Worldwide Fear Grows as Pestilence Destroys Lives - By Pastor Mike Taylor - https://pastormiketaylor.blogspot.com/2020/02/worldwide-fear-grows-as-pestilence.html
"6 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.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and PESTILENCES, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows." (Matthew 24:6-8)(my emphasis)
We are all conscience of the rise of wars, and rumors of wars that have been getting more and more frequent. Wars like in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Ukraine, North Korea, Syria, and even ISIS is still a threat and reported as news by the "lame" stream media. No matter what a politician says, this world is becoming more dangerous, not peaceful as all would like it to be. Ever notice the amount of earthquakes that have exponentially grown in the last 15 years? I get an update from Prophecy Update that covers all the exponential rise of earthquakes that are prevalent in the "ring of fire" in the Pacific Ocean region, but also spreading worldwide. The earth is being shaken and tribulation is coming upon the earth. I'm not talking about the 7 last years of God's wrath, written in Daniel, spoken of by Jesus in Matthew 24, also in Revelation, and when Paul spoke of in 1st Thessalonian chapter 5. No, I'm talking about the run-up to this awful period of human history known as the Tribulation and the Great Tribulation. These signs are a warning, or a trumpet call to those who will listen and repent before it is too late. Now let us turn to what has caught the attention of the "lame stream media" and has gotten everyone becoming afraid and I highlighted the opening verses -PESTILENCE.
A MOST DANGEROUS WORLD
Jesus plainly spoke about that during the last days of human history that there would be pestilence referring to various diseases upon the earth. We shall call them modern day plagues. I truly believe now that the last days are upon us, and we see diseases that modern science thought they had all but eradicated. Mutations of killer diseases have again found a way to rise again in our so called " modern age". These diseases are so virulent that our antibiotics and treatments have all but become ineffective to destroy them. What is the definition of the word I just used...virulent? The dictionary says " a substance that is harmful", but synonyms of virulent would be poisonous, toxic, venomous, noxious, deadly, fatal, dangerous, and destructive, just to name a few. In my lifetime, I have seen plagues such as polio, scarlet fever, small pox and tuberculosis all but eradicated, just to name a few, but these have returned in a mutated form that we cannot cure. I have witnessed the same at our local hospitals of those quarantined because they have said diseases.
In the recent past, we had the deadly Ebola virus that was all over the news. We thought that this was an African problem that only spread by close contact with another infected person's body fluids, but was reported to have mutated to being transmitted through the air from a person's cough, much like TB. Or you can pick it up on surfaces where the virus has been deposited and can live for hours, or days unless destroyed by sunlight. You can go to your local ATM and touch the keypad that is sheltered out of the sun, and pick up this disease. You can ride the subway, or a taxi cab and be exposed. But hey, we're not in Africa, we're in America. I can't come here. But oh, it did.
Reported cases (in the past) of patients exposed in Africa coming to Georgia, to Bethesda Maryland Naval Hospital, or a report of one in Nebraska that was being treated from being exposed in Liberia, or other West African countries in a "controlled" manner in those local hospitals and transferred from Africa to the homeland. But now we learn that the first case of unprotected Ebola came to Dallas, Texas and the man had come in contact with untold amount of people on the airplane flight here to the USA, doctors and nurses at the hospital where he went for treatment of flu like symptoms, and school children who have returned to their schools. The spread could have become exponential in the amount of exposure, to where one expert says, unless stopped would cover the entire USA and the world. But that threat has died down, but it still is being reported in parts of Africa still and is not eradicated.
Now we see another plague that has invaded China and is spreading and even come to the USA in certain places....The Coronavirus originated in China in the the city of Wahun. Some believe it was because of the result of unsanitary conditions and eating of animals that most people would turn their noses to see them being eaten. (like eating bats. Yes, those flying creatures that live in caves)
I read in the articles on the internet concerning this danger to the population of the world:
"About 40,573 individuals globally (primarily in mainland China) have been confirmed to have the new coronavirus, according to the Johns Hopkins virus dashboard.
-The virus gets a temporary name, Chinese officials announced.
-910 deaths linked to the virus. Deaths worldwide exceed those from SARS.
-A phase 1 trial of a new vaccine against 2019-nCoV is on track to begin in 2.5 months, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Friday (Feb. 7). There have been "no glitches so far" in the steps to prepare the vaccine, which involves initial studies in lab dishes and animals, Fauci said.
-More than 800 Americans have been evacuated from Wuhan on four flights.
