Pastor's Comments July 23, 2012

Together with the Famine—

the

Deadly Pestilences

And There Shall be . . . Pestilences

“And when He had opened the 4th seal, I heard the voice of the 4th beast say, ‘Come and see.’ And I looked, and behold A PALE HORSE: And his name that sat on him was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over A FOURTH of the earth, to KILL with sword, with HUNGER, with Death and by the Beasts of the earth” (Revelation 6:7-8).

Taking into consideration the present population is approximately seven billions of people, the Death Toll from the FOURTH PART of the earth will be almost Two Billion people!

Though the following prophecy spoken by the LORD God through His servant Moses was given in ancient Israel many years ago, its application can be witnessed today by the fury of nature, a failing economy, drought, a lack of rain, too much rain, terrorists, a collapsing society, hospitals filled to capacity.

All of these curses are now being witnessed in the House of Joseph in their initial stages with the worst yet to come due to their rejection of God and Jesus Christ and God’s Holy righteous laws as made known in the overview of Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26, plus many other prophecies that fill in greater detail in these two chapters.

Leviticus 26— The “Seven Times”is defined in the Hebrew as “Seven Times” and conveys the meaning of a DURATION of punishment.

However by studying each of the Seven Times in this chapter, one can see it also has the meaning of “Seven-Fold”. This can be determined by the progression of the Seven Times, each one following the other with respite in between each one to see whether there will be repentance with change (Example: Revelation 2:21).

It also has the meaning of Seven-Fold as conveying INTENSITY of punishment in those Scriptures; meaning: as each one moves into the next seven-times duration of greater punishment, they combine together. This continues until all of them come together in the final seven-times—terrible times of punishment ending in nuclear warfare, wholesale slaughter, martyrdom, and slavery!

THE UNITED STATES AND BRITAIN IN PROPHECY, Page 217, Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong (1980 Publication): ‘What is the Great Tribulation’:

“Now it becomes painfully clear! The Great Tribulation is this sevenfold intensity of corrective punishment which God is now soon going to lay on Britain-America. . . .”

The ever-growing intensity, as made known by each of the Seven Times, has a prolonged duration that will not end until the conquering of the House of Joseph, then to be followed by the captivity, and slavery, as both Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 make known— due to their rejection of God and Jesus Christ and Their holy righteous laws as made known by God through His servant Moses:

Deuteronomy 28:15 “But it shall COME To Pass IF you do NOT obey the LORD your God, to OBSERVE carefully ALL His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these (following) CURSES will come upon you and OVERTAKE you (progressive, growing intensity with each of the Seven Times).”

Deuteronomy 28:22, 27 “The LORD will strike you with consumption (Tuberculosis, TB, is a potentially fatal contagious disease, plus), with fever, with inflammation, with severe burning fever . . . The LORD will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, with the scab, and with the itch, from which YOU CANNOT BE HEALED.”

Deuteronomy 28:52-62 “If you do not carefully observe ALL these words of this law that are written in this Book, that you may FEAR this GLORIOUS AND AWESOME NAME, THE LORD YOUR GOD, then the LORD will bring upon you AND YOUR DESCENDANTS extraordinary plagues—

From the Internet: (Spanish flu was the worst pandemic of the 20th century. Up to 40 percent of the worldwide population became ill when it occurred in 1918-1919. The WHO estimates the Spanish flu resulted in upwards of 50 million deaths -- or more deaths than those during World War I, Asian Flu 1957, HIV, AIDS, etc.) —

“. . . great and prolonged plagues—and serious and prolonged sicknesses (such as: cancer, heart, mental, Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, Alzheimer's Disease a Form of Dementiaetc., Parkinson's disease).

“Moreover He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt (verse 27) of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. Also every sickness and every plague which is not written in the Book of this Law, will the LORD bring upon you UNTIL you are destroyed. You shall be left FEW in number, whereas you are as the stars of heaven in multitude, BECAUSE you would NOT OBEY the voice of the LORD your God.”

Consider the most common deadly diseases that are taking a heavy toll on the lives of millions of people in this country. And realize at the same time, according to prophecy, the ones that will be in enormous evidence before much longer:

What Are the Most Common Deadly Diseases? – Top 10 List by Admin • Health, Lifestyle

1. Ischaemic heart disease

2. Cancers

Different types of cancers take the lives of approximately 7,121,000 people annually.

