Archive for December, 2021

BibleNewsProphecy: Can the Great Tribulation start in 2022 or 2023?

Sunday, December 19th, 2021


COGwriter

Is the end coming in 2022? What about 2023?

Some have claimed so.

Related to that, the Continuing Church of God (CCOG) is pleased to announce the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:

23:12

Much is happening around the world today. Is the Great Tribulation about to begin? Various ones have pointed to it starting in 2022 or 2023–and stated that they got 2022 from the Holy Spirit. What about centuries old predictions supposedly pointing to 2022 by Nostradamus and Paracelsus? Some Muslims have pointed to Jesus returning in 2022 or 2023. Is that possible? Should you rely on Jonathan Cahn’s views of the ‘Shemitah year’ to understand prophecy? What about the ‘Super Shemitah’ (also known as the Jubliee year)? Are there still signs that Jesus and Daniel pointed to that we need to see first? If so, what do they include? What is the earliest year that the Great Tribulation can begin according to scripture? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more.

Here is a link to the video: Can the Great Tribulation start in 2022 or 2023?

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2022, 2023, or 2024? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: ¿Puede la Gran Tribulación comenzar en el 2020 o 2021? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? A related video is: Great Tribulation: 2026 or 2027? A shorter video is: Can the Great Tribulation start in 2022 or 2023? Here is a video in the Spanish language: Es El 2021 el año de La Gran Tribulación o el Grande Reseteo Financiero.
The Times of the Gentiles Has there been more than one time of the Gentiles? Are we in it now or in the time of Anglo-America? What will the final time of the Gentiles be like? A related sermon is available and is titled: The Times of the Gentiles.
There is a Place of Safety for the Philadelphians. Why it May Be Near Petra This article discusses a biblical ‘place of safety’ and includes quotes from the Bible and Herbert W. Armstrong on this subject–thus, there is a biblically supported alternative to the rapture theory. Two sermon-length videos of related interest are available Physical Protection During the Great Tribulation and Might Petra be the Place of Safety? Here is something related in the Spanish language: Hay un lugar de seguridad para los Filadelfinos. ¿Puede ser Petra?
Is There A Secret Rapture for the Church? When and Where is the Church Protected? What does the Bible really teach? Does the Church flee or is it taken up just prior to the great tribulation? Who really is left behind? Here are links to two related videos Rapture or Fleeing? Which is Great Tribulation Protection? and Did Jesus Teach a Pre-tribulation Rapture?

Who is the King of the West? Why is there no Final End-Time King of the West in Bible Prophecy? Is the United States the King of the West? Here is a version in the Spanish language: ¿Quién es el Rey del Occidente? ¿Por qué no hay un Rey del Occidente en la profecía del tiempo del fin?.
Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? Is an emerging European power “the daughter of Babylon”? What is ahead for Europe? Here is a link to a video titled: Can You Prove that the Beast to Come is European?
European Technology and the Beast of Revelation Will the coming European Beast power would use and develop technology that will result in the taking over of the USA and its Anglo-Saxon allies? Is this possible? What does the Bible teach? Here is a related YouTube video: Military Technology and the Beast of Revelation.
Must the Ten Kings of Revelation 17:12 Rule over Ten Currently Existing Nations? Some claim that these passages refer to a gathering of 10 currently existing nations together, while one group teaches that this is referring to 11 nations getting together. Is that what Revelation 17:12-13 refers to? The ramifications of misunderstanding this are enormous. A related sermon is titled Ten Kings of Revelation and the Great Tribulation.
Might German Baron Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg become the King of the North? Is the former German Defense Minister (who is also the former German Minister for Economics and Technology) one to watch? What do Catholic, Byzantine, and biblical prophecies suggest?
Germany’s Assyrian Roots Throughout History Are the Germanic peoples descended from Asshur of the Bible? Have there been real Christians in Germanic history? What about the “Holy Roman Empire”? There is also a You-Tube video sermon on this titled Germany’s Biblical Origins.
Germany in Biblical and Catholic Prophecy Does Assyria in the Bible equate to an end time power inhabiting the area of the old Roman Empire? What does prophecy say Germany will do and what does it say will happen to most of the German people? Here is a link to a video Is the USA Pushing Germany to Start WWIII?
Russia and Ukraine: Their Origins and Prophesied Future Russia in prophecy. Where do the Russians come from? What about those in the Ukraine? What is prophesied for Russia and its allies? What will they do to the Europeans that supported the Beast in the end? There is also a video sermon available: Russia in the Bible and in Prophecy and a video sermonette available: Ukraine in Prophecy?
Is Russia the King of the North? Some claim it is. But what does the Bible teach? Here is a link to a video, also titled Is Russia the King of the North?
Ezekiel 38: For Russia & Iran in Our Day? Is Ezekiel 38 about to be fulfilled? A related video is available titled Ezekiel 38: For Russia, Ukraine, & Iran Now?
Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, English, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Saxon (non-Dutch) Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? What will happen to Jerusalem and the Jews in Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo-Saxon nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first? Here is a link to the Spanish version of this article: Anglo-América & las Tribus Perdidas de Israel. Information is also in the YouTube sermons titled Where are the Ten Lost Tribes? Why does it matter? and British are the Covenant People. A short YouTube of prophetic interest may be: Are Chinese threats against Australia for real?
Will the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic Nations be Divided and Have People Taken as Slaves? Will the lands of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand be divided? What about Jerusalem? What does Bible prophecy teach? Are there non-biblical prophecies that support this idea? Who will divide those lands? Who will end up with the lands and the people? Here is a link to a video titled Will the USA and other Anglo-nations be Divided and Their People Made Slaves? Here is a related item in the Spanish language ¿Serán divididas las naciones anglosajonas?
British are the Covenant People What do ‘British’ and ‘Britain’ mean in Hebrew? Are the descendants of the Anglo-Saxons people of the covenant? Does the British royal family connect to the throne of David? What does the Bible teach? What does history show us? Is there any DNA evidence related to British-Israelism? When did Christianity make it to the British Isles? Could Jeremiah have made it to the British Isles? What type of Christians made it to the British Isles? Did the last King of England believe in British Israelism?
Canada in Prophecy: What Does Bible Prophecy, Catholic Prophecy, and other Predictions Suggest About the Future of Canada? There are prophecies that suggest involvement with Canada. And many are not positive about its future. A sermon of related interest is also available: Canada in Prophecy.
Australia and New Zealand in Prophecy Do biblical prophecies help explain the wealth blessings for Australia and New Zealand? Might cursings from disobedience come in the 21st century? Here is a link to a related sermon: Australia and New Zealand: Origins and Prophecy.
WTO/TTIP and the Babylonian Beast Will international trade agreements like WTO/TTIP/CETA lead to the fulfillment of end time prophecies concerning the Babylonian Beast power that the Book of Revelation warns against? What does the Bible teach? A related video would be WTO Trade Deal and the Rise of the European Beast Power.
USA in Prophecy: The Strongest Fortresses Can you point to scriptures, like Daniel 11:39, that point to the USA in the 21st century? This article does. A related sermon is titled: Do these 7 prophesies point to the end of the USA?
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies for the Great Monarch point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States? In the Spanish language check out ¿Quién es el Rey del Norte? Here is a link to a video titled: The Future King of the North.
The ‘Peace Deal’ of Daniel 9:27 This prophecy could give up to 3 1/2 years advance notice of the coming Great Tribulation. Will most ignore or misunderstand its fulfillment? Here is a link to a related sermon video Daniel 9:27 and the Start of the Great Tribulation.
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? Does God have 7,000 year plan? What year may the six thousand years of human rule end? When will Jesus return? 2029 or 20xx? There is also a video titled 6000 Years: When will God’s Kingdom Come? Here is a link to the article in Spanish: ¿Tiene Dios un plan de 6,000 años?

SWIFT alternative and sanctions, System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS), and War with Russia?

Saturday, December 18th, 2021


Central Bank of Russia (Ludvig14)

COGwriter

US threats and sanctions are concerning Russia, Belarus, India, and others. The US dominance of international financial transfers known as SWIFT is being affected as various ones are concerned about US dominance and US sanctions:

Indian Government Urged to Set up Alternative to SWIFT Payment System Over US Misuse

The United States has repeatedly threatened a number of countries with sanctions or to block access to SWIFT over policies that it doesn’t agree with.
India’s joint parliamentary committee has strongly recommended introducing an alternative to the US-dominated SWIFT electronic payment network, citing possible chances of breach of privacy in the financial system.
The committee submitted its 542-page report to the parliament on Thursday after months of deliberations on the country’s proposed bill on the protection of citizens’ data.

“The Committee observes that data protection in the financial sector is a matter of genuine concern worldwide, particularly when through the SWIFT network, privacy has been compromised widely. Indian citizens are engaged in huge cross-border payments using the same network,” the report read.

Notice also the following:

Sadly, most Americans simply do not care about Ukraine, Russia’s military preparations for war, or pretty much anything else that is happening on the other side of the globe. But over in Russia, things are completely different. There is constant talk about the potential for war with the west, and there is a lot of pessimism that it will be able to be avoided. …

The only way that Vladimir Putin will ever authorize an invasion of Ukraine is if one of his strategic “red lines” is crossed.

But instead of easing tensions and trying to talk things out, western leaders just keep provoking Russia.

If they keep on recklessly poking the bear, at some point a mistake will be made and we will have a war that nobody wants.  … war with Russia just got even closer…

Despite the fact that Vladimir Putin has said that such a move would cross one of his “red lines”, Ukraine was just told that it will eventually be allowed to join NATO…

Facing a building threat from Russia, Ukraine’s president sought security guarantees from NATO’s chief in a meeting on Thursday and came away with a renewed commitment that his country could eventually join the military alliance despite stiff objections from its Russian neighbors. …

Banks in Belarus are preparing to switch to Russia’s version of SWIFT due to imminent sanctions by the west

Belarusian banks are preparing for tougher Western sanctions by signing up to Russia’s alternative to the SWIFT, the international financial messaging network that underpins the global banking system, Russia’s Moskovsky Komsomolets tabloid has reported.

Russia’s System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS) has more than 400 domestic users — practically every licensed Russian lender — but is used by only 38 banks from nine other countries. Developed in 2014, SPFS is designed to keep banking transactions in the event of Western sanctions disconnecting Russia from SWIFT. 12/16/21 http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/7-signs-that-war-with-russia-just-got-even-closer/

Belarusian banks are preparing for tougher Western sanctions by signing up to Russia’s alternative to the SWIFT, the international financial messaging network that underpins the global banking system, Russia’s Moskovsky Komsomolets tabloid has reported.

Russia’s System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS) has more than 400 domestic users …

Denis Baryshkov, who heads the Russian Central Bank’s national payment system development and regulation division, said Belarusian banks have integrated with SPFS and will start using it in 2022, according to Moskovsky Komsomolets.

“It can be said that Belarusian banks have already begun to prepare for disconnection from the international payment system,” the tabloid wrote.

While Russia’s SPFS can be three times cheaper than SWIFT, the network itself is only operational during weekday working hours and its messages are limited to 20kb in size. SWIFT, meanwhile, works 24/7 and allows 10mb to be transmitted across its network. https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/12/14/belarus-banks-readying-for-swift-shutdown-reports-a75808

While I do NOT believe that a massive war between Russia and the USA are about to happen, the fact that India and Belarus are looking to leave the SWIFT system, and Belarus is looking at Russia’s System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS) is showing that the time will come when economies around the world will stop needing to be involved in USA dollars.

By having alternatives to US dollar-dominated financial systems, it provides openings for others to not use the US dollar and hence decrease wealth that the US gets from its dominance of international finance. This also decreases the so-called “soft-power” that the US has to influence various international matters.

Are these moves away from SWIFT simply Russian or Indian propaganda?

No.

Notice something from the Wall Street Journal back in 2018:

Swift is particularly prone to U.S. pressure because the American financial system looms so large in the world. Swift’s board includes representatives of European and American banks, and many messages across its network travel to or from the U.S. Some Europeans believe Washington wields too much influence over a network they think should operate on a multilateral consensus like a financial EU. 10/17/18 https://www.wsj.com/articles/europes-not-so-swift-diplomacy-1539730896

Here is some information about SWIFT:

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) provides a network that enables financial institutions worldwide to send and receive information about financial transactions in a secure, standardized and reliable environment. SWIFT also sells software and services to financial institutions, much of it for use on the SWIFTNet network, and ISO 9362. Business Identifier Codes (BICs, previously Bank Identifier Codes) are popularly known as “SWIFT codes”.

The majority of international interbank messages use the SWIFT network. As of 2015, SWIFT linked more than 11,000 financial institutions in more than 200 countries and territories, who were exchanging an average of over 15 million messages per day (compared to an average of 2.4 million daily messages in 1995). (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. Wikipedia, retrieved 04/01/19)

Basically, most international cross-border payments seem to use SWIFT.

Because of US sanctions and threats of sanctions, and its pressure on SWIFT, many nations are looking to develop ways to bypass it.

Notice something from 2019:

July 23, 2019

Russia and its BRICS partners are developing cross-border alternatives to U.S.-dominated payments systems such as Swift, driven by the rise in cross-border trade and a desire to find non-dollar alternatives to international payments systems vulnerable to sanctions by the U.S. government.

The U.S. can use its might to exclude sanctioned banks and corporations from the global banking infrastructure, as international banking transactions involving multiple currencies require conversion into U.S. dollars. This necessitates the use of U.S.-based intermediary banks and Swift, which countries such as China, Russia, Iran and Turkey argue enables countries targeted by the latest U.S. foreign policy to be excluded from international trade.

In March, the Lower House of Russia’s Parliament approved the use of Bank of Russia’s SPFS (System for Transfer of Financial Messages) system for international transfers. The likeliest partners for this are among the BRICS nations: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. https://www.americanbanker.com/payments/news/brics-vs-swift-russia-spearheads-payments-plan-to-guard-against-us-sanctions

The BRICS nations represent around 40% of the world’s population and a lot of territory.

And then there is the EU.

Now, notice something related to that in 2018 from Bloomberg:

EU Looking to Sidestep U.S. Sanctions With Payments System Plan

Germany and France said they’re working on financing solutions to sidestep U.S. sanctions against countries such as Iran, including a possible role for central banks.

The discussions … are a signal that European powers are trying to get serious about demonstrating a greater level of independence from the U.S. as President Donald Trump pursues his “America First” agenda.

“With Germany, we are determined to work on an independent European or Franco-German financing tool which would allow us to avoid being the collateral victims of U.S. extra-territorial sanctions,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Monday during a meeting with press association AJEF. “I want Europe to be a sovereign continent not a vassal, and that means having totally independent financing instruments that do not today exist.” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-27/eu-looking-to-sidestep-u-s-sanctions-with-payments-system-plan

The EU no longer wishes to be a ‘vassal’ state under the USA.

Now see what happened in Europe in 2019:

June 28, 2019

Europe announced that the special trade channel, Instex, that will allow European firms to avoid SWIFT and bypass American sanctions on Iran, is now operational.

Following a meeting between the countries who signed the Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was ditched by US, French, British and German officials said the trade mechanism which was proposed last summer and called Instex, is now operational. …

The statement came after the remaining signatures of JCPOA gathered in Vienna for a meeting that Iranian ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi called “the last chance for the remaining parties…to gather and see how they can meet their commitments towards Iran.” … opponents of Instex – almost exclusively the US – have argued that the mechanism is flawed because the Iranian institution designated to work with Instex, the Special Trade and Finance Instrument, has shareholders with links to entities already facing sanctions from the U.S. …

The announcement will likely send president Trump off the rails, because in late May Bloomberg reported that as part of Trump’s escalating battle with “European allies” over the fate of the Iran nuclear accord, he was “threatening penalties against the financial body created by Germany, the U.K. and France to shield trade with the Islamic Republic from U.S. sanctions” including the loss of access to the US financial system.

According to Bloomberg, the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, Sigal Mandelker, sent a letter on May 7 warning that Instex, the European SPV to sustain trade with Tehran, and anyone associated with it could be barred from the U.S. financial system if it goes into effect.

“I urge you to carefully consider the potential sanctions exposure of Instex,” Mandelker wrote in an ominous letter to Instex President Per Fischer. “Engaging in activities that run afoul of U.S. sanctions can result in severe consequences, including a loss of access to the U.S. financial system.”

Germany, France and the U.K. finalized the Instex system in January, allowing companies to trade with Iran without the use of U.S. dollars or American banks, allowing them to get around wide-ranging U.S. sanctions that were imposed after the Trump administration abandoned the 2015 Iran nuclear deal last year. https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-06-28/trump-unleash-hell-europe-after-eu-says-spv-circumvent-swift-and-iran-sanctions-now

This is something I have been warning about for some time.

This modified ‘Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges’ (INSTEX) will provide a major alternative to the main US dollar-dominated financial systems. I call it modified, because originally the USA was involved in parts of its development.

Even if Europe decides against using this with Iran, it can use Instex to trade with other nations–including Russia, China, and India.

It provides openings for others to not use the US dollar and hence decrease wealth that the US gets from its dominance of international finance.

