We’ve traveled the Road to Gog and Magog; we’ve seen the Spiritual Battle for the “Christian Israel” ~ The United States of America;
we’ve explored the Valley of the Shadow of Death and seen the change in the world order.
What follows next is a natural progression in our studies of the “End of Days”. I believe that the “Rapture of the Church”;
the “Catching Away of the Bride of Christ” occurs at the onset of the War of Gog and Magog; and what follows is the “Tribulation Period”
prophesied in the books of Daniel and Revelation, “Jacobs Trouble” as the prophet Jeremiah describes it.
The Tribulation Time brings forth the end time empire, ruled by the one we know as the Anti-Christ. A time period foretold in
both Daniel and Revelation as a seven year period of time divided into two parts; each part referred to in different passages as being
3 ½ years / 42 months / time, times, and half a time / or 1260 days.
Here’s an interesting side note: we, as with most of the world, operate on a 365 day calendar (366 during the leap year); if we add up three and a half years, or forty two months, we find that it is actually more than 1260 days! Could this be a contradiction in the Word of God?
No, certainly not! We need to understand that there are at least two groups of people who do not use a 365-366 day calendar; but rather they use a 360 day calendar based on the lunar cycles rather than the solar cycles. These two groups of people are the Hebrews/Jewish people and the Islamic people. 360 +360 +360 +180 = 1260 days; 3 ½ years; 42 months; half of the Tribulation and 1260 +1260 = 2520 days in the seven year Tribulation.
So we can see that the account
of the Tribulation Period time table will be based on the Religious Jewish calendar; or perhaps on the Islamic calendar; either way,
the time will be less than if based on the calendar we use today, which would be about 2555 days {possible even one or two days more
due to leap years} instead of the 2520 days indicated in the Word of God.
The time would then be shortened by at least 35 days! Could this be what Jesus was talking about in Mark 13:20 “Unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days.” NASB
Could
it be that if the timing of the Tribulation was based on the solar calendar that we use, instead of the Hebrew Calendar, mankind and
the Anti-Christ might use Weapons of Mass Destruction so ferocious that no life would be spared on this earth? Revelation does
tell us that just before Jesus returns to earth, the armies of the world are massed at Armageddon and who knows what might happen
if Jesus should delay His return and not destroy the armies. Just a thought :)
Let’s look in Book of Revelation; and continue on this natural progression that we’ve been following, leading into the Tribulation Period. If our understanding of the unfolding of events is correct; the great battle of Gog and Magog has just occurred; millions of people around the world have vanished without a trace or........,
as I believe, their physical bodies simply collapse lifeless
as their spirit was raptured out, leaving millions of corpses laying about; the world is shocked and awed by what has taken place
in Israel as God defends His people; the countries where these armies came from are devastated by the loss of so many of their people,
as is the rest of the world by the loss of so many people; the restraining power of the Holy Spirit is gone; the “Church”, the “True
Believers”, the “Body of Christ”, the “Righteous People” are gone; and the only ones left to pick up the pieces are those who don’t
have a clue what’s going on ~ or those who are being lead by demonic spirits.
I do realize that there are other interpretations and a different understanding concerning some of the things I’m about to share with
you in the Book of Revelation, the Prophets, and events pertaining to the “End of Days”.
The central theme of what I’m going to share with you is very “politically incorrect”; to say the least. As God began to lead
me down this particular avenue of ministry, and to show me in the Spirit certain aspects of these “End of Days”; as world events began
to unfold as they did; as I began to see and understand things that I never really did before, especially concerning the Islamic Religion;
I have become convinced in my spirit of certain realities.
I am convinced that the one thing that has been missing from End Time Prophetic teaching; the one thing that binds all End Time Prophecy
together; the one thing that explains the aspects of End Time Prophecy that teachers have simply left without explanation; the one
thing that illuminates the dim areas of End Time Prophecy ~ is the Islamic Connection.
