PROPHECY UPDATE.................7/29/2022

 

In The Midst of Daniel’s Seventy Weeks Prophecy – Randy Nettles - https://www.rev310.net/post/in-the-midst-of-daniel-s-seventy-weeks-prophecy   Most modern Bible scholars agree that the decree “from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem,” in Daniel 9:25, occurred in the month of Nisan on the Jewish calendar and the year 444 BC on the Julian calendar. It was issued by King Artaxerxes Longimanus of Persia. Dr. Thomas Ice, Dr. Harold Hoehner, Dr. John F. Walvoord, E. Michael Rusten, and many other scholars agree on this month and year. The decree was issued for rebuilding the city of Jerusalem, not the temple in Jerusalem.   There had been three previous edicts or decrees regarding rebuilding Jerusalem and the temple. In 538 BC, Cyrus, king of Persia, issued a decree to rebuild the temple (2 Chronicles 36:20-23; Ezra 1:1-4; 6:1-5). In 520 BC, Darius confirmed Cyrus’ decree to finish the temple in Jerusalem ( Ezra 6:6-12). King Artaxerxes issued the third decree, which related to the establishment and practice of the proper services at the Temple, in 458 BC (Nehemiah 2:1-8). The fourth decree was issued by Artaxerxes (in the 20th year of his reign) in the first month of Nisan (Nehemiah 2:2), 3317 AM on the Jewish calendar, and April, 444 BC on the Julian calendar.   This is the starting month and year of Daniel’s prophecy of Seventy Sevens found in Daniel 9:24-27. The exact day this decree was issued is unknown. However, we do have a few clues. NASA’s records indicate a solar eclipse on April 30, 444 BC, on the Julian calendar. Solar eclipses only occur on new moons, so the previous new moon would have been 30 days earlier on March 31, 444 BC. The next day, April 1, 444 BC, the crescent moon would be seen. This would have been the first crescent moon of spring and would have occurred on Nisan 1 of the Jewish calendar, as crescent moons occur on the 1st day of every month of the Jewish calendar. The only clue Nehemiah 2:2 gives is that he petitioned the king to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in the month of Nisan. This could be any day between April 1 and April 30, 444 BC.   THE SIXTY-NINE SEVENS OF DANIEL’S PROPHECY   These same scholars also agree that the end date year for the sixty-nine (7 + 62) weeks or sevens mentioned in Daniel 9:25-26 is AD 33. “Until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks (sevens) and sixty-two weeks (sevens); The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. And after the sixty-two sevens, the Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself” (Daniel 9:25-26). Jesus was “cut off” or killed on Passover, Nisan 14 on the Jewish calendar. NASA’s records indicate a lunar eclipse on the Julian calendar on April 3, AD 33. Lunar eclipses only occur on a full moon. Full moons appear on the Jewish calendar's 15th day of every month. Friday, April 3, AD 33, was Nisan 15, 3793 AM on the Jewish calendar. One day earlier would have been Thursday, April 2, AD 33 on the Julian calendar and Nisan 14, 3793 AM on the Jewish calendar. This is the end date for the sixty-nine sevens portion of Daniel’s prophecy. See Seven Famous Passovers in Scripture (rev310.net) for more information on this being the date for Jesus’ crucifixion.   So, the sixty-nine sevens prophecy was from 444 BC to AD 33. It’s interesting that for this 476-year timeframe, there are 173,847 days in a Jewish calendar (Nisan to Nisan), and there are 173,856 days in a Julian calendar (January to January). So, if you want to assume that the 476 years were complete on the Jewish calendar and the starting and end dates were on Nisan 14, then the starting date for Daniel’s prophecy of sixty-nine sevens is April 14, 444 BC, and the end date is April 2, AD 33 on the Julian calendar.   The Hebrew word, ‘shabu’ (translated as sevens), represents Shemitah cycles (weeks) of seven years, where the land was to have a Sabbath rest every seventh year. This is a clue that God is giving Daniel regarding how to interpret the timeline of this prophecy. If the duration were to be for four hundred and eighty-three years, God would have told him so with those exact words, just as He did with Jeremiah when he gave him the prophecy of seventy years. “And those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate, she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years” (2 Chronicles 36:20-21).   It’s obvious Daniel’s prophecy is based on the seven-year Shemitah (Sabbath) cycles or weeks and the actual Shemitah years (Sabbaths of the seventh year) as described in Leviticus 25, whereas Jeremiah’s prophecy is not. Otherwise, God would have informed Jeremiah that the duration of the desolations of Judah and Jerusalem would be for “10 sevens” and not “70 years.”   If the ‘sevens’ in Daniel’s prophecy are Shemitah cycles, it would appear that there should be 483 years from the start to the finish of the sixty-nine sevens prophecy because 69 x 7 = 483. However, there are only 476 years or 68 sevens (68 x 7) between Nisan, 444 BC, and Nisan, AD 33. Either the dates are wrong, or there is some other explanation that is not obvious without further research. Due to the work of biblical scholars, as I mentioned before, and my own research, I am inclined to believe these dates are accurate.   