-The U.S. is prepared to spend up to $100 million to assist China and other countries in combating the virus, according to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
-About 3,700 people are being quarantined on the Diamond Princess cruise ship off Japan due to the coronavirus, with 130 individuals testing positive so far, the Times reported.
-The 34-year-old Chinese doctor who was silenced by police for warning about the coronavirus outbreak has died after contracting that virus. China's Communist Party has said it will send a team to investigate the death," ( The New York Times reported).
Then we have reports that some claim to be conspiracy theories...
"2016 documents show that the Wuhan Institute of Virology, an organization increasingly suspected of being linked to the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, has been studying the virus over the last several years. This comes as a growing body of evidence suggests the disease did not originate in a seafood wet market as the Chinese government claims.
If the unconfirmed reports are true, it would not be the first time a deadly disease has escaped from a Chinese research facility. In March 2004, 9 people became infected with 1 fatality after the deadly SARS virus escaped from the National Institute of Virology in Beijing, China. The current coronavirus outbreak may have a similar origin."
But wherever this disease originated, it is affecting our world, as even the fear is having an economic effect causing stocks to plummet on one day and recover in the next few days, as reported in this news article:
"Many economists that I have spoken to are concerned that the global economy will continue to decline as a result of the Coronavirus. Do these fears have merit? It does not matter. Perception drives reality. If the people on this planet believe that their health is threatened by this virus, the global economy, already on thin ice, will collapse. (Dave Hodges, "Will the Coronavirus Cause a Global Economic Collapse? The BDI Says Yes!" January 30, 2020)
WE WERE WARNED
It was said way back in 1993 that a pandemic of Biblical proportions would come because of the huge amount of the earth's population:
"One professor of microbiology at the John Curtin School of Medical Research in Canberra, Australia, told a conference of his peers in Sydney: "We don't know what it [the plague] will be, or where it will be, but there will be one, we only have to look at history." He cites deteriorating refugee conditions worldwide, fast-increasing populations, high-risk sexual habits and the scarcity of pure drinking water as factors that presage global epidemics (Intelligence Digest, September 3, 1993, p. 3)."
That was over 26 years ago it was warned that a plague would come, and this Coronavirus could be that plague. How did it mutate to become the next big human killer of possible millions? I'm not into conspiracy theories, but the fact that many have questioned why and how this could be happening, poses the question "Is this a natural occurring phenomenon or something sinister has been unleashed upon an unsuspected planet?" Here's a quote from an article I just read :
EBOLA and CORONOVIRUS : BIO-WEAPONS OF WAR
(But the first words of the opening paragraph should give anyone pause:)
"Simply stated, each of these plagues can be a bio-terrorism weapons and are airborne. Those are big statements. The facts will show a unique trail and why the US Federal Government does not want you to know these frightening truths. This is not meant to panic anyone, but inform them of the facts that are being withheld from the American public."
In reading this article, would any government allow such a dangerous diseases loose in any country? Think on what one scientist said that needs to happen to "save the planet".
"At first, I thought someone was making a really stupid April Fool's joke, but apparently it is true that the Texas Distinguished Scientist of 2006, University of Texas ecologist Eric Pianka told a meeting of the Texas Academy of Science that '90 percent of his fellow human beings must die' in order to save the planet. A very disturbed Forrest M. Mims III -- Chairman of the Environmental Science Section of the Texas Academy of Science, writing at The Citizen Scientist -- reported:
Professor Pianka said the Earth as we know it will not survive without drastic measures. Then, and without presenting any data to justify this number, he asserted that the only feasible solution to saving the Earth is to reduce the population to 10 percent of the present number."
If you take what is now the population of this planet of 7.7 billion people, if 90% were eliminated by whatever means, would mean 6.93 billion people would have to meet an untimely death.
Can you say Climate Change and save the earth plans found in Sustainable Development and Agenda 2030? (Want to know more about these two agendas? Check it out on Google and see their sinister plans of controlling every human being on this planet.) The rate of morbidity (rate of disease symptoms) and mortality (death) of an infected person approaches near 100%. Now let's make some hypothetical math equations. If we take what has happened in Africa to their population and what is happening in China, just taking one plague like Ebola or alternately the latest coronavirus, it has been mathematically calculated that compared to the country of Liberia for Ebola which has a population 4.2 million people, let us examine what it would be like if calculated to the population of the USA. If 3692 cases of Ebola have been diagnosed in Liberia and of those 3692 cases, with a fatality rate of 54% or 1998 people have died in Liberia alone. Of that number 3692, represents 0.0086% of the population:
"If that same infection and death rate were applied to the United States Ebola would infect 269,000 people and of those 156,281 would die. And now we have another plague that the news is reporting on. Over 600 people have died with this latest disease and millions quarantined, with even the doctor in China who reported it has succumbed to this disease and died.
