Foreshadow Now, ‘Season of the End Times’:

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.

The world is fast approaching a “climate apartheid” where only the wealthy can afford basic food resources in the face of fatal droughts, famine and heatwaves, while the rest of the world suffers. Revelation 6:5-6 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine

Saudi official assures availability of local, imported strategic food supplies for the Beast. Begin to import 1.2 (6+6) million tons MORE of wheat. Over the 1.0 million tons they already have. Yet, Yemen starves. MUST READ! ‘Measure of Wheat for a Penny.’ Prophetic Analysis and Discernment.

Reuters, RiyadhMonday 30 March 2020

There are no concerns about a shortage of local or imported strategic food supplies in Saudi Arabia, according to an official, as the Kingdom’s strategic reserves of wheat exceeds 1 million tons and the country plans to start importing at least 1.2 (6+6)  million tons more as of next month, the Agriculture Ministry’s spokesman said Monday.

His comments came amid concerns over supply tensions arising from the coronavirus crisis.

The Kingdom has also expanded the list of countries from which it can import livestock, and doesn’t have any concerns about shortages of livestock supply, Abdullah Abalkhail said at a televised press conference.

Saudi consumption of food and livestock is expected to increase, with the approach of the Muslim month of Ramadan.

“We assure the availability of food supplied from the local and strategic reserve,” he said.

Seven-fold Dooms on Babylon City:

1. All plagues come in one day, one hour, death, mourning, famine, burning with fire. (Rev. 18:8, 10)
2. The great city is divided into three parts by the great earthquake on the Day of the Lord. (Rev. 16:19)
3. No music will be heard. (Rev. 18:22)
4. No craftsman (industry) will be found. (Rev. 18:22)
5. No millstone (delicious dining, restaurants) will be found. (Rev. 18:22)
6. No light (artificial or natural) will shine. (Rev. 18:23)
7. Voice of the bridegroom and bride (marriages) will not be heard. (Rev. 18:23)

Commentary: These verses describe what happens to the capital city of an evil empire, when God brings his celestial hammer of wrath. The city gets hammered and pounded into oblivion. (Rev. 18:21) … “And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.” The basic things of city living disappear within an hour. An earthquake splits the city into three parts. The burning and smoke from the city can be seen for many miles offshore by sailors, and captains of vessels who transported wealth to Babylon’s docks. (Rev. 17:17). Also, kings of the world and merchants plying their merchandise with Babylon can see the smoke from her destruction and are severely pained because they know their best customer has been destroyed along with their livelihood. They are also afraid for themselves and keep their distance, in case they might receive the same wrath as Babylon. (Rev. 17:11, 17:15, 17-19).

Seven-fold Luxuries of Babylon City:

1. Luxury metals and stones (fine gold, silver, precious stones, pearls). (Rev. 18:12)
2. Luxury clothing (fine linens, silks, color dyes). (Rev. 18:12)
3. Luxury building materials (precious woods, ivory, brass, iron, marble). (Rev. 18:12)
4. Luxury produce (exquisite herbs, fragrances, ointments, wine, oil, flour, wheat). (Rev. 18:13)
5. Luxury meat products / animals (beasts, sheep, horses). (Rev. 18:13 )
6. Luxury cars and transportation (chariots). (Rev. 18:13)
7. Human slave trade and sex-trafficking (slaves and souls of men). (Rev. 18:13)

Commentary: This looks like today’s shopping list of the rich and famous, and of the political and financial elite of the world. I believe this covers everything materialistic that is generally valued around the world today (and in the future). There is nothing mundane, routine or common among these ‘delicacies’. Babylon is built on luxurious living and is the center of worldwide trade of these items and merchandise. These things are literally brought into Babylon by the ship loads (Rev. 18:17-19), “For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off.” (emphasis added). These items are considered luxurious because they are extremely expensive! (Rev. 18:19, “the great city was made rich by all the ships of the sea by reason of her costliness.”) (emphasis added). The people in Babylon are extremely materialistic and glorify themselves through their wealth, but are spiritually evil and bankrupt. Demand for luxury items is so great that merchants of the earth have become wealthy themselves by providing these luxuries (Rev. 18:3, “and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.”) (emphasis added). Both supply (merchants) and demand (people in Babylon) worship the created things and not God, the Creator. The worship of and reliance on luxury items plays right into the hands of the mystery religion of Babylon (Mystery Babylon). Keep in mind that all these players (merchants and Babylon citizens), all have the mark of the beast and his system. They are allowed to sell and buy through the complicity and authority of the Antichrist’s economic machinations via having the mark. Hypothetically speaking, I wouldn’t be surprised if the wealthy in Babylon view the Antichrist’s “mark” as a luxury brand symbol or something equivalent. Sad, very sad (understatement).