We talked about this at the beginning of these studies on the “End of Days”. I mentioned the “Mahdi”, the possibility of this
Islamic connection, and periodically made references to it throughout these studies.
As we explore “The Chronicles of the Beast”;
we will do so from the standpoint that this Islamic connection is valid and true. You don’t have to agree with it; you don’t
have to believe it or accept it as truth. That is your right and privilege. This concept has radically illuminated my
understanding and teaching of the Book of Revelation and “End of Days” studies. I believe that what I’m about to share with
you is truth. Only time will tell.
I just do what God tells me to do; I can do no less. So here it is, as I understand
it through the Holy Spirit, as it was given to me by the Holy Spirit; I share it with you.
The first three chapters of the Book of Revelation are written to the Church, the Body of Christ. I do not believe that these Churches represent different time periods of the Church Age beginning when John recorded this and progressing until the end of time lukewarm Church; each Church representing a unique time in Church history.
Rather, these letters are instructions from Jesus to the entire Body of Christ; from the time of the writing of the Book of Revelation; to the time of fulfillment of the Church age when we are taken out of this world; each letter representing different characteristics and circumstances of the Church that can and do occur at any given time throughout the history of the Church Age; and how we should respond when confronted in our particular Church body with these situations.
Chapter 4 initiates the “Rapture” or “Catching Away” of the Church into Heaven and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb; and brings John into the Throne Room of God.
Chapter 5 presents Jesus as the Lamb Slain for the Salvation of our sins and as the only one worthy to open the seven sealed scroll;the Lamb assumes the responsibility of initiating the great final conflict with the forces of evil, the end of which will see the
Lamb triumphant and the devil consigned to the lake of fire.
Chapter 6 is where we want to begin; Jesus, the Lamb of God is opening the seven seals on the scroll. This is the beginning
of the Tribulation Period. I believe that the breaking of the first six seals occur almost simultaneously with the Battle
of Gog and Magog and with each other.
Six seals opened; six being the number of mankind. Mankind’s time has come
to fulfillment; the Bride of Christ, the Church of the First Born is taken out of this earth; the great earthquake known as the “Wrath
of the Lamb” occurs with the opening of the sixth seal:
REV 6:12I 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. 14 The sky was split apart like a scroll when it
is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
{Rev. 6:12-14 NASB}
This, I believe, is the same earthquake foretold in Ezekiel 38:19-20 when the prophet was telling of the battle of Gog and Magog:
“In
My zeal and in My blazing wrath I declare that on that day there will surely be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. 20 “ The
fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all the creeping things that creep on the earth, and all the men
who are on the face of the earth will shake at My presence; the mountains also will be thrown down, the steep pathways will collapse
and every wall will fall to the ground. NASB
As these four seals are opened, we see the “Death Riders”; known as the “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse”. Again, I believe
that these four “Death Riders” all come on the scene simultaneously. They are all related and are all an integral part of each
other. They cannot be separated.
The First Seal—Anti-Christ
The Second Seal—War
When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come.” And another, a red horse,
went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great
sword was given to him.
The Third Seal—Famine
When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, “Come .” I looked, and behold, a black
horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living
creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine.”
The Fourth Seal—Death/Pestilence
When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come .”
I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him.
Authority was given
to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.
So we see here four riders on four different color horses. We’re going to look at these four “Death Riders” individually; but
first let’s look at them as a group.
The first horse is a white one; the second horse is red, or fiery red; the third
is black; and the fourth is ashen or sickly pale. Each horse represents a particular curse or judgment and each horse has a
rider. These riders are the demonic spirits assigned by Satan to fulfill these specific purposes.
Like I’ve already said, I believe that all four of these come on the scene at the same time and are all directly related to each other;
they are all results of the Battle of Gog and Magog; they are all death dealers; they all feed off of each other; they are all let
loose at the beginning of the Tribulation Time and worsen as they course through the first three and one-half years; peaking at mid-Tribulation
when the Anti-Christ comes into full power and invades Jerusalem.
