A Hurricane Season Like No Other

At the end of each year, I often do a composite of all the prophecy-related events. The 2020 hurricane season has been so active, I think it is needful that I do a special Nearing Midnight article on this subject. We have broken so many records, it’s hard to know where to begin.

We currently have the most number of hurricanes in any season. Subtropical storm Theta in the northeast Atlantic was the 29th, breaking the previous record of 28 set in 2005. With the formation of Iota, we have had 30 storms. After 170 years of record-keeping, it’s no small accomplishment to witness the busiest Atlantic hurricane season. The average number of hurricanes in a season is 12 storms.

Hurricanes are named in alphabetical order, restarting with A at the beginning of every year. If more storms occur than the alphabet allows, meteorologists move on to the Greek alphabet. The WMO’s hurricane name list consists of 21 alphabetic names. The Greek alphabet has 24 letters, meaning a storm season would have to observe an unprecedented 45 named storms in a single year. The WMO has no policy or procedure in place should the Greek name list be exhausted.

Hurricane Iota just rammed into Nicaragua with Category 5 winds of 155 MPH. It is the strongest hurricane in the month of November. It also marked the first time that two hurricanes have formed in the Atlantic in any November. An old man being interview in Nicaragua, as Iota began making landfall, said he had experienced 6 tropical storms in his lifetime. Two of them have occurred this year.

This makes five consecutive years with Category 5 storms, which is itself also a record.

The state of Louisiana has been a punching bag for tropical storms. Zeta hit the state at the end of October, becoming a record fifth named storm to make landfall in the state this season. Hurricane Laura tied a record for the strongest storm to hit Louisiana.

The 2020 hurricane season tied 1995 for the most rapidly intensifying storms. Maximum sustained winds in Iota increased by 70 mph in 24 hours. That doubles the criterion for the rapid intensification of a tropical cyclone, which is a wind speed increase of 35 mph or more in 24 hours or less.

We still have two more weeks before the Atlantic hurricane season ends.

Such activity has focused attention on climate change, which scientists say is causing wetter, stronger and more destructive storms. Sea surface temperatures were consistently 2 to 3 degrees above normal through the summer months, and these anomalies increased to 3 to 5 degrees during September, especially around the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and off the coast of Africa, where many storms start to develop.

Wind shear was extremely low through the summer months, and this allows tropical storms to intensify and maintain tropical circulations rather than being torn apart by opposing winds in the different layers of the atmosphere.

A pulse of enhanced rainfall, known as the Madden-Julian Oscillation, moves eastwards around the equator. When it is located over West Africa, it causes more rainfall and thunderstorms, which can give birth to tropical storms over the eastern Atlantic.

La Niña, a change in Pacific Ocean temperatures with cooler water being pushed eastwards across the equatorial Pacific, has also been more influential. It can affect global weather patterns, and one of the effects is an increased number and strength of Atlantic tropical cyclones, especially late in the season.

The 2017 hurricane season broke a similar number of records. I was stunned by the number of records that Hurricane Irma set. It was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands on record. At the time, it was considered the most powerful hurricane on record in the open Atlantic region, outside of the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, until it was surpassed by Hurricane Dorian two years later. No storm in recorded history has sustained winds of 185 mph for as long as Irma: a record-breaking 37 hours.

The previous record was 24 hours, during Super Typhoon Haiyan in the northwest Pacific in 2013. Irma is tied with the 1932 hurricane in Cuba as the longest time (3.25 days) spent as a Category 5 hurricane. Hurricanes Irma and Jose mark the first time in recorded history that there were two hurricanes with winds of at least 150 miles per hour in the Atlantic at the same time.

When I looked at the historical record for all recorded hurricanes, there were times when a decade could pass without any major storm event. To have a year like 2020, that just goes off the scale, is a strong indication that Bible prophecy is the reason why we set so many records. Because we seem to be at the limits of what nature can produce and what mankind can endure, I think we must be very close to the tribulation hour.

“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring” (Luke 21:25).

–Todd

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Salt, Light, and the Spirit of Antichrist

We’ve looked a number of times at Jesus’ words about the very end of the age. The Lord told us in very specific terms that it will be like the days of Noah and the days of Lot at the exact moment He will again intervene—catastrophically—into things going on in a world in rebellion against God.

