Great Backyard Bird Count!!

Great Backyard Bird count has been taking place this weekend, in case you weren’t aware.  This will be our FOURTH year participating, and we just love it.  But then, we have suet, seed, and other feeders just 14 feet from our slider door… and woods 15 feet from us.  The birds love being that close to the safety of the trees, and we love that the narrow area is so close that they come right up where we can watch them.

All it requires is spending at least a half hour counting the birds in your backyard.

Cornell University sponsors an annual bird count to see the bird populations  This year, the Bird Count has gone global, thanks to the internet and families across the globe wanting to get in on the fun. Makes it even better!

To get a tally sheet, go to the GBBC website. There are plenty of tips for identifying and counting birds are available also on the site, if you don’t have a bird- obsessed family, like ours.

The Chelyabinsk Meteor

I don’t write on Shabbat, anymore, if I can help it.  So it’s been a day or so since the meteor event that took over the news on Friday.  My friends were all giddy with excitement: I’d talked about things falling to earth, and not even 24 hours later, over a thousand are injured and buildings are wiped out by this ‘spooky’ meteor that ‘just happened’ to hit at the same time as an asteroid was headed in our direction.

I’ll tell ya – I believe that the asteroid was the cue ball that knocked the meteor into the left corner pocket of Russia.  They won’t say that, they just say it’s an ‘eerie coincidence’ that both happened within the same window of time.  Whatever.  You believe what you want, I’ll believe what I want.  As for my friends, many of them believed that this was a significant event, but they weren’t sure how or why.

Well, I did a little digging.  I kinda sorta can’t stop that – it’s a bad habit of mine to want to understand EVERYTHING.  Sorry… mostly.  Anyhow, I thought I’d find out a little more about the event, and… I found some very interesting things about where this meteor event occurred:

http://www.logtv.com/films/chelyabinsk/
CHELYABINSK : The Most Contaminated Spot on the Planet

…In the late 1940′s, about 80 kilometers north of the city of Chelyabinsk, an atomic weapons complex called “Mayak” was built. Its existence has only recently been acknowledged by Russian officials, though…

aNNa’S NoTe:  When did Israel become a nation?  The late 1940′s.  1947/8, respectively.

The people of the area have suffered no less than three nuclear disasters: For over six years, the Mayak complex systematically dumped radioactive waste into the Techa River, the only source of water for the 24 villages which lined its banks.The four largest of those villages were never evacuated, and only recently have the authorities revealed to the population why they strung barbed wire along the banks of the river some 35 years ago. Russian doctors who study radiation sickness in the area estimate that those living along the Techa River received an average of four times more radiation than the Chernobyl victims.

aNNa’S NoTe:  Yehovah always speaks in threes.  Here we have three disasters.

In 1957, the area suffered its next calamity when the cooling system of a radioactive waste containment unit malfunctioned and exploded.The explosion spewed some 20 million curies of radioactivity into the atmosphere.  About two million curies spread throughout the region, exposing 270,000 people to as much radiation as the Chernobyl victims.  Less than half of one percent of these people were evacuated, and some of those only after years had passed.

aNNa’S NoTe:  According to Wikipedia, ” the Labor Zionist movement led by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion dominated Israeli politics. These years were marked by an influx of Holocaust survivors and Jews from Arab lands, many of whom faced persecution and expulsion from their original countries.  Consequently, the population of Israel rose from 800,000 to two million between 1947/8 and 1957/8.”

The third disaster came ten years later. …In 1967, a drought reduced the water level of the lake, and gale-force winds spread the radioactive dust throughout twenty-five thousand square kilometers, further irradiating 436,000 people with five million curies, approximately the same as at Hiroshima.

aNNa’S NoTe:  1967 is the year of the Six-Year War, in which Israel expanded her borders to what they are, today.  So if you compare the three biggest events of Israel (1948/1958/1967) to the events of Chelyabinsk (1948/1958/1967), we find a perfect match.  For every good thing that has happened by way of Yehovah for Israel, this place in Russia had a bad thing happen by way of mankind.

I thought it was odd enough that this meteor hit the ‘most contaminated spot on the planet’.  But then these numbers, these dates…!  It so crazy.  And the threes.  It’s definitely divine.

