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Matthew 24: 3-8

³“Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?’⁴And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. ⁵For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. ⁶And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.⁸ All these are the beginning of sorrows.'”

It does not take a long time of searching to find all kinds of predictions concerning the coming solar eclipse. I saw one commentator wondering if the Simpsons had predicted the date of the rapture in one of their episodes; they did not. I will admit that there are many weird things associated with this coming solar eclipse and the one previous to it about 7 years ago. The fact that darkness passed through cities called Salem (Jerusalem in Genesis 14). And that the current one will pass through cities called Nineveh does peek our ears and arouse our curiosity, and frankly, it made me think and wonder. But this is where we need to find our way back to the scriptures.

Yes, there will be signs, there will be things that happen, and we who spend time in the Book will see patterns emerge, and the sense of darkness will become more and more prevalent as we get closer and closer to seeing Jesus.

All of verse 7 is being played out right before us, and if the scientists are proven to be true, we will see an apocalyptic emergence of locust-like insects that come out of the ground over the mid to end of spring. These cicadas will attack fruit plants to lay the next generation of eggs, and there may be shortages of fruit for a time.

While we all understand that COVID was a planned pandemic, the reality is that our leaders have the tools necessary to create havoc if they want to in order to enforce draconian ideas and rules. It took me a long time to realize that while there are many good people in our government, the government as an entity is, for the most part, the greatest enemy of its people. There is constant lying and deception, all in the name of security, that need not be, for the most part.

I am 57 years old, and as far as I can remember, there has been some war somewhere being fought. I was born in the middle of the Vietnam War, then the war in the Middle East of 1973. Soon, the British were at war in the Falklands, then the Cold War was in Europe, the drugs wars, and the wars in the Middle East. And today, the war in Ukraine. It never stops. Peace never prevails, and if it does, it is short-lived. Men love war.

But the end is not yet. I am not saying that the end is not near, but the mere fact that many lost people are talking about it, it is one their tongue tells me that this is not the time. Jesus will come suddenly, and the rapture will be a global catastrophic event where billions will disappear, leaving unmanned planes, businesses, hospitals, and homes all over the world. It is not just a North American thing. The loss will be so pervasive that the reaction will be a global effort to contain the panic by weaving a narrative that includes ‘alien abductions’, hence the sudden disclosures of UFO sightings all over the world. All of a sudden, the hidden encounters of military and civilian pilots have been made public when they were once classified information only.

Satan’s minions are prepping the world for the rapture, make no mistake. They know it is coming, but they do not know when it is coming. We, too, know it is coming but not when.

Are you ready for a famine here in North America? No, I don’t want you to dig bunkers in your backyard, but extra canned foods, a working barbeque, lots of propane, maybe some firewood. Get a weapon and know how to use it. You may need to hunt to feed your family; many already do. Buy extra cases of water, invest in a water purification system, and take some precautions. Prepare a bit, and it may be enough to get you through to the rapture.

We have a word of encouragement from King David, Psalm 37:25, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”

Jesus told Peter as he was preparing to leave to make sure he had a sword (Luke 22:36). This is not a call to war. The Kingdom of God will not be won by man’s wars, but we are to be ready to defend ourselves and protect our loved ones. Scarcity will bring havoc, panic, and the sinful nature in men will come to the surface. Be ready to protect your loved ones.

The rapture will come; we know it. But I honestly do not think it will be during the solar eclipse. But is it another sign? Yes, it is. Should we be prepared and looking to the skies? Yes, we should. Should we do all we can to warn the wicked that Jesus and judgment are coming? Yes, we are to be. Enjoy the wonder of the solar eclipse, have fun with your kids, and make some memories. But don’t get your eyes off the prize, and don’t get dismayed when this is not it. Jesus will come when God the Father sends Him, not a moment sooner, and certainly not later. But if I am wrong, see you in the air shortly.

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

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Washington, DC, today is like Jerusalem was in Matthew Chapter 23. The power elites are today’s Scribes and Pharisees. The definition of Pharisees is power-mad hypocrites that impose harsh, draconian (named after Greek tyrant Draco (Greek word for dragon) demands on others that they don’t even try to keep. See Matthew 23:4.

