Where Is Bible Prophesy Found?

Many, when asked about Biblical Prophesy, turn immediately to Revelation (I have had one or two turn immediately to sources outside the Bible). Or maybe to Matthew or Luke.  But, as I have said before, Prophesy is found in nearly every book of the Bible, and to really understand prophesy, you need to have an understanding that encompass all of the Biblical Prophesies, and almost all of them start in the Old Testament.

As a matter of fact, there may be more prophesy in the Book of Daniel than in any other book besides Revelation.  While not as pivotal as Joel, Daniel briefly outlines the kingdoms to come on Earth from his
own day until the Second Coming of Christ. In these prophesies, we are in the ten toes of the kingdom
of iron mixed with clay. 

Joel says an army, the size and fearsomeness never before seen, nor will there every be seen again, attacks Israel out of the North.  While he is talking, in the short term, of the Assyrian Army, led by General Sennacherib. But the reality fits the prophesy, only partially.  He describes an army of, (to my mind), helicopters, making a noise in the mountain tops.  This prophesy is expanded on, in Ezekiel 38, to show that in some future day, Russia and Persia will come from the North with an Army of amazing size, attempting to plunder the wealth of Israel. 

This is the War of Gog and Magog that many in prophesy circles have been talking about for the past several decades.  But if you look closely, there are parts of this prophesy that are not yet ready to come to pass.  Israel is not yet a nation of unwalled cities, with wealth and security to live in peace among its neighbors.  There has to be something that happens before. 

Another war is found In prophecy, in Psalms 83.  Many didn't realize, until recently, that Psalm 83 is a prophesy of a war to come.  It talks of the destruction of Damascus.  A destruction that will leave the city uninhabitable.  Well there have been wars there, but none have left the city uninhabitable.  This is still in the future.  Right now, the governments in that region are playing with chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons that may finish this prophesy, and indeed leave that city in ruin.

I do have to point out though, that at least one prophesy author I read regularly says 'no way will
the Psalm 83 war come within the next several months.'  I will have to look closer at why he says that.

You must have a foundational knowledge of the Bible, in order to truly understand the Revelation.

Most people, and even many Christians, have no foundation knowledge with which to understand it.  Also, those who capitalize on ignorance of prophesy seek to obfuscate the meaning of much of Revelation. Nothing has really changed, as 2nd Peter and Jude both warn about those who will sneak into the Church (the wording used is like "through the side door") and Jesus said there would be false Gospels preached, until the workers (angels) come at the harvest and throw the false teachers into the fire.

As a very basic introduction to Revelation, the first three chapters can be thought of as history (actually we are in the last half of chapter 3) and from chapter 4 vs 1 onward, can be thought of as future.

Often, however, I will refer to chapters 6 and 7, when discussing current events.  This is because I believe God will allow small versions of those things to happen in our day, as a warning of what is to come. These are precursors, or foreshadowing of future events.

The events I am referring to are the generically known as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, although there are actually seven seals to be opened, and the "Four Horsemen are just the beginning.  They begin (he went out to conquer) with a conventional War.  Then to a general lack of peace anywhere on the Earth, with people killing one another (this or its precursor may be Islam, with a symbol of a great sword), and moves on to famine.  In any situation where there is a general breakdown of civilization, there will be damage to agriculture, as has been happening anywhere Islam (and sometimes communism) exerts itself.

I should note here that while there is a lot of disagreement over the exact interpretation of "do not harm the oil and the wine," the only disagreement over the interpretation of the rest of verse 6 is due to ignorance of what the verse actually says. "A quart of wheat" is enough food to feed one laborer for one day.  And a "denarious" is one day's pay for a laborer.

Today, the world sees local famines here and there, almost always caused by political strife, but in the not too distant future, there will be general shortages of food around the world.  Then we will see something like what this verse describes.

I often have people ask me if some disaster or another is the beginning of the end, and I tell them, "No. When you begin to see disasters that kill over a million people at a time, then you might be seeing the end."  In reality, God is not required to give us any warnings, but in the past He sent warnings before destroying one nation or another, so I would expect He will follow the same pattern today.

