The End Of The World As We Know It.

Are you aware of the real meaning of current events? The prophecies of events that were to precede the end of civilization as we know it were made long ago in the Bible. These events are coming together right now.

Chapter 21 of the Gospel of Luke warns that the End of the World must occur in the same generation as the Jews' return to and control of Jerusalem after a long absence. This return happened in 1967 following the re-establishment of Israel in 1948 after 1,836 years of exile. Since then, a multitude of other related prophecies have fallen into place.

This means that the world as we know it cannot go on that much longer. Luke 21 foretells an increase in earthquakes and "wars and rumors of wars" for the Last Days, a prophecy that speaks for itself. The devastating tsunami of December 26, 2004, was caused by an underwater earthquake and came almost exactly a year after another devastating quake levelled the ancient city of Bam, in Iran. Within a year of the tsunami, a devastating earthquake occurred in northern Pakistan on October 8, 2005. While the war in the summer of 2006 between Israel and Hizbullah was going on, there was yet another tsunami in Indonesia. The almost-continuous warnings of terrorist attacks could be considered as 'rumors of wars'.

We are also warned about false teachings and that some in this time will falsely claim to be Christ as did Jim Jones, Mehmet Ali Agca, David Koresh and, the kidnapper of Elizabeth Smart. Many people misunderstand the Bible prophecies because they think only of the War of Armageddon. A cataclysmic world war will happen, but the next step in fulfillment of the prophecies is a temporary time of peace and prosperity in a world of unity and must happen first, before the War of Armageddon. A resurgence of interest in the apocalyptic prophecies often happens when a war or terrorist attack happens but, this is somewhat misleading.

The world is coming together economically in the process known as 'globalization'. The 90s was the decade of the internet, which in effect is a global web promoting a one-world system. The 00 decade so far is the decade of a global battle against terrorism. The only real way to shut down terrorism is to create the means to keep track of anyone anywhere in the world. Which would, of course, put the system in place for the one-world system necessary to fulfill the biblical prophecies.

The unified world must some day fall under the influence of the dynamic political leader of the Last days known in the Bible as the Antichrist. This man will be from a unified western Europe. The reason for this is that the Book of Daniel (written about 700 B.C.) foretold that the Antichrist will come from the people who kill the Messiah (Jesus) and destroy the Sanctuary (The Jews' Temple). This turned out to be the Romans. The core of the European Union is the same area as the old Roman Empire.

The European Union has greatly expanded in size in 2004 and is now probably the most important economic and political entity in the world. When the Europeans introduced a common currency, the euro, it was worth only about 80 cents U.S. but is now worth about $1.50 U.S.

Aside from the one-world system, the basic structure of this future unified world already exists in the form of the United Nations. The world will move toward global unity so that the Antichrist can exercise full control. Although it sounds positive, a unified world of global cooperation is actually a deceptive stage for the Antichrist.

Many times in our television age the world has been changed by one dynamic personality. In a globalizing world, there is nothing unusual about a great leader arising, able to influence the whole world. Look at what global figures Princess Diana and Pope John Paul II became. This would have been impossible even a few decades ago.

The Antichrist will not be obviously evil, not at first. He will seem to have all the answers. Picture the Antichrist as a personality like John F. Kennedy multiplied by about a thousand. But the Antichrist is actually the Son of Satan just as Jesus is the Son of God. After the world puts it's faith in him, everything will collapse into cataclysmic wars and other tribulations.

THE WAR

The world will live in peace and prosperity for a time until it is shattered by an invasion of the Holy Land which will start the final war of the world. The Book of Ezekiel, chapter 38, forecasts this cataclysmic war. After the restoration of Israel and the reestablishment of control over Jerusalem, Israel is to be attacked by an enemy to the "uttermost north". This attack must come after the world falls under the influence of the Antichrist and will start the great war. The only nation that fits this description is Russia and Moscow is due north of Israel.

Remember also that Iraq was an ally of Russia just as Israel is an ally of America. Russia, with a long tradition of anti-Semitism, will be able to justify it's attack on Israel since if America can invade one of it's allies, it can attack one of America's allies. Since the end of the Cold War, Russians have chafed under condescending treatment, especially by Americans, and intend for Russia to regain it's place of great influence in the world.

The Bible is clear that the world's final war will begin in the Middle East. Today it is the world's center of conflict, trouble and, terrorism. The world, beginning with the United States, has shown how willing it is to plunge into conflict in the Middle East. Oil, along with religion, has made the Middle East into possibly the most important region on earth. It now appears that the days of cheap oil are finished and this only makes the Middle East more important to the world.

