Servant of Messiah Ministries

Preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.

Yeshua was Born at the Feast of Tabernacles

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As cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. Proverbs 25 v 25  
The “gospel of Jesus Christ” is good news, and heaven is a far country. Hearing it preached is refreshing to the soul. The word gospel derives from the word god-spell, meaning “good story,” or Greek euangelion, meaning “good news.”
However:
War in Ukraine
War in Israel
Tragedy in Gaza.
Elections in the USA
War in the D.R. Congo and Niger
We could all use some “good news”   
Do you realize the gospel story of Jesus, began around the Feast of Tabernacles, which is observed in the autumn?
Please, take a few minutes to review it, as it is presented in scripture.  
  • Zechariah’s Service in the Temple: Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, was a priest in the division of According to 1 Chronicles 24, the priests in the division of Abijah served in the Temple during the tenth week of the Jewish religious year. This week falls in the month of Sivan, which is usually late May or early June. After Zechariah finished his time serving at the Temple, he returned home, and his wife Elizabeth became pregnant shortly afterward.
  • John’s Birth Around Passover: If Elizabeth became pregnant in Sivan (around June), her pregnancy would last nine months, meaning John the Baptist was likely born around Passover, which happens in the month of Nisan (March or April). This is important because many believed John’s role was to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus, John’s birth at Passover.
  • Jesus’ Birth During the Feast of Tabernacles: Nine months after Mary conceived, Jesus would have been born in Tishri, which is in September or October, during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles. Sukkot is a festival where people celebrate how God took care of the Israelites in the wilderness by living in temporary shelters, called tabernacles or The Bible emphasizes that Jesus’ birth is connected to this festival because, in John 1:14, it says that “the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us”, meaning God came to live among people through Jesus. This connection highlights the belief that Jesus’ birth represents God physically dwelling with humanity.

Jerusalem was full of Festival pilgrims—there was no room for Joseph and Mary. Rome knew when Jews were commanded to go to the feasts with the second tithe in hand for taxation and census purposes. Sheep were still in the fields—there was no snow yet. Bethlehem raised thousands of lambs for slaughter in the temple.

The Symbolism of the Festivals:

 Chanukah (Festival of Lights): This festival celebrates the rededication of the Jewish Temple and is known for the lighting of the menorah, which symbolizes light in the fact that Jesus, called the “Light of the World” (John 8:12), was conceived during Chanukah is significant because it represents how Jesus would bring spiritual light to a world in need.

Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles): This festival remembers how the Israelites relied on God’s protection while they lived in temporary shelters during their journey Jesus being born during this time adds meaning because it symbolizes how God came to live with humans through the birth of Jesus, fulfilling the idea of God’s presence among His people.

Conclusion:    This timeline connects key moments in the story of Jesus with major Jewish festivals. Zechariah’s priestly service led to John’s birth around Passover, a time of deliverance, and Jesus’ conception happened during Chanukah, the Festival of Lights. Nine months later, Jesus was born during Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, celebrating God’s living among His people. These connections show that Jesus is seen as the “Light of the World” and as God coming to dwell with humanity, bringing hope and salvation.

After all the wars and all the troubles, we look for the meaning of the Feast in Zach 14 v 16 Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and celebrate the feast of Tabernacles.
Finally global peace – annual celebrations to the King who is living among his people.
No more Wars – No Hurricanes – No Divisive Politics  
Now that is Good News.  
 
Happy Feast of Tabernacles, everyone. 
Our King will be returning soon to live with us again.  
More extensive Notes to download: When was Jesus (Yeshua) born?

 

Europe Swings Right

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I read prophecy as pictures of the future. There is no way to tell what comes first and how the pictures all line up. Like the Scriptures told of Jesus’ life, from Nazareth, out of Egypt, riding a foal to enter Jerusalem, coins thrown in a Temple to buy a potter’s field could only be determined AFTER they happened.

Revelation and Daniel speak of a 10-nation union in Europe that shakes the world. When and how is not known so I look for events describing how this could be coming together.

DAN. 7:23 “Thus he said: ‘The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it.
DAN. 7:24 ‘As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings.  REV. 17:12 “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour.
REV. 17:13 “These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.