The Forth Horseman (pale horse, is literally the color of dead flesh) is death, or more accurately, he has with him, Death and Hades (literally, the grave).  He is to kill one forth of the earth's population.  Currently that means he will kill well over a billion people. And if our understanding of the Great Tribulation timeline is correct, this will happen across a period of a few months.

And while these things are beginning, a dictatorial government and a religion rise up to enslave all of mankind.  The religious leader and the head of the government will do great things that will deceive almost everyone into believing they are worthy of worship.  All of mankind are told they must worship this government and this religion, or they will not be able to buy or sell.  Much like our socialist insecurity system today, but with the addition that they will actively hunt down and kill anyone defying them.

And then things get bad. 

Prepping, if done right, is Politically Incorrect

While it can be shown, logically, that being a prepper is a responsible and mature response to the realities of this world, "sadly, it appears that being a 'prepper' is now enough to get special attention from the authorities."  That quote and the following excerpt are from an article on World View Weekend.
(about halfway through the article)
Why are preppers hated so much

On Thursday last week, no less than 150 armed and militarized police and FBI agents in he guise of tactical assault teams descended on Porter's house as if they were confronting a terrorist cell. The raid also included helicopters, SWAT crews, armored vehicles and even excavation equipment.

Porter was absent at the time of the raid but turned himself in the next morning at Hagerstown Barrack.

After the raid, the claim that Porter was stockpiling "10-15 machine gun-style firearms" was demolished when police uncovered "four shotguns, a .30-30-caliber rifle and two .22-caliber rifles," hardly a deadly mass arsenal.

Would 150 officers have shown up at his home if he had not been identified as a "prepper"?

Of course not.

So why are preppers hated so much?

It is because they are a direct challenge to the status quo. Just by prepping, preppers are proclaiming that they do not have faith in the system. But most people have complete and total faith in the system, and many of them do not like to have that faith questioned.

All of this, I would say leads to the conclusion that OPSEC is the order of the day. Be careful who you talk to about preparations and under no circumstances allow yourself, personally, to be exposed on TV or radio.

Possible Scenarios - or - What Could Possibly Go Wrong...

There are, basically, three primary things that could go wrong in the US.  These are the things we prepare for. Loss of transportation, loss of electric power, and civil unrest. (If you can think of anything else, let me know)

Generally, these things are not root causes.  An Epidemic or Midwest Earthquake could shut down transportation.   A Solar storm, major hurricane or nuclear detonation could shut down the electric power grid.  Some portions of the government are currently trying to precipitate civil unrest, to be used as a pretext to their tyrannical desires. They could succeed, or ethnic insanity could simply get out of hand, or some disaster could cause civil unrest.

The end result is pretty much the same.  Those who are prepared will have it much better than those who are not.

God told the Church that He would spare them from the last hour of tribulation (and in truth, the idea that someone can prepare for that is laughable). But history shows that God will not spare His people from the little tribulations that occur along the way. In the past, there have been economic disasters, weather disasters, volcanoes, earthquakes, wars, famines, pandemics, and pestilences. In many cases, Christians (and Jews) did better than others, and in a few cases they fared worse. In Proverbs 6, the Bible tells us to "consider the ant" and in Luke 25:32-38 Jesus told His disciples that after He departed from them, to keep a sword and a purse (a weapon and money).
 
Food for thought (or "more ramblings") about
Considerations that we may have previously overlooked

Much of what we are stockpiling has an expiration date, and much of what is written about prepping has to do with getting started, or the end game.  What if we don't see the end game for several years?

We (especially those of us, like me, past the halfway point in life) need to be thinking beyond ourselves.  What if our preps outlive us?  What if the SHTF and our friends, neighbors, relatives, or kids need our help?  Charity cannot be forgotten.  Sometimes, in a crisis, you might have to help a stranger, even if it is passing food or water across a fence or other defensive fortification, so that they have a chance to live too. (You might want to remember this expression, Ask and you shall receive, but you loot, and we shoot.)

I highly recommend anyone stockpiling to do their storage planning and inventories early, and to include expiration planning on everything they store.  The main difference between a prepper and a hoarder, is their inventory control.  The prepper knows what he has, why, and how long it is good for.

