Wisely Plan Ahead

Ronald Weinland

March 7, 2020

Today we’re going to begin by reviewing a few verses that were covered last week at the end of that particular series. It’s in Luke 6:47. I’ll just read that to you. You don’t need to turn there. We had it last week.

A parable was given; Joshua said, Luke 6:47, Whoever comes to me and hears my sayings, and does them, I will show you whom he is like. He is like a man who built a house, and dug deep to lay the foundation on a rock. Then when the flood arose, the river beat against that house, and could not shake it because the foundation was upon a rock. But he who has heard and does nothing is like a man who built a house upon the earth without a foundation, against which the river beat against it, and immediately it fell and the ruin of that house was great.

So again, this can fit into many different scenarios in the sense of how we live our lives, how we listen to what’s given to us, whether it be spiritual or physical matters in our life as far as the Church is concerned and our response to those things and how we look at those things that are given to us.

So again, this is a good parable about those, again, who listen to God and those who don’t. It’s a simple thing. When you say “listen to” it’s not just a matter of listening. It’s a matter of what you do. It’s a matter of hearing to the point that you want to live by what is stated or what is given, or whatever. Again, sometimes it’s not a matter of just hearing words, it’s a matter of doing what’s been given. I think of things in the Church to this day that sometimes I have to shake my head and think, “What are we hearing? What are we listening to? Why not live this way of life, strive to live it with all of our being?”

But anyway, I say that because someone else has had to be disfellowshipped and I don’t like going through the cycle. But we do go through this cycle if people will not live up to what is before them in the most basic of God’s laws that we should have learned and started practicing before baptism. That should have been something that we would say, “I am never going to lie and cheat God Almighty in these matters of life. I am never going to work on a Sabbath day. I’m never going to work on a holy day. I am going to be faithful to God in my tithing and that’s it.” That should be set in our heart and our mind before baptism, and then after baptism, receiving the impregnation of God’s spirit, we should never veer from that.

I didn’t intend to go into that but because of what I had to say there. So why, why, why do we not do what we’ve been shown that we need to do, live by it, strive to live by it? Sometimes it blows my mind.

So, having got past that. So listening to God and doing it. Again, that’s about both physical and spiritual things in our life because we’re shown both in God’s Church. Physical matters we need to watch and take care of, and we mention some of those from time to time, but they have to do with our attitude of mind toward God and toward things we hear and whether we’re going to strive to change our lives in that example we desire to set for others, by doing what is right before God. And certainly, spiritually we want to make sure that we’re building on the rock and listening and doing what we’re given spiritually in our lives.

So today’s sermon title is a spinoff of some of this; it is Wisely Plan Ahead. So we’re to do that, again, physically and spiritually. A lot of this sermon today is based on things that are physical in nature, in one regard, but they also have to do with an attitude of mind in our thinking toward God and why we do the things we do in the first place.

This world is accelerating toward the end of this present age, and if you’re watching the news you ought to be sobered by that. You ought to be able to see how quickly things can change. Whether they are going to happen soon or farther up the road, we don’t know, but we’re to wisely plan ahead. So we ought to know that spiritually but we also need to do so physically. We can look at the things in the world around us and realize we are accelerating quickly and things could happen so quickly in our lives to change things.

I was thinking about that today. I thought, you know, driving up here, forty days and forty nights it rained on the earth. It didn’t take long. Forty days and forty nights God accomplished a great phase of His plan, of doing something, of giving an example, of teaching us, of showing us as time went on as we could learn and look back as to lessons that we need to learn. Mankind has lived for hundreds and hundreds of years and has gotten to a point where it can’t continue on like this. So mankind later was to learn from that process, how evil mankind can become living generation after generation or for hundreds of years, if you will, and what can happen to the human mind after living in selfishness.

That’s hard to grasp, living in a spirit and a mind of selfishness eight hundred, nine hundred years and becoming so proficient, professional at being selfish and evil. That’s the human mind sometimes, to where people would practice and practiced every kind of evil thing and the kind of hideous religions that were on the earth by that time. Just look at what we did recently, the pyramids. You think, all the stupid religions associated with that as worlds and the nations grew larger and larger and some of the things took place or peoples became great and powerful.

Then the lifespan was shortened. This is long enough as it is. I marvel at that part of the creation of God and His plan and purpose to bring us all the way up to this point in time here to where because of technology now it’s like the world was without the technology, but as far as the evil in mankind is concerned, like it was before the flood. That’s where we are.

That’s why there is a lot more to the meaning of “like in the days of Noah,” because it’s how mankind is. So we have accelerated things of sin, made sin so much easier, polluted the mind, the garbage that’s in the mind, the perversion that’s in the mind, the thinking that’s in the human mind now because of those things and people having a diet of those things that changed so quickly and people respond to that. This is a sick, sick, sick, sick world. Thank God is going to bring these things to a screaming halt soon.

So forty days and forty nights. Tell you what, better be on guard, because I’m not stupid enough to think that God can’t fulfill this matter of the end of the age in forty days and forty nights if He so desires. Fifty days: you think, hmmm, Unleavened Bread, Pentecost. So don’t think things can’t happen quickly on the earth, because they can. So you need to plan wisely.

I’m sobered by that. When I see some of the things out there happening and some of the news articles that are out there anymore and you think, one thing can change things so quickly on this earth. Things can spread so quickly on this earth.

You think of the stupid coronavirus thing, you know, and people are going batty. I understand part of that. But right now there is so much unknown about it my concern would be a mutation. My concern is what the Chinese did if that did slip out of, come out of a bio lab that they had in that area, what else is out there and what else might be behind it and what do they have planned? They’re not stupid.

So things can spread around the world extremely fast. I was watching something the other night about the Spanish Flu basically that went around the world. They talked about the number of U.S. soldiers that were killed in that war and the death toll in the United States was thousands, tens of thousands higher from the Spanish Flu. Yet when people think of WWI they think of the massive loss of life from that war. The reality is it was far, far, far, far, far greater, as far as the massive loss of life, in a pandemic.

So we live in a crazy age and people mess around with these things. There are labs in nations all around the world that are experimenting to create things to kill people on purpose. Sick, sick world.

So things can happen quickly and this is a good example to help us to be sobered by the time we live in. Not to be in fear. God will take care of us. Your life is in God’s hands. But we’re not to be stupid either.

I think of that one year at the Feast in Cincinnati when things got passed around a lot. We need to be smarter than that. We need to be smarter. We need to be faithful in loving God’s people and not wanting to spread things either. This ought to be a shake-up, to learn from some of that. We don’t want to be stupid. There are times we’re to quarantine ourselves.

I think of some people they found already out here that had other things to do. They were supposed to quarantine themselves, but they slipped out and went and did their thing because they don’t want to be quarantined.

You think, that’s the kind of stupidity that can kill people. You know, older people especially are susceptible. They’re the main ones susceptible. Like it went through that home up there, that elderly home, as it were, up there in Seattle area. You think, that’s horrible. People have no more sense of responsibility in that, and we should have in God’s Church.

So we need to think about that. When we’re not feeling well we shouldn’t be in a group of people together in services. If you love people you want to quarantine yourself. There is a difference between quarantine and isolation. If you get something you’re to be isolated, basically. That’s more than quarantine, obviously. They’re going to isolate you anyway.

We need to be wise in planning ahead.

So again, the world is accelerating toward the end of this age. We don’t know the exact timing as we’re to be always on guard – physically and spiritually – but to be on guard especially spiritually and understand it will begin as soon as the count of the 144,000 is complete.

I am so thankful God gave that to us to understand now. That’s why I love what God has given us, the maturity in this book now. We have matured as a Body, as a Church. We’ve had present truth all along the way and with what we had at that time we could see certain things. I think of the 7 Last Plagues, as an example. We didn’t know until we didn’t know and then God shows us, wait a minute. Those don’t happen until the end. The 3rd Woe is at the end of the age. The 3rd Woe is a part of the 7th Trumpet and the fulfillment of it that lasts for 1,100 years, to be fulfilled as far as the complete mystery, the plan of God to be fulfilled in His purpose for why He created us.

But that last Woe happens at the last. It’s the woe upon mankind. That’s what it’s about and it’s about a complete fulfillment of what’s in the 7th Trumpet. It’s going to blow some people’s minds out there of the past, our past. When they read that they’ll, you know, “Look what they’re saying now.” Well, time will show.

So I’m so thankful that God has given us those things because we have far greater balance than ever before. The flow, the ability to see if the mind is willing to look at something. Even on a physical plane there are things that people can come to grasp and understand even physically, but especially when they are convicted by God’s spirit. That’s going to be an awesome thing, it truly us. How fast they’re coming? We don’t know but we need to be wise and plan ahead.

So again, as soon as that 144,000 is complete... And what are our prayers? I hope you want it to happen soon. I hope that if any of you, me, whatever, whatever has to be learned, whatever has to be molded and fashioned, put into shape, that we respond to that, that we are chastened, that we are corrected, that we have the experience, whatever it is, in order to get this mind to the point where it fits into place, like in construction, until it fits perfectly. Because this has to fit perfectly into place like stones of a great building that are cut out, like the temple was, that fit in perfectly into place. That’s what we have to be.