Back in 1962, notice something that the old Radio Church of God published:

Modern Europe is counseling and making treaties and alliances and agreements to conquer this earth! … Germany, those living in Germany, even the German government, may not yet know that they are going to join in a treaty with the Russians to destroy the United States and bring it to its knees-it is not in his “heart” to think so, but on the other hand it IS in his “heart” to destroy-the very characteristic of the Assyrian, the modern German, is a harsh, cruel, iron, dedication to militarism and destruction! … MAN’S ONLY HOPE LIES IN TURNING TO HIS CREATOR GOD! “At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom. to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, TURN FROM THEIR EVIL, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them… Behold, I frame evil against YOU, and devise a device against YOU: return ye now EVERY ONE from his evil way and make your ways and your doings good!” (Jer. 18:7, 8, 11). The case of America and Great Britain is hopeless! The case of America and Great Britain is hopeless! (Hill DJ, God’s Destiny for Germany. Plain Truth, March 1962, pp. 28-29)

The German people are now asking themselves: “Can we rely on the Americans and British?” … These questions lead to the logical conclusion that maybe the only people the Germans can rely on themselves. They are now thinking: “Perhaps we can strike a better bargain with the Russians ourselves.” …

Once a German-dominated Europe is fully established, Germany will be ready to negotiate and bargain with Russia- and behind the backs of the Western Allies if necessary. …

When will a Russo-German deal be made? Here is a quotation from a circular letter issued in September, 1950 by the Nazi Geo-political Center in Madrid: “However long we may continue to milk the Americans of millions of dollars, there must come the inevitable moment when we shall have to make it crystal clear to them that we are not willing to join the fight against Russia for American interests … (Germany Plots with the Kremlin by T H. Terens, p. 15). …

Most Americans and Britons are not aware of what Germany and Europe are planning against them. This is partly due to the cunning of German. politics. …

World events are moving swiftly toward the climax when Great Britain and the United. States will be attacked, conquered and DESTROYED! (Boraker R. Are the Germans Secretly Dealing with Moscow? Plain Truth, May 1962, pp. 45-47)

Yes, I, too, expect that Russia will make a deal with the Europeans. This will include pushing aside the US dollar as the world’s primary reserve currency as well as including some type of (temporal) military cooperation against the US.

Dethroning the US dollar will cause massive economic problems for the USA. Much more than almost anyone believes. The standard of living in the USA has been raised/subsidized for decades because of the status of the US dollar. That status is weakening. This will ultimately severely hurt the USA.

What will happen to the economy of the USA will be much worse than what happened to the UK when the pound sterling lost its status as the world’s primary reserve currency.

Clearly Church of God predictions, based upon biblical prophecies, that the Anglo-American-dominated world financial order would be dethroned are in the process of coming to pass.

While you may not think that these steps are proof, consider that at least since the days of the old Radio Church of God, Church of God writers have said to watch Europe and that it would rise up to dominate. Furthermore consider that in 1971, the old Worldwide Church of God clearly taught that the Europeans would get their own currency:

Envision the startling future of Western Europe… A “United States of Europe” possessing one single currency – a currency so strong that it will replace the U.S. dollar as the kingpin currency of world trade. (Hogberg G. EUROPE’S COMMON MARKET RISING WORLD COLOSSUS. Plain Truth, May 1971)

The Europeans do have their own currency, and while it has not yet replaced the dollar, it is probably the world’s second reserve currency. And the time will come when the world will NOT keep the US dollar as its primary reserve currency.

Of course, to replace the USA dollar it will take many nations to turn away from it.

But the USA has been pushing many to do so.

Instead of accepting USA tariffs and sanction ‘punishments’ and doing nothing, various nations have been taking steps.

Notice a video we put out related to this:

US Sanctions and Tariffs leading to New World Order?

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said new US sanctions would be a declaration of economic war. Iran, North Korea, China, Europe, and Turkey are also upset about USA sanctions and tariffs. A Turk asserted “Somebody must find a solution and stop the USA.” The BRICS nations see US sanctions and tariffs as helpful to their objectives to trade without the USA. Are “unintended consequences” of USA policies threatening the current Anglo-American world order and leading to a New World Order? What has ‘Lord’ Jacob Rothschild and Russian President Vladimir Putin stated? Does Bible prophecy show that a confederation of Turks, Arabs, and Europeans pose a real threat to the USA and UK? Is the final time of the Gentiles coming? Will it be worse than people imagine? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more. Here is a link to our video: US Sanctions and Tariffs leading to New World Order?

The Biden-Harris Administration has pushed additional sanctions as well as threats related to Russia and China.

Notice the also following:

Russia Eliminates Dollar Holdings From $119B Wealth Fund Amid Sanctions

June 3, 2021

Russia will eliminate the dollar from its National Wellbeing Fund, shifting to euros, yuan, and gold, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said, as the Kremlin seeks to reduce exposure to U.S. assets amid threats of sanctions.

The transfer, which affects about $119 billion in liquid assets, will take place within the central bank’s huge reserves. As a result, its market impact — if there is one — could be hard to trace. The Bank of Russia has steadily reduced holdings of dollars in the last several years as sanctions pressures from the U.S. and European Union have grown.

“We can make this change rather quickly, within a month,” Siluanov told reporters at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

The dollar pared gains and the ruble hit the day’s highs on the news Thursday. https://www.newsmax.com/finance/streettalk/russia-dollar-wealth-fund/2021/06/03/id/1023738/

So, yes, Russia is moving more towards the Euro and away from the US dollar. This is not helpful for the US. There is a cost to sanctions.

We are getting closer to the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:7), also known as the great tribulation (Matthew 24:21; see also When Will the Great Tribulation Begin?) and final time of the Gentiles (Luke 21:24) that Jesus spoke of.

Gentiles have been taking steps that the Anglo-American nations will one day regret.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

The End of US Dollar Dominance Is the USA losing its economic status? What about the petro-gold-yuan? A related video is also available: US Dollar being challenged by Gold-Petro-Yuan.
The Plain Truth About Gold in Prophecy. How Should a Christian View Gold? What do economists and the Bible teach about gold? Gold and silver may drop in value. Inflation/deflation? What do Christians need to know about gold? A video of related interest may be: Germany, Gold, and the US Dollar.
Gentile Cryptocurrency Proposal Two Russian leaders have called for a BRICS-wide and/or EAEU-wide cryptocurrency. This is hoped to be used to replace the US dollar for international trade. BRICS stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The BRICS nations represent 3.6 billion people. The EAEU includes Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Will Gentiles rise up? Are there any prophetic ramifications of what these nations are looking to do? This is a video.
USA in Prophecy: The Strongest Fortresses Can you point to scriptures, like Daniel 11:39, that point to the USA in the 21st century? This article does. Two related sermon are available: Identifying the USA and its Destruction in Prophecy and Do these 7 prophesies point to the end of the USA?
Who is the King of the West? Why is there no Final End-Time King of the West in Bible Prophecy? Is the United States the King of the West? Here is a version in the Spanish language: ¿Quién es el Rey del Occidente? ¿Por qué no hay un Rey del Occidente en la profecía del tiempo del fin? A related sermon is also available: The Bible, the USA, and the King of the West.
Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, English, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Saxon (non-Dutch) Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? What will happen to Jerusalem and the Jews in Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo-Saxon nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first? Here is a link to the Spanish version of this article: Anglo-América & las Tribus Perdidas de Israel. Information is also in the YouTube sermons titled Where are the Ten Lost Tribes? Why does it matter? and British are the Covenant People. A short YouTube of prophetic interest may be: Are Chinese threats against Australia for real?
Will the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic Nations be Divided and Have People Taken as Slaves? Will the lands of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand be divided? What about Jerusalem? What does Bible prophecy teach? Are there non-biblical prophecies that support this idea? Who will divide those lands? Who will end up with the lands and the people? Here is a link to a video titled Will the USA and other Anglo-nations be Divided and Their People Made Slaves? Here is a related item in the Spanish language ¿Serán divididas las naciones anglosajonas?
British are the Covenant People What do ‘British’ and ‘Britain’ mean in Hebrew? Are the descendants of the Anglo-Saxons people of the covenant? Does the British royal family connect to the throne of David? What does the Bible teach? What does history show us? Is there any DNA evidence related to British-Israelism? When did Christianity make it to the British Isles? Could Jeremiah have made it to the British Isles? What type of Christians made it to the British Isles? Did the last King of England believe in British Israelism?
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? Does God have 7,000 year plan? What year may the six thousand years of human rule end? When will Jesus return? 2028 or or 2031 or 20xx? There is also a video titled 6000 Years: When will God’s Kingdom Come? Here is a link to the article in Spanish: ¿Tiene Dios un plan de 6,000 años?
Might the U.S.A. Be Gone by 2028? Are there prophetic reasons to believe that the USA will not last two complete presidential terms? Yes. There is a tradition attributed to the Hebrew prophet Elijah that humanity had 6,000 years to live before being replaced by God’s Kingdom. There are scriptures, writings in the Talmud, early Christian teachings that support this. Also, even certain Hindu writings support it. Here is a link to a related video: Is the USA prophesied to be destroyed by 2028? In Spanish: Seran los Estados Unidos Destruidos en el 2028?
The Great Tribulation: What Happens First? What events have happened? What are some events that are now happening? And what events need to happen for the Great Tribulation to start? Here is a link to a related sermon video: Counting Down to the Great Tribulation. Here is a video in the Spanish language: Contando los eventos y el inicio de la Gran Tribulación.
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2022, 2023, or 2024? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: ¿Puede la Gran Tribulación comenzar en el 2020 o 2021? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? A related video is: Great Tribulation: 2026 or 2027? A shorter video is: Can the Great Tribulation start in 2022 or 2023? Here is a video in the Spanish language: Es El 2021 el año  de La Gran Tribulación o el Grande Reseteo Financiero.
The Times of the Gentiles Has there been more than one time of the Gentiles? Are we in it now or in the time of Anglo-America? What will the final time of the Gentiles be like? A related sermon is available and is titled: The Times of the Gentiles.
Armageddon Who is involved and when will this gathering happen? Here is also a video from Dr. Thiel, from Tel Megiddo in Israel: Armageddon. Other videos include: Armageddon Will it come on Trump’s watch?, Iraq, Armageddon, & Prophecy, Freemasonry, Armageddon, and Rome, Is China paving roads to Armageddon?, and Jordan, Petra, and Armageddon.

Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? Is an emerging European power “the daughter of Babylon”? What is ahead for Europe? Here is a link to a video titled: Can You Prove that the Beast to Come is European?
European Technology and the Beast of Revelation Will the coming European Beast power would use and develop technology that will result in the taking over of the USA and its Anglo-Saxon allies? Is this possible? What does the Bible teach? Here is a related YouTube video: Military Technology and the Beast of Revelation.
Must the Ten Kings of Revelation 17:12 Rule over Ten Currently Existing Nations? Some claim that these passages refer to a gathering of 10 currently existing nations together, while one group teaches that this is referring to 11 nations getting together. Is that what Revelation 17:12-13 refers to? The ramifications of misunderstanding this are enormous. A related sermon is titled Ten Kings of Revelation and the Great Tribulation.
WTO/TTIP and the Babylonian Beast Will international trade agreements like WTO/TTIP/CETA lead to the fulfillment of end time prophecies concerning the Babylonian Beast power that the Book of Revelation warns against? What does the Bible teach? A related video would be WTO Trade Deal and the Rise of the European Beast Power.
Spiritual Samaritans: Old and New Who were the Samaritans? Do the represent true Christianity or something else? Here is a link to a related sermon: USA in Prophecy: Samaria.
China, Its Biblical Past and Future, Part 1: Genesis and Chinese Characters Where did the Chinese people come from? Japeth, Javan, Magog? Is there evidence that the Chinese peoples must have known about various accounts in the Book of Genesis up until their dispersion after the Tower of Babel? What do Chinese writings and characters help show? What about the Garden of Eden, Noah’s Flood, and the Tower of Babel? Here is a link to a version of this article in Spanish: ¿Prueban los caracteres chinos la exactitud de la Biblia? A related sermon is also available: China’s biblical past and prophetic actions.
China, Its Biblical Past and Future, Part 2: The Sabbath and Some of God’s Witness in China When did Christianity first come to China? What about the Apostle Thomas? Did Confucius say anything to get the Chinese to possibly consider Christianity? Is there early evidence that they observed the seventh day sabbath? What about the Ten Commandments? What type of Church of God witness has there been to China? What has been happening with China that ties it together with prophecies in Revelation? What about the 200 million man army and Armageddon? What about the Belt and Road Initiative and end time Babylon the Great? A related sermon is also available: China’s biblical past and prophetic actions. Watch also China’s Silk Road and Babylon the Great.
Asia in Prophecy What is Ahead for Asia? Who are the “Kings of the East”? What will happen to nearly all the Chinese, Russians, Indians, and others of Asia? China in prophecy, where? Who has the 200,000,000 man army related to Armageddon? Here is a link to a related sermon: Asia in Prophecy. Two YouTube video are Is China THE Threat to the United States of America? and China: A King of the East.
The Eurasian Union, the Kings of the East, and Bible Prophecy Is there a Eurasian union that will be formed? Is one being formed right now? Are any leaders working on that in the 21st century? Does the Bible teach that there will be a Eurasian union? If some type of Eurasian union is formed, who might it benefit and who will it destroy? A related video would be Is The Eurasian Union Rising?
Russia and Ukraine: Their Origins and Prophesied Future Russia in prophecy. Where do the Russians come from? What about those in the Ukraine? What is prophesied for Russia and its allies? What will they do to the Europeans that supported the Beast in the end? There is also a video sermon available: Russia in the Bible and in Prophecy and a video sermonette available: Ukraine in Prophecy?
Is Russia the King of the North? Some claim it is. But what does the Bible teach? Here is a link to a video, also titled Is Russia the King of the North?
Ezekiel 38: For Russia & Iran in Our Day? Is Ezekiel 38 about to be fulfilled? A related video is available titled Ezekiel 38: For Russia, Ukraine, & Iran Now? Another could be Russia, Iran, Syria, & the Bible (Code).
India, Its Biblical Past and Future: Any Witness? The Bible discusses the origins of those of Indian heritage.  This article quotes the Bible and also discusses some of the witness to India throughout history and what is happening in the 21st century (including those in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka). India, Prophecy, and the Beast in 2025?
India and the Beast of Revelation 13 Do biblical, Catholic, and even Hindu prophecies suggest that many in India will follow, for a while, the Beast and False Prophet/Antichrist? Here is link to a related YouTube video Will People in India Worship the Beast of Revelation 13?

‘Covid-19: Omicron spreading at lightning speed – French PM’ and ‘The UK’s Omicron warning for America’

Saturday, December 18th, 2021

(Pixabay picture)

COGwriter

The BBC reported the following:

Covid-19: Omicron spreading at lightning speed – French PM

18 December 2021

The Omicron variant is “spreading at lightning speed” in Europe and will likely become dominant in France by the start of next year, French Prime Minister Jean Castex has warned.

He spoke on Friday, hours before France imposed strict travel restrictions on those entering from the United Kingdom.

The UK has so far been the hardest hit in the region, with nearly 25,000 confirmed Omicron cases on Saturday.

Across the continent, health officials are bracing for a wave of infections.

Additional restrictions were announced in Germany, the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands on Friday as governments seek to stem the tide.

Europe has already seen more than 89 million cases and 1.5 million Covid-related deaths, according to the latest EU figures.

But Germany’s Health Minister Karl Lauterbach told reporters on Friday the country “must prepare for a challenge that we have not yet had in this form”, while its public health agency designated France, Norway and Denmark as “high risk” due to rising infections in those countries.

On Saturday Germany’s regional health ministers called on the government in Berlin to bring in tougher rules on arrivals from the UK due to the high number of Omicron cases there.

In Ireland, where a third of new cases have been due to the new variant, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said they were expecting “to see infections at a rate that is far in excess of anything we have seen to date”.

The warnings came as the UK reported a record number of Covid infections for a third day in a row – more than 93,000 – largely driven by Omicron. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59705709

Notice also:

The UK’s Omicron warning for America

December 18, 2021

Coronavirus cases are surging in London as the Omicron variant has officially replaced Delta — a sign of what’s likely just around the corner for parts of the U.S.

The bottom line: The ratio of deaths to cases will be lower than spring 2020, simply because so many Americans are either vaccinated or have already been infected. But it’s still unclear if the variant itself is less severe, and how many people are vulnerable to it.

Driving the news: South Africa and the UK are regularly releasing data that help predict what the coming days and weeks will bring the U.S.

  • Both places have made it clear that the virus spreads at a faster rate than we’ve seen during the pandemic, and it’s able to escape at least some of the immunity provided by vaccines or previous infections.
  • But it’s still unclear whether Omicron is more or less likely to cause severe disease than other variants, at least partially because so many people in South Africa or the UK have some form of immunity against the virus.

Where it stands: New South African data shows that deaths across all age groups among hospitalized patients were two-thirds lower in the Omicron wave than in previous waves. …

  • But according to the UK Health Security Agency, there’s insufficient data on the question of severity. “There is no signal that supports a difference in the intrinsic virulence of the Omicron virus compared to Delta,” according to the updated risk assessment.

Between the lines: That means if you’re unvaccinated and haven’t been infected, you’re definitely not in the clear with Omicron. https://www.axios.com/omicron-coronavirus-cases-christmas-london-5ef22bcc-34e2-4b31-9d4e-534c9f395d00.html

The truth is that those who are vaccinated are “definitely not in the clear with Omicron.” As far as a ‘warning for America’ goes, check out the article: Might the U.S.A. Be Gone by 2028?

That being said, here is another view of Omicron:

Sniffles, headaches, and tiredness appear to be the hallmarks of Omicron, according to a major study that suggests the mutant virus is more akin to a cold than Covid.

It’s hard to be a fear merchant these days, what with the new COVID variant Omicron not living up to hype laid out for it, presenting with disappointingly mild symptoms like sniffles, headache and fatigue. But just because Omicron is a ‘bust’, don’t think the medical fascists will be backing off the Hitlerian Immunity Passports any time soon. They won’t.

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.” Proverbs 3:5-8 (KJB)

Fauci the fraud is now predicting a ‘triple threat’ of Delta, Omicron and the flu that will ‘overwhelm the hospitals’ resulting in apocalyptic catastrophes unprecedented in the annals of modern medical history. In case you’re wondering, this will not end until you have submitted to the the one + two + three + ad infinitum vaccine shots and boosters, only leaving your house when permission has been granted to you. Is that really how you want to live your life, cowering in fear and wholly dependent on the government to ‘keep you safe’? As for me, I will continue to trust in the Lord, in His plan for me and my life, and I will continue to feed and care for the immune system He gave me. You might want to try that yourself.

Yes, we should trust God.

