In His sermon on the Mt. of Olives Jesus said that the first phase of the End Times would include pestilences, along with other signs of the times like false messiahs, wars, famines and earthquakes.
Pestilences would include wild animals, pests, diseases and environmental hazards. These things have been problems in every age, but in these days there are major concerns about AIDS, drug-resistant strains of old diseases like tuberculosis, and newer threats like Ebola, for which there is no vaccination. Radiation from space, radio, television and cellular signals, and nuclear accidents are adding to the growing problem of cancer, which affects most families today. Terrorism and threats of war pose the additional nightmare of injury or death by nuclear, biological or chemical weapons.
During the Tribulation, the Book of Revelation predicts even greater world-wide disasters, symbolized by the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" (Revelation 6:1-8). These disasters are a false messiah (white horse), a great war (red horse), famine (black horse), and then rampant sickness and death (pale horse).
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| Go To Bible Gateway | Go To Blue Letter Bible |
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| NIV & Other Versions | Includes Commentary |
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| Matthew 24:5-8 | Further Study |
| Luke 21:11 | Further Study |
| Revelation 6:7-8 | Further Study |
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RON'S BLOG Aug. 15, 2014 |
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Review of Survive the Coming Storm - Ebola Crisis |
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Ray Gano's new e-book, Survive the Coming Storm - Ebola Crisis, Is a timely wake-up call about the imminent danger of a global pandemic that has already crippled parts of West Africa and has been labeled an "International public health emergency" by the World Health Organization (WHO). Gano is the publisher of Prophezine, the respected Bible prophecy site that has provided credible information about Bible prophecy for nearly two decades. He and his family have studied and practiced emergency preparation techniques and provide supplies for such events as a means of supporting the ministry of his website. Jesus warned that one of the dreadful aspects of the End Times will be plagues: For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. - Matthew 24:7-8 Gano is careful to say that the Ebola scare might not reach the catastrophic level of past plagues. He is hopeful that it can be stopped before it reaches its dreadful potential, but at present there is no cure, and approximately 50% of those who contract the virus die. It could easily reach the point that hospitals will be overrun with dying patients and people will have to deal with their own family's crisis without professional help. That is why he gives detailed instructions about how to set up a quarantined patients' room and a "clean room" in one's own home and how to provide basic aid, such as keeping the sick hydrated as they fight the virus. Extensive preparations will be necessary to keep others in the family from being exposed to the fast-spreading disease. The book helps us realize that least we can do is understand this threat and know what can be done now to save the lives of our own families if Ebola explodes into a full-blown plague. |
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At the same time, the Ebola outbreak is a wake-up call to governments everywhere: The international health system is broken. Preventing a recurrence of this tragedy will require more money and attention.At the end of last week, the . The move was largely symbolic, however; the organization did not suggest trade and travel restrictions, a reflection of the slim chances of a global epidemic. Even in the West African countries where the disease has spread, it’s still far down the list of killers. Over the past few months infections such as have caused far more deaths in the region than Ebola.
It is the largest and longest outbreak ever recorded of Ebola, which has a death rate of about 50 percent and has so far killed at least 932 people. WHO declared similar emergencies for the swine flu pandemic in 2009 and for polio in May.
The UN says 729 people in West Africa have died of Ebola since February - 233 of them in Sierra Leone.
Dr. Kent Brantly, 33, medical director for the aid group Samaritan’s Purse, and his colleague Nancy Writebol, are both being treated at the center in Monrovia where they were working to help Ebola patients. Both are in stable condition.
The difference between the pneumonic and bubonic varieties is that the bacteria takes hold in the lungs in the first case, rather than underneath the skin through insect bites.
A government scientist cleaning out a storage room last week at a lab on the National Institutes of Health’s Bethesda campus found decades-old vials of smallpox.Last month, three CDC labs were involved in the accidental release of live anthrax bacteria.
Every day it is spewing out radiation and they currently have no workable plan to stop it. All forms of life on our planet will in some way experience an impact from these ongoing radiation leaks. Our earth will never recover (at least in our lifetimes) from Fukushima.Author John Souter says, "You may not know it but all of this is predicted in the Bible."
"If we fail to act, we are looking at an almost unthinkable scenario where antibiotics no longer work and we are cast back into the dark ages of medicine where treatable infections and injuries will kill once again," he said.
