Fifteen 2013 News Items of Prophetic Interest

“Elijah in the wilderness“

While numerous news items of prophetic interest were covered at this page in 2013, there are fifteen that stand out in my mind that I thought would be of interest to share today.

The following list is in the chronological order that this was announced at this page (though for some that continued existing trends, later dates, when something appeared, were sometimes used):

January 2013. The Continuing Church of God (CCOG) made various announcements (see Announcing the Official Website of the Continuing Church of God). One was that it hit its gospel proclamation goal (see CCOG met COG proclamation goal). Videos were produced for its two new YouTube channels (ContinuingCOG channel and Bible News Prophecy channel), radio audiences were reached, and readers on the internet were greatly reached. Many Church of God groups have claimed that they would be effective in gospel proclamation and/or reach on the internet, but few truly have been. Multiple millions (at least ten million) have been reached, and multiple languages have been employed. CCOG was so successful that a leader in a much larger group later attempted to discredit certain of the internet results (see LCG leader again continues to attempt to discredit). Yet, the reality is that no COG group of this size has ever reached so many people in its first year. Furthermore, CCOG is more popular on the internet than nearly all the COG groups. The results are important prophetically as they show that CCOG does have the fruits to show that it can lead final phase of the work.
January 2013. The USA increased its debt, as I said it would on a Bible News Prophecy video made on January 1, 2013 (see The Debt Crisis Will Be Worse Than Most Imagine). Throughout 2013, the USA continued to have a variety of debt and budget crises, showed the world it really was not serious about fixing its problems, and increased its debt. This will not end well per Habakkuk 2:6-8.
January 2013. Budget factors affected US military spending (see US economy shrinks a small amount, defense cuts blamed). All USA tanks were removed from Germany (see There are no longer USA tanks in Germany: Do Americans understand this is a serious risk?). The US Army announced cuts (see US Army announces cuts), its Air Force warned about cuts (see Budget cuts to ground 1/3 of US Air Force), and Pentagon officials were also concerned about the US Navy (see Pentagon concerned about additional looming defense cuts–prophetic ramifications?). Despite various compromises, certain government officials believe defense cuts are damaging the USA military (see US military being severely damaged by budget cuts). The USA is also needing to shift its focus away from Europe and towards China (see Obama Adminstration shifting military towards Asia, including Korea) and this will not end well for the USA (cf. Daniel 11:39).
February 2013. Pope Benedict XVI resigned and was replaced the next month with Pope Francis (see Argentinian is now Pope Francis). Pope Francis almost immediately dedicated his pontificate to ‘Mary (see Pope Francis entrusts pontificate to ‘Mary’ and Cardinal hopes for Islamic cooperation), began to take steps that disturbed certain Catholics (see see Is Pope Francis Catholic? and Francis says he wants Rome less narcissistic and says he does not believe in a ‘Catholic God’ as he inaugurates a reform team), made a variety of economic statements (see Pope Francis claims he wants his church to be poor and help the poor and Will Pope Francis use some of the wealth of the Vatican to support the Beast and lure people to his faith? and Pope Francis speaks against current economic order and proposes changes), and has become one of the most Marian-focused popes in history (see Pope Francis: Could this Marian Focused Pontiff be Fulfilling Prophecy?). He either will be the final antipope of Catholic prophecy or antichrist of biblical prophecy or is setting the stage for the arrival of such a person.
March 2013. Homosexual marriage apparently became more ‘acceptable’ to various ones. In both the USA (see Obama Administration pleads that the Supreme Court should overturn DOMA and California’s anti-homosexual marriage law) and New Zealand (see New Zealand seems to determined to recognize ‘same-sex’ marriage) political leaders took steps to ‘legalize’ same-sex unions. In the USA, there are seventeen (see Uganda Senate votes against homosexual agenda, while New Mexico judge rules for it) or eighteen (if Utah is counted) states that how now legalized this. New Zealand also legalized it (BSA proposal on allowing homosexuals; NZ approves homosexual marriage). Despite protests against it in January 2013, in May 2013, France legalized it (see France becomes 14th nation to legalize homosexual ‘marriage’). This is a disturbing trend that will end in destruction (cf. Romans 1:18-32). As is the rising acceptance of celebrity ‘soft’ pornography (see Celebrity ‘soft’ pornography is increasingly bold, yet encouraged by much of the media and Entertainer of the Year, Person of the Year, and Pornography).
March 2013. Continued pressing for a ‘peace deal’ that will divide Jerusalem happened (see Barack Obama continues push for “two-state” solution for the Israelis and Palestinians). John Kerry and others proposed it also later in the year (see John Kerry says Israel and Palestinians are close to a peace deal; Israeli opposition leader wants to swap land for such a deal). The Bible indicates that it is coming (Zechariah 14:2).
May/June 2013. Edward Snowden began to disclose information about the amount of espionage done by the United States and the United Kingdom and the USA reacted (see USA’s Director of National Intelligence claims letting people know they are being spied on is ‘reprehensible’). Furthermore, so did Europe (see Germany: USA is engaged in ‘cold war’ against us, Europe furious). The Snowden matter is leading the USA to tell Europeans espionage secrets and will put the USA at major risk (Germany most upset by USA espionage).
May 2013. There are additional concerns whether ‘peaceful’ Europe will eventually have significant unrest (see Eurozone unemployment rises: A prelude to more civil unrest? and EU: Pax Europa or Civil Unrest? ). By the end of the year, even the President of Italy warned that violent unrest could occur in 2014 (see Italy’s President warns of social unrest in 2014; concerns also arise in France.).
June 2013. Although the Vatican failed to get full control, the Vatican was able to arrange official access to the ‘Cenacle’ (see Israel and the Church of Rome ‘Cenacle’ control discussions). Not being satisfied with partial control, the USA government apparently proposed a ‘peace deal’ which would give the Vatican more control (see WND: Kerry proposed deal to give Vatican control of at least one ‘holy site’ in Jerusalem). This region has major prophetic ramifications and the media by and large has overlooked them and very few understand the potential prophetic ramifications of this. For more details, please see Church of God on Jerusalem’s Western Hill.
July 2013. One who made ‘king of the South’ type statements in Egypt was deposed by a military-backed coup (see Adly Mansour installed as Egypt’s interim president and Muslim Brotherhood protests removal of President Morsi; some killed by army). Despite plans to stop the ambitions of those who want an Islamic caliphate, many still are working towards it (see Pro-Muslim Brotherhood demonstrators again killed in Egypt and An attempt to revive Muslim Brotherhood objectives in Egypt was announced).
August 2013. Continuing a goal many have long had, China, Russia, and others have been working to dethrone the USA dollar as the world’s reserve currency (see China and Russia working to dethrone US dollar as world’s international currency and Bankers and politicians want to increase the US debt and further devalue the currency).
September 2013. Europe hold a technology conference and again explains that it will use technology to boost its economy (see European technology plans). It also takes concrete steps showing that it has technological prowess (see Germany’s FAIR continues: How might this physics project have prophetic ramifications? and Europe sends billion dollar telescope into space, another sign that Europe intends to lead the technology of the world).
October 2013. John Hagee put out a book about ‘blood moons,’ their alleged connection to biblical holy days in 2014 and 2015, and suggested that the blood moon sequence suggests that the Day of the Lord, the Great Tribulation, and/or Jesus’ second coming would be in 2014 or 2015 (see Does the ‘blood moon’ predict the ‘Day of the Lord’ in 2014?). This is in error, will turn people off on biblical prophecy, and create scoffer as did the late Harold Camping (Harold Camping’s Teachings About the End of the World Do Not Agree with the Bible), the jailed Ronald Weinland (see Concerns About Ronald Weinland’s Church of God-Preparing for the Kingdom of God), and the false predictor David Pack (see Why Not the Restored Church of God?). The Apostle Peter warned of this (2 Peter 3:3-7), and John Hagee should not have promoted these ‘blood moon’ dates (see Blood Moons and Prophecy).
November/December 2013. The ecumenical movement moved forward. Pope Francis (see Pope Francis reaches out to Eastern Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew) and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople exchanged hopes for greater unity (see Eastern Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew responds to Rome). Pope Francis also took steps to eliminate some ‘conservative’ opponents to his agenda and Vatican II (see Catholic ‘conservatives’ have concerns about Pope Francis–Should they?). He also sent Cardinal Kurt Koch, the president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, to meet with Russian Patriarch Kirill (see Vatican’s Cardinal Koch to meet with Russian Patriarch Kirill). Pope Francis’ comments in May of 2013 that atheists that will not believe can be saved (see Pope Francis’ ecumenism includes atheists!) should set off alarm bells to all who claim Christianity.
December 2013. The World Trade Organization came to its first agreement ever (see WTO reaches new world order trade agreement). A new world order is developing, and trade deals are helping to set the stage. Europe had various meetings with the USA (see More on EU-USA TTIP talks: A Prelude to Revelation 13:16-18?) and others in an attempt to secure its future role in the world economy.

