The Times and Events Of Gog And Magog

So I have never ever heard so much talk about doomsday as I am these days. 

Earlier in the year (January 2015) the Doomsday Clock moved up to 3 minutes to midnight–that was a full 2 minute move or 40% advance to the end of times. 

The cited reasons by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists:

– “Unchecked climate change”

– “Nuclear arms race”

Essentially, these “pose extraordinary and undeniable threats to the continued existence of humanity.”

But on a daily level now–

Islamic extremism showing through post 9/11 mounting turmoil and unbelievable terror in the Middle East, including seeming non-ending ISIS brutality, Iran’s march towards nuclear weapons and advanced ballistic missiles, the Sunni vs. Shiite war for dominion centering (lately) in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen but with much larger geopolitcal overtones towards a return of a powerful caliphate to challenge the West, fighting between Muslims and Christians in countries like Nigeria, ongoing terror threats to the democratic State of Israel, and a rising tide death, casualties, and refugees.

Russian aggression in multiple countries and regions including Georgia, Ukraine, and Syria, air and naval military incursions and encroachment towards Turkey, the countries in the Baltic Sea region, the Arctic, and even a Russian military satellite parking itself between 2 U.S. satellites yesterday. 

China’s militarization including greater military spending on advanced weapons, Island/posts building in the South China Sea, and ongoing threatening overtures toward Taiwan and other neighbors, and cyber warfare conducted against the U.S.government and the private sector. 

Frightening new military capabilities are coming online with advances in weapons of mass destruction–nuclear, chemical, biological, and radiological–colonization and militarization of space, laser weapons, satellite killers, swarms of drones, armies of robots, and cyberwar.

The drumbeat of climate change and environmental deterioration (unsustainable practices of deforestation, overfishing, pollution, and the extinction of countless species) is being felt in changing weather patterns, global warming, glacier meltdown, alternating threats of flooding and drought in various part of the world, major storms and lightening patterns, and an uptick in natural disasters (tsunamis, hurricanes, and tornadoes), and an overall trend towards shortage and conflict. 

An ailing global economy after 2 major recessions in the 21st century so far, booming national debts, stalling economies, slowing innovation, and scarcity of stable, good paying, full time jobs in an outsourcing, short-term, freelance, contractor culture, and automaton and robotization advances. 

Dysfunctional political systems that are bogged down with endless indecision, infighting, bickering, finger-pointing, stalemates, shutdowns, pork barrel spending, catering to special interest groups, short-term wins at the expense of long-term goals, corruption, and a lack of strong capable leadership at the helm. 

An article I read recently from Russian Times, I believe, said how the U.S. teeters just steps from potential collapse by just relatively easy societal interruptions (presumably that they could facilitate) and that with farms/food production far from major metropolitan areas, people hooked on drugs that they could not get supplies for, and other severe disruptions in our critical care needs, we would be in big trouble–the message was clearly watch out, you are extremely vulnerable. 

That these tactic threats and overtures are already being made explicit is not a good sign. Just politicians and countries throwing around their weight or jockeying for position on the world stage–who knows?

But people are frail, countries are vulnerable, budgets are limited, and bad things can and do happen if we are not careful in a world ticking closer to very dangerous times and events.

The coming realization of the prophecy of a devastating world war–of Gog and Magog–is what people are saying to me.  

In conversation about deteriorating world events, my wife innocently asked someone this week–“Can we avoid a major world war?” Their unequivocal response, “No, it’s inevitable!” 😉 

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Can’t Wait For The Walking Dead – Season 4

This show, The Walking Dead, is just awesome.

It’s the end of the world…

With the the few battling to survive.

The scary fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaah 26:19 that the “dead will live; their corpses will rise up.”

But rather than “shout for joy,” in this version of events, we scream with horror as zombies keep coming and coming, and their is no place left to hide.

Those left have to run and fight, but if they get bitten (and eaten) and die, they too become what they fear and hate most–“The Walkers.”

The characters, the action, the intensity, the ultimate challenge for humanity.

Can’t wait for October 13, 9 pm on AMC. 😉

One Day We’ll Be Old

This is a wonderful, moving music video by Israeli composer Asaf Avidan, remixed by German DJ–the song is called One Day/Reckoning (Wankelmut Remix)–it has topped the music charts across Europe.

The reframe:
“One day baby, we’ll be old
Oh baby, we’ll be old
And think of all the stories that we could have told.”

On a simplistic level, this music video is about two lovers torn apart and wondering how they’ll look back one day and imagine what if only they had been able to make things work.

On a deeper level, perhaps this music video is a representation of the Israel and German who produced it–more than six decades after The Holocaust and the murder of 6 million Jews by the Germans and the feelings of lose and of what could’ve been instead.

“No more tears, my heart is dry
I don’t laugh and I don’t cry
I don’t think about you all the time
But when I do I wonder why”

Why the murder of six million men, women, and children–helpless–shot, starved, gassed, burnt in the ovens, electrified on the fences, attacked by dogs, and experimented on by sadististic scientists?

“We can’t cry anymore, the heart is dry.”

As time passes and we age–we think what could have been if we were allowed to live in peace –“think of all the stories  we could have told.”

Now in Israel, again Six million Jews living in the Middle East, the fulfillment of the promise by G-d to Abraham, the return to The Promised Land. 

But the Middel East is composed of more than 20 countries and contains 20% of world’s Muslim population or has roughly 315 million Muslims. In some areas, fundamentalism has taken root, and it is a volatile and dangerous neighborhood to live in.

Missles fly to Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem and and the people of the Holy Land take cover in bomb shelters as thousands of missiles threaten them.

In modern history, Israel has lost over 22,000 soldiers,with another 75,000 wounded, and there have been about 4,000 civilian victims of terror attacks.

To put this in the perspective of a country the size of the U.S., this is the equivalent of us losing more than 1.1 million American soldiers, having almost 4 million wounded, and another 200,000 civilian victims of terrorism–it’s unthinkable!

“I don’t laugh and I don’t cry”

Now Israeli’s are blamed for defending their small country and the remnants of their people from being driven into the sea by those surrounding them on all sides. 

“Here I go again, the blame
The guilt, the pain, the hurt, the shame
The foundering fathers on our plane
that’s stuck in heavy clouds of rain”

Next is Iran who threatens to wipe Israel off the map and is rushing to develop the nuclear weapons to accomplish their malevolent goals.

“I don’t think about you all the time
But when I do I wonder why”

Why won’t you let us just live in peace–leave us alone, once and for all. 

“One day, we’ll be old
Oh baby, we’ll be old
Think of all the stories we could have told”

If only, all could live and let live–think of all the better stories we could tell and all the lives not lost, and all the promise of a better future.