Three praises to the Lord Jesus

It's been a really good week for me, spiritually. The news in the world is not so good, but we are not of the world. If you walk closely with Jesus the news of the world will affect you only in that it helps you see and understand God is sovereign and everything He does is good. Actually, it is awe-inspiring because the closer I walk with Him and the more news I read that lines up with what He said would happen, it makes me feel more humble and grateful that a God such as He wants to interact on a personal basis with His people.

Some of the ways I could see Him with us during the week ran from the most High to the smallest things. There are some great praises to share. First, a teenage boy people have been praying for repented and accepted the Lord as His savior. That is the one thing in this world that will reduce me to tears of gratitude and awe. Eternity began for that boy on Wednesday and he will never be the same. It is a Holy God who cares about sin, and a Holy God who redeems fallen and sinful humanity to His bosom.

"Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s." (Psalm 103:1-5)

Another praise was the rainbow that appeared in the non-rainy morning pre-dawn over our school. It began from a point on the left of the school, arched high and went over the right side. It feels truly like God was speaking to us. And He IS speaking to us when He sets His bow in the sky:

"I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” (Genesis 9:13-16).

It is so great to know that when you see a rainbow you know what God is thinking at that exact moment. Thank you for this heavenly beauty, LORD:

"The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun, Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, And rejoices like a strong man to run its race. Its rising is from one end of heaven, And its circuit to the other end; And there is nothing hidden from its heat." (Psalm 19:1-6)

Also, here is a small thing. It may not seem like much to you guys. It may just be a coincidence, but it meant a lot to me. I drive a Ford SUV that is 18 years old. It has 213,800 miles on it. There are a lot of things in the car that do not work any more, such as the gas gauge, the right-hand blinker, three of the window motors, and the driver door doesn't shut properly unless I slam hard and push up just right when I close it because the inside door handle is also broken. To close it from the inside I have to roll the window down and put my hand outside and slam it that way. The blessing is that all the turns I need to make are left-hand turns, the one window that still motors up and down is the driver's side, and until now, the door has always shut without too much trouble. And the things that do work are the ones that matter.

Friday morning, the door didn't shut. No matter how I pushed hard and up, it would not latch. I drove to school praying and praying. You see, there is also an alarm system in the car that I have not yet figured out how to disable. If the driver door does not shut within a certain amount of time, the car alarm goes off and keeps going off. If the door doesn't shut, it would be a problem at the elementary school at which I work. You can't have a car alarm going off all day in the parking lot. The only other alternative would be to leave it unlatched with the key in the door, which is the only thing that stops the alarm. But that exposes me to car theft and also drawing the battery down. A small thing like the door not shutting could end up being a major disaster.

So the whole 6 miles to work I prayed. I asked the Lord to take care of this small thing. You see, He is a personal God, this same Jesus who walked the earth and now resides at the right hand of the Father and Who will come again. He loves us and wants us to have life abundantly. From holy things like a person's salvation, to displays in creation like setting the bow in the sky, to tiny things like what to wear and food to eat, He is involved. That is how great He is. When I arrived at school and got out to shut the door, it shut properly. Thank you Lord. He cares for His sheep, even to the minor things of life.

"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" (Matthew 6:25-26)

I know I'm blessed. I have clothes and food and a place to live and a church to worship in and a good job and so much more. But even if it wasn't good, I'd praise Him. If you feel your life is too hard, too desperate, to praise the Lord, then I ask you to start looking for ways to praise Him. Even at the lowest point of Job's life, and I daresay no person on earth could get as low as Job, Job yet praised the Lord. Seek reasons to thank Him. Soon it will become a habit to see His blessings unfolding one miracle at a time.

"Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations." (Psalm 100:1-5)

In my life this week, He displayed His holiness, His sovereignty over creation, and His involvement in my life. My hope for you this week is that you also seek opportunities to praise Him. He is working in your life. Do you see it?
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Pakistani fishermen reel in largest shark in the sea

A whale shark, found dead in the Arabian Sea. Notice the caption calls it a "leviathan" which of course is a descriptor, but it reminded me of Job 41. MSNBC photoblog here and video too.

"“Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook
or tie down its tongue with a rope?
Can you put a cord through its nose
or pierce its jaw with a hook?

