I do not write this to bring panic – only to make people understand that America could begin to look like Italy if people do NOT take this seriously. Social distancing could save not only your life, but the lives of others in your family.
Yesterday, I saw children playing outside in our neighborhood. They were chasing one another and wrestling. I thought to myself that I understood the cabin fever they must be experiencing. But then I saw these children running in and out of each other’s homes.
These families have grandparents living with them. This is not practicing Social Distancing. This is putting people at risk.
We received this message yesterday and my husband placed the audio clip on YouTube:
I received this via email today, and felt that it was important to share. I do hope that the reader will share this with as many people as you can.
From a group of 50 Boston, MA physicians:
“As there is so much confusion, misinformation and denial on social media about the coronavirus we hope to explain, in plain language, why the experts see this as such an emergency. Many people are reading the claim online that this virus is a lot like the viruses that cause colds, and that if you get it, it will probably just seem like a bad cold and you are very unlikely to die. Depending on who you are, this may be true, but there is more to this story that is key to our outcome as a community.
This is a coronavirus that is new to the human population. Although it is related to the viruses that cause colds, and acts a lot like them in many ways, nobody has ever been exposed to this before, which means nobody has any immunity to it.
The virus is now moving explosively through the human population, spreading through respiratory secretions and 10 times more contagious that the flu or cold. Although many people will recover, about 20% will wind up with a serious pneumonia that will require hospitalization.
Some will be so ill from the pneumonia that they will die. We estimate this may be 2-3%, but it is higher in Italy’s experience, partially because the healthcare system was overwhelmed so rapidly. In those over age 70, the death rate is 8-20%. So if a child catches it on a playdate, they can easily transmit it to their grandmother as easily as touching the same doorknob or countertop.
Scientists measure the spread of an epidemic by a number called R0, or “R naught.” That number is calculated this way: for every person who develops the illness, how many other people do they give it to before they are cured (or dead) and no longer infectious?
The R0 for coronavirus appears to be a number close to 3 – an extremely frightening number for such a deadly disease. Suppose you catch the virus. You will give it to 3 other people, and they will each give it to three others, and so forth. Here is how the math works, where you, the “index case,” are the first line:
So, in just 15 steps of transmission, the virus has gone from just one index case to 14.3 million other people. Those 15 steps might take only a few weeks. With school out and lots of playdates, maybe less. The first person may be young and healthy Brookline child, but many of those 14 million people will be old and sick, and they will likely die because they got a virus that started in one person’s throat.
R0 is not fixed – it can be lowered by control measures. If we can get the number below 1, the epidemic will die out. This is the point of the quarantines and social distancing, but we are not doing it fast enough.
In the US, we have to slow down the virus. American hospitals, Boston hospitals, have limited resources. We have a fixed number of ventilators and an impending calamity on our hands. Our Italian critical care colleagues have shared with us that they simply do not have enough resources (ventilators, physicians and nurse, critical care beds), and are forced to choose who lives and dies based on old tenets of wartime triage. Older patients do not even get a ventilator and die of their pneumonia.
These are decisions nobody should have to face, and we are only 11 days behind Italy’s fate. Their hospitals are quite advanced, and we are no better in Boston. As doctors, we are desperately trying to prepare for the onslaught of patients in the coming weeks. It is already beginning. This is an opportunity for you as the district leadership the time to be aggressive and help us fight this by “Flattening the Curve”.
We implore you, as a group of Boston’s doctors preparing to fight this, to help us. Please send a new email to ALL the Brookline school district families. Social distancing is painful. We know that kids have cabin fever, they are pleading to see their friends, they may have birthday parties coming up or special events they have been looking forward to.
All of us need to work and childcare is a big worry. But we need to overcome these issues and boredom for the coming weeks so that we can survive this with as few deaths as possible. What does that mean?
No playdates, not even 1:1.
No small gatherings, no meetings between a couple families, even for birthday parties.
Avoid trampoline parks, climbing gyms, restaurants, movie theaters, anything in an enclosed area. Many of these places are advertising increased cleaning and hygiene. This is not sufficient! Do not go.
Cancel planned vacations for the next month. Avoid airline travel that is not an emergency. Many airlines and rental agencies are offering penalty free cancellations.
