1887 depiction of the ‘Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse’

Moscow was hit by a drone attack today:

30 May 2023
Russia has accused Ukraine of launching an early morning drone attack on Moscow, the first time the city has been targeted by multiple drones since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The defence ministry said Kyiv staged a “terrorist attack” with at least eight drones causing minor damage.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said no-one was seriously injured. Several drones fell on an exclusive western suburb where senior officials live.
Ukraine has denied the attack. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65751632

Are we in a time of war and rumors of war?

Notice the following from Michael Snyder:

11 Signs That Global Conflict Could Soon Spiral Completely Out Of Control
May 29, 2023
The world seems to be gripped by a really bad case of war fever. National leaders all over the globe are rattling their sabers, and that should deeply alarm all of us. …
Over the past couple of weeks, there have been so many alarming developments. The following are 11 signs that global conflict could soon spiral completely out of control…
#1 Russia just signed a deal to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus…
#2 U.S. and Taiwanese officials have reportedly been talking about bringing Taiwan under the “nuclear umbrella” of the United States. Needless to say, such a move would make war with China much more likely…
#3 The Russians have just issued an arrest warrant for U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham…
#4 A senior Taliban commander is boasting that “we will conquer Iran soon”…
#5 Israel has doubled the number of attacks on Iranian targets inside Syrian territory in recent months…
#6 Hezbollah just conducted major military exercises very close to the border with Israel…

Before continuing with that list, let me comment that the situation in the Middle East involving Iran, Syria, Israel, and other players looks be the conflict that sets in motion what will lead to the ‘peace deal’ of Daniel 9:27 and the countdown to the start of the Great Tribulation as well as the return of Jesus.

Continuing with Michael Snyder’s list:

#7 Most Americans don’t realize this, but U.S. troops will soon be deployed in Peru…
#8 Violent clashes in Kosovo have resulted in more than two dozen NATO troops being injured…
#9 The U.S. military is building a brand new base in northern Syria. …
#10 North Korea is claiming that the U.S. and South Korea have just conducted an “invasion rehearsal”…
#11 Due to “security concerns”, dozens of “satellite phones for emergency communication” are being issued to members of the U.S. Senate…
The satellite phone technology has been offered to all 100 senators. CBS News has learned at least 50 have accepted the phones, which Senate administrative staff recommend senators keep in close proximity during their travels.
We have never seen such a dramatic measure ever be taken before.
Are they preparing for something?
I wish that I knew.
But what I do know is that we are certainly living during a time of “wars and rumors of wars”, and it definitely isn’t going to take much to push us over a line that will never be able to be uncrossed. https://endoftheamericandream.com/11-signs-that-global-conflict-could-soon-spiral-completely-out-of-control/

Allow me to add that there are conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Yemen, Somalia, Haiti, Libya, and other places that were not discussed in the above article.

Jesus predicted:

6 And 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. (Matthew 24:6-8)

While the end is not yet, we are seeing a lot of violence. Notice also:

There have been more than 200 mass shootings across the US so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, 05/27/23 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41488081

Notice also the following:

1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; (2 Timothy 3:1-4, KJV)

The mass shootings in the USA, gangs in Haiti and elsewhere, and many others are fierce and covetous.

Both COVID-19 and what we are seeing associated with battles throughout the world, plus protests and rumors of war could be a factor in ‘apocalyptic’ matters such as the following:

3 When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.” 4 Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword. (Revelation 6:3-4)

The literal Greek here for “peace” (εἰρήνην transliterated as eirēnēn) in Revelation 6 can be interpreted to mean taking away prosperity as well (see BibleHub.com). COVID-19 has, to a degree, done that. People are afraid or at least uneasy to a degree we have not seen around the world anytime in the 21st century. Plus there are a lot of protests and then there are the actual conflicts.

Barnes Notes on the Bible states:

The power given to him that sat on the horse: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another. This would seem to indicate that the condition immediately preceding this was a condition of tranquility, and that this was now disturbed by some cause producing discord and bloodshed. This idea is confirmed by the original words – τὴν εἰρήνην tēn eirēnēn – “the peace”; that is, the previously existing peace. When peace in general is referred to, the word is used without the article: Matthew 10:34, “Think not that I am come to send peace – βαλεῖν εἰρήνην balein eirēnēn – upon the earth.”

