1. Unbelievably bloody wars -
Matt. 24:6-7; Rev. 6:2-4; 14:20
2. Drunkenness - Matt. 24:38;
Luke 17:27
3. Illicit sex - Matt. 24:38;
Luke 17:27, Rev. 9:21
4. Gross materialism - Luke
17:28; Rev. 18:12-14
5. Rise of false messiahs and
prophets - Matt. 24:5, 11-24
6. Horrible persecution of
believers - Matt. 24:10; Rev. 16:6; 17:6
Martyrdom
and persecution (Matthew 24:9; Daniel 7:25)
"Then they will deliver you to tribulation,
and will kill you, and you will be hated by all
nations because of My name."
The twentieth century has probably witnessed more
martyrs than any preceding century as millions have
died because of the faith in Christ. Increasing
anti-Semitism and anti-Christian attitudes, actions,
and even legislation are features of our current
world.
The Wall Street Journal reported in December 1996
that there was between 60-80 million Christians
facing persecution in China today. Freedom House
reports that Islamic Sudan has abducted or killed
more than 1 million of its own people in a jihad
against non-Muslims. Young Christian boys are held
captive, forced to convert to Islam and then sold as
slaves.
Listen to the story by Michael Horowitz. "There
is a man who lives with us who is the embodiment of
Christian faith, and I'm in awe of it. He is from the
Ethiopian Evangelical Church where he is the senior
pastor. He is trying to get asylum into the United
States and is meeting every possible roadblock you
can imagine. Here is a man who has been jailed over
25 times for his faith. He's been tortured. On one
occasion, he was hanged upside down with hot oil
poured on his feet. This is a man of abiding faith
who will be tortured again and murdered if he is sent
back to Ethiopia. In spite of the following tragic
and disgraceful story, the United States State
Department sent a letter to the Immigration and
Naturalization Service and said, 'There's no
persecution of Christians in Ethiopia.'" This
has been the attitude of the U.S. government despite
overwhelming evidence of atrocities.
7. Men to hide in caves of the
rocks in fear of God - Isa. 2:19-21; Rev. 6:15-17
8. The pangs and sorrows of death
to seize men, similar to those of
women in labor - Isa.
13:8, Jer. 30:6
9. Terrible worldwide famines -
Rev. 6:5-6, 8
Famines, earthquakes, pestilences
" … and in various places there will be
famines, earthquakes, and pestilences"
(KJV).
Famines
Famines have greatly increased especially on the
continent of Africa. North Korea is experiences a
sever famine as families are eating grass, weeds and
bark; orphans whose growth has been stunted by hunger
and diarrhea; people going bald for lack of
nutrition.
Starving North Koreans are turning to cannibalism and
the government has started
executing villagers selling human flesh, according to
a North Korean deserter quoted in Hong Kong's South
China Morning Post, October 1, 1997.
As the drought worsens in Haiti hundreds of thousands
of people go hungry. People are so hungry they are
reportedly eating cattle that have died in the
fields.
Great Britain has experienced the worst drought in
200 years! In the 25 months from April 995, rainfall
in Great Britain has fallen to the lowest level since
accurate records began in the 1850's.
Earthquakes
Earthquakes will increase in number and severity. In
1935 there were 45 earthquakes recorded globally; in
1993, the year Israel signed a peace treaty with
Yassar Arafat and the Palestinian Liberation
Organization, there were 21,476!
In 1945 there were 189 earthquakes; in 1946 there
were 4; in 1947 there were 4 in 1948 there were 4; in
1949 there were 395! The number in the Bible for God
is 3 and the number 4 in the Bible represents the
earth or world created by God. Here we have a
sequence of three fours ending in year 1948. What
happened on May 15, 1948? The birth of the nation
Israel!!
The Top Ten Deadliest Earthquakes Occurred in the
20th Century:
Chile, 1906, 8.6, estimated death toll: 20,000.
China, 1920, 8.6, estimated death toll: 100,000.
Japan, 1923, 8.3, estimated death toll: 100,000.
China, 1927, 8.3, estimated death toll: 200,000.
Chile, 1939, 8.3, estimated death toll: 28,000.
China, 1976, 7.8 to 8.2, official death toll:
242,000. Unofficial estimate 800,000.
Guatemala, 1976, 7.5, official death toll: 22,778.
Iran, 1978, 7.7, estimated death toll: 25,000.
Armenia, 1988, 6.9, estimated death toll: 25,000.
Iran, 1990, 7.7, estimated death toll: 50,000.
Pestilences
The global AIDS epidemic is striking harder than ever
at the world's women and children, as infection rates
climb swiftly in many nations previously barely
touched by the disease. About 22.6 million people are
now infected, according to the United Nations AIDS
program. Of these, 3 million adults were infected in
1996 alone - nearly half of them women. In addition,
400,000 children are newly infected. AIDS is
spreading most rapidly now in the former Soviet
Union, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, and especially
Africa
The extreme nature of man-made biological weapons has
recently come to light with the defection in 1992 of
Dr. Kanatjan Alibekov. Dr. Alibekov was formerly the
First Deputy Director of Biopreparat from 1998 to
1992. Biopreparant was the Soviet Union's biological
weapons program. Reportedly the Russians have DNA
engineered the Eboli virus, which to totally fatal
with the Smallpox virus, which is highly contagious.
