Nazarene Israelite Two House Congregation of Port Elizabeth

Has Jacob’s trouble started?

About 40 years ago George Orwell wrote a book in which he foretold how our world will eventually become a place where most human beings would live on handouts from the governing body and that very few people will be allowed to do their own thing. People in cities will be watched wherever they go and whatever they can say in public or in the media. At that time news where mainly obtained from newspapers, radio and TV broadcasts. We were all free to plan our own professions and career paths depending on our abilities and finances and could not care what this author had to say about the future.

However, things changed a lot since then and during the last year or so we have come to look differently at our world and what is happening around us.Most of the citizens of the world spend being locked down for the past ten months due to the COVIT – 19 virus and the governments of most countries have started rolling out a mandatoryvaccination process, without which no one will be able to buy or sell anything or travel outside of their areas of residence without having proven that they received the vaccine.The control of the masses has during 2020 been proven to work and the so-called ‘one world order’ is about to take it further. World-wide leftists are beginning to take over governmentsto control those who are trying to live by standards provided in the Scriptures. Even though people do not want to be told what to do and say, especially by the Creator of the universe, this new world order will doexactly that.Terrifying events are soon to occur on the earth. Scriptures predicted times of worldwide sorrow, trouble and disaster, that is beginning to happen,but also informs us that there is a way to escape these troubles, if we are willing to heed its warnings.  Very few people today realize that G-d has already spoken to mankind and that there is no way that He will communicate with any one of us on a face to face basis, until after Messiah returns one day, as is recorded in Hebrews 1: 1-2 & 2: 1,as follows: ‘G-d, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, (2) in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. (2: 1) For this reason we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.’ Not only hasG-d spoken to humanity, but His words have also been recorded in the Scriptures by His faithful servants. We need to understand that when we read and study the Scriptures and its teachings and prophecies, we are listening to the inspired words spoken by G-d; the way in which we respect and pay attention to what the Scriptures have to say, shows exactly how we would regard the words of G-d the Almighty – if He were to speak to us on a personal basis.The book of Revelation is full of warnings of horrifying events soon to take place throughout the world. In the finalchapter of this most misunderstood book, the Revelator Messiah ben Joseph concluded in verse 7, saying:“And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book.”Yet most people do not fully understand the urgency of heeding the staggering prophetic warnings in the Scriptures. Scriptural prophecies are not to be taken lightly since the future of mankind is at stake! If we pay attention to these warnings that G-d recorded for us in His Word, He promises a way to escape so that we need not suffer the dangerous times ahead of us, sincethe way of escape is revealed in the Scriptures. The sufferings which started and will over the next three and a half years overwhelm this planet and the nations upon it, need not happen to us.G-d made His warnings known to mankind in His word for thousands of years. But, because G-d seems so unreal to most people, they do not have regard for His word and do not accept that the prophecies given in the Scriptures are applicable to them any longer. It is for this reason that millions today, plod on like ignorant sheep, heedless, careless, calloused and skeptical. They are as if sleepwalking, totally unaware of the grave danger ahead.

The world does not have long to wait before shocking, earth-shattering events will begin to occur at breathtaking speed, like it happened in Europe immediately prior to World War II. RavKepka wrote about the attitude of people in the world today in 2 Peter 3: 3 & 4, saying: ‘Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, (4) and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.”RavShulalso described the people of today in Romans 1: 28, saying:‘And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge G-d any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper.’ Very few today, believe that G-d is going to intervene in human affairs. But surprising as it may sound, there is ample evidence that the miracles and historical events recorded in Scriptures happened and if we can prove that they did occur, then we can be certainthat the events prophesied for our day and age will also happen soon.Let us therefore turn to the books recorded in the Scriptures to see how G-d intervened in world affairs in the past. We will see how the nations were terrified when they saw and began to recognize the power of our Creator. Once we are aware of wat G-d did in the past, we will study His end time warning messages for us and how we can prepare to escape the terrible holocaust this world is bringing upon itself.

