Two thousand years ago, when the disciples of the Lord Jesus asked Him what would be the sign of His coming and of the end of the world, the Lord Jesus answered, “And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that you be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:6-8).
Nowadays, both natural and man-made disasters occur frequently all around the world. They spread over more and more regions and grow more and more ferocious. Earthquakes, floods, droughts, famines, and plagues can be seen everywhere; violence, racial conflicts, and terrorist attacks frequently take place; the situation of every country is in turmoil and wars continue…. The Lord Jesus’ prophecies about the end of the world have been fulfilled one after another. Let’s list some disasters that occurred in recent years throughout the world, and it can be proven.
In April 2015, Avian Influenza H5N2 was found in 16 states of the United States. According to experts, it was the most severe avian plague during the last 30 years in the USA.
On April 25, 2015, an 8.1 magnitude earthquake occurring in central Nepal killed about 9,000 people and injured more than 22,000. It was the worst natural disaster to strike Nepal during the last 80 years.
In August 2015, North Korea was hit by its worst drought in a century, and more than 18 million people faced the threat of famine.
From November 2015 to July 2016, many terrorist attacks took place in Paris, Brussels and Nice of France, killing at least over two hundred people and injuring more than seven hundred.
On February 23, 2016, at least seven tornadoes swept across Louisiana and Mississippi in the USA, leaving a trail of destruction wherever they went.
In April 2016, India suffered its worst drought in 40 years, resulting in 300 million people in shortage of drinking water.
On May 19, 2016, an authoritative report warned that superbugs were threatening human health. According to statistics, the global annual death toll from superbugs ran into 700,000. More frightening was that antibiotics against bacterial invasion had gradually lost their effectiveness, and the medical profession had no other “powerful” antibiotics that could replace them. Experts pointed out that if no action was taken, superbugs could kill one person every three seconds by 2050.
During June 2016, severe flooding occurred in Germany, France, Belgium, Romania, Ukraine, Russia, Mexico and other countries.
Since June 2016, catastrophic flooding hit Hubei Province, China. Till July 14, the heavy rainfall had affected 17 cities, 79 counties, and 9571.4 thousand people in Hubei Province.
On June 12, 2016, the largest shooting in recent years took place in a gay nightclub in Orlando, United States. It killed 50 people, and injured dozens of people.
On July 3, 2016, the deadliest suicide bomb attack in the last 7 years hit southern Baghdad, Iraq, resulting in over 200 deaths.
In the early morning of August 24, 2016, a 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck central Italy, and nearly three-quarters of the hardest hit areas were destroyed. By the end of the morning, nearly 250 people were killed and the death toll was expected to continue rising.
In August 2016, a global temperatures report routinely issued by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the United States said, in July this year, the global land and ocean surface temperatures were 0.87°C above the 20th century average for the same period. This was the 15th consecutive month of record-breaking high temperatures, which is the longest such streak in the 137-year record.
On September 9, 2016, in defiance of international condemnation, North Korea conduced its fifth nuclear test this year. The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting to discuss it. Both US and South Korean authorities expressed their determination to take significant measures towards North Korea. The North Korean nuclear issue was escalated again.
(Part of the news above are quoted from the Internet media.)
Apart from various frequent disasters and the turbulent international situation, there also appeared unusual celestial events: From April 2014 to September 2015, four blood moons appeared in the sky, accompanied with the rare phenomenon of the sun becoming black, which was unprecedented in the history. Most Bible expositors agree it boded a most significant event of the world to take place.
Faced with various frequent natural and man-made disasters and rare astronomical phenomena, many people see the fulfillment of the Bible prophecies. The great disasters are drawing closer, and the end of the world is soon to come. Although man can improve their material life through technology, yet when faced with the disasters, man is overwhelmed with fear and worries. They can’t find out any effective measures to resist the strike of the disaster, but only suffer it helplessly or be destroyed by it. In the face of the irresistible disasters today, man has to give serious consideration to the fate and destination of mankind. However, with mere fear towards the befalling of the disasters, man has no idea where these disasters come from and who is in command. Why are there so many disasters for people in the last days? What course should this mankind take?