Brian said he didn’t see the relationship between Israel and Russia, though.  So imagine my surprise when this morning, I read this:

Hold the presses!! Why did this first meteorite shower hit the Ural Mts?? Because the Urals separate the European or Meshech portion of Russia from the Western Siberian or Tubal section of Russia, to kick off the Gog/Magog judgement on the nations!! Because in the first pasuk of Yechezkel [Ezekiel] 38 it says Gog from the Land of Magog Prince of Russia or Chief Prince of Meshech and Tuval.

So what’s the connection?  Russia is the first of the nations against Israel that are named to be judged in scriptures.  Also, please recall that the red horse fulfillment was the reconsitution of Russia as an arms dealer.  After the Cold War they were defunct for a time as an armaments provider  That ALL changed in 2008, and today we all know that they are a major supplier to the Middle East.  Russia is a main player in the nations against Israel, in scripture, and playing out in current events.  Hence, the connection.  Isn’t it exciting?  Not only do the events now match the events in the Bible, but the events in Russia correlate with events and numbers significant to Israel.  Yehovah is a God of patterns and order.  It never ceases to amaze me how He works… and how kewl He is, weaving irony down the smallest of details!

Son of Perdition

A prophecy Christ gave was fulfilled THIS week!

In spite of that, this is… a difficult post to write.  Mostly because – for the first time in the history of EVER, I refuse to cite my source.  Yes, the Lord chose to use him (obviously) to get a message out.  And the Lord led me to that message… I still can’t figure out how.  I have NO idea how I ended up at that video.  It wasn’t even on YouTube.  It’s weird.  But the fact of the matter is that a prophecy has been fulfilled, I have been told that it is true, and that I need to share it further. 

The problem is, I don’t want to link to the man given the prophecy. He’s a self-proclaimed Messianic… which, when I came out of christianity, I thought was the REAL deal, and signed on with.  Only they’re not… let’s not go there, today.  All you need to know is that the people who claim that are mostly lukewarm – stuck between churchianity and Truth – and therefore very confused people.  And the guy in the video was VERY confused, too.

Anyhow… he took the Lord’s name in vain (BIG no-no with me) on his video.  He praised Catholicism as ‘of God’, he pandered to every denomination he could, he got in the camera’s face… all while wearing a yarmulke and sitting in front of a menorah.  He was offensive to me in a huge way.  Kept using the name ‘Jeezus’ and then going back to ‘Yeshua Ha’Masiach’.  Very confused dude who seemed to not want to piss off any religious people group by actually telling the Truth, while at the same time was trying to tell the Truth.  He was a mess because of it, too.  BUT he was available as Balaam was, and I think his heart is mostly in the right place… but I still don’t want to link to him.  His movie was something like 23 minutes long, but only four were the prophecy… the rest is him pandering to the masses and going on and on about the imminent end times and just… blathering.  So linking to his tedious and screwed up video?  Not so high on my list to share with you.

Let’s back up a moment, though.  Because the story actually starts last week.  I read an article that set my inner radar a’pinging… but oddly, I didn’t post it here.  I posted it at Facebook.  I don’t normally DO that – everything important comes here.  But apparently the Lord wanted me to ‘bookmark’ it, but not write about it… until I saw this dude’s video.  Which brings it ALL to light – everything in the article.  Let’s start with said article:

http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=301475

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/12814

Friday, February 01, 2013 – ...An historic agreement has been drafted between Israel and the Vatican. The Israeli authorities have granted the Pope an official seat in the room where the Last Supper is believed to have taken place, on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, and where David and Solomon, Jewish kings of Judea, are considered by some researchers, to also be buried. It is the culmination of a long campaign by the Catholic Church to regain religious stewardship over the place where Jesus is supposed to have broken bread and drunk wine with his disciples on the eve of his crucifixion.  This is an enormous issue pushed through without any public debate.

… The blueprint of the agreement reads as follows: “The Vatican hands over this use of the Cenacle to the Custody of the Holy Land which will keep the Cenacle open from 6 AM to 8 AM for the celebration of the Holy Mass”.

In the long term, the gesture will increase tensions between Jews and the large assets of the Vatican. The Church has long been working to reduce Jewish rights in Jerusalem and in the Old City. Now, after the Muslim Waqf authority expelled the Christians from the Temple Mount and turned it into a mosque, it’s the turn of the Vatican to lay its hands on the Jewish Jerusalem.