We read from the book of Jude4 –21 how G-d warned about the evil that this ‘one world order’ has started, but also what their end will be and how we can avoid such punishment by G-d, in this way: ‘For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehandmarkedout for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our G-d into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Adonai, Y’shua Messiah ben Joseph. (5) Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that Adonai, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.    (6) And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day. (7)Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example, in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. (8) Yet in the same manner these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties. (9)But Michael the archangel when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “Adonai rebuke you.”(10)  But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed. (11) Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. (12) These men are those who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when the feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; (13) wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever. (14)And about these also Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, Adonai came with many thousands of His holy ones, (15) to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” (16) These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage. (17) But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Adonai Y’shua Messiah ben Joseph, (18) that they were saying to you, “In the last time there shall be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.”  (19) These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit. (20) But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith; praying in the Set-apart Spirit; (21) keep yourselves in the love of G-d, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Adonai Y’shua Messiah ben Joseph to eternal life.’

We see from Genesis 5: 22 that Enoch walked with G-d. It is therefore clear that the Eternal Creator HaShem, the G-d of the Tanach who personally dealt with mankind; told Enoch He would one day come with power to execute justice and to convict wicked sinners for all their sins. But similarly, throughout the ages, there were also other prophets who delivered similar warnings to mankind, as we read from Act 3: 18 – 24, in this way: “But the things which HaShem announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Messiah should suffer, He has thus fulfilled. (19) “Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of HaShem; (20) and that He may send Y’shua, the Messiah(ben Joseph) appointed for you, (21) whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which G-d spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.  (22) “Moses said, ‘HASHEMG-DSHALL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BRETHREN; TO HIM YOU SHALL GIVE HEED in everything He says to you. (23) And it shall be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ (24) And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days.”Rav Kepha tells us in 2 Peter 2: 5 that HaShem used Noah to warn the people of a worldwide catastrophe just prior to the Flood, as follows: ‘And did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly.’ We see the reason why HaShem spared Noah and his family from Genesis 6: 8, 9 and 7: 1, in this way: ‘But Noah found favor in the eyes of HaShem. (9) These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with G-d. (7: 1) Then HaShem said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household; for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time.”’  When G-d warned Noah about the destruction to come, he followedG-d’s instructions given in Genesis 6: 13 – 18, to make an ark for him and his household, to escape the flood He was preparing to destroy all mankind with. Noah obeyed, as recorded in verse 22 of Genesis 6, as follows: ‘Thus Noah did; according to all that G-d had commanded him, so he did.’  We also see from Matthew 24: 38 & 39 that the world around Noah remained heedless, in this way: “For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking,they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, (39) and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.”

Later, during Abraham’s time serious sins filled the city of Sodom, as witnessed in Genesis 13: 13, as follows: ‘Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against HaShem.’  We see further from Genesis 14: 17 - 22 that at that time Melchizedek the king of Salem who was a Priest of the Most High met with Abram and the king of Sodom. It was during this meeting that Abram paid a tithe to Melchizedek and considering the time of the meeting, Melchizedek must have warned the Sodomites to repent of their evil deeds, or one day suffer the consequences for their sins. Judging from this contact, there must have been previous occasions during which the king of Sodom and Melchizedek met and conversed.And since G-d does not change in the basic way He thinks and does things (as per Hebrews 13: 8), Melchizedek must have warned the Sodomites to repent of their evil ways, or one day suffer these predictable consequences of sin, namely death!But Sodom’s sins eventually became so bad that G-d finally ordered that the entire population of the city be destroyed by fire and brimstone as punishment, just as the entire earth’s inhabitants were destroyed during the flood, except for Noah and his household. As recorded in 2 Peter 2: 6 – 9  Lot was the only righteous man living in Sodom, when G-d destroyed Sodom, in this way: ‘And if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly thereafter; (7) and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men (8) (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day with their lawless deeds), (9) then HaShem knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment.’ The messengers of G-d warned Lot of the destruction He was going to rain upon Sodom as punishment for their sin, as recorded in Genesis 19: 1, 12 & 13 as follows: ‘Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. (12) Then the men said to Lot, “Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place; (13) for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before HaShem that HaShem has sent us to destroy it.” We see from verse 14 that Lot also warned his sons-in-law to leave the city, but they like the people of today, thought he was joking and made fun of him. We see from verses 24 & 25 how G-d destroyed these communities, in this way: ‘Then HaShem rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from HaShem out of heaven.(25) and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.’Most people today are not in the least concerned with warnings such as these in the Scriptures.Most would continue to enjoy the excesses and illegal materialistic pleasures of the world. They ridicule any mention of G-d’s warnings of looming disaster and could not care less simply because they do not believe that He exists.

