Foreshadowing the Mark :: By Terry James

Published on: July 9, 2021 by RR7

If there is one element of the so-called Covid-19 pandemic that presages Tribulation era Bible prophecy, it is the hue and cry, the over-the-top clamor for vaccination compliance. I say so-called pandemic, because statistics have long since documented that this virus nowhere near reaches the level of previous true pandemics.

Again, I address the topic of the virus with the understanding that it is serious. All such infections are serious and must be dealt with care and common sense. However, it is the common sense aspect that is missing in this so-called pandemic. It is a manufactured pandemic with a biblically prophetic attachment that should not be missed by the spiritually-attuned believer.

Have you ever heard such a level of insistence that every individual on earth do something as is now being demanded with regard to taking the COVID-19 vaccines? There is nothing like it in my memory, and I’m an old guy to be sure.

Governments and corporations are offering money for those who will take the vaccines. My own state government –the government of one of America’s deepest red states—is, I understand, offering to pay some state employees nearly $150 each to take the vaccine. (My tax money, I might add.)

People are offered everything from free ice cream and dinners at restaurants to vacations, if they will but receive the jab, as the compliance enforcers demand. More and more businesses and governments are leaning toward developing vaccine passports of sort that will allow freedoms that were formerly…well… free, before COVID-19.

The entire continent of Australia seems to want all within its governmental reach to stay totally sequestered for the foreseeable future.

SYDNEY – Almost half of Australia’s population has been placed under lockdown as authorities face Covid-19 clusters in multiple cities across the country for the first time since the initial outbreak last year…

The measures, including parts of regional Queensland, left more than 40 per cent of Australia’s 25.7 million residents under stay-home orders…

In the most populous state of New South Wales, the premier Gladys Berejiklian said further sudden lockdowns would be needed until vaccination rates increase.

“Until at least 80 per cent of our adult population is vaccinated, we can’t have a conversation about what COVID normal looks like,” she said…(Almost half of Aussie population under lockdown, by Jonathan Pearlman, Strait Times, June 30, 2021)

Alarmists within the controlling medical community are now warning of the Delta variant, which is said to be “much more contagious” than the previous COVID-19 type. This further seems to validate those who have consistently believed that the vaccine was just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The vaccine pushers will not stop with one or two jabs. They will insist on basically untested and not officially approved inoculations for as far into the future as we can project.

Many who look critically at this unprecedented drive to make all on earth compliant with vaccine acceptance believe it is all setting up worldwide embrace of the marks and numbering system of Revelation 13: 16-18.—i.e., it is all a blueprint for control of the populations on earth during the time of Antichrist’s rule.

The forces behind the vaccine push are targeting the reluctant to take the jabs with threatening insinuation. In America, this obloquy is becoming more blatant.

Equity futures are in the red Wednesday morning as Dr. Anthony Fauci’s warnings about the supposedly “dire threat” posed by the Delta variant continue to be dramatically amplified by the American media…

On Wednesday, Bloomberg published the latest in a series of stories effectively re-stating the same facts: the vaccination rate in a handful of deep-red states has substantially lagged the rate in the rest of the country. The lead-in for Wednesday’s story was the fact that the gap between the most- and least-vaccinated states has continued to widen…(“Panic Porn Dressed Up As Science” – Exposing The Truth About The Delta Variant by Tyler Durden, ZeroHedge)

Increasingly, those who hold to true science are reporting the overblown panic regarding the variants of COVID-19. On June 18, for example, Public Health England published its 16th report on “SARS-CoV-19 variants of concern and variants under investigation in England”.

The report showed that the Delta variant has a 0.1% case fatality rate (CFR) out of 31,132 Delta sequence infections confirmed by investigators. That is, according to those printing the report, the same rate as the flu and is much lower than the CFR for the ancestral strain or any of the other variants.

And the ZeroHedge article said the following: the CFR is always higher than the infection fatality rate (IFR), because many of the mildest and asymptomatic infections go undocumented, while the confirmed cases tend to have a bias toward those who are more evidently symptomatic.

In other words, Delta is literally the flu with a CFR identical to it. This is exactly what every respiratory pandemic has done through history: morphed into more transmissible and less virulent form that forces the other mutations out since you get that one. Nothing about masks, lockdowns, or experimental shots did this. To the extent this really is more transmissible, it’s going to be less deadly, as is the case with the common cold.

The Vatican is weighing in on the demand that all the world be vaccinated. Rapture Ready News for June 3 previews the story in its daily list of most relevant news items.