The Vatican is also asking that Israel hand over to the Vatican’s control dozens of sites, 19 in Judea and Samaria and 28 in Jerusalem. The Catholic Church want to discuss some properties on Mount of Olives, Har Hazeitim, which is the very history of the Jewish people. If you want to keep Jerusalem united, you have to keep Har Hazeitim. The Vatican knows that.

What are we seeing, here?  That whoever is the next pope gets to sit on the spot where Messiah sat at the Last Supper, as his new throne in Jerusalem.  When I saw that…???  WoW!  That’s just crazy.  And of course ten days later the Pope resigns, and the seat is emptied for Peter the Roman.  And as if that weren’t enough?

http://weather.aol.com/2013/02/11/photo-lightning-strikes-the-vatican/

They say timing is everything. On Feb. 11, 2013, Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation, making him the first pontiff in 600 years to do so. Hours after the shocking announcement, lighting struck St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.

Oh, hey, isn’t that pretty!  Just after Benny the Rat announces that he’s stepping down as Pope, lightning strikes the tip of St. Peter’s Basilica.  It’s all over the news, and people are all going totally woo-woo about it.  But what if they aren’t wrong?  What if there’s something there?  When I saw both the Pope’s new seat in Jerusalem and then this, I really wished for Herb Peters.  He would’ve had something to say, and nobody else seemed to have anything to say about it at all.

Until I found that video.

Basically, he took me to Luke 10.

Luke 10: 1, 17-20  After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before His face into every city and place, whither He Himself would come.  …And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through Thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.  Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

The Messianic dude said that if you pulled that underlined part out of there, it would make more sense, because it’s this… WEIRD statement that Yeshua made that doesn’t seem to fit in what’s happening, at all.  Messianic dude said that’s because He was prophesying about the future coming of the Son of Perdition – the person Satan would possess in the future.  Oddly, when I looked it up in my Evangelical Commentary… it said the same thing.  Evangelicals don’t typically match Messianics, FYI.  So that was crazy.

But I need to explain.  Only twice in scripture does Satan actually possess a person.  The first time was Judas Iscariot – one of the twelve disciples.  The second time is at the end times, and a lot of people believe that it’s going to be either the Anti-Christ or False Prophet.  And what does Yeshua say about the future coming?  That Satan was beheld AS LIGHTNING FALL FROM HEAVEN.  In other words, it would be marked with a weird lightning event.  A natural event marking the start of a supernatural event. 

It was Messiah’s prophecy, given 2000 years ago fulfilled in front of us, just days ago.  Hey, didn’t the church jump up and down at the Wednesday night service and tell you?  What!  They didn’t?  Well, maybe this Sunday.  Keep your ear open, because with the fulfillment of Christ’s own words THIS very week, you KNOW the pastor of your church is going to be geeking.  Um… btw, I’m razzing you.  He won’t be.  Watch – nobody will even know about the prophecy, let alone say something about it.

Moving Along in Scripture
((Part II of II: Stars falling from Heaven))

Yesterday we looked at Rev8:2-5 here on my blog.  I hate long recaps, and don’t want to waste time on it, but the fact is that Rev8:2-5 is what’s up next.  It’s an angel, in Heaven, given a gold censer full of incense and prayers of the saints, to be offered on the altar before Yehovah.   After that is done, the angel fills the censer with fire from the altar and throws it at us.  At Earth.

Now, because it takes place in Heaven, obviously we aren’t going to get to see the angel taking up the censer, offering the incense smoke and prayers, or filling the censer with fire.  But if that censer is being hurled at us, I’m thinking it’s likely we’re going to see something.  In fact, scripture says that there’ll be thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.

Interestingly, the trump judgments also have an after-party that includes the same thing: thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.  The same thing happens at the end of the vial judgments.  But the one in Rev8 is brought on by a golden censer of fire being thrown to Earth, and that’s the one I want to talk about.  Mostly because it’s chucked at us from Heaven.

And so is the first trumpet.  In fact, the first trumpet sounds VERY much like the same thing.

Rev 8:5  And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.

Rev 8:7  The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of the trees was burnt up, and all the green grass was burnt up.

