ALL HELL BREAKING LOOSE
JUST AS PROPHESIED IN SCRIPTURE!

By: Dorothy Anne Seese

Every time we call attention to the fact that the prophesies in Scripture 
are  being fulfilled, the Amen corner shouts for glee and the gainsayers, 
naysayers, scoffers and secularists (atheists, witches, and assorted 
others who hate God) begin brandishing their weapons of belligerence 
and rebellion.  Now let it be said here at the beginning, if you do not 
want to believe God, that's fine with me.  I won't be on the bench at the 
day of Judgment, I won't even be judged with the world ... so go argue 
with God.   

Now to my topic, which is Matthew 24.  Some preterits incorrectly 
construe this to have application solely to the Jerusalem of Jesus' 
time, but His disciples had asked three questions, and many of the answers 
the Lord gave apply both to the time of the disciples as well as to the 
time of the end, particularly since they had asked what the signs of the 
end times would be.   


Matthew 24:5-7 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; 
and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: 
see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, 
but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom 
against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and 
earthquakes, in divers places.  

Earthquakes are not new.  There must have been a "rip-snortin" quake 
in the days of Uzziah, who began to reign in 806 B.C. because of this 
statement in Amos:  

The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he 
saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the 
days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the 
earthquake.  

The fact that mention is made of "the earthquake" means it was well 
known to all, just as older folks speak of World War II as "the war" 
without any mistake by adults over 40 as to which war they are 
referring.  

Now earthquakes are very numerous, and are striking in "divers" 
(various, different) places ... in the US they are even occurring in 
such places as Alabama and Arkansas, not just Pacific Rim states that 
are in the notorious Ring of Fire that encircles the Pacific Ocean and 
extends to the islands in it.  Seismic activity is at times phenomenally 
high in parts of the Rim. In the Middle East, also an EQ-prone area, 
Turkey has just had another nearly Richter 7 quake with numerous 
deaths and injuries, the complete toll of which is yet to be determined.  
Is God angry with Turkey?  No more so than with the balance of the 
world. They happen to be sitting on top of the 1,500 mile Anatolian 
Fault, so they will have massive quakes. Central Asia has had its share 
of quakes also, along with India and "divers" other places on Planet 
Earth.  Why doesn't God intervene?  You will have to ask Him, He 
hasn't told me.  

But looking again at Matthew 24, we see these things occurring today 
and all at the same time:  

False "Christs" ... that doesn't mean people claiming to be Christ, 
or His person. "Christ" is simply Greek for "anointed
one" or Messiah.  
A person claiming to possess special relationships with deity, special 
powers, attracting followers or disciples, and teaching quite another 
religion from that of Jesus of Nazareth abound, and they are rightfully 
called "false Christs" because they are claiming attributes, powers and 
wisdom that is solely the possession of the Lord Jesus Christ.  They 
should not be slaughtered as were the followers of David Koresh at 
Waco.  They should not be denied the rights of American citizens, if 
that is what they are. If they live in a foreign nation, it is not our 
business to meddle with their religion unless it is attacking our nation, 
in which case it is not a religious act but an act of war or terrorism,
and protection of the United States is a police action unless a formal 
war is declared. (At least, that is the constitutional way to deal with 
such things.)  

However, never have so many cult leaders gathered so many followers, 
and never have so many seekers been taken in by anything and 
everything ranging from the mystic secrets of ancient Egypt to the 
nearly legalized practice of Voodoo, recently approved by the nation 
of Haiti. Thus "false Messiahs" are found everywhere on the globe while 
followers of God are falling by the wayside of deception.  

Pestilences?  Whether laboratory-devised or naturally mutated, viruses 
are becoming more virulent and widespread than ever. SARS is the 
latest, but my parents lived through the 1920 Spanish Flu outbreak 
(which had nothing to do with Spain).  Since then we've been fighting 
and conquering diseases like polio and measles, only to be confronted 
with AIDS and the return of tuberculosis, the fear of widespread bio-
terrorism and such things as West Nile, Ebola, and perhaps hundreds 
of lesser known agents of plague, including outbreaks here and there 
of Hanta virus and Bubonic Plague.   

Now the earth is filled with quakes and pestilences, along with false 
messiahs.   How about wars and rumors of wars?  I read an article the 
other day about the US pullout of its troops from Saudi Arabia, causing 
them to wonder if they are next on this administration's "hit list" of 
nations.  Since the known or at least labeled terrorists are mostly 
Saudis (the ones actually accused of terrorism outside their own nation 
of Iraq) it is understandable why the Saudis would be concerned.   

How about famines?  People are dying of hunger somewhere in the 
world every day.  Famine is not new, but it is more widespread than ever 
before known in recorded history, just as the population of this planet 
exceeds any post-Flood population when the world started over and in 
three generations fell into apostasy.  

So now we have false messiahs, earthquakes in divers places, wars and 
rumors of wars, pestilence, famine, and nation rising against nation, 
kingdom against kingdom.  All this is happening every day, along with 
the spread of evil, debauchery and licentiousness, abuses of human 
against human, unspeakable evils, soaking the world with blood and 
beclouding it with terror.  

It is time to wonder whether or not, after all, Scripture was more than 
correct in describing the times that would be in effect at the end of this 
age.  

For me there is no wonder at all.  I expected it.  For all that expectation, 
I was still hoping to avoid the worst of it, and I may yet, because I have 
systemic lupus and while I had it once before and was instantaneously 
healed of it on Nov. 20, 1988, this time it may carry out its objective 
in my flesh.  My soul is secure, and in that I can rejoice.  

Even for the unbelievers who rush to fortune tellers, horoscopes and 
palmists, practitioners of any and all kinds of divination, there is an 
eerie feeling that something more is wrong with the world than meets the 
naked eye. All Hell is breaking loose, all over the world, and it is 
obvious to many that something is terribly wrong, something man just 
may not be able to fix.  

With that I agree.  And I agree with the New Testament's description 
and explanation of what is wrong.  Those who do not will simply have 
to live with their beliefs and accept the return on their investment.  

"Published originally at EtherZone.com : republication allowed with 
this notice and hyperlink intact

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Source: Ether Zone - http://etherzone.com/2003/sees050203.shtml


Cheers, Steve..

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