Ezekiel the prophet clues us a bit on that generation of Sodomites, who had moved so far away from God that destruction was the only remedy possible. God told Ezekiel to report the following:

Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good. (Ezekiel 16: 49–50)

Sodom had reached the point that every form of debauchery was carried on, perversion of the most disgusting sort being the norm rather than the exception. The sexual immorality had progressed to the ultimate deviancy, marking the city and the people for destruction by the forces of Heaven.

Sodom was living the high life in economic terms. As a matter of fact, Abraham’s nephew, Lot, saw its prosperity and chose to move there when his uncle gave him the choice. Lot became deeply involved in the city’s government and commerce. He was, we believe, a judge who held court at the city gate, as was the way of government of the time.

The ease of life and the leisure time provided for its citizens, God told Ezekiel, led to pride, self-sufficiency, and gluttony, with no regard for those truly in need. The people were therefore haughty, and their sin-corrupted senses, they were led into abominable sexual evil before the holy eyes of God.

Lot was caught up in the stream of the city’s rebellious activities, but he was considered “just” by the Lord, we see from the account given in Genesis chapter 19. When Abraham was told by the Lord He would destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham pleaded for Him to relent. Abraham said there had to be righteous people in the cities—those people would make it worth saving the cities from destruction.

We know God agreed to spare the doomed cities if just ten righteous people could be found. He then decreased that number until, when no righteous person besides Lot could be found, Abraham gave up and no doubt agreed that God had no other choice.

Lot, as representing God’s light in the sin-darkened Sodom, no longer was enough of an influence to provide hope of saving illumination, so Lot was removed from the city to Zoar. Judgment then fell that very day and destroyed everyone in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Jesus, in the Olivet Discourse, foretold that it will be exactly like that again: God’s judgment will fall in one day at the time in this generation when His cup of wrath is full.

The question is: How near are we to that time?

No matter which direction we look, we see evil proliferating. The Church of Jesus Christ is the salt and the light in this darkening world. We Christians, indwelled by the Holy Spirit—the Light Bearer—are all that stands between the total evil of this world and God’s judgment and wrath. The Lord said the following:

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5: 13–16)

The spirit of Antichrist is manifesting in physical outbreaks. The evil is no longer hiding just beneath the surface of civility. Proponents of rebellion against every godly principle are attacking the Bible and true Christians in a way that makes headline news on an hourly basis.

We are—as I like to say in using the KJV vernacular—sorely vexed, just as the righteous Lot was in Sodom.

The New York governor just gave orders to shut down worship in his state, or limit it to completely keep congregations out of houses of worship. It is the same in many of the Democrat-run cities and states, like California, for example.

If the election goes in a direction other than that we as God’s people are praying, it will likely be a short time to the implementation of anti-God measures to protect through law the Sodomite activity that caused God to finally say to those cities, “Enough is enough.”

Norway is victim of the prototype government that is coming to America and the world, unless the Lord sees otherwise.

Norway’s parliament has voted to expand the protections that the LGBTQ community has enjoyed in that nation since 1981 by expanding the definition of “hate speech” that can land a person in prison.

Reuters reported Norway already was among the “most liberal countries in Europe” on the issue, “allowing trans people to legally change gender without a medical diagnosis” and more…

Now those found guilty of hate speech face a fine or up to a year in prison for private remarks, and a maximum of three years for public comments.

Monica Maeland, minister of justice, said transgendered people are “an exposed group when it comes to discrimination, harassment and violence.”…

“LGBTQ+ ideology has been mainstreamed in every sphere of life imaginable. Still, radical gender activists will not be at rest until every private citizen repudiates biological truth and relinquishes his every doubt about their dogma.”

Reuters noted that under the penal code, “people charged with violent crimes can receive harsher sentences if a judge decides their actions were motivated by someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity.” (“Norway criminalizes private criticism of LGTBQ people, Adopts law imposing punishment of up to a year in prison,” By WND Staff, WorldNetDaily, November 14, 2020)

The Antichrist spirit is becoming almost tangible as we watch the lawlessness explode across our nation and the world. Nonetheless, we, as God’ salt and light, are here at the most exciting time in human history. It’s exciting because the Lord is, we believe, on the brink of calling His ambassadors home.