  Now what’s on the altar?  Fire, blood, and ash.  What’s in the first trump’s mix?  Fire, blood, and hail.  Both the censer and the first Trump judgment are cast down on us.  And if THAT isn’t enough, the next TWO Trump judgments are also things making impact into the earth:

Rev 8:8  And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;

Rev 8:10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;

That is a LOT of stuff hitting our beloved planet, did you know that?  Holy wha.  And all in a row, too.  And this is where I point out that there are a few fun little things lined up for 2013, astronomically speaking.  I already told you about PanSTARRS (link), due to come really close but not actually close enough to hit us.  Theoretically.  Personally, I don’t write anything off until afterwards.  Then there’s Comet ISON, which is projected to be ten times brighter than the full moon and is going to come close to Earth, too.  I haven’t written about it, yet – but the link is here (link).

But these two aren’t the only ones.  In fact, there’s a near-pass coming this week.  Day after Valentine’s, to be exact.  Here’s the skinny:

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/…/2013/28jan_2012da/

Talk about a close shave. On Feb. 15th an asteroid about half the size of a football field will fly past Earth only 17,200 miles above our planet’s surface. There’s no danger of a collision, but the space rock, designated 2012 DA14, has NASA’s attention.

“This is a record-setting close approach,” says Don Yeomans of NASA’s Near Earth Object Program at JPL. “Since regular sky surveys began in the 1990s, we’ve never seen an object this big get so close to Earth.”

Moving Along in Scripture
((Part I of II: Following Precedence))

As addressed in last week’s series (Revelations in Revelation), we are on the cusp of the Trump Judgments of Revelation 8.  I say that, but still feel the need to clarify that verse one – or what was designated by some dude to BE verse one of chapter 8 – was split away from chapter 7, and referred to a period of time that occurred within chapter 7.  This is VERY important, because it changes everything for me.  It means chapter 7 is parenthetical and not chronological, as I have always held.

Having said, we’re not at the trump judgments, yet.  Which, btw, I equate to ‘The Wrath’.  And maybe I should explain something, here:  The Tribulation period is the 7+ year period of the end times.  It begins with the ‘covenant with many’ given in Daniel 9:27… which went into effect 01/01/07.  In my opinion, we are presently embarking on our sixth year of being in the tribulation.  Irony, there… year of the snake – the sixth animal of the Chinese zodiac, but I digress.  The Tribulation is is NOT the same as ‘The Wrath’.  That doesn’t begin until the Trump Judgments start.  The Seal Judgments are a part of the Trib, but Messiah called them only the ‘Beginning of Sorrows’.  They aren’t the actual wrath.  That comes next.

I do not hold a pre-Trib rapture view – I believe the rapture to be pre-Wrath.  You can read more about this on my sidebar, I don’t have time to explain why here/now.  But this was one of the beliefs that I’d had to change (and warred with myself over)… when the SMS began, and I was still here, I could no longer be a pre-Trib believer.  It blew my mind, and you might remember.  But as I’ve said before, Truth is more important to me than staying in that comfortable place of what I want to believe, so in the end, I had to admit that everything I’d been taught by the church was wrong.  It even flew in the face of scripture:  there were three sets judgments and then final judgment in Egypt with Moses, and God’s people only had to experience the first set.  Likewise, there are three sets of judgments in Revelation, and while the church’s pre-Trib stance says God’s people won’t be there for ANY of the judgments, precedence says we’re here for the seals, but like Israel in Egypt, we won’t experience the last two sets (Trumps and Vials).

The timeline I gave last week showed that the Book of Revelations takes us (in ch 1-6) from the Apostolic era (when the apostles lived) to 2010.  It showed that ch7a took place at the same time as chapter six… and that ch8:1 happened as part of the SMS… it kicked-off the second half of 2010 for ‘about the space of half an hour’ (or approximately three and a half  years).  Which takes us to 2013… THIS year.

The first thing to talk about is ch7b… which is the rapture.  It hasn’t happened yet.  In my pre-Wrath stance, I see that as happening BEFORE the Trump judgments kick off.  But ch8:1 came before that.  So the question I’m pondering at the moment is… do ch8:2-5 happen before ch7b, or not?  I’d never considered that, before.  Until last week, I was a chronological girl, remember?  Now all of that is out the window.  The facts, the events that have occurred, proved my assumptions wrong.  I have to make a change… and that means considering that other things might happen before the rapture.  And as for what those things are?  Let’s take a look:

Rev 8:2-5  And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.  And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.  And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.  And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.

