All posts tagged: Apocalypse

The Daily Mail’s ten most likely world-ending events

There has been talk in recent months about apocalyptic events that could lead to the end of the world. Some of it has undoubtedly been sparked by COVID and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In an article for the Daily Mail, Sam Tonkin recently discussed the ten most likely scenarios that could result in the end of humanity, from a secular and scientific point of view. Of course, the Bible also warns of a series of horrific apocalyptic events that would devastate the world leading to the second coming of Christ. With that as the theme, I want to provide a Biblical perspective on Tonkin’s ten world-ending events. Giant Asteroid Hits Earth The first world-ending devastation that Tonkin had on his list was a giant asteroid hitting the Earth. Of course, many believe it was an asteroid that selectively killed off every dinosaur, but somehow spared the life of other creatures. This idea has become such a serious concern that NASA and other space agencies are now monitoring our solar system for potential asteroids and recently …

Another ‘birth pang’: Massive earthquake hits Turkey and Syria

A massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Turkey and Syria early Monday morning destroying countless buildings in both countries and killing at least 1,900 people, with that number expected to rise dramatically. It is estimated that there were over 5,000 people injured most of who were asleep in their homes when the quake hit. Rescue teams are searching for the hundreds of people still trapped beneath the rubble. It was followed a few hours later, by a slightly less powerful, 7.5 magnitude earthquake that demolished buildings damaged by the first. The second earthquake’s epicenter was 60 miles (ca. 97 km) north of the first, which was located north of the Turkish city of Gaziantep (population 2 million), near the Syrian border. According to reports the two earthquakes were unrelated, but the first quake may have triggered the second. There have been reports of smaller quakes in other areas of the world including a 3.8 magnitude earthquake in Buffalo, New York, leading some to suggest the Turkey earthquakes may have destabilized other faults. The Danish Geological survey …

Is Putin’s ‘Satan,’ the Apostle John’s ‘Wormwood’?

Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has just revealed his latest intercontinental ballistic nuclear weapon (ICBM), which could be in active service as soon as January 2023. The missile that actually leaves the earth’s atmosphere before reentering and unleashing its payload, can carry 15 nuclear warheads which can individually target other sites. The missiles that can reportedly travel 16,000 miles (ca. 25,750 km) an hour could reach Britain in a matter of minutes. Of course, Putin did this in an effort to terrorize and intimidate the rest of the world because of the failure of his invasion of Ukraine. But what struck me is its name. Though it is officially called RS-28 Sarmat, the Russians have nicknamed it Satan-2. In other words, if he doesn’t get his way, Putin is threatening to unleash Satan on the world. And sometimes I have wondered if in his vision of the apocalypse, recorded in the Book of Revelation, if the Apostle John saw Satan-2 in action. John had a different name for it though, he called it wormwood. But in …

Camels on the Horizon? The Eve of Destruction?

You might have heard about the camels on the horizon. Lots of people are talking about it. The story is; that a Sheik in Dubai in the Persian Gulf region gave his opinion, in an interview, and his words of wisdom have caught the attention of people around the world. In summary: Hard times make resilient people, and those people fix social problems and make a better society. That easier life produces soft and whiny people, and they make things worse. It’s a cycle of repair and decay. Prosperity and good times, lead us to decay and destruction. People who like this message generally think we are in the soft and whiny stage, and destruction is near. Apparently, many Christian preachers are interested in the message. The Sheik of Dubai is like a wise prophet, to some people. Social cycles are normal, and predictable. And if that is true, we may be at the end of a prosperity peak. We may be on the eve of destruction. What do you think? I’m a Christian, and …

Looming famine and food shortages?

In Jesus’ description of the end times, Christ said there will be several signs indicating that the countdown to His second coming has started: 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:6-8 NKJV) And when you look at this list, we can add checkmarks to what is happening today. Jesus talked about: Wars and rumors of wars [✔]; Plagues (Covid, MonkeyPox) [✔]; Earthquakes [✔]; and also famines. This has left some wondering if we have entered this phase of the end times. And with the recent events, several experts have issued warnings of the potential for famine and food shortages. Famine warning A recent report by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization warned there is a risk of 49 million people living in …

82 | What do the prophets Zechariah and John have to say about nuclear war in the end-times?