So how would Jesus interact with the Scribes & Pharisees in Washington, DC, if he was around today? Exactly how he handled the power-mad Pharisees in Jerusalem. Who are the Pharisees today? They include the politicians (especially the woke leftists). Many regulatory bureaucrats are Pharisees. They pass harsh, draconian (dragon) laws that are impossible to comply with. They impose severe penalties on those unable to meet their demands.

This is the worst possible violation of what Jesus said in Matthew 23:4, “For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves [political elites] will not move them [they exempt themselves from draconian laws that they impose on others] with one of their fingers.”

Other Pharisees include Leftwing activist groups who make demands on people and businesses and blackmail with threats to file lawsuits or threaten violence. It is shakedowns.

More Pharisees: Vigilante prosecutors (Jack Smith is an example); vigilante leftwing judges; Big-Pharma drug executives; World Economic Forum Members; Globalists; Jan-6 vigilantes committee (like the Sanhedrin that sentenced Jesus to die); woke corporate elite executives; Deep-State Intelligence agents; Political Party leaders; Leftist College professors; University administrators; Public health officials; United Nations leaders; global-warming hypocrites (fly in private jets – in one trip, a jet uses as much fuel as a large car in an entire year), who demand the average citizens to cut energy consumption while they themselves use excessive energy; Woke Leftists. There are many other examples of Pharisees today.

How would Jesus interact with the Pharisees in Washington, DC? Exactly like he did with the original Pharisees in Jerusalem. Today’s Pharisees are much worse than the originals. Today, it is Washington, DC, that is the Jerusalem of Matthew 23. Jesus would condemn Washington just as much as he did Jerusalem. Just like he cursed the fig tree, he would also curse the cherry trees in Washington DC because of the lack of fruit.

Here is what Jesus is most likely to say to the Pharisees in Washington, DC:

“I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the father but by me.”

The Liberals would probably angrily react this way:

What right do you have to claim to be God? That is the most insensitive, politically incorrect statement we ever heard! You are in violation of the Supreme Court ruling on the separation of church and state in the Establishment Clause of the Constitution!

Here is what Jesus might say to the Liberals:

You are wrong; there is no mention of the separation of church and state in the Constitution. It just says, ‘Congress shall make no law respecting establishment of (a national monopoly) religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.’ The Supreme Court abused its power and violated the intent of the founders in outlawing school prayer. They were in error and turned it upside down because the founders had prayer in their schools. They intended for the Constitution to be interpreted literally, not allegorically, as judges do today.

If Liberals ask him about abortion, here is what he might say to them:

Abortion is murder, and about 60 million babies have died in this holocaust because the US Supreme Court abused its power and twisted the Constitution in an allegorical interpretation. Woe unto them that offend my little ones! It would be better for them if they had a millstone tied to their necks than to face judgment because of what they did to the little ones! They violated the intent of the founders. The founders intended for the Constitution to be interpreted literally.

The Liberals would say,

You are against the rights of women!

Jesus might say to them,

Abortion is not right and is murder! If you don’t want to have babies, then don’t have sex outside of marriage!

How would Big Pharma and the Federal regulators react to Jesus healing the sick? They would not like it because it would hurt their business. Drug companies such as Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Astra Zeneca, Merck, and others would lose money if Jesus healed the sick, so they would complain to the Federal regulators.

So here is how the drug companies and the regulators would react to Jesus healing folks and hurting their bottom line:

See John 9:30-33 and other Scriptures objecting to Jesus healing people on the Sabbath. (The Pharisees were the gatekeepers and controlled the Sabbath because it threatened their power.) If Jesus healed people today, Big Pharma and federal regulators would say to Jesus:

You are illegally practicing medicine without a license! You are using treatments not approved by the FDA!

Here is what Jesus might say to the Feds and the drug companies:

Woe to you regulators and you greedy big pharma drug company executives, for your Covid clot shots have killed many! Woe to you that imposed vaccine mandates, for your mandates harmed many!

Matthew 23 applies just as much to Washington, DC, as it did to first-century Jerusalem. Here is Matthew 23:33-38:

“Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I will send you prophets, and wise men, and scribes; and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city, that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth…

“Verily I say unto you, All these things [judgments] shall come upon this generation” [happened in AD 70; also applies today]. O Jerusalem (Washington DC is just like it), Jerusalem, thou that killest and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often I would have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house [Temple] is left unto you desolate.”