If something needs to be knocked off in order to get us to fit so that when it’s put up there it’s perfect as far as God’s purpose is concerned, that we’re there, we should want that with all of our being. I want that with all of my being. We need to be crying out like that, whether we’re there or not, we don’t know what we’re called to. Is it to live on into the Millennium? Is it a part of the 144,000? I don’t know. Basically, who? We don’t know, but we need to be prepared, we need to plan ahead, we need to think about those kinds of things.

If we love God, if we are building unto God because we want something built unto Him and we want to fit into place, then we need to pray like that and ask God to mold within us what needs to be molded, help us not to resist. Because our nature resists what God does.

So the reality is these things aren’t happening until we’re ready. So could we be that close that maybe...? You know, God knows how much more it’s going to take to fit someone into place. God’s doing the construction. Just like anyone does on a construction site you know how much more has to be done. If it’s a block, which I am, and we are, big piece of stone, hard-headed as all get out, and He knows exactly what has to be done to that and how much time it’s going to take, basically, to do that, to accomplish it.

How close are we? You don’t want to play around with that. But we have to be prepared. That’s what it’s all about, being prepared. My whole life has been that way. Thinking ahead, at least, but now it’s like we’re planning ahead because it’s so close – not five or ten years like it used to be, ten years thinking ahead, “Are we prepared for ten years,” and that he could return in that length of time, somewhere maybe a little farther down the road. Now it’s like any time...any time. That’s how we have to be prepared.

So again, we don’t know the exact time. You have to be on guard. As soon as the 144,000 is complete it will begin right here, right in this nation. It’s going to be shaken to the core of its being. The world is going to react accordingly. Awesome, to understand those things.

So we’ve been having or hearing, if you will, Thunders that have been on the increase and becoming louder over the past several months, and I hope you have the ears to see it, to see what’s taking place because those are the kind of things that should motivate us, stir us, sober us, help us to have a greater desire to even be more on guard, to be more attentive to God’s way of life and to realize we’re coming down to the wire.

People out here who are cheating and lying? You’re not going to come through this. How much time do people have to be given? I think of one of recent time, been given several years of patience and encouragement at times and admonitions and not responding to that. Well, if a person can’t hear those things then you’re responsible. You’re responsible for your choices. If you have the audacity to lie to God Almighty, to cheat God Almighty, your time is coming, your judgment is right in front of you. It really is. This stuff is over with. It’s been over with for some time, but God’s allowing some things to continue on. We learn from that process. But I’m sick of it in the Body.

We need to be faithful, loyal servants of God Almighty. We truly do. Faithful and loyal servants to God Almighty. It’s hard for me to grasp in one respect, the human mind that can think after it reads anything about what God says about tithing, to think of what it says in Deuteronomy and other places about tithing. If we think we’re going to get by with robbing from God Almighty, like it talks about in Malachi, you think, how do we think we’re in God’s Church? How do we think that the flow of His spirit is working mightily in our lives and we’re growing spiritually if we’re lying to the Great God of the universe?

And not only that, but by the very thing that we feel we’re pressured into, “I can’t meet this bill. I can’t make that bill. I can’t do that, therefore, I can’t tithe,” is the very thing that destroys you. Because God curses you because of that and He will not bless you! That’s what He says. “You are under a curse. I will not bless you!” You tithe, you’ll be blessed. You’ll grow spiritually. You might have a difficult time. You might have a hard time. You might have times where you have to decide, “How am I going to handle this financially?” and you might go through a long trial coming out of that. But if you’re focused on doing it, God will help you through the trial, to get from one end to the other. But if you don’t, He’ll take care of that, too.

I just hate to see—lived this for so long—people who walk to God’s house side by side and counsel blended sweet, learn to love each other because it’s a love that we’re able to have because of God’s spirit, and then those things take place. It hurts. It really does. It hurts. It hurts deep down inside. I hate it.

The other night awakened by betrayal. It got in my mind. I started thinking about some things we’re still dealing with that are going to be with us till this ends. Then some who were in the midst of that and one person in particular. I had to get up. I couldn’t sleep. 3:00, so much in my mind. I thought, “This is too much.” Hideous. Horrible. Horrible feelings and experiences associated with it. You just hurt because of those things, because of those choices.

Anyway, to not live this way of life is a betrayal to the Church, it’s a betrayal to everyone in the Body, it’s a betrayal to God Almighty, and it’s a betrayal to His Son. And why did he get up there and have that nail put through his feet and his hands like that to a pole? To suffer, to be beaten so much that he couldn’t even be recognized by people when he was there, his face, the countenance, the skin ripped off of his body. And you think, man, to betray that? It blows my mind.

I would rather die. I would rather go of hunger than to lie, to cheat, to do those kinds of things. That’s what I would do... I would choose to do that. And if you don’t choose to do that, like we read in Luke 14 here last week where it talks about you must love God over everyone else and your own life also. That’s what that means. What are you willing to suffer and go through?

“Well, my wife...” “My husband...” “...they don’t want me to tithe and we have this... So... It’s just... And we’re... We bought a new house,” “...bought a new car,” “...we’re doing this,” “...we’re doing...” “I can’t do it right now, I just...” Then a year, two years, three years go by. Still the same battle, still the same stupid scenario, because you don’t take a stand to live God’s way of life.

Because everyone you know should know what you stand for and that you’re not going to do anything to betray it. If anyone else thinks you’re going to do otherwise sayonara, auf wiedersehen, da svidа́nja. I understand some of those expressions don’t mean just “goodbye,” they mean other things, too, I’ve been told. It means “goodbye” but it’s almost like... Well, anyway, we don’t want to go into the Russian language right now, a Russian lesson. But I know when I use some of those expressions you know what I’m talking about. It’s like “don’t let the screen door hit you in the butt on the way out.” Get out quickly. Just calling it what it is. “How could you say such a thing?” Amazing how dainty we sometimes are, we think we are.

So again, the Thunders have been getting louder, and I hope we’re hearing them. More than ever we really need to be planning ahead because the world could be thrust into the first phase of a third world war at any time. 144,000, when they’re sealed, it’s going to start. It’s going to be just like that – begin – nukes being used. Even before that the world could be thrust into, again, something like the stupid pandemic.

You think, you know these things, I’m not so concerned, I’ll be candid with you. I’m not so concerned about that one at all. But the mortality rate does seem to be higher, but we really don’t know because some nations don’t really have a good way of reporting some of those kinds of things. Anyway, regardless of what it is it’s still high. I’ll read some statistics here about some of that as well.

But my concern would be how these things can mutate, especially those that are related with animals, those that, especially if they’re partially manufactured, made, if somebody did conjure these things up in a laboratory. Some of those things can change quickly. Then we could have something really bad in the world. That ought to shake you up a little bit just to realize I need to be sobered and plan ahead. That’s what we’re talking about today, plan ahead.

Proverbs 1:7—The fear of the Eternal is the beginning... I like that word “beginning” because it means “it’s the principle part.” It’s the principle part of knowledge.

I love Proverbs anyway because the word “wisdom” is akin to what we see in the Book of John and other places, obviously, the word, the mind, the thinking of God. It comes from God. The source is God Almighty. True wisdom comes from God. Wisdom of mankind is not so wise, but God’s wisdom, that which comes from God, well, there is a beginning for it for us as human beings and it has to do with having a respect toward God, having a thinking and a mind toward God, that He is our Creator, and a process that begins there that if God says this then what am I supposed to do? As we begin to change and are converted in this process with God’s spirit awesome things begin to happen.

But this thing here about fear, we should fear to go against God. We should fear not to listen to God. That’s the whole point. That’s what this kind of fear is about. It’s the beginning. It’s the principle part of knowledge, of true knowledge of what God offers us. We grow then and we learn in those things and it’s a beautiful process, it truly is.

But as I mentioned earlier about certain things, about a relationship with God, I would be so afraid to go against God. If we really believe God, if we really believe what He says, why would we want to go against what He says in the first place? Why would we want to play these stupid little games? And yet people play stupid little games. That just reveals where your heart and mind is in the first place.

So anyone playing stupid little games, please do me a favor and just leave! Just leave! Just throw it all away! Be honest with yourself and with everyone else and just say, “I really don’t want this. I really don’t want to live in the Millennium. I really don’t want to be a part of the Church of God. I have these friends, and so forth, and I don’t have the guts to be able to say, “I’m lying to God and that’s why I’m not coming to services. That’s why I’m kind of stand-offish, because I’ve been lying to God and I’ve been lying to all of you.” So just be honest. Why can’t we just be honest? Say, “I’m a liar. I’m not being faithful. I’m not being true and I really don’t want this. I would rather die before the Millennium.”

Because that’s what you’re saying. Because that’s what’s going to happen to you. You don’t believe me? That’s exactly what’s going to happen to you. You want to build your family, you want to build your job, you want to build your career, you want to build other things right now, you want to go build your home, buy a new car, I don’t care what it is, it’s all going to go up in smoke for you. God is not going to allow you to live. That’s just a reality. I don’t know why we can’t believe such a thing. Well, because we don’t believe other things either, so it’s like we can deceive ourselves and do whatever we want to do.