Some guy named Selco writes for a SHTF School.  One of the things he says about Americans is we place too much emphasis on beans, not enough on band-aids.  Of course, his being a medic by trade may have something to do with it, or the fact that he saw people die from run of the mill infections, during the Siege of Sarajevo (1992).

Unless you can cover yourself for extended periods of unemployment, in conjunction with unemployment of friends or family, you need to keep a reverse strategy in mind for any preps you put money into.  This means knowing where you can sell silver or ammo, and knowing which food you can eat first, to save on groceries while unemployed.

If someone is talking about the "end of fiat currency" and that after the meltdown we will "go back to using gold and silver" to trade with, forget listening to them.  Any and all currency is only worth something if someone is willing to take it in exchange for food, shelter or clothing. That includes gold or silver.  Selco (see above) said that during the Siege, the only thing gold would get you is killed.  What did they use for currency?  Canned food, especially corned beef, and small bottles of liquor were common. Cigarettes, and various niceties that you take for granted every day.

In the years after a collapse, if things ever return to "normal," there will again be currency.  If you make it to then.  But in the years of the collapse, materials and skills needed to live day to day will be the currency.

Eccuminisism is Oppression in a Pretty Dress

Once upon a time, the word "eccuminical" might have had a good meaning, but no more.  Today, the word is code for making all religions equal and equally worthless. This is the job of the World Council on Churches. This is the same line of thought that preaches and practices moral relativity and is part of the New World Order. 

Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) is launching an attack on the U.S. Constitution.

The current issue of ISNA’s bi-monthly magazine Islamic Horizons carries an article about ISNA’s demand for gun control.
Nor is the Second Amendment the only constitutional freedom under assault by ISNA and its leaders.
As reported by Neil Munro at the Daily Caller back in October, a group of representatives from many of the Obama administration’s favored Islamist groups met with Tom Perez, the head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
During the meeting, the Muslim leaders, including those from ISNA, called for a redefinition of anti-discrimination laws to punish criticism of Islam
Magid asked Perez to change the federal government’s rules governing terror  investigations,  for more private meetings with top justice department officials, for the reeducation of FBI agents, and for more people to oppose criticism of Islam, which he labeled “religious bigotry and hate.”
In a related court order by the federal judge hearing the case later unsealed, Judge Jorge Solis ruled that there was “ample evidence” that ISNA and other U.S. Islamic groups had acted in support of Hamas.

As noted by The Truth About Guns in February 2011, ISNA was one of the original founding groups of the “Faiths United to Oppose Gun Violence” when it was rolled out by the Brady Center.

The Beginnings of Prepping

In the "Preppers" series on NatGeo, most of the preppers there are prepping for one scenario or another.   It is always good to have some scenario in mind, to give yourself a foundation for brainstorming.  (Hmmm, if "this" happens, then I will need what?)

I have seen exactly one who said he was prepping for anything unexpected that might come along.  The bottom line, though, is that most of them are prepping for some disaster that probably will  never come, and the primary focus of the NatGeo video seems to be to make them look like a nut job. Never mind that prepping for any scenario will make surviving any other scenario more likely.

Myself, I use an extended electrical power outage as my baseline.  In my area, gas pumps would not work, the cash registers and other stuff at all the supermarkets would not work, city gas would go out in a few days, and it would not be too long before people would be roaming the streets looking for something to take home. 

Right now, nothing is looking like it will happen in the next few months, but remember, prepping is something you do when there is no threat. (And that automatically makes you some kind of nut job.)

At an influenza related blog
http://afludiary.blogspot.com/search?q=Prepare
I found some ethical advice that mirrors some of why I first started prepping.

 . . .  individuals and families who can afford it should do their best to prepare for any disaster. The paper notes, the more initiative the general public exercises in stockpiling several weeks' worth of food, water, paper goods, batteries medicines, and other needed supplies, the less vulnerable they will be to a break in the supply chain.

It is important for leaders to communicate to the middle class and the wealthy that it is their responsibility to prepare for self-sufficiency in order to free up scarce supplies and allow first responders to direct their attention towards those too poor or vulnerable to prepare themselves.

