[TheRealThing]

As I wrote in the National Emergency thread in the Political Forum, the Corona Virus Pandemic smacks of the apocalyptic age to come. And though pestilence is certainly part of that age, and though I believe the beginning of that age may well be upon us. I do not believe that this pandemic is any kind of direct gateway to the actual apocalypse. That is, I believe things will perk back up, even if not for long. I do nonetheless believe the emergence of the virus is to that end, revelatory. That said, there can be little question that there will come viruses and other kinds of sickness which will continue to threaten us. And as the Corona Virus has shown, they will wreak havoc. But according to the following verse, viruses stalking the earth don't pose existential or even the biggest threat. There is coming a time however, when man will suppose himself to have achieved greatness by his own hand. And he will celebrate in his own success. That is when destruction will fall suddenly on earth.

1 Thessalonians 5:3 (KJV)
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

You see though man admittedly has come far in his universal quest to attain global unity, (globalism=Antichrist) he still has not arrived at the point mentioned here in Thessalonians. Though man believes he can control society, and his trust in science will one day bring him closer and closer to much longer lifespans. And though men actually believe they will one day soon control the weather of all things, (climate change). And though Mr Obama tried to rush things by declaring war as having been relegated to the 20th Century, they (men) still haven't quite got the lid on things well enough to proclaim "peach and safety" and thusly claim to have achieved the end of war. But they will make that claim, and one day soon with treaties and alliances all bound up like a walking pile of bandaids; One decidedly clever guy will stand before mankind courtesy of the worldwide media and make that very announcement. Antichrist may well say--- "Men and Brethren, the nightmare of war is now a thing of the past."

But not wanting to rush things myself, let us digress. The Lord is compassionate, not willing that any should perish. And He is therefore longsuffering, as other than His Word in which these things are spelled out to perfection, He shows us real time glimpses of what is to come by way of such foreshocks as the arrival of the Coronal Virus and one doozey of a financial shock to go with it. And by the way, the whole thing came upon us "suddenly" and despite what some of the leftist goofs would tell us, there is no way to prepare for that which has never been.

But men want to think they don't need God. That is their natural bent. America has turned her back on God and she has done so very openly. Trying to strike any mention of God from her laws and from her governmental buildings, from her money and from her town squares, and from her schools.


Jeremiah 4:20 (KJV)
20 Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.

J Vernon McGee---
"I say to you that we are in the same kind of position today as were those people in the days of Jeremiah. The nation at that time had rejected God, but the people were still making a pretense of following Him. Such a people will find themselves rejected by God and by the world. America is following that same path. We are not loved by the world today. After World War II we were the pious people who were going to bring democracy to the world. What have we done? We have brought lawlessness into our own land. Do you think we should bring lawlessness into the trails of the jungle as we have into the streets of our cities? Is that the kind of civilization we are going to bring to people?

We find ourselves despised by other nations. God said it would be that way. No people can pretend to be God-fearing, be hypocritical about it, and still expect the world to look up to them. God has ordered it that way. I know it is not popular to say this -- Jeremiah wasn't very popular in his day, either. I am not expecting to win any popularity contest. The chamber of commerce will never elect me to be the man of the year. They would rather give me the boot, I am sure. But I must tell you honestly the message of this Book: A people who turn away from God will find that God turns away from them."[Thru The Bible with J. Vernon McGee.]

God turns away no one who seeks Him. But the prophetic dark clouds have gathered, lightening iand thunder splits the skies. And while time yet affords the opportunity, my hope is that men will come to know Christ.

[TheRealThing]

In reading DR McGee's statement and my follow-up above, it may seem that my intent was to contradict Doctor McGee. Far from it. All of DR McGee's conclusions and his stating that God will turn His back on a people who turn their back on Him, was entirely accurate. My statement at the bottom of the post was to the individual.

Salvation is a one-on-one relationship between God and the repentant sinner. Thus in a land like ours where government at every level have been making laws that contradict God's law, the willing individual is still called out from among men. God withholds His hand of blessing from a nation, but He will always accept the repentant individual.
1 Peter 2:9 (KJV)
9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:


Men are called by the Holy Spirit unto repentance. That's the function of the individual conscience of every man and woman. We are each born with an awareness of God living within us.
Romans 1:20 (KJV)
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they (men) are without excuse:

Further, it is my belief, that every person can recall a time in their life when at some point they fully intended to get right with the Lord. But a scarred conscience and a layer of guilt can obscure the remembrance of that time.