Vatican seeks all-out effort to combat vaccine hesitancy
The Vatican’s bioethics academy and the World Medical Association on Friday called for an all-out effort to combat vaccine hesitancy and correct the “myths and disinformation” that are slowing the fight against the coronavirus. They demanded that “all relevant stakeholders exhaust all efforts to…confront vaccine hesitancy by sending a clear message about the safety and necessity of vaccines and counteracting vaccine myths and disinformation.” (Ibid)

Control is the operative term in consideration of the drive toward vaccination, the likes of which has never been seen, planet-wide. Whether the vaccines are a justifiable means of controlling the virus or its variants is open to considerable conjecture. Time will perhaps tell if they are what they are claimed by CDC and others to be. –Or whether they are a means of bringing down populations –a claim that, while I don’t wholeheartedly accept, should, in my view, be granted some degree of credence. The stated goal of some globalists is to bring the world’s population down to under 500 million people, as engraved on the so-called Georgia Guidestone.

Control is what Antichrist will demand when instituting his 666 marks-and-numbering system. It seems that a considerable percentage of the world’s population is willingly susceptible (compliant) in eagerly taking a shot upon demand by those who want to rule rather than govern in most cases–at least from my perspective.

One writer, after citing numerous top experts’ opinions that masks don’t work, says the following, in part:

When I see people walking outside, often alone with no one anywhere near them, wearing a mask, my primary reactions are disappointment and sadness.

I am disappointed because I expected better from my fellow Americans. I never thought most Americans would be governed by irrational fears and unquestioning obedience to authority. I have come to realize that I had a somewhat romanticized view of my countrymen.

Had you told me a year ago that nearly every American in nearly every metropolitan area would cover their faces for over a year because one man, one political party, and the media told them to, I would have responded that you underestimate the strength of the American character…

People say they “follow the science.” They rarely do. They follow the scientists the media tell them to follow. (Mask-Wearing Represents Fear and Blind Obedience, Not Science by Dennis Prager, WorldNetDaily)

A friend who emails me with news updates from time to time, whose name is, ironically, Mark, wrote the following in summation of his concerns for the vaccine militancy.

“What I’m driving at is that it all makes such good sense that it is going to be difficult to refute the common sense of it. And this will be the logic used to get the global population in line. It is all a precursor (I believe) to condition the world (and the United States especially) to taking the mark of the beast however it is administered.”

If you know Jesus Christ for salvation, according to Romans 10: 9-10, you will never have to worry about taking Antichrist’s mark. The current vaccinations for COVID, or for any other disease, is not that prophesied mark. It will come on the scene during the Tribulation, after the Rapture of the Church.

Whether you choose to take the vaccine or choose to resist taking it, the process, whether beneficial or detrimental in terms of human health, itself is, without question in my mind, part of a control process being implemented by the powers and principalities of Ephesians 6: 12.

Treasure of Scripture Over Experience of People :: By Dr. Donald Whitchard

Published on: July 7, 2021 by RR7

A Warning Summary: When the rich man in hell begged for Lazarus to be sent back to warn his family about avoiding his fate, Abraham reminded him that they had the Scriptures. Nothing else has ever been used of the LORD other than His Word to convict the sinner.

Whenever a real man of God stands behind the pulpit and preaches the Word of God (2 Timothy 4:1-5), he is to hold nothing back and never compromise the Scriptures for the sake of feeling, alleged offense, or cultural beliefs. No preacher worth his sacred calling should ever water down the power of the Scriptures to convict and change the hearts of even the vilest offender. You cannot take out those teachings and declarations made by Almighty God, His prophets, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the apostles and put away whatever you think might get someone upset or bent out of shape as it pertains to the condition of their soul and eternal destiny.

Salvation through Christ is the only means by which any one of us can enter the portals of heaven when we take our last breath (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 6:23; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8). No child of God should ever be afraid of what the world thinks of the Gospel message, nor of the consequences that face all of us who stand for the integrity of Jesus Christ and His mercy upon us. The Scriptures are sufficient (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21) and never instruct us to add “extra credit” of our own merit, which amounts to nothing more than a leper’s filthy rag (Isaiah 64:6), nor practice religious observations or rituals that appear to give further aid in the redemption process.

Paul wrote the letter to the Galatians (1:8-9) to refute such thinking. I say all of this to reinforce what may sound harsh to some brethren, but I say it with concern and care for the welfare of your souls. And that is that no amount of testimony, visions, dreams, signs and wonders by modern “apostles,” or “prophetic utterances,” “revelations,” or alleged “visits to heaven (or hell) that have been uttered or proclaimed by anyone, even with the best of intentions, would convince me if I were an unsaved individual that the claims of Christianity are true and valid.

If the Scriptures tell me about the reality of both heaven and hell, should that not be enough, or do you not believe what God has written?

Go back and re-read the story of the rich man and Lazarus, and pay attention to what was said in the last four verses of the account. The man in Hades realizes that he is never going to get out. He will have to endure the torments and thoughts of how he could have avoided this horrid place and that he deserves what he is getting — not for his neglect of the beggar Lazarus who now resides in the Bosom of Abraham, another name for Paradise (Luke 23:48) — but for the neglect of his soul before God. He is in the same predicament as the farmer with the abundant harvest whose soul is required by God and is woefully unprepared for that journey (Luke 12:13-21).

