Restraint, Derision, and Sudden Destruction

One element about prophecy yet future that has, for me, been somewhat puzzling in a certain context is the phrase sudden destruction. The warning comes from the following:

“For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape” (1 Thes 5:3).

As I say, my perplexity has stemmed from the context. This is a follow-up scripture from the Apostle Paul’s further revelation about the mystery of the Rapture.

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thes 4:16-18).

For me, the disconnect came from my long-thought belief that there would be, following the disappearance of millions of believers, a collapse –a meltdown— of human interaction on a global scale. Chaos would immediately follow this staggering event, but it would, I believed, be a more or less controlled chaos. I.e., the cry for peace and safety would, I considered, be likened to a growing worldwide emotional breakdown and financial, societal, and cultural collapse that would cause people to beg for somebody to fix it all.

Antichrist would be willing and able to step up, and the panicked people would readily accept the back-to-normal promises he offered, thus giving him growing control over the nations.

But why, then, the term sudden destruction? The descriptive phrase smacks of instantaneous devastation, not of slow or even rapid collapse into chaos and dystopian existence for the world of left-behind people.

The realization strikes that peace and safety is a condition that seems to connote something far deeper than circumstance merely of freedom from chaos and disorder from financial catastrophe and breakdown of law and order. The cry for peace and safety indicates, I now am convicted, a desperate desire for the preservation of life itself, not just a call for restoration to something akin to normalcy.

I have long held, as anyone who has followed my commentaries knows, that Jesus Himself foretold the exact circumstances in which this generation now finds us. His days of Noah, days of Lot prophecy found in the Matthew chapter 24 Olivet Discourse and again in Luke 17:26-28 foretelling, says that it will be business as usual right up until the moment believers are taken to be with Him in the Clouds of Glory. It will be just like it was in the time of Lot in Sodom. The very day Lot was taken by the angels out of the wicked city, the town and its sister town of Gomorrah were totally, and I mean totally, destroyed. As a matter of fact, those doing the excavation of the area today are just beginning to uncover just how total was the destruction in that Judgment.

My perplexity was always that Jesus indicated it will be just like that when believers are taken to Heaven. Destruction of the sort Sodom experienced, Jesus foretold, will fall that very day. How, then, could there be this slow collapse into societal and cultural dystopia that could take weeks, or months, or longer? Sodom and Gomorrah were instantly destroyed in a deluge of fire and brimstone – devastation that must have been not unlike nuclear devastation that such weaponry can inflict today.

All we must do to see the potential for nuclear conflict is to take account of any hourly news cycle. One such report leaves little doubt that potential for Sodom-like destruction can be easily dealt by the hand of mankind, without even the need for Wrath directly from Heaven.

More and more European officials and NATO countries are on board with allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied weapons to strike deep inside Russian territory. Among the latest to speak openly about this are NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell, and the government of Sweden, which is the NATO alliance’s newest member state.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday issued one of his more dire warnings yet, putting Europe on notice by commenting on their possessing small land areas and dense populations. The veiled threat is very ominous, especially in light of the fact that Russia just wrapped up tactical nuclear drills near Ukraine…

[Source: Putin Threatens West’s ‘Dense Populations’ In ‘Small Land Masses’ In Response To NATO Escalation, ZeroHedge, May 29, 2024]

With nuclear weaponry in the hands of leaders more and more threatening to use them, it is more than a wonder that the nuclear Genie hasn’t escaped the bottle. It is indeed amazing that a nuclear weapon hasn’t been accidentally discharged. There are accounts of massive hydrogen bombs that have come within a hair’s breadth of exploding accidentally.

The fact is, I have no doubt whatsoever that it is the Staying Hand of Almighty God Who has prevented such disaster. He continues to restrain nuclear and all other sorts of satanic evil from being unleashed. God Himself has, as promised in Psalms chapter 2, had the diabolists of this Judgment-bound world in derision – intervening to disrupt the devil’s plans to bring on yet another world war.

But God’s patience is not without limits. There is coming a time when, like with Lot’s case, He will call believers from the planet’s surface and into the Loving Arms of Jesus.

You want to go to Christ when He shouts, “Come up here!” You will be forever safe in God’s Family, saved from the sudden destruction taking place on Earth. Here is how to make sure you go in the Rapture, which will happen at any moment:

“That if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and will believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

–Terry

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How Much Longer Can It Be?

I have seen this picture several times on social media. I’m not sure if it’s real, photoshopped, or an image created by AI. The meme depicts a monkey walking toward a sleeping lion with a large stick in his hands. The clear implication is that once the primate hits the sleeping beast, it will not end well for him.

This meme keeps coming to mind as I reflect on current events. Just like the monkey, the globalists are provoking dangerous beasts knowing that their actions will not end well for a great many people. What’s different is that they will initially prosper from the anarchy they cause.