Here is a link to a related YouTube video: 15 News Events That Will Affect You.

A lot more happened in 2013 than is listed above (EU expansion and the beginnings of the Eurasian Union, to mention two more). But the above list includes many items that the mainstream media has tended to not cover, to gloss over, or not understand the ramifications.

2014 will likely be another year that many news items will align with properly understood biblical prophecy.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2014, 2015, or 2016? 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 comenzar la Gran Tribulación en 2013 o 2014? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? You can also see the English language video The Great Tribulation Will Not Begin Before 2017.
How To Determine If Someone is a True Prophet of God There are many false prophets, yet many overlook what the Bible teaches about how to recognize a true one. How can Christians determine who is a true prophet? This article contains a scripture-based checklist to assist with this determination.
How to determine if someone is a true prophet of God This is a sermon on YouTube addressing a subject that most in the Church of God do not seem to have looked into very much. It discusses scriptures and dispels some improper assertions that some associated with the COG have made about prophets in this time.
Elijah: Past and Prophesied Information about the original Elijah and some information about the Elijah-related prophecies.
Why Be Concerned About False and Heretical Leaders? There have been many false leaders–here is some of why you should be concerned about them.
The Final Phase of the Work What is the final phase of the work? Who will lead it? Do you have the courage to support it? Here is a related YouTube video titled The Final Phase of the Work. The written article has been translated into Spanish La Fase Final de la Obra.
Continuing Church of God The group striving to be most faithful amongst all real Christian groups to the word of God.
La Continuación de la Iglesia de Dios This is the Spanish site for the Continuing Church of God. URL is http://www.cdlidd.es
Paglalahad ng Mga Paniniwala ng Patuloy na Iglesya ng Diyos This is the Statement of Beliefs of the Continuing Church of God in Tagalog, the primary language of the Philippines.
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, with some in items in other Asian languages in progress that are intended to be added. 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。
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.