FOLLOW OUR PODCAST ON (search opentheword): PODCAST NOTES: In this podcast, I discuss the several times that Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened nuclear war since his invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. These threats even included two Russian fighter jets that briefly flew into Swedish airspace armed with nuclear warheads on March 2, 2022. But this leads to a bigger question: Do any of the Bible’s prophets predict nuclear war will be part of the end-times apocalypse? I believe there are several prophecies that suggest this may happen, and I will look at two of them. One of them comes from a vision given to the Prophet Zechariah (Zechariah 14:12), and the second from the Apostle John, found in the Book of Revelation (Revelation 8:10-11), John’s written record of a vision he received describing the events that will lead up to the second coming of Christ. Click here for a more complete transcript. READ: Putin implies nuclear attack if West interferes in Ukraine. Why it’s not just an empty threat AND ON THE …

The Antichrist, 666, and … the Truck-Apocalypse

Are we at the end of the world? Did COVID and vaccine mandates start the beginning of the end? Are those Canadian truckers part of the new wave? Maybe. You have probably heard about the truck drivers in Canada who are protesting against government restrictions. The government claims that they are a small fringe group, and most of the population does not agree with them; they are a fringe minority expressing unacceptable views do not represent the majority. That is the common position for most of the media, and politicians. A recent opinion survey asked people in Canada what they thought about the protest convoy, and almost eighty percent claimed to support it. We have some trucks with flags and loud horns, where I live, and I saw some people on an overpass bridge with flags and signs, waiting for a local convoy to pass. There are reports, in some places, that the convoys stretched for miles. This is too big to ignore. READ: Trucker convoy: Blaring horns, cheers as hundreds descend on Parliament I …

Asteroid ‘2018 AH’ will pass earth on Dec 27, 2021

The Jerusalem Post had an interesting article on 2018 AH, an asteroid that will pass earth on December 27, 2021. In astronomical terms, it is not huge. The asteroid is about 100 meters in size, the equivalent of the Washington Monument. And there is little chance of it hitting the earth, because it will cruise by at a safe distance of about 4.5 million kilometres. But this is not the first time 2018 AH made an appearance. As the name suggests, it zoomed by earth in 2018. But there were a couple of interesting things about that earlier visit that caught my attention. First it was only 296,758 kilometres away when it slipped by earth, which means it was nearly 100,000 kilometres closer to earth than the moon (384,000 kilometres). The second thing that concerned astronomers is that they had no idea it was coming. They only saw it two days after it had already zoomed by. Apparently, it had approached on a trajectory from the sun, making it impossible to see. So what would …

Does ‘Satan 2’ = ‘Wormwood’?

The Daily Mail is reporting that Russia is in the final testing phase of its latest super nuke that the government describes as invincible. The intercontinental ballistic missile named RS-28 Sarmat, nicknamed Satan 2, weighs 208 tons and is scheduled to be part of Russia’s nuclear arsenal in 2022. The government is planning three test launches of the ICBM this year and states it can travel 11,200 miles and is capable of reaching the continental US over the North Pole and is also capable of launching over the South Pole, in a surprise attack from an unexpected direction. Because of its launch speed and unpredictable flight, Russia states that RS-28 Sarmat will be difficult to shoot down and its payload of 10 large thermonuclear warheads is capable of devastating an area as large as the state of Texas or the combined area of England and Wales. Russia is not the only country with nuclear weapons. The US, Britain, China, Israel, France, Pakistan, India, and North Korea also have nuclear weapons and of course Iran desperately …

Blood moon on May 26, 2021, followed by ring of fire solar eclipse June 10.

According to an article on Forbes, a lunar eclipse is scheduled to make an appearance on May 26, 2021. This will result in what is typically referred to as a blood moon, when the moon briefly turns red. Blood moons occur during full and partial lunar eclipses when the earth blocks the suns rays from hitting the moon. During a lunar eclipse, the sun’s shorter-light wave lengths (blue and violet) bend around the Earth’s atmosphere, leaving only the longer-colour wave lengths in the Earth’s shadow — red, yellow or orange — which in turn gives the moon a blood-red appearance. The event is being referred to as a super blood moon because it involves a full eclipse of the moon and will be visible in North and South America and as well parts of Asia, Australian and islands in the Pacific Ocean. Blood moons and other solar events are often associated with end times events in the Bible. But it is important to understand that blood moons on their own are not necessarily significant, because …