There are also reports that genetically engineered
viruses designed to target genetic traits or specific
racial groups exist.
10. Humans to be slaughtered by
predatory wild beasts
Rev. 6:8
11. Disastrous earthquakes
-Rev. 6:12; 11:13; 16:18
12. Fearful heavenly signs and
disturbances -Luke 21:25; Rev. 6:12-14; 8:12
Signs in the sun, moon, and stars (Luke 21:25-27)
"There willl be signs in sun and moon and
stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in
perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves,
men fainting from fear and the expectation of the
things which are coming upon the world; for the
powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will
see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and
great glory."
The
Sun
Scientists say solar activity will
increase and peak in the next four or five years.
A solar flare is defined as a sudden, rapid, and
intense variation in brightness. A solar flare occurs
when magnetic energy that has built up in the solar
atmosphere is suddenly released. Radiation is emitted
across virtually the entire electromagnetic spectrum,
from radio waves at the long wavelength end, through
optical emission to x-rays and gamma rays at the
short wavelength end. The amount of energy released
is the equivalent of millions of 100-megaton hydrogen
bombs exploding at the same time! The first solar
flare recorded in astronomical literature was on
September 1, 1859. To date, there have been 43 cases
of satellite damage as a result of solar flares.
"We're going to have a huge storm [about]
January 1, 2000…," said Ernie Hildner,
director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration's Space Environment Center in Boulder,
Colorado.
Geomagnetically induced current from space weather
can be picked up by power lines and disable
transformers. Solar Cycle 22 in 1989 for instance,
left more than 6 million people in Quebec, Canada
without electric power for 12 hours. "The latest
solar cycle ¾ Cycle 23 ¾ is expected to reach its
maximum strength around 2000, far surpassing the
strength of its predecessor," Hildner said.
The
Moon
Since the Spring of 1996, there have been consecutive
lunar eclipses on every major full moon feast day of
Israel. The first eclipse in the series fell on
Passover, April 3rd, 1996. The second, the Eve of the
Feast of Tabernacles, September 27th, 1996. The third
on Purim, March 23rd, 1997. These three eclipses will
have taken place within the span of one biblical
year.
The
Stars
Comet Hale-Bopp, most brilliant comet of the century
is here NOW! Hale-Bopp is approximately 25 miles wide
and traveling at an estimated 40,000 mph (27
mi./sec.). It was at its closest point to earth (123
million miles) on March 23, 1977. It was closest to
the sun and therefore the brightest on April 1, 1997.
It last visited earth 4,210 years ago or 2,214 BC.
That date is just prior to God calling Abraham to
begin the Hebrew nation.
13. Universal tidal waves and ocean
disasters
Luke 21:25; Rev. 8:8-9; 16-3
14. The stars, moon, and sun to be
darkened
Isa. 13:10; Joel 2:30-31; 3:15
15. The moon to be turned into
blood
Joel 2:31; Rev. 6:12
16. The heavens to be rolled
together like a scroll
Isa. 34:4; Joel 2:10; Rev. 6:14
17. Massive hailstones composed of
fire and blood to fall upon the earth
Rev. 8:7; 16:21
18. Huge meteorites to fall upon
the earth
Rev. 8:8-11
19. Stars of the heavens to fall
upon the earth
Rev. 6:13
20. Both salt waters and fresh
waters to become totally polluted
Rev. 8:8-11; 11:6; 16:3-4
21. Universal disaster of land
ecology
Rev. 8:7
22. Events to steadily go from bad
to worse
Amos 5:19
23. A time of thick darkness and
utter depression
Joel 2:2
24. No period in history to even
compare to it
Jer. 30:7; Dan. 12:1; Matt. 24:21-22
25. A time of famine of the very
word of God itself
Amos 8:11-12
26. A time of absolutely no escape
from God's fierce judgment
Amos 9:2-3
27. Worldwide drug usage
Rev. 9:21
28. Universal idolatry and devil
worship
Rev. 9:20; 13:11-17
29. Murderous demonic invasions
Rev. 9:3-20
30. Subterranean eruptions
Rev. 9:1-2
31. Scorching solar heat - Rev.
16:8-9
32. Terrifying periods of total
darkness - Rev. 16:10
33. Unchecked citywide fires -
Rev. 18:8-9, 19
34. A plague of cancerous sores
- Rev. 16:2
35. The total destruction of the
earth's religious, political, and economic
systems - Rev. 17-18
36. A universal dictatorial rule by
the Antichrist - Rev. 13
37. An all-out, no-holds-barred
attempt to destroy Israel - Rev. 12:1-17
38. Survivors of this period to be
more rare than gold - Isa. 13:12
39. Men's blood to be poured out
like dust and their flesh like dung - Zeph. 1:17
40. The slain to remain unburied
and the mountains to be covered with their
blood - Isa. 34:3,
66:24
41. The earth to be removed out of
its orbit - Isa. 13:13
42. The earth to be turned upside
down - Isa. 24:1, 19
43. The earth to reel to and fro
like a drunkard - Isa. 24:20
44. The most frightful physical
plague in all history - Zech. 14:12
45. A 200-mile river of human blood
to flow - Rev. 14:20
46. Scavenger birds to eat the
rotted flesh of entire armies of men - Matt.
24:2; Rev. 19:17-19