But because G-d is a G-d of mercy and He warned ancient Israel of the punishments He would bring upon them if they sinned. The book of Leviticus 26contains blessings from verse 1 to 13, if they obey G-d; but also curses from verses 14 – 46, for not obeying His teachings. However, we see that faithless Israel sinned regardless of these warnings, as recorded in 2 Kings 17: 13 – 15 as follows: ‘Yet HaShem warned Israel and Judah, through all His prophets and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments, My statutes according to all the Law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you through My servants the prophets.” (14) However, they did not listen, but stiffened their neck like their fathers, who did not believe in HaShem their G-d. (15) And they rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers, and His warnings with which He warned them. And they followed vanity and became vain, and went after the nations which surrounded them, concerning which HaShem had commanded them not to do like them.’  We see from verse 20 that HaShem then punished them, as He warned, in this way: ‘And HaShem rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them out of His sight.’

We see from the book of Jonah in Jonah 1: 1 – 2 and 3: 1 – 4 that G-d was also merciful to Gentiles and warned them of impending destruction because of their sins, as follows: ‘The word of HaShem came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, (2) “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.” (3: 1) Now the word of HaShem came to Jonah the second time, saying, (2) Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you.” (3) So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of HaShem. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days’ walk. (4) Then Jonah began to go through the city one day’s walk; and he cried out and said, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”’ In the case of Nineveh, the entire city believed G-d’s message and repented as recorded in verse 5, and we see from verse 10, that when G-d saw that they turned from their wicked ways, He relented concerning the calamity He was about to bring upon them. But we see from the book of Nahum Chapters 1: 1 and 3: 1 – 3 that the repentance of the people of Nineveh did not last exceedingly long, when YHVH again warned them, in this way: ‘The oracle of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. (3: 1) Woe to the bloody city, completely full of lies and pillage; her prey never departs. (2) The noise of the whip, the noise of the rattling of the wheel, galloping horses, and bounding chariots! (3) Horsemen charging, swords flashing, spears gleaming,many slain, a mass of corpses, and countless dead bodies— they stumble over the dead bodies!’ The punishment G-d meted out to these Gentile people are recoded in verses 4 – 7, as follows: ‘All because of the many harlotries of the harlot, the charming one, the mistress of sorceries, who sells nations by her harlotries, and families by her sorceries. (5) Behold, I am against you,” declares HaShem of hosts; “and I will liftup your skirts over your face, and show to the nations your nakedness and to the kingdoms your disgrace. (6) I will throw filth on you and make you vile, and set you up as a spectacle. (7) And it will come about that all who see you will shrink from you and say, ‘Nineveh is devastated! Who will grieve for her? Where will I seek comforters for you?” The Assyrians of Nineveh returned to their old ways of sin soon after the threatened catastrophe did not occur and about a hundred and fifty years later,G-d pronounced Nineveh’s final doom through the prophet Nahum.

G-d has always given people throughout the Scriptures ample opportunity to repent, before sending punishment for breaking His laws of happy, abundant living. He has sent His prophets throughout the ages to warn the nations of His punishments for their careless disobedience. G-d also inspired His prophets to record His warnings and made sure they were preserved for us today. However, His warnings have fallen on deaf ears in nearly every case. The scriptural warnings of Y’shua’s Olivet prophecy recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21, have taken on real meaning in our time. The world has been experiencing the conditions Messiah ben Joseph foretold it would be before the occurrence of great catastrophic events. In this world spiritually deceived through the efforts of Satan and his false ministers, preaching a false messiah instead of the Gospel about the coming Kingdom of G-d, we are in the second break between stages of world war. The first two world wars have occurred and in the short interlude regional wars are continuing and rumors of wars continue in our daily newspapers. The earth is presently struck with great famines, diseases, epidemics, earthquakes, awaiting the commencement ofWorld War III. All these conditions are busy developingin severity until hundreds of millions of the inhabitants of the world will suffer from their effects. Butas Y’shua said in Matthew 24: 8 these events are only the ‘beginning of sorrows’.