The question on my mind is this: How much longer can it be before the Lion of Judah responds in His wrath, wipes out the realm of the antichrist, and inaugurates His righteous rule upon the earth?

I agree with Dr. David Reagan, who recently wrote that we are “living on borrowed time.” We do not know how much longer we must wait until the Lord appears and God’s wrath in the form of “sudden destruction” descends upon the world (1 Thessalonians 5:1-3), but what we see tells us it must be soon.

World War III

The picture of a monkey about to attack a sleeping lion came back to my mind when I recently came across a news item from Newsmax. Below is the first paragraph of the story:

After gaining approval from the Biden administration, Ukraine reportedly used U.S. High-Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) to hit targets in the Russian city of Belgorod, 20 miles north of the Russia-Ukraine border in southern Russia.

I dare not predict when, but I know this is not going to end well for America. Joe Biden, a true globalist, is doing all he can to provoke Russia into a full-scale war. Perhaps soon, the bear will respond to his constant provocation.

The war in Ukraine is already a proxy conflict between NATO and Russia. Before I read the news of Biden’s approval for an attack on Russia with U.S. missiles, I was amazed that Russian President Vladimir Putin had not yet attacked NATO interests outside of the current battlefield. Now I realize it must be the Lord’s restraining hand that’s preventing the start of WWIII.

The world is even now on the brink of the opening of the second seal and the release of the “pale horse,” which will bring war and conflict to the earth (Revelation 6:3-4). Perhaps soon, the constant threats from Russia to use nuclear weapons against NATO members will become a reality and lead to the massive death toll indicated in Revelation 6:8.

Economic Devastation

The third rider of the Apocalypse reveals a coming time of economic devastation upon the earth (Revelation 6:5-6). How much longer can it be before we see the dire conditions predicted in these verses? Painful inflation, layoffs, and business closings are already wreaking havoc throughout the U.S., but we have yet to experience the conditions described in Revelation 6.

In America, we see a deliberate attempt to destroy the economy and bring financial ruin to all but the elite. The government is printing massive amounts of money as by some estimates, we are adding one trillion dollars to our debt burden every one hundred days. The open borders have allowed millions to enter our country in just the last few years, which is adding to the nation’s debt level, economic woes, and housing crisis that’s leaving multitudes homeless on our streets.

Despite the financial turmoil that increases by the day, we remain earthbound, and the black horse remains in its stall. We hear it kicking, but we will be with Jesus in Heaven before this rider and horse bring widespread suffering to the world.

Planned Food Shortages

When goods such as food experience record soaring prices, such as will occur during the Tribulation, it signifies a shortage (the scarcity of a product combined with demand always drives up its price). Do we see the globalists provoking this outcome? Absolutely, we do.

The draconian restrictions that they seek to impose on farming in the name of saving the planet will most assuredly result in the deaths of a great many people due to starvation and lead to dire food shortages in the future. The cost of meeting one’s daily need for nourishment will soar to unimaginable heights.

If Not for the Lord

These are just a few examples of where it seems that the Tribulation period should already have begun, but for the Lord’s hand holding back the appearance of the antichrist and the full implementation of his deadly agenda.

How much longer can it be before He takes us up to glory and takes away the restraining work of the Holy Spirit?

I seriously doubt that Putin’s patience accounts for delaying the start of WWIII. It could begin at any moment, but for the Lord’s power holding back the forces of evil and allowing more time for people to come to saving faith in Him.

For several years, I’ve been amazed that the U.S. economy has not completely collapsed into oblivion. I can’t predict when this will occur, but I know it must be soon.

For the past eighteen months, we have read warnings about imminent food shortages. However, for most people in the U.S., this has not yet materialized. Were the experts wrong? Or is it again the Lord somehow foiling the plans of the elite until the time is right?

We would be terribly amiss not to see these things as evidence that the Rapture might happen in the near future. How much longer can the world leaders actively provoke events that strongly resemble the conditions described in Revelation 6:1-8? What they don’t know is that at the same time, they will unleash the fury of the Lion of Judah.

Since we see much evidence of the Lord restraining judgments that cannot happen until after the Rapture, how much longer can it be until He brings us home to glory?

-Jonathan

 

Are We There Yet?

For those of us who have raised children, you might remember the question. There was a commercial, as I recall, that used the question to emphasize one product or the other in a humorous way.

Children in the back seat of the car in the commercial kept asking, “Are we there yet?”

We who transported our young kids on those times – especially on longer trips to Grandmas or other destinations – have heard that question, often in whining tones as time went on. I certainly remember hearing it. And I’m sure my parents heard it on those long trips from Pekin, Illinois, where we lived when I was a child, on the road to Hampton, my grandparent’s home in south Arkansas.