[TheRealThing]

Genesis Chapter 3 recalls the Lord's account of the fall, and His punishment of man (Adam and Eve) for having broken the law by eating of the tree of knowledge. The ground from that point forward was to be cursed for man's sake, bringing forth thorns and thistles. Further, as the result of his sin Adam also brought death into the world.

The original sin is why we have disease and famine and hardship in this world. Man fell that day in Eden, but mercifully the Lord offers forgiveness through Jesus' death on the cross. Thankfully, when man repents and believes in His Son as Savior, he will be saved. There are a lot of folks asking their Pastor if the Lord visited this pandemic on people as some sort of punishment. Frankly though I doubt that to be the case, there are examples in Scripture of the Lord bringing about good and bad in a people's lives. I would not therefore presume to know the Father's actions. But I know I trust Him, because I know He loves men.
Deuteronomy 28:6-7 (KJV)
6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
7 The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.

Jeremiah 16:9 (KJV)
9 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.

In the verses above, we see both the promise of blessing and the pronouncement of judgment. On the one hand God promised 'to cause' blessing to come to His people in every way. Utterly destroying Israel's enemies from before them, and to drive them out of the land in terror. On the other, He pronounced judgment on His own people. It would be God Who would 'cause' the Jew now, to be driven out of the land. Further, mirth and gladness would cease, and the voices of the bride and bridegroom would not be heard. Pretty devastating to be sure. The difference? God blesses those who are obedient, but He judges those who disobey. He is Holy.

To be sure, it is heartbreaking to see the images of older folks bedridden because they have contracted the virus, and with a ventilator over their face. Certainly we know they are suffering terribly and very likely equally terrified and my heart goes out to them. I heard Vice President Mike Pence ask America to pray for this situation. I would hope we all feel it necessary to do so. Unfortunately though, according to God's Word there are things soon to come which will make this pandemic look like a skip in the park.

[TheRealThing]

I have been giving a great deal of consideration to a few things of late. But to understand any or all things, all one must do to accomplish that is to return to the word of God. And in order to understand the attitude of the men, who these days have turned the CV pandemic into a political argument, there is in the Bible tremendous insight to be had to that end.

Rev 16:9
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God.
'This reveals that the human heart is incurably wicked. No amount of punishment will purify it and change it.' [Thru The Bible with J. Vernon McGee.]


Extrapolated for application with regard to the present argument which we're having over how to deal with CV-- As I have pointed out, the real fight here pits two sides, the secular humanistic way, versus God's way. Good against evil, or man insisting he can handle things around here for himself if you will, and he doesn't need God. But there are two things to be seen in Revelation verse 9 that I find very interesting. The first being the source of the great heat which will smite men.

Speaking to His people about the Tribulation, the Lord makes this promise "The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night" (Ps. 121:6).

I have always maintained that global warming will not impact our lives, and I still see things that way. However, once the Trib starts and the 4 horsemen ride all bets are off, and so there is coming a time when global warming will in fact decimate this earth.
Rev 16:8 (KJV)
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.

I don't know if the left's present hysteria with global warming is born of fear coupled with intuition, or fear coupled with contempt, but the irony is that the alarmists will one day realize that reality. But if you will notice-- the scorching heat comes via the Angel pouring out the 4th Bowl Judgment, not the tail pipe of your 66 Chevelle.

The preceding paragraph was included by way of digression, but the weightier matter is at the end of Rev 9-- "and (men) blasphemed the name of God."

Again as J Vernon pointed out. Being that the hearts of men are desperately wicked, no amount of force, or coercion; not the decades old argument between the left and the right, nor reams of evidence, or any manner of threat or punishment, could ever change it. The only way man's heart could ever be changed is via the miracle of God's own salvation. In the faces and arguments being made by the left one sees the intractable lockdown of the hearts of men as that applies to their rebellion against the truth. So what are the actual ignoble origins of the so-called resistance set in motion against the present federal government? The hearts of men are desperately wicked and the present day 'resistance,' though one may chose to put any man's face on it he may choose, is against conservatism and ultimately that One to Whom conservatives owe their allegiance. Almighty God.

