COMMENTARY & OPINION

From the desk of

Bill Ramey

3/4/18

COMMENTARY & OPINION

2018: Is This the Eve of Destruction?

by S DOUGLAS WOODWARD on March 4, 2018

Many students of Bible prophecy believe that 2018 is the year – the year that is, the Tribulation period begins. It doesn’t matter whether the Tribulation will be 3.5 or 7 years in duration. It is at hand.

Much of this conviction has to do with date patterns, specifically 70 years since Israel became a nation, 50 years since the 1967 war, and 100 years since Allenby took Jerusalem from the Ottomans.  We’ve seen this conviction before.  2017 seemed to be “the year” too based on these same calculations. Why could either year be “the year?” The math for the fulfillment of these numerological patterns isn’t perfectly exact especially given the differences between the Jewish and Gregorian calendars. So is 2018 the year based on the math?  If it isn’t, Bible prophecy students will need to face the fact that such “date setting” is not going to disclose when the Lord will return.  Speculation, based upon these notions, will need to come to an end.

However, there are empirical reasons to worry that “time is up.” It has much to do with geopolitics. The tension in play at this moment between Russia and the Western world continues to grow.  This past week, Putin announced that Russia has readied exceptional nuclear weapons: a hypersonic missile that boasts speeds so extreme that no defensive anti-missile system can stop it, as well as a nuclear torpedo that can hit coastal cities without warning.

Citing Yahoo News:

Vladimir Putin has threatened a new arms race between Russia and the West, revealing that Moscow has tested nuclear missiles that are ‘immune to enemy interception’.

The Russian President claimed his country had access to a high-speed cruise missile, tested last autumn, which has an unlimited range and is capable of penetrating any missile defense.

In his televised state-of-the-nation speech, he also described a powerful underwater drone that is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, saying it could target both aircraft carriers and coastal regions.[1]

Speaking of anti-ballistic missiles, as I have documented elsewhere in three different books,[2] Russia is fielding almost 11,000 ABMs while the United States has less than 100.  Additionally, the U.S. has admitted that our ABMs have no better than a 50/50 chance of successfully stopping a missile from any adversary – Russia, China, North Korea, or soon, Iran.

When it comes to conventional weapon systems, the size of our Air Force and especially our Navy, the

Reasons Why Russia Must Destroy the United States

U.S. has an insurmountable lead.  However, while we have 11 carrier groups to Russia’s one (China barely has one too, while North Korea and Iran have none), this doesn’t protect the homeland as much as it protects American’s interests around the globe. This is so because of this simple fact: should an enemy of the U.S. holds a strategic advantage in nuclear weapons and defensive systems that can nullify our ability to retaliate, this rival can dictate terms for our surrender. Just as battleships became nearly useless when aircraft carriers began dominating the seas in World War II, our aircraft carriers can quickly become obsolete when a single, unstoppable hypersonic missile heads their way.  During the past decade, military superiority has slipped through our fingers.  Although we know who to blame for this blunder, it only makes a difference now if we can recover in time to forestall such a catastrophic ultimatum.

What is likely to happen in the months ahead? Why is Putin threatening the U.S. (and the West) with his updated nuclear arsenal? As I have argued in my books, Is Russia Destined to Nuke the U.S.? and The Next Great War in the Middle East, the window of maximum opportunity for Russia begins now and lasts for less than five years.  In fact, the longer Moscow waits to leverage their advantage, the worse their chance of not only winning WWIII but surviving deep into the twenty-first century.  Because of continued negative economic factors (e.g., the falling price for a barrel of oil and the collapse of the ruble), along with unfavorable demographics and what it means to their economy, ultimately Russia is doomed.  It cannot grow its way out of an inevitable and persistent decline. Oil and gas are the primary revenue sources driving their economy (also making up over 50% of the Russian government’s revenues).  Hence, it is only a matter of time before their natural resources fail to sustain their financial solvency. We all know that the end of fossil fuels is certain. Advanced technology will eventually make fossil fuels obsolete. For Russia, it becomes a zero-sum game – Moscow can only survive by stealing prosperity from its global competitors.

If these factors are coupled with the disruption in America and Western Europe, the optimal time for Russia and/or China to strike the United States is right now.  Our military is in disrepair.  Our national media continues its all-out attack on the current President.  And our citizenry is divided.  There is even talk of civil war, something which has been unthinkable since the last one,150 years ago.