Satanic attacks becoming more blatant and deceptive

In his vision of the end times, the Apostle John reported two interesting incidents taking place that would have a profound impact on the end times. In the first few verses of Revelation 9, the Apostle John saw a star falling from heaven with a key that unlocked the abyss releasing a horde of demonic locusts on the earth. These creatures described as having human faces were allowed to torment the world for five months. In verse 11, we are told that the king of this army of locusts was Abbadon or Apollyon that literally means ‘the destroyer’. Many suspect that John’s reference to Apollyon referred to the ancient Greek god Apollo, that had the locust as its symbol. Ironically, many of the ancient Roman emperors such as Caligula and Nero looked upon themselves as human manifestations of Apollo. It suggests that this particular demonic spirit focuses on influencing political leaders and both Caligula and Nero initiated horrific persecutions against Christians. Then in verses 13-16 at the sounding of the sixth trumpet, John saw four …

The World keeps on Churning

Churning is not a word that most of us in daily conversation. When’s the last time you heard this: “Hey, Bob. What’s you got churning?” And that famous old song, Proud Mary encourages the “big wheel to keep on turning and Proud Mary to keep on burning” as the old paddlewheel travels down the river. It doesn’t say keep on churning. What is churning anyway? According to the Cambridge dictionary, churning means to move something, especially a liquid, with great force. Dairy farmers know it also means mixing milk until it becomes butter. If your stomach is churning, you feel nauseated or ill. Churning means to work up or to agitate. Did you know it is also used in the Bible? Nehemiah, Job, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Habakkuk, and Jude all mention it. Perhaps the one that is most well-known is from Proverbs 30:33. “For as churning cream produces butter, and as twisting the nose produces blood, so stirring up anger produces strife.” Churning is not fun and it can be frightening to watch. When we …

Caribbean island volcanoes awaken

The prophet Joel wrote of events leading up to the coming Day of the Lord and in one of his visions marking the endtimes he saw column(s), plural, of smoke/ash pouring into the sky that darkened the sun and caused the moon to turn red (Joel 2:30-31). Along that theme, a recent article in the Daily Mail reports that volcanoes in the Caribbean are starting to come to life: Residents of St Vincent and the Grenadines have been told to evacuate their homes as a volcano begins to spew ash from a newly formed dome after lying dormant for decades. Authorities have issued an alert for the area, affecting more than 100,000 people, as scientists assess the latest eruption.  On Tuesday officials warned of strong gas emissions, formation of a new volcanic dome and changes to its crater lake at the La Soufriere volcano.   Today the alert level was raised to an orange, with suggestions the volcano could erupt within a day and advising people from Fancy in the north of the island to Georgetown …

Who or what is the restrainer of lawlessness mentioned by the Apostle Paul?

One of the signs that Jesus spoke about indicating that the end times were near is that there would be an increase in lawlessness (Matthew 24:12-13). The Greek word ‘amonia’, translated lawlessness, refers to a complete disregard for the law. It is a time when there is nothing restraining illegal behaviour. It is similar to a period described in the book of Judges, when we are told that people did what was right in their own eyes (Judges 21:25). But the English word ‘increase’ really doesn’t do the Greek word ‘plethyno’ justice, because it means multiply. Derivatives of this word are used to describe floods. So, Jesus was stating that one of the signs of the end times would be a rapidly rising state of lawlessness. In 2 Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul provides a more detailed explanation informing us that the “mystery” source of this push towards lawlessness is satanic: 6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at …

Video: Does the Bible speak of nuclear war in end times?

I recently produced a video discussing Bible verses that may suggest there will be nuclear war in the end times. When dealing with Bible prophecy, we need to understand that many of the prophets were seers, meaning they were having visions of what they were seeing. If they were seeing visions of things that would be taking place thousands of years in the future, how would they describe nuclear weapons and their devastation when the most advanced weapons of their day were swords and spears. This is why we need to look for other clues when studying these visions of the end times.

Are we entering the ‘Time of Jacob’s Trouble’?

