PREAMBLE
Sometimes it is necessary to speak candidly about what’s on the horizon, otherwise we may not be prepared to deal with it properly when it comes. Especially if what comes is “bad news.” Being broadsided with bad news can sometimes have devastating and deadly consequences. The consequences associated with not getting a “head’s up” concerning the main issue in this morning’s reflection go far beyond simply “devastating and deadly,” I’m afraid.
Think of a discussion a mom and dad need to have to figure out the best way to tell their little daughter that the love of her life – “nan” – will be gone forever in a few days from cancer. The poor thing thinks her nan just has a cold, and that she’ll be playing with her again in no time.
What makes that task so difficult for those parents is that THEY are the ones that put-off preparing their daughter and actually told her, “don’t worry, nan just has a bad cold dear!”
Whatever else you may think of Dr. Phil – and to be honest I’ve only watched a few shows years ago – but I remember his response to a woman who looked to weigh in the vicinity of those pumpkins we judge on PEI every fall that need forklifts to move around, when she said she knew she was overweight.
“Overweight?” an unblinking Dr. Phil blurted back, “You’re chronically-obese maam, and if you sugar-coat the problem you’ll probably just eat that too!”
So what’s coming soon? Hmmm.
Multiply the above example of the tragic news of “nan” by a few billion, throw in a few cataclysmic celestial and terrestrial events, and we begin to get a picture of what’s currently unfolding, and what will escalate in severity imminently, as the seals in Revelation continue to open.
THERE’S NO CLUBBING THESE SEALS GREENPEACE!
As I – and many others – calculate things, it appears we are now witnessing the fall-out from the opening of the 4th seal – the “pale” horse of death.
“When the lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Go!” I looked, and there was a pale GREEN horse! Its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. They were given authority over one-fourth of the earth to kill people using wars, famines, plagues, and the wild animals of the earth.”
Death comes from a GREEN agenda….hmmm….isn’t that interesting? But not to fear – Jesus is victorious, green agenda or not, and promised to be with us until the end of time, and forever in heaven, also promising that He would build His church on earth, and that “…the GATES of hell would not prevail against it.”
There will be casualties – lots of them!
This spiritual warfare has been going on from the time of that apple-picking outing Adam and Eve decided to go on in the garden, and it’s now intensifying – and there’s no point sugar-coating it.
I sense that in a few short months it will be important to know some things, if some other things happen first, which they may. That will be a great “sign” – the same “sign of Jonah” that Jesus mentions in today’s Gospel that’s especially fitting for faithless and corrupt generations.
THE 4TH SEAL AND THE ILLUMINATION OF CONSCIENCE
When Satan (the dragon) tried to destroy Jesus as a baby he failed as His parents fled to Egypt for safety (Rev 12:1-6), and after war broke out in heaven, Satan couldn’t prevail against Michael and his holy angels (Rev 12:7-9) and he was so enraged “…the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus” (Rev 12:17)
You have to admit, the black bastard has done a lot of damage, stolen a lot of souls from God, and seems to have darn-near won the day with his historical campaign of hate and lies. Just look at churches burning like beach bonfires these days in our “alleged” peaceful and tolerant democracy here in Canada!
And more shocking still, there’s been little public outrage about that outrageous hatred against Christians, and less media coverage and commentary. The persecution against those who testify to the truth of Jesus is intensifying as Christians (and truth in all forms) become increasingly hated by an increasing numbers of people wedded to a grand deception and agenda looking to the future without any thought for God….and they don’t like being reminded.
People are being encouraged to think less good of Christians by the incredibly-slanted media coverage which has prepared people to draw the most horrific conclusions (with no evidence) as events from many decades ago are written up with an imaginary narrative that tends to suggest that Church Leaders were (and probably still are) murderous evil people at heart that we’d be better off without in the world.
References to more “found” unmarked graves [they were there all along, a common feature of all these establishments back in the days of deadly outbreaks] never pointing that out of course, and at least in some instances, the historical records show that it was disease outbreaks that explain the graves.
That information is not making the edit in the mainstream media these days, as people are being encouraged to imagine evil priests and nuns exploiting, murdering, then secretly burying child-after-child in-back of the school! This kind of “separating” us [Christians] from “them” [non-Christians] will worsen in the days ahead- that’s part of what’s coming.
Back to today’s Gospel.
I see a profound prophecy tied to our times – I don’t mean “era,” I mean this “year” – 2021 in today’s Gospel.
We are on the cusp of a great divine intervention in the world resulting in an illumination of conscience. However, before that event happens, the 4th seal of Revelation must first be opened. and guess what? it already has been, for some time actually.
I’m not sure if you’ve been doing any seal watching lately, but we’re now at seal #4, and it’s actually been opened for at least a couple of years.