3. Cerebrovascular disease

4. Lower respiratory infections

5. HIV/AIDS

6. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

7. Perinatal Conditions

8. Diarrhoeal diseases

9. Tuberculosis

10. Malaria

“Bacteria and viruses that are deadly to one type of creature can evolve quickly to infect another. While the swine flu outbreak is the latest example, a host of infectious and deadly diseases have hopped from animals to humans and from humans to animals.

The cross-species infection can originate on farms or markets, where conditions foster mixing of pathogens, giving them opportunities to swap genes and gear up to kill previously foreign hosts (i.e. you). Or the transfer can occur from such seemingly benign activities as letting a performance monkey on some Indonesian street corner climb on your head. Microbes of two varieties can even gather in your gut, do some viral dancing, and evolve to morph you into a deadly, contagious host.

Diseases passed from animals to humans are called zoonoses. There are more than three dozen we can catch directly through touch and more than four dozen that result from bites.”

“The swine flu outbreaks cropping up in several countries now are nothing — so far — compared to historical flu outbreaks. But with more people on the planet, and more of them huddled in cities and more of them traveling so easily, the potential for pandemic is not lost on health officials.

Flu history is frightening: The 1918 influenza pandemic swept the world within months, killing an estimated 50 million people — more than any other illness in recorded history for the short time frame involved.

One-fifth of the world's population was infected, and it struck more than 25 percent of U.S. residents. Unlike some flu strains that mainly kill the elderly, children, and those with compromised immune systems, the 1918 strain hit young adults hard. In one year, the average life expectancy in the United States dropped by 12 years.

Today, governments are more prepared, scientifically and logistically, to handle flu outbreaks. Still, there is no vaccine for swine flu, and it could take months, or more, to develop one.”

“Nothing beats the 14-century Black Death (also called Bubonic Plague) for sheer global impact of a single disease outbreak and bringing civilization to its knees. It is the epitome of plague. Corpses piled in the streets from Europe to Egypt and across Asia. Some 75 million died — at a time when there were only about 360 million to start with. Death came in a matter of days, and it was excruciatingly painful.

Plague is a bacterial disease caused by Yersinia pestis. It is carried by rodents and even cats, but becomes most deadly to us when transmitted between people, as became the case in the 1300s. Symptoms include fever, chills, weakness, and swollen and painful lymph nodes. Even today, if not treated, death ensues.

The plague of the 14th-century resulted after the rare bacteria had been dormant for centuries in Asia's Gobi desert. After awaking in the 1320s, it piggybacked along trade routes from China, through the rest of Asia and eventually to Italy in 1347, then later to Russia.

It took centuries for some societies to recover, as some of the survivors mistrusted local authorities and in some cases even God, under whose wrath they presumably had suffered.”

“A range of zoonotic diseases — thought to be on the rise — are caused by animal bites that kill hundreds of thousands of people every year. Mosquitoes lead the way: Malaria infects 350 million or more people every year, and more than 1 million die, most of them young children in Africa south of the Sahara. Mosquito-borne dengue fever infects some 50 million people annually; about 500,000 are hospitalized and about 2.5 percent of those die.

The problem is growing, with insect-borne disease outbreaks becoming more common and more virulent, and epidemics having spread to the Americas. Scientists say the warming climate will only make matters worse.

Illustrating our illness connection to animals and especially pets, rabies kills about 55,000 people globally each year, mostly in Asia and Africa. Most deaths follow a bite from an infected pet dog, though wild animals can carry rabies too. And an estimated 16 million or more people from Mexico to Argentina are affected by Chagas disease, a chronic, frequently fatal infection transmitted by the feces of blood-feeding bugs called triatomines (commonly called "kissing bugs"). Chagas is often spread by dogs or even chickens that are kept indoors at night, giving the bugs access to the people.

You don't even have to be bitten by bugs or animals to get some deadly diseases from them. Hantavirus is carried mostly by deer mice. You can catch it by breathing dust contaminated with mouse droppings. Lack of appetite, fever, vomiting and muscle aches characterize Phase 1. Phase 1? Yep. Just when you start to feel better, you may get a stiff neck, another fever, confusion and have trouble moving. It is incurable, but most people recover. About 1 percent die.”

7 Deadliest Diseases in History

“A plague that wipes out 25 million people in three years. A disease that kills its victims within hours of the symptoms appearing. A flu that makes its sufferers turn blue before drowning in their own lungs.

It sounds like the stuff of science-fiction movies, but for centuries, these horrid diseases were very real (in fact, some of them could still post a threat today). What are they? Read on as we uncover the seven deadliest diseases in history.