Just like before the seal judgments, we’re back in Heaven, looking at the action before the Throne.  Verse two is the handing out of the trumpets, but oddly, the angels don’t prepare themselves to play these things when they’re given them.  That doesn’t happen until verse six… there’s another event BEFORE anything is even prepped for the Trumps.  So, then, why give them the trumps BEFORE that event?  Why not put verse two right before verse six?

http://www.cervantesdesign.com/revelations/images/seven_trumpets.jpg

I backed up to see if what happened before the first set of judgments matched what is happening before the second set of judgments.  You know how I am about patterns.  So back in ch5:8, Yeshua the Lamb took the seals from the hand of Yehovah.  But He didn’t even consider opening the seals for another six verses.  JUST like what we’re seeing in ch8. 

• What happened in those six verses?  Beasts and elders bowed before the lamp, “having VIALS OF ODOURS, WHICH ARE THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS”.  And every creature gave glory to God.

• And what happens in ch8 between the taking of the trumps and the preparation to blow them?  Four verses.  And in those verses, we have an angel “having a GOLDEN CENSER… THAT HE SHOULD OFFER IT WITH THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS”.  And the angel filled the censer with fire from the altar, and cast it to the earth.

I’m seeing some parallels, here, are you?  Both times, heavenly beings had some kind of a container, both times these containers had something in them that wafts, and both times the containers were accompanied by the prayers of the saints.  Both times, the being(s) did something after having those prayers.  Both times, the judgments didn’t begin until after what they were doing was finished.

Vials of odours/prayers – Glorifying God – Seals opened
Censer of incense/prayers – Fire thrown to earth – Trumps blown

There is a BIG difference between singing praises and throwing down fire, though.  True that one is Creator directed and the other creation directed, but I don’t really… it’s odd.  But it still seems to be a pattern, and it seems like – although we didn’t have any role in the opening activities before the seals, we DO get to witness something having to do with the opening activities before the trumps.  Because it’s thrown AT us.

Tomorrow?  I want to talk about the things that are soon to be cast to Earth.

I’m Grateful For: 