Europe’s political landscape is significantly transforming, marked by a shift towards right-wing ideologies. This change was most evident in the recent European Union elections, where center-right and far-right parties have made substantial gains in countries such as Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Poland. This trend signifies a departure from the liberal values traditionally associated with the EU, indicating a profound shift in the continent’s political sphere.

The French Shift: National Rally’s Rise

In France, the far-right National Rally achieved a decisive victory that led to a major political upheaval. President Emmanuel Macron, in response to the overwhelming success of the National Rally, dissolved the French parliament and called for early elections. Early results indicated that the National Rally would secure around 32% of the vote, significantly surpassing the president’s party.

This shift in France is particularly significant given the country’s historical resistance to far-right ideologies. France has long prided itself on its commitment to liberal democracy and human rights, making the rise of the National Rally a notable departure from this tradition. The party’s platform, which emphasizes nationalism, stricter immigration controls, and skepticism towards the EU, resonates with a substantial portion of the French electorate who feel left behind by globalization and disillusioned with the current political establishment.

Germany’s Political Realignment

Germany also experienced a significant rightward shift, with the center-right party achieving a comfortable victory. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) secured second place, surpassing Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats. The AfD’s rise in Germany is particularly noteworthy given the country’s historical context. Post-World War II Germany has been vigilant in avoiding the resurgence of extremist ideologies. However, the AfD’s platform, which includes anti-immigration policies, Euroscepticism, and a focus on German national identity, has found a receptive audience among voters dissatisfied with the status quo. This shift represents a significant challenge to Germany’s political stability and its role as a leading proponent of EU integration.

Italy’s Embrace of the Right

In Italy, the rightward shift has been embodied by Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing party, which garnered about 28% support. This result highlights the growing appeal of right-wing ideologies in one of Europe’s largest economies. Meloni’s party, Brothers of Italy, traces its roots to post-World War II neofascism but has successfully rebranded itself to appeal to a broader electorate. The party’s emphasis on national sovereignty, anti-immigration policies, and conservative social values has resonated with many Italian voters who feel alienated by the traditional political parties.

Meloni’s rise to prominence is a testament to her strategic political maneuvering. She has managed to distance her party from its more extreme elements while maintaining a hardline stance on key issues such as immigration and national identity.

Spain’s Far-Right Surge

Spain has also seen a rise in far-right support, exemplified by the Vox party’s significant gains. Founded almost a decade ago, Vox has become the third-largest party in Spain’s national assembly and has doubled its vote in recent regional and municipal elections. The party’s platform includes strong nationalist rhetoric, anti-immigration policies, and a commitment to traditional Spanish values. Vox’s success in striking deals with the center-right People’s Party (PP) to form governing coalitions in several regions highlights the increasing normalization of far-right parties within Spain’s political landscape.

Vox’s rise is particularly noteworthy in the context of Spain’s recent history. The country transitioned to democracy in the late 1970s after decades of dictatorship under Francisco Franco. The resurgence of far-right ideologies in Spain reflects broader societal concerns about national identity, economic uncertainty, and cultural change.

The Netherlands: Fragmented and Fraught

In the Netherlands, populist and nationalist parties hold a significant number of seats, reflecting the fragmented nature of Dutch politics. Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom (PVV), Thierry Baudet’s Forum for Democracy (FvD), and the Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB) have all made notable gains. These parties capitalize on issues such as immigration, EU skepticism, and government environmental policies, resonating with voters who feel disenfranchised by the traditional political establishment.

Hungary and Poland: Strongholds of the Far Right

Hungary and Poland have long been considered strongholds of far-right ideologies within the EU. In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party has dominated the political landscape for over a decade. Orbán’s government has implemented policies that limit press freedom, weaken judicial independence, and curtail civil liberties. These actions have drawn criticism from the EU, but Orbán’s anti-immigration stance and nationalist rhetoric continue to resonate with a substantial portion of the Hungarian electorate.

In Poland, the Law and Justice Party (PiS) has maintained its grip on power by promoting conservative social policies, Euroscepticism, and a strong stance against immigration. The party’s emphasis on Polish national identity and traditional values has garnered significant support, particularly in rural areas and among older voters. Both Hungary and Poland illustrate how far-right ideologies can gain traction and sustain political power within the EU framework.

