REV 16:8-9 ``The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire. They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him."
During the time of God's judgment on unrepentent mankind, the sun will burn man with intense heat. Is the Ozone Hole the beginning of the fulfillment of this prophesy? It certainly could be. And if it continues to worsen, it could also contribute to famine and pestilence. As we discussed in the last issue, an increase in the frequency and intensity of natural disasters (such as earthquakes, pestilence, and famine) are signs of Jesus' return. We also discussed that when these events begin to take place, our redemption is very near (Matt 24:33).
It is the ozone layer which protects us from the burning effects of ultra-violet (UV) radiation. Ozone is a scarce trace element in the atmosphere. If it were gathered together in a layer around the earth, it would be only three millimeters thick. And yet this scarce element is essential for life on this planet. Without it, all life on earth would die.
In Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the UV radiation levels have been added to the daily weather forecasts. The higher the UV level, the less time required before receiving a sunburn.
Ozone levels in October of 1992 at the South Pole were the lowest ever recorded. But it is not just the South Pole, anymore. NASA reports a 10% reduction, on average, in ozone in the middle latitudes, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Hudson Bay. The problem with averages is evident in the story of the six-foot man who drowned in a lake which, on average, was only two feet deep. In the January/February time-frame of this year, ozone levels were down 20% in some regions. On some days, during this same period, the ozone level decreased as much as 40-45%.
The ozone hole over Antarctica has grown to some nine million square miles. The broadened ban on ozone-reducing chemicals, slated to take effect in 1995, is too little too late. Since it takes many years for these chemicals to reach the ozone level of the atmosphere, ozone will continue to be destroyed until about 2050 AD.
The population of Patagonia, Chile which is periodically under the Antarctica Ozone Hole, is keenly aware of the effects of UV radiation. Skin rashes are becoming commonplace. Sheep are going blind from eye disease directly related to UV contamination. Increased rates of food crop deformity have been reported. Scientists, studying these phenomena, have discovered a correlation between UV levels and the onset of disease.
Scientists predict that the current increase in UV radiation will cause 300,000 more cases of skin cancer, increase the incidence of cataracts, and impair our immune systems. UV contamination is serious. It goes well beyond just getting a sunburn. If our immune systems are weakened, we will see an increase in all manner of disease and set the stage for more rampant plagues (as predicted prior to Christ's return).
What's more alarming is a direct field study in the waters south of Chile which showed a twelve percent decrease in the growth of plankton. Plankton is the basic food supply at the bottom of the ocean's food chain. This is a potential disaster of immense proportions. If the bottom of the ocean's food chain is destroyed, famine (which is already a serious problem around the world) will greatly increase in incidence and intensity. The ``birth pains" have begun. They will continue to intensify as the day of the Lord's return grows near.
The Oceans are Dying
Our oceans, a vital food source, are already dying due to pollution. As UV radiation levels reaching the earth increase, the effects on the oceans of the world will be devastating. In the last five years, there has been an upsurge in large mammal sea deaths. Along the east coast in 1987-88, 2500 bottlenose dolphins died of bacterial infection. In 1988-89, 18,000 European harbor seals (50% of the population) succumbed to a virus resembling distemper; 6000 striped dolphins in the Mediterranean, near Spain, also died. The disease has spread to Greece.
Since November of last year, about 75 seals (double the usual number) have washed up on Long Island, dead of distemper. In 1990, 300 Dolphins died of unknown causes in the Gulf of Mexico. By comparison, in the 30 years prior to 1987, there were only two recorded instances of large mammal deaths. Scientists can't explain the increase in deaths. Neither can they explain why so many sick whales have grounded themselves. But autopsies have revealed that many of these mammals were loaded with PCB's and other contaminants.
According to ``Consumer Reports", even ``farm-raised'' fish which only spend several weeks in ocean pens for breeding, are contaminated. ``Consumer Reports'' says that 90% of the fish tested contained mercury. Some clams contained high lead levels, and others contained arsenic. In addition, 45% of the salmon and 25% of the swordfish tested contained high levels of PCB's. PCB's seriously impair our immune systems, making us more susceptible to disease. Between the effects of UV radiation and the ever-increasing environmental contamination, pestilence and rampant disease will certainly escalate. The fulfillment of the Bible's prediction is clearly in view.