But it is possible that Omicron will turn out to be deadly or some variant of it will be.

That being said, yes, people should try to be healthier and take steps to improve their immune systems.

Regarding that, here is information related to a YouTube censored video that we still have up at BitChute:

US President Joe Biden said on 2/19/21 that the USA may NOT “return to normal” in 2021 because of vaccine and mutation issues. Is there another approach? Would it make sense to improve nutrition to strengthen the immune system and to help people with COVID-19? What about zinc, selenium, vitamin C, and vitamin D? What about avoiding unclean meats? What about eating more fruits and vegetables and items such as pumpkin seeds and Brazil nuts? What about eating bovine glandulars? What about herbs? Could fasting help? What about exercise and sunlight? What about masks, lockdowns, junk food, obesity, and weight gain? Dr. Thiel, who possesses a US regionally accredited PhD. in nutrition science from the Union Institute and University, a Master of Science degree from the University of Southern California, and a natural scientist license from the State of Alabama, explains why people may wish to consider approaches for their immune system. He also goes over scriptures related to worse pandemics coming (associated with the ride of the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse–Revelation 6:7-8), and the fact that the Bible teaches to “eat what is good” (Isaiah 55:2).

A written article, with references, of related interest is also available titled “Joe Biden: life may not return to normal this year due to COVID mutations; Paul Roberts: The Covid Pandemic Is The Result of Public Health Authorities Blocking Effective Treatment” URL: https://www.cogwriter.com/news/prophecy/joe-biden-life-may-not-return-to-normal-this-year-due-to-covid-mutations-paul-roberts-the-covid-pandemic-is-the-result-of-public-health-authorities-blocking-effective-treatment/

Here is a link to the censored video: COVID-19: Eat what is good!

In this time of fear-mongering, censorship, and COVID-19 restrictions, remember that Jesus taught:

32 Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32)

33 … In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. (John 16:33b)

Related to dealing with fear during the time of COVID, the Continuing Church of God put out the following sermon on its ContinuingCOG channel:

1:22:34

Billions of people are afraid for many reasons, including COVID-19. Are any fears good? Are there mindless fears and phobias? Can autosuggestion be deceptive? Can you deal with mental torment? What are some causes of bad dreams (nightmares)? Does Satan try to exploit fears through his lies? Can the weak become strong? Were Christ’s disciples ever fearful? Are there biblical ways to deal with fear? What about spiritual fear and the ‘fear of God’? The late evangelists Dr. Herman Hoeh had an article published in 1955 titled ‘How to Conquer Your Fears?’ What are eight steps from the Apostle Peter? What did Jesus teach about worry? Are most Christians Philadelphian? What did Jesus teach about fear? What is the ultimate biblical fate for cowards? Here a the list of ten steps to help rid yourself of fear: 1. “Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things” (Philippians 4:8). Changing your mental focus will help you push out fear. 2. Develop faith. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). 3. Add virtue to your faith in the power of God. You cannot hide your sins from God (cf. Psalm 90:8). 4. Add to virtue knowledge. Study the word of God, study CCOG literature, pay attention to sermons (ContinuingCOG YouTube sermon channel) and sermonettes (BibleNewsProphecy YouTube sermonette channel). 5. Add self-control to knowledge. Resist Satan and his hopes that you will walk by sight instead of faith. 6. Add patience to self-control. You may have to go through many tests and trials to build patience, but as you get through the tests and trials you should have the faith to recognize that God got you through them and that you do not need to fear. 7. Add godliness to patience. 8. Add to patience, brotherly kindness. “Let Philadelphia continue” (Hebrews 13:1). 9. Add to brotherly kindness, love. 10. Be courageous. “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). This is how YOU can conquer your fears and worries! Ask God for help to carry out His ten-fold plan to attain real peace of mind. Then there is also prayer and fasting. Yes, through God’s help you can rid yourself of fear. This sermon by Dr. Thiel covers these topics and more.

Here is a link to the sermon: Ten Plus Steps to Rid Yourself of Fear.

While many government officials are promoting fear and often hypocrisy, understand that Christians do not need to fear.

The hope of Christians is in Jesus and the establishment of the Kingdom of God.

Another point to mention is that even most Christians are accepting a type of false safetyism.

25 The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe. (Proverbs 29:25)

Jesus has promised to never forsake His true followers as the Book of Hebrews teaches:

5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we may boldly say:

“The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear.
What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6)

Trust in God, even during Omicron.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

COVID 19 is NOT the End, but could it be TEOTWAWKI? The novel coronavirus called COVID-19 is wreaking havoc around the world. Many states of the USA as well as countries in Europe are on lockdown with shelter in place /shelter in residence requirements. In France, a form is required when you are not at your house. In Spain, drones are being used to warn people who are outside to got back to their homes–does that bring up feelings of ‘Big Brother’? Italy, France, and other areas are using police and/or military force to encourage people to stay inside. According to the Bible could this be the end? If not, what has to happen first? Have the second and third of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse started their ride? Could COVID-19 be the fourth horseman? Why or why not? Could we be seeing The End of the World as We Know It (TEOTWAKI) like the R.E.M.’s 1987 single song discussed? Do Christians need to fear? What did Jesus teach? What did the Psalmist teach? This is a video. Here is a link to a version in the Spanish language: Corona 19 no es el final PERO es el TEOTWAWKI.
COVID-19 Leading to 666? The novel coronavirus of Wuhan, China fame, is now called COVID-19. It has also been called the ‘Coronapocalypse.’ Does COVID-19 have any prophetic ramifications? What did Jesus teach about pestilences and sorrows in the Olivet prophecy in Matthew 24? Could COVID-19 be the ride of the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse? Why was this type of disease expected according to the O. Here is a link to a version in the Spanish language: ld Testament prophecies in Deuteronomy and Leviticus? What has the US Centers for Disease Control warned about? What has the CDC reported about the flu? Were there lessons about fear and infections in the 2011 movie ‘Contagion’? Because of COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO), nation of Iran, and certain French locations are telling people not to use cash, but instead electronic forms of payment. The US Federal Reserve is now quarantining money repatriated from Asia to reduce the potential spread of the coronavirus on US currency bills. Is COVID-19 worse than we have been told or could this all be a ‘false flag’ event to encourage people to move towards a cashless society? If the thousands of deaths associated with COVID-19 are pushing parts of the world towards cashlessness, how much more likely will the ride of the fourth horseman and over a billion human deaths motivate people to move to making electronic payments that can be monitored? The Bible tells of a soon coming society that controls buying and selling to force allegiance to a coming European Beast power, known as 666 (Revelation 13:16-18). Does the ‘great tribulation’ begin before ride of the fourth horseman or with the opening of the fifth seal of Revelation 6? Do the words of Jesus helps us better understand the sequence of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse and the start of the Great Tribulation? Will the ride of the fourth horseman help lead to the rise of 666? Is that ride very close? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more in this video. Here is a link to a version in the Spanish language: El COVID-19 ¿Conduce al 666?
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. Here are links to four related sermons:  The Fantastic Gospel of the Kingdom of God!, The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.
CCOG on vaccines Pestilences are coming. Is it ever appropriate for Christians to get vaccinated?
Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse What is the pale horse of death and pestilences? What will it bring and when? Here is a link to a related sermon: Fourth Horseman, COVID, and the Rise of the Beast of Revelation. Here is a version of that sermon in Spanish: El Cuarto Caballo, El COVID y El Surgimiento de la Bestia del Apocalipsis. Some shorter related videos may include Amphibian Apocalypse: Threat to Humans? and Zombie Deer Disease is Here! Are the 10 Plagues on Egypt Coming? Here is a version of the article in Spanish: El cuarto jinete de Apocalipsis, el caballo pálido de muerte y pestilencia.
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2022, 2023, or 2024? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: ¿Puede la Gran Tribulación comenzar en el 2020 o 2021? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? A related video is: Great Tribulation: 2026 or 2027? A shorter video is: Can the Great Tribulation start in 2022 or 2023? Here is a video in the Spanish language: Es El 2021 el año de La Gran Tribulación o el Grande Reseteo Financiero.
Might the U.S.A. Be Gone by 2028? Could the USA be gone by the end of 2028 or earlier? There is a tradition attributed to the Hebrew prophet Elijah that humanity had 6,000 years to live before being replaced by God’s Kingdom. There are scriptures, writings in the Talmud, early Christian teachings that support this. Also, even certain Hindu writings support it. Here is a link to a related video: Is the USA prophesied to be destroyed by 2028? In Spanish: Seran los Estados Unidos Destruidos en el 2028?
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? Does God have 7,000 year plan? What year may the six thousand years of human rule end? When will Jesus return? 2028 or 20xx? There is also a video titled 6000 Years: When will God’s Kingdom Come? Here is a link to the article in Spanish: ¿Tiene Dios un plan de 6,000 años?
Is God Calling You? This booklet discusses topics including calling, election, and selection. If God is calling you, how will you respond? Here is are links to related sermons: Christian Election: Is God Calling YOU? and Predestination and Your Selection. A short animation is also available: Is God Calling You?
Christian Repentance Do you know what repentance is? Is it really necessary for salvation? Two related sermons about this are also available: Real Repentance and Real Christian Repentance.

Sermon: After Death: Heaven or ?

Saturday, December 18th, 2021

George and Anne Buchanan

 

COGwriter

This week’s recommended sermon is from former Worldwide Church of God elder, George ‘Doc’ Buchanan.

Here is a autobiographical sketch from him:

I was born at home on the family farm in Western Ohio that stopped at the Indiana state line. I attended school in Willshire, population about 600. A friend’s mom introduced me to The Radio Church of God/Worldwide Church of God through the PLAIN TRUTH magazine.

When I was about 12 years old, my parents flew my brother and me from Fort Wayne to Dayton to Columbus for the Ohio State Fair. A couple of days later, we returned the same way. The airplane was a TWA DC-3. From that time on, I wanted to be a pilot. The problem was that I did not know the way to that goal. Neither did any of my teachers in that small town school.

During my high school years, I remember leaving the house to sit in the car in the garage at 11 o’clock at night hoping to be able to tune in the World Tomorrow radio broadcast from a distant city.

 I considered applying to Ambassador College but Pasadena seemed like the other side of the world from the farm in Ohio. Consequently, I attended a nearby engineering college (they had a flying club!)

Along the way, I learned about a Professional Pilot Training program at Purdue University. I was accepted into their limited numbers program. During the second year, I flew DC-3’s in their charter airline, Purdue Airlines, once all of the way to Hudson Bay, Canada where there were icebergs on the bay in June! Upon graduation, I was hired by TWA (Trans World Airlines), this time to fly the Lockheed Constellation (“the Connie”). After 37 years with them, and several different airplanes all of the way up to the Boeing 747, I had to retire due to Federal Aviation Regulations. By then, I had flown about 34,000 hours. I calculate that to be the equivalent of 161 trips to the moon and back… And that at 500 mph, not the 25,000 mph that the astronauts fly.

I began attending the Worldwide Church of God in 1973 and was baptized in February 1974. In 1984, I moved to Freeport, The Bahamas where I was made Deacon in 1988. Having my own single engine airplane, I was able to serve brethren in the out-islands. One sabbath in 1992, I flew to Marsh Harbour, Great Abaco to lead a service there. This was one of the few times that I served in only one location in a day.  I returned to Freeport in the afternoon for their afternoon service where the Bahamas’ Pastor Mather had come up from Nassau to give the sermon. It was a total surprise when he asked me to come on-stage and ordained me as Elder. Afterward, I served by traveling to lead the service in Belize. Further, I had the opportunity to give a sermonette in Fiji in 1993, one in Paris, France and a sermon at Nassau, The Bahamas during the Feast of Tabernacles in 1995.

I returned to Florida in 1996. In 2001, my wife, Jo Anne, and I built, as building contractors, our house in Hobe Sound. While there, I had some regularly scheduled Bible Studies. For three months, I had a 100,000 watt daily radio broadcast. The broadcast could reach from northern Ft. Lauderdale to Melbourne, Florida and east to the northern Bahamas.

After the financial meltdown in 2008, we began to look for a cheaper country to live. We looked at Panama about every year until we moved there.

Before moving down here to the Rep. of Panama in 2014, I attended a two-week study program on how to conduct a Bible study for the purpose of Bible Study/church multiplication. My plan was to eventually cover the entire nation of Panama with Bible studies. But my plan was thwarted by my inability to speak Spanish adequately.

Here in El Valle, I have had some Bible studies, each numbering about 15 in this volcano, mountain community of 8,000. But even this came to a close with the restrictions imposed because of the Covid-19. Even our international airport was closed for 9 months! We still must wear masks at all times and observe a curfew.

I do not remember now how I first learned about the Continuing Church of God. I do know that I looked at some other Churches of God but was not drawn to them. When Dr. Thiel called me the first time, I think we both saw that God was drawing me into this church. Subsequently, we have discussed my serving in the area of ministerial counseling, baptisms, and all of the tasks that an Elder might have.

Before I close, let me reveal to you the reason for my nickname. Three weeks before we moved to Freeport, Bahamas, my youngest little girl was born at home in Michigan. Her older brother and sister were 20 and 18 years old respectively. This at-home birth was unplanned. It was supposed to happen in the hospital. After all, that is what hospitals and doctors demand when the mother is over 40 years of age. Furthermore, although the birth was due then and I had bid my days off to occur then, the doctor told us the day before this that it would be at least two more weeks. I was devastated in that I would be working every day during that newly planned birth date. But it wasn’t 14 days later that she was born; it was 14 hours later! Every father knows, after staring at the flickering florescent ceiling lights all night in the hospital, that all babies are born at 6 AM. This was only 6PM!

We did not make it to the hospital, but, rather, she was born at the top of the stairs on the second floor. But it wasn’t that normal. We were going to the hospital. On the way to the top steps, mother said, “I am having the baby!” I went to the bedroom to get my telephone. When I came back, the baby’s head was out, but the bag was not broken. It still covered the baby’s head. I could see the eyes and nose through the membrane. I got down on one knee and said, “It is all right to have the baby at home.” With one little push, the baby was in my hands! I didn’t spank the little thing; I simply told her that it was all right to breathe. In seconds, when I heard her breathe, I called the hospital with my other hand and told them to send the ambulance. When we arrived at the emergency entrance to the hospital, the doctor was waiting outdoors on the asphalt for us. He said, “Congratulations Doctor Buchanan. I am Dr. Lake.” So, here I am, Doc Buchanan. I kept the name. I tell people that it is like a battlefield commission. I’m not a real doctor; I am just Doc Buchanan

Now I anxiously watch and pray for Jesus’ return and the establishment of the kingdom of God on this earth. I want it desperately. I want to see healthy and happy people, no longer dying and hungry people. I want to see joy, peace, love and prosperity all around the world. It is worth working for it.

G.E. ‘Doc’ Buchanan

George and Anne Buchanan  reside in Panama. I met the Buchnans at the Feast of Tabernacles in the Bahamas in 1992.

Anyway, the Continuing Church of God is pleased to announce this sermon from its ContinuingCOG channel:

53:31

George ‘Doc’ Buchanan dispels a widely held Greco-Roman-Protestant belief about what happens to Christians after death in this sermon. He goes over scriptures on heaven, immortality, and the return of Jesus. Doc asks what about the popular lyrics “when we all get to heaven”? He discusses giving and loving our brethren. He asks, “Did Lucifer want to get to heaven?” Doc tells of a two-word promise given to believers.

Here is a link to the sermon: After Death – Heaven or ?

Some items of related interest may include:

Did Early Christians Teach They Were Going to Heaven? What do the Bible and scholars teach? What about ‘near-death experiences’? Here are links to a related sermons: Heaven and Christianity and It’s not heaven.
What Is the Place that Jesus Is Preparing? Dr. Herman Hoeh wrote this and answered whether the saints go to heaven upon death.
Proof Jesus is the Messiah This free book has over 200 Hebrew prophecies were fulfilled by Jesus. Plus, His arrival was consistent with specific prophecies and even Jewish interpretations of prophecy. Here are links to seven related sermons: Proof Jesus is the Messiah, Prophecies of Jesus’ birth, timing, and death, Jesus’ prophesied divinity, 200+ OT prophecies Jesus filled; Plus prophecies He made, Why Don’t Jews Accept Jesus?, Daniel 9, Jews, and Jesus, and Facts and Atheists’ Delusions About Jesus. Plus the links to two sermonettes: Luke’s census: Any historical evidence? and Muslims believe Jesus is the Messiah, but
Is God Calling You? This booklet discusses topics including calling, election, and selection. If God is calling you, how will you respond? Here is are links to related sermons: Christian Election: Is God Calling YOU? and Predestination and Your Selection. A short animation is also available: Is God Calling You?
Is God’s Existence Logical? Is it really logical to believe in God? Yes! Would you like Christian answers to give atheists? This is a free online booklet that deal with improper theories and musings called science related to the origin of the origin of the universe, the origin of life, and evolution. Here is a link to a related sermon: Evolution is NOT the Origin of Life. Two animated videos of related interest are also available: Big Bang: Nothing or Creator? and A Lifegiver or Spontaneous Evolution?
Christians: Ambassadors for the Kingdom of God, Biblical instructions on living as a Christian This is a scripture-filled booklet for those wishing to live as a real Christian. A related sermon is also available: Christians are Ambassadors for the Kingdom of God.
Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church. Did the original “catholic church” have doctrines held by the Continuing Church of God? Did Church of God leaders uses the term “catholic church” to ever describe the church they were part of? Here are links to related sermons: Original Catholic Church of God? , Original Catholic Doctrine: Creed, Liturgy, Baptism, Passover, and What Type of Catholic was Polycarp of Smyrna?, Tradition, Holy Days, Salvation, Dress, & Celibacy, and Early Heresies and Heretics, and Doctrines: 3 Days, Abortion, Ecumenism, Meats, Tithes, Crosses, Destiny, and more, and Saturday or Sunday?, The Godhead, Apostolic Laying on of Hands Succession, and Church in the Wilderness Apostolic Succession List.
Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God Differs from Protestantism The CCOG is NOT Protestant. This free online book explains how the real Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants. Several sermons related to the free book are also available: Protestant, Baptist, and CCOG History; The First Protestant, God’s Command, Grace, & Character; The New Testament, Martin Luther, and the Canon; Eucharist, Passover, and Easter; Views of Jews, Lost Tribes, Warfare, & Baptism; Scripture vs. Tradition, Sabbath vs. Sunday; Church Services, Sunday, Heaven, and God’s Plan; Seventh Day Baptists/Adventists/Messianics: Protestant or COG?; Millennial Kingdom of God and God’s Plan of Salvation; Crosses, Trees, Tithes, and Unclean Meats; The Godhead and the Trinity; Fleeing or Rapture?; and Ecumenism, Rome, and CCOG Differences.
The MYSTERY of GOD’s PLAN Why Did God Create Anything? Why did God make you? This free online book helps answers some of the biggest questions that human have, including the biblical meaning of life. Here is a link to three related sermons: Mysteries of God’s Plan, Mysteries of Truth, Sin, Rest, Suffering, and God’s Plan, and The Mystery of YOU.

