China and other Far Eastern countries presently feign peaceful co-existence with the West because the trade imbalance provides a surplus of Western money to feed burgeoning populations and build military strength. Part of this trade imbalance is due to countries such as China and North Korea, which sell weapons to Middle Eastern countries— enemies of Israel and the West, especially the United States— with no moral constraint.

Untold millions of young men are available for military service, aided by China's one-child policy which has resulted in a surplus of male children.

The Bible prophesies that there will be an army of 200,000,000 soldiers from the Far East which will advance toward Israel immediately before Jesus' Second Coming. Several scenarios can be imagined, including: China and North Korea form the nucleus of an army to fight the West; or, Islamic countries form the nucleus of an army to fight Israel and the West; or, Hindu countries (India) form the nucleus of an army to fight Islamic countries; or, coalitions of these powers form an army to fight Israel and the West.

War could erupt at any moment in the Far East. China could attack Taiwan, which would create a diplomatic and military crisis for the United States. India and Pakistan, both nuclear powers, continually threaten to go to war over Kashmir and other issues. North Korea makes warring gestures toward South Korea, threatens America, and is rapidly developing nuclear weapon and missile technology.

Thus, the Eastern powers acting together could easily fulfill the westward-advancing army that wages war immediately before the Lord Jesus Christ returns. The Euphrates River has been a historical barrier against troop monement between the East and West. In the 1990s, Turkey built a system of dams— the Ataturk Dam being the largest— which can stop the flow of water in the Euphrates River, making troop crossing much easier. China is building a Trans-Himalayan highway, which will facilitate troop movement from the Far East to Israel.

REPRESENTATIVE SCRIPTURES: Revelation 9:13-21: The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice.... It said to the angel..., 'Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.* And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million. I heard their number. Verses 17 TO 21— SUMMARY: John describes the horde advancing through Asia toward Israel. He tries to explain instruments of modern war, which would have been very strange to him, in terms people of his time could understand. For example: fire out of the mouths of their "horses" could represent tanks; and the fire, smoke, and sulfur that killed a third of mankind surely must represent nuclear warfare.

The Holy Bible (in large part, the books of Daniel and Revelation) tells of an evil government during the seven-year Tribulation. This government will probably come through the United Nations and/or the European Union. This one-world government will be headed by the Antichrist and the False Prophet. This government will be established to accomplish Satan's bidding and to oppose God the Father and Jesus the Christ.

Before the Tribulation begins, Christians will be removed from the Earth by the Rapture. God will not leave the earth without hope, though, and He will send 144,000 Jewish evangelists and the Two Witnesses to proclaim throughout the world His Gospel message of grace (salvation through Jesus' blood sacrifice). Many millions will be converted to faith in Jesus during this time. The Antichrist's government will ruthlessly hunt down these recently converted Christians, and they will be martyred (murdered).

All the puzzle pieces are falling into place to fulfill the prophetic scenario outlined above in the very near future. Consider these facts: Although dysfunctional and deeply in debt at the moment, Europe is building a powerful federation of nations. Europe is mostly apostate, with little practice of Christianity in many countries and with anti-Christian hostility in some countries. Europe's long-standing antisemitism is intensifying. Europe is strongly allied with Muslim nations, which hate Jews and Christians. Even in America, the Judicial System, some members of Congress, the State Department, many members of the media, and members of the entertainment community are strongly biased against Christianity. The world is ready for the Antichrist and the unmerciful persecution of Jews and Christians he will unleash. Satan will execute his plan for a few years, until he is defeated by Jesus the Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords, at His Second Coming!

NOTE THIS: A 2002 book review*, summarizes the bloodshed of Christian martyrs during the Twentieth Century. In the two millennia of Christian history, more than 70-million Christians have been martyred (murdered) solely because of their Christian faith. Of these, 45.5-million (65 per cent) of martyrs lost their lives during the Twentieth Century. Most recent Christian martyrdom has occurred because of Communism and Islamic and Hindu fundamentalism (extremism)
— — — — —
*More than a decade later, this number has probably increased by nearly two-million.

The last church type addressed by Jesus in the second and third chapters of Revelation is the church in Laodicea, which represents the predominant church at the end of the age. Jesus had no praise for the Laodicean church (Revelation 3:14-22) because of its lukewarm faith and efforts. Even today, some church leaders deny the basic tenets of Christianity, e.g., the virgin birth of Jesus, His deity, and His resurrection, while living a life which follows and glorifies Satan, rather than God. Many people, busy with personal life issues, do not find time to consider their relationship with God. Because of their lack of faith, failure to seek salvation and redemption from sin, and following "idols" (any pursuit which is more important in life than the worship of God), they will die a spiritual death (the second death, or death of the soul in Hell), as did people in Noah's day die a physical death from the flood.