The Smallest Ideas.  Buy what you use but just buy it ahead of when you need it. Pick something different each month, especially if it is "on sale" and buy a case of it.
(I call this micro prepping)

Buy cotton goods now, for future use.  Cotton, and most cotton goods are at the lowest prices they have been in years.  And they are not likely to go any lower, but will probably see many years of higher prices.

Gold won't be of any use in a real shtf scenario, I remember one guy who lived through a real long term disaster, and he said gold would get you nothing worthwhile, but it would probably get you killed.

When I first began prepping, it was sort of half hazard.  I wrote a bug out plan, I stored some water, and some food.  Some medicine.  I acquired some battery powered radios.  As time went by, I realized I needed to make the plan more well thought out, so I broke my planning system into five areas of thought.

1  writing a system of plans
2  material acquisitions
3  developing a plan for staying informed after disaster 
4  determining what can be used as trading stock during or after a disaster
5  Shopping lists

At this point I started browsing web sites and forums to gather ideas and began to write out all of my plans and procedures and add some friends into the planning and preparing.  So far, the cooperation isn't working too well because most of my friends are either way ahead of me, or way behind. 

The lesson here, though, is that prepping isn't something done in a week or a year, it is a road we either travel on, or we don't.

Coming Famines and Epidemics

In the past, everyone worried about how much oil or other forms of energy (primarily fossil fuels) would be available from the earth.  This is no longer a worry, but there is the question of whether the governments of the earth will allow us to have it.  The technology and known resources exist to sustain us for at least 40 years.  And at a pretty reasonable cost (not like we remember it, but not bad). 

The real problem will be food.

The world population has just hit the 7 billion person mark, up from 6 billion twelve years ago. The world adds 75 million each year.  Back around twelve years ago, someone asked me how many people I thought  the world could support, and I told them about 1 or 2 billion.  They said I was wrong, as the world already had 6 billion.  I just smiled at them and walked away.  I don't think they got it.  Our days were numbered, even then.  At this point, I think maybe 3 billion, but no where near 7 billion. Anyone remember "Soylant Green"?  Now would be a good time to take another look at that movie.  It isn't far off.


Currently there is plenty of food, and only scattered reports of famine along a line from Congo to Indonesia.  This could be deceptive, as there isn't much food in the pipeline and none in any kind of stockpile or warehousing system.   Some of the stuff I have studied says that when the stock levels (most of which is at distribution points or on trucks) drops below a critical point, where people will pay almost any price for it, the price spikes up rapidly.  It isn't a smooth curve, and before it gets critical, there is very little movement in price. (For more information, there is a link in the "link farm section of this blog.)



Another thing about higher population density is that epidemics will spread much more readily through densely populated areas.  This has happened before, with the loss of more than 25% of the world population in less than a century.  And that was without jet airplanes.  Today it could happen in just a couple years.

In the near future I hope to discuss the consequences and complications of high population densities across the planet, which I think will eventually culminate in the third and Fourth Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

The recent strain of influenza made its way through our population at a fairly high rate seems to be dying out. It spread at major epidemic levels that would have had schools closing during the 2009 pandemic. This level of spread normally goes on for a few weeks, until the number of easily infected people begins to be reduced.  Once there are fewer easy hosts, the epidemic dies out quickly.

In addition, there seems to be some evidence that there are more people, than in the past, who just don't react to the shots by building the expected level of immune response.  This is a disturbing trend, meaning that either the current vaccines are flawed, or like antibiotics, the end of the vaccine age is upon us. 

I wrote about the epidemic of 2009, as it spread into the US.  Within days and lasting for a few weeks there was panic and people would beg, borrow and steal to get the vaccine.  Two weeks later, as the news cycle progressed and people weren't dying in the streets, the panic turned almost instantly into complacency, and they couldn't even give the vaccine away.  The epidemic went on for a few more weeks after that, and even returned the following school year, but without the panic.  Of course, part of the problem was that media whipped the people into a panic.  Another part of the problem was that politicians were using the anxiety for their own political purposes.  (Don't believe in each other, or in God.   Believe in big government.)