Look again at the last part of verse 8; Authority was given
to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.
Because
this is part of verse 8, which tells about the opening of the fourth seal and the “Pale Rider”; it is a common error to assume that
this is solely attributed to the fourth horseman, when it is actually a summary of the four.
Remember the original Greek text
did not have chapters, verses, paragraphs, periods or other punctuation marks. The people of that time understood how things
were written. We added these so that we could better understand and we may not have always separated things as they should have
been.
Verse 8 says that “Authority was given to them”; indicating that this authority included all of them: ~ the
Rider of the White Horse is the leader of this quartet. He has the authority and controls the other spirits; “to kill with sword”~ the “Red Horse”; “and with famine” ~ the “Black Horse”; “and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.” ~ the “Pale
Horse”.
When it says “Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth......” this could indicate two different concepts. Either
they will ravage only a fourth part of the earth; leaving three-fourths of the earth unaffected and untouched by this war, famine,
pestilence, and control................ or, they will have authority, power over, control over a fourth of the earth’s population;
leading them into war on the rest of the earth resulting in world wide conflict, famine, and pestilence.
Which one makes more sense, given that we are talking about the Tribulation Period?
Notice too, that the riders of the horses are the ones who bring death and mayhem upon the earth and they are not allowed to proceed
forward; they are kept in check; restrained until Jesus breaks the seals on the scroll.
The horses are significant in
color and represent specific curses or judgments upon the earth that resulted because of the “Fall of Mankind” and are a part of the
“Curse of Sin” upon the world. They have always been here, but have been held in check until the fulfillment of God’s time.
The color of the horses themselves are very significant and are referenced to the Old Testament, as are hundreds of verses in the
Book of Revelation; in fact, much of Revelation can be found in the imagery of the Old Testament.
In the Book of Zechariah for example, there are many parallels with the Book of Revelation, even though they were written hundreds
of years apart:
· Revelation talks about the two witnesses who will preach the Gospel in
Jerusalem during the first half of the Tribulation; Zechariah also tells of the two anointed witnesses of the Lord in Zech. 4:11-14.
· The battle for Jerusalem starts in Rev. 11:13 and Zechariah gives the account in chapters 13 & 14 of his prophecy.
· Rev. 19:11-16 ~ Jesus is depicted returning to Jerusalem riding on a white horse as King of Kings and Lord of Lords; Jesus stands
upon the Mount of Olives and it cleaves in two according to Zech. 14:4-8
· Both Rev. and Zech.
Talk about Jesus being the King and reigning on the earth.
· And here’s the one we want to focus
on:
Zechariah 6:1-8;
Now I lifted up my eyes again and looked, and behold, four chariots were coming forth from between the two mountains;
and the mountains were bronze mountains. With the first chariot were red horses, with the second chariot black horses,
with the third chariot white horses, and with the fourth chariot strong dappled horses.
Notice: the horses are “With” the chariots,
not identified as pulling the chariots ~ King James actually says that they are “IN” the chariots.
Then I spoke and said to the angel who was speaking with me, “ What are these, my lord?” The angel replied to me, “These are
the four spirits of heaven, going forth after standing before the Lord of all the earth, with one of which {referring to the chariots} the
black horses are going forth to the north country; and the white ones go forth after them, while the dappled ones go forth to the south
country. “When the strong ones went out, they were eager to go to patrol the earth.” And He said, “Go, patrol the earth.” So they patrolled
the earth. {the chariots are taking the horses ~ the curses and judgments ~ through out the whole earth} Then He cried out to me and
spoke to me saying, “See, those who are going to the land of the north have appeased My wrath in the land of the north.”
NASB
Look at the wording here; the angel is talking about the chariots being the four spirits of heaven not the horses. There are indications
in the Scriptures that allude to created beings of God that are called the “Merkabah” of God in Hebrew. Chariots of God in the
English translation. I believe that this is what is represented here.
