Description:
“We are living in the time of the end. The fast-fulfilling signs of the times declare that the coming of Christ is near at hand. The days in which we live are solemn and important. The Spirit of God is gradually but surely being withdrawn from the earth. Plagues and judgments are already falling upon the despisers of the grace of God. The calamities by land and sea, the unsettled state of society, the alarms of war, are portentous. They forecast approaching events of the greatest magnitude.”{9T 11.1}
“The agencies of evil are combining their forces and consolidating. They are strengthening for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones.”{9T 11.2}
“On one occasion, when in New York City, I was in the night season called upon to behold buildings rising story after story toward heaven. These buildings were warranted to be fireproof, and they were erected to glorify the owners and builders.”
“Higher and still higher these buildings rose, and in them the most costly material was used. Those to whom these buildings belonged were not asking themselves: "How can we best glorify God?" The Lord was not in their thoughts.”{9T 12.1}
“The scene that next passed before me was an alarm of fire. Men looked at the lofty and supposedly fire-proof buildings and said: "They are perfectly safe. But these buildings were consumed as if made of pitch. The fire engines could do nothing to stay the destruction. The firemen were unable to operate the engines.”
{9T 13.1}
In the article, "The Last Crisis," EGW described the destruction of the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. EGW accurately described the events of 9/11 2001. This event marks the entry into the “Last Crisis.” Let's see how she describes the next event in this article:
“There are not many, even among educators and statesmen, who comprehend the causes that underlie the present state of society. Those who hold the reins of government are not able to solve the problem of moral corruption, poverty, pauperism, and increasing crime. They are struggling in vain to place business operations on a more secure basis.”{9T 13.3}
The next event in “The Last Crisis”, our government leaders make a vain attempt to solve bank, insurance, auto company, and other business failures. There is exactly seven years, to the day, between the first two events. Our loving Father, through his faithful messenger, has made it clear that they will not succeed:
The world is stirred with the spirit of war. The prophecy of the eleventh chapter of Daniel has nearly reached its complete fulfillment. Soon the scenes of trouble spoken of in the prophecies will take place.{9T 14.2}
"Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. . . . Because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.”
“Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate. . . . The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth." Isaiah 24:1-8. {9T 14.3}
EGW says that, "The world is stirred with the spirit of war." We couldn't ask for more precise words to describe our time. Wars and rumors of war give the news commentators more material than they can fit into the nightly news. Our last day prophet, in another article, also tells us what to expect as a result of the financial crisis:
“In India, China, Russia, and the cities of America, thousands of men and women are dying of starvation. The monied men, because they have the power, control the market. They purchase at low rates all they can obtain, and then sell at greatly increased prices. This means starvation to the poorer classes, and will result in a civil war. There will be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation. And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, everyone that shall be found written in the book. . . . Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.”--Ms 114, 1899. (General manuscript, untitled, typed August 13, 1899.){5MR 305.4} [Civil War starts before Jacob’s time of trouble.]
Transgression has almost reached its limit. Confusion fills the world, and a great terror is soon to come upon human beings. The end is very near. We who know the truth should be preparing for what is soon to break upon the world as an overwhelming surprise.{8T 28.1}
Rev 3:16, 17 “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked…”
“I was shown the inhabitants of the earth in the utmost confusion. War, bloodshed, privation, want, famine, and pestilence were abroad in the land. As these things surrounded God's people, they began to press together, and to cast aside their little difficulties. Self-dignity no longer controlled them; deep humility took its place. Suffering, perplexity, and privation caused reason to resume its throne, and the passionate and unreasonable man became sane, and acted with discretion and wisdom. My attention was then called from the scene. There seemed to be a little time of peace. Once more the inhabitants of the earth were presented before me; and again everything was in the utmost confusion. Strife, war, and bloodshed, with famine and pestilence, raged everywhere. Other nations were engaged in this war and confusion. War caused famine. Want and bloodshed caused pestilence. And then men's hearts failed them for fear, ‘and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.’” (1T 268.1,2)
Egypt's 7 Years Of Famine Earth’s 7 Last Years
Genesis, chapters 41-47 History Repeats
In Genesis 41 we read about Pharaoh's dream regarding the seven years of plenty and seven years of famine. God gave Joseph understanding of the vision:
Genesis 41:26-32 “The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads are seven years; the dreams are one. “And the seven thin and ugly cows which came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty heads blighted by the east wind are seven years of famine.” This is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. “Indeed seven years of great plenty will come throughout all the land of Egypt; “but after them seven years of famine will arise, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine will deplete the land. “So the plenty will not be known in the land because of the famine following, for it will be very severe. 32“And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. (NKJ).