1. Smallpox

By some accounts, smallpox is considered to have killed more people than any other infectious disease. However, thanks to the discovery of the smallpox vaccine, the last known naturally contracted case of the disease was in 1977, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). During its deadliest years, this highly contagious disease killed as many of 30 percent of people who contracted it. Those who survived were often blinded or marked with deep scars. Despite its eradication, smallpox may still pose a threat today, if released as a biological weapon.

2. Spanish Flu

In 1918, the so-called Spanish flu struck quickly and catastrophically. The first reports of the illness came from Spain, but it affected countries around the globe. Some experts put the death toll for that single year as high as 50 million people worldwide. Patients usually took on a bluish hue hours before dying, most likely due to insufficient oxygen. Autopsies revealed that their lungs filled with fluid, causing a drowning-like death. Unlike most types of influenza, which hit children and the elderly hardest, this strain proved deadly even for young adults. Scientists continue to study the Spanish flu to this day, trying to determine exactly what made it so deadly and if it could happen again.

3. The Black Plague

Also known as the black death, this is the plague that kept coming back. At its most deadly, the black plague is thought to have killed 25 million people in Europe—about a third of the population—from 1347 to 1350. The high death toll from the black plague, so named for the black boils it left on the body, is believed to have actually been a result of three similar illnesses: bubonic, septicaemic, and pneumonic plagues. The scourge swept through Europe, killing millions more, on other occasions throughout the next several centuries. However, in no instance did its severity match that of the black death of the mid-14^th century.

4. Tuberculosis

The 1905 Nobel Prize in Medicine went to Robert Koch for "his investigations and discoveries" relating to tuberculosis (TB), according to the Nobel Foundation. However, more than 100 years later, TB still kills nearly 2 million people a year and is ranked as the eighth leading cause of death worldwide by the WHO. Symptoms including severe coughing, fever, chills, and fatigue. People with weakened immune systems are especially susceptible to TB; in fact, it's the number-one killer of AIDS patients. In 2007, Andrew Speaker, an Atlanta lawyer and TB patient, made headlines for flying from Europe to Canada, despite being instructed not to do so for fear of infecting fellow passengers.

COLAPPSE NETWORK

Tuesday, 10 July 2012 01:34

TB outbreaks popping up in sections around the globe

5. Malaria

Caused by a parasite and transmitted when a person is bitten by an infected mosquito, Malaria remains a serious problem in parts of Africa, although it has been nearly eradicated in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 1 million people die from it annually, and as many as 500 million people are infected each year. The flu-like symptoms appear after 10 to 15 days after being bitten. Malaria can be treated with medication, if caught soon enough.

6. Ebola

This virus is a relatively new deadly disease that has been known to kill up to 90 percent of its victims. It first appeared in 1976, in Sudan and Zaire. It can be transmitted from person to person or by handling materials from an infected animal. Its early symptoms include fever, headache, backache, vomiting, and diarrhea; eventually it can cause inflammation and swelling of nearly all major organs. Most people die from shock, when their bodies stop getting enough blood flow.

7. Cholera

Cases of cholera are rare today, due to advancements in water treatment and sewage systems. However, in the 19^th and even early 20^th centuries, cholera epidemics struck several times. The disease, which is characterized by watery diarrhea, can kill a healthy person as soon as two to three hours after the onset of symptoms, though it usually takes several days. Although cholera is still present today in parts of the world that have been ravaged by war or famine, it generally doesn't pose a problem when clean water and proper sanitation is available. A vaccine, which lasts for up to six months, is available for people traveling to areas where cholera may be a concern, though some experts question its necessity and effectiveness.

What is Flesh Eating Disease?

o The flesh eating disease is technically known as necrotizing fasciitis. It is a rare type of bacterial infection within the skin, or even within the underlying tissue, that is extremely contagious and can spread very rapidly. There are actually several different types of bacteria that can cause the flesh eating disease to occur. Despite this fact, however, the effects are generally the same, and treatment options don't vary much depending on the actual bacterial type involved in the infection.

How Do You Catch Flesh Eating Disease?

o There are several different ways in which an individual can become infected with the bacteria responsible for an outbreak of flesh eating disease. The one unifying feature between all the different ways the disease can be caught is that they all involve a breakage in the skin's surface. This break in the skin can be caused by trauma, surgery or even by something as slight as a pinprick or a minor abrasion. Once the skin is broken, however, the infection begins when the bacteria responsible for the flesh eating disease contaminate the site of the broken skin.

