Catalyst for Cataclysm - Terry James -
Economics on a worldwide scale continue to broil under intensive pressures exerted by America's president. It is such squeezing, I am convinced, that will help induce the prophesied Tribulation era. That time, known as Daniel's Seventieth Week, looks to be on the near horizon.
The pressure has forced what many experts of the fiscal sort-before the advent of Donald J. Trump-would have said could not have resulted in movement away from the globalist model. An example I have in mind is seen in a current story out of Germany.
A transfer of nearly $400 million in cash to Iran has been blocked by Germany's central bank in what appears to be a response to efforts by the U.S. ambassador to Germany.
Last month, Ambassador Richard Grenell urged Berlin to prevent Iran's withdrawal of large sums of cash from German bank accounts in an effort to offset U.S. sanctions that took effect following Washington's withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. (Source: "'This is huge': US Ambassador Grenell quietly blocks $400 million transfer from Germany to Iran," by Frieda Powers, Conservative News, August 3, 2018)
Ever since the new American president began to deal with the likes of German Chancellor Angela Merkel in such matters, the dynamics of economic interaction on the international scene has been in dramatic flux. While it has been, in my opinion, good for the United States and our position economically, the president's influence has continued to drive the one-worlders crazy. But, they nonetheless seem to have no choice but to go along with Trump's pressure-to this point, at any rate.
At the same time the caterwauling increases from those opposed to Trump in everything he does, the stock market, despite bumps and grinds, continues to be bursting at the seams to advance. This, many financial experts both welcome and fear.
They welcome the powerful forces trying to move things upward, but they have an innate fear of pending fiscal cataclysm.
I had a friend email me a week or so ago, including in the email an advisory from the emailer's financial expert. The advisory said the following:
The stock market has been responding positively to better than expected earnings, "The Melt Up is officially here. This is the boom we've been waiting for. And this phase should last 12 to 18 months", said Steve Sjuggerud, Stansberry Research. He went on to say, "The Melt Up will propel U.S. stocks to fantastic heights. The Melt Up is the final push of a bull market. It's when the leading companies of this near decade long boom really take off and propel the overall market dramatically higher."
As I have written before, do not be complacent; you must be vigilant. Please enjoy the melt-up as you prepare for a melt-down. I don't know what the catalyst might be for a reversal of fortune, but we all see the huge elephant in the room.
The friend went on to say simply, "We know what the catalyst might be."
That pleased me very much. My friend instinctively realized, because of her study of Bible prophecy, what the expert's advice contained but could not understand or explain.
We have gone over time after time in these commentaries the catalyst the expert mentioned that he himself instinctively knew was poised to bring economic cataclysm upon the world. That catalyst is wrapped up in Jesus' "days of Noah, days of Lot" prophecy found in Matthew 24:36-42 and Luke 17:26-30.
Jesus said the world will be in an economic uptick when he is next "revealed." It will not be at a time when as much as three-fourths of humanity on earth has been killed through judgment and wrath.
The catalyst for that coming cataclysm-the Tribulation-will be the Rapture of the Church, I am convinced.
We covered in last week's column the fact that five top hedge-fund billionaires sensed the coming cataclysm. They had questions for their futurist expert questions he wasn't prepared to answer. They wanted to know how to best survive a world-rending collapse that was, they obviously thought, imminent.
I wrote in that commentary: "The world is indeed moving toward some climactic event that will bring about a world more horrific than any yet experienced by earth's inhabitants. But, those mentioned here have no idea of what that 'event' is or the signals of its approach. They simply sense that something is on the brink of bringing their world crashing down around their ears."
Again, in a chapter in my newest book, Essays in Apocalypse: Some Thoughts On the End of Days, the chapter called "The Coming Economic Boom" presents an in-depth look at the catalyst for cataclysm that is even now coming into view within our hourly news.
Hamas Is Jealous of Hezbollah - By Eyal Zisser -
This week will mark 12 years since the Second Lebanon War ended. Since then, the Israel-Lebanon border has been the quietest it has been for decades.
It is true that Hezbollah has been using this peace and quiet to build up its missile arsenal. It is believed that the Shi'ite terrorist group is currently in possession of more than 100,000 missiles--10 times more than it had in 2006--and it is no secret that it currently strives to increase their range and improve their accuracy.
Still, Hezbollah has made sure to avoid any provocation along the border. The memory of the blow Israel dealt it is still fresh, as is the memory of the humiliation suffered by its leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
One cannot forget, however, that there are two sides to this coin. Yes, Hezbollah remains deterred but Israel is also careful not to target its interests, neither on the border nor on Lebanese soil. Thus, in the shadow of a balance of mutual deterrence, both parties are careful not to violate the tacit understandings formed between them following the 2006 conflict.
A similar balance of mutual deterrence is also being hammered out on Syrian soil, opposite Iran. Foreign media outlets may keep reporting on alleged Israeli strikes against Iranian assets in Syria, but since Israel and Iran traded blows in May--after Iranian-backed troops fired missiles at the Golan Heights--Israel has been making a conscious effort not to target Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officials in Syria.
In Gaza, however, Israeli deterrence has been eroded, at times to the point of seeming hollow, and the last few weeks have taught us that deterrence is not enough to prevent rocket fire and flare-ups on the border.
Hamas may avoid, at this time, firing rockets deeper into Israel, but it does not hesitate to fire a barrage of mortar shells and Qassam rockets at Israeli border-adjacent communities. Israel, for its part, has opted to exercise restraint, and while it does not carry out lethal attacks in Gaza, it has been pounding Hamas positions there.
In recent weeks, it seems that Hamas has become envious of the equation reached with Hezbollah and seeks to impose a similar one on the Gaza border, meaning to deny the Israel Defense Forces its operational freedom along the security fence by way of cementing a reality in which any Israeli strike in Gaza would trigger a rocket salvo on the south.
In the absence of a comprehensive, long-term Israeli strategy with respect to Hamas rule in Gaza, and in the absence of a viable alternative to this rule, Israel has, time and again, been forced to accept understanding brokers with Hamas via Egyptian mediation.
It seems that now, Israel is willing to undertake even broader understandings that would limit its operational freedom along the border. This time, however, it is doubtful Hamas can ensure peace and quiet along the border.
Hamas, unlike Hezbollah, lacks solid domestic support, and it would struggle to enforce a ceasefire on the rival terrorist groups in Gaza, which repeatedly flout its authority.
Moreover, Gaza is under a maritime Israeli blockade, as well as strict Israeli and Egyptian limitations on land crossings, which have rendered its economy to shambles. This means that Hamas has no clear interest to enforce a ceasefire and prevent an escalation.
One can only hope that despite the Swiss cheese-like nature of any deal with Hamas, Gaza's rulers would be able to uphold the temporary truce for a while.
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