Blog note. Jesus indicated that ‘fearful sights’ (various natural disasters) would occur leading up to the time known as the Tribulation and Great Tribulation (a combined seven year period of great destruction on earth). Although these types of things have occurred in the past for centuries and thousands of years, they could be identified as the ‘season of the times’ due to the ferociousness of these events. They would be occurring in greater intensity, severity, frequency, size, duration, scope … just like the pains that a woman experiences in labor the farther along she is in the labor process. We are in the ‘season of the times’ that comes just before the seven (7) year Tribulation/Great Tribulation period
… And great earthquakes shall be in diverse places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. (Luke 21:11).
… And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; (Luke 21:25)
… Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken; (Luke 21:26)
… This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. (2 Timothy 3:1)
Jesus is giving a series of prophecies about what to look for as the age of grace comes to a close. These verses are several of many such prophecies from throughout the Bible. 2017 was the worst year in recorded history for the intensity, frequency, severity, duration and occurrence of a large number of severe natural disasters worldwide. Earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, torrential flooding, unprecedented wildfires in unusual places, devastating droughts, excessive/scorching heat setting records everywhere, record snowfalls in Europe and Russia. Snow in the Arabia. This list can go on. Most studied Eschatologists believe these ‘fearful sights’ and massive natural disasters are all part of the ‘CONVERGENCE’ of signs that this Biblical and prophetic age is closing. Most people who study prophecy are familiar with the routine reference(s) made that these things will be like a woman having labor pains, growing in intensity, frequency, size and duration.

Europe is under siege from a plague of incredibly hairy, toxic caterpillars. Video.

By Natasha Frost. July 6, 2019. Quartz.com

Even as many-legged mini-beasts go, oak processionary caterpillars are exceptionally nasty.

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Ordinarily kept in check by local predators, their recent global warming-induced migration to northern European countries such as the Netherlands and Germany has led populations to spiral into the millions, where they go untouched by birds.

Each caterpillar is spiked with up to 700,000 pointed defensive bristles, which are carried by the breeze and may provoke rashes, coughing, allergic reactions, or irritation if inhaled or touched. They nest on oak trees, marching procession-like from one to the next, and cluster together to chomp on the leaves. Their nests, which are sometimes several feet in size, are too toxic to touch.

In Germany, the Guardian reports, the caterpillar bloom has all but brought parts of the country to a halt, with swimming pools, restaurants, public parks, and even parts of the highway forced to close down. Nine children in Mülheim, Germany were hospitalized after experiencing respiratory problems and rashes after exposure on a school day, while six people in Münster had to have operations after the toxic filaments were caught in their eyes.

Eradicating the bugs is a particular challenge. Eco-pesticides used in Germany have had a limited effect, while special teams wearing protective gear have been dispatched in firefighters’ lifts to attack the nests with blowtorches or big vacuum cleaners.

In the Netherlands, a 69-year-old woman waged her own personal war on the caterpillars with a heat gun. In a now-viral video, she first flips off the insects and then burns them with the gun at close range, vowing: “I’ll tackle them, those bastards.” The caterpillars are forced out of their nests by the heat, first writhing like grubs and then falling to the ground.

But her plan of attack runs contrary to official advice. A local authority on the caterpillars advised the NL Times against taking matters into one’s own hands, especially if those hands also hold a heat gun. “If such a nest is attacked by a heat gun, there will be an explosion of hair and you can increase the problem.”