Greece and Bulgaria: A Shift to the Right

In Greece and Bulgaria, center-right parties have comfortably led recent elections, reflecting a broader trend towards right-wing ideologies in Southern and Eastern Europe. In Greece, the New Democracy party has capitalized on public dissatisfaction with the previous left-wing government, promising economic reforms, stricter immigration controls, and a return to traditional Greek values.

In Bulgaria, the center-right GERB party has maintained its position as the leading political force. The party’s emphasis on economic stability, anti-corruption measures, and EU integration has resonated with voters. However, the rise of far-right and nationalist parties in both countries indicates a growing dissatisfaction with the political establishment and a desire for more radical change.

The European Parliament: A New Right-Wing Influence

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Austria’s Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl, and Czechia’s former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš have formed a new far-right alliance called “Patriots for Europe”. The alliance aims to attract more partners and become the largest right-wing group in the European Parliament. Orbán announced this initiative in Vienna, coinciding with Hungary taking over the EU’s rotating presidency.

The recent European Parliament elections saw gains for far-right parties, although their success varied across countries. These parties are currently spread across different groups and unaligned factions in the EU legislature. Orbán has frequently opposed key EU decisions, particularly on issues like the war in Ukraine and relations with Russia and China, which has often frustrated other EU leaders.

Orbán emphasized that Europeans desire peace, order, and development, but are currently facing war, migration, and stagnation from the Brussels elite.

We see a shift to the right. History shows that a Depression or economic collapse will spur this transformation. The 1930’s Great Depression gave us Hitler. Tito, Tojo, Franco, Stalin, and Mussolini were Nationalist populist leaders who promised a cure for unemployment and inflation.

Since history moves in cycles…. We are due for a repeat.

 

 

War of Lies

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Written by David Sacks - The war in Ukraine is based on lies — lies about how it started, how it’s going, and how it will end. We are told that Ukraine is winning when in fact it is losing. We are told that the war makes NATO stronger when in fact it is depleting it. We are told that Ukraine’s biggest problem is a lack of funds from the U.S. Congress when in fact the West can’t produce enough ammunition — a problem that will take years to fix. We are told that Russia is suffering greater casualties when in fact Ukraine is running out of soldiers — another problem money can’t fix. We are told that the world is with us when in fact the Global Majority believes U.S. policy is the height of folly.

We are told that there is no opportunity to make peace when in fact we have rejected multiple opportunities for a negotiated settlement. We are told that if Ukraine keeps fighting, it will improve its negotiating position when in fact the terms will only get much worse than what was already available and rejected.

Nevertheless the lies will succeed in dragging out the war. Congress will appropriate more funds. Russia will take more territory. Ukraine will mobilize more young men and women to feed into the meat grinder. Discontent will mount. Eventually there will be a crisis in Kiev and the Zelensky government will be toppled.

And then, when the war is finally lost, when the whole country lays in smoldering ruins on a funeral pyre of their own making, the liars will say “well we tried.” Having prevented any alternative, having smeared anyone who told the truth as puppets for the enemy, the liars will say “We did our best. We stood up to Putin.”

In fact, they will claim, we would have succeeded but for the fifth column of Putin apologists who stabbed the Ukrainians in the back. Then, having shifted blame and patted themselves on the back, they will blithely move on to the next war, as they moved onto Ukraine after their disasters in Afghanistan and Iraq. The lies are comprehensive — but they will work.

Ukraine is Important

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I remember the World Tomorrow TV show – filmed in Brussels –  The Message was "Pay attention to Europe!"  In the last 6 months,  more has happened to validate the warnings, than we have witnessed in the last 40 years.

Revelation talks of 10 kings or leaders that arise together to give their power collectively to one leader that will arise from what was historically the Holy Roman Empire.

REV. 17:12 “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour.

REV. 17:13 “These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.

REV. 17:17 “For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast until the words of God will be fulfilled

Daniel 7 prophesies a ''fourth empire'' to produce ten kings and another king. The final king will speak blasphemous words against God and will wear out God's saints for three and a half years. However, the Most High will destroy him and establish God's everlasting kingdom.