During the last days, the returned Lord Jesus—Almighty God—expresses millions of words which reveal to man all the mysteries of God’s six-thousand-year management plan. He warns man, “The disaster is brought down by Me and of course orchestrated by Me. If you cannot work for good in My presence, then you will not escape suffering the disaster” (“You Ought to Do Enough Good Deeds to Prepare for Your Destination” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). “When God gets exceedingly angry, the whole world will thus suffer all kinds of disasters, as if volcanoes are being split. From the sky above, it can be well seen that on earth all kinds of disasters are closing in on all mankind day by day. From a high spot, on earth there seem to be various scenes before an earthquake: Fiery water is scurrying everywhere, lava flowing everywhere, mountains moving, and chilling light flashing everywhere, and the whole world is sunk in the fire. This is just the scene when God gets furious and the time when God judges. No flesh can escape” (“The Interpretation of the Eighteenth Piece of Word” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
Almighty God’s words, with authority and power, brimming with righteousness and majesty, show us the source of disasters, the ends of the world, and the fate of mankind. Some can’t help but ask, “Since God created this world, why must He destroy it? Is God not a loving and merciful God? Why does He hurl forth His rage upon man?” To understand these questions, we might as well look back to the time of Noah’s ark. The Bible says, “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked on the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way on the earth. And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth” (Genesis 6:11-13). At that time, mankind was corrupted to a point. No one listened to God’s words, much less did anyone worship God. Mankind advocated wickedness, followed the worldly trend, and lived amid evil and licentiousness concerning themselves with eating, drinking, and the pursuit of pleasure, enjoying the pleasure of sin. Their wickedness was unbearable for God to witness and infuriated God’s righteous and unoffendable disposition. Thus, God had His plan of destroying the world with a flood. But God cared about mankind’s ignorance and pitifulness, so He still gave man chances to repent. God commanded Noah to build an ark and spread the gospel. However, Noah preached for 120 years, yet no one believed God’s words, much less did anyone come before God to confess, repent, and return to Him. Then God’s wrath came upon man. After the flood, only Noah’s family of eight survived; others were all swamped and destroyed by the flood. Also it’s known to us all that God razed Sodom with the fire of brimstone. Sodom brimmed with sin and murder then. Not only did people in the city not accept God’s warnings, they also did not fear God’s punishment. To the contrary, they scorned God’s existence, were hostile toward His coming, and harmed His messengers and all righteous people. Their conduct had reached the level of opposition and uproar against God. As for such an evil city, God no longer extended mercy, but directly used the fire to totally destroy them and make them cease to exist. From this, we see in God’s disposition, there are not only lovingkindness and mercy, but also righteousness, majesty, and wrath. God is very principled in actions. He will bestow mercy and tolerance upon those listening to His words and obeying Him, and make them live in His care and protection. Instead, to those who don’t believe God’s words but reject God’s calling and salvation, and who even oppose Him and are stubbornly against Him, God will cast out His anger fiercely to the extent that such mankind disappears before God’s eyes. It is just as Almighty God says, “The mercy and tolerance of God do indeed exist, but God’s holiness and righteousness when He unleashes His wrath also show man the side of God that brooks no offense. When man is fully capable of obeying the commands of God and acts in accordance to God’s requirements, God is abundant in His mercy toward man; when man has been filled with corruption, hatred and enmity for Him, God is profoundly angry. And to what extent is He profoundly angry? His wrath will keep on until God no longer sees man’s resistance and evil deeds, until they are no longer before His eyes. Only then will God’s anger disappear” (“God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself II” in A Continuation of The Word Appears in the Flesh).