“I will not fail to speak of Leviathan’s limbs,
its strength and its graceful form.
Job 41:1-2, 12

God certainly has made a tremendous variety of animals to populate His earth.
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The "New Axis" the old bible said would exist at the last days

With all that is prophesied to occur in the last 7 years prophecy students know that it has to happen pretty fast for it to all be completed within the 7 year period of the Tribulation (AKA 'Time of Jacob's Trouble'). There are numerous wars, plagues, natural disasters, rise and fall of empires, rise and fall of a global economy, rise and fall of a global dictator, assembly of and decimation of armies numbering in the hundreds of millions, and more.

The kick-off battles, or gateway battles, seem to be the Isaiah 17:1 prophecy of the destruction of Damascus, the Psalm 83 battle where a number of nations and organizations abutting Israel collectively attack Israel but are wiped out instead, the decimation of Egypt (Isaiah 19), and the Gog Magog battle where another collection of nations attack Israel and Israel would have been wiped out but God intervenes and wipes them out instead. For even those three battles to occur it seems like they would have to happen fast. I'm thinking not a protracted Iraq War but a type of Israeli Six Day War.

We know that Isaiah 17:1 will happen overnight, the verse later in the chapter says "In the evening, sudden terror! Before the morning, they are gone!" (v. 14).

The Psalm 83 battle and Gog Magog battles involve Russia. The Ezekiel 38-39 Gog Magog battle directly involves Russia. Though Russia is not mentioned as a participant in the Psalm 83 battle, because Russia is directing so many things behind the scenes in the Middle East we know that their influence, their pre-sold war materiel, and their soldiers and technicians will be on scene and involved. It is pretty obvious that Last Days battles will be short, pointed, and devastating. That said, I find it interesting that the Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said the same this week.

He said, “The production of weaponry must reflect the fact that modern wars will be brief and unpredictable in nature, they will not rage on for years,” Rogozin said on Wednesday at a meeting with defense industry officials. “We need a very compact, mobile, armed to the teeth army and fleet that instill fear in our enemies, and strategic nuclear forces that would ensure our [national] security,” he said."

The Deputy Prime Minister also said, "[The] Russian Army Must ‘Instill Fear in Enemies."

I think of the armies that will instill fear in enemies at the last days. I think of the verses in Ezekiel 38 describing the Russian alliance coming against Israel, "whole army—your horses, your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords. Persia, Cush and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets, also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops—the many nations with you. ... You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land." (Ez 38:4b-6, 9).

Sounds terrifying...

Bible.org says of the Kings of the East, "One of the significant developments of the twentieth century is the political and military awakening of the Orient. The great nations of Asia east of the Euphrates River, slumbering for centuries, are now beginning to stir and to become a major factor in the international situation. The geographic immensity and the millions of humanity involved make it inevitable that any future development embracing the entire world must take the Orient into consideration."

Further, "In Daniel’s prophecy of “the time of the end” beginning in Daniel 11:35, a king is pictured in the Mediterranean area who engages in a military conflict with the king of the south, the king of the north, and a military force from the east. Although identification of this king is difficult, the most plausible explanation is that he is the head of the revived Roman Empire who at this point has assumed the role of a world dictator. In the period just prior to the second coming of Christ in the latter part of the great tribulation, major portions of the world will rebel against him. This explains the military conflict with armies pushing against him from the south, the north, and from the east."

In the prophecy it is stated in Daniel 11:44, “But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.”

Furious and fast destruction...that is the forecast, according to the bible. Bible.org again, "Two important passages in Revelation, namely, 9:13-21 and 16:12-16 contribute to the conclusion that one of the large armies employed in the final world conflict will be a military force of great power which comes from the Orient." And that is what Russia and China are doing.

Can you imagine armies that stomp through your town, tanks rolling, big rigs carting missiles, men wearing gear, clanking, hundreds of millions of them? All with intent to instill fear, utterly destroy?

This badly translated article from a Turkish paper lays it out plainly, and look how consistent it is with the bible:

"Russia, China, Syria, Iran (New Axis) vs USA, Israel, England, France (Allies forever)
"Iran has warned that in case of an attack by either the US or Israel, it will target 32 American bases in the Middle East and close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which is strategically and logistically a key point as an estimated 40 % of the world’s oil supply passes through the important waterway."

Yup, it's the new axis, just as the old bible said it would be. And war along those very lines is coming soon to a town near you.
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The Fed is on a dollar devaluing spree

From Forbes Magazine this week,

The Federal Reserve's Explicit Goal: Devalue The Dollar 33%
"The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) has made it official: After its latest two day meeting, it announced its goal to devalue the dollar by 33% over the next 20 years. The debauch of the dollar will be even greater if the Fed exceeds its goal of a 2 percent per year increase in the price level."