Now looking just at Ebola, if as doctors and scientists fear the basic reproduction rate rises to 2 in countries in Africa the numbers change very quickly. Using the mean average incubation time of 9 days it would take around 13 weeks for the entire populations in Africa to become infected. (10 doublings starting with 3692 = just under the population of say, Liberia. This multiplied by 9 days gives us 90 days which divided by 7 gives 12.85 weeks.) Of the 4,290,000 people infected 2,316,000 would lose their lives.This is just Liberia, not the other affected countries in West Africa.
Translated to an equivalent outbreak in the United States, where the basic reproduction rate is also 2, the numbers are horrifying. Starting with patient zero it would take around 245 days, 35 weeks for every person in the United States to become infected. Of those 171,180,000 people would die. (27.17 doublings x 9 days = 245 days =35 weeks)"
Those figures were for the spread of Ebola, and Coronavirus was not even on the radar screen yet. But now this disease is greater than the prior reported SARS outbreak that again, came from China.
Those figures quoted are pulled from the CDC website and the percentages are correct, so if these percentages were applied to the USA, you could see a pandemic the like we have never seen before in our lifetime.
WHAT CAN WE DO?
Taking the words of our Lord seriously, I claim also His promises. First and foremost is my faith in my God. I am reminded of the words written in Psalm 91 and it has been my rock of divine protection whenever danger is about me.
5 "Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling." (Psalm 91:5-10)
That is our promise from Almighty God, that no weapon formed against us shall prosper; but that's not given to all of humanity. This promise is made to the child of God, the redeemed man or woman, and the Christian who walks with God daily.
God has not called us to fear: II Timothy,1:7 "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
God shows us what is coming and he gives us tools to combat the coming man-made tribulation. Note that I say, man made. We are not part of the wrath of God that will be coming on the whole world during the "real" Tribulation and Great Tribulation, but that is no assurance that we won't be tried in our faith when evil men come on the scene and plan an evil scheme. This could be the run up to even more death and destruction, when God gets really involved and the prophecies of Revelation start to unfold in real time and God pours out His wrath on all humanity that is still on this planet.
In the coming days, before the actual wrath of God reigns down on this earth, God shows us and will lead us to make the right decisions to protect ourselves prior to the removal of His church to the portals of glory, and when we have done all we can do, He will take over and do the hard part. ....and from all I have been reading, it's not a question of "if" it will be a pandemic, but when. It's coming and a person of a sound Christian mind takes the steps to protect himself and rely on God to fulfill His promise quoted in Psalm 91.
Now God is able to protect His people in trying times like we are bound to see before we are lifted out of here. The wise person does not tempt God, but allows God to lead him and to use the Holy Spirit's direction to protect one's self. Remember the words that Jesus said and I opened with a portion of that passage found in Matthew 24?
24:8 "All these are the beginning of sorrows."
We are seeing these played out in our present time, wars, rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes and now killer plagues. What do you do reader when the prophesied Tribulation is actually on the scene? We have so-called man-made biological weapons being formed for the purpose (if it be true) of population control and how sick is that? But know that there is coming a time when everything that is good and Holy will be removed from this planet and then all "hell" literally will be loosed on this earth. The only thing holding back the total annihilation of life on earth, by men, by Satan and his demon horde, is the Holy Spirit residing in men and women of faith, washing in the blood of the Lamb, which is our King Jesus who gave Himself for a sacrifice to save us 2000 years ago. He died to save all who believe on His name.
TAKE NOT THE NAME OF THE LORD IN VAIN
I heard a great message from another brother in the ministry and he opened my eyes to something I had not thought about. It's found in the 3rd Commandment of the written Word of God given to Moses on Mt. Sinai..."Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain"....now most folks thought that meant using God's name in a curse word...My dad was bad about that to his own shame, but that is not what God meant. Those of who call ourselves "Christian" we take the name of Jesus Christ...."followers of Jesus Christ"...that's what the word "Christian" means. But if we take the name as a label, or moniker about our necks and don't live like we follow Him, are we taking His name Jesus Christ or "Christian" in vain? Have we not broken the 3rd commandment? Yes, we have. You can't play with God. You can't proclaim, "I'm a Christian" and not live it. You have just taken the name of the Lord in vain. If you're not living it, then how many sins are you committing that have not been repented of....are you even a Christian or just a pew warmer? It's not about works we do, but being true followers of our Lord Jesus Christ and living like it and rely on the righteousness that Jesus gave us, not of our own, as our righteousness before God are "as filthy rags"....even though we fail at times, because the spirit wars with the flesh. As Paul said in Romans chp. 7 and I would ask that you read the whole chapter, but our victory is in Jesus:
"23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." (Romans 7:23-25)
That is why each of us need "JESUS" and His protection in time of trouble, as we see it growing about us.