An old saying suggests that if we don’t learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it. So what happens if we don’t remember it? A survey conducted of adults between the ages of 18 to 39 (millennials and Gen Z) by Claims Conference (Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany) discovered that nearly 66% of young Americans were not aware that the Nazis slaughtered six million Jews in concentration camps during the World War II Holocaust. And the survey also revealed other disturbing news: 23% though the Holocaust was either a myth or was exaggerated or had no opinion. 36% believed less than two million Jews were killed. 12% said they had definitely never heard of the Holocaust. 48% could not provide the name of a Nazi concentration camp. But what is equally concerning is that in New York nearly 20% of millennials blamed the Jews for the Holocaust. It was Jew’s fault that the Nazi’s slaughtered millions of them in the gas chambers. This type of thinking does not bode well for the …

Beirut: What is God doing?

Right now, we are in this year 2020, and this is the year when the world changes. We all know about a virus from China, and violent demonstrations in the streets. Life has changed in a big way. And then we had an explosion in Beirut Lebanon. At this time, more than a hundred are confirmed dead, and searchers are still looking for bodies. Apparently, a ship filled with Ammonium Nitrate was abandoned in Beirut harbor a few years ago. High nitrogen fertilizer, if that was the product, is very dangerous. I have worked in transportation safety, and that fertilizer mixed with petroleum, is as explosive as dynamite. It was used by terrorists to blow up a government building in Oklahoma City, and do you know the meaning of TNT? That powerful explosive is Tri-Nitro Toluene. Toluene is petroleum, and nitrogen is in products like fertilizer. Beirut was just waiting for the explosion, and it was like an atomic bomb without the radiation. READ: Beirut explosion: Angry protesters storm government ministries Lebanon is in the …

Are you ready for the 2020 COVID famine?

It’s impossible to miss the virus pandemic that has spread around the world. I remember hearing the first rumours about a virus in China, in February of this year. Those rumours quickly became a fact and the disease spread to every place in the world. We all know this. Did you know this is qualifies as a biblical famine? Our reaction is now as dangerous as the disease. People will suffer from a virus infection, and some will die. Also, our social controls to resist the disease have disrupted the world economy. Now, more people will die from the remedy than from the disease. We are really hurting ourselves: READ: Coronavirus-linked malnutrition is killing 10,000 more children a month, UN warns When we think of a famine on a biblical scale, we always imagine a lack of food. That is partly true, but in ancient times, food was the economy. Everyone worked on a farm and lived by the food they produced, except for a few who lived in a village, close to the farm …

What are the odds? 1 in 7,000 chance asteroid will hit earth in September, 2019

I don’t like these odds. But the European Space Agency (ESA) is reporting that there is a one in 7,000 chance, an asteroid the size of the football field will hit earth on September 9, 2019. The ESA maintain a list of asteroids posing the greatest threat to earth, and this asteroid is fourth on ESA’s list of the most concerning asteroids. There was no mention of the odds of the top three asteroids slamming into the earth. The asteroid known as 2006 QV89, estimated to be 164 feet (49 meters) in diameter, was first discovered in August, 2006 and according to ESA’s computer model, it will pass within 4.2 million miles of earth in early September. There is of course a margin of error leading to the odds. Unfortunately, this list is only made up of the known asteroids. Though space agencies are tracking asteroids, they are not aware of all of them. The asteroid that exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in February, 2013 was a complete shock. In fact, space agencies …

St Paul's Cathedral, London, England during the Great Fire attack during World War II, December 29, 1941 Credit: National Archives/New Times Paris Bureau/Public Domain

Apocalypse 4: The Atheist Wars

I don’t believe in Santa Claus. If Santa was God, I would be an atheist. When my children were little, I took them to the mall before Christmas, where other families brought their children to see Mall Santa. Those children had fun, and got coloring books and candy canes, all for free. So where were my children? In the line up with everyone else. With my Scottish name, it must be clear that I love not spending money, and free anything is attractive to me. I don’t believe in Santa Claus, and I told my children that he was not real, but fake Santa sure was fun. And my wallet stayed safe in my pocket. I have met one atheist who truly did not believe in God. I am a Christian and he was a friend of mine. I never saw him in church, but he probably would not object to a visit. He was an atheist, not a hater. Have you noticed that most people who call themselves atheists are angry at God? They …