Y’shua explained the fifth seal or fifth world-shaking event in Matthew 24: 9 – 13, saying: “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations on account of My name. (10) And at that time many will fall away and will deliver up one another and hate one another. (11) And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many. (12) And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love (for G-d) will grow cold. (13) But the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved.” Unless we remain in close contact with HaShem our G-d, we will become lukewarm and as a result will turn against those who remain faithful and will not be counted worthy to escape the great tribulation, as Y’shua warned in Luke 21: 36, saying: “But keep on the alert at all times, praying in order that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”  We see from Luke 21: 12 – 15 that the coming persecution will lead to an opportunity to give your testimony, as Y’shua detailed in verses 14 & 15, saying: “So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves; (15) for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.” We need to understand that the principle of duality applies throughout most prophecies – in that there is a former and then a latter fulfillment of these prophecies. The persecution spoken about in Matthew 24: 9 already happened in the nation of Judah around 70 CE.However, Luke 21: 20 – 24 describe what will happen to Judah and Jerusalem soon, as follows: “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is at hand. (21) Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are in the midst of the city depart, and let not those who are in the country enter the city; (22) because these are days of vengeance, in order that all things which are written may be fulfilled. (23) Woe to those who are with child and those who nurse babes in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land, and wrath to this people, (24) and they will fall by the edge of the sword and will be led captive into all nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”We see in Matthew 24: 21 & 22 that these things never happened to quite this intensity before, in this way: “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall. (22) And unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days shall be cut short.” The great tribulation is described in Revelation 6: 9 – 11, as follows: ‘And when He broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of G-d, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; (10) and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O HaShem, holy and true, wilt Thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (11) And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, should be completed also.’

This fifth seal is a picture of the martyrdom of believers, who even though they are converted became lukewarm. There are two martyrdoms pictured here. The first martyrs died during the religious persecutions which occurred before to the end of the Middles Ages. In these verses the martyrs of that time are told to wait until another martyrdom of believers has occurred. This martyrdom will occur during the coming great tribulation before the Day of YHVH during the next few years. These martyrs are in their graves, having in a sense been sacrificed on the altar beneath on which was collected, their blood in which resided their lives – or ‘souls’.  But they are pictured in a vision as if crying out from under the altar and are told that Messiah ben David will not come to take vengeance on their behalf until the coming great persecution and martyrdom of more believers will have taken place. Most people do not believe that such terrible things are possible in the supposedly enlightened age in which we live. The memories of most are too short to even remember as far back as World War II, during which millions of Jewish and other people were simply destroyed for what they believe. The concentration camps stand speechless but are shouting witnesses to what human minds are capable of, when they reject G-d. At this time, we as returnees from the house of Israel called out of the religions of the world, together with our Jewish Brothers are the only two witnesses to G-d’s soon coming Kingdom when Messiah ben David will come and rule the world from Jerusalem for a thousand years. But we see from Revelation 11: 3 – 10 that the future martyrdom spoken about in Revelation 6: 11 will even be our lot, as follows: ‘And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. (4) These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before HaShem of the earth. (5) And if anyone desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies; and if anyone would desire to harm them, in this manner he must be killed. (6) These have the power to shut up the sky in order that rain may not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they desire. (7) And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them. (8) And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Master was crucified. (9) And those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb.  (10) And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.’ We see from verse 7that Satan and his agents will be responsible for this martyrdom. We see further from Revelation 17: 4 - 6  & 18 that Satan will use His agent the great false ‘church’ to help him martyr the congregation of G-d and the two witnesses, as follows: ‘And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality, (5) and upon her forehead was a name written, a mystery, “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” (6)  And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Yahushua. And when I saw her, I wondered greatly. (18) “And the woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.”’