Universal OFFER of Salvation, Apokatastasis: Can God save the lost in an age to come? Hundreds of scriptures reveal God’s plan of salvation Will all get a fair chance at salvation? This free book is packed with scriptures showing that God does intend to offer salvation to all who ever lived–the elect in this age, and the rest in the age to come. Here is a link to a related sermon series: Universal Offer of Salvation 1: Apocatastasis, Universal Offer of Salvation 2: Jesus Desires All to be Saved, Mysteries of the Great White Throne Judgment (Universal Offer of Salvation part 3), Is God Fair, Will God Pardon the Ignorant?, Can God Save Your Relatives?, Babies, Limbo, Purgatory and God’s Plan, and ‘By the Mouth of All His Holy Prophets’.
The Ten Commandments: The Decalogue, Christianity, and the Beast This is a free pdf book explaining the what the Ten Commandments are, where they came from, how they develop love, how early professors of Christ viewed them, and how various ones, including the Beast of Revelation, will oppose them. A related sermon is titled: The Ten Commandments and the Beast of Revelation.
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. Here are links to four related sermons: The Fantastic Gospel of the Kingdom of God!, The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.
Where is the True Christian Church Today? This free online pdf booklet answers that question and includes 18 proofs, clues, and signs to identify the true vs. false Christian church. Plus 7 proofs, clues, and signs to help identify Laodicean churches. A related sermon is also available: Where is the True Christian Church? Here is a link to the booklet in the Spanish language: ¿Dónde está la verdadera Iglesia cristiana de hoy? Here is a link in the German language: WO IST DIE WAHRE CHRISTLICHE KIRCHE HEUTE? Here is a link in the French language: Où est la vraie Église Chrétienne aujourd’hui?
Continuing History of the Church of God This pdf booklet is a historical overview of the true Church of God and some of its main opponents from Acts 2 to the 21st century. Related sermon links include Continuing History of the Church of God: c. 31 to c. 300 A.D. and Continuing History of the Church of God: 4th-16th Centuries and Continuing History of the Church of God: 17th-20th Centuries. The booklet is available in Spanish: Continuación de la Historia de la Iglesia de Dios, German: Kontinuierliche Geschichte der Kirche Gottes, and Ekegusii Omogano Bw’ekanisa Ya Nyasae Egendererete.
CCOG.ORG Continuing Church of God The group striving to be most faithful amongst all real Christian groups to the word of God. There are links to literature is about 100 different languages there.
Congregations of the Continuing Church of God This is a listing of congregations and groups of the Continuing Church of God around the world.
Continuing Church of God Facebook page This has news and prophetic information.
Continuing Church of God, Africa, Facebook page This has news and prophetic information.
Continuing Church of God, Canada, Facebook page This has news and prophetic information.
Continuing Church of God, Europe, Facebook page This has news and prophetic information.
CCOG.ASIA We in the Continuing Church of God also have the url www.ccog.asia which has a focus on Asia and has various articles in Mandarin Chinese as well as some in English, plus some items in other Asian languages. 我们在继续神的教会也提供此网址 www.ccog.asia, 关注于亚洲并且有各种各样的中英文文章,其中一些用菲律宾语翻译的文章也正在进行中,准备添加到这个网站中。 Here is a link to our Statement of Beliefs in Mandarin Chinese 继续神的教会的信仰声明.
CCOG.IN This is a website targeted towards those of Indian heritage. It has a link to an edited Hindi translation of The Mystery of the Ages and is expected to have more non-English language materials in the future.
CCOG.EU This is a website targeted toward Europe. It has materials in more than one language (currently it has English, Dutch, and Serbian, with links also to Spanish) and it is intended to have additional language materials added.
CCOG.NZ This is a website targeted towards New Zealand and others with a British-descended background.
CCOGAFRICA.ORG This is a website targeted towards those in Africa.
CCOGCANADA.CA This is a website targeted towards those in Canada.
CDLIDD.ES La Continuación de la Iglesia de Dios. This is the Spanish language website for the Continuing Church of God.
CG7.ORG This is a website for those interested in the Sabbath and churches that observe the seventh day Sabbath.
PNIND.PH Patuloy na Iglesya ng Diyos. This is the Philippines website Continuing Church of God. It has information in English and Tagalog.
CCOG Animations YouTube channel. The Continuing Church of God has some animations to teach aspects of Christian beliefs. Also available at BitChute COGAnimations https://www.bitchute.com/channel/coganimations/
Bible News Prophecy channel. Dr. Thiel has produced hundreds of videos for the BibleNewsProphecy channel. You can find them at them on YouTube at BibleNewsProphecy https://www.youtube.com/user/BibleNewsProphecy, plus also on Vimeo at Bible News Prophecy https://vimeo.com/channels/biblenewsprophecy as well as on Brighteon Bible News Prophecy https://www.brighteon.com/channel/ccogbnp and Bitchute Prophecy https://www.bitchute.com/channel/prophecy/
CCOGAfrica channel. This has messages from African pastors in African languages such as Kalenjin, Kiswahili, Embu, and Dholuo. Also available at BitChute COGAfrica https://www.bitchute.com/channel/cogafrica/
CDLIDDSermones channel. This contains messages in the Spanish language
BibleNewsProphecy Podcast. This has audio-visual podcasts of the Bible News Prophecy channgel. It plays on i-Phones, i-Pads, and Windows devices that can play i-Tunes.
Bible News Prophecy online radio. This is an audio version of the Bible News Prophecy videos. It is also available as a mobile app.
ContinuingCOG channel. Dr. Thiel has produced scores of YouTube video sermons for this channel. Note: Since these are sermon-length, they can take a little longer to load than other YouTube videos. Also available at BitChute COGTube https://www.bitchute.com/channel/cogtube/
Statement of Beliefs of the Continuing Church of GodContend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3, NKJV), “Let brotherly love (Philadelphia) continue” (Hebrews 13:1) ” & continuing stedfastly in the teaching of the apostles” (Acts 2:42 YLT). So, what does that really mean in terms of specific beliefs–the Statement gives answers? Here is a related link in Spanish/español: Declaración de las Doctrinas de la Continuación de la Iglesia de Dios. Here is a related link in Tagalog: Paglalahad ng Mga Paniniwala ng Patuloy na Iglesya ng Diyos. Here is a related link in Mandarin Chinese ~ç~íy^v„eYOv„OáNðXðf. Here is a related link in Kiswahili: KATIKA LUGHA YA KISWAHILI. Here is a related link in Dutch: Verklaring van geloofspunten van de Continuing Church of God. Here is a related link in Deutsche (German): Glaubenserklärung der Continuing Church of God. Here is a related link in Italiano: Dichiarazione del Credo della Continuing Church of God. Here is related link in the French language: Déclaration des croyances de L’Église Continue de Dieu. Here is a related link in the Chichewa language: ZIKHULUPIRIRO ZA MPINGO WA CONTINUING CHURCH OF GOD. Here is a link in Romanian: Declarația de credințe a continuării Bisericii lui Dumnezeu. Here is a link in Portuguese: Declaração de Crenças da Continuação da Igreja de Deus. Here is a link in Russian: Утверждение верований о продолжении Церкви Божьей. Here is a link to a related English-language sermon: Beliefs of the Continuing Church of God.

Temple Institute quotes part of Genesis 49:2, but what does it prophetically point to?

Friday, December 17th, 2021

                                                                      
(Photo by Bob Thiel)

COGwriter

The Temple Institute started off with the following in its newsletter today:

“Gather and listen, sons of Yaakov, and listen to Israel, your father”

(Genesis 49:2)

Tevet 13, 5782/December 17, 2021

But, was only part of the verse and the Temple Institute did not go into the other verses of Genesis 49 or their prophetic ramifications. The Bible shows it was a “last days” prophecy.

Here is some of what the Bible records:

1 And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days:

2 “Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob, And listen to Israel your father.

3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn, My might and the beginning of my strength, The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power. 4 Unstable as water, you shall not excel, Because you went up to your father’s bed; Then you defiled it–He went up to my couch.

5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers; Instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place. 6 Let not my soul enter their council; Let not my honor be united to their assembly; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will they hamstrung an ox. 7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob And scatter them in Israel.

8 “Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father’s children shall bow down before you. 9 Judah is a lion’s whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion; And as a lion, who shall rouse him? 10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people. 11 Binding his donkey to the vine, And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, He washed his garments in wine, And his clothes in the blood of grapes. 12 His eyes are darker than wine, And his teeth whiter than milk.

13 “Zebulun shall dwell by the haven of the sea; He shall become a haven for ships, And his border shall adjoin Sidon.

14 “Issachar is a strong donkey, Lying down between two burdens; 15 He saw that rest was good, And that the land was pleasant; He bowed his shoulder to bear a burden, And became a band of slaves.

16 “Dan shall judge his people As one of the tribes of Israel. 17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way, A viper by the path, That bites the horse’s heels So that its rider shall fall backward. 18 I have waited for your salvation, O LORD!

19 “Gad, a troop shall tramp upon him, But he shall triumph at last.

20 “Bread from Asher shall be rich, And he shall yield royal dainties.

21 “Naphtali is a deer let loose; He uses beautiful words.

22 “Joseph is a fruitful bough, A fruitful bough by a well; His branches run over the wall. 23 The archers have bitterly grieved him, Shot at him and hated him. 24 But his bow remained in strength, And the arms of his hands were made strong By the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel), 25 By the God of your father who will help you, And by the Almighty who will bless you With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb. 26 The blessings of your father Have excelled the blessings of my ancestors, Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.

27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; In the morning he shall devour the prey, And at night he shall divide the spoil.”

28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them. And he blessed them; he blessed each one according to his own blessing (Genesis 49:1-28).

Now, let’s look at some passages from Isaiah:

8 “But you, Israel, are My servant,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
The descendants of Abraham My friend.
9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth,
And called from its farthest regions,
And said to you,
‘You are My servant,
I have chosen you and have not cast you away:
10 Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ (Isaiah 41:8-10)

6 Indeed He says,
‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob,
And to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles,
That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ (Isaiah 49:6)

Notice that each of the tribes had their own “blessing” and some of the descendants would be at the ends of the earth. Hence, biblically speaking, they should be looked for individually. Are not England, Canada, and Australia, to cite three examples, the among the ends of the earth from Palestine? And if you consider lands still, like the Falklands, and formerly, like the Far East and India, which were once controlled by Britain, some of the tribes were scattered to the ends of the earth and future scattering will take place (see Will the Anglo-Saxon Nations be Divided and Have People Taken as Slaves?).

Yair Davidiy wrote that a rabbi named Manasseh ben Israel in the 17th century observed that the French term for England, Angleterre, literally meant “End of the Earth” (Davidy Y. The Tribes, 4th edition. Russell-David Publishers, 2011, p. 414).

As far as the prophecies in Genesis and elsewhere go, it has been stated:

The nations identified…as being of the Israelite-seed of Abraham were those who mainly conducted European colonist policies from the eighteenth to twentieth centuries. (Davidy. The Tribes, p. 15).

Although I do not agree with all the conclusions in the book cited below, it has been written:

In Sercia (east Scythia) the RHABBANAEI of Reuben bordered the Garianaei of Gad…Ribuiari…is another form for Reuben…Ribuari may have been similar to the Franks own name for themselves (Davidy. The Tribes, pp. 161-162).

The “CHATAE SCYTHAE”…The Chinese records say that that portion of the Naphtalities who had been north of them moved westward prior to 450 c.e. They also say that they had previously been north of the Altai mountains and were part of the Massagete, blue-eyed and fair-haired (Davidy. The Tribes, pp. 199-200).

Finland has been identified…as…especially Issachar (Davidy. The Tribes, p. 217).

BENJAMIN also seems to have been represented by the NORMANS (Davidy. The Tribes, p. 232).

Britain was dominated by the Tribe of Joseph and especially the section of Ephraim…From Britain came many of the settlers of South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada (Davidy. The Tribes, pp. 377,390).

…characteristics of Menasseh are found in the U.S.A. (Davidy. The Tribes, p. 403).

…The Irish of today… have characteristics applicable to DAN and Simeon…The forefather of the Danes in Danish tradition was called DAN (Davidy. The Tribes, pp. 432,438).

THE STATE OF ISRAEL AND THE JEWS…Most Jews come from the tribe of Judah followed by the tribes of Benjamin and Simeon together with Levi…Judah is the determining factor (Davidy. The Tribes, p. 433).

The French descend mainly from Reuben (Davidy. The Tribes, p. 440).

Here are some comments from the late WCG evangelist Dr. Herman Hoeh:

In Genesis 49 we have a prophecy concerning the state of each of the tribes in the “Latter days” and also in Deuteronomy 33, a chapter dealing with the blessings. With these two main chapters as guides, we can rightly INTERPRET obscure historical evidence that no history book yet clarifies.

1 and 2: Ephraim and Manasseh are already designated.

3: Judah constituted mainly the House of Judah, to be scattered among all nations, becoming a taunt and a byword. We are not to expect them as a separate nation among Israel today, defying all who would come against them. A small part of Judah was carried captive with Israel (II Kings 18:13), as found in the records of the Assyrian kings. Thus, among Israel we should find a small remnant of Judah. We locate the name as Jutes, and living in Jutland, Denmark. Some migrated to England.

4. Levi, the priestly tribe, was to be scattered in Israel (Gen. 49:5-7). God never gave them land to inherit as the other tribes. Therefore, we should not expect them to be given territory today. Nothing is said in Deut. 33 about inheriting land. Among the Jews today we find many bearing the names: Levi, Levy, Levine. Others bear the name “Cohen” and its variations. The Hebrew word “Kohen” means priest and is so translated 725 times in the King James version. Here then, we have the great bulk of Levi scattered among Judah because they left their priestly functions in Israel almost totally (I Kings 12:31).

5. Simeon received no blessing from Moses. In fact, he does not even mention the tribe! Jacob said God would scatter them throughout Israel. How? Take a map of Palestine for the time of the division of the land. Notice that Simeon did have an inheritance SOUTH of Judah. When Judah separated from Israel, Judah occupied that territory, yet Simeon went with Israel! The only explanation is that Simeon migrated into Israel generally, but no new territory was assigned to Simeon. This tribe became scattered. It is possible that the small scattered tribes in Western Europe, variously called the Senones or Semaones or Sennones, represented the fragments of the tribe of Simeon.

6. Reuben, unstable as water and having the excellency of greatness, we have recognized as France. Southern France, settled by the descendants of Javan (the Greeks), is gentile … is unstable, yet sets the styles for the world, has the form of real excellency, and has the same sex weakness as Reuben, is France… And is it not significant that the very country at war with England around 1800 should be France (Reuben), who would lose the birthright in the Napoleonic war? (Napoleon was Italian.)

7. Dan was originally divided into two parts, one about Joppa, a seaport, and the other in the north of Palestine. Dan refused to fight along side the other tribes against the Gentiles (Judges 5:17). Dan would judge, or stand up to rule, his own people as one of the separate tribes of Israel indicating he would gain self-government in the following manner: “Dan shall be a serpent in the way, a horned snake in the part, that biteth the horse’s heels, so that his rider falleth, backward.”  Ireland has done just that to England. In fact, the symbol of the illegal Irish Republican Army was the coiled snake!

Dan would also be like a young lion leaping forth, an apt description of Denmark, which acquired the Virgin Islands, Greenland, Iceland and other islands in her heyday. Especially unique is the fact that of all the tribes Northern Dan still preserves their father’s name the Danes!

8. Benjamin constitutes Norway and Iceland. The Icelandic people in reality a colony of Norwegians. Benjamin was given to David because Jerusalem, David’s capital, was in the tribe of Benjamin, not Judah. God said He would give David light in Jerusalem (I Kings 11:36). This verse could not refer to Judah which did not have to be given to the Jewish House of David. Benjamin was told to flee the destruction of Jerusalem (Jer. 6:1) which many of them did.

Benjamin is compared to “a wolf that raveneth; in the morning he devoureth the prey, and at even he divideth the spoil” (Gen. 49:27). This is certainly an apt description of the Vikings who pillaged Northern Europe, and even Mediterranean regions. Almost all Viking raids came from Norway. It is also significant that Benjamin, the smallest tribe, still is the smallest today. There are fewer Norwegians (plus 148 thousand from Iceland) than any other Israelite nation. (Moses’ blessing in Deut. 33 has particular reference to this fact that Jerusalem was in the tribe of Benjamin.)