Shamefully, some "Christian" pastors combine Christianity and Islam into a bastardized religion— "Chrislam." In Chrislam, there is reading from both the Koran and the Holy Bible, there are prayers to Jehovah and Allah, and there is taught that there is more than one way to eternal reward. Jesus and New Testament authors had nuch to say about such false teachers. When these false teachers meet their Divine Judge, they will begin an eternity of remorse over their corruption of God's Holy Word.

No activity by any Christian church is as important as spreading the Gospel message to a lost world.

• They are exceedingly rich by world and historical standards.
• They typically are not required to work from dawn to dusk to eke out a meager living.
• Rather than rejoicing in their good lives, many become bored and disillusioned. They use their abundance of wealth and leisure time to yield to Satan's temptations by turning to drugs (including alcohol) and other sinful activities to fill their meaningless days and dull their senses.
• Instead of being grateful for riches and leisure time, they do not help their neighbors in need and do not serve God.
• These bored people abuse drugs (including alcohol), participate in astrology and various demonic spiritual delusions, waste their lives on meaningless electronic games and social networks, and spend their days satisfying only themselves and following Satan deeper into darkness. They truly live "as in the days of Noah" (Matthew 24:37-39).

The Bible predicted there would be many persons involved in "sorceries" at the end of the age. Interestingly, the word translated sorceries, sorcery, or magic spells in various versions is the Greek word pharmakeia. The pharm- root is familiar to every person, as it relates to drugs (pharmacy, pharmaceutical, pharmacist, pharmacology, etc.).

One of the reasons the future Babylon the Great will fall is her use and exportation of pharmakeia (Revelation, chapter 18). This Babylon, "destroyed in one hour," represents man's governments which rebel against God. America and other nations cannot continue to sin against God, while expecting to avoid His wrath.

REPRESENTATIVE SCRIPTURES: Revelation 18:23-24: [A mighty angel said] "The light of a lamp will never shine in you [Babylon the Great] again. The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world's great men. By your magic spell [pharmakeia] all the nations were led astray. In her was found the blood of the prophets and of the saints, and of all who have been killed on the earth."

The stage for these judgments is now set. Viral pandemics can sweep the earth with amazing speed (an influenza pandemic, for example). HIV (the AIDS virus) has infected millions of persons in a few years. Consider the even greater worldwide impact, if HIV were spread by an airborne route. In this scenario, one HIV-infected passenger could infect an entire plane of passengers.

Consider global spread of a deadly virus such as Ebola virus. Scientists are capable of synthesizing and hybridizing viruses, perhaps creating viruses for which no natural immunity exists.

Many bacteria, once easily treated with antibiotics, have now become resistant to virtually all antibiotics.

With famines and wars occurring during the Tribulation, people on earth will be even more susceptible to epidemics.

The environment is always at risk for invasion by hordes of insects and other destructive agents, further worsening famines caused by the wars, droughts, and infections of the Tribulation.

Explanation of the Richter scale:

• The Richter scale measures the magnitude (strength) of an earthquake. The scale is logarithmic. That is, an increase of one full number to the left of the decimal point represents a ten-fold increase in earthquake magnitude. (For example, a 6.0 earthquake is ten times stronger than a 5.0 earthquake.) Richter scale numbers approximately correlate with damage, as follows:
  • Less than 3.5 (<3.5): Generally not felt by humans, but measurable by instruments.
  • 3.5 - 5.4: Often felt by humans, but property damage is rare.
  • 5.5 - 6.0: Slight property damage to well-designed buildings, but major damage to poorly designed buildings; damage confined to a small region.
  • 6.1 - 6.9: Can be destructive in populated regions in a region up to 100 kilometers (60 miles) in diameter.
  • 7.0 - 7.9: Major earthquake— can cause serious damage over a region exceeding 100 kilometers (60 miles) in diameter.
  • 8.0 or greater (>8.0): Great earthquake— can cause devastating damage in a region several hundred kilometers (several hundred miles) in diameter.

REPRESENTATIVE SCRIPTURE: Luke 21:25b: [Jesus said] "On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea."

Marked advances in astronomy— including the Hubble telescope— permit us to see the far reaches of space and to increase knowledge about the universe God has created.

Our astronomy tools reveal that the universe is a hostile place. There are large heavenly bodies— asteroids and comets— flying through space at great speed. These bodies have frequently struck earth, and can (will) strike again at any time. Great energy is imparted (kinetic energy is a function of the velocity, or speed, squared). Catastrophic damage (equal to many nuclear bomb detonations) can occur. Debris thrown up and fires caused by such a collision would simulate the well-popularized "nuclear winter." The dust and smoke would darken the sun and alter the color of the moon.