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When Will The Global Financial Collapse Happen ? (Update)

After my book was published in Nov 2014 and the global stock markets crashed in Sep 2015,  the global financial collapse according to Rev 18:17-19 did not happen.  I prayed to know the time of the collapse and I was prompted to read the parable of the wicked tenants then in 2016.  

I read the passage Luke 20:9-19 only,, though there were 2 more passages in Matt 21:33-41 and Mark 12:1-12 which I did not refer then.  I have read this Luke 20:9-19 passage numerous times and yet my mind could only register all these years that there were 2 attempts by 2 servants to collect the proceeds from the tenants of the vineyard before the vineyard owner sent his only son giving a total of 3 attempts, and after which the vineyard owner destroyed all these tenants.   You can see from the passage that Luke 20:12 clearly stated a THIRD servant was sent.  So the actual number of attempts is four and not three.  The other 2 passages in Matt 21 and Mark 12 state also mention 3 attempts by the first batch of 3 servants before more servants were sent.   

Luke 20:9-13

He went on to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. 10 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. 12 HE SENT STILL A THIRD, and they wounded him and threw him out. 13 “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’

Though the markets crashed in Sep 2022 after the earlier bigger crash in Feb / March 2020, it seemed the global economy fare nothing adverse so far. Yet surprisingly in the past year, several obstacles dissipated and enabled me to start coming out of Babylon as though things would unravel very quickly. Then out of the blue upon re-reading the Luke 20:9-19 again 4 weeks ago, I finally saw that a third servant was sent. It was indeed baffling for me for I read this passage numerous times.

Because of this baffling mistake of 3 attempts,  I thought all along the collapse would happen by Sep 2022 with Sep 2001, Sep 2008 and Sep 2015 being the 3 attempts of “recovering the proceeds” and after which came the destruction of the tenants.   If there are four attempts instead of three,  I should expect the collapse to happen by Sep 2029.   (In any case, the Lord is sovereign and He may still give more time for the faithful to prepare.  The other passages in Matt 21 and Mark 12 indicate more attempts by further batches of servants sent.)

The current economic situation has never more dire than now. The sovereign debt of the US now stands at over USD 34 trillion and the other major economics are faring no better. Due to the current interest rates, the interest payment on this USD 34 trillion will reach USD 1.6 trillion this year and that is the largest component of the US budget. The commercial real estate may not recover till 2040 because of low occupancy rate and high interest rates and may cause hundreds of US regional banks to fail meanwhile. The US budget deficit is chronic and growing fast. China is having a housing collapse. Inflation in most countries has never been that worse than now. When all wealth is destroyed in the Rev 18:17-19 judgment, Babylon is describing as burning. Can a mega earthquake, a nuclear terror attack or civil unrest cause Babylon to burn and in turn cause the global financial system to collapse ?

Postscript :  The global financial collapse is a morally neutral event just like the global famine predicted in Acts 11:27-30 or the AD 70 massacre foretold by our Lord.  The famine prediction was heeded and there was preparation to help the distressed churches, while the AD 70 massacre warning by our Lord was mostly not heeded.  There is no prohibition in the Scripture that one cannot receive warning of such calamities from the Lord.  

The Birthday Of Our Lord

Gen 1:14

And God said,”Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years…”

The Hebrew word for signs is “avah” which means to mark.  Scripture has frequent mention of the star constellations and from the above verse, they can be used to mark the seasons and years.  Thus when Scripture mentions certain events by marking the position of the constellations, stars and planets, we can know the date of the events by studying astronomy.  We must not confuse astronomy with astrology which is forbidden by God.   Astrology is the occultic belief that interprets the influence of the stars and planets on the lives of people.  Scripture mentions that Magi from the east came to look for Jesus our Lord, the King of the Jews, when they saw His star.  Matt 2:1-2.  This substantiated that certain unique astronomical signs in the heavens could reveal certain significant events.

In Gen 59:9-10, Jacob on his deathbed prophesized “Judah is a lion’s cub, from the prey, my son, you have gone up.  He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares arouse him ?  The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples…”  The Hebrew word for foot is “regal” and this is significant for it may refer to the star Regulus, the brightest star in the Leo constellation, known as the King Star since ancient times. The sign for Leo is the lion.  We know from other scripture references that Jesus our Lord is often referred to as the Lion of Judah and the King of Jews. Jupiter (the largest planet in our solar system) in Hebrew means “righteousness” and Venus, the second planet from the sun, is known for its brightness in the dawn sky.  Our Lord Jesus is called “the bright and morning star”.  Rev 22:16.  Jupiter was often referred as the King planet by ancient astronomers.  Jupiter came into conjunction with Venus in Leo at 5 am, 12 August, 3 BC.  On 14 September, 3 BC,  Jupiter came into conjunction with the Star Regulus.  Could the Magi see these particular events or other similar conjunction of Jupiter with other celestial bodies around the time of the birth of our Lord Jesus and started planning to set off to visit and worship our Lord ?

