Foreshadow Now, ‘Season of the End Times’:

1 Thessalonians 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape

Increasing Global Economic Collapse and ‘Distress of Nations with Perplexity’: Coronavirus: Half of humanity now on lockdown as 90 countries call for confinement

By Alasdair Sandford  & Euronews with AP, AFP  •  last updated: 02/04/2020

More than 3.9 billion people, or half of the world’s population, have now been asked or ordered to stay at home by their governments to prevent the spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus.

Data from an AFP database collated compulsory or recommended confinements, curfews and quarantines in more than 90 countries or territories.

Due to the introduction of a curfew in Thailand (effective from Friday), the threshold of 50% of humanity will be reached.

Meanwhile, the number of dead in Spain from coronavirus has now risen above 10,000, according to the latest health authority figures published on Thursday.

It’s a new record for the country, with 950 deaths in the last 24 hours.

The total number of deaths stands at 10,003, with a total of 110,238 confirmed cases in Europe’s worst affected nation after Italy.

However, the infection rate appeared to ease. Health authorities say contagion in Spain has dropped from a daily average of 20% until March 25 to less than 12% after that date, more than 10 days after Spaniards were ordered to stay home.

But the government has acknowledged that the real number of infections could be much higher due to limited testing.

The figures also show that more people are recovering. The total now stands at 26,743 in Spain — up from 22,647 the previous day. That number represents more than 20% of the overall number of cases.

There were reasons for optimism from Italy, too, late on Thursday afternoon. The number of new infections continues to fall, down to 4668, a slight fall on Wednesday’s figures, and a drop of 1,500 compared with a week ago.

Italy’s daily death toll was 760, a slight increase against yesterday, but down from the more than 9,000 fatalities announced last Friday.

Unemployment soars

Spain also reported catastrophic unemployment figures on Thursday, evidence of the devastating effect the pandemic is having on the economy. Jobless numbers rose by over 300,000 in March, the highest increase on record, Euronews’ Spanish service reports.

The number of people out of work has risen far more sharply than happened during the financial crisis of 2008, Spanish media say.

The European Union has designed a new programme to raise up to €100 billion to tackle surging unemployment brought on by the pandemic.

The aim of the scheme, called SURE, is to provide financial assistance to the 27 member states via loans from the EU. “Only the strongest of responses will do,” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said in Brussels on Thursday.

In the US new Labor Department figures showed that more than 6.6 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week — doubling a record high set just a week earlier.

Race to secure medical supplies

Governments are racing to buy medical equipment including protective gear as a debate intensifies over providing adequate testing, when it’s advisable to wear masks, and whether stricter lockdowns should be imposed.

In the worst-affected countries health resources are being massively stretched. Some in Europe have called in medical students, retired doctors and even laid-off flight attendants with first aid training to help.

The situation has been exacerbated by medical staff becoming infected themselves. In Italy alone, nearly 10,000 medical workers have contracted the virus and more than 60 doctors have died.

Research from Singapore is the latest to suggest that around 10% of infections may be spread by people who carry the virus but do not yet show symptoms, AP reports. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its advice to Americans on the risk of infection, essentially warning that anyone may be a carrier.

President Trump has admitted that stocks of protective gear are depleted in the US, where over 5,000 deaths and more than 200,000 infections have been reported.

The number of worldwide cases rose above 900,000 on Wednesday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said. The United Nations has warned that the world faces its worst crisis since the Second World War.

1 Thessalonians 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape

(Night Watchman Note: What will happen when millions of Christians suddenly ‘disappear’ in the ‘twinkling of an eye”??? Those who may be first-responders, doctors, nurses, support staff, policemen, firefighters, homeless volunteers, those in the red cross or other emergency aid and relief organizations, in the national guard or military, pharmacies, grocery stores, etc. You get the picture.)

1 Corinthians 15:52

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

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.