Read what Revelation says about the 4th Angel’s sounding the trumpet – which only happens after all the 7 seals are opened:
“And the fourth angel sounded the trumpet and a third part of the sun was smitten, and a third part of the moon and a third part of the stars that they might be darkened for three days and three nights.” (Apocalypse 8:7-12).
There you have it; the same “great sign” we can expect that the people of Jesus’ day got – the Sign of Jonah!
The Sign of Jonah is a transitional period, ushering in something marvellous and new to replace something that was corrupt, evil and faithless, to the point of apostasy and acts of abomination.
In the case of Jonah, it was the repentance and (presumably) salvation of the people as a result of the great sign: Jonah surviving three days and three nights of darkness in the belly of the whale.
In the case of Jesus, it was his resurrection from the death which he endured on the cross, bringing salvation to all people as a result of that great sign: Jesus surviving three days and three nights of darkness.
In the case of the prophecy in Revelation about the times in which we are now living, and what is yet to come in the days ahead, there will once again be the great sign of Jonah – but not by ONE PROPHET enduring three days and nights of darkness in the belly of a whale, [Jonah], nor one man (the Son of Man, and Son of God), our Saviour and Lord Jesus, who endured three days and nights of darkness in the netherworld, Hades; but by THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE, as the prophesied event will not be a personal one, but a shared one, a global one – encompassing both celestial and terrestrial – affecting both sky and earth – those great parts of creation that God “fixed” in and above the heavens, something that his children and creation used to give praise and glory to God for, way back when He was still known by his children.
That is not the time we are in now, not quite yet, e.g., the three days of darkness; however, we are, unfortunately, living now as in the days of Noah, and the days of Lot, so a consequence of “significant magnitude” is coming in response from God, as it did with both Noah and Lot.
In the case of Noah, the deaths came from destruction that was TERRESTRIAL. The rains came from the celestial, but it was what happened on the ground, the terrestrial, that killed everyone but Noah and his family (flood). Why not them? They were warned.
In the case of Lot, the deaths came from destruction that was CELESTIAL. The rains came from the celestial, but it was what happened in the sky, the celestial, that killed everyone but Noah and his family (fire from the heavens). Why not Lot and his family? They were warned.
In the case of us, the deaths will come from destruction that will be both TERRESTRIAL and CELESTIAL. We’re being warned about them just as Noah and Lot (the faithful) were warned.
Deaths will come from four main sources:
(1) Plagues: That are man-made, using living organisms against us, by manipulating their genes and using them as bio-weapons; then causing far more deaths with the injections of mRNA sold as a ‘cure’ for the virus, with at least a couple of billion people already injected and no signs of any intention to stop, not in PEI where I live, nor most other places in the world, despite unimaginable death counts already, and serious adverse events in the millions, AND no need for these experimental injections.
(2) Famine: There will be great number die, and there are great numbers already dying, and even greater numbers forecast to die in the months ahead, millions upon millions like the world has never seen, but the world will be largely left ignorant of this unfolding tragedy as governments and media remain mostly silent and offer no serious response.
(3) Earthquakes: The earth will shake, and this is consistent in all the scriptural passages, as well as the many prophets, saints and seers of modern days. “When” this will happen is not known precisely; however, some seers have mentioned Central and South America, and some other particular places to keep an eye on and take precautionary measures.
(4) Fire from the Heavens: This could come a number of ways, but given the unprecedented number of volcanoes that have been “awakening” over the past few months and are now erupting, I suspect that with the great earthquakes and shaking of the earth great volcanic eruptions will come as well, in multiple places, raining down fire and spewing poisonous gases in many areas of the world. But that’s entirely speculative. It could come as debris entering our atmosphere as well, or some kind of freaky super “coronal” (there’s that ugly root word again! urgh!) eruption from the sun.
SOME PRACTICAL GUIDANCE FROM TODAY’S GOSPEL
Some will survive what’s coming soon, but many will not. To survive requires preparation. Jesus gives the keys to the most important considerations for preparation in today’s gospel, with his words to the Pharisees explaining why the people Jonah prophesied to would judge them on judgement day: THEY REPENTED of their sin and apostasy against God, but only after Jonah experienced three days of darkness in the belly of a whale.
The 3 days of darkness comes after the 7 seals are open. Just as it is the 4th seal – the pale Green horse – that brings waves of death around the globe, it is the 4th Angel who ushers in the 3 days of darkness:
I’m not going to get into a ton of end-times information in this reflection, but the following offers a nice synopsis that suits my focus on the reference in today’s Gospel to the “Sign of Jonah”:
“According to over 200 Saints and Visionaries whose heroic lives have been recognised by the Church we are living in the time about which there have been many prophecies. According to these prophecies the above-mentioned scenario of sin and corruption is to precede a chastisement by God the like of which has not been seen since the time of Noah. Because of the infection of sin and the decadence of society mankind stands upon the precipice of events that will radically change the course of human history.