At this late moment of this Church Age I, myself, seem to be whining this question, and I’m hearing it from others on a growing basis.

“Are we there yet?”

It is coming from God’s children – believers in Jesus Christ who, like myself, sometimes grow weary –or vexed – as ol’ Lot might have put it while enduring to the end his time in Sodom.

“Are we there yet?” That is, how long before we reach the end of our Lord’s tolerance for the evil flourishing all around us while we keep looking up,” as my friend the late J.R. Church used to put it at the close of his Prophecy In The News TV program each week.

Each and every day – actually, each and every news cycle – we are inundated with end-times storm warnings. And it seems as if the Words of Warning from the Chief Prophetic Meteorologist of all history is speaking directly to those who, as commanded by Him – are “watching in order to discern where this generation stands on God’s Prophetic Timeline.

Jesus gave the signals to look for as Earth’s inhabitants near the outbreak of history’s most virulent turbulence – that of the Tribulation era. The following is that Storm warning.

“Are we there yet?” Is that great storm of the ages about to invade at this particular time? Let’s listen again to that Heaven-Sent Forecast that we can rely on as 100% accurate because it was issued by God Himself.

“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” (Matt 24:6-13).

Heaven’s Prophetic Forecast, of course, covers a broad scope of history, so many parts of this Olivet Discourse prophecy by Jesus applies to much of history that has already un-scrolled since He issued this Prophetic Weather Bulletin. Let us very briefly dissect this Warning, first in terms of its broad, historical sense.

“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars.”

Hundreds of wars have afflicted humanity since Jesus spoke these words. The greatest wars of all time, World Wars One and Two, have caused the deaths of millions. The Romans waged war on the Jews, the Temple was destroyed, and the Jewish people scattered to all the world.

“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.”

As a matter of fact, it has been ethnic disputes and warfare that have wrought the deaths of millions across the world.

“And there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.”

Earthquakes have continued to rumble throughout history, while the wars have brought famine and disease to countless generations. We have seen in our brief time on the planet as of late, a tremendous increase in these things.

“All these are the beginning of sorrows.”

These great troubles have been accumulative. They have indeed been like birth pangs, growing more intensive and coming in greater frequency.

“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.”

The history of hatred of the Jews is in full view of the eyes of the world. The Nazi holocaust is the number one sign of history that highlights the satanic hatred God’s chosen people have endured. Their rejection of the very name of Jesus Christ and their being blamed for His crucifixion has been the basis Satan has used to incite the world against all of Israel.

So history has proven the absolute accuracy of Jesus’ Prophetic Forecast. But it is the question “Are we there yet?” I wish to address with regard to whether this generation has reached the moment when the Lord will say enough is enough and call believers to Himself so the greatest Storm of all history can rage upon a world ripe for Judgment.

We must place the same template over what is going on at this very moment to try to help answer, “Are we there yet?”

“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars.”

The most profound threat of nuclear conflict of history might now be in the offing. Even the Cold War could not match the danger. Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) was effective, as the world’s two greatest superpowers were able to control escalation into man’s final war.

Not so now. There seems no control, as the power centers with the nuclear weapons are scattered around the globe, and many decision-makers among the most diabolical of their leaders seem bent on having their way, regardless of possible ramifications of all-out nuclear war.

The primary cause of the conflict again centers around ethnic differences and demands. Greatest among these conflicts is the hatred of the Jews and of Israel by their neighboring countries.

And that hatred has expanded to include many within nations of Europe and even the United States of America.

The seas and waves of peoples are roaring in that the protests against the Jews and Israel are front and center in even what is generally considered the civilized West.

At this very moment, even some among the Jewish people themselves are shouting along with the Israel-haters, “Stop the genocide,” and “From the river to the sea.”

As Jesus forewarned, these Jews on the politically ideological left are “betraying one another.” The genocidal rage is building swiftly toward another holocaust. Jesus also had a forecast about this evil that will mark the very end of the age.

“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matt 24:21).

And hatred is building, too, against the Church – all believers in Jesus Christ and His Message of being the One and Only Way to Salvation (John 14:6).

The comment by a legal defense fund for Christian persecution states the following:

Biden is empowering the radical Left to wage a surreptitious war on our Christian faith – prayer, churches, the Bible, and even Christian kids sharing their faith in school are all under attack. The Biden FBI has even placed spies in churches and targeted “radical traditionalist” Christians for investigation…

We’re in court right now defending a teacher who was banned from praying anywhere a student might see her.

I’ve never seen anything like it…  [Source: Jordan Sekulow, ACLJ Executive Director]

While unbelieving Jews must undergo the Tribulation Storm to bring forth a Remnant that will bring about God’s great Promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, believers of this Church Age (Age of Grace) will be taken (paralambano) to be with Jesus in the Clouds of Glory – In the Rapture. All indicators are that we have come to be right smack in the breaking turbulence of Jesus’ forecast of the end-times Storm.