• My Lord and Savior, who has allowed me the privilege of being here at this time, during these things.  Every other generation begged for a chance to see what I’m seeing.  To know what I know.  To experience what I’m experiencing.  How did I ever come to be so blessed?  It’s mind-boggling.
• For the awareness He has granted me.  I read my news feed at Facebook yesterday, and you wouldn’t BELIEVE the oblivious people.  Christian people.  People who claim to know Him, who claim to love Him.  People who sit in church every Sunday, who go to Bible studies… hell, who run a christian bookstore.  They didn’t even register anything.  Nothing.  It blows me away that people are so oblivious.  Even people who took note… they don’t know what it means.  Where we are.  What’s happening.
• For Him stopping me from closing up.  I’d written my last blog on Friday.  I was done here.  I had just about had enough.  I figured that nobody gets it, nobody cares, and if they did, they could come and read what it says in the archives, because it’s all here.  There was nothing more to say.  I was frustrated and… well, very much DONE.  Then He told me that one more Shabbat post would be pretty, easy, and simple.  Then Sunday I read about the Year of the Snake, and felt compelled to write about its significance.  Then Monday… well!  That’s three stops in a row.  Apparently I’m not yet meant to stop writing, here.
• The wind dying down.  Man, do I hate it when it gets windy.  It’s all of the trees around us, I don’t like the idea of them coming down, like the one on the goat pen.  And it was REALLY windy again… that’s two in a row.  Nice balmy breezes are one thing.  A little frigid blast through a snowstorm isn’t bad, either.  But I don’t like windstorms.
• Whether I think it’s logical or not, whether I agree with her methods or not, whether I like what’s happening or not, I’m glad my mom is doing she feels she needs to do and things are happening where she wants them to.  Which is… okay, THE most ridiculous grateful ever, but I guess I’m having a hard time saying that I’m grateful that I can let other people make their choices.  LoL!!
• Side work for Brian.  There hasn’t been any for a while, and I think he was getting a little antsy about it – wanted some.  And frankly, his regular workplace was slowing, so he gets antsy about that, too.  So some projects coming down the pipe for him is always a good thing.  Especially right now.  The timing is perfect.
• Celebrations!  We’ve been having such a good time around here – first Chinese New Year (Gung Hay Fat Choy!) and a delicious meal eaten with chopsticks… you should’ve seen the kids.  It was funny.  Then Mardi Gras, which … this year, I didn’t really want to get into.  Dunno why, it just doesn’t feel right.  Then V-day, which is pretty much another one of those candy-getting days for the kids.  Okay, okay, and for me, too… I’m a Dove-a-holic.  Love my Dove.  And then this weekend is the Backyard Bird Count, followed by President’s Day, followed by Purim (which we’re REALLY gearing up for – got the kids already watching the Maccabeat’s video and learning the song).  So lots of fun things!
• Getting our taxes in.  My kids love to go over there and play with her dog, and it’s nice to catch up with some old friends.  And of course we get to go BACK to pick them up in a few weeks.  It’s one of those deals where I wish we didn’t need the excuse of taxes in order to go visit, but… we kinda do.  I… don’t make friends well.  Don’t know how to have them, anyhow.  It’s always been that way.  But it’s that time of year (once-a-year) to go there, and I love that.  There, now don’t I sound utterly pathetic???
• The time I was given to read/meet Herb Peters.  I miss him.  Especially now.  Well, actually all along.  He was the only one I ever met who was anything like I am, and it was reassuring to have someone else who had the same gift I do… who actually edified *me* a little bit.  I went over to his site (now run by his idiot daughter) when the Pope thing happened, and… wOw.  Not a word.  Not a blip of brain function.  It might take a while to process.  But then, she retracted everything her father stood for, so do I really expect anything from her?  I miss Herb.  Sincerely.  He was so much smarter than me.  He would’ve had so much more to add to it all.  I know he would.  And I looked for others… and they’re just not out there.  Fear has robbed the world.
• Construction on our property will dig up our garden in March/April – BEFORE it’s time to garden.  I’m really glad, because that means it’ll be done in time for planting season.  I knew it was coming, but didn’t know when, so it’s a relief now that it’s going to NOT be a problem for us.  (((Let’s hope it stays that way!)))
• Having my car back!  Okay, so honestly?  I didn’t miss it much last week.  I tend to not go anywhere, mostly.  So while Brian’s truck was in for body work, I didn’t actually really even register that I was without vehicle.  But… well, maybe I should’ve said I’m grateful Brian has HIS truck back?   He loves that thing, it’s crazy…  It’s just nice to have a vehicle, in case some child does some stupid and painful thing and I need to go somewhere.  Not that we’ve had that – and I’m grateful for that, too! – but it’s just reassuring!

Pope Resigns!

I have been told a lot of people ‘thought of me’ this morning when they got on-line and saw the latest news.  That seems to happen whenever there’s a massive quake, tsunami, or catastrophic event of any kind.  People think of me, then.  I find that amusing.  You only check with the ‘oracle’ when something big happens, right?  And there’s been one heckuvan announcement today.   In case you missed it, here it is:

http://news.yahoo.com/pope-resigns…112923467.html

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict shocked the world on Monday by saying he no longer had the mental and physical strength to cope with his ministry, in an announcement that left his aides “incredulous” and will make him the first pontiff to step down since the Middle Ages.

The German-born Pope, 85, …told cardinals in Latin that his strength had deteriorated recently. He will step down on February 28 and the Vatican expects a new Pope to be chosen by the end of March.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the Pope had not decided to resign because of “difficulties in the papacy” and the move had been a surprise, indicating that even his inner circle was unaware that he was about to quit.

…In recent months, the pope has looked increasingly frail in public, sometimes being helped to walk by those around him.