Then between the dates of the above two astronomical events, a “great wonder” event happened that fitted the description in Rev 12:1-5.

Rev 12:1-5

A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 

The description of the great sign started by saying a woman was clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet. The woman referred to the Virgo constellation. And there was only one day – 11 September – that the moon was at her feet and the sun was at the upper torso. This configuration could be seen in Palestine between sunset at 6.18 pm and moonset at 7.39 pm on Wednesday 11 September, 3 BC. The Hebrew calendar month begins on the evening that the new moon appears, so the evening of 11 September was the first day of a new lunar month – the seventh month of Tishri. Tishri 1, Rosh Hashanah, is the New Year’s Day of modern Judaism.

There are other conclusive evidences in the gospels that point to the birth of our Lord in the month of September. Listen to David Pawson’s explanation on how he arrived at the conclusion that Jesus our Lord was born in September. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx50Pbf842E)

Postscript I :

(I took the liberty to write a short summary of the information from the following articles and the book by Anthony Ray.

https://www.askelm.com/star/star004.htm

https://goodnessofgodministries.international/2011/12/22/when-was-jesus-christ-born-the-bible-says-september-11-3bc-the-day-of-the-feast-of-trumpets/

I was given the vision of 911 a few days before the actual attack and I was actually staying next to the World Trade Center then. And I was born on 11 September thus increasing the incredible odds of this string of events exponentially. I have been praying to know why the given Rev 18:17-19 central message has not happened yet and this recent knowledge that our Lord Jesus might be born on this same day may well be the Lord’s way of encouraging me to persist in preparing and waiting for it. Hab 2:3)

Postscript II :

Here is another take by another scholar.

https://youtu.be/52hVgs5ykFc

Disorderly Worship Service

1 Cor 14

“If you speak to people in words they don’t understand, how will they know what you are saying? You might as well be talking into empty space. There are many different languages in the world, and every language has meaning. But if I don’t understand a language, I will be a foreigner to someone who speaks it, and the one who speaks it will be a foreigner to me.And the same is true for you. Since you are so eager to have the special abilities the Spirit gives, seek those that will strengthen the whole church. So anyone who speaks in tongues should pray also for the ability to interpret what has been said…If unbelievers or people who don’t understand these things come into your church meeting and hear everyone speaking in an unknown language, they will think you are crazy.

Well, my brothers and sisters, let’s summarize. When you meet together, one will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in tongues, and another will interpret what is said. But everything that is done must strengthen all of you…No more than two or three should speak in tongues. They must speak one at a time, and someone must interpret what they say. 28 But if no one is present who can interpret, they must be silent in your church meeting and speak in tongues to God privately…Or do you think God’s word originated with you Corinthians? Are you the only ones to whom it was given?If you claim to be a prophet or think you are spiritual, you should recognize that what I am saying is a command from the Lord himself. But if you do not recognize this, you yourself will not be recognized.[So, my dear brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and don’t forbid speaking in tongues. But be sure that everything is done properly and in order.”

The context of the whole passage of 1 Cor 14 is about orderly worship.  It clearly stated that at most 3 can speak in tongues and with interpretation, otherwise none should speak.  It does not edify anyone who may not understand, much less the unbelievers who turn up and may think everyone has gone crazy. 

It is clear from 1 Cor 14:37 that orderly worship is a command from the Lord.  Yet we see the blatant disobedience in some charismatic worship services when many just blabbered away in unintelligible tongues and laugh uncontrollably. 

Cain offered an unacceptable sacrifice as compared to Abel. Heb 11:4. That is the way of Cain who worship God to his own whim and fancy. 

Solar Lamp Project

In the past, I used to partner local pastors serving in non-grid areas and disaster hit areas in giving such lamps as a bridge to help the poor people and victims respectively, and reach them for Christ.   But unfortunately the early design of these lamps were found wanting.  The batteries used in these lamps then were custom made and not readily available.  The cost was also inhibitive then.  

After the pandemic restrictions were mostly lifted this year, the Lord led me to re-visit the use of such solar lamps.  I went to Guangzhou in October 2023 in the hope to discuss with the manufacturer on a particular design that can allow standardized batteries to be replaced easily.  

To my pleasant surprise, there was a lighting exhibition which was ending the very day I visited the city Zhongsan.  And at the very first cubicle stall,  I saw the very design I wanted.   The rechargeable batteries are manufactured by independent factories and so they are not customized but standard products.  The cost of the solar lamp has gone down by half !   