And this is why I believe we can answer with a resounding “YES!” the question: “Are we there yet?”

               –Terry

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The Prophetic Significance of the Failure to Approve the Pandemic Treaty

I expected to see a much different headline this week. With all the hype and buildup of the past couple of years, I anticipated reading that the member nations of the World Health Organization (WHO) had successfully approved the Pandemic Treaty at their formal meeting beginning on May 27, 2024.

Instead, this headline appeared on the AP (Associated Press) Website on May 24, “Efforts to draft a pandemic treaty falter as countries disagree on how to respond to next emergency.” The article addressed the lack of agreement on the matter with the following inconsistent message:

The draft treaty had attempted to address the gap that occurred between COVID-19 vaccines in rich and poorer countries, which WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said amounted to “a catastrophic moral failure.”

Addressing a sullen final day of negotiations, the WHO chief insisted, “This is not a failure.”

“We will try everything — believing that anything is possible — and make this happen because the world still needs a pandemic treaty,” he said. “Because many of the challenges that caused a serious impact during COVID-19 still exist.”

Of course, they will keep trying to implement this treaty as it opens the door for the global governance they earnestly covet.

What Is this Pandemic Treaty?

The push for the Pandemic Treaty began on March 30, 2021, when, according to the WHO website, 25 world leaders announced an “urgent call for an International Pandemic Treaty,” stating that such a treaty is needed to orchestrate a single globalized response to pandemics.

At the 2022 WHO gathering, the Biden administration submitted amendments to the proposed treaty that, according to investigative reporter Leo Hohhman, would “cede additional sovereignty, control and legal authority over to the World Health Organization.” In other words, in the event of a public health crisis, the director of the WHO would not only determine its existence but how each member nation should respond to it.

The approval of the treaty would effectively end national sovereignty as we know it, which, according to Journalist and author Bill Wilson, President Biden was all too eager to see happen. Wilson wrote the following on his Daily Jot website:

Trouble is, Joe Biden already has submitted the US to the WHO sovereignty via his Global Health Strategy, which states, “The United States, together with its international partners, will enhance the prevention, detection, preparation for and response to infectious disease threats, whether naturally occurring, accidental, or deliberate in origin, across sectors at home and abroad in order for our collective efforts to be more efficient, effective, sustainable, and equitable.” In his detailed Global Health Strategy, he is implementing the WHO treaty even without global agreement. The WHO treaty, although rejected for now, already is built into US policy.

Proverbs 29:2 says, “When the wicked bear rule, the people mourn.” This is an executive-level decision and does not have Congressional approval, but it’s what Biden is doing, and we are impacted.

What’s the Prophetic Significance?

Is there any prophetic significance to the failure to approve the treaty? Yes.

First, we know from 2 Thessalonians 2:3-8 that the “man of lawlessness” cannot make his presence known on the world stage until the Lord removes His restraining force, which takes place through the presence of the Holy Spirit in true believers.

The failure of the nations to agree on the terms of the health treaty is just another indicator of the Lord’s current restraint on world events. Even though we see wickedness and lawlessness expanding exponentially around us, He’s currently restricting the full formation of the coming world order over which the antichrist will assume control.

Second, it points to the Rapture as the catalyst that the globalists will need to implement their plan for world domination. For now, they are trying to create the need for global dominance through the false agenda of the climate emergency and their attempts to ignite a third world war by provoking Russia through its support of Ukraine. They keep crossing the red lines that Putin, the Russian President, sets, making a global conflict all the more likely.

The Rapture and the destruction of the Day of the Lord, which will soon follow, will give those at the UN and World Economic Forum the impetus to move forward with their plans. In the midst of the chaos, the antichrist will emerge and unite the world under his initiatives to restore order to a shaken world. He is the rider on the white horse (Revelation 6:1-2) who will “conquer” the nations after we are safely with the Lord in glory.

The Significance of Suddenly

What I see happening in the world tells me that the world will soon experience the fulfillment of 1 Thessalonians 5:3:

“While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.’”

When the full force of what the Bible says will happen in the last days rocks the earth, it will happen suddenly. The stage is set for the coming world order, but the Rapture and God’s judgments that follow it will lead to its full implementation.

The day we meet Jesus in the air will begin just as any other ordinary day for us. It might already be nighttime, or the sun might be shining bright when we will meet Jesus in the air and suddenly find ourselves in glory in the presence of our wonderful Savior (1 Thessalonians 4:16-5:3; Colossians 3:4).

Someday, hopefully soon, everything will suddenly change for us as well as for those seeking to enslave the world through their murderous agenda. We will be in Heaven worshipping our Savior and celebrating with Him. The globalists will have the chaos they crave to fully realize their murderous control over all the nations.

-Jonathan