THE PROPHETIC 360-DAY CALENDAR   Two main theories can explain these seemingly contradictory discrepancies. Sir Robert Anderson introduced the first one in his book entitled The Coming Prince. Anderson developed a ‘prophetic’ 360-day calendar that he says Abraham, the father of Israel, used when he came into the land of Canaan and was the same calendar his ancestors used in his ancient home in Ur of the Chaldees. Supposedly, the Genesis account of the Flood in the days of Noah illustrates the use of this 360-day year by recording the 150-day interval till the waters abated from the earth. The 150 days began on the 17th day of the second month and ended on the 17th day of the seventh month (Genesis 7:11, 24, and 8:3-4). In other words, the five months consisted of 30 days each; therefore, 12 months would equal 360 days (12 x 30 = 360).   The “prophetic calendar” has 5-6 fewer days than a solar calendar so it would have seven more years for this particular timeline in Daniel’s prophecy than a Jewish lunisolar or Julian/Gregorian solar calendar. Thus, it would have the required 69 sevens (69 x 7) or 483 years. The 360-day prophetic calendar has 173,880 days in a 483-year timeline.   Most of the scholars I mentioned above agree with Anderson’s assessment of using the 360-day calendar for figuring the dates for Daniel’s timeframe of the sixty-nine sevens. Besides the apparent reason that it is the only calendar that will allow for 483 (69 x 7) years between 444 BC and AD 33, the book of Revelation appears to back it up. Revelation 11 and 12 use words and terms such as 1260 days (Rev. 12:6), 42 months (Rev. 11:2;13:5), and “time, times, and half a time” (Rev. 12:14) to describe the last 3.5 years of the Tribulation, known as the Great Tribulation. Daniel also uses the term “time, times, and half a time” in Daniel 7:25 and 12:7, referring to the Great Tribulation.   Although 42 months and “time, times, and half a time” are not specific in how many days are involved, it would appear they are referring to 1260 days. Since the prophetic 360-day calendar has 30 days in a month and 12 months in a year, there would be 1260 days in a 3.5-year or 42-month period. Interestingly, all of the verses in Revelation and Daniel that I have listed above are regarding the last part of Daniel’s 70th seven, otherwise known as the Day of the Lord, Jacob’s trouble, or the Great Tribulation). There is only one verse in Revelation that is believed to refer to the first part of the 7-year Tribulation, “And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days. Clothed in sackcloth” (Revelation 11:3). This verse is vague regarding the exact timing of when these two witnesses will prophesy.   The duration of the first part of the Tribulation is not given, only assumed. What has always been taught is that if the 360-day calendar were being used, the 7-year Tribulation would be divided into two halves of 1260 days for a total of 2520 days. As a former proponent of the prophetic calendar, I had a different take on the duration of the two halves of the Tribulation that I wrote about in my “In the midst” articles. I broke it down into a 1230 - 1290 (1260 + 30) days split to satisfy Daniel 12:11, “and from the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. More on this later.   The only problem with Anderson’s prophetic calendar is that the Hebrews never used a 360-day calendar, especially one that didn’t have an intercalary month added periodically. They used (and still do for their religious activities) a lunar calendar (353/354 days) with an extra month of 30 days added every two to three years to keep it in alignment with the solar calendar (365/366 days). If the Jews ever used a 360-day calendar for keeping abreast with prophecies, it would have to be in conjunction with their lunisolar calendar. In other words, they would have to use two calendars, which would get very confusing.   THE JEWISH CALENDAR – COUNTING SHEMITAH YEARS   The second main theory regarding the timeframe of Daniel’s prophecy of Seventy Weeks/Sevens is based on the Jewish calendar. With this calendar, you are not counting days or years but actual Shemitah years. The first step to deciphering the 69 weeks is to confirm the word ‘sevens’ and not ‘weeks’ as the proper translation. This is critical for this theory to have merit. ‘Sevens’ refers to the seventh year of the seven-year Shemitah cycle (week).   Shemitah cycles are counted, but only if they are located after the starting date and before the end date of Daniel’s prophecy. However, I believe God was only counting 69 Sabbath years (476 years) and not 69 Sabbath cycles (483 years). Gabriel, an angel of God, relaying his message to Daniel, never mentions years, only sevens. Why is that? Sevens refers to the Shemitah year of rest for the land of Israel, going back to when the children of Israel entered the Promised Land. For more information, charts, etc., see The Sixty-Nine Shemitah Years of Daniel's Seventy Weeks Prophecy (rev310.net). In this article, I show how 444 BC and AD 33 are both Shemitah years, and there are 67 Shemitah years between them, for a total of 69 Shemitah years or sixty-nine sevens.   