Every day, more then 40 million gallons of partially-untreated sewage are sent gushing into the ocean from New York City's Hudson and East Rivers alone. Since most of the fish live within 200 miles of shore, the world's richest fishing grounds are being transformed into open sewers. The effects of this environmental contamination is devastating.
The great coral reefs off Florida and Australia are dying. These reefs support as many as 3000 species of plants and animals. Their ecosystems are being destroyed at alarming rates due to oceanic pollution. Trash in the oceans, especially plastic, has been found in the most remote islands of the world. Whales, turtles and diving birds are dying from plastic ingestion. Autopsies on Belukha whales regularly reveal cancer, ulcers, immune deficiencies and lung infections. Ulcerative mycosis has completely wiped out some species of food fish, such as the Atlantic Menhaden. An epidemic of tumors the size of baseballs is assaulting turtles.
To make matters worse, Russia has admitted dumping the nuclear plants of ten submarines and other nuclear waste into the Atlantic. What effect will this have? Realize that one ounce of pure plutonium could poison all the oceans of the world.
Famine will Increase
Greater occurences of famine is a clear sign of the return of Jesus to this earth. Starvation in Africa is still a daily event of immense proportion. It will be compounded as the world's population continues to grow and food sources are destroyed. The ocean's fish output peaked in 1989, when we harvested 100 million tons of seafood. It has decreased three percent since then and will continue to diminish as the human population depending on sea life increases. At the same time, plankton is being destroyed and contamination is escalating.
In fact, per capita seafood production has already decreased 7.5% since 1989, from 19.2 kilograms per person to 17.8 kilograms per person. The world's population is soaring. It adds the population of Mexico every year and will top 5.5 billion this year. It is projected to reach 8.5 billion by the year 2025.
There have been other events occurring recently which will compound the situation. A poisonous weed in the Mediterranean has been discovered that is killing fish. Mysterious colonies of algae and seaweed along the east coast, when ``attacked" by a school of fish, emit a powerful poison; fishkills in the 100,000s have been recorded.
Incidentally world-wide rice production, the world's largest food source, is down 10%. The cause? UV contamination. Even in this country, grain reserves are at their lowest levels in years, and the increase in natural disasters such as flooding doesn't help.
It was recently reported that 70% of the migratory butterfly population was killed in Mexico due to illegal logging operations. Butterflies are important to pollination. The killer bees have now reached Arizona, and a swarm got off a ship in the Philadelphia harbor before it could be exterminated. If we are forced to exterminate domestic bees that become Africanized, we will reduce a major source of pollination, further reducing food production.
Acid rain has already killed many fish in the Adirondack lakes. Now a new assault, the zebra mussel, is running wild in the Great Lakes as well as other fresh water bodies. The zebra mussels will eventually kill most of the fish in these lakes by eliminating algae that the fish need at the bottom of the food chain. In Oneida Lake in upstate New York, it was recently reported that there are 15 times more mussels then there were three years ago. The lake is now clear (no algae or plankton) down to 18 feet, due to mussels filtering the food from the water.
The facts are in. The picture is being completed. The time of the Lord's return is close upon us.
Pestilence will Increase
UV radiation does impair our immune systems. This will make us even more susceptible to rampant disease and pestilence (plague). AIDS has the potential to become a plague of biblical proportions. It is highly contagious. Will AIDS continue to increase in intensity in fulfillment of biblical prophesy?
Based on current estimates, the World Health Organization predicts 110 million adults world-wide will be infected by AIDS by the year 2000. In addition, they predict 10 million children will be infected. In their own words, AIDS is spiraling out of control. There are currently 15 million cases world-wide, with just over one million cases in the United States. But that is just the tip of the iceberg.
It is estimated that, for every reported case, there are ten more people who are infected but do not yet show any symptoms. Based on current growth rates in this country, it is estimated that by the year 2000 there will be an AIDS patient in every hospital bed in America. With health management costs approaching $150,000 each, it doesn't take a genius to see that this cost alone would bankrupt any national health care system.
The continent of Africa has passed the point of no return from AIDS and related disease. At least one in three people are infected with AIDS in Central Africa. In Paris, France AIDS accounted for 40% of all deaths of men between the ages of 25 and 40.