Stay at home as much as possible. Work from home if you possibly can. You may have to go buy groceries and medicine, of course, but make the trips quick and purposeful.
Wash your hands thoroughly after you have been in public places, for a full 20 seconds, soaping up thoroughly and being sure to get between the fingers.
Please avoid disseminating social media claims that the situation is not serious or is being exaggerated. This is a national crisis and conveying misinformation to your friends and family may put their lives in danger.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and stay safe and healthy in the coming weeks.”
Respectfully, Erika Rangel, MD, Director of Surgical Critical Care, Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital Shawn Rangel, MD, Pediatric Surgery, Children’s Hospital Boston Asaf Bitton, MD, Executive Director Ariadne Labs and Internal Medicine, BWH Daniel O’connor, MD, Pediatrics, Longwood Pediatrics and Children’s Hospital Boston Beth O’connor, MD, Pediatrics, Roslindale Pediatrics Vandana Madhavan, MD, Clinical Director of Pediatric Infectious Disease, MGH Parag Amin, MD, Pediatrics, Centre Pediatrics Christy Cummings, MD, Neonatology, Children’s Hospital Boston Eric Bluman, MD, Orthopedic Surgery, BWH Trimble Augur, MD, Internal Medicine, Hebrew Rehabilitation Center Dasha Weir, MD, Pediatric gastroenterology Amy Evenson Warren, Transplant Surgery, BIDMC William Oldham, MD, PhD, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, BWH James Kryzanski, MD, Neurosurgery, Tufts Medical Center Ben Zendejas-Mummert, MD, Pediatric Surgery, Children’s Hospital Boston Johanna Iturrino Moreda, MD, Gastroenterology, BIDMC David Berg, MD, Cardiology and Cardiac Critical Care, BWH Jennifer Crombie, MD, Hematology Oncology, BWH Jenifer Lightdale, MD, Chief of Pediatric Gastroenterology, U Mass Memorial Hospital Wayne Tworetzky, MD, Pediatric Cardiology, Children’s Hospital Boston Elaine Yu, MD, Endocrinology Jonathan Li, Infectious Disease Nancy Cho, MD, Surgical Oncology, BWH Eric Sheu, MD, Minimally Invasive Surgery, BWH Reza Askari, MD, Director, Surgical Critical Care, BWH Cindy Lien, MD, Internal Medicine and Palliative Care, BIDMC Hannah Parker, MD, OB/GYN Alysa E. Doyle, PhD, Center for Genomic Medicine, MGH Christopher Smith, MD, Internal Medicine, Charles River Medical Associates, Wellesley, MA Maya Greer, NP, Children’s Hospital Boston Rusty Jennings, MD, Pediatric Surgery, Children’s Hospital Boston Emily Oken, MD, Professor of Population Medicine, BWH Chinwe Ukomadu, MD, Head of Clinical Hepatology, Novartis Jennifer Kaufman, MD, Internal Medicine, BWH Ann Poduri, MD, MPH, Pediatric Neurology Susan Yehle Ritter, MD, Rheumatology Diego Martinucci, MD Psychiatry, Atrius Health Shih-Ning Liaw, MD, Pediatric Palliative Care, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Boston Children’s Hospital Wolfram Goessling, MD, Gastroenterology and Oncology, MGH Paola Daza, Pediatrics, MGH Juan Matute, Neonatology, MGH John Ross, MD, Internal Medicine, BWH Megan Sandel, MD, Pediatrics, Boston Medical Center Kathy Calvillo, MD, Surgery, BWH Christine Greco, MD, Anesthesia, Children’s Hospital Boston Niteesh Choudhry, MD, PhD, Internal Medicine, BWH and Harvard T.H. Chand School of Public Health Chandru Krishnan, MD, Ophthalmology, Tufts Medical Center Amy Ship, MD, Internal Medicine, Associate Director of Medical Education, Atrius Health Yen-Lin Evelyn Chen, MD, Radiation Oncology, MGH Daihung Do, MD, Dermatology, BIDMC Chloe Zera, MD, MPH, Maternal Fetal Medicine, BIDMC Alejandra Barrero-Castillero, MD, MPH, Neonatology, Children’s Hospital Boston Jesse Esch, MD, Pediatric Cardiology, Children’s Hospital Boston Alison Packard, MD, OB/GYN, MGH Vik Khurana, MD PhD, Chief Division of Movement Disorders, BWH Tu-Mai Tran, MD, MSc, Family Medicine, BMC Yu Liu, MD PhD, Internal Medicine, Bristol Myers Squibb Yih-Chieh Chen, MD Lily Li, MD, Allergy and Immunology, BWH Sejal Shah MD, BIDMC, Emergency Radiology – h/t Sejal Shah
Brethren, this is no joke. This is deadly serious. I have said that I have suspicions about the origin of Covid-19, but I have NEVER said that I’m not taking this seriously. We ALL need to take the precautions of Social Distancing and hygiene very seriously!