As Jesus fulfilled the first four Feasts of the Lord at his 1st advent, He will fulfill the last three at his 2nd advent. The three terms for identifying the last 3.5 years of the 7-year Tribulation   noted above can be easily explained by accepting the premise that the Fall Feasts of the Lord coincide with Jesus’ 2nd advent. The Jewish calendar usually has 1260 days from Nisan 10-12 to Tishri 1, the Feast of Trumpets, in 3.5 years.   Nisan 10, AD 33, was the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey as the king of Israel but was rejected by the Jews. Some scholars say this was the day Jesus was “cut off” from his kingship of Israel, but I believe it was four days later on Passover, Nisan 14, when Jesus was killed. This was also the end date for Daniel’s prophecy of 69 sevens (7 + 62 sevens) mentioned in Daniel 9:25-26.   Nisan 10 was also the day the children of Israel first entered the promised land in 1406 BC. Most Bible scholars believe the abomination of desolation and the 3.5-year Great Tribulation will start on Nisan 10-12, a few days before Passover. 1260 days (3.5 years or 42 months) later on the Feast of Trumpets, Tishri 1, Jesus will return to the earth to fulfill His second coming. This explains how the Jewish calendar is used for deciphering the timeframe regarding Daniel’s prophecy (and also Revelation 11, 12, 13) and not a 360-day calendar that the children of Israel never used in their entire history from Moses (Exodus 12) forward.   Even the 150 days mentioned in Genesis7:24 and 8:3, when the waters started to recede during the great flood of Noah’s day, which transpired in 5 months (from the 17th day of the second month to the 17th day of the seventh month), does not necessarily prove a 360-day calendar with 30 days per month. It takes our moon about 29.5 days to complete one cycle of phases (from new moon to new moon). Although Noah had a small window in the ark (to release birds to determine if the water had receded), it is doubtful he could have seen the moon at night. He probably just counted days and rounded off to 30 days per month. If he did use a 360-day calendar, it probably had an intercalary month added approximately every six years to keep it in alignment with the solar calendar.   CONCLUSION   Going against tradition and some great Bible scholars, and for the reasons listed above, I think that the timeframe of Daniel’s prophecy of Seventy Sevens is based upon the Jewish calendar and not Anderson’s prophetic calendar. The 69 sevens are Shemitah years, starting with 444 BC and ending with AD 33, and the duration is for 476 Jewish years (353 – 355 days per year + intercalary month added every 2-3 years) and not 483 prophetic years with 360 days per year. The Jewish calendar has approximately 2540 days in a 7-year timeframe or 2570 days if an extra third intercalary month is added.   IN THE MIDST OF DANIEL’S SEVENTIETH SEVEN   “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week, and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate” (Daniel 9:27). The prophet Daniel is referring to the last seven years (“one week”) on earth before Jesus’ 2nd Coming to the world. This period is known as Daniel’s 70th Seven, the Tribulation, and Jacob’s Trouble. Numerous Old Testament prophets referred to it as the Day of the Lord.   In Daniel 9:27, does the term “in the midst” mean the exact middle, or could it mean near the middle? 269 times in the Old Testament use that terminology. Very few of them refer to the exact middle. Most of them refer to a near middle or center.   For example, in 1 Samuel 16, Samuel the prophet went to the house of Jesse of the tribe of Judah to anoint one of his sons as the king who would eventually replace Saul. Jesse had eight sons, counting David. God informed Samuel that he was to anoint David, the youngest. “Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren…” (1 Samuel 16:13). With seven brothers, there is no exact middle, for there are four on one side of David and three on the other side of David. If there were nine sons, then David could have been in the exact middle of them, but as it was, he was only in their midst.   The “in the midst” event of Daniel 9:27 is known as the “abomination of desolation” and is described in Daniel 12:11 and Revelation 13:14-15. Daniel 12:11 gives the duration of the last part (3.5 years) of the Tribulation, from the A.O.D. to the end of the 7-year Tribulation. “And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days” (Daniel 12:11).   Have you ever wondered why Daniel 12:11 is for 1,290 days instead of 1,260 days? I believe the Antichrist’s abomination of desolation will occur on Nisan 10-12, a few days before Passover, starting the Great Tribulation that will last for 1260 days. These 1260 days, from around Passover until Jesus returns on the Feast of Trumpets (Tishri 1), will fulfill the prophecies of Revelation 12:6, Rev. 11:2, Rev. 13:5, Rev. 12:14, Daniel 7:25, and Daniel 12:7. However, the end of the Tribulation does not end with Jesus’ victory at the battle of Armageddon, but rather 30 days later.   This takes into consideration enough time for the 6th Feast of the Lord, the Day of Atonement, to be fulfilled by Jesus. This Day of Atonement will be the long-lost 70th seven (Shemitah year) of Daniel’s prophecy. The extra 30 days also allow for the 7th Feast of the Lord, Tabernacles, to be fulfilled by the Lord Jesus. Also, there will still be enough time for Jesus to fulfill the prophecies of Matthew 24:30-31 and Matthew 25:31-46. The Feast of Tabernacles lasts for eight days until Tishri 23rd. Seven days later, the Millennium Kingdom of Jesus Christ will commence, 1290 days after the A.O.D. At this time, the prophecy of Daniel 9:24 will be fulfilled.   