Jeremiah 17:8-9 (KJV) [/B]
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

[Calvin_Gordon08]

I wouldn't say that it is not the biggest concern now. New strains of the virus are found in Europe and Africa. I'm scared that maybe the vaccine came too late that it may not be ready to face the new strain. Or maybe this is just my paranoia talking. I really reallly need reassurance.

[TheRealThing]

I am sorry that I did not see this until today, Calvin. But look at things like this, according to the CDC more young people die each year from influenza even the common cold, than from CV-19... by a longshot. And of course, the vaccines have proven to be very effective.

But I feel it necessary given the events to date, to amend one of my opening statements. CV-19 has proven to be much more a threat to last for a long time than it first seemed.  Frankly, my sense now dictates that America has in fact used up far more slack than I would like to have believed back in March of 2020.  CV-19 may well be the apocalyptic "beginnings of sorrows." Matt 24:8--- And not just the warning shot that I had hoped it to be. But men face a much bigger problem than CV-19. Globalism which leads immediately to the merciless reign of Antichrist.

But we must take our refuge in Christ, In Him alone can we find protection.

Matt 24    The following is what we can expect very soon.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

In some of the posts I read on BGR I see much loathing and hatred.

[Old School Hound]

"I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or my grandchildren's time — when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness. The dumbing down of America is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30-second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance."

----  Carl Sagan . 1996 ( The Demon-Haunted World)

Sagan was prophetic.  RIP.
GET STARTED

[vector#1]

I am sorry that I did not see this until today, Calvin. But look at things like this, according to the CDC more young people die each year from influenza even the common cold, than from CV-19... by a longshot. And of course, the vaccines have proven to be very effective.

But I feel it necessary given the events to date, to amend one of my opening statements. CV-19 has proven to be much more a threat to last for a long time than it first seemed.  Frankly, my sense now dictates that America has in fact used up far more slack than I would like to have believed back in March of 2020.  CV-19 may well be the apocalyptic "beginnings of sorrows." Matt 24:8--- And not just the warning shot that I had hoped it to be. But men face a much bigger problem than CV-19. Globalism which leads immediately to the merciless reign of Antichrist.

But we must take our refuge in Christ, In Him alone can we find protection.

Matt 24    The following is what we can expect very soon.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

In some of the posts I read on BGR I see much loathing and hatred.

TRT I see you put the word young in their but you left out that the US seen the biggest drop in life expectancy since WW2 .
And yes the vaccines are effective if only the Trumpsters would take them. But I am afraid the far right have preached to them the mistrust of the government so bad they will have to learn the hard way.

[TheRealThing]

"I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or my grandchildren's time — when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness. The dumbing down of America is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30-second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance."

----  Carl Sagan . 1996 ( The Demon-Haunted World)

Sagan was prophetic.  RIP.
GET STARTED

^^ In this observation Carl Sagan was totally correct IMHO--- The dumbing down of America is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30-second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance."

----  Carl Sagan . 1996 ( The Demon-Haunted World)

Notice the date of the quote^^

Now. I'm guessing it took Carl a few months at least to research and write his book. And since FOX News didn't even go on air until October of 1996, what news organizations are you suggesting Sagan was referring to here?^^  I have to say Ronald Reagan has the BGR 4 horsemen summed up rather well. But where he may be lacking, Carl Sagan was eloquent when he referred to the celebration of ignorance.

[vector#1]

"I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or my grandchildren's time — when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness. The dumbing down of America is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30-second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance."

----  Carl Sagan . 1996 ( The Demon-Haunted World)

Sagan was prophetic.  RIP.
GET STARTED

^^ In this observation Carl Sagan was totally correct IMHO--- The dumbing down of America is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30-second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance."

----  Carl Sagan . 1996 ( The Demon-Haunted World)

Notice the date of the quote^^

Now. I'm guessing it took Carl a few months at least to research and write his book. And since FOX News didn't even go on air until October of 1996, what news organizations are you suggesting Sagan was referring to here?^^  I have to say Ronald Reagan has the BGR 4 horsemen summed up rather well. But where he may be lacking, Carl Sagan was eloquent when he referred to the celebration of ignorance.

TRT I think he predicted this in 1995 he dies in December 1996 after Fox Launched