9. Issachar is compared to a “large-boned ass,” Jacob continues: “For he saw a resting-place that it was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and he BOWED HIS SHOULDER TO BEAR, and became a SERVANT UNDER “ASSWORK.” (Gen. 49:14-15.) An ass is not the most intelligent of animals, but it is a willing worker. Such is Finland. Finland is the ONLY nation that has voluntarily taken the full responsibility of her debts. She is today paying off a huge indemnity to Russia. Her land is pleasant and good, not extraordinarily rich. According to Deuteronomy 33:19 she derives wealth from fishing and from hidden treasures of the sand gigantic peat bogs and the finest sand for glass-making. Issachar is not a colonizing people they dwell pastorally “in tents,” said Moses.

10. Nepthali represents Sweden “satisfied with favor, full with the blessings of the Lord.” She is compared to a prancing hind or deer and “giveth goodly words” (Gen. 49:21). From Sweden, with a well-balanced economy, come the Nobel prizes in token to great world accomplishments. Sweden, during two world wars and the recent trouble in Palestine, sent her emissaries to speak words of conciliation and peace. The promise by Moses to possess “the sea and the south” is applicable both to ancient Nepthali and modern Sweden: notice the position of the Sea of Galilee and Baltic relative to the position of this tribe.

11. Zebulun settled in Holland (The Netherlands). Zebulun dwell at the “shore of the sea, and he shall be a shore for ships, and his flank shall be upon Zidon” a Gentile country. Moses said: “rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out.” She takes also treasures from the sea and the sand, Zebulun, then, is a colonizing people. She is not a pillaging people as Benjamin.

12. Gad, which means “the troop” certainly designates Switzerland the only Israelite nation in which every man is mobilized for defense. Against Gad would come the foreign troops, said Jacob, but he will “trod upon their heel.” Moses declared that Gad does NOT “leap,” a characteristic of the colonizing or pillaging tribes. Gad “teareth the arm, yea, the crown of the head” of the Holy Roman Empire, in whose territory “he chose a first part for himself, and there a portion of a ruler was reserved.” To Gad come “the heads of the people” as they do today to Geneva. No other nation on earth so perfectly fits this description of a nation of troops.

13. Asher “his bread shall be fat and he shall yield royal danties” (Gen. 49:20). This peculiar expression could have reference alone to Belgium and the kindred state Luxembourg. From Belgium have come the finest Flemish paintings, the royal tapestries which graced the halls of kings, fine cut diamonds, porcelain and Belgian lace. Belgium and Luxembourg are blessed above many another son of Jacob “Blessed be Asher above sons; let him be the favoured of his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil” prosperity. Iron and brass shall by thy bars; and as thy days, so shall they riches increase. Because of uranium, Belgium’s prosperity will continue to grow. (The above rendering of Deut. 33:25 is the correct it is highly obscure.)

SUMMARY: Here we have a recapitulation of Jacob’s prophecy for the latter days, and of Moses’ blessings (some of which apply to the millennium). IN ALL THE WORLD THERE IS NO GROUP OF NATIONS SO PERFECTLY CORRESPONDING TO THE PROPHECIES. And within this extraordinary group of nations each nation has its own characteristics. (LOCATION OF THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL by Herman L Hoeh (ca. 1950s) http://www.giveshare.org/israel/locationtribes.html)

Related to Gad, let me add the following scripture:

20 And of Gad he said: “Blessed is he who enlarges Gad; He dwells as a lion, And tears the arm and the crown of his head. 21 He provided the first part for himself, Because a lawgiver’s portion was reserved there. He came with the heads of the people; He administered the justice of the Lord, And His judgments with Israel.” (Deuteronomy 33:20-21)

Switzerland, Geneva particularly, has had a history of being an “international lawgiver” *see alsoCould the Swiss be descended from Israel’s son Gad? Is Switzerland prepared for the coming collapse?

). Note: Even though the migrations of some of the ancestors of Switzerland and Germany are similar, while some have erroneously taught that Germany is Gad, Germany has no history of being a recognized lawgiver–but instead primarily descended from Assyria (see Germany’s Assyrian Roots Throughout History).

Here is more information on most of the other tribes, straight from the Bible:

6 “Let Reuben live, and not die, Nor let his men be few.”

7 And this he said of Judah:
“Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah,And bring him to his people;Let his hands be sufficient for him,And may You be a help against his enemies.”

8 And of Levi he said:
“Let Your Thummim and Your Urim be with Your holy one,Whom You tested at Massah, And with whom You contended at the waters of Meribah, 9 Who says of his father and mother,’I have not seen them’; Nor did he acknowledge his brothers, Or know his own children; For they have observed Your word And kept Your covenant. 10 They shall teach Jacob Your judgments,And Israel Your law.They shall put incense before You, And a whole burnt sacrifice on Your altar. 11 Bless his substance, Lord, And accept the work of his hands; Strike the loins of those who rise against him, And of those who hate him, that they rise not again.”

12 Of Benjamin he said:
“The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by Him,Who shelters him all the day long;And he shall dwell between His shoulders.” (Deuteronomy 33:6-12)

18 And of Zebulun he said:
“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out, And Issachar in your tents! 19 They shall call the peoples to the mountain; There they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness; For they shall partake of the abundance of the seas And of treasures hidden in the sand.” (Deuteronomy 33:18)

22 And of Dan he said:
“Dan is a lion’s whelp; He shall leap from Bashan.”

23 And of Naphtali he said:

“O Naphtali, satisfied with favor, And full of the blessing of the Lord, Possess the west and the south.”

24 And of Asher he said:
“Asher is most blessed of sons; Let him be favored by his brothers, And let him dip his foot in oil. 25 Your sandals shall be iron and bronze; As your days, so shall your strength be. (Deuteronomy 33:22-26)

It may be of interest to note that the word translated as ‘west’ regarding Napthali is also defined as roaring sea, which is how Herman Hoeh explained it. Sweden is basically on the west border of the Baltic Sea (for more on Sweden, see Ten Prophetic Clues Concerning Naphtali – Sweden).

Although certain “theologians” have dismissed the idea that Israel is still separate from Judah, the Bible is clear that into the last days (cf. Revelation 18:2-5) that there remains a separation between the two:

5 For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, By his God, the Lord of hosts, Though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.” 6 Flee from the midst of Babylon, And every one save his life! Do not be cut off in her iniquity, For this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance; He shall recompense her. (Jeremiah 51:5-6)

So, despite critics, those who actually believe the Bible realize that God considers that Israel (the so-called ten lost tribes) and Judah (Judah, Levi, and perhaps part of Benjamin) still exist separately.

We in the Continuing Church of God believe that the descendants of Israel traveled to many places. While the following list may need some adjustment, it basically reflects where many of us have been taught those descendants went (even though some of each are scattered throughout many lands):

    1. Reuben – France (dignified but troubled, Genesis 49:3-4; see also The ‘Lost Tribe’ of Reuben: France in Prophecy?)
    2. Judah – The nation now called Israel as well as the Jews not in that land but who were from the area near Jerusalem (Ezra 4:12; see also Location of Judah: This tribe is not ‘lost’)
    3. Simeon – Scattered throughout the tribes (Genesis 49:5)
    4. Levi – Scattered throughout the tribes (Genesis 49:5)
    5. Issachar – Finland (sits between Europe and Russia, Genesis 49:14)
    6. Zebulun – Netherlands (haven by the sea, Genesis 49:13) and a few in South Africa (see also Ten clues tying Zebulun with the Dutch)
    7. Gad – Switzerland (will apparently have to temporarily accept EU domination, Genesis 49:19; see also Could the Swiss be descended from Israel’s son Gad? Is Switzerland prepared for the coming collapse? )
    8. Dan – Denmark, Ireland (on the outskirts–Genesis 49:17; the tribe that named places “Dan”, Judges 18:12,29) (those in Northern Ireland mainly are descended from the Ephraim; see also ‘Ten Prophetic Clues Concerning Dan – the Irish’ Not part of the ‘144,000’)
    9. Asher – Belgium, Luxembourg (wealthy, Genesis 49:20; see also Ten clues tying Belgium and Luxembourg with the tribe of Asher)
    10. Naphtali – Sweden (attractively described, Genesis 49:21; see also Ten Prophetic Clues Concerning Naphtali – Sweden)
    11. Benjamin – Norway, Iceland (former vikings, cf. Genesis 49:27; see also Bert Otten on descendants of the tribe of Benjamin: Western Vikings)
    12. Ephraim – Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and probably some in South Africa and Zimbabwe (company of nations, Genesis 48:19; watch British are the Covenant People; also see and Bert Otten gives his reasons why the UK and USA descended from the Tribe of Joseph)
    13. Manasseh – United States of America (blessed nation, Genesis 48:19; see also Bert Otten gives his reasons why the UK and USA descended from the Tribe of Joseph)

These are the countries that contain the physical cities of Israel that Jesus apparently was referring to in Matthew 10:22-23. Countries like Sweden, Belgium Luxembourg, Norway, Switzerland, Finland, France, Denmark, Ireland, and Iceland seem to fit some of the positive statements in Genesis 49–but they will ultimately face tests and trials from the coming European Beast power (cf. Ezekiel 5:4; 39:23,28), as Ezekiel 5:4 seems to show that after the USA is eliminated, fire will spread to “all the house of Israel.” Some of the Israelite nations will temporarily support the Beast power (for writings related to Reuben, check out the article The ‘Lost Tribe’ of Reuben: France in Prophecy?).

Perhaps it should to be pointed out that several of the “Israelite nations’ are ethnically mixed (per Davidiy Y. The Tribes, 4th edition. Russell-David Publishers, 2011 and other sources) and it may take them some time for the actual Israelites to separate out. (Information on the ‘ten lost tribes’ is also in the YouTube sermon titled Where are the Ten Lost Tribes? Why does it matter?)

They probably are also where the 144,000 from Revelation will be chosen from (except Dan, which is missing from the list in Revelation 7:4-8; interestingly, many in the Roman Catholic Church tend to believe that the antichrist will be from the tribe of Dan). Back in the old Worldwide Church of God, some speculated that Denmark would leave the EU and not be part of the European Beast power. I am not particularly sure on that one way or the other, but do consider that it is a possibility (the viper and serpent comments in Genesis 49:17 suggest that it is different than others who might unify). Yet, the fact that the tribe of Dan is the only tribe not listed amongst the 144,000 in Revelation 7:4-8 makes me lean the other way at this instant–yet the fact that Denmark has not yet adopted the Euro (though its currency is directly linked to it) suggests a certain independence on the outskirts of the EU.

On the other hand, we of the Philadelphia remnant and the old WCG correctly taught:

The English-speaking nations will not prosper for long in connection with this system, however. In fact, they will ultimately be overpowered and destroyed by it militarily. Prior to military attack and occupation, devastating weather problems, combined with internal civil strife (“tumults in the midst” cf. Amos 3:9) will bring our nations to the point of internal collapse. (Ogywn J. The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy. Booklet, Charlotte (NC)).

Ephraim (modern Great Britain) will not be part of the “Beast” power, so we can expect some significant change that will push the British out of the EU. (Davis. D. Ireland says “No!” to EU power grab. Commentary, July, 1 2008)

Perhaps it should be mentioned that the general position within the Churches of God is that Britain will not remain in the EU and will pull out at some point. (Thiel B. Tony Blair a Catholic EU Leader? Church of God News, June 26, 2007. http://www.cogwriter.com/news/prophecy/tony-blair-a-catholic-eu-leader/)

It should be understood that ultimately, Britain will NOT thrive as part of the EU but will be taken over by the final European Beast power–yet its former Prime Minister is promoting something that will not help the peoples of the UK. (Thiel B. Tony Blair Calls for a Strong, Elected, EU President Church of God News, June 9, 2007. http://www.cogwriter.com/news/prophecy/tony-blair-calls-for-a-strong-elected-eu-president/)

Here is Britain trying to GET IN on this uniting of Europe! … It is this same daughter of ancient Babylon who is to lay the YOKE of captivity and slavery on America and Britain. … Britain is allowing itself to get mixed in with European foreigners… When God brings Britain DOWN-the time of JACOBS’ S TROUBLE -the only time when the DAUGHTER of Babylon will be sitting astride a united MILITARY EUROPE. (Armstrong HW. BRITAIN’S DOOM Prophesied for Common Market Seeking Membership! Plain Truth, July 1962)

Bible prophecy clearly shows that Britain will not be one of the … NATIONS comprising the final United States of Europe (McNair R. A Strong United Europe. Tomorrow’s World, February 1970, p. 17).

On June 23, 2016, voters in the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union and is now no longer part of it (see UK votes YES to leave the European Union–What is now prophesied to happen? and/or watch Post Brexit Prophecy).

Back in the early 1990s, when I was vice president of an irrigation equipment manufacturer, I told our British sales representative, who was visiting the factory in California, that one day the UK would separate from Europe. He flat out told me that could not possibly happen. And he gave reasons, but they were not biblical ones–I told him he was in error. The Brexit vote shows that he, who was not part of the Church of God, was in error. And the fact of “Brexit” has proved that and it is consistent with our understanding of biblical prophecies and the identity of the British and American peoples.

Notice also something that was in my article Must the Ten Kings of Revelation 17:12 Rule over Ten Currently Existing Nations?) two years BEFORE the Brexit vote:

While I do expect violent unrest in Europe, and some losses to Europe including the United Kingdom, this does not mean that the final beast power will have to be restricted to 10-11 existing nations.

Those of us in the Continuing Church of God were right about this.

Ultimately a European power will take the UK over (see Europa, the Beast, and Revelation).

Anyway, there are prophetic ramifications of Genesis 49 that the Temple Institute overlooked.

Hopefully, you understand that when Genesis 49:2 specifically mentions the last days, that what was being said in Genesis 49 has ramifications for us in the 21st century.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, English, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Saxon (non-Dutch) Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? What will happen to Jerusalem and the Jews in Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo-Saxon nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first? Here is a link to the Spanish version of this article: Anglo-América & las Tribus Perdidas de Israel. Information is also in the YouTube sermons titled Where are the Ten Lost Tribes? Why does it matter? and British are the Covenant People. A short YouTube of prophetic interest may be: Are Chinese threats against Australia for real?
Will the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic Nations be Divided and Have People Taken as Slaves? Will the lands of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand be divided? What about Jerusalem? What does Bible prophecy teach? Are there non-biblical prophecies that support this idea? Who will divide those lands? Who will end up with the lands and the people? Here is a link to a video titled Will the USA and other Anglo-nations be Divided and Their People Made Slaves? Here is a related item in the Spanish language ¿Serán divididas las naciones anglosajonas?
British are the Covenant People What do ‘British’ and ‘Britain’ mean in Hebrew? Are the descendants of the Anglo-Saxons people of the covenant? Does the British royal family connect to the throne of David? What does the Bible teach? What does history show us? Is there any DNA evidence related to British-Israelism? When did Christianity make it to the British Isles? Could Jeremiah have made it to the British Isles? What type of Christians made it to the British Isles? Did the last King of England believe in British Israelism?
Canada in Prophecy: What Does Bible Prophecy, Catholic Prophecy, and other Predictions Suggest About the Future of Canada? There are prophecies that suggest involvement with Canada. And many are not positive about its future. A sermon of related interest is also available: Canada in Prophecy.
Australia and New Zealand in Prophecy Do biblical prophecies help explain the wealth blessings for Australia and New Zealand? Might cursings from disobedience come in the 21st century? Here is a link to a related sermon: Australia and New Zealand: Origins and Prophecy.
The ‘Lost Tribe’ of Reuben: France in Prophecy? What is the origin of this in France? What is prophesied to happen to them? A two-part sermon related to history and prophecy is available online: The ‘Lost Tribe’ of Reuben and France and Prophecy.
Ten clues tying Belgium and Luxembourg with the tribe of Asher Who did some in Belgium and Luxembourg descend from?
Ten clues tying Zebulun with the Dutch Who did some in the Netherlands descend from?
Ten Prophetic Clues Concerning Naphtali – Sweden Do the Swedes have any ties to the biblical tribe of Naphtali? Some think so
‘Ten Prophetic Clues Concerning Dan – the Irish’ Not part of the ‘144,000’ Could the Irish and Danes have descent from the tribe of Dan?
Could Switzerland by descended from Gad? Is it really prepared for what is prophecied? This article has clues.
Were the Ancient Tribes of Israel Black? Was Jesus Black? Some claim this is so. But what do the Bible and ancient artifacts show? Here is a link to a related sermon video: Were Ancient Hebrews Black? What About Jesus?
God’s Grace is For All Is being Jewish a hindrance to salvation? What about not being a descendant of Israel? What does the Bible really teach? Here is a link to a related sermon titled Race and Grace; Do you view race as God does?
Must the Ten Kings of Revelation 17:12 Rule over Ten Currently Existing Nations? Some claim that these passages refer to a gathering of 10 currently existing nations together, while one group teaches that this is referring to 11 nations getting together. Is that what Revelation 17:12-13 refers to? The ramifications of misunderstanding this are enormous. A related sermon is titled Ten Kings of Revelation and the Great Tribulation.

Politico: 5 pandemic predictions for 2022

Friday, December 17th, 2021


(Picture from Pixabay)

COGwriter

Last night, Politico posted the following:

5 pandemic predictions for 2022

December 16, 2021 8:00 pm

WE ARE NOT THERE YET — As we enter the third year of the pandemic, my mind keeps flashing back to a trailer I saw last year for a widely panned Michael Bay movie, which portrays an unlikely dystopian pandemic future, but captures the feeling of helplessness and despair that so many — even those of us lucky enough to have access to vaccines and the privilege to social distance — feel right now with the country on the brink of an Omicron surge.  …

Here are five predictions for 2022:

The U.S. will hit one million deaths in the spring.

Earlier this week the country hit 800,000 Covid deaths and is still recording about 1,300 deaths a day. Even if the Omicron death rate is lower, the overall infection rate will likely be higher, leading to another surge in deaths, said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. …

We will run out of room on our vaccination cards.

The mRNA vaccines are proving to be not as long lasting as we had hoped, said Hotez, who is working on a low-cost recombinant protein vaccine.

Even three doses may not be enough. “We haven’t hit the ceiling yet of how high we can get an immune response,” said Kirsten Lyke, a vaccine researcher at the University of Maryland School of Medicine who has been studying Covid shots. …

We will be talking about an Omega variant.