EXAMPLES OF DANIEL’S SEVENTIETH SEVEN USING THE JEWISH CALENDAR   Let’s look at a couple of examples of the timeframe involved in using the “in the midst” reckoning for Daniel’s 70th seven using the Jewish calendar. These are merely examples, so one can get a general idea of the Feasts of the Lord that are involved within these last seven years. They are not predictions of the actual dates for the seven-year Tribulation. The first one will be the first possible timeline starting with 2022 as the starting point and 2029 as the ending point. The second one will be the next in line, 2023-2030. When configuring these dates, you must always start with Jesus’ returning on Trumpets (actually 30 days later) and work your way backward to the start. Remember, there are approximately 2540 or 2570 days in seven years in the Jewish calendar. We will look at both examples.     2022-2029   These seven years contain approximately 2540 days. The end of the Tribulation would occur on Heshvan 1, 10/9/2029. Jesus would have returned 30 days earlier on Tishri 1 (Trumpets) on the Jewish calendar or 9/9/2029 on the Gregorian calendar. The Antichrist will have set up his abomination of desolation 1260 days earlier (from Trumpets) on Nisan 12- 3/29/2026. That is 1290 days total thus far, which agrees with Daniel 12:11. Since there are 2540 days in this timeline, you must deduct 1290 days from 2540 days. The difference is 1250 days. When you deduct 1250 days from 3/29/2026, you come up with Heshvan 2 - 10/26/2022 for the start of the Tribulation when the Antichrist confirms the covenant with the many.    2023-2030   These seven years contain approximately 2570 days (as there are three intercalary years added instead of two). The end of the Tribulation would occur on Heshvan 1 - 10/28/2030. Jesus would have returned 30 days earlier on Tishri 1 (Trumpets) - 9/27/2030. The Antichrist will have set up his abomination of desolation 1260 days earlier (from Trumpets) on Nisan 10 - 4/16/2027. That is 1290 days total thus far. Since there are 2570 days in this timeline, you must deduct 1290 days from 2570 days. The difference is 1280 days. When you deduct 1280 days from 4/16/2027, you come up with Tishri 30 - 10/14/2023 for the starting date of the Antichrist’s confirming of the covenant or the start of the Tribulation.   In these two examples, Daniel’s 70th seven (the last Shemitah year of Daniel’s prophecy) will   occur during the seventh year of the Tribulation on the Day of Atonement, Tishri 10, ten days after Jesus returns to the earth on Trumpets. In example #1, the date will be 9/18/2029. See Daniel's Last Seven (rev310.net) for 2029-2030 as the possible year for the 70th Jubilee. In example #2, Daniel’s 70th seven will occur on 10/6/2030.   When Jesus returns at the end of the 7-year Tribulation, the six objectives mentioned in Daniel 9:24 will finally occur for the Jewish people: To finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. The children of Israel will finally be the people God had planned for them all along. “You shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:5-6).   Thirty days after Jesus returns to the earth, Daniel’s Seventieth Seven prophecy will have been fulfilled. The last event before the millennial reign of Jesus Christ will be the anointing of the Jewish Temple by the Shekinah presence of Lord Jesus. This will be the last prophecy to be fulfilled, this side of the Millennium.   Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!   Randy Nettles   rgeanie55@gmail.com

Keep Your Eyes on Israel! - by Bill Perkins - https://compass.org/keep-your-eyes-on-israel/   “Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” Dan. 12:3   Chuck Missler often said, “If you want to know where we are on God’s world-clock, look at what’s happening in Israel.”   The world as a whole has no clue what you and I know to be factually true…that Israel is what’s important to God and Satan is doing everything possible to destroy her.   This entire Covid scam, this attempt to depopulate the earth via secretely injecting poison into over half the human population, the rise of a one-world government, and the take-down of the United States is all about Israel.   Most people in the world today have no clue that the Lord Jesus Christ, a human Jew, will physically return from heaven and reign over the earth FROM JERUSALEM for 1000 years.   The world has no clue that 2600-year-old Bible prophecies are falling into place like a finished jig-saw puzzle. They may see the pieces in a pile, but they have no clue how they fit together.   