I don’t mean to go into those things, but I’ll tell you what, I have cried out about such things for a long, long time and it just goes on and on and on. That’s why I made comments, every year from Feast to Feast I think of it. Who’s going to be gone by next year’s Feast? Because that’s the way it’s always been ever since I was baptized back in 1969. Every year people have gone by the wayside. It blows my mind and it hurts. If you know them, if you’ve been with them for a time, gone to God’s house side by side and counsel blended sweet, had fellowship together and then you get a knife stabbed in your back. It just hurts spiritually. Human nature – horrible, horrible, horrible.

The fear of the Eternal is the principle part of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Everyone who’s ever left, everyone who’s ever been put out of God’s Church is an absolute raging fool. Truly! An absolute fool for doing so. Foolish. There is nothing more foolish on earth than to have the ability to have known truth, to see it, to know the Great God (that very few have ever had over 6,000 years), and then to turn one’s back on it. I mean, it’s insanity, an exceedingly unsound mind that would make such a choice. No fear whatsoever in it.

Well, God has ways of teaching fear, to where you learn how to really fear. I hate to have to see people go through that. The world is going to have to learn fear here very soon when they see a third of the population destroyed very quickly. It’s what nuclear weapons can do, and it will. And what happens beyond that, whew; how much more? Could be a lot.

...but fools despise wisdom and instruction. My son, hear the instruction of your father, literally, spiritually, from God Almighty, and do not forsake, the word isn’t just “law.” It doesn’t mean just law. It’s about direction and instruction is how it’s used in Hebrew. ...and do not forsake the direction, the instruction of your mother. It’s about the Church. It’s about Christ who is the head of the Church. It’s about what He gives in the Church, through the Church.

So it says hear that instruction, do not forsake it, for they shall be an ornament of grace upon your head, as a wreath upon the head like a crown. It’s a matter of honor. It’s a matter of something that shows honor and respect toward God Almighty. It’s something that God gives to us. As we live this way of life He lets us share in a kind of honor, if you will, a kind of glory because of His sprit that dwells within us as we seek to obey and live by this way of life.

...and chains about your neck. In other words, it’s something you wear that lifts you up. It’s something that others can see. It’s exceedingly good.

So for several years now we’ve been warned to prepare both spiritually and physically. Both are in our choices and how we respond. But we’re back to some of the physical things right now and taking a good look at that today about planning ahead concerning what is coming.

We’ve now been given what I believe is the final document, the final book, if you will, that’s going to be used to inform and help any who will listen. I have many reasons for believing that one. A great big one is right here, me. I know that I don’t have that much in me unless God has a purpose of keeping it going, and I know that the arteries will get clogged again because God’s let me experience that. So I don’t have that much time and I realize that’s a part of what God has given and I take that in stride. I know that’s a reality of life, just a reality of life. It happens to all people. It’s the way we are as human beings.

So because of where we are there is no one else who has been positioned and brought into a place of learning and experience to do the same thing. That’s just a truth and a reality for God’s Church right now. I hope we grasp that one because there is a way that God works in our lives. So what happens? Well, the end of this age. That’s where we are.

So again, I look forward to things that are going to take place in time, things we’ve always known, when things begin to happen and once they begin to take place.

So again here, mentioned about the book being a part of a maturing process and the fact that we are where we are in it. Right now, sufficient what is out there, six chapters. It’s really sufficient in saying what needs to be said. Seventh a bonus, eight, another bit of a bonus, nine, if they get that far, a great bonus because it goes into God’s holy days and shows the purpose of all those things. But it doesn’t have to be there in order for the end to happen, take place here. Other things do need to be in place and are in place.

So how long do we have? Well, again, we don’t know, but we’d better be prepared now.

So look at the panic over something that, at least at this point, it really is so very small. It really is. People are going nuts. People are going batty. It reminds me of so many different examples in scripture, of things where God uses different examples for it, but they still apply now to the end of this age. I think about the one that talks about they hear, it’s like a leaf that falls, or whatever, or the rustling of a leaf, someone steps on it, on a leaf, and it makes this noise and people panic. God gives this example. People just panic in terror over something like that because they’re on edge and they just take things out of proportion.

Anyway, different examples like that that are out there in scripture that you think of how things are now and how the world is responding. Dumbfounding.

I’m going to go through some statistics and show some things again because it’s kind of funny; it took a little bit of time but some began to talk about it a little bit later. But again, “The seasonal flu,” just the seasonal flu “kills between 291,000 to 646,000 people worldwide each year (amazing!) according to a new estimate that’s higher than the previous one of 250,000 to 500,000 deaths a year.”[1] Hmmm. Hmmm. Weird, isn’t it? But people are taking this and going bananas.

So the updated numbers. I’m just going to read the article here. “The new figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other groups was published Dec. 13th in The Lancet medical journal. The updated numbers, which do not include deaths during flu pandemics, are based on more recent data from a larger and more diverse group of countries than the previous estimate, the CDC said. The data came from 33 countries that have 57 percent of the world's population and had seasonal flu numbers for a minimum of four years between 1999 and 2015. That information was used to create an estimate of flu-related respiratory deaths in 185 countries worldwide.”

So again, that’s why it’s such a wide margin here. It’s hard for them to know, but it’s extremely high.

“The study found that the risk of flu-related death was highest in the poorest regions of the world and among older adults.” Well, still a lot of people right here in the United States that die of it every year. Thousands, tens of thousands every year.

Well, at some point there will be a large marked increase, if you will, in the Thunders which can individually or collectively bring about far worse results, obviously, than what we’re experiencing right now. That’s what we need to be careful of, the potential for what can develop as time goes along, and even through hysteria or fear that people have, how that can affect you in your life. Because it can affect you.

You get stranded on a ship, you get stranded because of something that happened on a plane, they put you in a place—which has happened to a lot of people, different people in different parts of the world right now—you get to a certain city, you get stranded. Certain place in Italy, they just closed it all off. Certain things happen like that. It can happen quickly. So where are you going to be certain time? Because you have no control of what the government does then when those things take place. This is over something relatively small. What if something really bad happens? Something bad is going to happen, as time goes on here, in these things.

So again, at some point there is going to be a marked increase in Thunders which can individually or collectively bring about a far worse result and far more panic that will lead to countries making some very rash decisions. And yes, one of the major concerns at some point will be the realization of an unavoidable massive global economic collapse.

You know, we’re teetering right now. The world really is. If you look out here it looks pretty hunky dory in the United States. But it’s not that way everywhere. Governments are not real happy. Banking systems are not doing really well. It’s 2008 all over again. You talk about an incredible time period and what happened during that time period and they all relate back to that on a constant basis to what’s taking place, because that year had importance as far as God’s purpose and God’s plan. He revealed that. It keeps being looked at by other people in the world because we’re building up to a bigger one. It’s where we’re headed.

I mentioned that about a global economic collapse because I just looked at the internet here before services started and this is probably the best headline, the truest, if you will headline, the most realistic headline that people are kind of unaware of, in many ways. It says, “‘The Market Slump Is Just Beginning’ - Covid-19 Is Not The Cause, It's The Catalyst.”[2] Smart. It’s very perceptive because that’s exactly what’s taking place. It’s the catalyst for what’s taking place. It’s actually speeding up the process.

So does God have a reason for speeding up the process right now? All of a sudden? What’s ahead of us? Could we be that close? I believe with all my being we could so we’re still watching like we do. Now, I’m looking at that marker and I realize there is one a little farther up the road. But my eyes are still on this marker because you can’t pass it up until you’ve passed it, or a little bit before it, obviously, because it takes some time for these things to take place.

So have you made physical preparations? Are we doing the things we were admonished to do many years ago? To strive to prepare certain things for a month, two months, or three, somewhere in there? Because I’ll tell you what, when some of this started going around store shelves in some places... Italy? I have articles here of the craziness of people and what people do in situations like that.

Go out and try to buy some masks right now? You know, talking to someone, one of Laura’s family members that found out they have cancer and getting ready to take some chemo, and talked about the kind of mask he has to wear, a mask for prevention, you know, when you’re taking those things your body becomes susceptible to different things and so we’re talking about not being able to find them right now and told him about one kind that you might be able to pick up at a place like Lowes or Home Depot that’s the best type that’s out there. For those who want to know it’s called (gauged by) N99, is the rating of the thing. Anything less than that is not so good in comparison.

But we went out just to see what’s out there. The stores are bare. You can’t find them in Lowes. You can’t find them in Home Depot. You can’t find these things anywhere, as a whole. Amazon has some things that are a little more than what I had to pay when I had the dust mask, the type of mask for when I was doing some of the house and dust was flying everywhere. Contractors are having a hard time finding some of them because they need them, you know.

So again, preparations, what are we doing? Because if we’re not preparing for certain things we’re not being wise, we’re not planning ahead wisely. Water? We can’t take that for granted. You have to have some kind of thought about getting through a period of time because things can happen. Your community could get quarantined. You could be restricted from traveling out of your area. I mean, that’s how crazy things are. You don’t know when it’s coming, what’s going to happen. You have to be prepared. So what about supplies?

I’m going to read a little bit about flu and coronovirus. Not that you haven’t heard enough already. But I’m just going to read some highlights.