Genesis 45:6, 7 “For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. “And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. (NKJ).
Genesis 47:13-21 Now there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought; and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. So when the money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For the money has failed.” Then Joseph said, “Give your livestock, and I will give you bread for your livestock, if the money is gone.” So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the cattle of the herds, and for the donkeys. Thus he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock that year. When that year had ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is gone; my lord also has our herds of livestock. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands. “Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants of Pharaoh; give us seed, that we may live and not die, that the land may not be desolate.”
Then Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for every man of the Egyptians sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. So the land became Pharaoh’s. And as for the people, he moved them into the cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end. (NKJ).
Egypt's seven years of plenty and seven years of famine form a template for our time. Egypt symbolizes the world. Egypt had seven years of Prophesied plenty. So have we. Then Egypt entered seven years of famine. During the second lean year Israel moved into the land of Goshen, away from the cities. The Egyptians ran out of bread and the money. The money failed! Our money will soon fail. The Egyptians bartered their livestock, which was their remaining wealth. Then they sold their bodies and lands to Joseph, so Pharaoh owned all the land and all the people. Joseph moved all the people into the cities. And the Egyptians became Pharaoh’s slaves. We will see the same things. The parallels with our time are too striking to miss. Slavery will be revived:
I am instructed to say to our people throughout the cities of the South, let everything be done under the direction of the Lord. The work is nearing its close. We are nearer the end than when we first believed. Satan is doing his best to block the way to the progress of the message. He is putting forth efforts to bring about the enactment of a Sunday law which will result in slavery in the Southern field, and will close the door to the observance of the true Sabbath which God has given to men to keep holy. Letter 6, 1909, p. 2. (To W. C. White, January 1, 1909.) {1MR 397.3}
Executive Order 11000 allows the government to mobilize civilians into work brigades under government supervision.
Executive Order 11004 allows the Housing and finance Authority to relocate communities, build new housing with public funds, designate areas to be abandoned, and establish new locations for populations.
Now is the time to make sure of our salvation by spending a thoughtful hour meditating on the self-sacrificing love of Jesus. Now is the time to get out of the cities. Now is the time to find a piece of land where you can grow your own food.
We have had precisely seven years of plenty, from 9/11/2001 to 9/11/2008. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, (D, Penn) Chairman of the House’s Capitol Markets Subcommittee recently discussed on C-SPAN the reasons for the massive bailout:
“On Thursday [9-11-2001] at about 11 am the Federal Reserve noticed a tremendous drawdown of money market accounts in the United States to the tune of 550 billion dollars, being drawn out in the matter of about an hour or 2. The Treasury opened up its window to help, pumped 105 billion dollars in the system and quickly realized they could not stem the tide. We were having an electronic run on the banks. They decided to close the operation, close down the money accounts and announce a guarantee of $250,000 per account so there wouldn’t be further panic out there. If they had not done this, their estimation was that by 2 o’clock that afternoon, 5.5 trillion dollars would have been drawn out of the money market system of the United States, would have collapsed the entire economy of the United States, and within 24 hours the world economy would have collapsed.”
On Thursday morning September the 11th, our current financial crisis began, precisely 7 years after September the 11th, 2001. Many economists have warned that our current monetary system will soon fail. The Bible agrees. The Spirit of Prophecy (9T 11-17) confirms that September 11, 2001 marks our entry into the “Last Crisis.” This supports 9/11/2001 as the beginning of the 7 years of plenty, which ended on 9/11/2008. Our 1st lean year ends in the fall of 2009.