When I speak of all the protections that are afforded to the "Christian", I'm talking about the true, blood washed follower of Jesus Christ. When evil comes to your dwelling in the form of a plague, or terrorism, or say even a local thug who wishes to do you harm, are you guaranteed any protection from God because you go to church on Sunday, or any other day of the week and have the label "Christian" but live like the devil and no one can tell you apart from the drunk lying in the gutter in front of the local bar? Can you claim these promises? No, you cannot. Because you are outside of the protection of Almighty God:
" He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence." (Psalm 91:1-3)
Note that you must be close to God, right up next to His altar and in His shadow.....again, you can't play with God.
7"God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."(Galatians 6:7-8)
If you are playing the act of being a "christian" in name only, it is time to get serious about this God/immortal man, Jesus Christ who died for the sins of the world.
.
Friend, the hour grows short and the signs are all around us. Signs in the heavens shout the message, as I've covered in past messages. The signs on the earth that grow exponentially louder as the earth groans for it's redemption from a sin cursed world.
"22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." (Romans 8:22-23)
Epidemics and plagues that have risen again and are even more severe and dangerous than when we last saw them or read about them. And that's just this side of the Tribulation when it begins and then kicks into high gear in the last 3.5 years called the Great Tribulation that our Lord Jesus warned us of .
21 "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." (Matthew 24:21-22)
LIVE LIKE THE LORD COULD COME TODAY
I had a dear sister stand up in church and plead with the congregation as she proclaimed, "people we need to get serious about living for God, NOW". She read from these words:
"See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
29 For our God is a consuming fire."(Hebrews 12:25-29)
Jesus words in Matthew 24 are written to announce the coming Tribulation and these signs we are seeing, are the "beginning of sorrow". Folks, it is here...
As my sister said , "It is time to get serious about living for God". I am in agreement and plead with all who will listen and take action to make your "calling and election sure as the Apostle Peter wrote:,
1:10 " Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;
1:11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
I blow the trumpet as a sound of warning. Please, heed the call and make Jesus Christ the Lord of your life, in word and in deed. The time grows short to make that decision for God, as the Tribulation hour looms on the horizon. How you say? Easy, as believing these words even as a "little child" believes:
"And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3)
Believe in your heart, these words and confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and you WILL be saved:
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.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:16-18)
Again, as Paul spoke of in Romans:
8 "But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:8-13)
Prophetic Pandemic? - By Terry James -
The entire world is on high alert because of the coronavirus that is spreading quickly. More than six hundred have died from the disease as of this writing. China, the country from which it emanates, has millions of people under quarantine.
There is no known cure, and experts report that it will possibly take years to develop a vaccine to cure or prevent its spread. Agencies responsible for controlling the virus fear a pandemic-a worldwide spread of the deadly disease.
Air travel makes the spread of the virus almost impossible to curtail. American Airlines is reportedly being sued by its employees in order to prevent the company from sending crews around the world, placing them at risk for exposure.
The fear generated by the spread of coronavirus affected not only the worldwide medical industry, but also the global economy.
Friday, January 31, the Dow Jones Industrial Averages closed down around 600 points. This generated anxiety among some who are already predicting any-moment global financial collapse. It caused one observer to weigh in with increased forewarnings. The day before the 600-point decline, he wrote:
In the light of the Coronavirus, which is spreading with no end in sight, more people are feeling compelled to ask the question, will the global economy fail? Some are predicting that the global economy, including the US economy will fail due to the introduction of new factors such as the Coronavirus...
Before the introduction of the Coronavirus, the global economy was already in deep trouble. What people should know is that back in December of 2019, before the Coronavirus went active, the global economy was on the verge of collapse...
Many economists that I have spoken to are concerned that the global economy will continue to decline as a result of the Coronavirus. Do these fears have merit? It does not matter. Perception drives reality. If the people on this planet believe that their health is threatened by this virus, the global economy, already on thin ice, will collapse. (Dave Hodges, "Will the Coronavirus Cause a Global Economic Collapse? The BDI Says Yes!" January 30, 2020)
The economy snapped back in an almost flabbergasting way this week. It seems even this world-wide threat can't hold back the tremendous perception that a profound economic boom is still on the upswing.