So how do we get from here to there?

  • The USA and the EU must part ways – The EU/NATO we see today must fall apart. The new union will not include the USA
  • Ukraine will not win …The only question is how badly they will fail and who will sign the surrender documents.
  • The rise of Nationalism will create governments that serve their citizens FIRST as Europe sleepwalks into chaos.

THE US AND THE EU/NATO MUST PART WAYS

Europe has chosen to cut off its most reliable and economic source of energy. The ability to melt aluminum and steel created the industrial power Germany enjoyed for decades.  The lack of energy threatens the deindustrialization of Germany and Italy and France.

US promises to make up the shortfall with LNG shipments falling short and now costing 4X as much. Senior EU officials were frustrated over the Americans profiteering from war despite the Europeans being grappled with economic hardships due to Ukraine's conflict with Russia.

One senior EU official who was interviewed said that the US was the one country that was profiting the most from the conflict because “they are selling more gas and at higher prices, and because they are selling more weapons.”

To add insult to injury – the French and German governments are protesting the IAF bill just passed by Biden and Congress that subsidizes any electric car and green energy built in America.  Europe fears the American $369 billion package of subsidies and tax breaks to bolster U.S. green businesses, goes into effect Jan 1, 2023. The Europeans are angry with Washington's scheme that will encourage EU companies to shift production and investments from Europe.

To understand the scope of the problem – the huge BASF chemicals complex in Ludwigshafen chemicals uses as much energy as the country of Switzerland.  Aluminum and steel foundries once turned off and allowed to cool will take years to restart – if ever.

Meanwhile, States in the South of the USA are offering tax breaks – cheap energy, and lower labor costs to European industry to facilitate the De-industrialization and relocation to the USA.

Zinc, aluminum, and silicon production cuts (amounting to a staggering 50% of output) have already left consumers in Europe’s steel, auto and construction industries facing severe shortages.  steel plants in Spain, Italy, France, Germany, and other countries — more than two dozen in total — are beginning to slow down or entirely stop their output.

The fertilizer industry, which is heavily dependent on gas as a key feedstock as well as a source of power, is in even bigger trouble. More than two-thirds of production — around 30 plants — has already been halted. Food production next year will be greatly reduced in Europe.

Across Northern Europe, vegetable producers are having to halt their activities because of the crippling energy costs — required to heat greenhouses through the winter and keep harvests refrigerated, on top of rising transport and packaging costs. This further threatens food supplies.

In its attempt to reduce its dependence on Russian gas, the EU is increasing its reliance on supplies from countries like China and India — which, it would appear, are simply reselling to Europe gas that comes from… Russia (at a higher price, of course).

UKRAINE CAN NOT WIN.

We are being lied to with a fiction peddled in the Western Press.

We celebrate the military counteroffensive that was launched by Ukraine on 29 August 2022 to expel Russian forces occupying the southern regions of the Kherson oblasts.

Russia just pulled its troops out and parked them across the Dnieper River. No casualties – all their equipment was intact. Ukraine took the city after enduring fire and we all cheered – The Ukrainians immediately also had to evacuate that destroyed city.. since the Russians left only ruins.

Soviet military doctrine has always traded land for lives

On June 24 1812 Napoleon invaded Russia and the Russians traded lives for land even giving Napoleon Moscow itself as they fell back. Finding the city deserted Napoleon had to retreat. Of 600,000 men that invaded Russia only 100,000 made it home.

In WW2 the German advance again got to the gates of Moscow itself – as the Russians moved entire industries deep into Asia as they fell back – trading land for lives. Exhausted and depleted the Germans had to fall back …as the Russians finally rolled into Berlin.

The Ukrainians are being ground down, now making smaller attacks with fewer troops and fewer arms supplies, as the West has exhausted its arsenals.  Ukraine has limited men and materials. They do not have millions of men ….Russia does…and there are no more tanks and weapons to provide them. Nato has depleted its military stocks.  Russia can freeze the lines for a year or two if needed – Ukraine is bleeding out.