My Missile is Bigger Than Your Missile

Why Putin chose at this time to warn the Western world that Russia is poised to defeat it remains a mystery to almost all analysts.  However, if we understand that Russia is the primary obstacle in the way of the globalist plan to unite the world in a single socialist government based upon a unipolar power (that being the U.S. and its European allies), Putin could be sounding the alarm that he won’t wait much longer before he acts. Circumstances seem to be forcing his hand. If the Neo-cons (and some critics say, the Zionists) don’t stop pushing their globalist agenda that threatens Russia existentially, Putin will feel he has no choice but to take action.  Given that Trump may have been regarded by Putin as a genuine chance for peace and cooperation between East and West, and that Trump appears to be losing ground in his fight against the status quo in the U.S., Putin may judge that he cannot afford to wait any longer.  He must put his war plans in motion now.  Trump’s takedown of the global elite in America is too much of a long shot.

As a watchman, I reiterate what I have been saying for the past four years or so. as regards its citizens, America is the final Babylon. Jeremiah prophesies against the daughter of Babylon, that she will be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah by armies from the North. “For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.” (Jeremiah 50:3) “Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.” (Jeremiah 50:41) Its destruction is so complete that a nuclear holocaust appears to be the cause.  We read:

Isaiah 13:19, “And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.”

Jeremiah 49:18, “As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the Lord, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.”

Jeremiah 50:40, “As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the Lord; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.”

Are we ready to acknowledge that the U.S. is this daughter of Babylon?  There continues to be a debate concerning where Mystery Babylon resides.  Does Rome or Mecca or a symbolic megalopolis like New York City constitute Mystery Babylon?  I remain convinced as are many other authors who write on the topic of Bible prophecy, that the United States is the most probable target perched upon a precipice.  Our destruction appears imminent. Will we repent of our departure from God’s laws that we might change our fate?

During the time of the Vietnam War, soon to become Christian, songwriter and singer Barry McGuire wrote a hit called the “Eve of Destruction.”  It was attacked for being anti-patriotic.  Good Americans should support the Vietnam War.  Today, more than ever before, Americans are questioning endless war and the military-industrial complex which is aligned with globalists and the New World Order.  Is it time to stop the military madness?  Is it time to determine how we can find peace with Russia and reduce the threats that may be at the root of Putin’s bellicose rhetoric?  Or do we wish to increase the tension with more claims of “Russian collusion?”  Is it a good idea to throw another trillion dollars into nuclear weapons upgrades to fuel the arms race and contribute to the revival of the Cold War?  Or could the money be better spent in working with Russia to improve their economic condition and stem the tide of national animosity?  Given the choice, humanity always chooses war.  Maybe its time we try a different tact.

Ramey comments:

Heads up folks --- we have another author, claiming to be a watchman, who is catching up and quoting Isaiah 13 and Jeremiah 50-51 and also acknowledging that America is the end time Babylon and Sodom.  WOW!  Are we starting to have an impact in this world of chaos, confusion and idolatry?

He has some of his ducks in a row but evidently is still in the forum created by Satan, (religion), for the purpose of deception of the "...whole world". 

Are we familiar with the tradition that dates back to ancient times of "...rats leaving a doomed ship"?

As the author of the above article correctly notes, there are many things pointing to the close of this age.  We live in a culture that is simply unsustainable.  And yet this scenario is being papered over and the inevitable is being hidden from the masses for as long as possible.

What this means in terms we can identify with is that the climax will come suddenly --- as indicated by the prophets.

The above author, who claims to be a watchman, neglects to mention that the 13th chapter of Isaiah is the "Day of the Lord", indicating that it is the same event as is described in Rev 6, beginning in verse 12 --- probably because he doesn't under-stand this.  But he is moving in the right direction and perhaps will come to under-stand during the tribulation. 

There is much confusion in the Christian and Islamic world.  They cannot seem to identify themselves in the scriptures.  This because they do not understand the book of Daniel.  They do not understand the book of Habakkuk and they do not understand that the writings of the prophets fit together like a jigsaw puzzle to give an accurate mosaic of the end times. 

Few realize that America is the image of the Roman beast of Daniel 7 as evidenced by the Roman pagan holidays incorporated into the American educational system.  And also the U.S senate which is a carbon copy of the Roman senate.  Do we need also mention the Empire State building? 

One of the great deceptions of our day is that: "The Roman Empire fell in 476 AD.  This is fable clean and simple as even a cursory research even in encyclopedias will show.   The Roman Empire did not fall.

Rome did fall to the Israelite invaders but Rome was not the center of the Roman Empire in 476 AD.  The capitol of the Roman Empire had been moved to Byzantium more than a century previously by Constantine.  The name of Byzantium was then changed to Constantinople as an honor to Constantine.  He brought much wealth to their city. 

We should try to remember that "...those who forget history are doomed to repeat it".  It would seem we only study history in order to repeat the errors thereof.  Are we about to repeat past errors big time? Or have we already repeated them?  Can we begin to see that the sun has set on the Roman Empire?