"Is Coronavirus A Sign Of The End Times?"

"Jesus often described the End Times as being like 'birth pangs'", writes Dr. Roger Barrier in his article God and Coronavirus: Is It a Sign of the End Times?"

"Just as labor pains grow stronger and closer together, God will allow escalation in trials of all kinds to bring men to Christ. In fact, the purpose of the Tribulation itself is to bring pressure for men to surrender to Jesus and find salvation."

And while there have always been trials and tribulations, they did not represent 'birth pangs' until God brought the Jews back to the Promised Land in 1948, and the first (and last) generation of Jews were born in the miraculously resurrected Holy Land.

So to be clear, "Birth pangs, in terms of Bible prophecy, refers to certain convulsive geopolitical, geophysical, astrophysical and world-wide socio-economic events and issues scheduled to occur in the time leading up to Jesus Christ's Second Advent (second coming),' according to raptureready.com.

Top 10 Signs or Birth Pangs:

1. Israel-a nation born in one day-ISAIAH 66:6-9
2. A global government/economic system beginning to form-UN, global trade agreements, etc. DANIEL 2,7,8,9,11; REVELATION 13,17,18
3. Apostasy-people turning away from the true faith to embrace a false one-REVELATION 13; 2 THESSALONIANS 4
4. Nations aligning for prophetic fulfillment-EZEKIEL 38-39
5. End Time technology-DANIEL 12:4; REVELATION 13:16-17; 18
6. False prophets, false teachers-MATTHEW 24:4-5; 2 TIMOTHY 4:3-4
7. Global distress- natural disasters LUKE 21:25 
8. Epidemics, earthquakes, famines-(MATTHEW 24; LUKE 21) 
9. Violence upon the earth-(LUKE 17:26; GENESIS 6:11,13; MARK 13)
10. Signs in sun, moon, stars-(LUKE 21; MATTHEW 24; MARK 13)

If you were to read all the prophetic Scriptures, as well as LUKE 21 (or MATTHEW 24 or MARK 13) you would see a progression of events--like birth pangs--that start slowly and grow stronger over an entire generation.

In MATTHEW 24, Jesus gives a series of signs to watch out for and then says,

"Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its buds become tender and its leaves begin to sprout, you know without being told that summer is near. Just so, when you see the events I've described beginning to happen, you can know His return is very near, right at the door. I assure you, this generation will not pass from the scene before all these things take place."

Which generation was Jesus referring to? The one that sees the signs beginning with the resurrection of the nation of Israel in 1948.

A wise man once said: "Scholars in Bible Prophecy believe that although the world isn't yet in that prophesied time or unprecedented horror, the stage is being set. The birth pangs are already felt. Christians are commanded by Jesus to watch for the birth pang-like developments." -- Rapture Ready

"What I say to one, I say to all: Watch." (MARK 13:37).

👉👉👉HOW TO GO TO HEAVEN! ☝

News:

• ABC News: National Guard transforms LA Convention Center into field hospital for coronavirus as CDC warns of 100,000-200,000 deaths
• The Wall Street Journal: Americans hoarding cash at fastest pace since Y2K
• CNBC: Fed warns job losses could hit 47M, unemployment at 32%

"Like A Thief In The Night"

"First, I want to remind you that in the last days there will be scoffers who will laugh at the truth and do every evil thing they desire. This will be their argument:

'Jesus promised to come back, did He? Then where is He?'

"But you must not forget, dear friends, that a day is like a thousand years to the Lord and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn't really being slow about His promise to return, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so He is giving more time for everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief ... and the earth and everything on it will be exposed to judgment" (2 Peter 3: 4, 8-10).

Greg Laurie of Harvest Christian Fellowship contends:

"The scoffers described in this passage mistook Christ's delayed return to earth to mean that there would be no final judgment at all. They not only doubted Christ's return but forgot about God's judgment in the past. More importantly, these scoffers overlooked God's love and mercy. It is for their sake that God is restraining His judgment because 'He doesn't want anyone to perish.'"

But does that mean Christ will never come back?

Not according to Jan Markell of Olive Tree Ministries. She believes that by recognizing the precise signs and patterns predicted in the Bible we can know we are the generation that will see His return.