The old biblical prophecies of the great war at the End of the World beginning in this region can now be seen to make perfect sense. Ezekiel 38:5 prophecies that this northern invader will be allied with Persia (Iran), Libya and, Ethiopia. The U.S. has long regarded these nations as a source of trouble. Libya and Ethiopia were allies of the Soviet Union. The King James Version of the Bible gives the modern names of these nations, other versions may give the ancient names. The president of Iran that was elected in 2005, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former mayor of Teheran, has put a lot of effort into reviving the 1979 revolution. He has called publically for the destruction of Israel.

The great war must happen, but the progress toward a unified world must happen first. The First Book of Thessalonians 5:3 states that a false sense of peace and safety will precede great destruction. Remember what an unexpected jolt the 9/11 attack was? Just when the world seems to be at peace, another war erupts. The final war of humanity will follow a similar pattern.

I believe that the 9/11 attack as well as the other terror attacks since then may have been allowed by God to jolt those people who believe that "This can't happen here" into thinking differently. The Twentieth Century, despite it's great technical and medical progress, was the century of brutal dictatorships and grotesque wars. In a globalizing world, there is nothing unusual about a worlwide dictatorship followed by a devastating war.

There have already been two world wars, three if you count the Napoleonic Wars as a world war. There is nothing unusual about another world war, which would fulfill the biblical prophecies, because the world is just about as troubled as ever.

Pay no attention to writings of psychics like Nostradamus. The prophecies of Nostradamus are so vague as to be meaningless and most of his specific prophecies were in the Bible 1,500 years before Nostradamus' time. Also, pay no attention to anyone saying that the world will end on a certain day. The Bible states that no one knows the exact day, although we can know the general time. Remember that a lot of falseness and deception must be expected.

The Second Book of Timothy, chapter 3, foretells extensive sin, lawlessness, greed and, ignorance toward God in the Last Days. Don't these things abound right now? Our society has lost it's foundation due to a straying from God's Word. The world without God cannot possibly avoid trouble.

THE BOOK OF REVELATION

The Book of Revelation contains some seemingly mystifying prophecies. Chapter 16 foretells men in the Last Days being burned by the heat of the sun. Right now the ozone layer is weakened and would go even faster following a nuclear exchange, exposing the planet to deadly ultraviolet rays. The priest and evangelist scandals also fit into the prophecies; along with a lot of false, unbiblical religion. The Second Book of Thessalonians 2:3 predicts a "falling away" by many Christians, including many churches, near the world's end.

The Book of Revelation 13:17 foretells that everyone will have a "mark" for economic purposes in the Last Days. Just about everything you do can be tracked now. There are microchips that can be inserted unobtrusively under the skin of an animal or person and read to give information about the animal or person.

In Europe and Japan, there are bar code readers on cell phones that retrieve a text message with a phone call to give detailed information about a product when a bar code is read. The world is ever more dependent on cell phones but when combined with GPS technology, the location of cell phone calls can be pinpointed relatively easily. All of this would be ideal for helping to track terrorists but would also be there for use by the Antichrist enforcing order in the coming one-world system.

The Book of Revelation also makes it clear that diseases will be a part of the Tribulation. Many people believe that we can already see the Tribulation taking place in southern Africa, which is ravaged by AIDS. Although this does not mean that destruction by AIDS is the fate of the entire planet.

Chapter 18 of the Book of Revelation should be of great interest to us. I am certain that this chapter refers to the United States, and by extension, the rest of North America. It concerns a "Mystery Babylon" in the Last Days of the world just before the Second Coming of Christ. It could not be referring to the original Babylon because it had long since passed from the scene by the time the Book of Revelation was written toward the end of the First Century A.D. by St. John.

That is why it refers to "Mystery" Babylon. It is a nation in the Last Days that spiritually resembles Babylon. The original Babylon was a nation of great wealth and power but was also idolatrous and very sinful. Down through history, Babylon has evoked images of idolatry and decadence.

The chapter foretells that this "Mystery Babylon" will be utterly destroyed by fire in one hour. It is impossible for a nation to be destroyed by conventional fire in one hour. But what if St. John is referring to nuclear explosions? When God gave him a vision of all of this happening, there was no word in the vocabulary for nuclear explosion. It also foretells that people at sea in ships will be horrified by the smoke from the burning of Mystery Babylon. Could this be referring to the sight of mushroom clouds from the nuclear explosions?

This also shows conclusively that this cannot be referring to the original Babylon because it was in the desert, far away from the sea. The U.S. has a very long coastline and is the destination of tens of thousands of cargo ships from across the world. It also reads that after the sudden destruction of Mystery Babylon, merchants across the world will mourn because no one buys their goods any more. This fits with the fact that today the U.S. is by far the world's great importer of goods from other countries, as well as services due to the outsourcing used by so many American companies. Most countries try to avoid doing a lot of importing from other countries but the U.S. is the one great exception, with a voracious appetite for foreign goods, not to mention oil. Ironically, the original Babylon was in what is now Iraq, with which the U.S. has so entwined it's history.