"An increase in the price level of 2% in any one year is barely noticeable. Under a gold standard, such an increase was uncommon, but not unknown. The difference is that when the dollar was as good as gold, the years of modest inflation would be followed, in time, by declining prices. As a consequence, over longer periods of time, the price level was unchanged. A dollar 20 years hence was still worth a dollar. But, an increase of 2% a year over a period of 20 years will lead to a 50% increase in the price level. It will take 150 (2032) dollars to purchase the same basket of goods 100 (2012) dollars can buy today. What will be called the “dollar” in 2032 will be worth one-third less (100/150) than what we call a dollar today."

A 33% devalue broken down, if it was gradual and controlled, would be 11% devalue each 7 years. Roughly. That was me saying that. I like smaller numbers to work with. To continue:

"Why target an annual 2 percent decline in the dollar’s value instead of price stability?" ... [yadda yadda yadda a bunch of stuff in the article I don't understand, now to sum up:] "In other words, a gradual destruction of the dollar’s value is the best the The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) can do."

Just as I thought.

"The Fed’s finger prints in the form of monetary manipulation are all over the dozen financial crises and spikes in unemployment we have experienced since abandoning the gold standard in 1971. The financial crisis of 2008, caused in no small part by the Fed’s efforts to stimulate the economy by keeping interest rates too low for, as it turned out, way too long is but the latest example of the Fed failing to fulfill its mandate to achieve either price stability or full employment."

Anyone who thinks the economy is getting better has potatoes for brains. Baltic Dry Index plunged to a 20 year low this week. The BDI is always used as a barometer and a harbinger of the strength or weakness of the global economy, because it is a snapshot of commodity trade through global shipping. Here is another take on the Fed's plan to devalue the dollar. He is easy to understand.

I used to love our economy. But just as Jesus is nearing His return, He is showing us that it is not something to cling to. Just as He is showing us that our ways and our management of His earth are flawed, we release attachment to our man-made constructs and ready ourselves for His currency, truth, and His economy, faith.
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Foreign Press renting rooftops in advance of expected Israel-Iran war

This was in Hebrew and google-translated to English

The foreign media is preparing an Israeli confrontation with Iran
--Various agencies, including Reuters, the roofs of houses in Tel Aviv hired to prepare an attack on the town photography
--In addition, television networks in Israel sent senior producers
"Although non-ongoing uncertainty in Israel around the nuclear confrontation with Iran, Globes "has learned that the foreign media feel that the great event - meaning going to happen. Learned that recently hired various agencies, including Agence Reuters, roofs of houses in Tel - Aviv, to prepare for the shooting attack on the city. Also, the world's television networks, more and less significant, senior producers sent to Israel to examine means of Helena, communications infrastructure, and protective measures in favor of big teams will come to Israel to cover the events. Between the agencies considering the deployment of these networks is currently FOX , NBC and CBS networks of American and European and Asian. One senior source said foreign broadcasters Globes: "It would be illogical not to prepare for it, when we hear your defense minister expressed constantly on. This assessment is similar to that which was here before the days of the Gulf War, the early '90s."

This article was in English originally, it is an opinion piece of irony and sarcasm from Eurasia Review:

Foreign Press Rents Tel Aviv Rooftops To Cover Iran War – OpEd
"You remember the descriptions of the First Battle of Bull Run when all of Washington’s high society rode out in their fine carriages and horses to picnic under the shady trees and watch their Union boys send the Rebs packing? Did they get the shock of their lives when the Rebel musket balls whizzed over their heads and the Union soldiers ran for their lives from the field? Or similarly, the Israelis in southern Israel who took lawn chairs out to watch the IDF smash Gaza to smithereens in 2009? Here’s a picture of another group of expectant, thrilled Israelis watching the action. That’s what the foreign press corps appears to be doing now in Tel Aviv in preparation for an attack on Iran. They’re renting the right to put film crews and reporters on the city’s rooftops (Hebrew) during the upcoming war in order to cover the anticipated Iranian counterattack. That way they can get great photo ops and pictures of missiles wreaking havoc on the city. What a story! What a feast for the eyes! Other news organizations like CBS, Fox News, and NBC are sending their senior producers to Israel to scope out the place in case they have to send in the big boys–the news anchors and senior correspondents (especially since no one can report from Tehran!)."