At least two million Americans a year are infected with drug-resistant bugs and 23,000 die as a direct result. Even more die from other illnesses that were made worse by infections that cannot be treated.Another 5,000 die annually in Britain.
The population is not as responsive to antibiotics as they used to be because of over-use of the drugs. It takes a decade to develop new drugs, but no new types of antibiotics have been approved for use in a quarter of a century.
The European Union pledged 500,000 euros ($690,000) to fight the contagion, while the Senegalese interior ministry said border crossings to Guinea would be closed "until further notice".
One in eight global deaths were linked with air pollution, making it "the world's largest single environmental health risk", the WHO said.
"This is a huge cluster," said Alex Kallen, a medical officer with the CDC and supervisor for the Illinois outbreak investigation, noting that only 97 cases of the infection have been reported to the agency since 2009.
"Studies by the World Bank, WHO, and the Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning on the effect of air pollution on health concluded that between 350,000 and 500,000 people die prematurely each year as a result of outdoor air pollution in China."Mr. Chen also said that his country produces the largest number of major pollutants in the world.
The Department of Health and Human Services has ordered 14 million doses of potassium iodide, the compound that protects the body from radioactive poisoning in the aftermath of severe nuclear accidents, to be delivered before the beginning of February.The unprecedented purchase is apparently a precaution to protect Americans on the West coast from radioactive debris from Japan's Fukushima disaster. It is beginning to wash up on our shores. Another major earthquake in Japan could cause an even greater nuclear accident.
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"I applaud the diligent scholarship and the clear presentation of this urgently needed material. Well done, indeed. I strongly recommend this critical book." - Chuck Missler Koinonia Institute 
THE CHURCH IN PROPHECY AND HISTORY |
This is an area where it would be unwise to be dogmatic, but there are two possible connections to nuclear destruction from the account of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Revelation chapter 6 describes the early part of the Tribulation as a vision of four riders on different colored horses. First there is the rider on a white horse (verses 1-2), a mighty conqueror and apparent messiah who appears to be able solve the world’s problems, but in reality is a false savior – the “beast” of Revelation 13, who is often called Antichrist.
The second symbolic rider comes on a red horse (Revelation 6:3-4). This speaks of the ravages of a great world-wide war. It is not likely that this war is started by the rider on the white horse, since, as the previous verses indicate, he is seen as a messianic hero.
Jesus told us that the period leading up to the Tribulation would be characterized by “wars and rumors of wars” (Matthew 24:6; Mark 13:7).
It is likely that this is the war of Ezekiel 38 and 39, which results in fiery destruction of the aggressors from the north when they try to conquer Israel. This could very possibly escalate to nuclear warfare, which involves more than one of the present-day nuclear powers. The emerging world dictator could take credit for the destruction of Israel’s invaders, or at least take advantage of the situation, to bring about the seven-year peace treaty between himself and Israel that was prophesied by Daniel. If this is the case, this war would take place at the very beginning of the seven years of the Tribulation. And, of course, if it involves a nuclear exchange, it will result in the release of unwanted radiation.
The third horse will be black, and it will bring great famine, probably as a result of the world war and continued global economic problems (Revelation 6:5-6).
The fourth horse brings a variety of deadly situations.
When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth. – Revelation 6:7-8
The color of the fourth horse is translated many ways. Some Bible versions translate it as “pale,” others as “ashen,” or “pale green.” The Greek word is chloros, “greenish.” It is the root of the well known “chlorophyll”, the tiny green chemical converters in the leaves of most plants.
Chloros also suggests deadly chlorine gas, which is pale green in color and quickly fatal to all who breathe it. The intended picture here is a sickly pale green that symbolizes death as a result of the terrors of nuclear, chemical, and biological warfare.
Therefore, one of the main causes of this Fourth Horseman’s deadly mission might be radiation and the cancer that it produces. This radiation could be the result, not only of nuclear weapons, but of damaged nuclear power plants as well. And these catastrophes could be caused by terrorism or natural disasters, such as earthquakes and tsunamis.
One other possibility for the meaning of the green horse has been suggested by some Bible teachers in the light of the growing threat by Islamic radical terrorists. They wonder if the green could come from the well-known fact that Islamic countries all use green in their flags and seem to prefer that color. Time will tell if there is any connection here.
More related information is available in our book, Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy.