(NaturalNews) A recent Henry Ford Hospital study revealed that a new strain of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the deadly bacterial "superbug" that becomes resistant to many antibiotics, is five times more deadly than other previously-seen strains. Fifty percent of patients who become infected with the new virulent strain die within 30 days; other MRSA strains kill only about 11 percent.

Called USA600, the new strain possesses uniquely noxious characteristics that researchers are linking to the significantly higher mortality rate. Study findings were presented at the 47th annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America in Philadelphia.

Typical MRSA strains are problematic because they are resistant to virtually every available antibiotic drug. Most MRSA infections are allegedly treatable with vancomycin, a powerful intravenous drug, but the new USA600 strain has proven itself to be nearly impervious to the drug.

Deadly MRSA strains typically take hold on a person through skin and blood infections, as well as through surgical wounds. While predominantly contracted in health care facilities like hospitals and clinics, the disease is now starting to make the rounds in otherwise healthy people in the outside world.

Chance of Bird Flu Pandemic in U.S. Likely, Experts Say

"A strange form of disease of epidemic character" had cropped up in Spain, according to press reports from Madrid. Within a year, between 20 and 50 million people worldwide had succumbed to what was later identified as flu. When the virus finally lost its strength the following year, half of the world’s human population -- around one billion people -- had been affected.

Today, experts generally agree another influenza pandemic is inevitable. It’s more a question of when than if. . . .”

Untreatable gonorrhea spreading around world: WHO

“Drug-resistant strains of gonorrhea have spread to countries across the world, the United Nations health agency said on Wednesday, and millions of patients may run out of treatment options unless doctors catch and treat cases earlier.

Scientists reported last year finding a "superbug" strain of gonorrhoea in Japan in 2008 that was resistant to all recommended antibiotics and warned then that it could transform a once easily treatable infections into a global health threat.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said those fears are now reality with many more countries, including Australia, France, Norway, Sweden and Britain, reporting cases of the sexually transmitted disease resistant to cephalosporin antibiotics - normally the last option for drugs against gonorrhea. . . . The organism is what we term a superbug - it has developed resistance to virtually every class of antibiotics that exists," she told a briefing in Geneva. "If gonococcal infections become untreatable, the health implications are significant."

Francis Ndowa, formerly the WHO's lead specialist for sexually transmitted infections, said gonorrhoea has not only adapted to elude antibiotics but developed less painful symptoms, increasing its survival chances.

"They used to say that if you have urethral gonorrhoea you go to the toilet to pass urine, it would be like passing razor blades. It was that painful," he explained. "Now people with gonorrhoea sometimes...only notice the discharge if they look when they pass urine, it's not that painful anymore.

"So the organism has readjusted itself to provide fewer symptoms so that it can survive longer. It's an amazing interaction between man and pathogen."

ATLANTA (AP) -- The U.S. appears headed for its worst year for whooping cough in more than five decades, with the number of cases rising at an epidemic rate that experts say may reflect a problem with the effectiveness of the vaccine. . . .

Whooping cough has generally been increasing for years, but this year's spike is startling. Health investigators are trying to figure out what's going on, and theories include better detection and reporting of cases, some sort of evolution in the bacteria that cause the illness, or shortcomings in the vaccine. . . .

Some parents in California and other states have rebelled against vaccinations and gotten their children exempted from rules that require them to get their shots to enroll in school. Washington state has one of the highest exemption rates in the nation. But the CDC said that does not appear to be a major factor in the outbreak, since most of the youngsters who got sick had been vaccinated.

Whooping cough, or pertussis, is a highly contagious disease that can strike people of any age but is most dangerous to children. Its name comes from the sound children make as they gasp for breath.”

Over and beyond all these diseases listed here, the LORD God says He will bring on Israel extraordinary plagues—beyond comprehension!

How many in the house of Israel will die during the most severe part of the famine and the terrible disease epidemics?

The prophet Ezekiel gives the answer: “One third of you shall die of the pestilence, and be consumed with famine in your midst . . .” (Ezekiel 5:12).

This is very hard to imagine, but this is what God tells us through His prophet!

In this country alone, with a population of over 300 million people, one-third would mean 100 million people to perish within that three and one-half year period of time.

Mail Online News Wednesday, Jul 18 2012

Nine meals from anarchy - how Britain is facing a very real food crisis

The phrase 'nine meals from anarchy' sounds more like the title of a bad Hollywood movie than any genuine threat.