On one webpage discussing this story/rumor of the day, Daniel F stated, "In January 1991 everybody was caught by surprise at 03:00am in the morning when the first Scuds hit Tel Aviv. CNN, the most aggressive news agency at the time, had paid handsomely for access to a rooftop and provided excellent live coverage (and were also inadvertently acting as a forward artillery spotter for the Iraqis). Other news agencies were quick to follow suit until some understood that the Iraqis might be watching TV. So I suppose that some of the news agencies are “buying options”, hardly surprising and I suppose that the asking prices are still reasonable. More dancing in the streets of Gaza?"

We know from prophecy in Ezekiel 38-39 that Israel and Iran get into it, as well as Israel and the Psalm 83 nations (Lebanon, Gaza, Hezbollah, Hamas, Jordan, Egypt) and we know Syria's capital of Damascus is obliterated at some point in between all this (Isaiah 17). The only question is, when. I don't think we have long to wait to find out.
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I am a prepper! Are prepping for doomsday?

Are you a prepper? It means someone who is prepared for a certain eventuality they believe might occur in their life at some point in the near term or the far future. Being prepped used to mean to be prepared for an operation, lol, but it also used to mean prepared for retirement with a good sized savings account and retirement plan. Preparing for retirement was what my generation did, penny by penny, dollar by dollar, over the course of a life.

Then it came to mean insurance. "Do you have insurance?" The boutique kinds of insurance were created and the people buying them felt prepared. Pet illness insurance, flood insurance where floods had not occurred before, hurricane insurance, term life insurance because we are living longer, long term care insurance to tide us over in the nursing home until the end. Life was getting more complicated so we had to be prepared for more things.

 Now prepper means prepared for Armageddon. The secular world does not mean literal Armageddon. They do not think that is going to happen, of course. The prophesied battle of the last days where the world's armies assemble for one last cataclysmic battle against the Holy Savior is what Armageddon really means. (Rev 16:16, Revelation 19:19-21).

What the world means when they say they are prepping for Armageddon is they are getting themselves ready to live through any number of earth-shattering, wide-scale cataclysmic events. We certainly have seen enough of them in the last few years. There was the Christmas Tsunami at Indonesia in 2004, and the March 2011 quake and tsunami at Japan. The series of quakes that occurred at Haiti and Chile and New Zealand at the beginning of last year. Tornadoes wiping out whole towns, one after another. Volcanoes exploding, spewing ash to halt half the world's air travel. Floods covering a quarter of Australia. The world has seen death and destruction on a wide scale. We have seen that it can and it does happen. Now they are getting ready. Preppers have constructed a safety net for any and all contingencies.

Even Chevy got into the apocalypse game and presented (a winning) ad during the Superbowl. In this still clip, a man in a Chevy survived meteors, UFO invasion, earthquakes, volcanoes, a plague of frogs, fires, and civilizations' collapse.

Here is the ad:

I like to read futuristic fiction. Last summer I read the classic Alas, Babylon, a 1950s era novel depicting the effects of a nuclear attack on the US. Despite being over fifty years old it consistently ranks in Amazon.com's Top 20 Science Fiction Short Stories list. The novel deals with the effects of a nuclear war on the small town of Fort Repose, Florida, which is based upon the actual city of Mount Dora, Florida. Despite being a bit scientifically inaccurate it does a good job of showing the collapse of society and the reformation attempts in the nuclear aftermath.

I also read One Second After, a 2009 novel by American writer William R. Forstchen. The novel deals with an unexpected electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack on the United States as it affects the people living in and around the town of Black Mountain, North Carolina. It was extremely realistic. The end of the book talked about the likelihood of a given population's survival after an EMP with all the attendant collapses. The Wiki on this book states, "Refugees from the cities show up looking for food and shelter and the fight over scarce resources leads to confrontation, home invasion, and more violence-related die-offs. The community becomes an inviting target for free prisoners and organized gangs and more violence-related die-off. Ration cards are issued to conserve the little remaining food; regardless, the community slowly starves with the elderly the first to die off. Next parents starve themselves to save their children. Throughout this period suicides are common. After a year, approximately 20% of the initial population has "survived". It was stated in the epilogue section from actual sociologists and scientists that such a die-off rate (80%) in the aftermath of an EMP is very likely. I recommend the book.

A few months ago I watched a very compelling, recent documentary called "After Armageddon" on the History Channel. It is a theoretical account of a worst case scenario for global disaster, this time, a pandemic thanks to a superflu. The live scenes of how this affects a family in Los Angeles were interspersed with interviews with real scientists discussing what to do and how to act at the various points of the flu's run. The docu-drama shows in graphic detail just how fast normal society can break down. I thought it was very realistic. The video can be seen here, part 1/9.

