As you'll see in the pages of this website, SecretsofSurvival.com, I believe that the world we live in today is facing growing threats, and encountering more and more disasters of different types.
I am also a Christian, who believes that the Bible is the Word of God, and that the Bible tells us sometimes specifically and sometimes vaguely about events that will take place in the future. God has put "prophecies" of things to come in different parts of the Bible, said at different times in history.
Jesus warned his followers of events that would take place in the last days, to signal that God's judgments were going to take place, and that those who believed in him would at some point be taken to heaven and receive eternal life. (The point of time believers are taken to Heaven has been debated among many different Christians).
The devil would be powerful in the world, and many people would be blinded to the things of God, and have no idea what their fate was destined to be. Many are destined for destruction. Many are destined to finally turn to Christ when God's Time of Wrath would take place over the earth.
Jesus promised that this would not be a surprise to his followers... we would know that God's Time of Wrath was soon approaching because of events that would be taking place in the world.
Luke 21:34-36 - "Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man."
I believe that events are happening today that we should be "on the watch" for, as Jesus warned.
I believe that the Time of Wrath (as called in the Book of Daniel) (also known as the Tribulation by many Christians) is at our door.
When will it begin? That is up to God.
How will we know it's here?
Well, I believe that is revealed in the opening of the 4th Seal of Chapter 6 of the Book of Revelation ... when this seal is opened a quarter of the world's population is killed by war, famine, plague, and wild beasts.
That is when a lot of people are going to die horrible deaths.
Yes, there will be even greater wrath poured out later in the Tribulation. But the beginning of the Tribulation is very much a time of the Wrath of God, I believe, when I consider that a quarter of the world's population is going to die as things get started.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 - Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
Matthew 24:7-8 - Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
Luke 21:10-11 - Then he said to them: "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.
I believe that God is using signs in the heavens and signs in the earth that Jesus promised would occur in line with "birth pains" to give us a clue of things to come ... What kind of things can we expect? Well, if "war, famine, plague, and wild beasts" are going to kill a quarter of the world's population to start things off, I believe that the kind of signs we'll see as birth pains are going to be events that point to war, famine, plague, and wild beasts.
What we get is the God-Magog alliance of Ezekiel 38, or what Bible scholars like Joel Rosenberg say is a Russia / Iran alliance. This prophecy promises that Russia (if that is in fact the nation that will lead this) will decide it wants Israel's resources, and will lead a massive attack that will fail, because God will supernaturally protect Israel. Looking at Isaiah 17 and Isaiah 19, and the destruction that is going to occur on various enemies of Israel, I believe it likely that this will just be one of the consequences of launching this Gog-Magog attack.
On a side note, the nations representing Gog-Magog and their allies are likely the same nations that make up the "Beast" kingdom prophesied in Revelation 17.
Regarding Ezekiel 18 and Isaiah 17 and Isaiah 19 and Zechariah 12, I group these events together as occurring approximately simultaneously because we know that a peace agreement is going to take place, which I think likely after Gog-Magog fails in it's massive attack on Israel and Israel strikes back and destroys multiple cities in places like Egypt and Damascus, Syria. In fact, Damascus sounds as though it is destroyed in a nuclear attack, and one city in Egypt also appears to be completely destroyed, and a number of other cities are seized by Israel, and Hebrew becomes the spoken language in these cities. To me this signifies a partial take over of the nation of Egypt.
So, are you wondering where all this "unrest" currently taking place in Egypt is going to lead? Read Isaiah 19 ... a "fierce king" will one day soon seize power in Egypt, and that same fierce king is going to take some heavy losses from Israel, when Israel attacks.
With World War III taking place, as part of the opening of the 4th Seal of Revelation 6, I believe America as a nation will fall and Israel as a nation will survive (because of God's supernatural hand of protection).
Business Insider (1/24/2011) - Famine: Russia fires, Australia floods, China drought point to possible global famine
Smart Economy (7/7/2009) - 2009-2010; the year of the Plague(s) (take your pick from several options)
Imagine nuclear war taking place, as well as severe famine (food shortages) and incredibly destructive plagues. If wild beasts play a proportionate roll in the death of so many people, a quarter of that number would be approximately 437,500,000 people dying by attacks from wild beasts.