It is my belief more intensely than ever that the Rapture will occur in the midst of just such an economic boom as is presently perceived.
To some prophecy watchers, this newest of the threats to millions around the world is yet another of the converging signs that the end of the age is at hand. It ranks up there with earthquakes taking place daily, like the one a couple of weeks ago so powerful that it was felt strongly in Miami.
Bible prophecy, of course, tells that such virulent diseases will be prevalent during the Tribulation, the last seven years preceding Christ's Second Advent. Jesus briefed His disciples about this coming assault as He sat on the Mount of Olives just before His crucifixion:
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:7, 8)
My friend Chuck Missler, one of the great prophecy teachers, spoke about this passage. I remember listening with fascination while he waxed eloquent on what he thought the word "pestilence" in Jesus' foretelling might mean. He equated the term to one found in another prophetic Scripture:
I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.(Revelation 6: 8)
Chuck, as I recall, postulated that the word "pestilence" in Jesus' Olivet Discourse might be the same as the words "wild beasts" in the Revelation 6: 8 passage about the four horsemen of the Apocalypse.
He put forth the thought that "wild beasts" could well mean what he termed "micro-beasts"-i.e., not necessarily only literal, four-footed animals like lions and bears, but perhaps voracious, flesh-eating and destroying entities that can be seen only under powerful microscopes. He suggested the term might indicate microbes-germs-of such virulence that they could not be detected or destroyed before they have done their deadly work.
Missler wrote:
There was a time not long ago when the medical profession felt they had most of the major diseases licked, and for the rest it was just a matter of time.
Now that former optimism appears tragically premature. Many of the previously "defeated" diseases are making a comeback, in hardier strains which are resisting our former treatments....
The rapidity with which diseases, emergent or deliberate, can pass through our "global village" is terrifyingly real.
With modern air travel and global commerce, as well as our present understanding of modern biotechnology, the Biblical predictions now seem frighteningly imminent. ("Emergent and Deliberate Diseases," Koinonia House, February 1, 1998)
The world's top biological scientists and medical professionals have done much to defeat new and mutating bacteria and viruses since Missler wrote about these matters years ago. However, rather than stopping the progress of these "micro-beasts," all efforts have been ineffective. for the most part. The "beasts" are proliferating and are becoming more virulent.
Daniel's prophecy about exponential travel (Daniel 12: 4) is now on an ever-increasing pathway to fulfillment, greatly escalating the ability of the micro-beasts to invade new human hosts around the globe Yet, we haven't reached that time of Tribulation forewarned by Jesus while He answered the disciple's questions about what the future holds.
Nonetheless, the coronavirus is certainly an indicator to add to all the other signals of that time just ahead, about which Jesus declared:
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. (Matthew 24:21)
360 Billion Locusts And Growing - A Plague Of Biblical Proportions
What we are witnessing in east Africa and across much of the Middle East right now is hard to believe. 360 billion locusts are eating everything in sight, and UN officials are warning that this plague of "Biblical proportions" could get many times worse over the next several months.
Desert locusts can travel up to 93 miles a day, and each adult can consume the equivalent of its own weight in food every 24 hours. These voracious little creatures are traveling in absolutely colossal swarms that are up to 40 miles wide, and they continue to push into new areas.
If urgent action is not taken on a massive scale, millions upon millions of people could soon have next to nothing to eat.
I have previously written about the horrors that this plague is causing in east Africa, but many people don't realize that this plague is devastating crops throughout the Middle East as well.
In fact, the government of Pakistan just declared a national emergency because of these locusts...
A locust plague is wreaking havoc in Pakistan as 'unprecedented and alarming' swarms ravage crops as shocking video shows millions of the insects sweeping through Saudi Arabia.
Pakistan's government declared a national emergency at the weekend after an infestation of desert locusts arrived in eastern Pakistan.
In Saudi Arabia, the swarms have been so thick at times that they have completely blocked out the sun, and video footage coming out of that country is getting attention all over the world...
Meanwhile swarms of locusts have been milling the skies in Saudi Arabia, with one video circulating online showing the sky saturated with the insects.
Another shows a tree in Saudi Arabia crawling with desert locusts, which consume their own bodyweight in food each day.
But of course east Africa remains the hardest hit region, and UN officials are warning that a horrible famine could rapidly develop as a result of this plague. The following comes from Scientific American...
Locust swarms of biblical proportions are threatening crops across a wide swath of Africa and southwest Asia--spurring alarm among top international officials.
A major concern is famine. The United Nations is warning that mass swarms of desert locusts are endangering food supplies in eastern Africa. In response, officials in Rome mobilized an emergency briefing yesterday in a bid to raise money--noting the situation has a high potential to devolve into a full-blown crisis.