The “Flu (influenza, conventional, H1N1, H3N2, and bird flu [H5N1] facts,”[3] it says here. “Viruses that infect the respiratory tract cause influenza (commonly called ‘the flu’). The incubation period for flu is about 1-4 days. ... Flu spreads directly and indirectly; directly from person to person by airborne droplets produced during sneezing or coughing...and indirectly when contaminated droplets land on surfaces that are subsequently touched by uninfected individuals.”

You know, if the nation treated flu like this we’d be a lot healthier nation and there would be a lot fewer deaths in the United States every year. But we don’t. We play games with the flu and we really shouldn’t.

So do you practice the process of quarantine yourself when in doubt about the possibility of passing something along to others? We really need to be careful what we’re doing and how we do it. Do you know practical methods having to do with prevention through simple matters of cleanliness?

You know, I learned this a long time ago traveling. At least I started practicing different things. I’m very careful. I’m not the kind of person I would say that’s paranoid about things or go to extremes. What are some of those words if people don’t want to touch anybody? Which I understand. Germophobic. That’s not bad to have. But sometimes there’s maybe not the same kind of thinking toward that that the average person might have. But in the long run you’re probably going to be better off right now because you’re watching everything.

So there are basic things that all of us should apply, really, because people touch surfaces and we don’t tend to think about those kinds of things, an elevator button. How many people went up and down that thing? “5th Floor!” “6th Floor!” You know? People that are sick. It happens. So I use my knuckles. I have for ages.

Going in and out of doors, especially bathroom doors, what do you do? Well, when you come out better be different than when you go in. Really, it should be. Because here you’re talking about people that go in there, they’re hacking, they’re coughing. It happens all the time, when you’re travelling especially. People that are sick, they travel. They don’t care. Especially if they’re sitting behind you on the plane, that really makes you feel good. That’s the time to get your mask out, your N99. It’s amazing how human beings are.

Anyway, you need to be wise in what you do. Be careful what you touch. I thought about it on the way up here today. I was perspiring under my lip. I got a little warm. I was wearing this jacket. I didn’t want to stop and take it off so I wiped it and I thought, “There you go, little moisture there, that’s all it takes.” Around the nose, around the mouth, rub an eye. Something happens, you get something in there. How often do you rub your eye? Often. One little surface and it’s in your system. That’s how these things primarily are transported. It’s not just through the air and someone coughing straight in your face. There are things, surfaces, and so forth, and people catch things.

There’s a lot of debate out there from different ones. There are some that are so whacky. Anything that’s under the sun is written out there, but you need to be wise in how you do things.

So, you know, I like it when you go to an airport and you go to the bathroom and it has this thing on the door at the bottom, a little thing sticking out and you put your foot on it to pull it open with your foot. You don’t have to touch it. And if you don’t, you know what I do? I make sure that when I finish washing – and I don’t touch the faucet if it’s not one that’s automatic. I use my elbow, and most generally I use the towel that I’m washing with and then push it down with that. Then I take that to the door and I open the door with it. Then I either throw it there or I find a waste basket somewhere else and throw it away. Because there are all kinds of sick people going through those doors all the time.

So you have to think about those kinds of things, the kinds of surfaces you touch and what you’re doing, doors, handrails. Handles on grocery carts. How many people go through there and kids are sitting right there, you know, and they’re sick as all get out and parents take them through and it’s all over the bar, you know, their hands. Then things get passed along and we wonder where did I get it? How did I catch the flu? I wonder how that happened?

So again, learning not to touch your eyes, nose, mouth. Learning to get away from some of those kinds of things and thinking twice before you put your finger up there. Have I touched something? Seriously! Simple little things, physical things we can do that we need to be wise about.

Anyway, the article goes on and talks about, “Most people who get the conventional or seasonal flu recover completely in 1-2 weeks, but some people develop serious and potentially life-threatening medical complications, such as pneumonia.” Just like this coronavirus thing, people who are weaker, people who are older, system is not working as well, lung problems, whatever it is, breathing, that’s an easy target for something like that that strikes.

It goes on to say, “In April 2009, a new flu virus termed novel H1N1 swine flu developed in Mexico, rapidly spread worldwide, and caused the WHO,” World Health Organization, “to declare a flu pandemic. Eventually, the WHO declared the pandemic over in 2010. In 2012, a new type of flu strain developed, H3N2v, but has not developed into any epidemic situations currently.”

Each year, from around October through May, international health coverage is primarily focused on the flu – and with good reason: The flu is notoriously infectious and can cause up to 45 million illnesses each year,”[4] in the United States. Just people getting ill from it. It’s not talking about the deaths into the tens of thousands. “…according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But this year, the new coronavirus outbreak (aka, COVID-19) is dominating the headlines, causing more than 80,000 illnesses in just over two months.” Who knows what the real number is.

“Coronaviruses,” plural, “are a group of viruses that are common in both humans and animals that usually cause mild to moderate respiratory illnesses.”

“The flu is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses that affect the nose, throat, and sometimes the lungs. ... Older people, young children, and people with certain chronic conditions (asthma, heart disease, diabetes, among others) are at increased risk for serious complications including pneumonia.”

“Influenza ‘the flu’ and COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, are both infectious respiratory illnesses. Although the symptoms of COVID-19 and the flu can look similar, the two illnesses are caused by different viruses.”[5]

I think we pretty much all know that after all that’s on TV. That’s about all you can find.

“COVID-19,” it says, “Approximately,” and this is a little bit old now, “Approximately 84,000 cases worldwide; 62 cases in the U.S. as of Mar. 8, 2020. Flu: Estimated 1 billion cases,” billion cases, “worldwide; 9.3 million to 45 million cases in the U.S. per year.”

“COVID-19: Approximately 2,871 deaths reported worldwide; 0 deaths...” Well, that’s changed. What is it up to now? 13, 12, 14, 11? Somewhere in there? And you think in one day a tornado killed 24 people. “Flu: 291,000 to 646,000,” I mentioned that earlier, “deaths worldwide; 12,000 to 61,000 deaths in the U.S. per year.”

Anyway, God gives instruction for a purpose about clean and unclean foods. There’s a lot said in scripture about cleanliness. As a matter of fact there are a lot of scriptures that talk about, uses examples of what we’re supposed to be like, candidly, that we should understand physically that God uses in scripture to teach us something spiritual. Those examples are throughout the Bible, you know. “Clean me as hyssop,” you know. It’s like a Clorox, “Make me white,” you know, when your washing something, whatever it might be, and “cleanse me from sin that defiles the body,” and so forth. Well, there are physical things that affect us and we’re to be on guard, you know, we’re to be watchful. We’re to learn. God wants us to be healthy. He wants us to practice things that yield to good health – more so spiritually, obviously, and that should be first and foremost in our lives, but we should strive to do the other as well, as God gives instruction, and learn from those things.

Anyway, to wisely plan ahead means we need to be alert physically and spiritually. We need to be sobered by the kind of continuing news that’s in front of us from week to week, and oftentimes day by day, and understand what’s taking place. Thunders are increasing. I hope we’re not blind to that, or Thunders are sound, so deaf to that. I hope we’re hearing them. But you’ve got to be alert to things. You can’t just listen to local news. You’ve got to look a little bit. You’ve got to look around a little bit. You’ve got to look on your computer, look at world news, keep abreast of things that are going on in the world.

There are a lot of nasty things going on out there between nations and things that are taking place in the economy around the world. I’ll tell you what, there are people who hate us with all their being right now. They see us prospering because we’ve turned inward, protectionist, if you will, wanting others to pay their fair share whether it be in things like NATO, whether it be things like all this dole that’s been given out to nations for years and years and years. “Like, what do we ever receive back?” I understand that. That’s a good question to ask. “You know, you’re taking advantage and what are you doing to benefit what you’re being given?”

Well, people haven’t asked that in times past and now it’s just expected. Now that they’re not getting it, now because of different trade relations and stuff going on we’re doing well, but what about the rest of them? How are they doing? Now you add that to coronavirus? And China?

You know what? We have been so stupid – greedy is the word – as a nation because everything, we can make it cheaper over there. Now you know what there are a bunch of them finding out? Oh, this is going to cost us. This is going to cost us big! We’ve been too dependent. Now we can’t get the things we need.

You know that tons and tons and tons of medication comes from that place? What happens? What was it? Some of the masks that were coming over on a ship got called back, if I understand the story correctly. It’s like, “They’re not going to make it over there. We need them back here.” Because so much is made in China; we became too dependent on the kind of labor. Made them a great nation economically because we’re so rotten in the sense of greed, greed, greed, corporate greed. We can make a little bit more, 5% more, 10% here, whatever it might be and have greater profits.

You think, man, we are so sick! It’s come back to bite us. It’s going to bite bigger before this is over with. It really is. It’s starting to bite big and it’s going to be a lot bigger.

That’s why I have more concern, I’m more sobered about where we might be right now. We ought to be sobered and stirred before we get to the days of Unleavened Bread. This world may have changed before we get to the days of Unleavened Bread. You don’t know when it’s going to strike, if it happens in this period of time before Pentecost. You don’t know when things are going to strike, when they’re going to happen. That ought to sober you to the core of your being to realize if it’s not now, one day it’s going to be like this and a whole lot scarier when it happens.