It is now affordable for the poor users in non grid area to buy such lamp and they can also replace the batteries easily when the lifespan of the batteries is up.  

Considering the odds of the various events coinciding together, I am sure it was another instance that the Lord had led me by His sovereign grace.

Hallelujah !   All thanks and glory to our Lord for His provision.  We are now able to reach many more poor people in the third world countries without the need for big funding.

Israel And The Church

On one extreme, some believe both Israel and the church have different redemptive programs. That is, the NT church does not include OT believers. On the other, some believe the church has replaced Israel. Going by the whole counsel of the Word of God, both beliefs are found wanting.

I believe the confusion is due to lack of distinction between national Israel and true Israel. In Rom 11:1-5, Paul explained the distinction and called the true Israel as the remnant. Paul emphatically stated that God did not reject His people and he was definitely referring to national Israel for he said of himself having descended from Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin.

(Rom 11:1-5. I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”[a]? 4 And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.)

The vine tree was not replaced but only the non believing branches were removed and new branches grafted. Neither were there 2 trees growing together. On the day of Pentecost, the true Israel became the NT church and organic continuity continues till today.

Rom 11:11 clearly stated that national Israel has not fallen beyond recovery. (11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. 12 But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their FULL inclusion bring!)

Anticipating that the grafted branches (the church) will be arrogant and consider themselves superior to the broken branches (national Israel), Rom 11:17-21 warns against such arrogance.

The present hardening of national Israel is not permanent. It will be over when the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. There will be a future restoration and they will become part of the true Israel.

(Rom 11:25-27. 25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, 26 and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.27 And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”)

In Rom 11:25-27, Paul was clearly talking about the future salvation of national Israel after the hardening is over. And our Lord Jesus will turn godlessness away from Jacob (Israel). For He will reign over the house of Jacob forever as stated in Luke 1:32-33.https://www.monergism.com/noted-theologians-history-who-believed-future-conversion-nationalethnic-israel

Postscript :

The following link gives the comments of notable theologians in history who believed in a future conversion of national / ethnic Israel.

https://www.monergism.com/noted-theologians-history-who-believed-future-conversion-nationalethnic-israel


Angels And Demons

Good Angels

The book, Angels, by David Pawson gave a quick gist of the knowledge of angels and demons existing today.  Following is my summary of the main points from that book.

Scripture teaches that angels are a distinct different order of beings and are created by God too.  They are not mediators between God and men, but they were frequently featured in Scripture carrying out the orders of God.  They are spirits and do not have bodies of flesh but they have the power to appear as bodies.  They are far superior than people in strength, intelligence and knowledge.  They belong to heaven and not earth.  They are probably numerous in the universe because in Scripture, they were mentioned as myriads upon myriads, ten thousand times ten thousand, and hosts.  They do have titles, ranks, grades and names.  There are archangels, cherubim, seraphim, principalities and powers.

When Jesus our Lord warned, “Beware of what you do with these little children. Their angels behold the face of my Father in heaven.”, he was saying that what we do is known to angels and will therefore be reported to God.  They are around us when we worship.  When one person believes in Christ, they know and all rejoice in heaven.

The Ministry Of The Angels

  1. Protection.   They protect against danger and terror.  Eg. When the Syrians surrounded Elisha,  there was another circle of God’s chariots.  The angels touched the eyes of the Syrians and they could not see.
  2. Provision.  They can provide for us.  Eg. Hagar and Elijah were fed when there was nothing to eat in the wilderness.  After our Lord was tempted and was hungry, the angels ministered to Him.
  3. Punishment.  They can carry out the Lord’s judgments such as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
  4. Deliverance.  Eg. Peter was delivered out of jail. 
  5. Guidance.  Eg. Cornelius was told by an angel to send for Peter.
  6. Comfort.  When Paul was on his way to face Caesar on the long and dangerous sea voyage, an angel comforted him that he would get to see Caesar.

Bad Angels Or Demons

We learn from Scripture that both the angels and the fallen angels or demons are in the heavenly places and they all have free will too.  We learn that one third of these angels set themselves up against God led by one anointed cherub nearest to the throne of God.  Evil started with this rebellion. He has five titles namely Satan, Abaddon (Apollyon in Greek meaning destroyer), Beelzebub, Belial and Lucifer.  He is described in terms of animals and likened to a serpent, dragon and a roaring lion. He is a slanderer, tempter, deceiver, accuser, tormentor, murderer and destroyer.  Presently, he is ruling the world and that is the reason why the world is in such a fallen mess today.  He is described also as the prince of the power of the air and god of this world.  His kingdom in the world is a kingdom of disobedience, darkness and disease. He is constantly trying his best to destroy the kingdom of God. He will sow tares among the wheat in the Kingdom of God. He will masquerade as an angel of light and his minions can also masquerade as apostles of Christ and servants of righteousness in the kingdom of God to preach heresy. He will tempt us always with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life as he had done before with our first parents. We read of much demonic activity, especially of demon possession. Today, we tend to dismiss demon possession mentioned in the gospels as mental disease, epilepsy or insanity. But according to David Lawson, the symptoms are quite different :