It would be incredibly difficult for me to overstate the scale of this crisis.
According to the Daily Mail, the number of locusts has now reached 360 billion...
A locust plague decimating crops and livestock pastureland in east Africa, including swarms 40 miles wide, threatens to trigger a humanitarian crisis, the UN has warned.
The horde of 360 billion insects has laid waste to farmland across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, caused damage in Dijibouti and Eritrea, posing an unprecedented threat to food security.
There are less than 8 billion people living on the entire planet.
So this swarm of locusts outnumbers us by a margin of more than 45 to 1.
And what these locusts want more than anything else is food. If you doubt the destructive power of these swarms, please consider what the FAO's senior agriculture officer recently had to say...
"It's certainly the most dangerous migratory pest in the world, desert locust," said Keith Cressman, FAO's senior agriculture officer. "A swarm the size of Rome can eat enough food in one day as everybody in Kenya."
And some of these swarms are actually bigger than the city of Rome.
I know that may be difficult to believe, but it is true.
In Somalia, officials are calling this crisis "a national emergency" as the locusts consume "huge amounts of crops"...
Somalia's agriculture ministry on Sunday called the outbreak a national emergency and major threat to the country's fragile food security, saying the "uncommonly large" locust swarms are consuming huge amounts of crops.
Over in Kenya, things are even worse. At this point the only viable way to combat these swarms is to spray them, and the UN is desperately asking for financial help to aid in that effort...
Just five planes are currently spraying as Kenyan and other authorities try to stop the locusts from spreading to neighboring Uganda and South Sudan. The United Nations has said $76 million is needed immediately to widen such efforts across East Africa.
A fast response is crucial. Experts warn that if left unchecked, the number of locusts could grow by 500 times by June, when drier weather will help bring the outbreak under control.
UN officials keep claiming that the number of locusts could get 500 times larger over the next few months, but I am having a really hard time believing that this plague could possibly get much worse than it is now.
Unfortunately, conditions are very favorable for breeding, and these locusts are constantly searching for new sources of food. They will continue to migrate in new directions, and they will eat crops everywhere they go.
According to Scientific American, the breeding cycles over the next couple of months could push the locust swarms as far as India...
Cyclones that struck the driest parts of the Arabian Peninsula last year triggered the current crisis, creating ideal conditions for the desert locust species to multiply. Left to breed in isolated corners of Saudi Arabia and Yemen, the locust swarms crossed to the Horn of Africa where they were given further support by another cyclone.
More breeding cycles are expected. The swarms increase in size twentyfold with each successive generation and could reach India by June.
When I first told my wife about this locust plague she was absolutely horrified.
She wondered what all those people would eat if all their crops were gone. Of course the truth is that they aren't going to have much of anything to eat.
These locusts are going to create a famine, and the more they eat the worse the famine will become.
We have never seen anything like this before, and this is yet another "unprecedented crisis" that we can add to all the others that we are currently facing.
Our planet is changing, global weather patterns are going absolutely nuts, and worldwide events are really starting to spiral out of control.
And at this point we are just a little over one month into 2020. If you think that things are bad so far, just wait until you see what is coming over the course of the rest of the year.
Earth Groaning In Travail - 7 Major Changes Upon Our Earth
There has never been a time in modern human history when our planet has been changing as rapidly as it is changing right now.
The sun is behaving very strangely, freakishly cold weather is breaking out all over the world, ocean temperatures continue to rise, volcanoes all over the globe are shooting ash miles into the air, Australia is experiencing the worst wildfires that they have ever seen, and the north magnetic pole has been moving at a pace that is deeply alarming scientists.
Could it be possible that all of this bizarre activity is leading up to some sort of a crescendo?
Sadly, most people don't even realize what is happening, and that is because the mainstream media only emphasizes stories that fit with the particular narratives that they are currently pushing.
But it has gotten to the point where nobody can deny that really weird things are happening. The following are 7 major earth changes that are happening right now that everyone needs to know about...
#1 According to NASA, solar activity has dropped to the lowest level in 200 years. The following comes from the official NASA website...
The forecast for the next solar cycle says it will be the weakest of the last 200 years. The maximum of this next cycle - measured in terms of sunspot number, a standard measure of solar activity level - could be 30 to 50% lower than the most recent one. The results show that the next cycle will start in 2020 and reach its maximum in 2025.
Of course NASA insists that everything will be just fine, but others are wondering if this lack of solar activity could potentially spawn another "Little Ice Age"...