With no economy – no power and lights and internet – Ukraine's support fatigue among the Allies grows, as a new wave of refugees threatens to flood Europe.  The actual war is done…The allies need to stop the suffering.

Soon we will see the West scramble onto the last plane out of Kyiv, Kabul,  Siagon, or Bagdad and no one will ask what happened. We do not talk about US failures….

THE RISE OF NATIONALISM

In Europe, beggar-thy-neighbor policies aren’t an exception to the rule — they are the rule – as the wealthier nations try to protect their economies at the expense of their poorer neighbors. Capitalism at its finest.

The new leaders like Viktor Orbán and Georgia Meloni are only the beginning. Spain and Finland are set to head to the polls in 2023, and both elections could result in right-wing coalitions that would include far-right parties. Meanwhile, Belgium’s top two parties in current polling averages are far-right. Macron lost his majority in France. Poland’s governing right-wing Law and Justice party (PiS) still leads parliamentary elections.

When the pope starts speaking about potentially retiring, the world should listen. Francis is 85, the age Benedict was when he announced his retirement. When a papal vacancy occurs, the College of Cardinals often chooses a new pontiff to deal with problems it struggles with.  A strong new pope is needed to deal with a scandal-plagued Church and Papacy.

The coming social unrest will elect new leaders. The last economic depression of 1930 -1939 gave us these  “messiahs”  to save their countries...Tito, Franco, Tojo, Stalin, Mussolini, and Hitler. They also gave us WW2.  When massive unemployment, cold, and hunger strike, then people will ask for new leaders to deliver them.

We are sitting and watching prophecy ….not just reading it in the bible …but on the nightly news. God personally chose each of us to be here today in this time and place to serve His purpose.  Now we can pray Thy kingdom come. Come, Messiah, set up your government. No more hunger…No more war….No more refugees…No more corruption.

What a privilege!  What an honor to live at a time of chaos and the coming worldwide depression that gives rise to these new leaders.  We get to see the end of the movie ….the Trumpet will sound and the Calvary on a white horse will come over the hill,  to save us all.

Next week we can look at the coming  EU/NATO - Turkey split and Israel’s importance as a new Gas Exporter to Europe.

Shmita – The next Great Recession

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The Year for Canceling Debts

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and means “head of the year or first of the year.” This day is the first day of Tishrei, the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar, which falls in Sept. - Oct.  Rosh Hashanah 2021 to Oct 2022.

Deuteronomy 15 v 1 – At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. 2 This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel any loan they have made to a fellow Israelite. They shall not require payment from anyone among their own people, because the Lord’s time for canceling debts has been proclaimed. 3 You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your fellow Israelite owes you.

God took this land rest so seriously that He only allowed Israel to violate the command for 490 years then He came to collect on the 70 years of rest they owed the land. They were taken into captivity for 70 years to give the land an opportunity to rest.

2 Chronicles 36 v 19 – 22 So they burned down the house of God, tore down the wall of Jerusalem, burned down all the palaces with fire, and destroyed all the precious items. 20 Then he carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who survived the sword, and they were slaves to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia ruled, 21 to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate, she kept Sabbath, to fulfill

Cycles in stocks and the economy are not new. We talk about the Economic cycles. WD Gann was famous for his Dow Cycle theory.

The year of “Shmita” or “Shemitah” (meaning: letting go) also called the sabbatical year occurs every seventh September or October. The story behind the Shemitah is that the 7th year is the year of resting and releasing. The year also stands for debt forgiveness to break debt cycles.

So what makes this Shemitah cycle so interesting? If we compare the Shemitah years with the financial markets we can see a correlation. Major crashes in the stock market are correlated with the Shemitah years. Here are examples of stock market crashes that occurred during Shemitah years,