Yes, Satan and His agents will be responsible for the end time religious persecution and will become extremely active, as we are getting closer to the end of this age, as recorded in Revelation 12: 9, 12, 13 & 17, in this way: ‘And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. (12) “For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.” (13) And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child (this woman represents the congregation of G-d).  (14) And the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, in order that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. (15) And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. (16) And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth. (17) And the dragon was enraged with the woman. And went off to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keeps the commandments of G-d and hold to the testimony of Y’shua.’ We see from verse 17 that a lukewarm remnant will not be accounted worthy to escape Satan’s persecution during the great tribulation.After this the sixth seal will be broken, and as witnessed in Revelation 6: 12 – 13 this will be when the sun will be darkened and the moon will become like blood, as follows: ‘And I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; (13) and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind.’ The sixth seal consists of spectacular heavenly signs – the sun and moon becoming dark and the ‘stars’ falling. Incredible meteor showers will make the heavens appear to be crashing down to earth. Some claim this has already happened, but the episodes that they describe were all local events, seen by only a small section of the world’s population and were at most merely small forerunners and warnings of the far more spectacular events yet to occur in the foreseeable future. Continuing in verse 14 – 16 of Revelation 6 we see described the heavenly signs that will follow immediately after this event, as follows: ‘And the sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. (15) And the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; (16) and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the lamb.”’ The prophet Joel also prophesied about what HaShem will do at this time in Joel 2: 30 & 31, saying: “And I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, blood, fire and columns of smoke. (31) The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and awesome day of HaShem comes.”

We see the reason for the punishment HaShem is about to unleash upon the earth in Isaiah 24: 3 – 6, in this way: ‘The earth will be completely laid waste and completely despoiled, for HaShem has spoken this word. (4) The earth mourns and withers, the world fades and withers, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away. (5) The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant. (6) Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.’ G-d says He will bring this distress upon defiant and sinful men who hate the truth and peace and love evil. ButG-d’s punishment will be a manifestation of His great love for mankind, as is recorded in Hebrew 12: 5 – 7, as follows: ‘And you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF HASHEM, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; (6) FOR THOSE WHOM HASHEM LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.” G-d’s punishment is directed at those that He wants now to repent from their evil deeds as Rav Kepha wrote in 2 Peter 3: 9, saying: ‘HaShem is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.’ There are people who believe that the plagues G-dbrought upon ancient Egypt and will again bring upon the whole world in the future, is the one great exception to the statement in1 John 4: 8, namely: ‘G-d is LOVE.’A popular myth is that G-d is about to close ‘probation’ and that the time of salvation will soon be over. Then, according to this belief, a ‘resentful G-d’ will soon bring down His rage by pouring out unbearable torture upon defenseless human beings. This is totally a pagan idea of a god capable of all the base passions of degraded mencompletelydevoid of truth of the one and onlyG-d.

But, even at this late stage in the game of life there is an opportunity for members of the lost ten tribes of Israel to return to the covenant the commonwealth of Israel made with HaShem at Mount Sinai. Once leftists have taken over rulership in the USA, the role that they played as police of the world will come to an end and countries who used to toe the line because of threats from them, will start doing as they please and make it impossible for minorities to survive in such countries for long.Afterwards the economies of such countries will deteriorate even more, which will result in famine and eventually a breakdown of law and order, race riots and world-wide war. We are days away from this to start happening and need to pray for the survival of the elect, or those chosen to be in the first better resurrection at Messiah ben David’s coming to rule the world from Jerusalem. There is therefore a light at the end of a three-and-a-half-yeartunnel, and it is not an oncoming train. The point is even if we should lose our lives during the next 1260 days, we will be resurrected as witnessed in 1 Corinthians 15: 50 – 55, in this way: ‘Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of G-d; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. (51) Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, (52)in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. (53) For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. (54) But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.  (55) O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?” It is certain that the future looks bleak, but we also know that salvation is near as we read from Matthew 24: 32 & 33, as fellows: “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; (33) even so you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door.” May that be true in our day. Baruch HaShem.