Credit: L Geoffroy/Flickr/Creative Commons

Apocalypse 3: The Eco-Apocalypse

Doomsday cults, and doomsday predictors are everywhere. Some are Christian, but the end of the world is a big thing in most religions. The tradition in Islam is that Jesus will return and rule the world, and the teachings of the Mormons, Seventh Day Adventists, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses are built around preparing for the end. Secular scientists have a Doomsday Clock, and climate change activists have their warnings about the end and our extinction. RELATED: The Doomsday Clock It seems like we all believe, and that makes us targets for cult groups that can manipulate us and ruin our lives. One group from Korea recently moved to Fiji to escape the coming apocalypse and the leaders are accused of abusing their followers. RELATED: ‘I lost my entire family to a cult’: How one woman escaped Grace Road: BBC Note that the Korean group, like most doomsdayers, are concerned about en eco-apocalypse. They were hiding in Fiji, from a coming famine. I have a serious warning for you: we all believe and we are all …

Desert in Qatar Credit: Sam Agnew/Flickr/Creative Commons

Apocalypse 2: Really, It’s their Fault

Have you ever thought about the future of war? The experts predict future combat that will be much worse than anything we have seen before. RELATED: Future war will result in destruction ‘beyond our comprehension’, says US General The Bible has been saying the same thing for thousands of years. Human beings have always been good at self destruction. We think we will succeed by conquering and stealing from the neighbors, and we always bring down destruction, in the end. The Christian Bible ends with the book of Revelation. Most people know about images from the book, but most people do not know the book. For example, if I mentioned the Antichrist, or the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, people everywhere would have some cultural knowledge, but it’s hard to find even a committed Christian who has read the whole book. Let’s change that. Revelation is one narrative, a story that progresses from a beginning to an end, and it is useful for us to read the whole big picture. Those images that we all …

Storm near Garden City, Kansas, US Credit: Dave Sills/Flickr/Creative Commons

Apocalypse 1: The Boring Part

Is it possible for people call themselves Christians to fail? Can we be wrong? That’s not a serious question, and the answer is yes. The famous Pentecostal television preacher Jim Bakker went to prison. RELATED: Jim Bakker And the Roman Catholic Church is trying to recover from the scandal of sex abuse by priests. RELATED: Child sexual abuse and the Catholic Church: What you need to know Sometimes we fail, and our failure has two sides; if we do something wrong, we are prevented from doing good things. Damage control to recover from our failures doesn’t leave room for all the good that we should be doing in this world. I think that is a good starting point to understand the Apocalypse. Everyone should read the book of Revelation. In the Christian Bible, it’s the last book, and one that we often talk about. What we seldom do is read the whole book. For me, that is the best starting point to understand the last book in the Bible. “Revelation” gives us images like the …

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (L to R): Death, Famine, War and Conquest. by Victor Mikhailovich Vasnetsox (1848-1926) Credit: Wikipedia/Creative Commons/{{PD-US}}

Yemen and the First Horseman of the Apocalypse

Did you know that the world has a huge war right now, involving millions of people? The best estimate is that twenty-two million people are directly affected by the war, and two million children are at risk from severe malnutrition. There is a real danger that the war could expand in the region, and there are reports of long-range missiles landing in wealthy countries in the Persian Gulf. RELATED: Yemeni Civil War I live far away from this civil war in Yemen, and the both sides are Arab Muslims, so I can’t criticize one faction or take sides. I know that the suffering is terrible and the UN sees no end in sight. Apparently no one is winning this “Vietnam War” of the Middle East. Did you know this war was happening? Many people in the world know nothing about it. The fighting started in March of 2015 and soon after that foreign powers intervened, or invaded. Saudi Arabia and Iran are powerful nations in the region and they are on opposite sides, with the …

Storm near Parana, Argentina Credit: Emilio Kuffer/Flickr/Creative Commons

Is the end really nigh?

On Sunday I went to a picnic-barbecue for a place where I work. The afternoon was beautiful, and we sat around talking about things, like old friends. We agreed that we would not talk about work, and the made the time almost perfect. One friend spoiled the happy mood by saying “I think the apocalypse is going to happen soon.” I don’t think he’s a Christian, but he drives long distances with a truck, and he visits a lot of places. His summary is simple, we can’t continue like this. He was just saying what he feels, and he spoke sincerely. My friend was watching people and nature, and sometimes I think the whole world is one big argument. People are divided. Nations like Turkey, India, Brazil, and Argentina are struggling with debt and economic collapse. Apparently, the Yellowstone Caldera, a super volcano, is larger and more ready to erupt than we thought, and there are other super volcanoes. We had so much smoke last week from forest fires in the west, that we called …