“We will go through the whole Greek alphabet,” said Syra Madad, an infectious disease epidemiologist and senior director of the system-wide special pathogens program at NYC Health + Hospitals. We may not hit the Greek alphabet’s last letter in 2022, but it won’t be a distant possibility. …

Governors have largely abandoned blunt Covid mitigation measures that they relied on early in the pandemic. Those measures, like keeping kids out of school and closing businesses, came with huge social and economic costs.

Instead, 2022 will bring new advancements in Covid therapeutics that won’t stop the spread or bend the curve, but could help cut infection mortality rates. …

There will (hopefully) be a new normal.

If 2020 caught us by surprise, 2021 plunged us into either ignorance or despair. Some people ignored the virus completely. But others tried to live Covid-safe lives and failed. … Broadway reopened and canceled shows. Many major companies scrapped return-to-office plans more than once.

2022 will hopefully be the year where people and policymakers get realistic and figure out how to live with endemic Covid.

“We are not back to square one,” Madad said. “Pandemics do end.” https://www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-nightly/2021/12/16/5-pandemic-predictions-for-2022-495483

Let’s look at each of the five predictions posted by the secular news source called Politico:

  1. Yes, it is likely that the USA will attribute a million deaths to COVID in 2022.
  2. If the government and pharmaceutical industry have their way, some in the USA will have filled out the lines on their CDC COVID vaccination card.
  3. Yes, there will be more variants. Related to Omicron, see also ‘How omicron is changing the rules of the covid-19 pandemic’.
  4. Since the US government is highly influenced by medical and pharmaceutical interests, plus the fact that the ‘vaccines’ have not stopped COVID, unnatural drugs will get more attention.
  5. The “new normal” has resulted in increased debt in the USA and increased totalitarian steps around the world. Even if some are temporarily lifted, governments now have a precedent to re implement them–as well as make rules and controls more restrictive. And while pandemics do end, more are coming.

As far as a “new normal” goes, the Continuing Church of God (CCOG) put out the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:

14:58

In the past couple of years, the USA has changed and looks to never be the same as a result. Michael Snyder noted, “If you would have told someone two years ago that in 2021 millions of people would run around wearing masks all day and that the federal government would be relentlessly pushing a large scale mass injection campaign, that person probably would have thought that you were nuts. But now this is the “new normal”. Our freedoms and liberties have been permanently eroded.” Should multi-trillion dollar debt increases be considered normal? What about the warning in Habakkuk 2? What about ‘Pride Flags’? What about the LGBTQ+ agenda? Are we declaring our sins as Sodom? What about the dangers of the so-called ‘Equality Act’ which will strip religious freedoms? What about the increased generational acceptance of abortion and sexually immorality? Are there prophecies in the Old and New Testaments that warn against much of what more people in the government and media promote as the ‘new normal’? Could the end of America happen within the next decade? What should Christians do? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more.

Here is a link to our video: The Unbiblical ‘New Normal’.

Beyond that, expect more division in places like the USA as part of its “new normal.” That will not end well as Jesus said:

17 … Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls. (Luke 11:17)

As for as pandemic predictions go, Jesus predicted pestilences:

7 … And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:7-8)

So, yes, more diseases are coming.

Furthermore, Book of Revelation warns:

7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” 8 So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it 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)

The ride of the fourth horseman will result in the death of 1/4 of humanity!

That is much worse than what we now expect for COVID-19–but the amount of deaths attributed to the ride of the 4th horseman are NOT expected in 2022.

In this time of COVID, remember that the Bible teaches:

2 Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good (Isaiah 55:2).

So consider ten ‘common-sense’ items for Christians to consider:

  1. People should decrease their consumption of junk food in accordance with Isaiah 55:2..
  2. If you are overweight you should strive to get to a healthier weight—the Bible condemns obesity in Deuteronomy 32:15.
  3. Exercise is beneficial for the immune system and the Bible teaches ‘bodily exercise profits a little’  in 1 Timothy 4:8.
  4. Avoiding smoking and polluted air.
  5. The official US government position is that people should eat two or more servings of fruit and three or more servings of vegetable daily. High vitamin C fruits (like citrus and berries) and vegetables (like tomatoes and bell peppers) can help as vitamin C is proven to bolster the immune system and help protect tissues (like lungs). Many  fruits and vegetables also supply betacarotene, which also supports the immune system.
  6. Zinc is good for the immune system. Various foods, like pumpkin seeds, contain zinc.
  7. Selenium may also be helpful. Eating a couple of Brazil nuts per week can supply adequate amounts of selenium.
  8. Sunlight helps convert cholesterol into vitamin D and vitamin D looks to be helpful for the immune system Even the CDC’s Dr. Fauci has admitted that vitamins D and C can be helpful.
  9. People should avoid consuming meats that the Bible says they should not eat  in the 11th chapter of Leviticus and 14th chapter of Deuteronomy.
  10. Christians should pray for the Kingdom of God as Jesus taught Matthew 6:10 and not live in fear as Jesus taught in Luke 12:32.

As far as predictions from a religious perspective about the end possibly coming in 2022 or 2023, check out the following:

23:12

Much is happening around the world today. Is the Great Tribulation about to begin? Various ones have pointed to it starting in 2022 or 2023–and stated that they got 2022 from the Holy Spirit. What about centuries old predictions supposedly pointing to 2022 by Nostradamus and Paracelsus? Some Muslims have pointed to Jesus returning in 2022 or 2023. Is that possible? Should you rely on Jonathan Cahn’s views of the ‘Shemitah year’ to understand prophecy? What about the ‘Super Shemitah’ (also known as the Jubliee year)? Are there still signs that Jesus and Daniel pointed to that we need to see first? If so, what do they include? What is the earliest year that the Great Tribulation can begin according to scripture? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more.

Here is a link to the video: Can the Great Tribulation start in 2022 or 2023?

As far as Politico goes, it has some ideas right about 2022, but at it does not come from a biblical perspective, its hope for a “new normal” will not last long, even if it comes.

But for Christians, it is the new normal of God’s kingdom we are looking towards.

UPDATE 12/19/21: We just uploaded the following related video:

10:05

Politico’s 5 pandemic predictions for 2022

The secular news source, Politico, ran an article listing 5 predictions related to the COVID pandemic for 2022. This video provides quotes from that article as well as commentary on each of the five. The Omicron variant and death counts are discussed. Furthermore, ten items for Christians to consider during the pandemic are given. Is the ‘new normal’ going to be dystopian, at least for a time? Did Dr. Fauci make any endorsement of vitamin C and vitamin D? Dr. Thiel goes over these matters in this video.

Here is a link to our video: Politico’s 5 pandemic predictions for 2022.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse What is the pale horse of death and pestilences? What will it bring and when? Here is a link to a related sermon: Fourth Horseman, COVID, and the Rise of the Beast of Revelation. Some shorter related videos may include Amphibian Apocalypse: Threat to Humans? and Zombie Deer Disease is Here! Are the 10 Plagues on Egypt Coming? Here is a version of the article in Spanish: El cuarto jinete de Apocalipsis, el caballo pálido de muerte y pestilencia.
COVID 19 is NOT the End, but could it be TEOTWAWKI? The novel coronavirus called COVID-19 is wreaking havoc around the world. Many states of the USA as well as countries in Europe are on lockdown with shelter in place /shelter in residence requirements. In France, a form is required when you are not at your house. In Spain, drones are being used to warn people who are outside to got back to their homes–does that bring up feelings of ‘Big Brother’? Italy, France, and other areas are using police and/or military force to encourage people to stay inside. According to the Bible could this be the end? If not, what has to happen first? Have the second and third of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse started their ride? Could COVID-19 be the fourth horseman? Why or why not? Could we be seeing The End of the World as We Know It (TEOTWAWKI) like the R.E.M.’s 1987 single song discussed? Do Christians need to fear? What did Jesus teach? What did the Psalmist teach? This is a video. Here is a link to a version in the Spanish language: Corona 19 no es el final PERO es el TEOTWAWKI.
COVID-19 Leading to 666? The novel coronavirus of Wuhan, China fame, is now called COVID-19. It has also been called the ‘Coronapocalypse.’ Does COVID-19 have any prophetic ramifications? What did Jesus teach about pestilences and sorrows in the Olivet prophecy in Matthew 24? Could COVID-19 be the ride of the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse? Why was this type of disease expected according to the O. Here is a link to a version in the Spanish language: ld Testament prophecies in Deuteronomy and Leviticus? What has the US Centers for Disease Control warned about? What has the CDC reported about the flu? Were there lessons about fear and infections in the 2011 movie ‘Contagion’? Because of COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO), nation of Iran, and certain French locations are telling people not to use cash, but instead electronic forms of payment. The US Federal Reserve is now quarantining money repatriated from Asia to reduce the potential spread of the coronavirus on US currency bills. Is COVID-19 worse than we have been told or could this all be a ‘false flag’ event to encourage people to move towards a cashless society? If the thousands of deaths associated with COVID-19 are pushing parts of the world towards cashlessness, how much more likely will the ride of the fourth horseman and over a billion human deaths motivate people to move to making electronic payments that can be monitored? The Bible tells of a soon coming society that controls buying and selling to force allegiance to a coming European Beast power, known as 666 (Revelation 13:16-18). Does the ‘great tribulation’ begin before ride of the fourth horseman or with the opening of the fifth seal of Revelation 6? Do the words of Jesus helps us better understand the sequence of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse and the start of the Great Tribulation? Will the ride of the fourth horseman help lead to the rise of 666? Is that ride very close? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more in this video. Here is a link to a version in the Spanish language: El COVID-19 ¿Conduce al 666?

Europa, the Beast, and the Book of Revelation discusses the largest church since the second/third century, which in a real sense is the eighth church mentioned in the Book of Revelation (it also endorses “eighth day” worship). What church would support the Beast? Here is a link to a video titled: Europe and the ‘Holy Roman Empire’.
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? Does God have 7,000 year plan? What year may the six thousand years of human rule end? When will Jesus return? 2029 or or 2031 or 20xx? There is also a video titled 6000 Years: When will God’s Kingdom Come? Here is a link to the article in Spanish: ¿Tiene Dios un plan de 6,000 años?
Might the U.S.A. Be Gone by 2028? Could the USA be gone by the end of 2028 or earlier? There is a tradition attributed to the Hebrew prophet Elijah that humanity had 6,000 years to live before being replaced by God’s Kingdom. There are scriptures, writings in the Talmud, early Christian teachings that support this. Also, even certain Hindu writings support it. Here is a link to a related video: Is the USA prophesied to be destroyed by 2028? In Spanish: Seran los Estados Unidos Destruidos en el 2028?
The Great Tribulation: What Happens First? What events have happened? What are some events that are now happening? And what events need to happen for the Great Tribulation to start? Here is a link to a related sermon video: Counting Down to the Great Tribulation. Here is a video in the Spanish language: Contando los eventos y el inicio de la Gran Tribulación.
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2022, 2023, or 2024? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: ¿Puede la Gran Tribulación comenzar en el 2020 o 2021? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? A related video is: Great Tribulation: 2026 or 2027? A shorter video is: Can the Great Tribulation start in 2022 or 2023? Here is a video in the Spanish language: Es El 2021 el año  de La Gran Tribulación o el Grande Reseteo Financiero.

CGOM says many supposed Christians believe things are in the Bible that are not

Friday, December 17th, 2021

COGwriter

A while back, a newsletter associated with Church of God Outreach Ministries had the following:

It’s not in the Book!

You turn up for an event—only to find it has been cancelled. You plan a picnic—and it pours. You look forward to a big night out—and go down with ‘flu. We are used to such disappointments—that’s life!

Then you get curious about some of your beliefs only to find they don’t fit the facts. The moon isn’t green cheese. The earth isn’t flat. Matter isn’t solid and can be in two places at once. And—you can’t find your long-held Christian beliefs in Christianity’s source Book—the Bible. Now that could present some longterm issues.

Let’s look at some misunderstandings. …

Sunday Observance
Sorry—not in the Book. The Book teaches observance of the seventh day, Saturday. It took more than three centuries for the pagan Sunday observance to supersede the day kept by Jesus, the apostles and the early church, with just a minority continuing to observe the seventh day. Millions of Christians now observe it. worldwide.

Christmas/Easter
Puzzling that neither gets a mention. Except for a brief reference in the Old Testament where God strongly condemns them, and some veiled warning references by the apostle Peter. But with clear evidence that God appointed festivals were and should still be observed.

Immortal soul
Not there. That’s the lie Satan taught to Adam and Eve: ‘…you shall surely not die’. God only is immortal. Those in whom resides God’s immortal Spirit will put on immortality at the first resurrection at the return of Christ.

Heaven
No—the saved do not go there. They remain in God’s care (as inert spirits) until Jesus returns, when they reign with him firmly on Earth. In the end, the Father comes from heaven to reside on Earth.

Law
No—it’s not ‘done away’. Jesus makes clear in the Scriptures that God’s Law undergirds all Christian behaviour. When the Father draws us to Jesus we are to set aside our law-breaking (‘repentance’) and are baptized by immersion as a symbol of our becoming a ‘new creature’ in Christ.

It is to God’s Word, the Christian Bible, all of it, that we must look for the authentic teaching of Jesus. He warned that many would pervert his message and urged us to be constantly on our guard for false teachings—and teachers!

Let me also state that not only are many doctrines that people think are Christian not in the Bible, they were not observed by Jesus’ early followers either. Furthermore, many of those teachings that many now accept were condemned by early professors of Christ.

For scriptural and historical proof, check out the following documented articles and videos:

Sunday and Christianity Was Sunday observed by the apostolic and true post-apostolic Christians? Who clearly endorsed Sunday? What relevance is the first or the “eighth” day? A related sermon is also available: Sunday: First and Eighth Day?
What Does the Roman Catholic Church Teach About Christmas and the Holy Days? Do you know what the Catholic Church says were the original Christian holy days? Was Christmas among them? Is December 25th Jesus’ birthday or that of the sun god? Here is a link to a related sermon: What do Catholic and other scholars teach about Christmas?
Did Early Christians Celebrate Easter? If not, when did this happen? Where did Easter come from? What do scholars and the Bible reveal? Here is a link to a video titled Why Easter?
Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church. Did the original “catholic church” have doctrines held by the Continuing Church of God? Did Church of God leaders uses the term “catholic church” to ever describe the church they were part of? Here are links to related sermons: Original Catholic Church of God? , Original Catholic Doctrine: Creed, Liturgy, Baptism, Passover, and What Type of Catholic was Polycarp of Smyrna?, Tradition, Holy Days, Salvation, Dress, & Celibacy, and Early Heresies and Heretics, and Doctrines: 3 Days, Abortion, Ecumenism, Meats, Tithes, Crosses, Destiny, and more, and Saturday or Sunday?, The Godhead, Apostolic Laying on of Hands Succession, and Church in the Wilderness Apostolic Succession List.
Should You Observe God’s Holy Days or Demonic Holidays? This is a free pdf booklet explaining what the Bible and history shows about God’s Holy Days and popular holidays. A related sermon is Which Spring Days should Christians observe?
Did Early Christians Believe that Humans Possessed Immortality? What does John 3:16, and other writings, tell us? Did a doctrine kept adopted from paganism? Here is a YouTube video titled Are humans immortal?
Did Early Christians Teach They Were Going to Heaven? What do the Bible and scholars teach? What about ‘near-death experiences’? Here are links to a related sermons: Heaven and Christianity and It’s not heaven.
The Ten Commandments: The Decalogue, Christianity, and the Beast This is a free draft/unedited pdf book explaining the what the Ten Commandments are, where they came from, how early professors of Christ viewed them, and how various ones, including the Beast of Revelation, will oppose them. A related sermon is titled: The Ten Commandments and the Beast of Revelation.
Which Laws were Superceded? Which Remain? What about the Ten Commandments? What about the 613 regulations (called 613 Mitzvot) in the Old Testament? Which were ‘done away’?
Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God Differs from Protestantism The CCOG is NOT Protestant. This free online book explains how the real Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants. Several sermons related to the free book are also available: Protestant, Baptist, and CCOG History; The First Protestant, God’s Command, Grace, & Character; The New Testament, Martin Luther, and the Canon; Eucharist, Passover, and Easter; Views of Jews, Lost Tribes, Warfare, & Baptism; Scripture vs. Tradition, Sabbath vs. Sunday; Church Services, Sunday, Heaven, and God’s Plan; Seventh Day Baptists/Adventists/Messianics: Protestant or COG?; Millennial Kingdom of God and God’s Plan of Salvation; Crosses, Trees, Tithes, and Unclean Meats; The Godhead and the Trinity; Fleeing or Rapture?; and Ecumenism, Rome, and CCOG Differences.
Where is the True Christian Church Today? This free online pdf booklet answers that question and includes 18 proofs, clues, and signs to identify the true vs. false Christian church. Plus 7 proofs, clues, and signs to help identify Laodicean churches. A related sermon is also available: Where is the True Christian Church? Here is a link to the booklet in the Spanish language: ¿Dónde está la verdadera Iglesia cristiana de hoy? Here is a link in the German language: WO IST DIE WAHRE CHRISTLICHE KIRCHE HEUTE? Here is a link in the French language: Où est la vraie Église Chrétienne aujourd’hui?
Continuing History of the Church of God This pdf booklet is a historical overview of the true Church of God and some of its main opponents from Acts 2 to the 21st century. Related sermon links include Continuing History of the Church of God: c. 31 to c. 300 A.D. and Continuing History of the Church of God: 4th-16th Centuries and Continuing History of the Church of God: 17th-20th Centuries. The booklet is available in Spanish: Continuación de la Historia de la Iglesia de Dios, German: Kontinuierliche Geschichte der Kirche Gottes, French: L Histoire Continue de l Église de Dieu and Ekegusii Omogano Bw’ekanisa Ya Nyasae Egendererete.

