go with the right man.”

It’s a martial persona that has come to occupy an ever-larger part of the political identity Erdogan has constructed over the last 20 years as Turkey’s president or prime minister. To an already-potent cocktail of Islamist and neo-liberal elements, Erdogan — who will be sworn in for a historic third presidential term Saturday — has added a large measure of muscular nationalism, which he channeled into a masterful, nostalgia-filled campaign that won him reelection and set him up to realize the vision he calls “Turkey’s Century.”

That vision taps not only into the country’s 100-year-old history as a secular republic but also into a honey-dipped view of its Ottoman Empire past. In Erdogan’s telling, the next 100 years will see Turkey restored to its former glory as a mighty actor on the world stage, an unabashedly Muslim military power capable of standing up to its adversaries and inspiring oppressed nations around the world.

In short: Make Turkey great again.

“Nations that were once great powers have a malleable and inflatable sense of their heyday,” said Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “With this comes an inclination to be inspired by leaders who can speak to this narrative and embody it, and that’s Erdogan in Turkey.”

Erdogan, 69, has pledged to catapult Turkey, a NATO member with the alliance’s second-largest army, into the world’s top 10 nations in “all fields of politics, economy, technology, military and diplomacy.” It’s an all-out development drive involving energy independence, gargantuan — and controversial — infrastructure projects like the Kanal Istanbul, an artificial waterway to reduce traffic in the Bosporus, and, crucially, a homegrown weapons industry to make Turkey militarily stronger.

During his victory speech, Erdogan gloated that “German, French and English magazines published covers to bring down Erdogan? They also lost.”

With so much talk of adversaries, whether real or imagined, Erdogan is shifting Turkey’s traditional stance on the geopolitical stage, said Aydintasbas of the Brookings Institution.

“That’s possibly Erdogan’s legacy: He has rebranded Turkey as a rising, nonaligned power — a power that has no friends but only enemies,” she said.

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Erdogan will be part of a non-aggression agreement, a firm covenant with Israel, allowing the Third Temple to be built:

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)

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What to watch:

Jerusalem will be taken over by the Beast because of the apostasy of Israel. If Israel’s history proves anything, it proves how quickly and easily so many people can turn away from obeying the Lord.

Soon after the miracle of the destruction of the invading armies of the Ezekiel 38 war, Israel slips back in a period of apostasy.

During the second half of the 7 year Tribulation, the world is dominated by the Antichrist—one specific person. That is the final manifestation, the final product of the spirit of antichrist. He will be one final, supremely evil, supremely powerful ruler, who will dominate the human race for that brief period.

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)

Ultimately, the evil nations are brought to judgment:

Yes, in those days and at that time,
when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
I will gather all the nations
and take them to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
I will enter into judgment with them there
because of My people, My inheritance Israel.
The nations have scattered the Israelites
in foreign countries
and divided up My land. (Joel 3:1-2)

Let the nations be roused
and come to the Valley of Jehoshaphat,
for there I will sit down
to judge all the surrounding nations.
Swing the sickle
because the harvest is ripe.
Come and trample the grapes
because the winepress is full;
the wine vats overflow
because the wickedness of the nations is great.

Multitudes, multitudes
in the valley of decision!
For the Day of the Lord is near
in the valley of decision.
The sun and moon will grow dark,
and the stars will cease their shining.
The Lord will roar from Zion
and raise His voice from Jerusalem;
heaven and earth will shake.
But the Lord will be a refuge for His people,
a stronghold for the Israelites. (Joel 3:12-16)

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The Valley of Jehoshaphat is also known as Armageddon, a place that is to be the focal point of a world conflict where the nations will be gathered for war. The meaning of the word Armageddon is “a heap of sheaves in a valley for judgement.”

Then I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and against His army. But the beast was taken prisoner, and along with him the false prophet, who had performed the signs in his presence. He deceived those who accepted the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image with these signs. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. The rest were killed with the sword that came from the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh. (Revelation 19:19-21)

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The Book of Joel gives us an overview of the entire Tribulation – from the plague of locusts to Armageddon. In the end, Israel is blessed.

Besides being a time of judgment, it will also be a time of salvation as God will deliver the remnant of Israel, fulfilling His promise that “all of Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26), forgiving their sins and restoring His chosen people to the land He promised to Abraham. The final outcome of the day of the Lord will be that “the arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day” (Isaiah 2:17). The ultimate or final fulfillment of the prophecies concerning the day of the Lord will come at the end of history when God, with wondrous power, will punish evil and fulfill all His promises.

Revelation 6:7-8 says that “over a fourth of the earth” will perish as the result of Jesus opening the Seals. Even considering the disappearance of people at Jesus’ appearing, that’s still a vast number that will likely exceed one and a half billion people. The total death toll that resulted from WWII, which some place as high as seventy-five million, is horrific, of course, but it pales in comparison to what lies ahead.

The time is rapidly approaching when the world will see the fulfillment of all that John both witnessed and wrote about in Revelation 6:1-8. The Bible says that sudden destruction will overwhelm the world after the Rapture (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11).

Though dreadful for those who will hear the hoofbeats in the future, the nearing of this time tells us that Jesus’ appearing is ever so close. We will be in Heaven before Jesus opens the seal judgments described in Revelation 6.

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The bottom line:

The last picture is of Jerusalem in the end of days experiencing a time of complete peace, a peace that will spread out to everyone as it becomes a house of prayer for all nations:

Then you will know
that I am Yahweh your God,
who dwells in Zion, My holy mountain.
Jerusalem will be holy,
and foreigners will never overrun it again.

In that day
the mountains will drip with sweet wine,
and the hills will flow with milk.
All the streams of Judah will flow with water,
and a spring will issue from the Lord’s house,
watering the Valley of Acacias.

Egypt will become desolate,
and Edom a desert wasteland,
because of the violence done to the people of Judah
in whose land they shed innocent blood.

But Judah will be inhabited forever,
and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
I will pardon their bloodguilt,
which I have not pardoned,
for the Lord dwells in Zion. (Joel 3:17-21)

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“For indeed, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and everyone who commits wickedness will become stubble. The coming day will consume them,” says the Lord of Hosts, “not leaving them root or branches. But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and playfully jump like calves from the stall. You will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I am preparing,” says the Lord of Hosts. (Malachi 4:1-3)

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With gratitude and blessings,
The Rapture and End Times Team

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Reader Comments:

That “Future News Report” at your link is a good ‘shadow’ of what the world may see in the near future! It connects a lot of loose ends and paints quit a realistic picture of ‘those days’. Pretty sobering.

The article ties this ‘future’ news article to Iran and its nuclear aspirations and to other things going on at this time around the world. It reports on Iran having enough weapons-grade uranium to produce its first nuclear weapon within a week and a total of six bombs within a month….” All pushing the world closer and closer to the Tribulation Period.

The Institute for Science and International Security reported their findings on Iran and the Middle East – as in “extreme danger”.

We are certainly getting closer and closer to such ‘future news reports’! We can only imagine as we won’t be here to see all of what’s in that ‘future news report’ unfold. Thank the Lord!

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!

Maranahtha!

Chance..

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