In this country, AIDS in teens and young adults is up 77% over the last two years. In June, the US Centers for Disease Control reported that AIDS is now the leading cause of death among men ages 25-44 in 64 cities. AIDS is now also the leading cause of death for teenage girls living in New York City and, overall, it is the fifth leading cause of death among women of child-bearing age in the US.
AIDS is also spreading through the heterosexual population. In Africa, which currently has 7.5 million reported AIDS patients, over 75% of all AIDS patients are heterosexual. Will this happen in America?
A recent Government Survey says the average American man loses his virginity by age 17, has sex at least once a week and by age 40 has had over ten sexual partners. Twenty-three percent of the men between 23-40 have had over 20 female partners. If there was any good news in the report, it was that 96% of all married men were faithful to their wives in the 18 months prior to the survey. There is no such thing as safe sex outside the confines of marital fidelity.
David Kirby, of the American Foundation for AIDS Research, was recently quoted as saying ``It is just a matter of time before sex becomes a woman's number one health risk.'' Indeed, last year the biggest jump in AIDS cases in the US was among women; for the first time in the epidemic, more women were infected through heterosexual sex than through drug use. The vast majority of new AIDS patients are still men but, at this point in time, AIDS is multiplying four times faster through the female population.
AIDS is growing on an exponential curve, doubling in some areas every six months. In Europe, AIDS cases are doubling every nine months. AIDS has become the most feared of all diseases.
Can AIDS be cured? It is not likely, since the AIDS virus mutates 1000 times faster then any other virus known to man. By the time a workable vaccine could be developed, the AIDS virus has already mutated, rendering the vaccine useless. Also, since the AIDS virus penetrates the cell at the DNA level, effectively becoming part of the cell, traditional chemotherapy will not work as it does against cancer, for example.
Since the AIDS virus is very small, only one micron in diameter, surgical rubber gloves and condoms which filter out antigen only up to FIVE microns in size, are ineffective. It is no wonder that there is a 16% failure rate in condoms in preventing AIDS.
AIDS is extremely contagious, requiring only minimal exposure. Once contracted, there are usually no immediate symptoms. The infected person could spread the disease for up to three and one-half years without knowing it.
AIDS is more contagious than is let on. Insurance companies are asking for blood tests before accepting new policyholders. The Atlantic Center for Disease Control has now isolated the virus in both tears and saliva and has reported that the AIDS virus can survive up to 15 days outside the body. One doctor recently stated that if an AIDS victim so much as coughs in your presence, the virus could enter your body through the membranes of your eyes or mouth. He said the virus could live in a dry state up to seven hours awaiting its next victim.
HIV has been thought to be primarily transmitted sexually or through blood contact, such as transfusions or intravenous drug use. However, it now appears that transmission can occur with ANY exchange of bodily fluids -- blood, urine, semen, saliva, etc. Even kissing is not safe.
AIDS can also be transmitted through intact skin; contact with the skin for only two minutes has been proven to transmit HIV. Mothers milk can transmit HIV to a baby. Swimming pools and spas, even when properly chlorinated, may be unsafe if one contacts bodily fluid from an infected swimmer. Infected food handlers with cuts or any open sores, may transmit HIV to silverware or glasses. The cough of an infected person could possibly transmit the disease, since it is now recognized that AIDS can be airborne by riding on certain TB bacteria.
In Miami, Florida people that do not live immoral lifestyles are coming down with AIDS. It is feared that mosquitoes may be the cause.
AIDS may be a pestilence of biblical proportions, but it is not the only disease to fear. We have seen new strains of TB that are resistant to all known drug therapy. New virulent strains of malaria have surfaced that are being called ``mysterious`` by scientists. In Latin America, a cholera epidemic is threatening 120 million people. Bubonic plague has resurfaced, with ten reported cases in the US last year. New strains of drug-resistant pneumonia have also developed. In Cuba, a mystifying nerve disease has infected 48,000 Cubans. The carnage in the former Yugoslavia and the famine in Africa are all breeding grounds for new diseases.
If you have not built your house upon the rock of Jesus Christ, you are not going to make it. Are you walking with Jesus? Are you meditating on His Word, the Bible, every day? Do you hear His voice, or is He drowned out by the din of constant activity in your life? Jesus is coming soon, and none will stand except by His mighty power at work in their lives.