Think about all these prophecies about Israel having fallen or now falling into place:   The Bible says Israel will be scattered around the world. But after about 2000 years she would return to her homeland. She did. (Hos. 6:1,2, Ezek. 37:21, 38:8, 39:27)   The Bible says when Israel returned to her land she would become a nation in a single day. She did. (Is.66:8)   The Bible says when Israel returned she will regain her language. She did. (Is. 19:18; Zeph. 3:9)   The Bible says when Israel returns she will have remained a pure race. She did. (Rev. 7:4)   The Bible says that when Israel returns she will have two arch enemies: Russia (Gog) and Iran (Persia). They are. (Ezek. 38:3,5)   The Bible says that when she returns she’ll have a mighty military. She does. (Ezek. 37:10)   The Bible says Israel will be a burdensome stone for the world. She is. (Zech. 12:3)   The Bible says when Israel becomes a nation again the world will have nuclear weapons. (Zech. 14:12) It does.   The Bible says just before the Rapture Israel will have a group of 144,000 Jewish males who are virgins. She does. (Rev. 7:4; 14:1-5) (3)   Prophecies about Israel after the Rapture:   The Bible says after the Rapture Israel will rebuild her Temple and go back to blood sacrifices. She's talking about doing that today.(1) (Dan. 9:27) (Rev. 11:1)   The Bible says Russia and Iran will invade Israel to capture her gold and silver riches. (Ezek. 38:13)   The Bible says that Israel’s vast gold and silver riches are so large that several nations will invade to plunder. We know Solomon’s riches are still buried somewhere in Israel and this implies they will discover these riches prior to the Rapture.(2)   The world has no clue how much Bible prophecy is coming together, but we do. God has given us spiritual insight in these last days to comfort us…because it proves the accuracy of the Bible.   And when we see these things coming together, we know the Lord will rescue us from God's wrath via the Rapture. So that exhilarating moment is getting closer and closer.   BP   (1) https://compass.org/israelis-call-for-rebuilding-their-temple-and-returning-to-animal-sacrifices/   (2) https://compass.org/israels-coming-mind-blowing-gold-riches/   (3) https://compass.org/article-who-are-the-144000-in-revelation/   Why Does the United States Just Keep Getting Hit By One Historic Nightmare After Another? - by Michael Snyder - http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/why-does-the-united-states-just-keep-getting-hit-by-one-historic-nightmare-after-another/   Have you become numb to all the bad news yet? Almost every single day, something really horrible seems to happen in the United States. It is just one thing after another and it has been that way for months. It is as if we are in the midst of some sort of a “perfect storm” that never seems to end. In all my years of writing, I have never seen anything like this. There is so much bad news happening right now that it is literally impossible to keep up with it all. Events are starting to accelerate at a pace that is absolutely breathtaking, and I am extremely concerned about what the remainder of 2022 will look like.   For months, I have been writing extensively about the endless drought in the western half of the nation. We are being told that it is the worst multi-year megadrought that the region has experienced in 1,200 years, and it just keeps getting worse and worse.   Meanwhile, we are witnessing absolutely unprecedented flooding in the eastern half of the United States. For example, some parts of Kentucky were just pummeled by more than 10 inches of rain in a 24 hour period…   Heavy rain poured down across eastern Kentucky late Wednesday into Thursday, triggering flash flooding that caused mudslides, washed away homes and roadways and promoted a flash flood emergency. The deluge produced more than 10 inches over a 24-hour period in the hardest-hit areas and came only days after another disastrous flood inundated the St. Louis area.   In some areas, it literally looks like a tsunami has just come through. One local meteorologist admitted that he does not “have the words” to describe the incredible devastation that has taken place…   Chris Bailey, WKYT’s chief meteorologist said: ‘I don’t have the words to describe the amount of devastation daylight will uncover across eastern Kentucky.   ‘This is likely to go down as one of the worst flash flood events to ever hit the state.’   Governor Andy Beshear is telling us that this was “one of the worst and most devastating events in Kentucky’s history”, and he isn’t sure why such bad things keep happening to his state…   Beshear described this as “one of the worst and most devastating events in Kentucky’s history” during the press conference. Beshear said the state was in the middle of an ongoing natural disaster and warned of the possibility for more rain to fall through Thursday night. Damage assessment and restoration were likely to continue for several days, but the dangerous flooding was hindering first responders’ ability to rescue residents, as well as allow utility workers to get power restored.   “I wish I could tell you why we keep getting hit here in Kentucky,” Beshear said. “I wish I could tell you why areas, where people may not have that much, continue to get hit and lose everything. I can’t give you the why, but I know what we do in response to it. And the answer is everything we can. These are our people. Let’s make sure we help them out.”   Of course this disaster in Kentucky came just one day after one of the worst flooding events in the history of the state of Missouri.   