Raymond McNair: You Need To Know Why – Fiery Trials are Necessary

Thursday, December 16th, 2021

COGwriter

Many of God’s people are enduring severe and/or numerous trials and difficulties.

Here is something that the late Church of God evangelist Raymond McNair wrote about difficulties for Christians in the July 1967 edition of the old Good News magazine. and which was included in the CCOG Letter to the Brethren: December 16, 2021:

You Need To Know Why – Fiery Trials are Necessary

Throughout its history, God’s Church has experienced many persecutions and tribulations. God’s children often experience severe trials and tests! Why? Do you know why a LOVING Creator has decreed that all of His children must go through their share of fiery trials? Read, and understand this. Trials are a vital part in developing spiritual character.

MANY FAIL to realize that TRIALS are really BLESSINGS IN DISGUISE — unpleasant though they may be at the time! You, brethren, need to understand why our loving Father has ordained that all His children must experience a number of temptations, trials, persecutions and tribulations.

God Almighty has deliberately designed the begettal and birth of a child in this life to be a type — an exact picture — of the spiritual begettal and birth which the child of God must experience — before he can be born into His Family.

We were born into this world under terrific pressure! In childbirth, both mother and child usually experience much stress and strain, as well as a certain amount of physical pain.

This is an exact type of the spiritual birth.

Christ said:

“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

What are the very beginning steps toward salvation? (1) repentance (2) baptism and (3) the receiving of God’s precious Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). …

WE CAN ONLY BE BORN INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD UNDER STRESS AND STRAIN — UNDER PRESSURE!

You need to understand why this is necessary, and also how God will permit us to be sorely tried at times!

King David, a man after God’s own heart, will have a very high position of rulership in the Kingdom of God. He will be king over all Israel (Ezek. 37:24; Hosea 3:5; Jer. 30:9). In order to qualify for this high position of responsibility and service in God’s Kingdom, David first had to suffer many trials, persecutions and afflictions. His life was, in fact, full of tribulations.

He understood that God’s people must experience many trials and tests in this life:

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivereth him out of them all” (Ps. 34:19).

David made some very serious mistakes in his life, and had to be afflicted by God to learn his lesson — the lesson that SIN NEVER PAYS! …

Did David know why God had afflicted him? Certainly! “Before l was afflicted, I went astray [I sinned]: but now have I kept thy word” (Ps. 113:67). He then freely confessed that God was righteous in punishing him: “It is GOOD for me that I have been AFFLICTED; that I might learn thy statutes” (Ps. 119:71).

Much Tribulation

The zealous apostle Paul also understood the absolute necessity of God’s people going through tribulation in this world — in order to purify them. He exhorted the disciples “to continue in the faith, and that we must through MUCH TRIBULATION enter into the Kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).

He solemnly warned the evangelist, Timothy: “Yea, and ALL that will live godly in Christ Jesus SHALL SUFFER PERSECUTION” (II Tim. 3:12).

Paul will certainly have a very high position in the Kingdom of God. The many temptations, trials, persecutions, tribulations and labours which he endured fully qualified him to receive a position of great responsibility.

Have you ever carefully noticed just how much this dynamic apostle suffered and endured for Christ’s sake?

“Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more: in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the cure of all the churches” (II Cor. 11:23-28).

In addition to these trials, Paul revealed that he had certain physical “infirmities” which Jesus Christ had refused to heal — in order to keep Paul humble — so he would look to Christ and glory in God, rather than in what he had done (II Cor. 12:1-9). Paul concluded:

“Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (II Cor. 12:10). …

The Fiery Trial

Did the Apostle Peter believe the life of a Christian would be an easy one? No! He revealed that the faith of the Christian must sometimes be sorely tried: “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in HEAVINESS through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith being much more precious than gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory it the appearing of Jesus Christ” (I Pet. 1:6-7).

This same apostle was also inspired to give the following warning: “Beloved, think it not strange concerning THE FIERY TRIAL which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy” (I Pet. 4:12-13).

Christ’s exemplary life — especially during the three-and-one-half years of His earthly ministry — was not a life of idleness and ease but a life filled with constant trials of every sort! He was continually opposed, persecuted, slandered, criticized, and was finally crucified by the very people whom He loved — loved so much that He was willing to die for them!

Yes, Christ knew what real tribulation was. “In the world ye shall have TRIBULATION” said Jesus, “but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

How does God try and test us? How does He learn what is really in our heart?

We have already seen that God sometimes afflicts us in order to humble us or teach us an important lesson (Ps. 119:71; II Cor. 12:7-10).

God Chastens Us in Love

Yes, God Almighty has to chasten all of His sons and daughters — just as we have to correct our children:

“And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth” (Heb. 12:5-6).

The apostle Paul then goes on to show that if we “endure chastening,” then God deals with us as with sons.

But if we will not receive this loving correction, then what does God call us? He bluntly calls us (spiritual) “bastards”! We are not really God’s sons at all but are merely pretending to be His sons.

Does Godly chastisement cause us to bear good fruit?

Notice why God chastens us.

“Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of RIGHTEOUSNESS unto them which are exercised thereby” (verse 11).

God has ordained that this life will not be an easy life — for a very good reason. He knows that, if we have no severe trials and tests, then we become spiritually soft and flabby!

A comfortable mm is a complacent man. A comfortable man doesn’t want to change — doesn’t want to alter the status quo! Why should he? He is quite happy to let things continue as they are. Why change — when everything seems to be going along so very smoothly?

God Almighty knows that we need problems, temptations, trials, necessities, weaknesses, persecutions and afflictions to stir us to action — to stir us up enough to overcome cur spiritual lethargy!

God promises a special blessing on those who steadfastly resist and overcome temptations: “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him” (James 1:12).

How We Are Tried

What are some of the main ways by which we are afflicted? Ways by which we are caused to go on our knees to God in heartrending prayer? What are some of the trials which cause us to really cry out to God (as unto a merciful and loving Father) for help and strength to overcome our trials and tribulations?

PERSECUTION is one of the main ways by which God’s people are drawn closer to Him.

PHYSICAL NECESSITIES often cause God’s people to have to go to Him in prayer. When we don’t have the necessities of life (food, clothing, shelter) we are often brought to our knees before our heavenly Father.

WEAKNESSES, PHYSICAL INFIRMITIES AND SICKNESS are often the means by which God brings us back into line. When we are told that we may remain an invalid for the rest of our lives, or when we know that we may actually die of an incurable disease (unless God miraculously heals us!) then this brings us to our sober senses. Such a shock often causes us to get down on our knees in heartfelt prayer, beseeching our merciful God for mercy — for health and healing (II Kings 20:1-7).

OVERPOWERING TEMPTATIONS are often the means by which we are brought to the realization of how weak and wretched our human nature is. Through strong and persistent temptations (fears, worries and anxieties; lust and covetousness; hatred and malice; envy and jealousies) we are often sent to the throne of grace for additional strength to overcome our wretched nature (Rom. 7:14-25).

Has God solemnly promised to deliver us from all of our temptations — if we will only rely upon Him?

“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not stiffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (I Cor. 10:13).

When we really repent of our sins and turn from them, accepting the blood of Christ as the means by which our transgressions will be washed away, then we are assured by God that sin will no longer rule over us — will no longer dominate our lives.

God promises: “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the [death penalty of the) law, but under grace [pardon)” (Rom. 6:14). Once we are forgiven our sins, God has solemnly promised that sin will no longer reign over us — will not control our lives!

A true Christian must continually suffer trials, tribulations, persecutions, pressures, hardships and temptations of every sort. But God will not let them overcome or defeat us as long as we steadfastly look to Him for complete deliverance:

“For He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” (Heb. 13:5-6).

Is it God’s will that His children be kept under a certain amount of pressure? He knows that we need to have continual trials, tribulations and persecutions in order to toughen us up spiritually — in order to show us how weak and helpless we are so that we will always look to Him and rely on Him for everything!

Pressure is Essential

There are several analogies in the Bible — analogies which clearly show us why God permits us to have trials arid tribulations.

The Christian is compared to precious metals — gold or silver — which has to be put into a fiery furnace in order to burn away the dross and impurities. Also, gold and silver must become molten before it can be poured into a mould. This is true with the Christian. We must at least be heated red hot in order to be malleable enough to be able to be easily bent and shaped by the hands of our faithful Creator (see I Pet. 1:7; 4:12; I Cor. 3:12).

The Bible compares the saints to precious jewels or precious stones (Mal. 3:17). Again, it is interesting to note that diamonds, rubies and other precious jewels can only be made under terrific heat and pressure!

So it is with us. We must be subjected to the tremendous heat of our fiery trials and to the constant pressure of temptation, persecution and tribulation — in order to become a precious jewel in the sight of God!

God even compares His people to common clay in the hands of the Master Potter: “But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand” (Isa. 64:8).

God would like to see us prosper and be in health (III John 2) ; hut He will even deny us these blessings if He knows that we need to suffer deprivation, affliction or persecution — in order to cause us to really look to Him as our Provider and our Deliverer from all our trials.

Jesus Christ will reject anyone who remains in a lukewarm condition (Rev. 3:15-16)! He doesn’t want to see us become spiritually drowsy — insensitive to our Creator’s wishes. God doesn’t want us to be spiritual drones.

Spiritual Exercise Is Vital

God Almighty knows that it is only through the constant spiritual exercise of problems, trials, tests, persecutions, temptations and tribulations that we develop real spiritual sinews and strength. If one doesn’t actually tire himself with a certain amount of strenuous daily exercise he can’t develop his body to its optimum and remain in the best physical health.

So it is spiritually. If we don’t daily exercise our spiritual faculties by overcoming and solving our spiritual problems, trials and hardships — then we will not remain in very good spiritual shape. We will then become spiritually weak and flabby. God doesn’t want this to happen!

Yes, brethren, whether we like it or not, this is the type of life our loving Father has ordained that we must lead. It is only those who constantly overcome who will make it into the Kingdom of God (Rev. 2, 3). Only those who exert themselves enough to hang on for dear life — to endure unto the very end — will be saved (Mat. 24:13).

“But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”

We came into this world under terrific stress and strain — under pressure and anguish — and we will not be born into the Kingdom of God unless and until we have proven that we can withstand the pressures and strains of the everyday trials, tribulations, persecutions and temptations of this world.

“If Any Man Draw Back”

But, regretfully, some prefer to give up and quit — to turn back! What does God think of these quitters?

If we wilfully, deliberately sin against God, we will never receive forgiveness (Heb. 10:25-31).

“Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man DRAW BACK, my soul shall have no pleasure in him” (Heb. 10:38).

Yes, some are not willing to really fight, to endure, to labour, struggle and strive in order to make it into the Kingdom of God. Christ showed that we must really strain if we wish to make it into His Kingdom.

“STRIVE [struggle and strain] to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able” (Luke 13:24).

Furthermore, Christ revealed that it is only those who are so fervent in their desire to make it into God’s Kingdom that they are willing to be “violent” with themselves — who actually make it (Mat. 11:12),

Trouble Is Certain, But…

The truth of the matter is that we are going to have trials and tribulations — whether we obey God or not. Job declared:

“Man is born unto TROUBLE, as the sparks fly upward’ (Job 5:7).

Yes, we will have troubles whether or not we obey God. But if we obey Him, He will give us the needed wisdom and strength to overcome all our trials and temptations (I Cor. 10:13).

Hardships, trials and persecutions are certain to befall all who live an upright, godly life. But these tribulations are all designed by a loving Creator to teach us to go to God daily — completely trusting in Him for our every need, including deliverance from all our sore trials.

God declares:

“If thou faint in the day of adversity [hardship], thy strength is small” (Prov. 24:10).

An all wise, loving Creator God has deliberately designed life in such a way as to include many trials and afflictions. The Almighty even goes out of His way to rebuke and chasten us — in love — so as to keep us on the straight and narrow path.

Knowing this, should we not earnestly desire God’s correction? You need to learn to desire — and even PRAY daily for chastisement from the hand of God!

“Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty” (Job 5:17).

Don’t ever forget that God corrects us for our good — because He loves us and longs to share with us the eternal inheritance of co-ownership and co-rulership of the whole Universe.

Can you now clearly see how trials, temptations, pressures and hardships have been put here as a blessing in disguise? These tribulations assist us in building the kind of perfect, godly character that we need to possess throughout all eternity.

Thank God for the blessing of these trials! It is through them that we develop godly character!

A minister who was assigned to three areas in which I lived used to teach that a diamond is a dirty hunk of coal that only developed because of pressure.

Notice also the following:

11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:11)

Enduring trials, frustrations, and difficulties is not easy–but we need to do so in order to be the best that we can be in the coming Kingdom of God.

Some additional items of possibly related interest may include the following:

The MYSTERY of GOD’s PLAN: Why Did God Create Anything? Why Did God Make You? This free online book helps answers some of the biggest questions that human have, including the biblical meaning of life, and why there is suffering. Here is a link to three related sermons: Mysteries of God’s Plan, Mysteries of Truth, Sin, Rest, Suffering, and God’s Plan, Mystery of Race, and The Mystery of YOU.
Why Does Man Suffer? Herbert Armstrong gives biblical reasons on this topic. I also wrote and added a section titled Suffering Has a Future Purpose.
Why Does God Allow Suffering? This is a pdf booklet put out by the old Worldwide Church of God that also answers questions about why God allows war as well as babies to die. Here is a link to a sermon titled Why YOU? Why Do YOU Suffer?
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. Here are links to four related sermons:  The Fantastic Gospel of the Kingdom of God!, The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.

‘How omicron is changing the rules of the covid-19 pandemic’

Thursday, December 16th, 2021

SARS-CoV-2 Variants (Soupvector)

COGwriter

Greenwich Time posted the following:

How omicron is changing the rules of the covid-19 pandemic

December 16, 2021

The pandemic playbook is, once again, being torn up. In the course of just a few weeks, the omicron variant has upended recent calculations made about covid-19, prompting a return to travel restrictions and calls to stay home, as well as a new push for booster shots and a reevaluation of tactics such as vaccine passports.

The change is most acute now in Britain, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plans for a normal Christmas have been upended, once again, by a fast-moving variant. On Wednesday, a top U.K. health official told parliament that omicron was “probably the most significant threat we’ve had since the start of the pandemic.” Similar scenarios could soon be playing out across the world.

Rich, vaccine-abundant nations that had once hoped the pandemic was over are now recalculating. Some worry they are overreacting. Speaking to Britain’s Sky News this week, the head of South Africa’s Medical Association warned that Britain created “hysteria” by overreacting to the threat of the variant.

“You need to take precautionary measures, you have to be prepared but don’t hype it up,” Angelique Coetzee said on Tuesday.

Others have even argued that the spread of omicron could signal the final days of the coronavirus outbreak, pointing to some signs that the variant may produce less serious illness than the current globally dominant variant, delta. https://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/How-omicron-is-changing-the-rules-of-the-covid-19-16706358.php

The State of California imposed new COVID rules, partially, supposedly, because of Omicron:

December 16, 2021

Workplace regulators are poised on Thursday to extend California’s coronavirus pandemic regulations into next year with some revisions that business groups say could worsen the labor shortage.

The main change to the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board’s revised temporary rule is that it would erase current distinctions between vaccinated and unvaccinated employees.

Both would be barred from the workplace if they come in close contact with someone with the virus.

The revised temporary rules would require that exposed, vaccinated but asymptomatic workers stay home for 14 days even if they test negative or, if they return to work, wear masks and stay 6 feet (1.8 meters) from anyone else during those two weeks.

“Treating vaccinated and unvaccinated people similarly really denies the scientific value of the vaccine and disincentivizes vaccination,” said Rob Moutrie, a policy advocate at the California Chamber of Commerce.

The board’s consideration comes a day after California reinstituted requiring both vaccinated and unvaccinated people to wear masks indoors in a bid to slow the spread of the virus, including the omicron variant, as families and friends gather during the holidays and new coronavirus cases increase. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-california-rules-end-distinction-vaccinated-workers-rcna8971

Notice also:

December 16, 2021

LONDON (AP) — Spiraling infections in Britain driven in part by the new omicron variant of the coronavirus rattled many in Europe on Thursday, fueling a familiar dread that tighter restrictions will scuttle holiday plans again this year.

Much remains unknown about omicron, but increasingly officials are warning that at the very least it appears more transmissible than the delta variant, which was already putting pressure on hospitals from the United States to the Netherlands …

Globally, more than 75 countries have reported confirmed cases of the new variant. In Britain, where omicron cases are doubling every two to three days, the variant is expected to soon replace delta as the dominant strain in the country. Authorities in the 27-nation European Union say omicron will be the dominant variant in the bloc by mid-January.

In addition to hints that it’s more contagious, early data suggest omicron may be milder but better at evading vaccines …

Also, even if omicron proves milder on the whole than delta, it may disarm some of the lifesaving tools available and put immune-compromised and elderly people at particular risk. And if it’s more transmissible, more infections overall raise the risk of more serious ones.

While experts gather more data, some governments rushed to act, while others sought to calm fears that the new variant would land countries back on square one. …

The Netherlands, meanwhile, has been in a partial lockdown since November to curb a delta-driven surge and while infection numbers are declining now the government this week ordered elementary schools to close for Christmas a week early amid fears omicron will fuel a new rise. Authorities also sped up a vaccination booster campaign as caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte cited Britain as an example of how swiftly the variant can spread.

EU leaders gathering in Brussels for a summit Thursday sought to balance tackling the surge of infections across the continent while keeping borders open with common policies throughout the bloc.

“Let’s try to maintain the European solution,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said. “If every country goes it alone again we’ll be even further from home.”

But ahead of the meeting, European nations already were acting to rein in the spread of the virus. Greece and Italy tightened entry requirements for travelers earlier this week, and Portugal decided to keep stricter border controls in place beyond their planned Jan. 9 end.

