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.

Monster ‘fatbergs’. Greasy Growing Gunk pestilence in diverse places, like sewers.

The Guardian. October 3, 2019

The dirty secrets of a huge fatberg discovered lurking under the seafront of a Devon town have been laid bare after scientists carried out an “autopsy” of the monster.

As expected, household cooking fats, wet wipes and other hygiene products were key components of the 64m-long beast (bigger than the Leaning Tower of Pisa) but it also contained bits of bone, twigs, string – and false teeth.

Happily, it did not contain any detectable levels of toxic chemicals, and the scientists who examined lumps of it could not apportion blame for it to any particular businesses, neighbourhoods or groups. It appears to have been very much a community effort.

The fatberg was discovered under The Esplanade in Sidmouth, a few metres from the sea, by South West Water just before Christmas last year and made headlines around the world.

In February a hardy bunch of workers donned breathing apparatus to begin the painstaking process of hacking the fatberg into small pieces and removing it from the sewer. It took eight weeks and the monster was carted away in 36 tankers.

A team of scientists from the University of Exeter were given the scarcely less enviable job of carrying out the autopsy to establish how it came into being and whether it posed environmental risks.

The scientists were given four 10kg samples from the fatberg, which smelled like a heady combination of rotting meat and an unclean toilet. They melted the chunks and then combed through them by hand before subjecting samples to forensic analysis.

The team found that the samples they received were mostly made of animal fats consistent with domestic food preparation combined with household hygiene products such as wet wipes and sanitary products, as well as natural and artificial fibres from toilet tissues and laundry.

Crucially, the team found the fatberg contained no detectable levels of toxic chemicals, meaning its presence in the sewer did not pose a chemical or biological risk to the environment or human health.

Prof John Love, a synthetic biology expert at the University of Exeter, said: “We worried that the fatberg might concentrate fat-soluble chemicals such as those found in contraceptives, contain now-banned microplastic beads from cosmetics and be rich in potentially pathogenic microbes, but we found no trace of these possible dangers.

“We were all rather surprised to find that this Sidmouth fatberg was simply a lump of fat aggregated with wet wipes, sanitary towels and other household products that really should be put in the bin and not down the toilet. The microfibres we did find probably came from toilet tissue and laundry, and the bacteria were those we would normally associate with a sewer.”

Scientists from the Greenpeace laboratory, based at the university’s Streatham Campus, also looked at the chemical composition of the fatberg. The results suggested that the fats found were more in keeping with domestic food preparation than commercial food outlets, while the chemicals were those found in personal care products rather than pharmaceuticals or pesticides.

Nicky Cunningham, the manager for the Centre for Resilience in Environment, Water and Waste, said: “The results indicate that there isn’t a single contributing factor or demographic responsible for this fatberg coming to being.”

South West Water’s director of wastewater, Andrew Roantree, said: “Although we deal with around 8,500 blocked sewers every year, the Sidmouth fatberg was by far the largest discovered in our service history. We wanted to learn as much as we could about it, how it was created and what it was made of to help us avoid further fatbergs in future.

“We will be using these results to help us educate, inform and change the behaviours of people in terms of what they are putting down the toilet and sink. That’s not just applicable to Sidmouth but across our region.”