The Scriptures make it as plain as day that when a wicked person sins, he will have to pay for it at the judgment (Ezekiel 18:19-32; John 5:28-29; Hebrews 9:27; Revelation 20:11-15). Unless that individual has repented of their sins and rebellion before God, asked for His forgiveness, and turned to the LORD for salvation (Romans 10:9-10), they will spend eternity in hell where there will be no rest for them anymore (Revelation 14:9-11).

The Lord Jesus spoke more of hell than he did of heaven (Matthew 5:22, 29, 10:28, 18:9, 23:15,33; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 12:5, 16:19-31). Hell is described in Scripture as outer darkness (Matt. 8:12), eternal fire (Matthew 25:41), eternal punishment (Matt. 25:46), a place of eternal destruction (2 Thess.1:9), the lake of fire (Revelation 19:20). It is the eternal home for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41), the wicked of all time (Rev. 21:8), the disobedient (Romans 2:8-9), the beast and the false prophet (Rev.19:20), the worshippers of the beast (Rev.14:11), and all who reject the offer of the Gospel (Matt. 10:15). The rich man wants Lazarus to return from heaven and warn his five brothers about the horror of hades.

That sounds noble on the surface, but it is a reflection of how he treated Lazarus while he lived. This beggar was seen as nothing more than an errand boy, doing the work that he should have done for himself and his family when they were alive and kicking. Lazarus says nothing. Does he want to leave the comfort and beauty of heaven to satisfy the request of someone who did not care if he lived or died while they were both on Earth? Even if he did go back to Earth and confront the man’s brothers, would they react with terror or apathy? After all, this was a bum that had been lying by the gate of their home getting a bath of spittle from mongrels who licked the man’s sores. You know as well as I do that he would be rejected and sent away in derision, and it would be no different today.

Another thing to consider is that Lazarus’ story would not hold the same weight or authority as does God’s absolute and final Word. What would Lazarus say that was not already confirmed by the Scriptures?

It is for this reason that whenever I hear the latest tale of “trips to heaven” from preachers, pundits, and others, I tend to roll my eyes in skepticism and with a sense of sorrow. It is not because some malevolent unseen force is at work blinding my eyes to a “revelation from God,” but because every time I hear of these flights of fancy, I want to openly rebuke them because nothing they tend to say or produce is ever in line with what the Bible describes about heaven and its glories.

Every tale these folks tell is different and on the border of ridiculousness, and I have yet to hear them give me a description of the awe, majesty, holiness, and glory of the Living Sovereign Lord God Almighty receiving honor and praise from the heavenly host and the saints who now dwell there. All these folks are doing, whether they are aware of it or not, is making Jesus Christ a laughing stock among the wicked of the world and a target for parody and blasphemy. Their tales do not draw people towards God and His Word, but away, seeing the Bible as another in a line of fanciful tales and legends, not to be taken seriously.

Any teaching outside of the authority of the Word can and will be used by the devil to close the minds and hearts to the truth of what God has decreed and the fate of those who walk away from His free offer of grace and mercy. Fanciful stories told in the name of Jesus that are not rooted in the truth of the Word only disgrace and minimize His absolute, holy, righteous, and uncompromising character and take away the reverence that is due Him.

Jesus promised the thief next to Him as they were both dying that he would be with the LORD in Paradise due to the fact that he had sought forgiveness and had repented before it was too late. Jesus did not describe it to him, but it was promised, and that was good enough for him. I do not need a detailed itinerary of my future home to know that I will be with my LORD, in His presence for all time, and will spend eternity with my loved ones and all who, while on Earth, bowed their knee and surrendered their lives to Him. They believed the Gospel and not some “experience” that someone shared. I want to hear from the One who put it all into place (John 1:1-4; Colossians 1:16-18) and not from a secondhand source.

If Paul himself was not allowed to share what he had seen in the third heaven, then I do not need any more information to know other than it must be so wonderful that our poor words cannot do it justice (1 Corinthians 2:8-9). Even as magnificent a description as John gives in the book of the Revelation of heaven and the New earth, it will not be until we see it for ourselves and thank the LORD for His saving grace, but also weep for not thinking on the things of heaven instead of the briefness of our lives on this wicked planet.

We will no doubt weep at the Judgment Seat of Christ for what we could have done (2 Corinthians 5:10) and weep as those whom we knew yet were not redeemed are sent to the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:15), but He will wipe away our tears and turn our hearts from sorrow to joy (Revelation 21:1-7). The Lord Jesus is going to make all things new, including heaven, earth, and the entirety of creation (Isaiah 11:1-10). We will have an eternity to take it all in, and the description the Scriptures provide is satisfying enough.

I am redeemed, I am forgiven, and I am His for all time. No one has to tell me that, save for Jesus and His Word, thank you. His Word warns that anyone who rejects His offer of salvation will pay the consequences, and those who come to Him for salvation are His forever (Jon 10:28-30; Hebrews 13:5). The Bible tells me so, but you need to read it for yourself and let Him give you the details.

donaldwhitchard@gmail.com