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.
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: Fed Chair Powell says U.S. economy deteriorating with alarming speed. ‘Like the pains of a women in labor.’
Heather Long. MSN. April 9, 2020
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell said Thursday the U.S. economy is in an emergency and is deteriorating “with alarming speed.” His remarks came shortly after the central bank unveiled over $2 trillion in new loans to keep the economy afloat as much of the nation goes into a lockdown to fight the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
“People have been asked to put their lives and livelihoods on hold, at significant economic and personal cost,” Powell said in a Brookings Institution webcast. “We are moving with alarming speed from 50-year lows in unemployment to what will likely be very high, although temporary, levels.”
Powell called for a national discussion about what it will take to reopen the economy, but he urged caution about moving too quickly and triggering another spike in coronavirus cases and deaths. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said it’s possible businesses can reopen in May. Powell said sometime after July is more likely.
More than 17 million Americans have filed for unemployment aid in the past four weeks as the nation has entered a national emergency due to the global pandemic, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Powell said the burdens of the shutdown are “falling most heavily on those least able to carry them,” and he vowed to do everything he can to help.
The Fed’s sweeping new loan programs unveiled Thursday will provide $2 trillion in additional aid to small, medium and large companies as well as cash-strapped states and cities. The latest actions are in addition to the central bank slashing interest rates to zero in March and buying numerous government bonds in an effort to keep borrowing as cheap as possible for American families and businesses.
“Our emergency measures are reserved for truly rare circumstances, such as those we face today,” Powell said. “There is every reason to believe that the economic rebound, when it comes, can be robust.”
The Fed’s latest actions go even further than what the central bank did during the Great Recession. The Fed is directly buying debt from large corporations and states, a level of support it hasn’t tried before. There’s widespread worry that some companies and households will go bankrupt during the pandemic because they will not be able to borrow money in time, but the Fed has taken large and unprecedented steps to keep as much credit flowing as possible.
Yet Powell and many top economic leaders are trying to answer two key questions: How deep, and how long, will the economic downturn be? Among Fed leaders, the growing consensus is the economic pain will be substantial, and the recovery will be slow.
There’s widespread agreement people must feel safe to go out again, and the worst possible outcome would be opening the economy too early, triggering another spike in coronavirus cases and deaths.
“We need to have a plan nationally for reopening the economy. We all want it to happen as quickly as possible,” Powell said. “We all want to avoid a false start where we partially reopen and that results in a spike in coronavirus cases.”
The U.S. economy may contract by more than 30 (6×5) percent in April through June, some economists predict. Powell said the economy would be “very weak.” He is hopeful businesses around the nation can reopen, reviving the economy safely in the second half of the year, but he didn’t want to give a specific month.
“This is a public health issue,” Eric Rosengren, president of the Boston Fed, said in an interview. “These are times if you make bad decisions, they are very costly. We need to try to minimize that.”
Rosengren said it’s “clear” the public health responses in the United States “have not gone as well as they have in some other countries” and that is adding to the economic pain, as businesses have to be closed for a longer period of time.
Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin said the economy can’t bounce back until people feel comfortable to go out again to restaurants, baseball games or concerts. He sees parallels to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States and how unsafe people felt to fly until the government enacted major security overhauls. There will need to be some sort of equivalent for the pandemic, whether it’s a vaccine or an antibody test. “We’re going to have to think hard about what are the things that will have to make us feel it’s safe to shop again or eat out again,” Barkin said in an interview.
After 9/11, President George W. Bush encouraged people to go out and spend as a form of patriotism, and the nation responded. But that is unlikely to work again, given that the health issues touch so much of the economy. Barkin said it will take some sort of national protocol, such as requiring people to wear masks in public and sit a certain distance apart at restaurants and on airplanes, to get consumer confidence high enough to spend again.
“I actually am more optimistic than many that we can get back to work,” Barkin said. “What I am more worried about is consumer demand.”
As Fed leaders prepare for difficult months ahead for the economy, Wall Street has become more optimistic, partly due to the central bank’s massive actions. U.S. stocks were down about 30 percent in March as coronavirus cases mounted and Congress stalled on passing a $2 trillion relief package. In recent days, stocks have rallied. U.S. stocks are now down about 20 percent from the February highs.
The Fed will soon begin purchasing up to $750 billion in corporate loans from big businesses that had at least an investment grade rating, a high bar that some struggling companies won’t be able to meet. But big retail chains such as Macy’s, Gap or J.C. Penney are likely to qualify since their debt slide below investment grade after that date.
To help midsize companies, the Fed will purchase as much as $600 billion in loans from banks that would go to businesses with up to 10,000 employees. These loans can be anywhere from $1 million to $150 million, larger than what the Small Business Administration is offering. Companies getting this money must be registered in the United States and primarily operating domestically. The loans are for four years, to give businesses time to get back on their feet.
Many states and cities are already warning they are about to run out of cash, as tax revenue have all but dried up and costs have skyrocketed to deal with the health crisis. The Fed plans to start purchasing up to $500 billion in short-term bonds from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and large cities with more than a million people.
To aid small businesses, the Fed has agreed to backstop the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program loans, which have had a rocky rollout since they began Friday. Businesses with fewer than 500 employees are supposed to go to banks to get loans of up to $1 million, but many small-business owners complain the bank isn’t taking applications or is demanding too much paperwork.
President Trump has said the small-business lending program has had a “few glitches,” but banks and business owners around the country report mass confusion and delays in accessing the funding. The initial program was supposed to do $350 billion in loans. Trump is asking Congress for an additional $250 million.
The Fed is also buying a wide range of other debts to ensure Americans can still get access to home mortgages, auto loans and other borrowing needs. Powell also stressed Thursday that the Fed is making loans to companies and states, not giving money outright. The Fed does expect to be repaid.
(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.)
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.
Categories: Economic Collapse