Dear Brothers and Sisters in
Christ Jesus our Lord,
As I continue to read the news that comes to me from others,
who I consider to be WATCHMEN, as well as seeing what I see myself in the
news, along with what we have witnessed in this country and the world, I can
see more clearly than ever that the very end-time prophecies that were made
so very plain to us over the years by God’s late apostle are very close to
being fulfilled.
If he were alive he would be shouting all the louder, if
that were possible, making known the urgency to all of us to see what is
taking place here and on the world scene and doing all we can to make
ourselves ready for the coming of Jesus Christ! We should know that right
and close relationship with our God is our only means and hope of escaping
the horrors that are soon to take place.
God’s curse on this nation, the United Kingdom, and other
nations of Israel, are not only virtually on top of us but we are already
seeing the forerunners of real trouble coming down hard on us.
Not only is Anti-Semitism building very rapidly in Europe
against Judah, and elsewhere, but it is also being demonstrated against the
United States by Europe and are hated by most of the Arab countries. The
third world countries can also be included within these nations that are
showing a growing hostility again us.
If it were not for all of the money we pour into those
countries and trying to help them militarily and otherwise, they would have
nothing to do with us at all. The time is soon coming when we will no
longer be able to give all that money to them or support them
militarily. Then the prophesied blockade by them will be put in place
cutting us off from any aid from them at all at a very needed time
(Deuteronomy 28:52).
The coming famine accompanied by the disease epidemics will
begin bringing the curtain down on Israel, especially the house of Joseph,
as nations. Without the United States and the United Kingdom to defend the
other nations of Israel, they will quickly fall to the same aggressor, the
revitalized Roman Empire.
All of the curses that are enumerated in Leviticus 26 and
Deuteronomy 28 are even now coming to pass.
The Crash of our Economy —
Though we are already experiencing real problems, the major
ones are yet to befall us. The one that appears to be possibly more imminent
than the others is that of the collapse of our economy.
It would appear the prediction of Mr. Armstrong that I wrote
about not long ago in my Comments regarding the collapse of our economy as
possibly being the real beginning of a major blow to this country is at our
doorstep. One news source is predicting the crash to take place this next
year.
From that Pastor’s Comments, January 30, 2004 (see Archives
for the entirety), I will copy here some of what I wrote at that time:
The Time Is Now Almost Here —
( BEGINNING OF QUOTE)
While reflecting on all of these things, I am once again
persuaded that we are getting very, very, close to that time as already
explained. To add to my conviction, I was particularly struck by what I
heard Mr. Armstrong say in a sermon tape (7/7/84) we played this past
Sabbath (1/24/04), in which he said it could happen in one to five or six
years.
Now you and I have heard him speak before about his thoughts
as to how much time we might have left and from that point of view we came
to know those figures did not fit with the times. However what he said in
this taped sermon in 1984 seemed to really fit based on the problem he was
then talking about that we now see unfolding before our very eyes.
An Economic Crash —
In this sermon, Mr. Armstrong spoke of the banking business
and the economic crash he could foresee as soon taking place that would
impact the whole world. He further stated this could very well bring about
the revitalized Roman Empire in Europe. After saying this, and to understand
how the demise of Israel as nations will take place, he asked that we go
back and re-read the last chapter of the book he had written: "The
United States and Britain in Prophecy."
In earlier years, one well known evangelist in our former
parent Church predicted an economic crash taking place by 1995 (that is the
year I remember). It did not happen for this did not fit in with God's
time-table.
Again, there were the end-time prophecies that had to first
occur. And even though our economy looked bad at the time, God, who reigns
supreme and rules over all nations from heaven above, caused circumstances
to take place that made it possible for the economy to remain strong enough
to survive. And He will continue to do so to fit His time-table whatever
time that may be.” (END OF QUOTE).
The Prediction for 2005 —
To read about this please open the following website with the
news article that is predicting this coming collapse with a question mark.
But after reading it, and seriously thinking about all the facts that are
contained in this article, as well as others that are available to us, we
can see it could very well crash this next year, perhaps before, or shortly
thereafter! But know – it is soon to come!
Recent Counsel from a Cousin —
Friday the 13th of August, 2004, my older brother was buried
having died with cancer. Following the tradition of pretty much all people
here in the states, all of the family and close friends returned to my
brother’s home after the funeral was over to renew and tighten family bonds
as well as pay respects to his wife.
During that time I chatted quite a bit with a cousin of mine
who is 74 years of age. We began talking about the state of the economy in
this country.
My cousin compared the time in which we now live to the
depression that hit hard in this country beginning in 1929 and continued
through the early 1930s. Then he told me about his grandfather who had
weathered that time period when no one else did. In fact his grandfather
prospered because of what he saw and the action he took.
He said his grandfather, who only had a 2nd grade education,
saw the state of the economy and knew it was going to crash. He sold all
his possessions, his home, land, and livestock, and took the money from it
and buried it. He knew better than put the money in the bank.
When it crashed his grandfather was the only one in his area
that had any money. He bought the harvested crops of others at dirt-cheap
prices. He hired single men to work for him for 50 cents a day and board.
That man lived in our rural area and I knew him quite well.
However I did not know his history as was told to me by my cousin. He was
about the only big-time farmer in our community.
My cousin, who is quite wealthy himself, then advised me to
do as his grandfather did, sell, and bury the money. He advised me not to
put my money in the bank for the banks will crash just as they did in the
beginning of the great depression and I dare say this will be true.
Under normal circumstances this would be a very wise thing
for all of us to do. However the time in which we live is not normal! We
are living in the end-time! I am not saying it would be wrong to have some
money put away, but when we think of the very real possibility of the
devaluation, and other factors that undoubtedly will come into play, it will
really not do us all that much good.