It must be understood that the majority of Saints and visionaries have indicated that this is not the end of the world but will be like a “minor general judgement” rather than the judgement that will occur at the General Resurrection from the dead on the Last Day. This chastisement, which we are about to experience, will end up destroying nearly 3/4 of the human race. The good will die with the evil but the majority of those that are destroyed in this terrifying “Day of the Lord” will be those who, of their own free will, have chosen to do their own will against the will of God and who in turn have influenced others to do so as well. All those who have followed the spirit of Antichrist, rampant throughout the world, will be destroyed in the coming conflagration.” [See: “The Three Days of Darkness“].
THE 4th SEAL: THE PALE HORSE BRINGS DEATH
“When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him.
And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.”
This last horse rider shows that there will be a tremendous death toll from the dictatorship, war, famine and other calamities described by the previous three horsemen. 1/4 of 8 billion people is a lot of people!
Our modern age, 20th century especially, has seen hundreds of millions killed by dictators, wars, and famines; however, all that will pale in comparison to the death toll coming in the wake of this ultimate dictator. No wonder Jesus said of this time:
“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.” (Matthew 24:21)
Though all hell breaks loose on the earth soon, God is very much still in control, and we can’t let our faith in that wane one iota. Jesus still holds the scroll; our Lord and Saviour is the one opening the seals.
If you’re interested in knowing more about the fourth seal, I’d recommend that you watch this excellent podcast by Mark Mallett and Professor Daniel O’Connor:
There is not simply ONE obscure biblical reference to the darkening of the sun and moon before “…the great and awesome Day of the LORD” in scripture:
Isaiah 13:10
For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. The rising sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light.
Ezekiel 32:7
When I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light.
Joel 2:10
Before them the earth quakes; the heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness.
Joel 2:31
The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.
Joel 3:15
The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will no longer shine.
SUMMARY
If this daily reflection has a “punchline,” it’s that the very PRACTICAL things that have been said in prophecies coming from a number of modern day saints (Padre Pio, for example) or seers such as the woman cited in the video below, are too similar to be coincidental or ignored. There are some VERY precise things that must be done (or not done) to survive the 3 days of darkness.
Those without faith, not preparing, will not survive, for reasons that are probably entirely a result of the following: When the event happens, those with faith will have been lead by the Spirit to have previously read or heard about “what to do and what not to do” and will therefore be prepared.
Those without faith would not have heard or read anything about it, and with no access to information from a collapsed communication network, will most likely rush outside without a thought and be poisoned to death!
There are four references to “three days of darkness” events in scripture (although it is not explicitly stated as “three days of darkness” with two of them, the two references to the “sign of Jonah” that Jesus makes.)
Two references are to individuals (Jonah and Jesus); and two are public [the three days of darkness God inflicted on the egyptians; and the three day’s of darkness that will come during the end times].
Just as God forewarned Noah that destruction was coming on an evil and faithless generation, to make a way for his and his families survival; and just as God forewarned the Israelites about the death of all the first born males (human and animal) to give them a way for his and his families survival – all people of faith – so too has God provided a means by which the remnant who truly believe in Jesus and look for His coming will be given a “head’s up” about the death and destruction imminent with the coming three days of darkness, which are mentioned in the video below.
This short video from Fr. Mark Goring maps out what a modern seer received by way of instructions on how to survive the three days of darkness.
So pay attention to what Fr. Mark says in this video – I’ve never met a “Fr. Mark” who wasn’t wise and holy, and I’ve met a few in my day, so cue-tip those ears before you hit play!
DAILY PRAYER
“Jesus, fortify us with the knowledge that You are the victor of the battle, and that our job is now only to rescue as many still being held prisoners by the prince of this world, Satan. Give us the authority and power to overcome evil with the goodness that is your Spirit in us, and swallow our human will that we give freely, like food, and transform us into yourself.
Give us the grace to accept what we can not change, as well as all the evil, all the bad decisions we see our friends and loved ones making, give us peace with all the things we wish we could change, but can not change, recognizing that it more important to keep our peace and to give our full attention to you in love and adoration, the “greater part” that will not be taken away from us, no matter how harsh and evil the world gets.
Help us not waste time and focus and energy with what we can not do but want to do, so we will be able to use all of that time, focus and energy in service to others, trusting in your mercy and goodness to look after the rest.
Deliver us this day from all evil, and we ask that you do the same for all our family and friends, especially those who are sadly now far from You.” Amen.