So again, we need to be prepared and plan ahead wisely for fear, even unfounded fear, can cause people to react in extreme ways and adversely affect people around the world. It’s incredible.

So consider travel and becoming stranded, as I mentioned earlier. I want to make sure I cover these things because of something like an outbreak of the coronavirus in different areas that we’ve already seen. Already mentioned about store shelves being stripped and fear that struck (supposedly) the stock market. Well, again, I like that article because it’s not the cause, it’s the catalyst of something that’s already out there going on, taking place that people don’t talk about as much, that the world isn’t hunky dory, peachy keen. Everyone is not prospering. So we might have a low unemployment rate, we might have some prosperity where more people are at work and there is more work out there than ever before, it appears in this country, but the rest of the world isn’t like that, and because of everything that’s happened, it’s easy to see how someone would say, “Now is the time. Let’s just end this. Let’s go to war.” That’s the kind of reasoning that leads to wars. Protectionism has led to wars.

This one here, I’m going to read a few things, different articles: “Disruption Escalates: Proctor And Gamble Says Over 17,000 Products Potentially Impacted By Coronavirus.”[6] “Proctor and Gamble, one of the world's biggest ‘everyday product’ manufacturers, has now officially warned that 17,600 of its products could be affected and disrupted by the coronavirus. The company's CFO, Jon Moeller, said at a recent conference that P&G used 387 suppliers across China...” Well, shame on you for doing something so stupid. “...shipping more than 9,000 materials, according to CIPS.org.”

“Smart phones and cars are so far among the consumer products that have been hardest hit from the virus. In fact, according to TrendForce, ‘forecasts for product shipments from China for the first quarter of 2020 had been slashed, by 16% for smart watches (to 12.1m units), 12.3% for notebooks (30.7m units) and 10.4% for smart phones (275m units).’” This hurts people’s pockets. It would have been better to have made them somewhere else. “Cars have dropped 8.1% (19.3m units).” That’s escalating fast.

Another one, I’m just going to read it, a whole bunch of these. “‘It's Total Panic’ - Store-Shelves Empty As Virus-Spread Sparks Panic-Buying Food & Masks Across Italy.”[7] I just thought some of these were interesting. “With more than 220 people infected...” That’s all. Their response? It says, “Italy has the most coronavirus victims of any country in Europe. Seven people have died. Footage out of Milan shot yesterday shows some products almost or entirely out of stock,” on store shelves. They show pictures of these things all the way.

“Some residents flippantly likened the situation to a ‘zombie apocalypse.’” Not so funny when this gets bigger, you know. They might say, yeah, it looks like that, but one of these days...

“Lock downs are in place in the regions of Lombardy and Veneto, with 50,000 people being unable to leave without special permission. Numerous museums, cinemas, bars...” Oh, you don’t want to close the bars! Anyway, “...businesses and schools have also shut down and sporting activities have been suspended.” Amazing!

Here is one from Southwest Airlines: “...CEO warns drop off in domestic travel over coronavirus has a ‘9/11-like feel.’” And you know what happened back then with their travel, and they’re starting to experience it already.

Okay, I have someone in the Church every week that sends me a list of articles, that usually I get different ones sent to me, the highlights of them, and then kind of a summation at the end. (Thank you down in Mississippi!) Anyway, a wrap-up every week for one week news and headlines and so forth, of what had happened, and I just want to read you a few of these.

This is going back three Sabbaths ago, what happened during that week up to that point. Just a whole bunch of headlines: “‘Like Something Out Of The Book Of Exodus’: Locust Armies Are Devouring Entire Farms In Kenya ‘In As Little As 30 Seconds’”[8] Now, that’s difficult to grasp. Now, this is over different parts. This is a large region of the world. It’s not just in this area of Africa. I don’t know how many people have known about that. You know, you need to realize that, hey, this affects food supplies, everything else that’s going on, along with this scare. How are people responding to those kinds of things?

Another one: “Japan Unexpectedly Reports Terrible GDP As It Slides Into Recession.”[9]

Another one: “US Paving Way to Deploy Intermediate and Short-Range Missiles in Europe and Asia – Lavrov.”[10]

Another one:  “Talk is Cheap? EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell Urges Europe to Develop 'Appetite for Power.'”[11] No surprise.

Another article from Israel Today. It says: “Gog and Magog? Russia Warns Israel of War Over Syria.”[12]

Another one: “US Firms In China Suffering ‘Severe Shortages Of Workers,’ Warn Virus Impact Hitting Supply Chains.”[13] That’s putting it mildly.

“HSBC” big bank “To Cut 35,000 Jobs, Shed $100 Billion In Assets As Profits Plunge.”[14]

“Dominos Are Falling – China Shutdown To Crush India’s Already-Crumbling Economy.”[15]

“Pakistan set to import,” –this is amazing— “Pakistan set to import anti-locust chemicals from India after UN issues 'TWIN INVASION' alert – report.”[16] Now, for them to do that it has to be bad because they do not get along at all. They loathe each other, as a whole, as far as two nations are concerned. They’re on the edge with each other – even threatening nuclear use of weapons at times it gets that heated. But again, locust all the way over there in that part of the world.

“Supply Chain Chaos Unfolds At Major Chinese Ports As Frozen Meat Containers Pile Up.”[17] That’ll probably end up in the United States. I’m talking about bad meat by the time it gets here.

“Libyan Pro-Haftar Forces Attack Turkish Ship ‘Loaded With Arms’ At Tripoli Port.”[18] You can read things like that and “Well, what’s that all about?” Well, do we know? Do we know what’s happening in different parts of the world between different nations and what this is doing with the United States, with the EU, and how it’s affecting a lot of different places, what Turkey is doing? Because it’s Turkey that’s trying to provide arms down there. They’re attacking these because there is this battle going on. People want to have more – more land. Interesting. More control.

Another one: “EU Will Deploy Warships Off Libya's Coast To Enforce UN Arms Embargo.”[19] Why? Because Turkey is sending them down there and they want to stop this.

“First ever Iranian display of future nuclear-capable Sejjil missile.”[20] They keep playing around, different people do. I wonder where that was being shipped to. Hmmm.

“As China Grinds To A Halt, Firms Can No Longer Afford To Pay Workers.”[21]

“Turkey Threatens ‘Imminent’ Large Scale Invasion Of Idlib...” in Syria, “To Halt Syrian-Russian Advance.”[22] There is  a lot of things heated up in the world over there, in the Middle East area, and things that Israel is doing into Syria and things that Turkey is doing coming down in Syria, and things that the Russians are doing in Syria, and I think we want to be out, basically, the feeling is. Thousands and thousands of years it’s never changed there. It’s the same old thing. It’s just one big circle. Just keeps going on and on and on. If they just watched Laurence of Arabia they’d understand.

“Coronavirus could wipe out $1 trillion from global economy.”[23] Well, it’s actually passed that by a long shot.

“China Injects A Record 5 Trillion Yuan In New Debt To Arrest Economic Crash.”[24]

Another one: “Largest Shipping Decline Since 2009 and That's Before Coronavirus.”[25] This has been an ongoing thing.

Again, do we realize things that are taking place? Why has the shipping been down like it has for so long and getting worse and worse and worse? Because these are indicators of a global economy and how it’s working. We live in an age of a global economy, and if you start shaking that and interfering with that, things begin to crash in different countries around the world. We may not be paying now and we may look very prosperous, but it’s going to hit.

Another one: “10 Italian towns in lockdown over coronavirus fears.”[26]

“‘Hundreds of animals mysteriously drop dead in China amid Coronavirus outbreak.’[27] Chinese authorities have admitted they have discovered mass animal deaths in the epicentre of the outbreak Hubei province.” Hmmm. Amazing.

“With Half Of China Locked Up, Car Sales Plunge 92%.”[28]

Another article: “US Exposed To Immediate Impact From ‘Supply-Chain Shock,’ Deutsche Says,”[29] Deutsche Bank. “The biggest takeaway from the report is that, surprisingly, the European Union is less directly exposed to a China supply-chain shock than the US, Canada, Japan, and all the major Asian countries (i.e., India, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam).”

Another one: “US conducts exercise to prepare for nuclear exchange with Russia – Pentagon.”[30] I’m sure Russia loves to hear that one. They know what’s going on, what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. “Well, why are you doing that to us? Why?” They’re doing the same thing, but anyway.

The next week. I’m just reading a few headlines. “‘Worst fears realised’ as locusts seen hatching in Africa with new wave set to hit.”[31] So they did something and then another swarm comes that’s bigger because there are so many and they’ve hatched and now another wave starts. You think, wow!

Another one: “‘It Will Be Really, Really Bad’: China Faces Financial Armageddon...” You know, it’s interesting the word they use even. “...Financial Armageddon With 85% Of Businesses Set To Run Out Of Cash In 3 Months.”[32]

“Black Monday: Dow Futures Down 800, Europe Crashes Most In Four Years...”[33] Now, that was just the beginning of some of this.

Then on Monday. That was Sunday/Monday; minus 1,031 on the Dow. I’ll tell you what, what’s been happening there for the last two weeks is exactly what was happening in 2008 – up, down, up, down. The bad thing is there are people making tons of money because it goes up and down. The vast majority take a beating but there are people who can use it because they have the funds to be able to control, or to be in it and stay in it and go up and then down, inject money, up, take it out, down, and they make tons, tons of money for doing it.