What Jesus might say to the Pharisees in Washington, DC:

Woe unto you politicians, bureaucrats, regulators, judges, lawyers, special interest groups, and others in power, for you pass impossible-to-comply-with, harsh, draconian laws (there are 800,000 pages and growing in the federal register, a list of federal laws thousands of times more harsh than first-century regulations passed by religious leaders in the first century) upon others that you will not apply to yourselves!

O, you hypocrites! You rattlesnakes! I send you prophets and wise men, and you brutally beat them and kill them. You will be held guilty of all the blood of the righteous saints whom you assassinated. I say to you that these things will come upon this generation. O Washington! Washington! You kill the prophets sent to you! I wanted to gather your children together even as a hen would gather her chicks under her wings, but you would not allow that. Behold! Your house is left unto you desolate!

He might say this to Deep-State intelligence agents:

Woe to you intelligence agents, for you have murdered leaders, overthrew governments around the world to destabilize things, and developed biological weapons in gain of function labs around the world!

What Jesus might say to the Globalist Elites:

Woe to you, World Economic Forum members! You are plotting to bring destruction upon humanity through famine and disasters. You are bringing harsh tyranny upon the population of the world. You are plotting to bring great tribulation upon the whole earth! Woe to you Bilderbergers, cfr-trilateralist members!

Today, the cherry blossom trees in Washington, DC, are in full bloom. If Jesus ever came to Washington today, he would curse those cherry trees just like he did the fig tree in Jerusalem because he would not find any fruit on them.

What might Jesus say about Washington, DC? This warning would apply to Tribulation Saints after the Rapture (evacuation):

Not one stone (in Washington, DC) will be left upon another except as ruins. (Could that be World War 3? Nuclear war? Big earthquakes?)

The Americans might ask,

When will these things occur? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of this world political system?

Jesus might say,

When you see America compassed with armies, then know that the desolation is near. Then, let those in eastern America flee into the Appalachian Mountains. And let those in western states flee into the Rocky Mountains. Let those that are in big cities depart out of them. Watch out! Many will steal my identity, saying I am Christ (artificial intelligence companies have come up with a fake version of Jesus in their AI programs; don’t take it) and fooling many. And you will see TV news of wars, riots (local wars), and Islamic terrorist attacks. These will get worse and worse as time goes on. Races will rise against races, and nations against nations. All these are the beginning of sorrows.

There will be more and bigger earthquakes everywhere (just like San Francisco in 1906). There will be widespread food shortages. You will be brought to trials in the name of “hate speech” (laws having made it illegal to call homosexuals sinners or to call Islamist jihadists terrorists). And you (Americans, Christians, and Jews) will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. But those who endure all this until the end will be saved. The gospel of the kingdom will be spread all over the world.

When you see the antichrist desecrate (abomination of desolation in Daniel 9:27) the Jewish temple in Israel (this warning applies worldwide to both Jews and Gentiles – tribulation saints), it will result in global martial law, then let those in the cities of eastern America flee into the Appalachian Mountains, and those in the west flee into the Rocky Mountains. For in those days will be a great holocaust (much like Hitler’s nazi gulags) like there never has been before and will never be again after that. And except those days should be ended very quickly, no flesh will survive. When the lord comes, it will be like lightning firing out of the East.

Washington, DC, today is like Jerusalem of Matthew 23. Is America about to get its own version of AD 70 (Tribulation)?

If Jesus had come to Washington, DC, in a flesh and blood body today, would he be crucified by the Beltway (Pharisee) crowds? Absolutely; they would have crucified him. They’ve already crucified him in their hearts.

Why did Jesus die on the Cross? God’s reason is that he was to be sacrificed as the Lamb of God for your sins and my sins. What would have motivated the political class to crucify him today is that he was not politically correct. It would be the cancel culture against him.

If you want to be saved, repent. Trust in Jesus, his complete sacrifice for your sins and my sins. Ask him to save you, and he will save you.

Keith Black

The End is Near, But Maybe Not Yet :: By Sean Gooding

The Pharisees in Washington, DC: Matthew Chapter 23 :: By Keith Black