If anyone would like to call me bigoted for my stand on China – go right ahead. But I must say that bigoted is the wrong word. I am a realist, and I see the leader of China, Xi Jinping, as a brutal dictator who cares not for the people of China and even less for the people of the world.
And I will call Covid-19 Virus the “Chinese Flu” whenever I want to do so. It started in China. Should we rewrite history and. call the “Spanish Flu” by a more PC name?
OH PLEASE!!
Jinping will not tolerate true Christianity in China. All of our brothers and sisters in Christ in China, have to hide out and worship from underground churches. Do you remember Chairman Mao Zedong? Jinping is a clone of that tyrant.
Pharmaceuticals from China
Did you know that our country depends on China for between 80 – 97% of our Antibiotics, and components to produce many antibiotics? That shocked me on so many levels.
China could stop selling us these drugs which are critically needed; or have you thought about a scenario where this Communist Beast of a country could poison these same drugs? After watching how China responded to their own people of Wuhan in the beginning of this nightmare, why would they even hesitate to do something so nefarious to the U.S.?
China Wants to Lead The NWO
Watch how China deals with Muslims; Leftwing liberals should watch this
Let’s not forget the bloodbath in Tiananmen Square in 1989:
If you are a Christian in China – this is what you will experience:
China’s Social Credit System is Worse Than you Think
Brethren, PRAY for the people of China and especially for our brethren. When I watched the video about the Tiananmen Square slaughter, it made me weep. The people wanted freedom of speech and they were crushed by the Communist powers that be.
Pray for the families of the world who have been impacted by the Chinese Flu. Protect them Lord, and most importantly, draw them to Yourself. In the midst of the fear and anxiety, bring believers into their lives to point the way to You.
I wrote the article about the lie of “Climate Change” (used to be Global Warming) in 2015. I realized that the Global Warming mantra was simply a way to manipulate Countries and eventually, through environmental regulations, take control of all economies of every nation on earth.
I am merely asking the question: Have the globalists, having failed to implement Plan A, gone onto Plan B with this Universal shut down of the world due to the Covid-19 Virus? Simply asking……..
I do not believe that this is farfetched, but again I am asking questions that only God can answer. We must trust Him.
It has been said many times that the ONLY thing standing in the way of Globalism is a Strong America.
Original Article from 2015:
‘Climate Change’ Used as a Ruse to Control the World’s Economies
Leftist/Socialist/Communist/Progressive tyrants see the lie of Climate Change as their way to transform the world economy into their own corrupt image. As with all such plans, it would ensure a small upper-crust of well-paid hacks, attending fancy meetings, and luxuriating at our expense, while the vast majority of the world suffers in increasing squalor and lack, with no hope of rising above it. If you think it’s bad now (and in many places it’s incredibly sad) just wait till this nonsense prevails, and the wealth of the world shrinks into oblivion.
“This is probably the most difficult task we have ever given ourselves, which is to intentionally transform the economic development model, for the first time in human history“, Ms Figueres stated at a press conference in Brussels:
“This is the first time in the history of mankind that we are setting ourselves the task of intentionally, within a defined period of time to change the economic development model that has been reigning for at least 150 years, since the industrial revolution. That will not happen overnight and it will not happen at a single conference on climate change, be it COP 15, 21, 40 – you choose the number. It just does not occur like that. It is a process, because of the depth of the transformation.”
Climate Change is a Gruberistic manufactured lie, designed toward a diabolical end. Many well-meaning people have been sucked into the propaganda vortex, and sincerely believe the world is in danger if we don’t address this “crisis.” Don’t buy it. True science demonstrates the world is NOT warming as the models have predicted, and man’s activities are NOT contributing to some future crisis as the seas rise and ice caps melt, etc., etc., etc.