It’s a sick, sick, greedy world, it really is, and people are oblivious to those things, how it really works, what’s really doing on. Even governments inject money, which happened back then – this government as well. But not directly; it goes through different sources. It comes out of Switzerland or some other place, through some other government or through some other corporation, something that’s set up in order to inject large amounts of money into it to prop it up to make it look good. Then it goes down...and then up. The games people play and that governments play. Anyway, I’m so sick of this world.

“Subprime Credit Card Delinquencies Spike To Record High, Surpass Financial-Crisis Peak.”[34] Do you know what financial crisis they’re referring to? 2008. Always goes back to that.

Tuesday the Dow was down 879.

Another article: “Scientists Discover HIV-Like ‘Mutation’ Which Makes Coronavirus Extremely Infectious.”[35] Well, that should be a no-brainer. But Dow down minus 123 that day.

Another one: “Erdogan's Nightmare: 3 Turkish Drones Shot Down In 24 Hours Over Syria & Libya.”[36] They shouldn’t be playing around in Libya.

“Japan’s Abe Closes Schools Nationwide...”[37]  Isn’t that amazing, that kind of fear? Close all the schools nationwide?

“South Korea Confirms 505 New Cases, Surpassing China For First Time.”[38]

Another one: “The Dow is on track for its worst weekly slide since the 2008 financial crisis.”[39] This is just the beginning of some of this.

Another one: “‘Worst Thing In My Career’ - US Stocks Suffer Fastest Collapse From Record Highs Since Great Depression.”[40]

Another one: “Turkey opens border to Europe for Syrian refugees as EU relations break down.”[41] “TURKEY will no longer stop Syrian refugees from reaching Europe by land and sea, a senior Turkish official told Reuters on Thursday, in anticipation of the imminent arrival of refugees from Syria’s Idlib, where nearly a million have been displaced.”

You know, it’s hard to grasp how many people, how many millions that even Turkey has been taking care of all this time. They had this agreement between the EU and Turkey and then for certain financial help for a certain period of time that they would keep these camps down there and keep them from flooding into Europe.

Well, now that’s a little shaky because it’s getting to the point where Turkey can’t handle this. They’re saying, “You’re not sharing the burden, and if you’re paying, you’re not paying enough.” The other said, “Well, we made an agreement to pay and now you’re going to say you’re going to let them in!” So it’s massive. They’ve already let millions in over a short period of time and now you’re talking about adding to that, flooding Europe? They can’t survive that. An economy can’t survive that. Anyway, crazy world.

That Thursday the Dow down 1,190. Crazy. Insane.

Then Friday: “‘Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars Lost’ As Shipping Rates Collapse Due To ‘Hugely Disruptive’ Virus.”[42] In the last couple of week’s truck and rail operations at the port that extends into California have plunged to a tune of 20-25%. These are not small things. They affect countries. They affect nations. They affect corporations worldwide. Tthey’re already hurting. Maybe not in the United States right yet, and they have ways of covering a lot of those things like so many are so good at doing.

“Hyundai Halts Production At Major South Korean Plant After Worker Tests Positive For Coronavirus.”[43] Just shut the whole thing down.

Next one here: “$5 Trillion Wiped Out From World Stocks Amid Fastest Collapse In History.”[44]

Here is an article: “It Begins: Hawaii Stores Empty Out On Coronavirus ‘Panic Buying.’”

Another one a little bit later: “WHO raises global alert rating to very high from high as Kudlow insists Coronavirus won’t have much of an impact on the U.S. economy.” You talk about haughtiness and pride? God talks about that in scripture, the pride, the pride that’s here at the very end, the pride of this nation. Pride comes before a fall and that example is carried out in scripture of prophetic things that happen in the end-time here of certain things. You look at what people are saying and the pride, it’s not just strong; it’s exceedingly strong right now.

How do you think God responds to that? Of course, it’s all for a purpose and it’s to teach great lessons when it’s all said and done. But there’s a reason these things are taking place the way they are. There is a reason we’re prospering. It’s not because of how great we are and what we’ve done that’s so great. God’s in charge and God allows certain things to take place in certain times for a specific purpose.

Another one here: “Russia Blames Turkey For Its 33 Troops Killed Embedded With ‘Terrorists’; Turkey Vows To Escalate.”[45] Well, maybe you shouldn’t have them there.

“Dow slides over 3,500 points in worst week since financial crisis of 2008.”[46] One week. That’s not a small thing. And you know what? People are shrugging it off now. It’s like, “Meh, no big thing. We can get back. We can handle this. Our nation is great. We’re going to be able to come through this little bump in the road. Other nations, they might have some battles and stuff, but oh, well, they should have listened to us.” Haughty, haughty, haughty.

Then news, the last one here, from February 29 – March. This is just week after week after week and these things just magnifying over and over again.

“Greece Sends 50 Naval Vessels & Commandos To Block Refugee Wave Out Of Turkey.”[47] So they’re coming in in different ways because he’s not keeping them back anymore, Erdogan. Turkey is, “Go on. Wherever you can get in.” There are some articles here that talk about now he sends in troops to make sure they can’t come back in. Once they get out, they get into Greece or other parts of Europe, he’s making sure they don’t come back into Turkey. Yet others are trying to stop them from getting in. Crazy world!

Here is an article, again. These headlines say it all sometimes. “‘Get out of the way, let us deal with Assad regime’, Erdogan says he told Putin regarding Idlib, Syria.”[48]

Another one: “Over 47,000 Cross Turkey-EU Border as Brussels 'Closely' Follows Situation with 'Concern.'”[49] Isn’t that like a government? “We’re watching it with close concern, rest assured. It’s only 47,000. We are watching this so it doesn’t get, you know, too bad.”

“Two Syrian Jets,” another one, “Shot Down By Turkey Near Idlib As War Escalates.”[50] That’s how things escalate. Just one spark. It didn’t start a war there, but it’s getting closer.

“Chaos As Thousands Of Refugees Charge Greek Border En Masse; 15,000 Surge Into EU Border Town.”[51] That’s kind of like our border. Sad, the kind of world we live in today, isn’t it?

Another one: “US Carrier Strike Group Enters Mediterranean As Syria & Turkey Move To State Of War.”[52] It’s not just them. It’s the Greeks and the Turks as well. There is so much friction right now going on over there because of gas they found in the Mediterranean and people who are fighting for position and battle ships and what they’ve done toward each other, and jets screaming over and just pushing each other. One day, as it just takes one to start. You think, hmm, they’re both in Europe. Aren’t they all part of NATO? What is going on?

“Bank Of Japan Buys Record 101 Billion Yen In ETFs To Stabilize Markets.”[53] So China, Japan, other countries, other banking systems out there.

“The Threat Of Nuclear War Between US & Russia Is Now At Its Greatest Since 1983.[54]” Well, let’s talk about that. Then that day the Dow was down 785. The next day it goes up plus 1,173. We’re getting it back! No, but somebody made a big profit...but it probably wasn’t you.

“Coronavirus: Italy closes all schools and universities.”[55]

“German Minister Declares Outbreak ‘A Global Pandemic.’”[56] Give me a break! It doesn’t fit into the category of a global pandemic, you know.

A lot of these things are just used as excuses for other things. Like he said, it’s not the cause, it’s the catalyst and so we can blame our problems on that. So if it kind of gets bad in here and things do happen it’s, “Well, it was the coronavirus. Everything was going great until it came along.” That’s how people are.

“Coronavirus global death rate at 3.4%; Death rate for seasonal flu typically is around 0.01%”[57] So may well be much higher. Of course, we don’t know how many people really carry it and how many people really had it, and there’s no way to really test for these things very well. The ones they are, some of those are failing and making us a laughing stock.

“Up to 90,000 Israelis in quarantine.” Now, how would you have liked to have been visiting over there when, what was it, some Koreans were in Bethlehem? The whole place, they’re in lockdown. But anyway, again, “Up to 90,000 Israelis in quarantine, 15 confirmed coronavirus cases.”[58] Talk about fear, running at a little bit of noise?

“China Car Sales Crash 80% As Virus Paralyzes Auto Industry.”[59]

“Indian Government Nationalizes 4th Largest Bank As Shadow Banking Crisis Looms.”[60] I’ll tell you what. You just look at nation after nation and what they’re doing with their banking systems, what they’re doing with their currencies. This world is on the edge. We really are. It’s 2008 all over again, it really is, very powerfully so, except we’re really in worse shape now because of what we’ve done in the world. The Dow that day down 969.

“Huge Swarms Of Locusts Which Have ‘Overwhelmed Their Natural Predators’ Heading For Israel And India.”[61] Amazing! Things are heated up. They really are. Haven’t seen anything yet.

“Oil plunges 10% for worst day in more than 5 years after OPEC+ fails to agree on a massive production cut.”[62] Saudi’s wanted a production cut. Did you see on the news they’re having troubles in the royal family and arresting a whole bunch of people in their own family and brother against brother and parent, whatever. You think, better get a score card out. This is going to be nasty. They don’t play games over there.