We are being told that we just witnessed “the wettest day ever for St. Louis”, and in some areas of the city the water actually got more than 8 feet deep…   One person died when a car in St. Louis was found covered in more than 8 feet (2.4 meters) of water. Several puppies drowned when a building became flooded at Stray Paws Adoptables, a stray dog rescue operation in St. Peters, a St. Louis suburb. Firefighters in boats rescued other dogs from the building.   Damage across the region was widespread after a massive downpour dropped more than 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rain in parts of St. Charles County and up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) elsewhere in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Most of the rain fell in a few hours shortly after midnight.   I really wish that we could take all of that water and give it to ranchers and farmers in the western half of the country, because the endless drought is absolutely crushing them.   Meanwhile, the U.S. is now dealing with two major simultaneous pandemics for the first time in my entire life.   Despite everything that health officials have tried, the first pandemic is still raging, and now another frightening disease is spreading like wildfire.   This current monkeypox outbreak began in Europe, but this week the U.S. officially became the world leader in confirmed cases…   With more than 18,000 cases worldwide, the monkeypox outbreak is now a global public health emergency, the World Health Organization declared this week. And the U.S. has recorded more monkeypox cases since the beginning of the year than any other country, according to the most recent statistics.   The number of confirmed cases continues to rise at an exponential rate, and this is one disease that you definitely do not want to get.   Many victims have described experiencing absolutely excruciating pain once skin sores start developing, and one man that has had both COVID and monkeypox is telling us that monkeypox is “100 times worse”.   On top of everything that I have already discussed, we just got confirmation that the U.S. economy has plunged into a recession…   The U.S. economy contracted for the second straight quarter from April to June, hitting a widely accepted rule of thumb for a recession, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Thursday.   Gross domestic product fell 0.9% at an annualized pace for the period, according to the advance estimate. That follows a 1.6% decline in the first quarter and was worse than the Dow Jones estimate for a gain of 0.3%.   Of course Joe Biden will never admit that a recession has now started.   According to him, everything is just great…   Biden noted that ‘both Chairman Powell and many of the significant banking personnel and economists say we’re not in a recession.’   ‘Businesses are investing in American in record rates,’ Biden boasted.   But everyone can see what is happening to the economy, and we are being warned that we must endure some “short-term pain” in order to get inflation under control…   “We have to endure the short-term pain in the economy in order to get inflation back under control,” said Tara Sinclair, a senior fellow at the Indeed Hiring Lab. She compared the Fed hiking interest rates and tightening monetary policy to a medical treatment that might require patients to undergo something painful in order to have longer-term health. “Then, going forward, we can have a much more stable environment where we know prices are going to be growing about 2 percent per year, we have more certainty about that, we have a better sense of demand and supply coming together. That’s a better working environment for the economy as a whole, and businesses want that kind of certainty.”   Without a doubt, we desperately need to do something about inflation because it is absolutely eviscerating those at the bottom of the economic food chain.   For example, just consider the plight of one woman that was recently interviewed by CNN…   For 17 years, Ana Duran worked full time as a travel counselor. Late last year she lost that job, shortly before seeing the price of eggs rise to $7.99 a dozen and the price of a single avocado rise to $2.99 at her local store. In June, it cost her $94 to fill up her gas tank, instead of the $50 it cost her last year.   Duran has been receiving unemployment benefits and working part-time as a caregiver for a resident at a senior center. To make ends meet, she’s also been selling her own gold jewelry and crushing aluminum cans to recycle for extra cash.   Unfortunately, what the Fed is trying to do isn’t going to work. The inflation rate will likely stabilize, but we aren’t going back to a low inflation environment.   However, dramatically raising interest rates will definitely crash the housing market.   Ultimately, we are going to get to enjoy 1970s-style inflation and a repeat of the housing crash of 2008 all at the same time.   Won’t that be fun?   A historic economic meltdown of epic proportions has begun, and it is going to get a whole lot worse.   We seem to be in the midst of some sort of a “perfect storm” with no end in sight.   So why is this happening to us?   Why does the United States just keep getting hit by one historic nightmare after another?   We appear to have entered an ominous new chapter in our history, and I believe that events will accelerate even more during the difficult months that are ahead of us.  