Nowadays, this mankind has far surpassed people in the time of Noah in the extent of their evil and corruption. And their evil deeds are no different from those of people in Sodom. The world trends are getting more evil: Homosexuality is legalized; pornography, gambling, and narcotics are widespread; divorce rate and crime rate remain high; men all advocate evil, confusing right and wrong. No one stresses conscience and sense anymore. No one thirsts for the truth, or yearns for the appearance of the true light, much less takes the initiative to seek for the arrival of God. More and more people treat God’s previous work and word as just myths and legends. Men have no desire at all to seek the existence of God, and moreover, detest and hate God’s coming. Even the religious world is filled with the voices that condemn Christ, the voices that deny, condemn, and blaspheme God. Religious pastors and elders even cooperate with those in power to condemn and resist Almighty God’s work in the last days, to arrest and persecute those who preach the kingdom gospel. Their opposition against God has reached the frenzied, hysterical extent. Isn’t this a recurrence of the people in Sodom and Gomorrah persecuting angels who conveyed God’s will? God created man so that man would worship God, walk the right path of life, live in God’s blessings and protection, and not be fooled and corrupted by Satan any more. However, man ignores God and rejects God’s exhortation and admonitions. They’d rather be afflicted, trampled, and devoured by Satan than turn from the evil way and follow God. Toward such an evil mankind who is irredeemablely corrupted and who hates the truth and God, what is the attitude of God?
Almighty God says, “Then look upon the present age: Such righteous men as Noah, who could worship God and shun evil, have ceased to exist. Yet God is still gracious toward this mankind, and absolves mankind during this final era. God seeks those who long for Him to appear. He seeks those who are able to hear His words, those who have not forgotten His commission and offer up their heart and body to Him. He seeks those who are as obedient as babes before Him, and do not resist Him. If you are unhindered by any force in your devotion to God, then God shall look upon you with favor, and shall bestow His blessings upon you” (“God Presides Over the Fate of All Mankind” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). “God had despised man because man opposed Him, but in His heart, His care, concern, and mercy for humanity remained unchanged. Even when He destroyed mankind, His heart remained unchanged. When humanity was full of corruption and disobedient toward God to a certain extent, God had to, because of His disposition and His essence, and in accordance with His principles, destroy this humanity. But because of God’s essence, He still pitied mankind, and even wanted to use various ways to redeem mankind so they could continue to live. Instead, man opposed God, continued to disobey God, and refused to accept God’s salvation, that is, refused to accept His good intentions. No matter how God called to them, reminded them, supplied them, helped them, or tolerated them, man did not understand or appreciate it, nor did they pay attention. In His pain, God still did not forget to give man His maximum tolerance, waiting for man to turn around. After He reached His limit, He did what He had to do without any hesitation. In other words, there was a specific time period and process from the moment God planned to destroy mankind to the official start of His work in destroying mankind. This process existed for the purpose of enabling man to turn around, and was the last chance God gave to man” (“God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself I” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). From Almighty God’s words, we know that although mankind’s corruption has reached its peak, God still gives man ample opportunities to repent, and uses various ways to redeem mankind so they can continue to live. This is because God’s heart is of beauty and good. His care, mercy, and salvation for mankind will never change. God doesn’t want to see the mankind destroyed, who He created with His own hands. But man refuses to repent and stubbornly resists God. But at a certain point, God would take back His mercy and tolerance, and show His majesty and wrath to man, just like when He burned Sodom. At that time, man could no longer retrieve the lost chance. So now we witness all kinds of disasters coming down upon mankind, such as flood, hail, drought, earthquake, famine, plague, and war. God does this firstly to punish and destroy the wicked among men and to demolish all unrighteous things, and meanwhile to warn and admonish man. God speaks to mankind through various disasters to urge them to reflect, hoping man could be like the people of Nineveh, abandon the violence in their hands and turn away from their evil ways, and come back before God to confess their sins, repent, and gain the salvation from God. Which is just as Almighty God says, “Today, not only am I descending upon the nation of the great red dragon, I am also turning My face toward the entire universe, so that the whole empyrean is quaking. Is there a single place that does not undergo My judgment? Is there a single place that does not exist under the scourges that I hurl down? Everywhere I go I have scattered ‘seeds of disaster’ of all kinds. This is one of the ways in which I work, and is without doubt an act of salvation for man, and what I extend to him is still a kind of love. I wish to make even more people come to know Me, be able to see Me, and in this way come to revere God whom they have not seen for so many years but who, today, is real” (“The Tenth Utterance” of God’s Utterances to the Entire Universe in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
Recommendation: Eastern Lightning, Know more of the Church of Almighty God
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