Anyway, can you believe oil, where it is? Do you know where oil is? Do you know where it has been in the past? Do you realize that the world has a gigantic, huge, huge, glut of oil? Tankers are on the ocean with oil, filled, and they can’t unload. Just all over the world things like this are happening.

Hmmm, and we’re now self-sufficient and we’re trying to sell to other nations now. It used to be we were on the other end of the stick. How does that affect global markets? But we’re doing well here because look, prices are down. Awesome! Man, we are great! Sorry, makes me sick.

One more and I’ll stop, I promise. Well, maybe I have some in my notes so I can’t promise. Just a minute, let me back up. I may have lied, I don’t know, stretched the truth, whatever.

The article is, “The Myth of Moderate Nuclear War.”[63] You think how nations think. This reveals it all, how dumb. I hope you, in watching politics and what’s taking place, you’re coming to understand how dumb human beings can be. I mean, really, really dumb. I don’t mean a little dumb, I mean really dumb, stupid, foolish. It’s insanity in so many cases.

People who plan strategies and do various things, who have the power, it reminds me of the Old Testament when different ones gave advice to the king, and when they wouldn’t listen to God, when they wouldn’t listen to what a prophet was telling them and they wanted something, “Tell us... We’re tired of hearing him. We’re tired of listening to him. Tell us...” They knew you better tell him good things or it’s not going to be good for you. So if you want to be on the king’s side you better tell him some nice things.

You know, nations do that, too. In this country people know what the leader wants to hear. They will change reports. They will alter reports. Corporations do it all the time. People do it all the time. “I know what they want...” You know what they want to hear because they pretty much tell you what they expect and what’s taking place. So for it to take place your report better reflect that or you may not have a job, you may not receive favor. I hope you understand that takes place all the time in politics, in corporations, wherever you look.

I don’t know about you, but I am so sick of human nature. I am so thankful we’re almost there for God to clean up this planet. It stinks! It stinks to high heaven, literally.

Anyway, this is authored by someone of the Strategic Culture Foundation. It says, “There are many influential supporters of nuclear war, and some of these contend that the use of ‘low-yield’ and/or short-range weapons is practicable without the possibility of escalation to all-out Armageddon.” Well, let’s just throw that one in every chance we get, Armageddon.

“In October 2013 the Washington Post reported that ‘The CIA is expanding a clandestine effort to train opposition fighters in Syria amid concern that moderate,’ moderate, ‘US-backed militias are rapidly losing ground in the country’s civil war...’” What it’s doing in this article is going on and showing how stupid the term “moderate” is in war and in arming militia. So how do you moderately arm them and are they really moderate in how they’re responding? Moderate fighting? It’s just stupid. It’s dumb!

Anyway, “... The belief that there could be any grouping of insurgents that could be described as ‘moderate rebels’ is bizarre and it would be fascinating to know how Washington’s planners classify such people.”

A little farther in the article: “And even vaster amounts of money are being spent on developing and producing what might be classed as moderate nuclear weapons...” So he’s showing, he’s building up to this, showing even the idea of these kinds of things in battle, in war, is nuts. When you start applying it to nuclear weapons it really goes into fairy tale land in a big way.

“...in that they don’t have the zillion-bang punch of most of its existing 4,000 plus warheads. It is apparently widely believed in Washington that if a nuclear weapon is (comparatively) small, then it’s less dangerous than a big nuclear weapon.” That if that’s the case other nations should respect the fact that it’s a small one. “So you should only use a small one if we use a small one. And we’ll only use a small one if you use a small one.” That’s the thinking. “It’s moderate nuclear weapons. That’s why we want to build them. That’s why we want to have them. So we don’t have these great, big things out here that just smack the tar out of cities and level them and kill hundreds of thousands of people. Let’s make it so they could kill fewer than a hundred thousand.”

“In January 2019 the Guardian reported that ‘the Trump administration has argued the development of a low-yield weapon would make nuclear war less likely, by giving the US a more flexible deterrent.’” In fact, the only thing that’s really given much of a deterrent in times past is the fact that you’re the biggest, you carry the biggest stick. That’s human nature. That’s the truth. That’s the way nations have to deal with each other, who has the biggest stick. Because if you fear the bigger stick then that’s the deterrent. Not this. That’s just the way the world is, sadly.

The point of all this to show you is regardless of what happens in the world we’re destroying the earth as it is, but nuclear weapons one day are going to be used no matter what happens, it doesn’t matter. It’s just that God’s in charge and He’s going to make the timeline work in a specific way.

“In fact, the nuclear war envisaged in that scenario would be a global catastrophe — as would all nuclear wars, because there’s no way, no means whatever, of limiting escalation. Once a nuclear weapon has exploded and killed people, the nuclear-armed nation to which these people belonged is going to take massive action. There is no alternative, because no government is just going to sit there and try to start talking with an enemy that has taken the ultimate leap in warfare.”

“War is confusing in the extreme, and tactical planning can be extremely complex. But there is no precedent for nuclear war, and nobody — nobody — knows for certain what reactions will be to such a situation in or near any nation.”

Anyway, I just thought you read some of these things and you think, looney tunes. “Low yield nuclear weapons. It’s a deterrent. Because if you have low ones and you’re putting them close to my border like you’re going to throughout Europe, and you’re going to move them in a little closer, they’re only low yield, just low yield so...”

“‘Credible deterrence’ is a favorite catch-phrase of the believers in limited nuclear war, but its credibility is suspect.” That’s why I think about what was written and think even more so today to be able to see how people think and this nation thinks and how it might respond to something after we experience what’s going to be experienced. And sure, there’s going to be a reaction, but I can see why there won’t be any response for a time even though there in reality should have been. But anyway, time will tell.

“In late February US Defence Secretary Esper was reported as having taken part in a ‘classified military drill in which Russia and the United States traded nuclear strikes.’” These things go on all the time. It’s just they don’t report them. This is interesting that it’s being reported, the Pentagon announces it. The ideas behind that is so that Russia hears and Russia tells what they have and these hypersonic types of devices that they say they have. Anyway, so it’s like you have that stick, I have this stick. My stick is bigger than your stick.

“These self-justifying war games are dangerous. And they bring Armageddon ever closer.” So it’s amazing the kind of terms that get bandied about that a few years ago you really wouldn’t be hearing.

Anyway, enough of that. Isaiah 30:15. So we’d better be preparing wisely. That’s the point of all this; I hope we have the ears to hear the fact that things are escalating around the world in many different areas. I haven’t touched everything by any measure. There are all kinds of things taking place out there that fit into the category of Thunders. Just like the book is a Thunder, if we understand what the Thunders are.

Isaiah 30:15—For thus says the Lord Eternal, the Holy One of Israel: In returning, or in other words, turning to God, as far as repentance. So a mindset of thinking and God addressing some of these things. A lot of this in Isaiah has to do with the end of the age here. ...and rest you can be saved. So in other words, if you will listen, if you will respond. That’s exactly what it’s saying.

In quietness, in other words, in calm and being undisturbed and things working out as a nation, as people, and in confidence... In other words, the feeling concerning being secure. It can be genuine, in other words, that’s what God is saying. ...can be/should be your strength. But it isn’t. It’s pride today. It’s not reliance and dependence on God. It’s not looking to God. God’s not in the picture whatsoever. It says, but you refused. You don’t listen.

Verse 16—But you said, No, for we will flee upon horses. Now, you have to understand what’s being said here. Back in Isaiah’s time there are expressions that people use to explain what their thinking is like. Basically, what it’s saying is, “We can outpace this. We can get away from this. We can move past this. We’re great!” “Don’t take your money out; leave it in there because it’s going to come back up again. Just leave it in long enough.” People look back at history, yeah, look at over 30-40 years, it’s come up a lot, you just hang in there. Well, we don’t live in that kind of a world because God’s bringing it to an end. They don’t understand that part.

…we will flee upon horses, in other words, we can out pace this, we can get ahead of this. That’s basically the thinking of corporations and people. They hold on and do whatever they finagle, whatever they have to do. Same expression. “This is not going to stop us. We’re going to get past this. We’re going to move on.” That’s the kind of expression it is.

...therefore you shall flee. You’re going to do it. That’s how you’re going to respond. And said (you said), We will ride upon the swift. You know, in other words, not just are you going to do this, that attitude that I’m going to outpace this, we can overcome this, we can get ahead of this, but also we’re going to do it quickly. That’s what it’s saying. That’s a unique way, poetic way of saying it. “We’re going to do it quickly; speedily we’re going to take care of this. This isn’t going to last long. We’ve got this under control.” “Coronavirus, it’s under control!” Okay. Maybe it is and maybe it isn’t.

Therefore, what pursues you will be swift. God says with that attitude, with that thinking, refusing what I tell you, you will not listen, you keep going on, and throughout Isaiah it talks about the haughtiness and pride and He’s going to bring it down and that it’s stench to God Almighty, the kind of respond that mankind has had, and especially scattered nations of Israel.

He says, therefore, you are this way in your thinking, therefore what comes upon you is going to be swift. So again, it’s about time. Things can happen quickly. Things can happen rapidly. When it does happen it’s going to be rapid, it’s going to be quick.

I am so thankful to understand that, that we don’t have to go through what we used to think in the sense of we have to be in great tribulation, physical tribulation, horrible, horrible, sick and dying world for 3½ years. The reality is with nuclear weapons we couldn’t survive that long.