It was Lord Cameron's estimation that it would take just nine meals - three full days without food on supermarket shelves - before law and order started to break down, and British streets descended into chaos.

A far-fetched warning for a First World nation like Britain? Hardly. Because that's exactly what happened in the U.S. in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. People looted in order to feed themselves and their families.

If a similar tragedy was to befall Britain, we are fooling ourselves if we imagine we would not witness similar scenes of crime and disorder.

Though the severity of the famine symbolized by the Black Horse is still a short distance away it nevertheless is coming toward us at a full gallop and will soon fully materialize; and accompanying it will be the deadly disease epidemics symbolized by the pale-green horse!

Very soon all will witness the devastating results of what these two horses symbolize (Revelation 6:5-8).

It is needful to say that all who do not grasp the desperate times we are now entering, and taking the needed precautions, have their heads in the sand and will possibly pay with their lives because of it!

This is very important for the severity of the famine will be accompanied by these horrible diseases from which medical science will have no cures (Deuteronomy 28:27).

In actual fact, they cannot cure the diseases of today— how much worse will it be then?

The Church of God was warned things were going to change from what we now see them by God’s late apostle, who was also the promised Elijah of the end-time (Malachi 4:5; Matthew 17:10-11)! That statement is now coming to pass! The better times experienced over past years are very close to coming to an end!

As anyone should be able to see and understand, these are not normal times and we need to realize we will never see them again! Prophecy reveals it will only become worse until the horrors that have been prophesied reach their fulfillment with all nations at Armageddon!

At which time Jesus Christ will return to this earth and establish His kingdom; He will then begin His reign over all the nations and rule them with a rod of iron (Psalm 2:9).

It is necessary to repeat when God is compelled to bring major problems on His people, it is with the intent to be corrective with the desire that repentance will result.

Clarke Commentary, volume II, page 454 “It is mostly in times of adversity that we duly consider our moral state; outward afflictions often bring about deep searching of the heart.”

This is truly the purpose of any corrective measures brought about by God on His people, whether in the Tribes of Israel or in God’s Church.

Consider the Scriptures in the first five books of the Bible that were available to the kings and priests during that time in which God FOREWARNED them of calamites to come upon them IF they forsook Him and the writings of His laws.

To try and help them to keep on the right path, the LORD required each king of Israel to meticulously copy those Scriptures and read them all the days of his life (Deuteronomy 17:18-20). Most of them failed to do it.

Just as the House of Israel of ancient time was not without warning of all the curses God said He would bring on His people for their disobedience to Him, the same is true in this end-time:

“Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke; among the tribes of Israel, I make known what is sure . . . I have written for him the great things of My law, but they were considered a strange thing . . . For Israel has forgotten his Maker. . . .” (Hosea 5:9; 8:12, 14).

There were the radio broadcasts in earlier years from then-called pirate ships just beyond the boundary of England’s territorial waters! This Scripture makes known Ephraim did hear them!

Also, there were the Plain Truth and Good News Magazines along with the Correspondence Course that were made available to them on News Stands and upon request.

As an added witness against the nations of Israel today, there is the availability of the complete Holy Bible in our time, which has been the best seller for years and is a WITNESS to all who possess it as well as all those who have never bothered to obtain one.

Unlike Israel of old, virtually every home, every room in every motel, hotel, and inn, has a Bible in America. No one is without access to the warnings from the Bible as to what is looming before us.

With all this in mind there is no real and justifiable excuse by anyone for not hearing the warnings.

In His awesome mercy and compassion, Jesus Christ is continuing to send forth His Gospel and the Ezekiel Warning Message to His Church and the House of Israel by means of our 14 websites—using the voice and writings of the very same Watchman He had used for over 50 years during his lifetime mission (Ezekiel 33:1-11; Revelation 3:7-13; Habakkuk 1:5; 3:2; Isaiah 5:12).

Time is running out fast—nighttime is coming very soon when the door will be closed and no man can work anymore in God’s harvest (John 9:4).

In the interim, the need for the Elect is to be preparing spiritually, drawing close to our good and wonderful God, while trusting Him to provide for the needs of His people, whether healing for any of the diseases (James 5:14-15; Psalm 91.), and for the needed food and water when the supplies are diminished (Psalm 34:9-10; 33:18-19; 37:19), and deliverance from the Great Tribulation.

Always keep in mind, Jesus Christ has promised never to leave nor forsake His true and faithful people (Matthew 28:20).

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