These are monumental days we are living in. God's prophecies will be fulfilled. The Gospels promise that Jesus, the Son of God, will remove his people from the Tribulation. You still have time to accept Christ as your Savior. Everyone has sinned but there is still a chance to repent.

The Word of God must not be ignored. God wants you to be a part of His Kingdom. Simply knowing about Jesus is not enough. You must devote your life to Him. Right now, ask God to guide you and accept Jesus as your Savior. Begin reading the Bible, it is better to read the New Testament first. The prophecies in the Bible have an amazing record of fulfillment.

The agonizing death of Jesus, a sacrifice for sin, and the events of his life are foretold all over the Old Testament. No other religion can prove itself like this. The world could have been a real paradise if the people had followed God. Think of all the people you know. What will become of them during this holocaust? Please inform them about this.

SPECULATION ABOUT THE MARK OF THE BEAST

I have been thinking about the "mark" that the Antichrist is supposed to put on people in the last days of the world according to biblical prophecies. All across the world, this has become the stuff of folklore that people will have a mark on them in order to buy and sell things. Can anyone seriously believe that hundreds of millions of people all over the world are going to line up to have such a mark put on them. I have become certain that this is not going to happen.

In discussing the Book of Revelation and similar prophecies, we have to remember that God gave a vision of future events to a person of ancient times, who described what they saw as best as they could. St. John, author of the Book of Revelation had not the slightest concept of modern technology.

Let's consider Revelation chapter 9, verses 3-9. St. John described "locusts" having a terrible sting. He also describes them as "scorpions" and as the locusts appearing like horses prepared for battle and as having crowns. To make it even more strange, these creatures are described as having hair like women and faces like men and their wings make a sound like many horses and chariots.

But the mystery ends if we consider that this is a perfect description of a military helicopter of today dispensing some kind of nerve gas or chemical weapon. Such a helicopter resembles both a locust and a scorpion. A helicopter makes a sound like many horses running. It's rotors look somewhat like a woman's long hair. The face of the pilot can be seen through the window. The "crown" is simply the rotor housing of the helicopter.

Now, let's go to verses 17-19. These verses describe what St. John sees as "horses with heads like lions" accompanying a great army of 200 million soldiers from the east in the final days of the world. From out of the "mouths" of these horses come fire, smoke and, brimstone which causes great destruction.

Consider a battle tank. When seen from the side, it's turret resembles the head of a male lion with a mane. Brimstone is the old word for sulfur (sulphur) and is one of the ingredients of gunpowder, which propels shells and bullets from guns. If the "mouth" is the cannon of the tank, this explains why fire, smoke and, destruction comes from it.

Now, considering St. John's obvious descriptions of tanks and helicopters, why should we not think that this legendary "mark" that people will have is not actually a mark at all but some other modern technology that he could not begin to comprehend? John writes that people will have such a mark on their right hands or their foreheads.

What about cell phones (mobiles)? They comes in two basic forms, handheld and headset. If there is one technology that is really taking over the world, it is not computers or cars but these phones, there is more and more that they can do virtually every year. Many countries that never had good land line networks are skipping that stage altogether and many in the west are giving up land line phones and only using cell phones.

St. John saw visions of people using hand-held phones to conduct business and described it as a "mark". He could imagine a cell phone even less than a tank or helicopter. In many countries today, such phones can scan a bar code and download information about the product or buy from a vending machine and have it put on the phone bill.

So what about the number that goes with the mark, 666? It says that this number is the "number of a man" For most of human history, people were assigned names rather than numbers. But today, virtually everyone in the world does have a number, a phone number.

Most country codes for international calling and area codes, such as those in North America, are of three digits just like 666. What is the mystery? This is simply a prefix or part of a phone number. Through cell phone (mobile) records, all that a person has dome can be kept track of. A cell phone can be pinged to determine a person's location by GPS coordinates. It will be said " What are those silly people talking about, no one is putting any "mark" on anyone, how can this be the Antichrist?"

MIRACLES IN THE LAST DAYS

One of the reasons that the Antichrist will be successful in deceiving the world in the Last Days is the idea that all miracles come from God. This is not true at all. Satan is a powerful spiritual being that has always been able to work miracles. The Bible tells us that occult and psychic phenomenon has it's source in Satan.

The work of Satan is hindered by the presence of the Holy Spirit in the believers. When those believers are removed from earth to make way for the Tribulation, Satan's power will have full reign on earth for a period of seven years until Jesus returns. Satan was once a high-ranking angel of God who became proud of himself and decided to exalt himself to be at least equal with God. Some of the other angels followed him and are now known as demons. The purpose of human history, capped by the tribulation period, is to show that it is only God's ways that work, not Satan's or man without God.

During the Tribulation, with God's Holy Spirit temporarily removed from the world, the Antichrist will amaze the world with his miracles and people will think that he must be from God. He will make fire come down to earth from the sky and will make a statue of himself come to life and praise him. The deceived world will be astounded.