Here's a condensed version of Markell's watchlist:

• Nationalism is scorned and globalism is celebrated, destabilizing Europe. France's Emmanuel Macron makes astounding one-world statements, including wanting to offer Israel a peace plan. If the Antichrist is to come out of Europe, that continent is preparing the way for him.
• Israel's re-birth is a reminder that God keeps His promises. Donald Trump kept a promise and moved the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem on her 70th anniversary. The dry bones prophecy of Ezekiel 37 came to life in May of 1948. This is the miracle of all time. The dry bones (Israel) stood on their feet a great army and in 2018 were declared the 8th strongest nation in the world!
• In 2018 "Birth-Pangs" became apocalyptic when unprecedented disasters struck the globe.
• Trump's decision to pull troops out of Syria opens a pathway from Iran to Israel. Russia, Turkey, Sudan, Libya and many nations are prophesied to attack Israel(Ez,38). This action could further cause Israel to strike Damascus and fulfill the Isaiah 17:1 prophecy.
• The decline in moral character and the tragic rise of evil prophesied in 2 Timothy 3 is steadily increasing. Paganism and witchcraft soar as Christianity declines with millennials proclaiming they do not need God. There is a growing love of evil while good is denounced.
• There's a shocking escalation of apostasy and mocking of Bible prophecy. Most churches no longer teach the 1/3 of the Bible which is prophecy.
• Intrusive technology invades homes and paves the way for the Antichrist.
• The Pope is the ultimate globalist who could easily slide into the role of false prophet, sidekick to the Antichrist.
• Preparation for the 3rd Temple accelerated in 2018. Prophesied to be built in Jerusalem early in the Tribulation, this activity is a sign of things to come.

A wise woman once said: "Things are falling into place. Jesus is coming soon...the headlines are a herald of His coming." -- Jan Markell

"See I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me, to repay all according to their deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End" (Revelation 22:12-14).

HOW TO GO TO HEAVEN!

News:

•  Fox 5: Four men brutally beat a man to steal his iPhone in Brooklyn
• DEBKAfile: Trump asks Netanyahu to make his peace plan the focal point of his campaign
• Reuters: U.S.issues China travel advisory amid increased tensions

"Are Current Signs in the Sun, Moon, Stars Relevant?"

"I've been a solar physicist for 30 years, and I've never seen anything quite like this," says space physicist Richard Harrison.

And as Head of Space Physics at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, England--he should know.

What's he seeing?

A strangely quiet sun.

"If you want to go back to see when the sun was this inactive...you've got to go back 100 years."

Solar activity waxes (a solar maximum) and wanes (solar minimum) on an 11-year cycle.

And though the sun should be at its very maximum of activity right now--it isn't.

Instead of bursting with flares and exploding with coronal mass ejections, or even just teeming with sunspots...we've got almost nothing. Nada. Zilch.

It appears our sun is sleeping.

That's right, folks. Apart from the occasional flare or two, this sun has slept through almost 2 cycles.

"It's completely taken me and many other solar scientists by surprise," says Dr. Lucie Green of London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory.

Mike Lockwood, Professor of Space Environment Physics at the University of Redding, believes there's a significant chance the sun could become increasingly quiet.

The implications? No one knows for sure. Scientists are baffled, with opinions ranging from "expecting a little Ice Age to "not a big deal."

And then we have those spooky Blood Moons everyone is hyped-up about.

"Usually, lunar eclipses come in no particular order," NASA says. "A partial can be followed by a total, followed by a penumbral (very subtle eclipse), and so on. Anything goes. Occasionally though, the sequence is more orderly. When four consecutive lunar eclipses are all 'total', the series is called a "tetrad".

And this particular tetrad (occurring 2014-2015) has the added attraction of landing on Jewish Feast Days.

Coincidence? Perhaps.  "Feast Day Eclipse: What Do They Mean?"

And finally, gang, let's not forget we have an unusual astronomical alignment due on September 23, 2017.

The constellation Virgo (the Virgin) will be clothed with the sun (the constellation will be in the sky during the day), the moon will be at her feet, and the constellation Leo will be over her head, containing 12 stars instead of Leo's usual 9 a la Revelation 12:1-2. "Blood Moon UPDATE: Revelation 12 Connection?"

The Bible tells us in the last days "there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars" (Luke 21:25).

Do we claim these current signs are the ones Luke was referring to? Nope. The timing isn't right. Those signs come immediately before the Second Coming of Christ.

But just as we see a gradual increase in deception, global unrest, earthquakes,pestilences, etc. described as "the beginning of sorrows" in Matthew 24:8, these subtle signs in the heavens may also play a role in reminding us that time is running out. Luke 21:28 goes on to say, "Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."

Jesus spoke to His disciples about the importance of watching:

"Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near."

A wise man once said: "The beginning of sorrows literally means 'birth pangs'. The earth continually has birth pangs today (Romans 8:22)...during the tribulation, these 'sorrows' will increase in intensity and frequency until Jesus returns." -Philip W. Comfort, Ph.D.

News:

• USA Today: Officials: "Up to 1K possibly exposed to measles in Arizona; people being asked to quarantine themselves."
• Drudge Report: Doctors have stopped seeing patients who refuse vaccinations...developing.
• Market Watch: 70% of American families walk a financial tightrope with "little, if any, cushion" for emergencies.