When solar activity gets really low, it can have the effect of a "mini ice age." The period between 1645 and 1715 was marked by a prolonged sunspot minimum, and this corresponded to a downturn in temperatures in Europe and North America. Named after astronomers Edward Maunder and his wife Annie Russell Maunder, this period became known as the Maunder Minimum. It is also known as "The Little Ice Age."
#2 When solar activity gets very low, it has traditionally meant very cold and very snowy winters, and right now we are seeing snow in places that are extremely unusual...
The Egyptian capital, Cairo, was also turned white at the start of the month, despite the city not having snow in 112 years, and experiencing less than an inch of rain each year.
Many parts of Greece were covered in snow in early January, with low temperatures and strong frost.
The cold front named 'Hephaestion', after an Ancient Greek army general, thrashed the Greek landscape, bringing rain, sleet and ice in the east.
#3 Meanwhile, the oceans of the world just keep getting hotter and hotter. In fact, ocean temperatures off the California coast have been setting new all-time record highs. It is odd that this is taking place at a time of such low solar activity, but according to NBC News this is definitely happening...
The world's oceans hit their warmest level in recorded history in 2019, according to a study published Monday that provides more evidence that Earth is warming at an accelerated pace.
The analysis, which also found that ocean temperatures in the last decade have been the warmest on record, shows the impact of human-caused warming on the planet's oceans and suggests that sea-level rise, ocean acidification and extreme weather events could worsen as the oceans continue to absorb so much heat.
#4 There have always been wildfires, but we have never seen anything like this. During the summer, countless catastrophic fires burned millions upon millions of acres in the Amazon rainforest, and this winter Australia's fires have actually been a total of 46 percent larger than the fires that we witnessed in the Amazon. Australia has never seen anything like this before, and according to NASA the smoke from these fires will completely circle the Earth...
Once was bad enough, but smoke from Australia's devastating bushfires is set to return to the country to complete a round-the-world trip that has seen it impact on air quality as far away as South America.
By Jan. 8, the smoke had made its way halfway around the world and will make at least one full circuit, according to scientists at NASA, citing satellite tracking data. New Zealand experienced severe air quality issues, while hazy skies and colorful sunsets and sunrises were seen in parts of Chile and Argentina.
#5 During the first half of 2020, volcanoes all over the world have been roaring to life and have been shooting giant clouds of hot ash miles into the sky. For example, in the Philippines the Taal volcano shot ash nine miles into the air on Sunday, it has also been shooting scorching hot lava half a mile into the air, and the ground around the volcano is starting to crack wide open.
But even after all the devastation that we have already seen, authorities are warning that it could "re-explode at any moment"...
The gray ash is knee-deep. It covers the homes, the bloated cadavers of cows and horses, their limbs protruding at unnatural angles in the shadow of a sulking volcano that could re-explode at any moment.
"My home is now gone," said Melvin Mendoza, 39, a boatman who returned on Tuesday to Taal, the volcanic island in the middle of a freshwater lake just 40 miles south of Manila, which erupted on Sunday like an atomic bomb mushroom cloud.
Let us hope that this volcanic activity does not spread throughout that general area, because the largest super volcano caldera in the entire world has been discovered not too far from the Philippines...
A team including members from GNS Science have identified an ancient mega-volcano that could have the largest known caldera on Earth.
The 150km (93.2 miles) wide feature is on the crest of Benham Rise, an oceanic plateau off the Philippines coast. In comparison, the caldera at Taupō is about 35km (21.8 miles) wide, and that at Yellowstone about 60km (37.3 miles).
#6 All of this is taking place while the north magnetic pole is moving toward Russia at a very rapid pace. The following comes from CNN...
The north magnetic pole has been slowly moving across the Canadian Arctic toward Russia since 1831, but its swift pace toward Siberia in recent years at a rate of around 34 miles per year has forced scientists to update the World Magnetic Model -- used by civilian navigation systems, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and US and British militaries -- a year ahead of schedule.
#7 On top of everything else, the Earth's magnetic field has been steadily weakening over time, and this has some experts extremely concerned...
In a forum on Quora, science fiction writer and journalist C Stuart Hardwick revealed that satellite data, such as those collected by the European Space Agency's SWARM mission, revealed that the magnetic field has been weakening for about 5 percent each century.
He noted that currently, the strength of the magnetic field is at 29.5 microteslas, which is 14 percent weaker than its previous state three centuries ago. According to Hardwick, the SWARM satellites detected increased deterioration within regions of the magnetic field over North America. He said these regions weakened by about 3.5 percent over the span of just three years.