Yes, we need to take better care of the planet, but CO2 (as one example) is not a problem–in fact, it helps the world be more lush and fruitful. Please… please… if you’re concerned about Climate Change, you need to do more research. Don’t be a useful idiot.
P.S. Please note this link is not to some wild-eye “conspiracy” site… but to the United Nations itself. They are so convinced of their rightness and their power now that they’re not even hiding anymore.source
“Their inquiry’s central aim will be to establish a comprehensive view of just how far the original data has been “adjusted” by the three main surface records: those published by the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (Giss), the US National Climate Data Center and Hadcrut, that compiled by the East Anglia Climatic Research Unit (Cru), in conjunction with the UK Met Office’s Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction. All of them are run by committed believers in man-made global warming.” source
OVER 30,000 SCIENTISTS SIGN PETITION CLAIMING GLOBAL WARMING IS A HOAX:
Purpose of Petition: The purpose of the Petition Project is to demonstrate that the claim of “settled science” and an overwhelming “consensus” in favor of the hypothesis of human-caused global warming and consequent climatological damage is wrong. No such consensus or settled science exists. As indicated by the petition text and signatory list, a very large number of American scientists reject this hypothesis.
Publicists at the United Nations, Mr. Al Gore, and their supporters frequently claim that only a few “skeptics” remain – skeptics who are still unconvinced about the existence of a catastrophic human-caused global warming emergency.
It is evident that 31,487 Americans with university degrees in science – including 9,029 PhDs, are not “a few.” Moreover, from the clear and strong petition statement that they have signed, it is evident that these 31,487 American scientists are not “skeptics.”
These scientists are instead convinced that the human-caused global warming hypothesis is without scientific validity and that government action on the basis of this hypothesis would unnecessarily and counterproductively damage both human prosperity and the natural environment of the Earth.
Signer by name and by name and by state and their qualifications are on the website. source
The Petition Project features over 31,000 scientists signing the petition stating “there is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide will, in the forseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth’s atmosphere“. (OISM)
Now, with Barack Obama mandating stricter regulations, which will have a direct effect on our economy — it’s time for the America people, and people all over the planet, to understand that Global Warming/Climate Change is being used to manipulate the nations of the world, and ultimately instate a One World Economy.
It’s all about power, and bringing in the One World Government.
________________________________________
Brethren, I want to add something that I feel is noteworthy. Do you remember how frantically AOC parroted the words of the U.N. about how we need to be on board with all U.N. regulations? Do you remember her hysteria?
She is merely a puppet for the Globalists. Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden are also Globalists. I would venture to say that almost 100% of the Dems are on board with Globalization of the world.
As Christians, we have responsibilities while we are still here. We must pray. I pray all day long, talking to the Lord. Remember what Jesus said about fancy long prayers.
Talk to Him!! You will receive His peace when you do.
Share with unbelievers how to be saved. Many are scared and may be open to hearing about Jesus for the first time.
I have been writing mostly to bring comfort to the body of Christ. But I think that it is important to talk about the state in which we find ourselves.
Many are asking if the pieces are falling into place for Globalism to come to fruition. We can only speculate about this. But no matter what is real or just imagined, it’s okay to ask questions.
It’s not sensational to talk about the world as it is right now with many questions about how these events line up with Bible Prophecy. Could this be a dress rehearsal for the NWO? Could it be the beginning of how the ‘powers that be’ are going to implement a One World Government?
The word “unprecedented” has been used ad nauseam of late, but it is the best description of what we are experiencing. Sometimes I think that I will wake up and all of this will have been a bad dream.
But it’s real and certainly unprecedented.
Could Antichrist be in the wings, biding his time until his master gives the order to make his global appearance? These are all good questions, but I still say that as the body of Christ, our focus should be on the Sufficiency of our Lord to care for us during this storm.
Israel
The land of Israel is still our time clock and lens through which we view Bible Prophecy. Keep your eyes on Israel, Syria, Turkey, Iran and Russia during this time and going forward. These countries, and what transpires between them, will help us to see clearly as to where we are in Bible Prophecy.