When the angel says “These are the four spirits
of heaven, going forth after standing before the Lord of all the earth”, he is referring to the chariots, not the horses.
The four chariots are the four spirits of heaven, four spirit beings {possibly some form of angel or some other spirit being created
by God for a specific purpose like Cherubim and Seraphim} are controlling the curses and judgments that are represented by the different
color horses. They are keeping the curses under control! Preventing the spirit of anti-Christ; war; famine; and disease,
pestilence, and death from completely destroying mankind.
These curses and judgments are a result of sin, the fall of man at the Garden of Eden; they were released into the earth but restrained
by the spirits of heaven ~ God’s Chariots. The closer we get to the “End of Days”, the more freedom these curses are allowed;
until finally, they are unchained under the control of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse ~ the four demonic angels/spirits of Satan.
Notice too, the order of the horses is different in Zechariah than in Revelation. These are the same horses; and the difference
in order is an indication that they are indeed unchained at the same time. Here in Zechariah as well as during the Tribulation Time
in Revelation.
We do have a little difference in the color of the last horse ~ the curse of pestilence, disease, and plague. The horse here
in Zechariah is described as grisled and bay in the King James; strong dappled in the NASB, NIV, and Amplified. The Hebrew meaning
of grisled is “spotted as with hail” and bay means “of a strong color”; so basically the fourth horse looks splotchy like someone
who is sick with a disease or the plague or someone who has been dead for a while; with distinct strong coloring.
The
fourth horse in Revelation is called pale, or ashen; the Greek word is “chloros” which means a sickly pale green. Like the expression
when someone is looking sick ~ “green around the gills”. So while the actual word description varies, the true meaning of what
these two writers of Scripture saw in these two horses was the same and corresponds with the purpose of the horse. Pestilence, disease,
sickness, plague, death!!!
Okay, let’s go back to Revelation. These four horses have four riders, four demonic spirits who now control these judgments and curses. These judgments and curses are now unchained and released full force upon the earth and mankind. Why?????? Because the restraining power of the Holy Spirit is taken out of the earth with the Rapture of the Church; remember, the Church is the Temple of the Holy Spirit:
1 Corinthians 6:19; and the Wrath of God and Judgment of God is being poured out on the earth; the Grace of God has reached it’s fulfillment and it’s time for
the restoration of all things to prepare for the coming of the
Messiah ~ even Jesus! Acts 3:19-21
The First Seal—Anti-Christ
I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him,
and he went out conquering and to conquer.
This is the Anti-Christ! Practically all Bible scholars agree on this. He comes riding a white horse; Jesus is depicted as returning on a white horse; Rev. 19:11 and Satan has always tried to imitate God. That’s what he does, his desire is to replace God and exalt himself up to God’s level by proving that he can do the very things that
God does; by replacing what God has ordained with his own counterfeit signs and wonders; by deceiving people into believing that he
is God; by denouncing the deity of Jesus and relationship with the Father of Jesus.
This is no different; the Anti-Christ comes
riding a white horse, because Jesus is depicted as returning on a white horse. The Greek “Anti” means not just “against”; but
also means “instead of” or “in place of”. So we see that the Anti-Christ doesn’t just come against Christ but also comes to
replace Christ, at least in the eyes of mankind. He comes claiming that he is the Christ.
There are a couple of things we need to understand here; Christ is the Greek for the Hebrew Messiah; Christ is not the last name of
Jesus, Christ is a description of who Jesus is ~ the anointed one; in Hebrew, Messiah ~ the anointed one. This is the
one promised from God, anointed of God to be the savior of mankind.