The present financial controversy has been presented to me as one of Satan's masterpieces for these last days. There is a power moving from beneath, which is after the working of the great enemy….in regard to the circulating currency. This is not of the devising of God--the changing of the circulating currency. What will it effect? It will cause a state of things that will bring oppression to the poor, and create great distress. It is one of the devil's schemes… {TM 331.1}
Note that after two of the lean years the Egyptian's money and bread failed. We are nearing the end of the first year of seven lean years, years of famine. (The next Hebrew new year begins September 19th, 2009).
Between September 19th, 2009 and September/October 2010, our monetary system will fail, and the people will not have bread. Then the people of the land will barter any items of value for food, as the Egyptians bartered their valuable cattle for food. When these valuables run out, the people of the world will sell their land and souls to the rulers for food. The rulers of Egypt transferred vast amounts of wealth from the people to the government. We see the same thing happening today, the largest transfer of wealth ever. History is repeating. The bankers have learned from history, have we? “The monied men, because they have the power, control the market.” Ms 114, 1899
1. In 1906-7 the elite created a bank panic. Leading financiers such as J.P. Morgan took advantage and acquired vast amounts of wealth. The Federal Reserve was set up in 1913. This vast wealth was used to finance WWI, which began in 1914. The elite also used the people’s war weariness and this ill-gotten wealth to set up the League of Nations, which was an early attempt at a world government.
2. The banking elite created the 1929 financial crash. Again, vast amounts of wealth changed hands. Chase Bank funneled these ill-gotten gains into Nazi Germany, which built a huge war machine and started WWII. After WWII the elite again capitalized on people’s war weariness to start the United Nations, another attempt at a world government.
3. We are currently in the largest financial crisis of all time. Wealth has been transferring hands at phenomenal rates. EGW tells us that after the destruction of the tall buildings in New York, we can expect an unsolvable financial crisis, and then, “The world is stirred with the spirit of war.” Wearied with war and facing financial ruin the peoples of the world will accept, yes, even beg for a world government to control banking and bring in lasting peace.
Brothers and sisters, now is the time to prepare our souls and our land to withstand the coming economic and money system failure. God has graciously warned us ahead of time. Failure to heed this warning will have dire consequences for body and soul. Pray and take steps to develop Christ-like characters, and to move out of the cities and suburbs and God will honor your faith with success.
1.Spend time meditating on Christ and his sacrifice for us.
2. Pray and do. Sell your place in the city.
3. Find a plot of land that has enough water and soil to grow a large garden.
4.Prepare your land and then your house. Proverbs 24:27, “Prepare your outside work, make it fit for yourself in the field; and afterward build your house.”
Gideon, Judges 6-8
Judges 6:1-4 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years, and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which are in the mountains. So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance [food] for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey. (NKJ).
Again, in this story we see seven years of famine, this time brought about by the oppression of the Midianites, [Contention in Hebrew]. Note that Israel had to live in the mountains during these seven years.
Judges 6:8-10 …The Lord sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: I brought you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of bondage; and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. Also I said to you, I am the Lord your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But you have not obeyed My voice.”
When God speaks to man He often tells us “do not fear.” We should not fear the false gods or apostate men. We hear the admonition not to fear three times in this story. At the end of time, we mustn’t fear the gods of this earth or men.
Judges 6:11 Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. (NKJ).
The winepress is a symbol of tribulation. Gideon is harvesting amidst tribulation. Gideon is a symbol of the remnant. Persecution, before the time of Jacob’s trouble will seem to limit, but actually facilitate the harvest. Also pay attention to timing. Gideon is harvesting just before the destruction of the Midianites. We too will participate in the harvest (the loud cry of the fourth angel) just before the destruction of the seven last plagues falls on the vast multitudes gathered to destroy the remnant. In Judges 6:11-16 The Lord God gives Gideon a commission to save Israel.