Our just-released book, LAWLESS: The End-Times War Against the Spirit of Antichrist, presents, through seventeen top prophecy experts, just how near that time of Rapture must be, based on the rebellion exploding across America and the world.

But, Jesus Christ, who is infinitely greater than Satan or his coming Antichrist, isn’t taken by surprise by all of this end-of-the-age evil. He will prevail. And so will we who are called by His Holy Name!

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–Terry

 

Well, This Looks Bad

When Barack Obama was elected to the presidency in 2008, there was a massive surge in traffic to Rapture Ready. The Democrats had just won such a large majority in both houses of Congress, they could pass any bill on their agenda. Since Obama was hailed as a type of Messiah by the press, many Christians were wondering if he was the Antichrist.

Obama did tremendous damage to our constitutional system, but we survived his eight years of carnage. Donald Trump was a man of flawed character. I absolutely could not stand his arrogance, but he did a good job of delaying the radical left’s plan to enslave the American people.

There are indications that there’s massive voter fraud in this election. Trump was 800,000 votes ahead in Pennsylvania, and then this lead mysteriously disappeared. Biden would have needed to get 90% of the uncounted votes to close such a large gap. The liberal media are now totally focused on making people think the election process is over.

If Joe Biden becomes our next president, we face the danger of losing our basic liberties. Biden issued the standard platitude that I expected by calling for “a time to heal in America” and said, “I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide, but unify, who doesn’t see red states and blue states, only sees the United States.”

Obama said similar things when he was elected. He then went on to be one of the most racist and anti-Christian Commanders and Chiefs in history. Since Biden is nothing more than a senile puppet, the radical elements of the Democratic Party will have a free hand to run the White House.

I have a very simple biblical explanation for why Trump may lose. The left is so insane right now, they would have destroyed large sections of our infrastructure if Trump was reelected. There would be civil war in every major city, and the use of deadly force would be a certainty.

There is one saving grace that may prevent total disaster. The Senate still has a Republican majority, so no radical legislation will be voted into law. It makes me shudder to think that Mitch McConnell, the worst Senate Majority Leader in history, will soon be the highest-ranking Republican in the nation. Since God has a preference for using flawed people, we all may be amazed at how skilled McConnell suddenly becomes at frustrating the agenda of the Biden administration.

I had a premonition that Trump was going to lose the election two weeks before the vote. Pat Robertson of 700-Club fame reported that he has been told by God that Trump would win reelection and it will bring about the beginning of the End Times. If Robertson had predicted a January heat wave for Florida, there would be snow falling in Miami. He has been predicting the world’s end since the 1970s. He previously claimed it would happen in 1982, and then again in 2007.

Biden’s son Hunter must be as happy as a pig in slop right now. Over 76 million people have given him a mandate to outdo Hillary Clinton in Shady business dealings. Foreign agents are probably lining up at his door to buy his influence. Hunter could sell nuclear-tipped missiles to third-world nations, and the press would look the other way.

Many Pundits on the right are hoping that Biden will turn out to be such a huge disaster that voters will switch to the Republican party in the next election. I don’t have much hope for this type of outcome. If we’re close to the tribulation hour, things will only go from bad to worse. Trump promised to drain the swamp, but it only got bigger. I was surprised to see that 93% of the residents of DC voted for Biden.

I think the greatest danger we currently face is complacency. If Biden initially tries to play nice, people on the right may let down their guard. The liberal media and the Democratic Party are fixated on gaining power. Once they see an opportunity to take full control, they will pounce. Because the Bible predicts victory for the enemies of God, the only reliable hope for a believer is the rapture.

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).

–Todd

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Ready to Deal

Questions and comments coming fast and furiously in these volatile times ask why the election has turned out this way, or they want to know what it must all mean.

I’ve tried to answer most emails I’ve received like this, but it’s time to address these matters here.

“Ready to Deal” isn’t to imply that I myself will now “deal” with these matters. The title instead suggests my belief that the Lord of Heaven is now ready to “deal” in power and authority with the world and the rebellious state it has reached.

To strive to “Make America Great Again” was a noble desire, a worthy goal. I believe that most of us—half of the nation—truly meant the slogan, not with hubris in our hearts and minds, but with a genuine desire to see America returned to principles installed by the founding fathers.