Look to God and His Word
There are many wonderful Bible Prophecy teachers for us to follow. But do not forget that these are mere men.
If you look in the Word, and see how the hundreds of Messianic prophecies were ultimately fulfilled – this will increase your faith. Many more have yet to be fulfilled but we know that every Prophecy from our God will be fulfilled to the letter.
Bible Prophecy and Its Fulfillment and How This Encourages the Believer!
Let’s look at a conversation between Dave Hunt (who we know is with our precious Lord) and another brother, Tom, from Bereancall ministry:
Here is the video. I have added the text underneath:
Tom: Today we’re discussing prophecy, which is perhaps the most compelling feature of the Bible, demonstrating beyond doubt that it is indeed what it claims to be, the Word of God. Dave, last week we quoted numerous verses from the book of Isaiah, where God himself says that He alone is the God of prophecy. Can we just kind of review some of those verses?
Dave: Yeah, I forgot my Bible this morning, Tom! So, I’m in bad shape, but let’s see if we can’t remember some of them. In Isaiah 42, I think it’s around verse 8, 9, 10, somewhere in that region, God declares that He is the one who tells you what’s going to happen before it happens. In Isaiah 43, He points to Israel in verse 10: “You are my witnesses that I am God . . .” —Witnesses to yourselves and to the world because of what He said would happen to Israel. You can’t escape that. Isaiah:46:9-10 , I think it is, God again declares He is the one true God, and then He tells us again that He will tell us what will happen before it happens, and He will watch over history to make certain that it does, so that when it comes to pass you will have to acknowledge that He is God – Isaiah:48:5 , I think it is. I think it’s around verse 5.
Tom: But, Dave, this is another good reason why people ought to check you out.
Dave: (Laughs) That’s right!
Tom: I mean, you are doing this from memory . . .
Dave: Very good!
Tom: Let’s search the Scriptures to see if what Dave is saying is . . .
Dave: Hey, maybe this is a good illustration of why they ought to search the Scriptures, but [in] Isaiah:48:5 God says, “I’m not going to let you give credit to your idols! I’m the one who told you what would happen, so when it happens you can’t give credit to your idols for having done this, but you will have to give credit to Me.”
So, the Bible (we’ve probably said it several times) is about 28 percent prophecy. If you cut prophecy out, you cut out an awful lot of the Bible. Most people, when they . . . you say, “Well, we’re going to talk about prophecy,” they think, Well, you’re talking about the Antichrist, the Second Coming, the Great Tribulation. . . . Future events.
No, no! Most prophecy has already been fulfilled. This is the great proof that God exists and the Bible is His Word.
Tom: Right, last week we began looking at fulfilled prophecy, particularly the prophecies that predicted the first coming of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Dave: Yeah, this is how you would know who the Messiah was. There are no prophecies for Buddha, Confucius, Muhammad, Joseph Smith, Zoroaster, or anybody else. How would you recognize . . . and it’s very significant, the choice of words. In Luke 7, John the Baptist is in prison. He sends two of his disciples to Jesus to check Him out. He doesn’t say. “Well, are you the Messiah? Are you the Savior?” No, he says very precisely, “Art thou he that should come?” Ohh! Somebody was coming! Well, how would you know He was coming? “Well, the prophets said He was coming.”
Well how would you recognize Him? The prophets laid it out exactly how you would know who the Messiah was.
Tom: Right. And in particular, some people said, “Well, Jesus could have kind of put these things together to make himself . . . the nay bobs, the gainsayers,” and so forth. But how do you pick where you are going to be born? Micah:5:2 , “But you, Bethlehem Ephratah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me the one to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.”
Dave: That tells us that He is eternal; the one who was born in Bethlehem. This is not the beginning of His existence, although many Jews would not believe that and wouldn’t accept it. Isaiah:9:6 , of course, says, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given.” So the babe born in Bethlehem is the man; the Son is the eternal Son of God. “The government will be upon His shoulders,” so you know that’s the Messiah. “His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God; the everlasting Father.” So, when Jesus said, “I and my Father are one,” He was absolutely in accord with Isaiah, who said that the babe that would be born in Bethlehem, amazingly, is the everlasting Father! He is God!
Tom: And, Dave, the particulars, with regard to prophecy—even Jesus’s bloodline had to be specifically fulfilled. Again, we’re talking about things that He had no control over—that is, unless He were God!