That’s who the Anti-Christ comes as ~ the savior of mankind. He does not claim to be Jesus! There is a clear distinction between the Anti-Christ and the person of Jesus. There is a false prophet who comes on the scene in Rev. 13:11 ; who, I believe, will claim to be Jesus; not the Son of God Jesus, but rather the
prophet Jesus. We’ll get into this in Episode 3 of the Chronicles of the Beast when we will discuss the false prophet,
the name of the beast, the number of the beast and the mark of the beast.
We as Christians believe that Jesus, the man, the prophet, the teacher who came to earth; born of a virgin; lived a sinless life;
died on the cross; and rose again the third day victorious over sin, death, hell, and the grave ~ is the Son of God, the Christ, the
Promised One, the Anointed One, the Messiah and Savior of mankind. The two are one in the same ~ Jesus is the Christ; Jesus
is the Messiah; Jesus is the Savior of the world.
However................Islam believes that Jesus was just a prophet, just a man,
just a teacher and not the Son of God. Islam teaches that Jesus will return; that Allah took Jesus up to heaven to chastise
Him for lying to people and when Jesus returns to earth, He will tell the world that He lied, He is not the Son of God; God has no
son..........more about that later on.
Back to the Anti-Christ: He comes with a bow ~ that’s a warrior’s
bow, but he has no arrows. In other words, he is a warrior, but he
doesn’t do the actual fighting. He’s the general, the authority, the
controlling spirit. He doesn’t have to fight; he has the other three
Death Riders to carry out his purpose and design.
Next, we find that he has a crown on his head. This word in the Greek is not Diadem the word for a Kingly Crown or a crown of Royalty; instead this word is Stephanos which is a victor’s crown such as was given
to Olympic competitors and to military leaders after a victorious
campaign. These were usually woven olive leaves or laurel leaves. So the
Anti-Christ is a victor.
He goes out conquering and to conquer. He is a man of war; he takes over countries and territories. Daniel tells about
how he over throws three countries ~ Ethiopia, Libya, and Egypt; Daniel 11:43.
Now notice that these are three predominantly
Islamic countries!
Revelation 13:4 says: Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him”
We need to understand
that this Anti-Christ is a man of war and he makes war on the earth! I know there are those who teach that he will be a man
of peace, but Daniel tells us in Daniel 8:25 that by peace, he will destroy many; 1Thessalonians 5:3 tells us while the world is saying
peace and safety sudden destruction comes upon them. He controls the other three horsemen: War, Famine, and Pestilence.
This Anti-Christ is the Beast of Revelation chapter 13. He comes on the scene in Revelation 6 and begins his conquest of the
world and by the middle of the Tribulation, he takes over the world governments and kingdoms and exchanges his stephanos crown for
his diadem crowns. It is at this point that he kills the two witnesses in Jerusalem and the “Abomination of Desolation” is set
up on the Temple Mount. Here begins the last half of the Tribulation, called the Great Tribulation.
We’re going
to get more into this Anti-Christ and his Islamic connection in Episode 2 ~ The Beast ~ Unchained!
Right now let’s move on to the second horseman:
The Second Seal—War
When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature
saying, “Come.” And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and
that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him.
He takes peace from the earth; the Greek word here means “prosperity,
quietness, rest, tranquility”; he has a great sword in his hand; a sword always signifies war in the scriptures. Have you ever
heard of the “Sword of Islam”? That’s how the religion of Islam historically has been spread ~ by the Sword!
War is following this horseman; but war is not the only way to take peace from the earth. It’s not just about warfare
and battles fought on the battlefields; but it can also be about civil unrest and rioting.
Now let me share something else with
you; look around the world; how many wars are being fought, where are they being fought, and who is fighting them; how much civil
rioting is going on, where is the rioting occurring, and who is doing the rioting. If you do a study of this, you will find
that nearly 90 – 95 percent of all wars and rioting is directly related to Islam! Islam is trying to take over England and every
European country; trying to establish Islamic Sharia Law and promoting Islam through civil unrest and rioting. In other countries,
they are involved directly in genocide and fighting wars to establish their religion; they persecute Christians and other religions;
they murder Christians at Church services; they seek them out and kill them ~ 160,000 people are killed every year for the Gospel
and probably 90% of them are killed by radical Islamic fanatics.