We wished, only as de Tocqueville believed, that in order to see to it that America is great, we must make it “good.” Christians with understanding know that there is only One who is good. Only that One, Jesus Christ, can make anything noble to the point of greatness. The Lord of heaven is destined—we believe very soon—to reign on the earth as the King of all kings.

The “goodness” America has been blessed with has faded precipitously, it’s easy to see. America’s greatness long ago began its darkening descent from its time as that shining light on the hill. We now more easily understood why this, the apex nation of world history, isn’t mentioned by name in God’s Word.

The question, then, is not: Is America moving into a future shrouded in a murkiness that it almost certainly won’t emerge from? Many of us believe the answer to that question is yes.

The question we need to consider instead is this: Why is this happening now? Why—especially knowing that, before the sudden infliction of COVID-19, America indeed seemed to be on the cusp of becoming robust in its influence for good upon the rest of the world?

The Lord almost certainly was laughing the anti-God forces to derision, as the KJV puts it in Psalm 2. Nothing they tried in attempting to bring down the hated populist president of the US worked. Even with the national and world mainstream press joined to the powers and principalities to effect a coup d’état, the Restrainer (God the Holy Spirit) observably and easily swatted them away. Nothing they could do would stop Mr. Trump from doing his utmost to “Make America Great Again,” thereby taking the nation farther and farther from the globalist influence the powers and principalities wanted to exert on America. And America is the greatest obstacle preventing them from achieving their new global order, geopolitically speaking.

Just when it seemed that the Lord was seeing to it that those powers and principalities were kept at bay and even were in total disarray because of their reprobate state, He suddenly seems to have taken away His mighty hand of restraint. It’s as if He suddenly said on America’s election day 2020 that He has seen enough. Of course, God is not capricious. He doesn’t make rash decisions like we do. He knows all about this election and everything else, and He has since the unfathomable times in eternity past.

We as Christians should take great comfort from this reality. The timing of all these events was set in Heaven, not by political authorities or powers and principalities on earth. The bottom line is always that God’s will be done, no matter what. He is always in complete control.

So our next question to ask is this: What is God’s will in this sudden removal of His restraining hand to let evil once again rampage through its destructive, global-world-order construction project?

I believe with all that is within my spiritual senses that Heaven is once again at the point of beginning to deal, like in antiquity, with God’s chosen people, Israel. The succeeding administration (if contested election results turn out that way), whose many stated goals include bringing America into the internationalist (read “global”) order, also wants to give Israel’s archenemy, Iran (ancient Persia), the same nuclear deal as did the administration before Trump’s.

Mr. Trump has been Israel’s most faithful friend. America, under his presidency, therefore, has blessed the Jews in ways that are yet to be fully assessed. That blessing could turn into a curse with a succeeding president who would turn his back under pressures from the global constructionists. And, globally, Israel has no friends of significant power and influence, with the exception of America during Trump’s time in office.

Key to everything in the whole matter of this election—the seemingly inexplicable turn of events in the nation electing a man who is at the very least mentally challenged due to diminished capacity, and bringing to power a party vowed to take the nation into the new global order—is the most central national entity in all of Bible prophecy: the nation Israel!

Without reservation, I submit that God is on the very verge of being set to deal again with Israel in order to bring back to Himself a remnant of His people. With these, He will establish His millennial kingdom as the chief nation, from which His Son Jesus Christ will rule and reign over the earth.

The Lord, I believe, is also dealing with the rebels who populate this violent, anti-God planet. He must purge them while He is gathering His remnant of chosen people. He is about to deal with all Gentile believers who will accept His Son for salvation during that Tribulation hour.

And, to those of us who call on the Name of Jesus Christ for salvation, I’m thankful to be able to say that God is also getting ready to deal with us.

Before He will begin dealing with His chosen people, the earth’s rebels, and the Gentiles who will become believers during the Tribulation, the Lord will take His Church from the planet. At that moment of Rapture, the Restrainer, the Holy Spirit resident within each believer, will no longer hold back the evil to the same degree He is now.

The Lord is ready to deal, I’m convinced.

That’s not a matter of gloom and doom, but it’s a glorious prospect if you know Christ and will be kept out of the coming time of judgment and wrath.

Here is comfort from His very Word:

“Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” (Revelation 3:10)

–Terry