So, this rider is not just a rider of war, but taking away THE peace.

It is NOT constant physical warfare everywhere, though physical violence and warfare (consistent with Jesus’ words in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21) will also occur.

But things will get worse.

The old WCG also put out the following:

Where is it all going to end? That was the question the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ posed in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew. Christ’s answer, known as the Olivet Prophecy, is quite revealing. “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars,” Christ said, referring to one of the prophetic signals that would herald the end of an age (verse 6).
Certainly there have always been wars. And certainly Christ’s words had particular meaning for that day and age. Within a few short decades Roman legions under the command of Titus sacked, burned and pillaged the city of Jerusalem.
But Jesus’ warning about war was also applicable to another period in history. In the book of Revelation, Christ, speaking through the apostle John, amplified some of His previous prophetic statements. In the sixth chapter, John writes: “And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword” (Rev. 6:4).
John was not speaking about the fall of Jerusalem. That war was already some twenty years behind him. John was referring to future events that would bring 6000 years of human history crashing to a cataclysmic close. … John is referring to a time yet ahead of us when “peaceful coexistence” will be a thing of the past. …
It’s no wonder that Jeremiah, in referring to these tumultuous times, stated: “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble …” (Jer. 30:7). (Ritter G. 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse – The Red Horse – War, pp. 48, 52; see also Ritter R. The War that could end it all. Good News, December 1975)

There may also be wars in parts of the world that have rarely had them (perhaps, for example, even between some South American nations), as well as wars in areas that have long been especially tense (like Korea, possibly involving other Asian nations). Damascus (capital of Syria) ultimately will be destroyed and could be a signal for destruction to come for Jacob (Isaiah 17:1-4). There will likely be civil unrest and perhaps rioting in scales not seen before, including within some Western nations (such as in Europe and North America). This will lead to military leaders rising up in various parts of the world. And one European (the final King of the North) will, after making one or more false peace deals/pronouncements (e.g. Daniel 9:26-27; 11:27; 1 Thessalonians 5:3), become the final Beast leader (Revelation 13:4) and he will take over many nations (Daniel 11:39-43).

We are getting closer to the start of the Great Tribulation than most people realize.

Related to some of this, the Continuing Church of God put out the following sermon on its ContinuingCOG channel:

1:15
Sorrows and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Revelation 6:1-8 shows the opening of four seals and discusses the rides of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Each of which appears to be associated with aspects of the “beginning of sorrows” that Jesus mentions in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. What do each of the horsemen represent? Did the old Worldwide Church of God teach that these rides were still in the future in the late 21st century? Could any have began in the 21st century? Does the rider of the white horse represent Jesus or false religion? Are there ties to the interfaith and ecumenical movements? What might the bow the horseman has represent? Could this be a tie to Satan the Devil? What about the Beast and False Prophet? Has the “beginning of sorrows” started? Could the first seal be opened? Could COVID-19 have anything to do with the second seal? Has “the peace” been taken from the earth? Could the rider of the red horse have begun with an opening of the second seal? What about riots, looting wars, and rumors of war? Are food inflation, food shortages, and famines associated with the opening of the third seal and rider of the black horse of famine? Could human actions such as evolution teachings, genetically-modified crops, and viral research be factors in the rides of the four horsemen? Is more than death related to pestilences associated with the rider of the pale horse, the fourth seal? Why might this be a factor in 666? Will most people fail to recognize the rides of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse until it is too late to take action? What about the fifth seal and the start of the Great Tribulation? Are there problems with Roman and Eastern Orthodox prophecies concerning the end and the Great Monarch? What about prophecies related to Noah, the King of the North, Armageddon, and Antichrist? Dr. Thiel covers these issues and also includes some speculation and analysis.

Here is a link to the sermon video: Sorrows and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Pray, as Jesus said, for God’s kingdom to come (Matthew 6:10).

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