On Thursday, France said it will slap restrictions on travelers arriving from the U.K. — which is no longer part of the EU — putting limits on reasons for traveling and requiring 48-hour isolation upon arrival. The new measures will take effect first thing Saturday.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex said the measures are being imposed “in the face of the extremely rapid spread of the omicron variant in the U.K.”

The abrupt move comes after weeks of political tensions between France and Britain over fishing rights and how to deal with migration in dangerous small boats across the English Channel. https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-lifestyle-health-travel-business-9eb16609e108037b165f71059aa2face

December 16, 2021

A new study says that while the COVID-19 omicron variant infects the human body 70 times faster than previous coronavirus strains, the infections appear to be less severe.

Researchers from the University of Hong Kong’s LKS Faculty of Medicine found that after 24 hours of infection, the omicron variant multiplied in the human bronchus 70 times faster than the delta variant and original coronavirus strain.

They also discovered that omicron infection in the lungs was “significantly lower” than the initial COVID-19 strain, “which may be an indicator of lower disease severity,” according to a statement from the university. https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/586074-omicon-infects-70-times-faster-than-previous-covid-strains-study

Basically, while the science is far from settled, it appears that the Omicron variant spreads faster than other COVD variants, but, overall, is less harmful.

It seems that the Omicron variant could combine with some other COVID variant and spread quickly and be significantly deadly. Or perhaps Omicron could combine with some other corona or other virus.

This is not really far-fetched:

December 15, 2021

Moderna’s chief medical officer has warned that the Delta and Omicron variants of COVID-19 could combine to create a ‘monster’ virus.

Here we go again.

Paul Burton made the comments while addressing the House of Commons Technologies and Science Committee members on Tuesday.

Burton claimed that it was possible for someone to contract both variants at the same time, which “certainly gives an opportunity for the two viruses to, what we call, recombinate,” meaning they could begin to “share genes and to swap genes over.”

This could “certainly” lead to worse COVID-19 symptoms than usual, according to Burton, who added that “it is really important to think about it” given the rapid spread of Omicron.

Aleksandr Semyonov, head of Russia’s Vector virology research center, said that although it would be a “rather rare phenomenon,” a potential Delta-Omicron combination is still possible. https://summit.news/2021/12/15/moderna-chief-warns-delta-and-omicron-could-combine-to-create-monster-virus/

The fact that Omicron is believed to spread so much faster gets me to wonder if some aspect of this variant will be found in the coming pestilence prophesied to be associated with the rise of the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse.


Vasnetsov’s 1884 impression of the Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse

7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” 8 So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it 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)

The ride of the fourth horseman will result in the death of 1/4 of humanity–with much of that from disease!

That is much worse than what we now expect for COVID-19.

What will then happen a few years from now?

The Bible shows that the coming European King of the North beast will gain power after a time of death and pestilence.

While COVID-19, itself, is not that, it is setting the stage for people to turn to such a leader.

Related to that, the Continuing Church of God is put out the following sermon on our ContinuingCOG channel:

1:16:57

The 6th chapter of the Book of Revelation tells of the ride of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. What do each represent? Is the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, part of the fourth horseman? Does the Bible point to around 2 billion people dying from hunger, war, and the beasts of the earth? Was the ancient Roman Empire impacted by pestilences? What about the black death, also known as the Bubonic plague? Are disease epidemics part of the beginning of sorrow and troubles that Jesus spoke about in Matthew 24 and Mark 13? Does the pale green horseman represent Islam? Could genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or synthetic biology cause or contribute to coming pandemics? Is chemical and biological warfare (CBW) a real threat to humanity? What about a doomsday bug or antibiotic resistant superbugs? Is fear a contagion that will help people move away from democracy? Will scientists be able to stop what is coming? Is the good news that the Kingdom of God will? Could COVID-19 be setting the stage for the rise of the ‘prince,’ who will become the totalitarian Beast of the Sea (also known as 666 and the King of the North)? Is this leader similar to the Great Monarch of Greco-Roman Catholic prophecies? When is the Great Monarch supposed to arise according to the Eastern Orthodox? Why might Europe be less affected by the ride of the third horseman that the US, Canada, and the UK? Are governments taking steps now, consistent with the words of Adolf Hitler? What seal represents the start of the Great Tribulation? Which Christians did Jesus promise to protect from the coming “hour of trial”?

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

COVID 19 is NOT the End, but could it be TEOTWAWKI? The novel coronavirus called COVID-19 is wreaking havoc around the world. Many states of the USA as well as countries in Europe are on lockdown with shelter in place /shelter in residence requirements. In France, a form is required when you are not at your house. In Spain, drones are being used to warn people who are outside to got back to their homes–does that bring up feelings of ‘Big Brother’? Italy, France, and other areas are using police and/or military force to encourage people to stay inside. According to the Bible could this be the end? If not, what has to happen first? Have the second and third of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse started their ride? Could COVID-19 be the fourth horseman? Why or why not? Could we be seeing The End of the World as We Know It (TEOTWAKI) like the R.E.M.’s 1987 single song discussed? Do Christians need to fear? What did Jesus teach? What did the Psalmist teach? This is a video. Here is a link to a version in the Spanish language: Corona 19 no es el final PERO es el TEOTWAWKI.
COVID-19 Leading to 666? The novel coronavirus of Wuhan, China fame, is now called COVID-19. It has also been called the ‘Coronapocalypse.’ Does COVID-19 have any prophetic ramifications? What did Jesus teach about pestilences and sorrows in the Olivet prophecy in Matthew 24? Could COVID-19 be the ride of the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse? Why was this type of disease expected according to the O. Here is a link to a version in the Spanish language: ld Testament prophecies in Deuteronomy and Leviticus? What has the US Centers for Disease Control warned about? What has the CDC reported about the flu? Were there lessons about fear and infections in the 2011 movie ‘Contagion’? Because of COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO), nation of Iran, and certain French locations are telling people not to use cash, but instead electronic forms of payment. The US Federal Reserve is now quarantining money repatriated from Asia to reduce the potential spread of the coronavirus on US currency bills. Is COVID-19 worse than we have been told or could this all be a ‘false flag’ event to encourage people to move towards a cashless society? If the thousands of deaths associated with COVID-19 are pushing parts of the world towards cashlessness, how much more likely will the ride of the fourth horseman and over a billion human deaths motivate people to move to making electronic payments that can be monitored? The Bible tells of a soon coming society that controls buying and selling to force allegiance to a coming European Beast power, known as 666 (Revelation 13:16-18). Does the ‘great tribulation’ begin before ride of the fourth horseman or with the opening of the fifth seal of Revelation 6? Do the words of Jesus helps us better understand the sequence of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse and the start of the Great Tribulation? Will the ride of the fourth horseman help lead to the rise of 666? Is that ride very close? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more in this video. Here is a link to a version in the Spanish language: El COVID-19 ¿Conduce al 666?
Two Horned Beast of Revelation and 666 Who is 666? This article explains how the COG views this, and compares this to Ellen White. Here is a link to a prophetic video Six Financial Steps Leading to 666?
Biological Warfare and Prophecy. Is biological warfare possible? Was it prophesied? Scientists have long warned that pathogenic organisms like the coronavirus could be weaponized. Furthermore, back in 2017, there were concerns that the biological research facility being constructed in Wuhan, China was risky and that a coronavirus from it could be released. On January 25, 2020, China’s President Xi Jinping publicly stated that the situation with the Wuhan-related strain of the coronavirus was grave. Did Church of God writers like the late evangelist Raymond McNair warn that engineered viruses (the “Doomsday bug”) were consistent with prophecies from Jesus? Did a warning from CCOG leader Bob Thiel warn about risks of genetically-modified (GMO) mosquitoes come to pass? Could human research and/or the consumption of biblically-unclean animals such as bats and snakes be a factor in current outbreaks or coming future pestilences? What about famines? How devastating have pestilences been? How devastating are the prophesied ones going to be? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more in this video.
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse What do each of the four horseman of the Apocalypse represent? Have they began their ride? Did Jesus discuss the any of this? Might their rides coincide with the “beginning of sorrows? Do they start their ride prior to the Great Tribulation? Did Nostradamus or any other ‘private prophets’ write predictions that may mislead people so that they may not understand the truth of one or more of the four horseman? There is also a related YouTube video titled Sorrows and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
World War III: Steps in Progress Are there surprising actions going on now that are leading to WWIII? Might a nuclear attack be expected? Does the Bible promise protection to all or only some Christians? How can you be part of those that will be protected? A related video would be Is World War III About to Begin? Can You Escape?
CCOG on vaccines Pestilences are coming. Is it ever appropriate for Christians to get vaccinated?
Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse What is the pale horse of death and pestilences? What will it bring and when? Here is a link to a related sermon: Fourth Horseman, COVID, and the Rise of the Beast of Revelation. Here is a version of that sermon in Spanish: El Cuarto Caballo, El COVID y El Surgimiento de la Bestia del Apocalipsis. Some shorter related videos may include Amphibian Apocalypse: Threat to Humans? and Zombie Deer Disease is Here! Are the 10 Plagues on Egypt Coming? Here is a version of the article in Spanish: El cuarto jinete de Apocalipsis, el caballo pálido de muerte y pestilencia.
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2022, 2023, or 2024? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: ¿Puede la Gran Tribulación comenzar en el 2020 o 2021? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? A related video is: Great Tribulation: 2026 or 2027? A shorter video is: Can the Great Tribulation start in 2022 or 2023? Here is a video in the Spanish language: Es El 2021 el año  de La Gran Tribulación o el Grande Reseteo Financiero.
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? Does God have 7,000 year plan? What year may the six thousand years of human rule end? When will Jesus return? 2028 or 20xx? There is also a video titled 6000 Years: When will God’s Kingdom Come? Here is a link to the article in Spanish: ¿Tiene Dios un plan de 6,000 años?
Is God Calling You? This booklet discusses topics including calling, election, and selection. If God is calling you, how will you respond? Here is are links to related sermons: Christian Election: Is God Calling YOU? and Predestination and Your Selection. A short animation is also available: Is God Calling You?
Christian Repentance Do you know what repentance is? Is it really necessary for salvation? Two related sermons about this are also available: Real Repentance and Real Christian Repentance.

Was the ‘virgin birth’ an invention of the Apostle Paul?

Thursday, December 16th, 2021

History of Early Christianity

COGwriter

Dr. James Tabor, once part of the old Worldwide Church of God, had an article published titled Did Paul Invent the Virgin Birth? Here is some of what he had published:

Paul never explicitly refers to Jesus’ virgin birth nor does he ever name either Mary or Joseph. What he does affirm is that Jesus pre-existed before his human birth and subsequently gave up his divine glory through his birth as a human being. He writes that Jesus “though existing in the form of God” emptied himself and took on human form, “being made in the likeness of humankind” (Philippians 2:6-7). He says further “though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). He has to be referring here, metaphorically, to the “riches” of Jesus’ pre-existence with God, since all our sources have Jesus born of a poor peasant family. Paul also writes “In the fullness of time God sent forth his Son, made of a woman . . .” (Galatians 4:4). The implication of these texts is that Jesus’ mother was merely the human receptacle for bringing Jesus into the world. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-d-tabor/did-paul-invent-the-virgin-birth_b_2355278.html

While Dr. Tabor does mention the accounts in Matthew and Luke in his article, he also suggests that Roman mythology may have played a role in the “virgin birth” doctrine.

The Bible, and early writings, clearly support the fact that Jesus was born of a virgin (Mary). And the first suggestion of it precedes the Apostle Paul by centuries.

Was the Virgin Birth Prophesied?

Was Jesus’ birth from a virgin prophesied?

It was if you believe what was written by the prophet Isaiah:

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14, NKJV throughout).

According to Matthew’s writings, Jesus fulfilled that prophecy:

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS (Matthew 1:18-25).

Luke also records some of how it would occur:

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.” Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her (Luke 1:26-38).

Did Any Early Church Leaders Specifically Teach a Virgin Birth?

One most prominent of the church leaders in the second century taught the virgin birth.

Melito of Sardis wrote c. 180 A.D.:

65. And indeed there were many other things proclaimed by numerous prophets concerning the mystery of the passover, which is Christ, to whom be the glory forever. Amen.

66. When this one came from heaven to earth for the sake of the one who suffers, and had clothed himself with that very one through the womb of a virgin, and having come forth as man, he accepted the sufferings of the sufferer through his body which was capable of suffering. And he destroyed those human sufferings by his spirit which was incapable of dying. He killed death which had put man to death…

70. This is the one who became human in a virgin, who was hanged on the tree, who was buried in the earth, who was resurrected from among the dead, and who raised mankind up out of the grave below to the heights of heaven…

104. This is the one who made the heavens and the earth, and who in the beginning created man, who was proclaimed through the law and prophets, who became human via the virgin, who was hanged upon a tree, who was buried in the earth, who was resurrected from the dead, and who ascended to the heights of heaven, who sits at the right hand of the Father, who has authority to judge and to save everything, through whom the Father created everything from the beginning of the world to the end of the age.

105. This is the alpha and the omega. This is the beginning and the end–an indescribable beginning and an incomprehensible end. This is the Christ. This is the king. This is Jesus. This is the general. This is the Lord. This is the one who rose up from the dead. This is the one who sits at the right hand of the Father. He bears the Father and is borne by the Father, to whom be the glory and the power forever. Amen (Melito of Sardis. On the Passover. Translation from Kerux: The Journal of Northwest Theological Seminary, Vol.4,1;May 1989).

Melito also wrote:

This is He who took a bodily form in the Virgin, and was hanged upon the tree, and was buried within the earth (Melito. Translation by Roberts and Donaldson. Fragment V. Online version copyright © 2001 Peter Kirby. http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/melito.html 11/18/06).

Virgin Birth Was A Difference Between Some True and Some False Christians in the 2nd and 3rd Centuries

Although he had his own problems, Origen noted that there were two groups that he considered to be “Ebionites” in the early third century, one who believed in the virgin birth (and that would be those who this paper suggests were also known as the Nazarenes) and those who did not:

Let it be admitted, moreover, that there are some who accept Jesus, and who boast on that account of being Christians, and yet would regulate their lives, like the Jewish multitude, in accordance with the Jewish law,—and these are the twofold sect of Ebionites, who either acknowledge with us that Jesus was born of a virgin, or deny this, and maintain that He was begotten like other human beings…(Origen. Contra Celsus, Book V, Chapter 61).

The true Christians in Africa were not those who associated with Origen (please see what happened in Alexandria), nor those that denied the virgin birth. The true Christians were those who professed Jesus and had some practices similar to those practices of Jews (see also Revelation 2:9;3:9)–and they also believed in the virgin birth.

Anyway while the writings of the Apostle Paul do support the idea of the virgin birth, the teaching preceded the Apostle Paul and was believed, by true and some simply professing, Christians.

Some items of possibly related interest may include the following:

Virgin Birth: Does the Bible Teach It? What does the Bible teach? What is claimed in The Da Vinci Code?
Jesus is God, But Became Flesh Was Jesus fully human and fully God or what?
Proof Jesus is the Messiah This free book has over 200 Hebrew prophecies were fulfilled by Jesus. Plus, His arrival was consistent with specific prophecies and even Jewish interpretations of prophecy. Here are links to seven related sermons: Proof Jesus is the Messiah, Prophecies of Jesus’ birth, timing, and death, Jesus’ prophesied divinity, 200+ OT prophecies Jesus filled; Plus prophecies He made, Why Don’t Jews Accept Jesus?, Daniel 9, Jews, and Jesus, and Facts and Atheists’ Delusions About Jesus. Plus the links to two sermonettes: Luke’s census: Any historical evidence? and Muslims believe Jesus is the Messiah, but … These videos cover nearly all of the book, plus have some information not in the book.
Was Jesus Born in the Grotto of the Nativity? Was Jesus born in a below ground cave? Was Jesus born below the “Church of the Nativity”? Were the wise men there?
How did December 25th become Christmas? Was Jesus born then? If not, why December 25? Here is the article translated into Mandarin Chinese 12月25日最后是怎么被许多基督的信仰者采纳的.
Is Keeping Christmas a Sin? Is keeping Christmas acceptable for true Christians? What are some scriptures to consider?
What Does the Roman Catholic Church Teach About Christmas and the Holy Days? Do you know what the Catholic Church says were the original Christian holy days? Was Christmas among them? Is December 25th Jesus’ birthday or that of the sun god? Here is a link to a related sermon: What do Catholic and other scholars teach about Christmas?
Did Early Christians Celebrate Birthdays? Did biblical era Jews celebrate birthdays? Who originally celebrated birthdays? When did many that profess Christ begin birthday celebrations? A related sermon video is available and is titled: Birthdays, Christians, and December 25th.
Mary, the Mother of Jesus and the Apparitions Do you know much about Mary? Are the apparitions real? What happened at Fatima? What might they mean for the rise of the ecumenical religion of Antichrist? Are Protestants moving towards Mary? How do the Eastern/Greek Orthodox view Mary? How might Mary view her adorers?
Origin of the Marian Dogmas: Where Do Catholic Scholars Say The Four Dogmas of Mary Came From?
Melito of Sardis Who was this 2nd Century Church Leader? What Old Testament did he list? What did he teach that most who call themselves Christian later change?
Melito’s Homily on the Passover This is one of the earliest Christian writings about the Passover. This also includes what Apollinaris wrote on the Passover as well. Here is a related sermon, also titled Melito’s Homily on the Passover.
Continuing History of the Church of God This pdf booklet is a historical overview of the true Church of God and some of its main opponents from Acts 2 to the 21st century. Related sermon links include Continuing History of the Church of God: c. 31 to c. 300 A.D. and Continuing History of the Church of God: 4th-16th Centuries and Continuing History of the Church of God: 17th-20th Centuries. The booklet is available in Spanish: Continuación de la Historia de la Iglesia de Dios, German: Kontinuierliche Geschichte der Kirche Gottes, French: L Histoire Continue de l Église de Dieu and Ekegusii Omogano Bw’ekanisa Ya Nyasae Egendererete</