A look back at 2008

By Dan Hamblin

2008 was another banner year for prophecy, below are a few examples.

WEATHER: We experienced another year with more hurricanes, typhoons, winter storms and floods. We saw everything from Snow in Las Vegas to record breaking heat across the mid west causing schools to cancel classes because of heat. Here in Columbus, Ohio on March 7th & 8th of 2008 we experienced a record breaking snowfall of 20.8 inches in just over 24 hours. Many cities experienced record amounts of rainfall during 2008 as well. There were over 20,000 earthquakes in 2008.
FINANCIAL: 2008 will go down in the history books as a financial Armageddon for sure. This financial failure isn't just here in the USA but it is global. The US dollar hit all time lows in 2008 and the DOW fell from its 14,000 high down to the 7600 range in just one year. We all witnessed gas prices from 4.00 a gallon and over 5.00 a gallon on the west coast. The housing market pretty much totally collapsed, record foreclosures and a credit freeze. We watched as major financial institutions failed and were bought by others. We watched AIG insurance get billions in bail out money. We watched the big 3 automakers plead for money. 2008 was a total catastrophe for the financial community and continues to be a major issue. This is global remember, we watched Russia close their markets after only being open a couple of hours for a while because they were tanking so badly. 2009 will be just as bad, no improvement in sight as of now.
IRAN'S NUCLEAR AMBITIONS: Well Iran hasn't given up on nuclear power. They have defied all sanctions set forth by the UN and still are on their way to a nuclear power. Many fear that Iran will make nuclear weapons and I for one agree with that completely. Iran has stated several times they want Israel "wiped off the map" and I see them trying to make good on that. Russia has provided a lot of the equipment needed to build their centrifuges in Iran and has backed them all the way. Israel has threatened to attack their nuclear facilities but as of this writing they have not, I feel it is too late for that now. They have passed the point of no return, in my opinion.
NATIONWIDE ID INCENTIVE: The nationwide ID incentive has gained ground as of the middle of 2008. Seems like everyone likes the idea and many Christians see this as the "mark". This is not the mark because it does not meet all of the characteristics of the mark but is surely a precursor for what is to come during the great tribulation.
FOOD SHORTAGES: It became official in mid-2008 that Ethiopia had a famine and there were vast food shortages, this has been felt to a lesser extend all over the globe. Many predict that in the next few years we will be asking for food for Christmas instead of play stations and I-pods. Some have already began stock piling food for future use, the not so distant future that is.
ISRAELI STRIKE IN GAZA: This is a very recent event started just after Christmas 2008. After many years of Hamas lobbing rockets into Israel, Israel has decided to strike back. This has been seen with a great amount of opposition. Nobody said a thing when Hamas was shelling Israel but now that they fight back everyone is pointing at Israel. Hezbollah has come forth saying they are ready to aid Hamas and Iran has been sending aid into Gaza through Egypt. Just more fuel to the Hamas terrorists. Iran has signed up nearly 4,000 volunteers that are willing to fight with Hamas against Israel. I think this is going to turn into something much bigger in 2009. The United States has not offered any aid in this ordeal, seems like Israel may be left standing alone and fighting for its survival. We all know that Israel will remain by God's grace; we all need to pray for Israel.
2008 US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION It was an historic election this past November, we elected the nations first black president. Barack Hussein Obama will take office on January 20th. He has a lot of plans and brings "change" to us all; just hope he lives up to his word. Not a lot of confidence, but we will see.

Well as you can see 2008 was another big year for prophecy. We have seen everything from floods to recessions to famines to another war with Israel. Many wonder if this is the war that will lead to the Gog – Magog war. The timing is right especially with Obama about to take office. Let's sit back and see what happens in 2009. Thank you for visiting Rapturecall and have a blessed new year.

Teri, Sue and Dan.

Earthquakes, Pestilence, Weird Weather

On Wednesday Chile was hit with an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7, leaving 15,000 people homeless, 150 injured, and 2 dead. The earthquake destroyed 4,000 houses, a local hospital, blocking roads, crushing cars, and knocking out power.

According to the USGS major aftershocks rocked the region Thursday, including one with a magnitude of 6.8, and one of a magnitude of a 6.2.There have been 15 earthquakes in the last two days with a magnitude of a 5.0 or greater.

We are seeing more and more diseases. Some of these are old diseases with new strains. They have somehow mutated. Let's look at ad14, it is a mutated form of a common cold virus. Adenoviruses usually cause respiratory infections that aren't considered lethal, but this virus has caused 10 deaths in the last 18 months. A new variant has caused at least 140 illnesses in New York, Oregon, Washington and Texas, according to a report issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to a Yahoo news report, Dr. John Su, an infectious diseases investigator with the CDC said,"What really got people's attention is these are healthy young adults landing in the hospital and, in some cases, the ICU,"
Ad14 was first identified in 1955, and in 1969 was blamed for illnesses in military stationed in Europe, but since then it has rarely been seen. Now it seems to be growing more common.

Sexual diseases are on the rise again. Over one million reported cases of chlamydia were reported in the United States last year — the most ever reported for a sexually transmitted disease, federal health officials said. Gonorrhea has hit a record high with a new "super bug" version resistant to antibiotics. Syphilis infections rose for the first time in 15 years.

Britain faces possible flooding along its east coast due to a storm surge in the North Sea, creating waves only seen once in 20 years, the government and weather experts warned Thursday.
A cyclone ripped through southwestern Bangladesh Thursday night. The velocity of the wind was 145 to 155 miles per hour. Thousands of tin and bamboo homes have been destroyed, along with power outages. They are expecting the damage to be severe.

Cyclones, violent tornadoes, floods, drought, earthquakes, diseases, all seem to be increasing. In Matthew 24:7,8, Jesus said "and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows." The NIV puts it this way, "There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains."
Most of us understand birth pains. When a women goes into labor her pains start off slow with a little cramping or slight pain. The closer it gets to the baby being born, the pain gets worse and the contractions are closer together. Before she knows it the pain is steady and severe, shortly there after the baby is born. This is the example Jesus used...birth pains...labor pains, He knew man could relate to that.
We need to look at all the signs, we are in hard labor, the Lord is coming soon.