9/11 did something for Islam all over the world that they never had before; it put them in the position of believing that they were
in the last days. Christianity isn’t the only religion that has Apocalyptic teachings and beliefs. Islam also teaches an “End
of Days” theology, and 9/11 became a catalyst for their teachings and gave them hope for the creation of their end time “Caliph Dom”. They began thinking that now it was time for them to come to power. That’s why world leaders such as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejadof Iran are now publically proclaiming that their “End of Days” leader; Al Mahdi is coming soon.
In a recent poll taken in the
United States, one out of every four Muslims in the United States of America believes that it is okay for bombers to kill people to
protect their religion!
Terrorism, in its present stage is currently taking peace from the earth.
Can you see where
the world being set up for the Tribulation Time. What did Jesus say????
“You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See
that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.” “For nation will rise against nation,
and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. “ But all these things are merely the beginning
of birth pangs.”
{Matt. 24:6-8 NASB}
Just think about it.............the chaos and uncertainty following the Battle of Gog and Magog, the Rapture of the Church, and world
upheaval that has just occurred. These nations involved in the battle have lost their main army, making them vulnerable to attack
and civil unrest. The Anti-Christ is coming to establish his power base. It is in this time of unrest, war, political
and civil upheaval; that he will take control. He will make a peace treaty with Israel for seven years; he will ruthlessly bring
the world under his control.
Now we’re ready for the third horseman:
The Third Seal—Famine
When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying,
“Come .” I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard something like
a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius;
and do not damage the oil and the wine.”
This horseman is Famine. The Tribulation will bring a world wide famine. We have
famines now around the world, but this one will be world wide. The world is being prepared even now. Every year there
are more and more famines across the globe; every year the famines are more and more severe; more and more intense.
This rider has scales in his hand, indicating
that he is rationing food. I believe that the
world is being set up for a great famine that
will reach catastrophic proportions by the middle of the Tribulation and the Anti-Christ will control the world food supply. Remember we said that Satan like to imitate God and the things that God does? Joseph faced a world wide famine in his day and
prepared for it by collecting a portion of the food during the good years so that when the famine came, Egypt had food. That’s
what brought the Children of Israel to Egypt in the first place.
Satan knows that there is going to be a famine and he knows what worked for God.
I believe that we are so near the end; it is possible
that the Anti-Christ is even now beginning to gather together food and storing it up against a world famine. For certain he
will be doing so in the near future.
The two witnesses, according to Rev. 11:6, will shut up the sky for forty two months, three and a half years, at the beginning of
the Tribulation and there will be no rain. There will be such a drought that the Euphrates River is going to dry up. Some
believe that this will be only in the Middle East; but I believe that it will be world wide.
By the middle of the Tribulation, the Anti-Christ is firmly in control of the world food supply.
As we look at this horseman
of Famine, we see that it will cost a denarius for a quart of wheat or three quarts of barley. Now a denarius was a days wage
and the quart is actually in the Greek called a measure and was only a little over a pint and a half; but we translate it quart because
that’s the closest English equivalent to a measure which was one days ration. In Jesus’ time, you could get 24 measures of barley
for a denarius.
So what happens is one will have to work all day just for enough grain to make enough bread to eat for one day. If you have a family, you might feed three if you opted for the lesser grain of barley. If you have a family of more than three,
you’re just out of luck. We are assuming of course that you are even able to buy food because you have the name, the number,
or the mark of the beast that allows you to do so.
Now let’s look at the last part of this verse: hurt not the oil and the wine. What does that mean???? Hurt not the oil
and the wine.