Verse 17—One thousand will flee at the rebuke, which is a word that means “the threat” of one. So one threat comes along and people just, it’s like this massive fleeing, getting out of the way. One threat. ...at the rebuke of five, five threats, five things, that’s what the word means, in essence, five come along.

Well, one, that’s big, but you get five out there, what do you do then? Basically, it’s meaning here that you will flee, all will flee. In other words, a few thousand maybe at one—people go a little nuts, coronavirus—but when  you have five hit you and hitting  you all at the same time (and that’s going to happen) then all will flee as the thinking in the mind is concerned.

...until you are left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on a hill, in other words, until all can see it. That’s exactly where we’re headed as far as this world is concerned and as far as what’s going to take place.

Verse 18—Therefore, the Eternal will wait, that or until, as the word is, He may be gracious unto you. God has patience and He’s going to bring about everything to pass exactly as He said because He’s waited a long time anyway. 6,000 years with mankind, seeing mankind, experiencing the response of mankind, experiencing His own Church for nearly 2,000 years, of how the vast majority have turned against Him once impregnated with His holy spirit. Astounding! The majority!

That’s why it’s not hard for me to grasp “the sands of the sea” as people in the Great White Throne who will not choose God’s way of life, who will join up with a spirit being with an attitude, “Let’s destroy it.” God will destroy them then with the 3rd Woe. Incredible.

Therefore, the Eternal will wait until He may be gracious unto you. That’s God’s goal. That’s God’s desire. That’s God’s plan. He is looking forward to the time that He can begin to pour out His love, His mercy, His patience, His kindness upon mankind that’s never been given to mankind yet because the time wasn’t right, because the preparation and everything that was needed for that wasn’t there until He brought an end to man’s rule.

We’re there; He’s going to bring an end to mankind’s rule. Then. He’s waited. That’s what this is talking about. He’s waited patiently. Then He’ll be gracious to the world because that’s His time. That’s the time for His government to reign over the earth, for His truth to be known by all.

...and therefore, will He be exalted. God is going to guarantee that He’s going to be exalted. When His government reigns, when Christ is here, 144,000 ruling and reigning, He’s going to be exalted awesomely so. ...that He may have mercy upon you. For the Eternal God is a God of judgment.

So the Bible is filled with things about judgment and bringing mankind to a point of judgment so that we can learn, so we can look at ourselves and say, “Look what we did through 6,000 years, and look what we did at the end of that time with all the technology that we had that we thought we did, that we came up with. God just gave it to us and look how we used it.” Look how we use all the technology today.

Blessed are those who wait for Him. That’s us. Because we trust Him, we rely upon, we know what God’s getting ready to do and we go through whatever we have to go through to get to that point. So God waits and we wait upon God. We have great peace in that. Awesome!

Anyway, to sum it all up, we are so blessed to have Yahweh Elohim, the Great God of the universe, to be our God.

[1] https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=208914

[2] https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/market-slump-just-beginning-covid-19-not-cause-its-catalyst

[3] https://www.medicinenet.com/influenza/article.htm

[4] https://www.health.com/condition/infectious-diseases/coronavirus-worse-than-flu

[5] https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/coronavirus-disease-2019-vs-the-flu

[6] https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/disruption-escalates-proctor-and-gamble-says-over-17000-products-potentially-impacted

[7] https://www.zerohedge.com/health/store-shelves-empty-virus-spread-sparks-panic-buying-across-italy

[8] https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/like-something-out-of-the-book-of-exodus-locust-armies-are-devouring-entire-farms-in-kenya-in-as-little-as-30-seconds/

[9] https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/japan-unexpectedly-reports-terrible-gdp-it-slides-recession

[10] https://sputniknews.com/military/202002171078334612-us-paving-way-to-deploy-intermediate-and-short-range-missiles-in-europe-and-asia---lavrov/

[11] https://sputniknews.com/europe/202002171078332269-eu-foreign-policy-chief-borell-europe-appetite-for-power/

[12] https://www.israeltoday.co.il/read/gog-and-magog-russia-warns-israel-of-war-over-syria/

[13] https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/us-firms-china-suffering-severe-shortages-workers-warn-virus-impact-hitting-supply-chains

[14] https://www.activistpost.com/2020/02/hsbc-to-cut-35000-jobs-shed-100-billion-in-assets-as-profits-plunge.html

[15] https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/dominos-are-falling-china-shutdown-disrupts-indias-economy

[16] https://www.rt.com/news/481064-pakistan-locust-india-insecticides/

[17] https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/supply-chain-chaos-unfolds-major-chinese-ports-frozen-meat-containers-pile

[18] https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/libyan-pro-haftar-forces-attack-turkish-ship-loaded-arms-tripoli-port

[19] https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/eu-will-deploy-warships-libyas-coast-enforce-un-arms-embargo

[20] https://www.debka.com/first-ever-iranian-display-of-future-nuclear-capable-sejjil-missile/

[21] https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/chinese-companies-cant-afford-pay-workers-supply-chains-disintegrate

[22] https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/erdogan-threatens-imminent-turkish-invasion-idlib-halt-syrian-russian-advance

[23] https://gulfnews.com/business/coronavirus-could-wipe-out-1-trillion-from-global-economy-1.69942637

[24] https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/china-injects-record-5-trillion-new-debt-arrest-economic-crash

[25] https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/largest-shipping-decline-2009-and-thats-coronavirus

[26] https://www.breitbart.com/news/10-italian-towns-in-lockdown-over-coronavirus-fears/

[27] https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/hundreds-animals-mysteriously-drop-dead-21547076

[28] https://moneymaven.io/mishtalk/economics/with-half-of-china-locked-up-car-sales-plunge-92-qk2y9a0n6ESI3R6kbaTgYw

[29] https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/deutsche-says-eu-dodges-supply-chain-shock-us-exposed-immediate-impact

[30] https://sputniknews.com/us/202002211078373912-us-conducts-exercise-to-prepare-for-nuclear-exchange-with-russia---pentagon/

[31] https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/worst-fears-realised-locusts-seen-21548843

[32] https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/it-will-be-really-really-bad-china-faces-financial-armageddon-85-businesses-set-run-out

[33] https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/black-monday-dow-futures-down-800-italy-biggest-plunge-four-years-vix-soars

[34] https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/subprime-credit-card-delinquencies-spike-record-high-surpass-financial-crisis-peak

[35] https://www.zerohedge.com/health/coronavirus-hiv-mutation-suggests-nearly-1000x-more-likely-sars-infect

[36] https://zerohedge.whotrades.com/blog/43002957689

[37] https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/02/28/national/abe-closes-school-coronavirus/

[38] https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/new-virus-cases-south-korea-surpasses-china-first-time

[39] https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-dow-is-on-track-for-its-worst-weekly-slide-since-the-2008-financial-crisis-2020-02-27

[40] https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/worst-thing-my-career-us-stocks-suffer-fastest-collapse-record-highs-great-depression

[41] https://abruptearthchanges.com/2020/02/28/turkey-opens-border-to-europe-for-syrian-refugees-as-eu-relations-break-down/

[42] https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/hundreds-millions-dollars-lost-shipping-rates-collapse-due-hugely-disruptive-virus

[43] https://zerohedge.whotrades.com/blog/43783833071

[44] https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/5-trillion-wiped-out-world-stocks-set-worst-weekly-slump-2008

[45] https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/russia-blames-turkey-33-troop-deaths-while-embedded-terrorists-turkey-vows-escalation

[46] https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/us-stocks-feb-28-2020

[47] https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/greece-deploys-50-naval-vessels-air-support-after-turkey-opens-gates-refugees

[48] https://www.rt.com/news/482006-erdogan-russia-syria-fighting/

[49] https://sputniknews.com/europe/202002291078440349-over-47000-cross-turkey-eu-border-as-brussels-closely-follows-situation-with-concern/

[50] https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/two-syrian-jets-shot-down-turkey-near-idlib-war-escalates

[51] https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/chaos-thousands-refugees-charge-greek-border-en-masse-15000-surge-evros

[52] https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-carrier-strike-group-enters-mediterranean-syria-turkey-state-war

[53] https://zerohedge.whotrades.com/blog/43417662384

[54] https://www.rt.com/op-ed/481959-nuclear-war-russia-nato/

[55] https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18281681.coronavirus-italy-closes-schools-universities/

[56] https://olduvai.ca/?p=51553

[57] Not exact article, but this one has good information and comparison: https://www.livescience.com/new-coronavirus-compare-with-flu.html

[58] https://www.debka.com/mivzak/up-to-90000-israelis-in-quarantine-15-confirmed-coronavirus-cases/

[59] https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/chinese-car-sales-crash-80-virus-paralyzes-auto-industry

[60] https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/indian-government-nationalizes-4th-largest-bank-shadow-banking-crisis-looms

[61] https://sputniknews.com/world/202003061078492786-huge-swarms-of-locusts-which-have-overwhelmed-their-natural-predators-heading-for-israel-and-india/

[62] https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/06/oil-sinks-5percent-to-multi-year-low-on-uncertain-opec-deal.html

[63] https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2020/03/03/the-myth-of-moderate-nuclear-war/