And If the Dead Rise Not - By Jack Kinsella - https://www.raptureready.com/2022/07/26/and-if-the-dead-rise-not-by-jack-kinsella/   “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1st Corinthians 15:51-53).   Throughout the New Testament, the word translated as ‘mystery’ comes from the Greek’ musterion,’ which literally means ‘secret’ or ‘hidden thing.’ In our modern English, however, ‘mystery’ is understood in the Agatha Christie or Sherlock Holmesian sense of the word.   Paul’s use of the word ‘mystery’ when describing the Rapture in 1 Corinthians 15:53 means a truth that had not yet been revealed.   Paul cannot be referring to the Second Coming of Christ; His return at the end of the Tribulation is one of the oldest prophecies recorded in Scripture.   Daniel 12:1-3 and Zechariah 12:10; 14:4 all mention the 2nd Coming, and Jude quotes Enoch, the “seventh from Adam,” who “prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints” (Jude 1:14).   The Rapture, therefore, is a previously unrevealed secret, a ‘hidden thing’ of God previously unknown to men.   As the end of this present Age approaches, there are many Christians who are beginning to wonder if we might already be in the Tribulation now.   We aren’t.   Assessment:   There are lots and lots of folks who think I am ‘way out there’ for adhering to a pre-Tribulationist doctrine. (I know this to be true, also, because I get emails from them every time I comment on the Rapture, saying, “Kinsella, you’re way out there!”)   They’ll go on smugly (and endlessly), playing word games like “the word ‘Rapture’ isn’t even in the Bible” — as if that meant something.   (Try and find the word ‘Bible’ in the Bible. Does its absence from the Scriptures mean there is no Bible?)   Or babble mindlessly about Margaret MacDonald and C.I. Scofield before pronouncing Dispensationalism and a pre-Trib Rapture a modern-day ‘invented’ doctrine.   I say ‘mindlessly’ because they don’t know what they are talking about — they are just quoting somebody else’s research as if it were the Gospel itself.   We have dealt with the Margaret MacDonald argument in previous Omega Letter reports, so we won’t address that particular ‘controversy’ here, other than to note that the Apostle Paul wrote of the Rapture 1,800 years before Margaret MacDonald.   Instead of building the argument based on what the Bible doesn’t say about the Rapture, it is helpful to take a good close look at what it DOES tell us about the Rapture.   First, notice that the Rapture involves the movement of believers from the earth to Heaven:   “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17).   The “dead in Christ” rise first; then those believers who are “alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds.” The operative word here is ‘rise.’   On the other hand, at the Second Coming, the Lord returns WITH His saints:   “To the end He may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints” (1st Thessalonians 3:13).   So the Rapture is not the same event as the Second Coming.   And things that are different are NOT the same. What would be the point of Rapturing the Church then, anyway? The Lord returns to establish His kingdom on earth, so why pull out all the Christians?   Who is He gonna rule?   “And before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And He shall set the sheep on His right Hand, but the goats on the left” (Matthew 25:32-33).   If all the believers are raptured at the Second Coming, that would also include the Tribulation saints. Where would the believers in mortal bodies come from if they are raptured at the Second Coming?   Who would be able to enter into Christ’s Kingdom? Enquiring minds want to know.   Then there is Daniel’s 70 weeks. The Church was absent for the first sixty-nine weeks — the countdown was suspended at the Cross so the Church could be born.   Daniel makes it clear that all 70 weeks are determined upon Israel.   “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints” (Revelation 19:7-8).   If the Bride is made ready to accompany Christ to the earth at the Second Coming (while part of the Bride is still on earth during the Tribulation), then how does the Bride (the Church) also come with Christ at His Return?   There is the example of Enoch:   “And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him” (Genesis 5:24). Not only does Enoch prefigure the Rapture, note that Enoch’s Rapture was pre-Flood, and not mid-Flood or post-Flood.   The Scriptures are plain, clear and concise on the topic of a pre-Tribulation Rapture — provided one interprets the Bible literally instead of figuratively or symbolically.   While no man knows the day or the hour of the Rapture, the Second Coming can be accurately predicted, since Daniel tells us He returns exactly 1,290 days after the antichrist “opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God” (2nd Thessalonians 2:4).   “And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days” (Daniel 12:11).   The pre-Tribulation Rapture is often called the “Blessed Hope” by those who look for His return before the Tribulation begins. Those who believe the Church will go through the Tribulation sneeringly call it the ‘Great Escape.’   