I am convinced there are many people who have money, silver,
and gold coins buried on their property. They are expecting to survive what
they themselves see is coming and then expect to be able to prosper from
their wealth as did this astute farmer. In reality, it will not do them any
lasting good.
Some years ago it was said that the thing that will be of
real value in the future will be FOOD! And that was a true statement for
people will pay anything to fill their stomachs when they are hungry and no
place to procure enough to satisfy their needs.
It would be advisable for all of us to have enough of both
stock-piled to last through the preliminary part of the economical crash and
the famine that is on the verge of striking us. (I recently wrote about it
as well in my Comments.) From there, we will have to be complete dependency
on our God to supply our daily needs.
Perilous Times —
I want to emphasize our need of realizing with full awareness
that we are not living in normal times! This is the end-time! If we do not
grasp this, and take the needed precautions, we could very well pay a
terrible price that could include our lives. Please note what God led the
apostle Paul to write about this time in which we are now living:
“But KNOW THIS, that in the LAST DAYS, PERILOUS TIMES
WILL COME. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters,
proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving,
unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good
...” (II Timothy 3:1-5).
Think about what the apostle Paul was describing about the
people of today. It is not difficult to see the verity of what he
wrote throughout this country and this world. Sadly, we even see this to an
extent within the corporate Churches as well.
A very major factor to consider is that the people in our
time have a far different attitude in general than did the people during the
great depression. People would then help one another in various ways. They
would even share their food with neighbors and even with strangers even
though they had very little themselves. It was a different spirit then than
that of today.
Hurricane Charley —
The hurricane season is here with us and we have seen how
devastating they can be by this most recent one, named Charley. It quickly
changed from what was predicted to be a more-or less ordinary one to that
which became very dangerous and destructive to human life and property.
Though many people in Florida experienced tremendous damage,
loss of power and other problems, God took care of His people who were
trusting in Him. I am copying part of a letter that was forwarded to me of
his experience:
Greetings,
Just a quick note to let everyone know we are
ok.
As we watched Charley on computer tracking in
the wee hours of the morning it was unbelievable.
It came right up the coast and the edge of
the eye actually touched Sullivan's Island which is not that far from us.
People trying to flee had great difficulty
with the high winds on the interstate.
If one were looking at a map Sullivan's
Island would be a little South and East of us, Augusta Georgia would be
North and West about 125 miles. As the eye touched Sullivan's Island they
were having fierce weather in Augusta as a result of the outlying bands from
the storm. We were somewhere in the middle.
To make a long story short. We do not have a
single tree limb down in our yard. At aprox. 8 this morning we received a
tiny bit of rain. The sun is shining here now and it is a beautiful Sabbath
Day. There were reports of over 30,000 without electricity in our area, but
our lights never flickered.
As we watched those that fled inland Friday
in Florida were hit by the storm, it almost seemed to follow them.
We kept thinking about ... where it says
"pray that your flight not be on the Sabbath Day. ..." (Matthew
24:20), and were determined no matter if it were a direct hit not
to flee on the Sabbath, rather trusting in God to protect us.
Many fled around 4 am in our neighborhood, as
reports that the eye of the storm would come within 30 miles of us, the
interstate is very close to us, they could hardly drive because of the high
winds on the interstate, yet not a branch fell where we live. If we had fled
we would have fled into the storm. It was as if God's hand was shadowing
over our area.
God indeed controls the weather. All glory
and thanks to the Father for our safety!
Thanks to those also that prayed for our
safety, your prayers were answered in a mighty way.
May your Sabbath be a DELIGHT! Name
withheld
Can We Not See? —
When we look at any major area of problems we might wish
regarding this country and all other countries of this world, it is apparent
the end is virtually in sight. They are accelerating like an airplane or an
automobile traveling at a high rate of speed and out of control because the
pilot or driver is fast asleep at the controls! The terrible crash is
inevitable!
We were sleeping on September 11, 2001, even though warnings
were passed on but for various reasons were not taken seriously and no
real safeguards were put in place! Almost 3,000 people died as the result!
Think about the economy! It would appear that the
housing market is the only real area that is supplying the economic needs!
What will take place when it dries up due to no longer a need for new
houses?
Think about our troops scattered in different countries and
the need of a new supply that will have to be drafted! What happens after
we are spread so thin we no longer will have a reserve to draw on?
Think about the drought that is being experienced and
gradually tightening its grip here and in other nations of Israel, lack of
morals, crime, the growing hatred of other nations for us.
Think about the nations who supply 60 percent of our oil that
is refined into gasoline. What will happen when one or more cut off their
supply to us, or drive the price of the oil we import so high many people
can no longer afford to buy the fuel? This will undoubtedly be a
major factor in causing our highways to become desolate (Leviticus 26:22).
Other un-resolvable problems could be mentioned but this
should be enough to enable us to see the House of Joseph is in serious
trouble and it is only going to get worse before it gets better.
Can we not see we are very near? ---
There are other terrible problems at our doorstep! I heard
the prediction on the car radio very recently of a suitcase atom-bomb being
detonated in some larger city almost any time by terrorists. If this should
happen -- what will then take place in this country? Terrible fear -- and
possible martial law -- to keep the predators at bay?
Need for Preparation ---
With seeing, comes a need of preparation! And God would
expect us to do as much as we can in a right and positive way, but the
primary one to fulfill -- is the need of a real and close relationship with
our God along with involvement with God's true people. (Please read the
Mystery of the Ages, pages 265-271). More about these things in other writings.
Please take care.
Our love and prayers,
Don Billingsley