Are you playing games with God? Is their still hidden sin in your life? It is time to get serious with God and work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. The future is in sight and, without Jesus, it is a frightening one. It is no wonder that Jesus warned: ``Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth.'' (Luke 21:34-35)
Is there Hope? Yes, Jesus is the Living Hope for all who have asked God to forgive their sins and have asked Jesus to come into their lives as Lord and Saviour. Jesus has promised His children that He would never leave them or forsake them. If you have accepted Jesus' free gift of salvation, then no matter what happens in the future, Jesus will be with you. When the storms of life come against you, it will be possible for you to stand by His mighty power and presence in your life.
God knows how to deliver His people. During their exodus from Egypt, God fed the children of Israel with manna in the wilderness, provided water out of solid rock and parted the Red Sea. Lot and His family were escorted out by Angels before Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed. Noah and his family went through Judgment but were protected by the Ark of their salvation. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego walked through the fire unharmed, because God was with them.
No one can say with 100% certainty that all true Christians will be raptured (taken) into Heaven before things really get bad. But we can know that if we keep our eyes on Jesus, keep His commands and know our rights as children of God, He will see us through.
Someday we will all stand before God. He'll look to His right on those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life and say ``Well done, good and faithful servants. Enter into your rest.`` But to those on the left, those who refused to accept the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, He will say ``Depart from me, ye cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and His Angels."
Everlasting damnation is not God's will for your life. God loves you. He sent His only begotten son to die for your sins that you might have life. Jesus himself said of His first coming that he did not come to judge the world but to save it. Soon the opportunity to receive Jesus as Lord and Saviour of your life will be over.
The Father in Heaven will turn to Jesus and say, "Your bride, the church, is now complete. The last believer who is going to accept you has done so. Now go and get your bride." The plan of God will have been completed, the salvation of man done, the last church service ended, the last soul saved. Jesus can then say to his Father, "My days of Priesthood are over. I'm putting on my robes of Judgment, gathering the Host of Heaven and going to the Judgment.``
The last trumpet will sound. There will be great voices in Heaven; it will be the day longed for, the day the martyrs will be vindicated, the day the saints will receive new bodies. The bride of Christ will meet the Lamb of God. The Angels and the redeemed of all ages will meet together around the throne of God. This will be the day that the Lord has made. It will be the end of all forces that oppose Jesus. It will all happen in a moment of time.
When the Angels of the Lord see that Jesus is returning to earth to redeem man, a shout will go up, for soon Jesus will return to earth. Jesus, the Angels, and the redeemed of the Lord will then descend from the third heaven (the spiritual realm where God and His Angels exist) into the second heaven (the physical realm of the celestial bodies - the sun, moon, etc). He will be seen by all coming in glory to judge the living and the dead. Every eye shall see him, and all the tribes on the earth shall mourn as they see Jesus coming in judgment. At that time, your eternal destiny will be fixed. No longer will it be your choice to accept God's free gift of salvation. It will be too late. The door will be closed.
But it is not yet too late. Jesus says, "I put before you life or death; choose life." Seek the Lord while it is still day, for the night is coming when no man may seek him. Today is the day of your salvation. Call upon the name of Jesus today, repent of your sins, and ask Him into your life as Lord of your life and you will be saved. God will seal you with His Holy Spirit as a guarantee of your future redemption.
Purify yourselves daily by the reading of the Word. Jesus is returning for a Holy and Spotless Church. ``Today is the day of salvation for many who are perishing; their tomorrow shall not see my return in glory to judge the living and the dead. Today is the day of their salvation." Don't delay. Time is short. You have no guarantee that you will even see tomorrow. If you die without receiving Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, your eternal destiny is fixed.
``It is now the hour to awake from sleep, for our salvation is closer than when we first accepted the faith.'' (Rom 13:11)
Maranatha!
``Prophecy and Current Events" is published bimonthly by: ``To His Glory
Ministries". Copyright
1995, To His Glory Ministries, All Rights Reserved. Permission is hereby granted to copy and to freely distribute these samples for non-commercial purposes. For example, consider duplicating and distributing to friends, relatives, pastor or your church congregation--however,
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