Interestingly, there is a parallel condemnation of wealth and materialism regarding the church of Laodicea (Rev. 3:14-22). During the time when John received the Revelation of Jesus Christ, Laodicea was a leading banking center, and known for manufacturing garments made from a soft, black wool. Additionally, Laodicea was also home to a famous medical school that specialized in the treatment of eye diseases. The city had a lot going for it economically. The Laodicea church also benefited financially from the surrounding strong economy. The city was so strong financially, that in AD 60 when it was destroyed by an earthquake, Laodicea paid for its own reconstruction instead of asking Rome for rebuilding funds. As a result of the Laodecian church’s self-sufficiency and affluence, they received a strong rebuke from Jesus. The church considered itself wealthy and self-sufficient, instead, Jesus viewed this church very differently. He saw this church as “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked”, using metaphors from the local economy that surrounded the church. “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing: and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” (Rev. 3:17) (emphasis added). While the church thought it had everything, it had nothing. They confused material prosperity and comfort with spiritual health and security. The Bible teaches that the rich (and very rich, by today’s standards) are often tempted to rely upon themselves, while the poor often turn to the Lord for help. Jesus challenges his people to trust in him rather than in material possessions, and to use things to meet the needs of others (Deut. 8:10-14; Prov. 30:8-9; Matt. 6:19-24; Luke 12:13-21; 1 Tim. 6:6-10, 17-19). Physical wealth and comfort can foster spiritual complacency and self-reliance. Affluence tempts us to forget God. The message to the church of Laodicea illustrates the power of forgetting God, do to materialistic affluence.

From an economic point of view, the parallel between Babylon and Laodicea is staggering. The rebuke that Jesus gave the church of Laodicea is generally considered to be one of the stronger (est) rebukes given to the five churches who were in need of correction. Keep in mind that Jesus’ rebuke was to those members in his own house (church). Babylon has the same evil attributes=s, but on steroids! Citizens of Babylon and worshipers of Mystery Babylon are swimming in luxury, wealth, materialism and self-sufficiency. Greed is rampant.  They are not members of Jesus’ church and they do not acknowledge or worship the Creator who made the material wealth they worship and enjoy. Revelation 18:7 indicates, “How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously. ” (emphasis added). God is not remotely on their spending or spiritual radar. They are utterly deceived by their materialism and love of luxury and ‘delicious living’. Since Jesus strongly rebuked the Loadicean church members, how much more so will God pour out His wrath on Babylon, who openly rejects him for the love of wealth? The Loadicean church received rebuke from Jesus, Babylon will receive total destruction by God. This should be a message to today’s churches who preach the prosperity gospel. God is not against a person being prosperous, however, he is against the amount of prosperity that fosters complacency and self-sufficiency, or to the point of fostering wealth worship (greed) at the expense of forgetting one’s relationship with God and Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ’s Offer of Salvation:

The ABCs of Salvation through Jesus Christ (the Lamb)

A. Admit/Acknowledge/Accept that you are sinner. Ask God’s forgiveness and repent of your sins.

. . . “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23).

. . . “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10).

. . . “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8).

B. Believe Jesus is Lord. Believe that Jesus Christ is who He claimed to be; that He was both fully God and fully man and that we are saved through His death, burial, and resurrection. Put your trust in Him as your only hope of salvation. Become a son or daughter of God by receiving Christ.

. . . “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:15-17). For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13).

C. Call upon His name, Confess with your heart and with your lips that Jesus is your Lord and Savior.

. . . “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10).

. . . “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (John 1:8-10).

. . . “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (John 2:2).

. . . “In this was manifested the love of god toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:9, 14-15).

. . . “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:8-10).

. . . “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23).

. . . “Jesus saith unto them, I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6).

. . . “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.” (Romans 1:16).

. . . “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts: 4:12).

. . . “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth for there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:4-6).

. . . “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:9).

. . . “But as many as received him, to them gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12).

True Church / Bride of Christ Spared from God’s Wrath:

 Romans 5:8-10. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”

Romans 12:19. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 1:10. And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

1 Thessalonians 5:9. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

Romans 8:35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Jeremiah 30:7. Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.

Revelation 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.