Now, what does this mean?  Well, if you were around when I blogged thru the death of JPII, you know that I did a whole blog on Malachay and his prophecies.  I also did a recap, but instead of sending you back to those, let me just explain the deal in summary, here:

St. Malachay.  A prophet emerged from within the ‘church’, long ago.  His name was Malachay.  He predicted a list of 112 popes, all the way to the end of the world.  He didn’t give names, but identified them with a singular phrase that described this person.  Many people don’t believe him, but I’ve not heard where his predictions have ever been proven wrong, and so I’m personally open to God working thru this man.  Some of the phrases were interestingly accurate, too.  For instance of Pope Innocent XI, (1676-1689) Malachay wrote “Bellua Insatiabilis”, that is, “An insatiable beast.” History records that Innocent was never “sine Cibo”, that is, he was never without food.  JPII was “labor of the sun” – he was born during a solar eclipse.  What are the chances?!  Again, I don’t know if he’s a false prophet or not, but so far, I haven’t heard about any false predictions by Malachay (unlike Nostradamus, who was only right 30% of the time.)

Glory of Olives.  According to Malachay, there are two popes after JPII (who died in 2005).  Gloria Olivae was next – “The Glory of Olives”.  Scholars speculate that this means he would be of Jewish descent – because the Bible refers to Israel as ‘the olive tree’.  Ironically, the present pope Benedict/Ratzinger comes from Jewish blood.

Interim Popes.  The ‘church’ has kind of a tradition – to have an ‘interim’ pope between the longer-lasting popes.  The dude before JPII was only pope for 3 weeks.  JPII had been pope for 27 years – the third longest in history.  When they appointed Benny the Rat (my fun term for the present pope, Benedict/Ratzinger), they picked him in spite of his very old age… in fact, it was a good thing, in their opinion, because they wanted an ‘interim’ pope.  He was only supposed to be pope for a few years.  It’s been eight… that’s pretty interim, although I expected him to pass away before this, honestly.

Peter the Roman.  After “Gloria Olivae” (the present pope) is “Peter the Roman”.  This is what Malachay predicted about “Peter the Roman” – In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there will reign Peter the Roman, who will feed his flock among many tribulations; after which the seven-hilled city will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people. 

Some Things to Note:  This guy will be in charge during the ‘final persecution’ of the church.  Another reason to believe we’re about at the end.  AFTER WHICH denotes that he’ll be out of the picture when Rome is destroyed.  Maybe he’s ousted, maybe he dies in that destruction… we don’t know.  And note that the word ‘Judge’ is capitalized – this is the return of Christ.  What’s funny is that the Catholic church is amillineal – meaning they don’t believe in a rapture, a rule of Christ, or anything that Revelations teaches.  They don’t even know what a HUGE part of that last book they play!

So where are we?  We’re at Peter the Roman.  How close are we to the end?  Well, I just gave you a chart on Friday that should give you an idea of where we are in scripture.  In fact, I gave a LIST of five most likely things to happen next:  and a papal change-over was one of them.  So… here we are, three days later, and with this astounding announcement.

I. Am. Geeked.  Because this means I’m right on target.  He’s been constant and true, and it’s an exciting time, we’re living in.  Because this is it!  I have been waiting for this… and am looking forward to what comes next!

Year of the Snake

http://www.post-gazette.com/…year-of-the-snake-arrives-674072/

When the Chinese-speaking world ushers in its new year on Sunday, its 12-year zodiac will turn from the dragon to one of the world’s most despised animals. As undeserved as the snake’s reputation might be, its last two years did not go so well: 2001 was the year of the Sept. 11 attacks and 1989 was when Chinese forces crushed pro-democracy protests around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

Some wonder if this one also could hold bad tidings. “In Chinese mythology, snakes were often associated with monsters, or with incarnations of monsters, so some political turbulence can be expected,” said Taiwanese astrologer Tsai Shang-chi.

According to wikipedia, there is a reason for the order of the 12 animals in the 12 year cycle. The story goes that a race was held to cross a great river, and the order of the animals in the cycle was based upon their order in finishing the race. In this story, the snake compensated for not being the best swimmer by hitching a hidden ride on the horses hoof, and when the horse was just about to cross the finish line, jumping out, scaring the horse, and thus edging it out for sixth place.  The snake is the SIXTH animal in the Chinese animal.  Six being the number of sin/fallen state, Satan, and wrath.

Considering where we are, I think we might see some very interesting things, this year.  And maybe there’s something to the order.  After all, Yehovah can use all things… even the animals on a Chinese placemat.