Without our magnetic field, life on Earth could not exist for long.
And it doesn't have to disappear completely to be a massive problem. If it simply gets weak enough, dwelling on the surface is going to become exceedingly difficult.
As I keep warning, our planet is becoming increasing unstable, and what we have experienced so far is just the beginning.
The demands of life can often cause us to focus on things that don't really matter. Hopefully we can get more people to wake up while there is still time, because the clock is ticking for humanity and for our planet as a whole.
Originally published at the Economic Collapse Blog - reposted with permission.
Are We Facing Another Global Pandemic? - Todd Strandberg - https://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/
In all of human history, infectious diseases have been a constant threat. The small mutation in the genome of a virus or bacterium could trigger a pandemic that could sweep over the world and kill millions of people. The last major pandemic with high levels of mortality was the 1918 Spanish flu outbreak; this pandemic was estimated to be responsible for the deaths of approximately 50-100 million people.
The 2009 flu pandemic was the most recent pandemic. First described in April 2009, the virus appeared to be the result of a triple reassortment of bird, swine and human flu viruses. This new strain was so different from previous viruses, it was able to breach the immune system of a vast number of people. It is estimated that 11-21% of the global population contracted the illness, and 151,000-579,000 died.
It's no odd coincidence that many of the world influenza strains originate in China. When you have 100s of millions of farmers living right next to various animals, you have a perfect breeding ground for a new deadly virus. It should come as no surprise that China just had two major viruses in its farm animal population. The African swine fever has wiped out a third of China's pig population. Another virus killed millions of ducks.
The Chinese culture is equally if not a greater source for new virus strains. With China being a communist nation, the first impulse is to always cover up any outbreak, which allows the contamination to spread. The Chinese fondness for eating anything that crawls on the earth adds to the risk. The coronavirus that's currently grabbing world headlines is said to be related to the bat and snake market trade. There are also the "wet" markets, which are popular in China as customers like to purchase their meat "warm" - that is, recently slaughtered. In short, China is one giant Petri dish.
The coronavirus has alarm bells sounding all over the world. As I am writing, the virus has infected more than 6,500 people and killed 137. As the authorities fight to contain the virus, experts warn that the death toll will almost certainly rise.
The source of the coronavirus is believed to be a market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. The city's health commission said the infection broke out between December 12 and 29, with some of the patients employed at the market.
The Chinese government has made an impressive effort to contain the coronavirus. Beijing has imposed lockdown measures on ten cities, which includes 65 million people. A ban has been placed on all transport links suspending buses, subways, ferries, and shutting the airport and train stations to outgoing passengers. In the city of Wuhan, a massive hospital is quickly being built that will be able to provide over 10,000 hospital beds for viral pneumonia patients.
I believe that the coronavirus will ultimately be contained before it reaches the level of a global pandemic. I think Bible prophecy will be the key reason why. We are in a state of profound financial risk. A global lockdown on economic activity related to the effort to fight the virus would certainly push us over the edge.
The Ebola virus gives me confidence in making this hopeful prediction. The current outbreak of Ebola began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in May 2017. In July 2019, the World Health Organization declared the Congo Ebola outbreak a world health emergency. Ebola is normally a virus that kills a large number of people. Its rate of infection is best compared to the burn of gunpowder. Right now, Ebola is smoldering like a damp campfire. During the last 30 days, 77 cases of Ebola were reported in the Beni Health Zone in North Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
I think the ever-increasing threat of a global pandemic is meant to be warning sign from God of worse things to come. The pale horse of pestilence is getting ready to ride. His order to ride out will not come until the tribulation is well underway.
"And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth" (Rev 6:8, KJV).
"And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven" (Luke 21:11, KJV).
World Health Organization declares coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency
The World Health Organization on Thursday declared the new coronavirus outbreak a global emergency amid the recent jump in the number of infected patients.
"The main reason is not what is happening in China but what is happening in other countries," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced at a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland.
"Our greatest concern is the potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems, and which are ill-prepared to deal with it," Ghebreyesus added.
An outbreak of the virus -- which has killed at least 170 people as of Thursday and infected a total of 7,834 -- was first reported by Chinese officials after it originated at an animal and seafood market in the city of Wuhan.
Coronavirus, or 2019-nCoV, is now said to be transferable between humans; 38 new deaths and 1,737 new infected cases have been reported in the last 24 hours.
Latest Earthquakes Worldwide
880 earthquakes of magnitude > 4.0, for uniform distribution
TOO MANY TO LIST HERE........
ALL OF THESE EARTHQUAKES ARE IN 2020
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