Dave: Unless He’s God. Right.
Tom: Luke:1:31-32 : “And behold you shall conceive in your womb, and bring forth a Son and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great [again, this is the angel Gabriel speaking to Mary], He shall be great and will be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.”
Dave, in Matthew:22:42 it says “What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is he? They say unto him, the son of David.” So Jesus had to be in the line of David.
Dave: Well, he had to be because 2 Samuel 7 and many other places God promised this to David. He said, “I have found David a man after my own heart.” He was a sinner; he did commit adultery; he committed murder—that’s horrible! And yet he repented. Not that he was a man who was perfect, without sin, but he was at least perfect in his heart when Nathan the prophet confronted him and said, “Thou art the man!” he repented. When Saul was confronted by Samuel, he tried to justify himself.
So God chose David, and He said that “on his throne the Messiah would sit.”
Now, when you come to the New Testament, Romans 1, for example, Paul says that he is preaching the gospel of God. Not the Methodists, or Baptists, or Catholics, or Presbyterians—none of that matters. These are labels that people have put forth much more recently, but Paul says, “I am preaching the gospel of God.” Well, how do we know that it is the gospel of God? He says, “ . . . which he promised before by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures,” (Romans:1:2 ). Then he says, “Concerning his Son Jesus . . . made of the seed of David according to the flesh” (Romans:1:3 ). So he had to be of the seed of David.
Tom: Dave, prophecy—not only is it . . .
Dave: It’s exciting, Tom! I get excited!
Tom: It is exciting! It’s confidence building, it’s a great encouragement to all who will look at it and accept it for what it is—factual, historical, and, really, supernatural, because only God could fulfill these aspects of it.
Dave: Amen! This is the first thing I go to when I’m on an airplane talking to some CEO or whoever he is. When I take them to prophecy, and I show them that God has foretold history before it happened—and these are not cheap little events, you know, hidden away somewhere. These are events that have made history, and the Bible foretold them centuries, even thousands, of years ahead. We have absolute proof! We have absolute proof that Jesus is the Christ. Furthermore, it even tells us when He would come! So it’s too late now for the Messiah to come the first time, but the second coming is getting very close I believe.
Tom: Dave, I get excited about this too, so I want to keep some of these things straight and communicate them as well as we can. But I want you to throw in whatever prophecy that you’re excited about, that is somewhat unique, that maybe many of our listeners are not aware of prophecy, or they just don’t know the prophecies that we are going to be speaking to.
One that really excites me is Jeremiah:22:30 , “Thus saith the Lord, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.”
Now, Dave, this prophecy—actually the man that they’re speaking to is Jehoiachin, also known as Jeconiah, or Coniah. And he was eight years old when he took the throne of David. He reigned for about three months, and then he was taken captive to Babylon, where he spent thirty-seven years in prison. Now this is a curse against this line of David. And it said that no one from that line will ever sit on the throne of David. Now Jeconiah had children, but they never sat on the throne of David, and no one from that line could sit on the throne of David.
Dave: It might have confused some people because it begins by saying “count this man as childless.” But it doesn’t mean that he isn’t going to have any children; it means that his children are going to count for anything. Because it does go on and say “none of his descendants,” so it does indicate that he had descendants.
Tom: The reason I find this prophecy exciting is that it looks like God has just boxed Himself in, because Jesus, through his father (foster father), Joseph . . .
Dave: Yeah, let’s make that clear. The Bible is very clear about it.
Tom: Well, yes, because what you’re saying is that if Joseph was Jesus’s father, then there was no virgin birth. But here’s what’s interesting about this particular prophecy: if Joseph was really the father of Jesus, and there was no virgin birth involved, Jesus would be, not really, according to God, the king of Israel.
Dave: He would be of the descendant of Jeconiah, because Joseph was; therefore he couldn’t have been the Messiah.
Tom: Yes, however Mary comes through the line of Nathan, the son of David, and that gives Jesus the bloodline that He needs to be the king of Israel. But Joseph, being His foster father—however you want to describe him—that gives Jesus the legal right. So He has the legal right through His father, but the bloodline—He has the bloodline through Mary. That’s an incredible prophecy!
