This is Daniel Whyte III with the Second Coming Watch Update. This is update #910. Let’s take a quick look at today’s prophecy-related headlines which point towards the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and the end of the world as we know it.
First, today, under the Sign category of INCREASED HOMOSEXUALITY AND SEXUAL IMMORALITY — According to The Times of Israel, Rabbi Meir Mazuz [MEER MAH-ZOOZ], an Orthodox Israeli rabbi, has claimed the spread of the deadly coronavirus in Israel and around the world is divine retribution for gay pride parades. On Saturday night he gave a talk at the yeshiva, during which he said a pride parade is “a parade against nature, and when someone goes against nature, the one who created nature takes revenge on him.” Mazuz [MAH-ZOOZ] said that countries all over the world are being called to account because of their gay pride events, “except for the Arab countries that don’t have this evil inclination.” The outbreak in Iran, one of the most serious in any country, he explained as being due to the wicked ways of Iranians and “their hatred of Israel.”
Second, today, under the Sign category of FAMINES — According to The Times of Israel, Rome-based Senior Locust Forecasting Officer Keith Cressman said a plague of locusts the likes of which have been unseen for over 30 years is about to hit Africa and the Middle East. Adding to the perfect biblical storm, the current coronavirus pandemic is affecting travel of international experts and in-country gatherings for training to combat the locust threat. Cressman works at Locust Watch, a division of the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization. According to the organization’s most recent forecast report, there are new “extremely alarming” swarms forming in Horn of Africa. The Locust Watch website says while one locust may not seem a major eater, the swarms can grow to millions of individuals, “with the capacity to consume the same amount of food in one day as 35,000 people.” The current widespread breeding in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia represents “an unprecedented threat to food security and livelihoods at the beginning of the upcoming cropping season.”
Third, today, under the Sign category of EARTHQUAKES IN DIVERS PLACES — According to CBS News, A 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck near Magna, Utah, Wednesday morning. The temblor knocked out power for tens of thousands and operations at Salt Lake City International Airport came to a halt. It is the largest earthquake to hit the state since a 5.9 magnitude quake struck southern Utah in 1992, according to Utah Emergency Management. The quake was felt across Salt Lake County and in Ogden and as far away as Wyoming. According to the governor, the earthquake damaged both the state’s department of health lab and its coronavirus hotline. According to Johns Hopkins, Utah has 51 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.
Fourth, today, under the Sign category of RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF ISRAEL — According to Breaking Israel News, As the COVID-19 crisis worsens worldwide, the Nation of Israel requests that the Vatican immediately return to Jerusalem the Temple vessels that have been stored in Rome for nearly 2000 years. Rabbi Levi Sudri [SU-DRI], an award-winning Bible expert, noted that a divine message must surely be contained within the coronavirus. He pointed out that the coronavirus began in China and very quickly took hold of Italy in a counter-intuitive manner. “What is the connection between China and Italy? They are geographically distant from each other. That is true but they have a spiritual connection in that they are both centers of two different types of idolatry. In Daniel’s vision, he spoke of the feet of the idol which is Rome.” Rabbi Sudri [SU-DRI] noted that the distinctive boot shape of Italy hints at this Biblical reference and is referred to in Hebrew as er-etz ham-a-gaf; land of the boot. Rabbi Sudri [SU-DRI] noted that the word ma-gaf; boot shares the same root as the word ma-ge-fa; epidemic. Rabbi Sudri [SU-DRI] said, “The word ‘corona’ means crown and that is precisely the issue. Rome stole the crown from Israel, the utensils from the Temple, so they are being struck by the crown virus.”
Fifth, today, under the Sign category of ARAB HOSTILITY TOWARD ISRAEL — According to The Jerusalem Post, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute, some members of Turkey’s press and public have said, the coronavirus is a Zionist plot spread by Jews to decrease the world population. MEMRI, which specializes in translating Middle Eastern media into English, has uncovered a number of incidences of Turks blaming the coronavirus epidemic on Jews and Zionism. In a video posted to Twitter on March 13, a minibus driver and his passengers can be heard engaging in antisemitic conspiracy theories. On March 6, Fatih Erbakan [FAH-TEE UR-BAH-KAN], head of Refah Party and the son of former prime minister Necmettin Erbakan, was reported to have said in a speech: “Though we do not have certain evidence, this virus serves Zionism’s goals of decreasing the number of people and preventing it from increasing, and important research expresses this.”
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The prophetic passage of Scripture that we are looking at today is Ezekiel 17:22-24. It reads: “Thus saith the Lord God; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent: In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the Lord have spoken and have done it.”
Allow me to share with you some commentary on this passage from Exploring Bible Prophecy from Genesis to Revelation, by Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson.
The interpretation that Israel will be restored and the temple will be rebuilt can be understood only in light of the ruin of Judah, which was tied to the problem of temple desecration. From the perspective of Ezekiel’s audience, it should be obvious that the prophet’s exhortation to his people of a literal national destruction would be coupled to the prophet’s encouragement of a literal national restoration. Nothing less would meet the need and expectation of the vanquished nation. And nothing less would demonstrate that the Lord was the sovereign and gracious deliverer of His people. The transformation of the restoration promises by the symbolic symbol as merely the spiritual blessings of the New Covenant transferred to the church violates the fundamental law of biblical interpretation, which demands texts to be interpreted within their context. If national Israel received divine restoration, national Israel must receive divine restoration. This is also true of the messianic prophecies woven throughout the first division of Ezekiel, which, though part of the church’s heritage of faith, were exclusively given to national Israel.
If the Lord tarries His Coming and we live, we will continue looking at the prophetic passages of the Bible in our next broadcast / podcast.
Our Second Coming quote for today is from Charles Spurgeon. He said, “Apart from the second advent of our Lord, the world is more likely to sink into a pandemonium than to rise into a millennium.”
Let’s Pray
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If you are not ready for the return of Jesus Christ, may I encourage you to get ready today by receiving Him as your Savior. Here is how.
First, accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”
Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Also, the Bible states in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
Now that is bad news, but here is the good news. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will. Romans 10:13 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Keep looking up for your redemption draweth nigh. Let us join in the prayer of John the Revelator — “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” God bless you.
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