Don’t let anybody steal away your Blessed Hope:   “For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (1st Corinthians 15:16-19).   The Rapture happens before the Tribulation, which means that He is coming for us soon! Call it the Blessed Hope or the Great Escape, He IS coming.   And given the current state of global affairs, it can’t be too much longer until we hear that trumpet.   Maranatha!  Daily Jot: The Farm Chronicles: My life in Paris - Bill Wilson – www.dailyjot.com   Just the word “Paris” stimulates the mind and imagination. The Eiffel Tower, quaint café’s, wine, festivities. There is this romantic notion about Paris. Paris, before it was Paris, was settled around 250 BC and was popular because it was a meeting place of land and water trade routes. Then came the Romans, who conquered the area in 52 BC and started a settlement called Lutetia, which became a very popular place with baths, temples, theatres and thriving businesses. By the end of the Western Roman Empire in 476, the town’s Latin name was Parisius, which later became Paris in French. I was born and raised in Paris–Paris, Ohio. No Eiffel Tower. But we did have a school with a honky-tonk bar across from it.   According to Portage County Historical Society records, Paris township was organized in the fall of 1820, the first election on the 10th of November held in the schoolhouse erected a year earlier. My fourth great grandfather Justus Wilson was elected trustee; his son, my third great grandfather Austin Wilson was elected a fence viewer, and my fourth great uncle, Luther Wilson, was elected a constable. There were 25 voters. At this meeting, the township was renamed Paris from its previous name of Storrsborough. While maybe somebody’s hopes and dreams were that Paris, Ohio would become like the Paris in France, that never quite materialized. Today, Paris is pretty much the way it was a hundred years ago, but the school is closed.   My second great grandfather, my great grandfather, both my father and mother, and my brothers and me before were educated in Paris before they closed it in the 1970s and moved everybody to a centralized school. This Paris school was built in the 1920’s along with four other township schools. I’m sure they were top of the line when they were built, but by the time I got there, it was a different story. The school was coal-fired heat in the winter from a boiler room in the basement, across from the first-grade classroom. Second grade was a little further down the hall and then that hall led to the cafeteria where we were served each day with pretty bad food. The water there was also terrible, venting a thick sulfur smell and a similar taste to boot. It was cold in the winter and hot in the early summer when our shirts stuck to the back of the chairs.   But all in all, it was a simpler time. We were taught manners and respect. The teachers were Christians, and many of them also taught Sunday school at their respective churches. As kids, we played together during recess and settled our differences without much interference. There was an air of innocence. Teachers taught reading, writing and arithmetic. There wasn’t any talk of gender back then, unless it involved some mention of “cooties.” And we learned to behave because that old principal, Mr. Baldwin, roamed the halls with his paddle in hand, seeking any excuse of misbehavior to apply the board of education to the seat of knowledge. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” And for 150 years in Paris that’s the way it was, until it wasn’t.  Daily Devotion: Science and the Bible - by Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org   I have made the earth, and created man on it. I—My hands—stretched out the heavens, and all their host I have commanded —Isaiah 45:12   https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/science-and-the-bible/ - Listen   Some people believe that science and the Bible contradict each other, but that is not necessarily true. Over the years, people have scoffed at the Bible, claiming it wasn’t scientific. They’ve said that people who believe the Bible are fools.   However, it was the Bible that told us the Earth is round, not flat, which many of the experts believed at one stage in human history. Isaiah 40:22 says, “It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.” (NKJV).   The Bible also told us the stars in the sky were innumerable (see Hebrews 11:12) when astronomers said that was ridiculous. They claimed they could count the stars. Yet as they acquired more powerful telescopes, they had to keep adding to their numbers.   The Bible tells us that God stretched out the heavens into a limitless expanse, which we can never measure, and He filled it with stars as numerous as sands on the seashore. And modern science confirms this is true.   The Bible says that “by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (Hebrews 11:3 NKJV). Everything we look at consists of protons and neutrons and electrons. So, it was the Bible that told us the things we see are made of things we don’t see.   In many ways, the Bible has been ahead of science. However, the Bible is not a scientific textbook. The objective of Scripture is not to tell us how the heavens go but how to go to Heaven and how to know God.   I believe the Bible is the Word of God and that it’s true because science confirms it.