  • 1901-1902 Year of Shemitah - Stock market drops almost 50%.
  • 1916-1917 Year of Shemitah - Stock market drops 40%. United States enters WWI. Germany, Russia, Austria, Turkey, Great Britain suffer economic collapse.
  • 1930-1931 Year of Shemitah - The Great Depression. The worst financial crisis in modern history.
  • 1937-1938 Year of Shemitah - Half of the stock market collapses sparking a global recession.
  • 1944-1945 Year of Shemitah - End of German Reich and Britain's hold on territories. Establishment of America as the world's superpower. Bretton Woods Conference giving the U.S. Dollar Global Reserve Currency status
  • 1965-1966 Year of Shemitah - Stock market drops almost 25%
  • 1972-1973 Year of Shemitah - Stock market crashes almost 50%. Global recession; US oil crisis.
  • 1979-1980 Year of Shemitah - Global recession - Prime Rate hits 21%
  • 1986-1987 Year of Shemitah - “Black Tuesday”; stock market crashes by 1/3.
  • 1993-1994 Year of Shemitah - Bond market crash.
  • 2000-2001 Year of Shemitah - 9/11. Markets open on final day of Shemitah, September 17; the stock market falls 700 points.
  • 2007-2008 Year of Shemitah - On the last day of The Shemitah Year, September 29, the stock market drops a record 777 points.
  • 2014-2015 Year of Shemitah …correction…Greek/EU bailout....European Debt Crisis
  • 2021-2022 Year of Shemitah …8th Jubilee for U.S.A – A world drowning in debt with a "bubble" economy.

What could this all mean?

 The stock market has been inflated and on an artificial “bull run” for several years now. Trillions of dollars in Government debt handed out to spend and zero interest rates have inflated all assets. Asset values are due for a massive correction, and The Shemitah seems to be the time of debt forgiveness.

As a former stockbroker, I will not bore you with all the economic danger signals …..Each warning us that all Stock, Bond, and Real Estate assets are incredibly overvalued. U.S. public debt has doubled in 10 years, including by 14% in the last year alone while interest rates are kept artificially low. One-fifth (20%) of all US dollars were created in the year 2020. Inflation is rising and interest rates must rise.

• Real Estate Bubble is popping - 7% Mortgage Rates are not good.
• Retail Earnings miss heavily with a bad holiday season
• Industrial production drops sharply
• Used car bubble pops
• Mass consumer defaults on car loans
• Layoffs in tech spreads to all industries
• Credit spread blowout
• Zombie companies reduced to rubble
• Mass bankruptcies
• Negative real growth in all four macro sectors (income, production, consumption,
• Various crypto exchanges are insolvent
• Disinflation and then deflation (not stagflation)
• Energy bear market
• Corporate bonds turn into junk
• Municipal bond meltdown

Proverbs 27 v12 - Wise people see trouble coming and get out of its way, but fools go straight to the trouble and suffer for it.

Embrace God's priorities. Please reduce your debt - build up some savings - and create a network of friends among the Family of God. We will all soon be living by Faith and staking our survival on the Faithfulness of God our Provider. (Jehovah Jireh.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Coming Famine

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1 - First came then droughts - We had a long-term drought in North America and Canada. Parts of Africa have been plagued by dry seasons growing hotter and rainy seasons arriving later and with less water for crops and livestock.

2 - Then came Covid with lockdowns and supply chain issues and sharply higher prices for fertilizer and seed.  The pandemic pushed 97 million more people into poverty in 2020, an unprecedented increase. Close to a billion worldwide suffered from hunger and malnutrition, with countries in Africa among the hardest hit.

More than 155 million people experienced acute food insecurity at crisis level or worse around the world in 2020, an increase of 20 million from 2019 and a five-year high, as the COVID-19 pandemic compounded economic shocks, conflicts, and climate and severe weather impacts estimate the 2021 Global Report on Food Crises. Pandemic-related food price increases put pressure on livelihoods, “As the prices go up and more people get pushed in poverty; After 2 years of pandemic lockdowns and supply chain delays the situation got worse in 2021. Wheat prices rose 70% in ONE month.

Somalia. Faced with ongoing political instability and civilian insecurity, as well as over a decade of droughts, Somalia ranks as the hungriest county in the world for 2021.

Here ae the numbers for 2020. .