There is a new television show now on the National Geographic channel, called "Doomsday Preppers."  The tagline goes like this: "Doomsday Preppers explores the lives of otherwise ordinary Americans who are preparing for the end of the world as we know it. Unique in their beliefs, motivations, and strategies, preppers will go to whatever lengths they can to make sure they are prepared for any of life’s uncertainties. And with our expert’s assessment, they will find out their chances of survival if their worst fears become a reality."

An article about it opens, "A lot of people are terrified that, unlike Harold Camping, the ancient Mayans got it right and that the apocalypse (zombie or otherwise) will unfold in 2012. ... Hence, the arrival of new show "Doomsday Preppers" (Tues., 9 p.m. EST on Nat Geo). Ordinary Americans who are readying themselves for disaster get to have their apocalypse survival plans evaluated by survival experts. On the series premiere, Kellene Bishop taught self-defense techniques to a group of women so that they could overcome their worst-case scenario, whether it be doomsday or attempted rape."

The end of the world is equated to attempted rape. Uh, okayyyy.

The end of the world is touted as survivable. Uh...okayyyyy.

In another article about the new show they write, "The channel commissioned an online survey of 1,007 adults in the USA, and found that 61% of Americans believe the country will experience a major catastrophic event within the next 20 years, but only 15% feel they are fully prepared for it."

I can guarantee that less than 15% are actually prepared for it. The article continues,

"In the series premiere, viewers meet a retired couple who have 50,000 pounds of food stored in their doomsday-proof home built of steel shipping containers, an an urban survivalist in Los Angeles prepping for a severe earthquake."

Here is what is coming: "Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. ... Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found." (Revelation 16:18-20)

No amount of "prepping" will survive that.

Here is what will happen to that doomsday-proofed home: "Ezekiel 38:20 The fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground."

Every. Wall. Will. Fall.

It is part of man's hubris to think he can outsmart, out-wait, out buy, and make an end run around what every heart knows is coming: their judgment. The air is ripe with expectancy. Chevy commercials, movies, books, television are focused on last days. They like to use the Mayan 2012 doomsday date as an excuse, but it is really because they know something is coming.

The 2012 Mayan doomers certainly are not helping this focus on doomsday, apocalypse, Armageddon, whatever they are calling it now. The Harold Camping 'rapture May 21, 2011' got them going. The endless stream of catastrophes have gotten everyone thinking about how best to prepare for the next one. But they are thinking along the wrong lines. I am prepped for doomsday. I am ready! Getting prepped doesn't take a container house full of food. Nor does it take a grab bag and a bug out plan. It doesn't take stockpiles or guns or puffed-up prep jargon and a Berky water filter in my Jeep.

It takes a second to prepare for doomsday. It takes a second to get prepped for eternity. One second. And one second after, you will enter a light and a joy that will last forever. All it takes is repentance.

If you repent of your sins and plead with Jesus to accept your apology (and turn away from the bad ways you act,- and we all act bad against Jesus, no one is sinless except Him), He will forgive you! You will be set forever. He will cherish you, provide for you, teach you, wipe the very tears from your eyes. "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Revelation 21:4)

Repent literally means change. It means to change your mind that you are a good person and can stand before Holy God on your own merits. It is a change from old ways hateful to God to new ways pleasing to God with the aid of the indwelling Holy Spirit. It means change your heart from thinking you don't need a Savior to a heart that cries in shame for its lack of humility toward Him and an acknowledgement of our need for Him.

The final 7 years is a judgment time upon the earth. It culminates at Armageddon with assembled armies literally thinking they can defeat Jesus (Rev 16:16). They don't. But in between the opening salvo at the Tribulation's start and the final Word at Armageddon (Rev 19:21), preppers who see their carefully constructed homes collapse in a moment (Isaiah 24:1,3) will sincerely wish they had done their one second of prepping: repent, and be saved. Christian preppers were ready for His return. They repented and were in Him, were in His gracious gift of salvation, sanctification, regeneration, and justification. They will be taken in the rapture to a glorious marriage supper (Revelation 19:7-10), and installed in their place He has been preparing (John 14:2), and given crowns and awards (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20, Rev. 22:12). You have the option to choose which kind of prepping you want to do. You can go here to learn about what salvation is and what you are being saved from, or you can go here to watch NatGeo's part 1 of Doomsday Preppers.

You can rely on your Chevy which man created, or you can rely on God, who created the world.