Judges 6:21-24 Then the Angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in His hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of the Lord departed out of his sight. Now Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of the Lord. So Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face.” Then the Lord said to him, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.” So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it The-Lord-Is-Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
Gideon prepared a goat and unleavened bread, sanctuary symbols of Christ. The second time, the Lord says, “do not fear.” “Perfect love casts out fear,” (1John 4:18). In the end times this encouragement is especially important. Gideon builds an altar (worship) when he gets a view of the God of peace.
Judges 6:25 Now it came to pass the same night that the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it; (NKJ).
The second bull (mentioned three times), of seven years has lived just during the years of famine for Israel. The second seven years in Egypt were also years of famine, symbolized by the lean cows.
God instructs Gideon to tear down the altar of Baal and the wooden idol, which he does by night for fear of men with ten servants. The tearing down of these false gods, (Sunday sacredness, etc), brings on a cry for Gideon’s death in verse 30. But Joash (Yaweh helps) reverses the sentence. Gideon’s act results in a new name (character), after he has gotten rid of the idols. So too, we will have new characters when we get rid of our idols.
Judges 6:34, 35 But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon; then he blew the trumpet, and the Abiezrites[The Father is Help] gathered behind him. And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, who also gathered behind him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali; and they came up to meet them. (NKJ).
Gideon receives the Holy Spirit, just before the tribulation, to prepare him for the crisis. So too, we will receive the Holy Spirit in latter rain power just before our last crisis. Manasseh means, “he causes forgetfulness.” God forgets our sins, and longs to end the sufferings of his people. Lets cooperate with Him, as did Gideon. Then Gideon sends messengers to three tribes. Asher means “happy.” Asher had rich pastures and royal dainties. Happy are those who come to the battle on the side of the Lord. Zebulun means Longed for dwelling. God longs to dwell with us, and we with Him, enabled by the latter rain. Naphtali means “obtained by wrestling.” Just like Jacob his father, we too must obtain our experience with the Lord by wrestling as we approach Jacob’s time of trouble. We must overcome every cultivated and inherited tendency to sin. Then Gideon puts God to the test with a fleece, and both times God comes through. We can trust our God as we approach the battle.
Judges 7:2, 3 And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ “Now therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead.” And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained.
Again God brings up the issue of fear. The fearful turn back, the vast majority. The army was still too numerous for God’s glory; only those who lap with the tongue can be used. Their heads are up, indicating watchfulness. And the water of the Spirit must purify the tongue.
In verses 10-15, God yet again seeks to alleviate fear in His follower. He provides a dream involving a loaf of barley striking the Midianite army—symbolizing the rock of Daniel’s vision—the body of Christ takes out the enemy, by standing and watching the Lord work. There are three major harvests in the Hebrew economy: the barley, the wheat and the grape harvests. The barley is the earliest, which represents the remnant, the 144,000. The wheat harvest comes later, the general harvest. The trampling of the grapes symbolizes destruction of the wicked.
Judges 7:19-22 So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just as they had posted the watch; and they blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers that were in their hands. Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers—they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing—and they cried, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!” And every man stood in his place all around the camp; and the whole army ran and cried out and fled. When the three hundred blew the trumpets, the Lord set every man’s sword against his companion throughout the whole camp; and the army fled to Beth Acacia, toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel Meholah, by Tabbath. (NKJ).
In the dark of the night, in beginning of the middle watch the battle is engaged. They broke the pitchers, symbolizing the breaking of self and sin. They blew their trumpets, which points to the time of the plagues when God will no longer restrain human passions. Every man’s hand will be against his fellow. The blowing of Gideon’s trumpets symbolizes the end of human probation.
God will use His enemies as instruments to punish those who have followed their own pernicious ways whereby the truth of God has been misrepresented, misjudged, and dishonored.--PC 136 (1894).{LDE 242.3}
Already the Spirit of God, insulted, refused, abused, is being withdrawn from the earth. Just as fast as God's Spirit is taken away, Satan's cruel work will be done upon land and sea.--Ms 134, 1898.{LDE 242.4}
The wicked have passed the boundary of their probation; the Spirit of God, persistently resisted, has been at last withdrawn. Unsheltered by divine grace, they have no protection from the wicked one.--GC 614 (1911).{LDE 242.5}