Democratic Republic of Congo – 21.8 million people *

  • Yemen – 13.5 million people
  • Afghanistan – 13.2 million people
  • Syrian Arab Republic – 12.5 million people
  • Sudan – 9.6 million people
  • Nigeria – 9.2 million people
  • Ethiopia – 8.6 million people
  • South Sudan – 6.5 million people
  • Zimbabwe – 4.3 million people
  • Haiti – 4.1 million people

Now there in Afghanistan 22 million people face food shortages and hunger as that economy collapsed with the freezing of all their central bank reserves in the US. Their economy has been destroyed. The Yemen conflict has displaced over a million people and has led to Cholera outbreaks and medicine shortages and famine prompting the United Nations to call the humanitarian crisis the worst in the world.

3 - Finally came war in Ukraine.

Ukraine has long been called Europe's breadbasket thanks to its rich soil among the most versatile in the world. This region accounts for 15% of the world's wheat production and nearly 30% of its exports. Ukraine and Russia account for 80% of the world's sunflower oil.

Ukraine is ranked sixth in corn and sixth in barley and ninth in wheat and ninth in soybean production. Twenty-Six 26 countries in Africa are more than 50% dependent on Russia and Ukraine for their wheat imports. Benin and Egypt are over 80% dependent while Somalia is 100% dependent on those two countries for wheat...

No wonder 17 African countries chose to abstain from the UN vote sanctioning Russia. You cannot bite the hand that feeds you. With the Black Sea closed and exports frozen these countries are scrambling to find food. Egypt put out a tender to replace its wheat and the only country that had wheat to spare was Canada. The price was so high they canceled the tender. Now Indonesia Sri Lanka and Egypt are negotiating loans from the IMF to pay for food.

In response to the shortages, Egypt has banned the export of wheat flour and lentils while Indonesia has tightened exports of palm oil and Russia has temporarily banned any exports of both fertilizer and wheat.

China has managed to stockpile more than half of the globe's maize and other grains, leading to steep price increases across the planet and dropping more countries into famine. China is expected to have 69% of the globe's maize reserves in the first half of the crop year 2022, 60% of its rice, and 51% of its wheat.

They expect to have the worst crop in 40 years as flooding and other factors cut their harvests and have trouble feeding their population so making them a net importer.

The shortage and price increases in urea-based fertilizers may even have a greater impact. Ukraine Belorussia were all exporters. The price of urea has gone to $1000 per metric ton which is four times the price sold for 2021 you cannot grow fields of wheat barley or Soy without fertilizer. Farmers as far away as Mexico Columbia and Brazil are already worried about the shortages. Fuel costs are up, food prices are soaring, fertilizer is more expensive, and all of this feeds into new crises.

Next year is when this really hits the world. Hunger leads to desperation and discontent. Arab Spring of 2008 started in a market over prices. Popular riots are often associated with adverse economic trends: recession, rising unemployment and high prices or scarcity of food

In 2010, the chant was work, freedom, national dignity. Now the dream of a Tunisian is a gas canister. A piece of bread for his kids.”

So what is our response?

The bible tells us that Matthew 24:7, NLT: Nation will go to war against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world.

In Africa war has prevented the planting of crops and Russia Ukraine's conflict will certainly cripple their harvests and planting.

We that have enough to eat and more…….

  • Consider the local food bank for a regular donation of canned goods. It goes directly to the needy. Volunteer one evening a month to serve the less fortunate.
  • Support a local shelter.
  • Support an organization like Feed My Starving Children or Rise against Hunger

Most importantly – lift your voice in prayer.  This is the hope of ALL mankind. Your prayers can call on God to bring it soon…

Micah 4 v 1-4 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the government of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,  and He will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths:   And He shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares neither shall they learn war any more.  But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken it. 

Holodomor and Holocaust – A Ukraine Story

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With armies surrounding the Ukraine one should look back at their history. There has been enough pain and suffering for any nation.

Ukraine is a Texas-sized nation to the west of Russia. It was part of the Soviet Union and ruled by Stalin. He imposed collectivization which replaced individually owned farms with state-run collectives. Ukraine small farmers resisted giving up their lands and livelihoods and were considered enemies of the state. Soviet officials drove these farmers off their farms and deported 50,000 Ukrainian families to Siberia.

1932 the grain harvest missed the planner's target by 60%. There may have been enough food to get by. Stalin ordered their small crops to be confiscated as punishment for not meeting quotas. Much of the confiscated grain was sold overseas as proof of the success of collectivization. By 1933 only 1/3 of the households were left while prisons and labor camps were jammed and many were deported.