  1. Supernatural strength. A demon possessed person may take many men to hold him or her down.
  2. Clairvoyance. Knowledge of other people that is quite impossible to know except by supernatural revelation.
  3. An ability use voices that are quite different from the person’s own voice.
  4. A profound antagonism to the name of Jesus.
  5. A wild reaction to prayer such that the possessed person will go berserk when prayer is offered.

Mission Partnership With Kenyan Church

I got to know Pastor PW through a common Australian friend.  In early 2019,  I invited him to come to the pastoral conference in Batam, Indonesia to fellowship with the Indonesian churches as well as to go for the sustenance training conducted by the organisers in a farm that JC’s Manifesto Ministries was involved in its infancy days.  When he stayed over in Singapore, I introduced him to some Singaporean brothers in the hope that they might support his pastoral ministry.   And by the grace of our Lord, the Spirit of our Lord did convict these brothers to support his ministry.  He has since acquired a prayer centre and farmland.  The prayer centre now enables scores of pastors in the county to come regularly to pray together and the farmland provides sustenance and work for the church community too.  Such is the work of the Spirit God in training and spurring each one of us to love and good works collectively as we see the Day drawing near. All thanks and praise to our Lord Jesus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQt7spa3Mc4

Visit To School Cum Orphanage In Uganda

Went to visit a primary school cum orphanage started by a missionary sister in the hope of bettering the lives of the poorest children in the world through provision of holistic education. Due to the lack of resources, the Lord had given her the wisdom to address some of the sustenance needs of the school by utilising a small farm plot on the school ground. Budget challenges are enormous with enrolment growing in the hundreds which demand more teachers and helpers.

It is so heartwarming to learn that such a remote non-governmental school with no funding can produce 7 ace students who go on to excel in engineering and medicine.

May the Lord bless her and her ministry richly on account of her faith and life dedication to the Kingdom of our Lord.

Pastoral Conference And Fellowship In Kenya

All thanks and praise to our Lord for His calling to connect and fellowship with the churches in Kenya. I was both humbled and joyous to fellowship with the humble servant leaders of this denomination of 28 churches. I was hosted by their bishop and county (provincial) chaplain. We had the pastoral conference for a day in which I shared about the impending Rev 18:17-19 judgment and the necessity to prepare for it. The next day, I joined the regular worship session in which the bishop hosted leaders from other denominations. The messages I have heard all day were about fearing God and living in holiness. And I saw the one-ness and brotherly love in the churches between the leaders and the congregation when they honoured one another. (I am not making a pious courteous comment for I have seen most church leaders in the affluent countries are more of status seekers with their lofty protocol than humble servants.)


Stories Of Visiting Heaven

St Paul had ever been to the third heaven. (The third heaven refers to the place where God dwells.)  He wrote in the third person in 2 Cor 12:2-4,“I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows—was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that NO ONE IS PERMITTED TO TELL.”  While he was there in heaven, he saw and heard things which he could not describe and was forbidden to relate.  Scripture made it clear in 2 Cor 12:4 that NO ONE IS PERMITTED TO TELL of such experience.

Only 6 persons in Scripture had visions of heaven but not near death experiences – Isaiah, Ezekiel, Micaiah, Paul, John and Stephen. And possibly three wrote about the glory of God and their own fear in the presence of God. And all those who were brought back to life by our Lord Jesus or Paul did not have their post mortem experience mentioned in Scripture. Moments after our Lord died, many dead saints came out of their tombs and went into the city and appeared to many. Neither were their post mortem experience mentioned in Scripture.

Alex Malarkey was six years old when a car crash put him in a coma for two months, during which time he said he went to heaven and visited angels. The resulting memoir, co-authored with his father, was a best-seller.  But five years after its publication in 2015, Alex says he made the whole thing up, NPR reports. “I did not die. I did not go to Heaven,” he wrote in an open letter to Christian books retailers. “I said I went to heaven because I thought it would get me attention.” The story was believable because it was related by a 6 year old boy whom hardly anyone would suspect he could have the guile to invent such a story to get attention. If a young boy could do that, surely there would be many charlatans today doing so for money and fame whose heaven visitation stories could not be verified by anyone, except himself or herself.