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The European economy and Nebuchadnezzar's statue

In Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the statue, Daniel explained the meaning to the king. The statue was composed of four metals from head to toe, and each metal represented an empire. (Dan 2:31-35). The head of gold represented Babylon, the Chest and Arms of Silver represented Medo-Persia. The belly and thighs, or hips, represented Greece. The legs of iron were Rome. The Roman empire was divided, east and west as the eastern capital of the empire was stationed at Constantinople, now Istanbul in Turkey. The toes were said to be mixed iron and clay and very brittle, not holding together, and that is the Tribulation revived Roman Empire from which the antichrist will emerge.

The final piece of the prophecy involves a stone. "Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces." (Dan 2:34). The Stone comes and "and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." The stone that was cut without hands is Jesus, who is prophesied to have all the governments upon His shoulder (Isaiah 9:6).  Mountains are usually symbols for governments. Jesus will rule and reign after He crushes the final kingdom at Armageddon.

So, are we there yet? Is the old Roman Empire revived? Yes. How do I know this? We see that kingdom has emerged now. If you look at the European Union you will note its government. It is composed of disparate elements which will be more disparate after the rapture and the antichrist seeks to unite elements which do not normally adhere and in truth will fall apart. The EU's government is not a democracy. Not at all. Though there is a Parliament, in truth the EU is run by behind the scenes men in Belgium who were NOT ELECTED. Most of these men are former financial chiefs from the highest echelons of their former governments or from the extra-governmental International Monetary Fund or the European Central Bank. And the IMF and ECB run Europe too, anyway. The people of Europe who belong to the EU, five hundred million people, have no say in how their governments are run, really.

There are no borders in Europe. EU members opened their borders, so that anyone from "Germany" who wants to take a train to "Italy" or "Slovenia" will not have to have a passport stamped or go through customs. It is all one.

The EU operates through a system of supranational independent institutions and intergovernmental negotiated decisions by the member states. Supranational means outside of national influence, or, higher than national. And you notice it says decisions, not votes. When 500 million people are ruled by a few men through decision whereupon they have no national accountability, it is an empire, and those men are kings of Europe. With that in mind, look at how the guys at Zerohedge phrase their post and presented a video in which economist

"David McWilliams succinctly explains how Europe has evolved from a democracy to a bankocracy, the implications of which lead to austerity for the people and a Franco-German imposition (the 'fiscal compact') that can only lead to social unrest and chaos. In this brief (and expertly illustrated) video, the Irish economist clarifies Europe's 'dirty little secret' where economic policy is being run almost exclusively for the banks which, as we see in Greece and Ireland, means the political elite are becoming more and more detached from the people."

Sovereign men who run large swathes of lands by decision, who are more and more detached from the people, are exactly the kind of governments we see prophesied in the last days, the antichrist's government. Then, the rich buy their luxuries such as ivory, gold, silver, jewels, (Rev 18) and care not for the poor who work all day for pay that only buys a loaf of bread (Rev 6:6) and even then sometimes gets cheated out of it. (James 5:4). The wealth gap prophesied to occur is happening now, even as Europe revives its empire economically, politically, financially, governmentally...

EU unemployment all time high
"The number of unemployed people in Europe is reaching record highs as the economic crisis unfolds into one with significant social consequences.In eight member states alone, over 30 percent of young people under 25 are out of jobs. The worst affected continues to be Spain where half its young are jobless. Images of long queues outside unemployment offices paint a bleak picture in the Spanish state where almost a quarter of all its citizens are unemployed."

The Baltic Dry Index is an indicator of global economic health. It has been collapsing--and though the Wall Street Journal is fairly staid in its use of language, they wrote that the BDI is not only collapsing, but "spectacularly" collapsing

Spectacular collapse of BDI
"The spectacular collapse in the Baltic Dry Index, which tracks the cost of shipping bulk freight, gives copper traders something to worry about, says Country Hedging’s Sterling Smith.The index is a proxy for moving goods around the globe and the now-30-session decline appears to indicate global commerce is stalling."

After the stall...what? A monetary crash? An economic limbo? A financial revival? We don't know exactly except for what Revelation 6:6 shows, that people will work all day and only be paid enough for a loaf of bread. And in Revelation 18:11-20 it shows economic Babylon's fall but in that fall it shows that a healthy economic trade in luxuries had been going on. Revelation 13 shows that an economy exists, because no one may buy nor sell if they do not accept the mark of the beast (verse 16-17).

The Roman Empire has been revived, setting the stage for the above verses to be fulfilled.
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