That's an incredibly huge number. So, let's say that only 10% of the quarter of the world's population experience death from wild beasts ... that is then 175,000,000 people who will die this way.
Wow, is what I consider ... what kind of wild beasts are we talking about? Lions? Wolves? Wild packs of dogs? Birds seemingly possessed by demons, raining down out of the sky on cities and towns similar to Alfred Hitchcock's movie, "The Birds"?
Considering that the Tribulation is going to also be a time of supernatural terror (just read Revelation to hear about the powers of Satan that will be in the world, even the abililty for the "false prophet" to call down fire" and create great signs), there's a chance we may see every beast from every part of human imagination.
The reason I say that this can happen, is that this is God we're talking about. God blinks, and things become real. God breathes, and they have life. Even better than considering the power of God and his promise to bring terror to the world is everything that is covered in Revelation. For example, here's a beast that doesn't sound like something we have ever seen in a history book, but instead a work of science fantasy:
Revelation 9:17-20 - The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.
Is Revelation describing a dragon here? The beasts seen here are called horses because they have riders, however the heads look like the heads of lions and out of their mouths shoot fire, smoke, and sulfur?
So back to the opening of the 4th Seal of Revelation 6 and the wild beasts that will take part in the death of so many people... will these include dinosaurs? Why not? In various books of the Old Testament beasts referred to as Leviathan are mentioned, as well as Behemoth ... if God's intent is to strike terror (and of course, wonder as to what is taking place), if we saw a T-Rex chasing people down main street, surely people would realize that earth is not the mundane rock in the middle of space that it seems to many anti-God believing atheists.
Something greater has control of the world. Something has unleashed beasts from science fiction. Something is angry... and all this thinking is going to lead many people to the Bible. Many will now learn what it means to fear God and many will realize the power of God and that he is angry with evil, angry with the wickedness of men and women, and angry with much of the world for rejecting Christ and choosing to go the way of the devil.
Isaiah 66:3-4 - Isaiah 66:3-4 - "...They have chosen their own ways, and their souls delight in their abominations; so I also will choose harsh treatment for them and will bring upon them what they dread. For when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, no one listened. They did evil in my sight and chose what displeases me."
My friends in the Pacific Northwest may want to think about having supplies on hand just in case a devastating earthquake takes place. I'm not talking about a Tribulation earthquake. I'm talking about a "birth pain" earthquake or eruption from one or more volcanoes, or a series of events taking place at the same time. Think of a "birth pain" earthquake as a disaster that strikes before the rapture of the church.
Just look at the disaster that struck Queensland, Australia in recent weeks. I consider this to be a "birth pain" disaster. First, a massive catastrophic flood struck and then a few days later a massive cyclone struck the same area.
Sure our friends in Australia might be waiting for the rapture, and hoping to avoid any disaster ... but that didn't happen. Instead, it seems a birth pain has taken place, and now many have been thrown into any number of survival situations, and a number of people may have lost their lives.
In this event (or "storm" of life") that has taken place, the Christians who were involved have had a really climatic event take place that both tests their faith and reveals where there walk is with God.
Perhaps the body of Christ (the Christians in the world) need stronger birth pains to take place. Perhaps we need to encounter small scale disasters in the areas of the world in which we live, in order to test our faith, in order to see whether or not we are like the wise man who has built his house on the rock.
Or perhaps we don't need these events. I believe that God can test us with our own events, such as injury, disease, finances, debt, loss of work, etc as a means of testing our faith, and ultimately shaping us as he does a supernatural work in our hearts and mind through the Holy Spirit which he has placed in each one of us, whom he has called and chosen for eternal life.
So what are we to do, with such a great God above and his promises of wrath on a world that chooses evil? The Bible says to "repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins" and that "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.". Do you get the picture?
I encourage you to get your heart right with God. Let the Lord test you in the fiery trials of life, and let the Lord show in these trials that you are worthy of the calling you have received. Why are you worthy? Solely because God in his love and grace has given you Jesus Christ, and when he sees you, he should only see the blood of Christ as having a seal over you, and you are clothed in his righteousness.
Though covered in the blood of Christ, you are called to live a life of holiness and service to God and man, and you are called to a life of repentance and good works. Only your faith saves you. But the "works" in your life will show whether or not you ever really turned to God in faith, and received the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the only real proof in our lives whether or not we are really children of God.