First, we need to understand; oil in the bible and in John’s time, not only referred to the actual oil, but also
referred to the olive tree itself. Wine in the bible and in John’s time, not only referred to the actual wine, but it also was
used to refer to the grape while it was still on the vine. So when John says hurt not the oil and the wine, he is referring
to the olive tree {from which olive oil was derived} and the vineyards {from which the grapes for making wine were grown}.
So,
what’s this all about? Well, here’s one possible answer: Have you heard of the missing bees? Let me tell you about
the missing bees. This isn’t just some urban legend. This isn’t just some internet scare. This is a very real problem.
About
October 2006 bee keepers began to notice something strange about their bees; they began flying around in circles and behaving erratically. Bees do not travel in the cold, but bees began to disappear in the fall and by Feb., March, and April they found many of their hives
were empty. The number of lost bees more than doubled the normal expected losses and in some areas more than tripled the loss. This phenomenon is occurring not just in the United States, but around the world.
In a press release by the Congressional Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture
Thursday, March 29, 2007 Hearing
on the Honey Bee Colony Collapse Disorder
Congressman Dennis Cardoza
18th Congressional District of California
We are here today
to hopefully shed some light on a troubling phenomenon. The purpose of this hearing is to examine the potential impact and possible
causes of the Colony Collapse Disorder affecting Honey Bee Colonies across the U.S. Throughout the country, Honey Bee Colonies
are used for large-scale pollination of many crops. The unprecedented disappearance has alarmed farmers and scientists, and could
cost American agriculture millions in lost revenues.
Unfortunately – as we now know - their concerns were not unfounded. The 2006 honey bee population decline was not a blip on the screen, and was, in fact, a precursor to a larger national epidemic.
Only
recently have leading pollinator researchers assigned a terminology for this phenomenon. Researchers and industry have now termed
this dramatic and unprecedented decline Colony Collapse Disorder.
Colony losses occur when bees fail to return to their hives,
which is very abnormal for honey bees. While some level of honey bee losses are not unusual, the suddenness and widespread nature
of Colony Collapse Disorder is truly unprecedented.
Perhaps most disconcerting: no one seems to know exactly what is causing
this phenomenon. Some theories include: parasites, mites or other pathogens, poor nutrition, and high stress levels among adult bees,
or a combination of these and other unknown factors.
And then more recently in 2008, there was a special on this Colony Collapse Disorder on the Fox News Channel, and a June 26, 2008
article in the Palm Beach Post online business section: WASHINGTON — Researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other
agencies still don't know why worker bees are vanishing from their colonies in drastic numbers, but they have a hunch that the problem
could be related to a parasite spreading a virus among the six-legged insects.
"Even though research to date has not produced a definitive
finding on the cause of or solution to the CCD problem, the research is making important progress toward our understanding of the
disorder," Edward Knipling, administrator of the Agriculture Department's scientific research agency told the House Horticulture and
Organic Agriculture subcommittee.
Overall bee colony losses are about twice the percentage of losses sustained during a typical winter.
In 2008, beekeepers saw a 36 percent loss, compared with a 31 percent loss in 2007.
So why is it so important that the bees are disappearing? One third, thirty-three percent of all the food we eat is pollinated by bees. Many of our fruits, berries, and vegetables rely
on bees to pollinate them to be able to produce their fruit. One in every three bites of food you eat has to be pollinated by
bees.
We used to live next to a huge apple orchard. In order for them to produce their apples, they absolutely had to have
bees to pollinate the trees. So much so, that they couldn’t rely on chance pollination; they had their own hives in among the
apple trees.
Could it be that this is just one more of the signs of the times that God’s Word tells us to watch for???? Could it just be that this
is one more preparation for the coming of the Lord and the “End of Days”?
The world is being prepared for the Tribulation. Everything we see going on today is preparing for the advent of the Anti-Christ and the Tribulation ~ the Wrath of God being poured
out on this sinful world.