Dave: Tom, the Bible is just absolutely full of amazing prophecies; though I am sure that you and I have missed quite a few of them yet.
Tom: We have time, Dave, if the Lord tarries.
Dave: No, I don’t mean talking about them! Oh, right, we’ve got time for the Lord to point them out to us. They’re all in His Word.
Tom: We do have Bibles here by the way.
Dave: Yeah, well, in Hosea:3:4-5 , God prophesied that the children of Israel would be without a king, without a sacrifice, without a priesthood—obviously, something would happen, or something would prevent the temple from being rebuilt—and it says for many, many years. Jeremiah foretold 70 years of desolations on Jerusalem, and it happened. At the end of 70 years, Cyrus let them go back (Cyrus the king).
Jesus then elaborates on Hosea. He says, “Jerusalem will be trodden down [this is Luke:21:24 , I think]. Jerusalem will be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” Now, that is an amazing prophecy! If it’s trodden down of the Gentiles and they can’t offer sacrifices, something is going to prevent the temple from being rebuilt for a long, long time, and Jesus does not—well, He says, “until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” I think that won’t happen until Armageddon, when the Gentile nations are destroyed at Armageddon.
But you can go over the history of Jerusalem; I love the prophecies about Jerusalem. Jerusalem has been fought over, occupied, by every major power down through history. The Jews have not had control of this since the time that they were thrown out in the final Diaspora in AD 70. Everybody else has had it, from the Greeks, to the Romans, everybody. The Muslims, of course; the Mamlūks of Egypt had it for about 400 years; then the Turks—they were on the wrong side in WWII, so when the allies took that area (they called it Palestine), they turned it over to the British, you remember? The British Mandate. And the British had it since then. Well, finally, in 1967, when Israel took Jerusalem, including East Jerusalem, I remember some of the prophecy experts saying, “Wow, that’s the end of it now. The ‘times of the Gentiles’ are fulfilled!” and Moshe Dayan turns around and gives the Temple Mount (that’s the most important part of it, that 35 acres—you could start a nuclear war over that) gives it back to King Hussein of Jordan. In 1974, the PLO takes it over, and Arafat is in control of it, and we could go down through history. In fact, we can just go to modern history. Do I have enough . . . are you going to give me another couple of minutes here?
Tom: Sure, go for it!
Dave: [It’s] very interesting. The United Nations in 1947, UN Resolution 181 said when they partitioned the land and gave part of it to the Jews, “Jerusalem must be an international city forever.” You know that the pope recently—last February—he was in Israel, in Jerusalem and then in Bethlehem with Arafat, and he signed a deal: the Vatican with the PLO, saying there must be international assurance that Jerusalem will remain an international city and it will not be under the control of the Jews. Jesus said it will be “trodden down of the Gentiles till the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”
The United Europe recently said that “Jerusalem must remain an international city.” So in all these negotiations that are going on—as you know, the negotiations at Camp David recently broke down because they were quarreling over Jerusalem. The Jews want to have . . . this is their capital, this is where they have the Knesset. But all the nations of the world have their embassies somewhere else. Jesus said, “ . . . trodden down of the Gentiles till the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”
Now, Tom I don’t want anybody out there to think I am anti-Catholic and I’m throwing in something, but they need to know that the Catholic Church has been absolutely opposed to the Jews having control of Jerusalem, even to being in their land. For example, in 1904, Theodor Herzl records in his diary . . .
Tom: Theodor Herzl, founder of the Zionist Movement.
Dave: Right. And he asked Pope Pius X for support for the Zionist movement. They quote what . . . well, we have to take Theodor Herzl’s word for it, and it certainly ties in with many other things. He says that the pope said to him, “We cannot prevent the Jews from returning to Jerusalem, but we could never sanction it.” In 1919, Cardinal Pietro Gasparri, he was Secretary of State of the Vatican at that time, he said (and Tom I just find these statements so astonishing) he said “the thing that frightens us the most is the possibility of a Jewish state in Palestine!”
And then, you know, we’ve quoted in our newsletter the letter from Pope Pius XII to Roosevelt, which was uncovered recently in the archives, June 22, 1943, with the smoke of the incinerated Jews hanging over Europe, and Pope Pius XII said to Roosevelt, “There is no precedent in history for a people who have been cast out of the land for 1,900 years returning.” Now he says, “If a Jewish homeland is desirable, then it would be a lot better to give them someplace else—not in Palestine. Because,” he said, “if you let the Jews return there, it will cause great problems for the world.”