One of the things that I said during that pandemic still is true:
There will be other pandemics, and some of the things that could be learned from this one could be useful in the next one.

First, you need to prepare for a pandemic before it gets much news attention. Maybe before the first case. Do the simple stuff, have some extra soap and other supplies on hand. Get in the habit of washing your hands every time you come into your house from any public place. 

Good links for background.
Current info for this article found here:
http://afludiary.blogspot.com/search/label/Influenza

Then my older blog entries.
The May 4 2009 and October 25 2009 articles are especially good.
http://crypto-corinthian.blogspot.com/search/label/Epidemic

The May 4th artical links to this through the words "pandemic panic"
http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/2009/05/pandemic-come-as-you-are-dumb-as-you-are.html

How does Bible Prophesy impact our future?

I began an experiment some months ago.  There are some things I cannot write in an open blog such as this, and I thought I would begin a private newsletter to see if some of my more trusted friends (about half dozen of them) would want to discuss them.   Well, it was to begin as e-mail, and then move to something more private, but it didn't work out, so a majority of what was in those letters will appear here, as I begin to bring this blog back on line for yet another year.

The letter was to discuss a mix of Biblical Prophesy and stuff I have learned from Prepper forums, and be in the form of a newsletter.  The only glitch is I would need feed back to keep it going, and I got none. 

So, my first remark about prophesy is this:

I must emphasize that the events of the future that I discuss in here have no date attached to them.  Anyone who says they know when these things will happen is working for Satan, and not for God.  I like to say they will "most likely" happen between two and twenty years from now, but they could happen before the next issue of this newsletter reaches you.  When God addressed Israel, He always told them when things would happen, but for the Church, He told us to "watch always."  He said we would see the signs, like "the olive tree puts forth its leaves in early summer," but would not know the day or the hour (not even the angles know).

For those steeped in Biblical knowledge, most of what I say in this section will not be much news at all.  Still, there might be a tidbit here and there. 

Almost every book in the Bible contains some elements of prophesy.  In distant past times, much of Scripture was looked at piecemeal, and Israel was not a physical country, so it is no wonder almost no one understood the Biblical prophesies about the end times.  There were a few, however.  In the early 19th century a coherent theology of pretrib understanding was published.  It was, of course, ridiculed.  Even today some people look at Israel and pretend it does not exist.

Most people, when asked about Bible Prophesy, turn to the book of the Revelation.  Well, that is where Bible Prophesy ends.  As I pointed out in the previous newsletter, Bible Prophesy is found in just about every book in the Bible.  For the centerpiece, though, of Bible Prophesy should look at the major and minor prophets in the Old Testament. And which of these wrote first?  Well, that would be Joel. Why the books here are not arranged in chronological order is beyond me (and more importantly, beyond the scope of this letter), but they are not.  By looking at the historical events mentioned in the various books, they can be placed in order, and Joel is earlier than the others.  Now that we have that understood there is one more little piece to understand, and it is found in Genesis chapter one. 

Recall, there, that the phrase "and the evening and the morning were the (number) day.  This is one major key, that is, the day in the Hebrew Bible always begins at dusk, or in darkness. Now the statement Joel makes, (and several prophets after him) makes sense. 


Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming; it is near,  a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations. - Joel 2:1,2

His prophesy was true on two levels.  First, on the local level, they had just been invaded by a locust army and he prophesied they would be invaded by armies out of the North, from Syria and Assyria. His prophesy deals with the invading army, and how it will resemble the locust invasion.   Had he not been correct about this, you would have never heard about him, as they killed any prophet whose prophesies didn't come true.

Then, on another level (which we will hear about in other books) this prophesy is expanded into an invasion in the future.  Our future, not too distant.  No, I don't know how many years, but we understand it will be a modern army of enormous size.  

While most of those found in churches in the US think things will go along much as they always have, and many think things will get better, I can tell you that this is not so.  The US will deteriorate, until it is no more than a third world kind of nation and the Rapture will come.  We don't know which will happen first, nor do we know how many years there might be between the two events.  We only know they will both happen.