Let’s move on to the fourth horseman:
The Fourth Seal—Death/Pestilence
When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth
living creature saying, “Come .” I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following
with him.
Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the
wild beasts of the earth.
As we mentioned before, the color for this horse is in the Greek “chloros” which is a pale, sickly
green; something like a dead body would look like after a certain period of time.
This horse and rider represents Death by pestilence,
plague, disease, or sickness. What we are looking at is the real possibility of a biological weapon of mass destruction.
Right now in the world we are seeing new diseases and pestilences that just a few short years ago, we never imagined; we thought we
had all know diseases and viruses beaten and cured; but what happened? Along came all these new pestilence, with no cure, no
way of dealing with them. Look at recent years: Sars Disease, Aides, West Nile Virus, and Legionnaires Disease. Every
year we are encouraged to get a flu shot and it turns out that the flu virus has mutated and the shot is no good and hundreds of people
die of the flu, even if they have had the shot.
When this horseman comes, there will be more. We’re not just looking at
natural occurring plagues and diseases; those are going to be bad enough; but we’re going to be dealing with the new biological agents
that are being created by Islamic Terrorists; they will be released into the world and create devastation on a global scale.
One unusual thing that the scripture tells us in the latter part of verse 8 is that this horseman will kill by the beasts of the earth. I know that this could mean that wild animals could come out of the woods, the swamps, the mountains, the jungles, the forests and
start killing people; but here’s something else to think about..............
What if somehow the cattle, sheep, or pigs
became tainted with some sickness or virus that was transferred through the meat of the animals to man? It’s not unheard of.........
we’ve already had “Mad Cow Disease”....... remember! There are other naturally occurring diseases or plagues that do not necessarily
kill the animal but can be transferred to us! Hey~ the world is going to be in a famine and people in a famine situation
will eat anything they can get their hands on, even if it is a sick animal.
Remember the tainted dog food scare; toxic ingredients were found in dog food ingredients coming from China; whose to say that biological
toxins can’t be included in cattle feed, sheep feed, or pig feed; biological toxins that won’t affect the animals but can be transferred
to humans. Think about it...............these feed mills are not exactly high security sites.......there are no armed guards
roaming around among the feed mixers and grain bins, no barbed wire topped chain link fences, electrified with high voltage current
surrounding the feed mill compound!
I don’t know if they have any such biological weapon that they can do this with or not;
but we are living in a time where new innovation occurs daily. It’s not beyond possibility.
Remember we said that this horse was green in color? Just an interesting point here......... Green is the color of Islam ~ the
color of Muhammad.
Don’t forget, power/authority is given to them over a fourth part of the earth....... one fourth of the world’s
population is Islamic and they are looking for an end time empire to rule the world! It’s in their prophecy in the Quran and
in the Hadith; they will rule an end time empire and institute Sharia Law ~ Islamic Law and worship of Allah.
I’m convinced that
these horsemen are an indicator of how Radical Islam is going to take over the world in the end time. Just think about, when
the restraining power of the Holy Spirit is taken out of this world, when the Born Again Believers are taken out of this world; who’s
going to be left in charge? Who’s going to be in control? Who’s going to be there to pick up the pieces after the devastation
of Gog and Magog, the great earthquake, and the Rapture of the Church?
That’s why we need to understand what is going to happen; it’s up to us to leave behind a legacy of Faith, a legacy of Hope, a legacy of Wisdom; so that those who are left behind; loved ones, family members, neighbors, co-workers, friends, even strangers will be able to
look back on your life and say “That’s what they were talking about!” “That’s what they meant!” “That’s the answer we need
to follow!”
We are in the last days, we are fast approaching the “End Of Days” and the return of Jesus is imminent! I have
no problem making the statement that I believe that we are the generation that will see the Rapture of the Church. Too much
is happening; too much is directly in line with end time prophecy for God’s Word. The Anti-Christ, the Beast of Revelation may
indeed be alive today and preparing for his rise to power.
