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.
The ‘Big Apple’ is Rotten. Rats, Trash and Heat… Oh My! Rats also infesting Chicago and Philadelphia. Correlation or Causation.
Morgan Hines, USA TODAY Published 10:38 p.m. ET July 17, 2019
New York, like other metropolitan cities including Philadelphia and Chicago, faces a major rat problem.
According to the New York Times, rat complaints have risen from 12,617 in 2014 to 17,353 last year. That’s a 38% jump citywide — and comes even after Mayor Bill de Blasio allocated $32 million in 2017 to reduce the number of the rodents.
“As a result, we saw a 9% decline in rat complaints across the city last year, the biggest drop in 12 years,” Seth Stein, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office, told USA TODAY.
The mayor’s plan focused on Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood and the Grand Concourse along the Bronx, according to the New York Times.
But now, the trash-loving rodent gang has migrated to the city’s Upper West Side, according to the New York Post. The neighborhood boasts the highest number of rat complaints across the city.
OpenTheBooks.com analyzed the number of calls for rats to 311 and found that, according to the Post, “the rats are running wild in this fancy area.”
A local publication called West Side Rag agreed that the Upper West Side has an extreme rat problem. “We’re like the Tom Brady of rats. All we do is win,” an article reads.
The New York Post reported that since the New York City Department of Sanitation pulled 110 trash cans out of the neighborhood over the last 12 months, trash has been overflowing.
“In the past year, we removed bins in this district because they did not fit the criteria or were being chronically misused,” Dina Montes, press secretary for the New York City Department of Sanitation, told USA TODAY.
Assemblywoman Linda B. Rosenthal of Manhattan told the New York Post that her office receives calls about the trash. “I don’t think removing garbage cans does what they think it is supposed to do.”
Stein said the mayor’s office has ordered the Department of Sanitation to stop removing bins immediately: “We will not be removing any of the 800-plus bins the district currently has,” said Montes.
Though the number of complaints regarding rats coming from the Upper West Side is the highest, it may not reflect the actual population of rats in the area.
“There has been an increase in complaints, but this, in part, is due to high numbers of duplicate complaints in this neighborhood,” Michael Lanza, spokesperson for the New York City Department of Health, told USA TODAY.
The department leaves a 90-day window to address complaints of rats, and any complaints made again within that time are classified as duplicate, Lanza explained.
Melissa Elstein, secretary and co-founder of the West 80s Neighborhood Association, said the problem could be solved if neighborhoods were to institute bins for recycling and for food waste.
The rats come to areas with overflowing trash cans because they are a food source.
Regardless of how the situation is addressed on the Upper West Side, rats are a forever presence in New York City. The Yankees’ minor league baseball team even considered a name change to the “Staten Island Pizza Rats” in 2016. They kept it for a season and now it’s back by popular demand.
Pestilence
Disease
Death
Virus
Bacteria
Superbugs
Contagion
Epidemic
Pandemic
Spreading from one person to another
Perilous times have come
Pestilence spreading around the world
Pestilence in diverse places
Disease spreading around the world
Disease in diverse places
Disease increasing in frequency
Disease increasing in size
Disease increasing in strength
Disease increasing in duration
Increasing like the pains of a woman in labor