Now we have hundreds, literally hundreds, of prophecies in the Old Testament where God promised that after He scattered His people He would bring them back, and, in fact, they have to be there, as you have been saying, because the Messiah returns there to rule on the throne of His father David in Jerusalem over His chosen people, the Jews!
Tom: Dave, this is an extraordinary example of an ignorance of prophecy. I don’t think they understand what they are doing.
Dave: But wait a minute, Tom. I’m sorry, but this is the Vicar of Christ—he claims to be the representative of the one true church. Part of the problem is, and it’s not just with Catholics but it’s with a lot of evangelicals today, the Catholic Church said it, and it’s in Vatican II, and you can find the statements back there, that the Jews are no longer the people of God. Vatican II says the Church is the new people of God, and the Jews were the people formerly chosen by God, and we’ve got evangelicals who teach this today.
So, yes, it is an ignorance of prophecy, but how could it possibly be? There are so many prophecies! There is an opposition to Israel being back in her land where she must be. But anyway, the point I was trying to make is this is an amazing prophecy by Jesus. “Jerusalem will be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” Hosea said they are going to be without a sacrifice, without a priesthood and so forth.
Now, this is very important—if we have any Jewish people listening out there—if Israel has been without a sacrificial system; without a means of dealing with sin for 1,900 years—not by accident, God said they would be without it. Well, then, we are driven to one of two conclusions. Either God has, as many Christians (so-called) today say, cast off His people; the Jews are no longer His people. If you say that, then wow, you have just pulled the rug out from under one of the greatest prophecies in the Bible, so that can’t be! But either God has cast them off, or the Messiah has come and as it was foretold, He would be crucified, He would die for the sins of the world. He has fulfilled the Old Testament sacrifices. There is a once-for-all sacrifice for sin! I don’t think you can escape one of those conclusions. We are driven to one or the other.
Tom: And, Dave, there are so many details, as you’ve been saying, in the Bible with regard to prophecy that underscore—for example, you mentioned crucifixion. Christ came, and He was crucified. King David, writing in the Psalms, Psalm:22:14 , “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. . . .” Now who is this describing and what form of . . . ?
Dave: It’s not David; it never happened to David, so he is talking prophetically.
Tom: “ . . . my heart is like wax, it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me . . . ”
Dave: That’s Gentiles and Jews.
Tom: “ . . . they pierced my hands and feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.” Dave, two aspects of this. Not only is David referring to his son to come, the Son of God, the Messiah, but he writes this 1,000 years before Christ, when crucifixion was never used. I mean it wasn’t used until about 150 years before Christ as a form of execution.
Dave: “All my bones are out of joint.” They pound the nails into them down on the ground. They don’t climb up ladders. And then they lift that thing up and drop it into its socket in the ground. All your bones are out of joint! But, Tom, it goes even further. It tells us that they would not do what they always did to the crucified.
They would not break His legs. “A bone of Him shall not be broken.” They always did that. Let them linger on the cross. The whole idea was torture, a slow torturous death. And then we want to take them down and break their legs so they can’t support themselves anymore, and they collapse, their lungs collapse, and then they die.
No, but they wouldn’t do that, because Jesus said, “No man takes my life from me. I lay it down of myself.” He was dead already. You couldn’t have imagined how could He possibly be dead already? And then it said they would do to Him what they’d never do to the crucified: they would pierce Him with a sword, or a spear, Zechariah:12:10 .
Well, Tom, we’ve run out of time, but it is just so incredible, and, as you said, it is strengthening to our faith to see the Bible has laid it all out ahead of time.
Tom: Right. It’s why we know that it is indeed God speaking to us.
Dave: And that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of sinners. source
Here is another wonderful website which shows the Messianic Prophecies and their fulfillment:
Brothers and sisters, let us use this time to share the Gospel with the lost. They don’t have hope. I cannot even imagine what is going through their minds. Hopefully, many will be open to God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
The Petition Project features over 31,000 scientists signing the petition stating “there is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide will, in the forseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth’s atmosphere“. (OISM)