The Ukrainian famine was a clear case of a man-made famine. It was a hybrid caused by terrible social-economic policies and one aimed at a particular population group as repression and punishment. This Ukrainian famine became known as the Holodomor a combination of the Ukrainian words for “starvation” and to inflict “death” It claimed the lives of 3.9 million people or about 13% of the population with horrific stories of the terrible agony of death by starvation.

The Holocaust of World War II also started in Ukraine. One in every four Jewish victims of the Holocaust was murdered in Ukraine. The number of Ukrainians that collaborated with the Germans amounted to about 100,000. They joined police units and their auxiliaries, and lent a hand rounding up the Jews, for the mass shootings.

Before the death camps of Poland, killing squads called Einsatzgruppen A B C D of about 1500 men each fanned out over the East behind the front lines. They were only successful because of the Ukrainian police that supported their efforts. In just one suburb of Kyiv, 34,000 Jews were murdered on September 29 – 30, 1941 at Babi Yar shot and buried in a large Ravine. It only took 2 days. A total of 100,000 were murdered in and around Kyiv.

Ironically the Nazis decided that shooting women and children individually was inefficient and took an emotional toll on the soldiers. A more productive, method of extermination was needed, hence the industrial death camps and the gas chambers.

By the time the killing centers opened at Birkenau, Treblinka, Sobibor, Belzec, and Majdanek, more than 1.5 million Jews had already been murdered by the Germans, their Axis allies, and local collaborators in Ukraine, Belarus. Today there are some 2000 mass graves within Ukraine ranging in size from a few dozen victims, to tens of thousands.

Vasily Grossman was a Jewish Soviet writer from Ukraine. He wrote for the Soviet Ministries newspaper called the Red Star when he learned of the massacres in Ukraine. In despair, because he had no news from his mother, he wrote in an article…. There are no Jews in Ukraine. In the big cities, in the small towns, in the thousands of villages, you won't see a young girl's black eyes filled with tears, you won't hear an old woman's voice racked with mourning, and you won't hear a hungry baby's cry. Everything is silent. Everything is peaceful. A whole people have been massacred.

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Ukraine finally became an independent nation—and for some the Holodomor and others, the Holocaust remains a painful part of Ukrainians’ common identity.

Now surrounded by armies and not part of NATO - they will again be abandoned to an uncertain future.  This crisis may be the event that prompts Europe to awaken to her own vulnerability and weakness.

I expect a new order and leadership in Europe. Nationalism, trade war, sanctions, and U.S. interference will not be economically beneficial to our allies. The economic fallout from the coming collapse will forge new alliances. These conditions will mirror the 1930’s and they gave us Franco, Tito, Tojo, Mussolini, Stalin, and Hitler.  It was Europe that dragged the world into war…Twice. The third time is a charm.

Your Money and Prophecy…

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We wrote about cycles in the stock market and the 7-year corrections. It is time to revisit that.

We are a nation of consumers – obese locusts devouring the resources of the earth enabled only by record debt.  Debt levels have now reached their 2008 peaks…right before the Great Recession.

  • Total consumer debt reached a record $12.8 trillion. The prior peak was $12.7 trillion in 2008.
  • Since the financial crisis, auto loans and student loans have soared. Auto loans are now at $1.2 trillion, up 70% from the depths of the recession in 2010.
  • Student loans have reached an incredible $1.3 trillion.
  • Total credit card debt has reached $784 billion, the highest level since the fourth quarter of 2009.

Wall Street is the Temple of Capitalism, Finance is its religion,  and fear and greed are its sacraments. Fear and greed are not based on wisdom, logic or faith. The warning signs are being ignored in a greedy race for every new stock market high.

This is not meant to be a prediction of any kind.  I cannot even predict my own behaviour for the next 12 hours since phone calls and family needs arrange my day. These are warning signs that we are setting up for that cyclical correction of the type we had in 1973,1980, 1987, 2000, 2007.

Valuations are at levels only seen in 1929 and 1987.

The CAPE ratio (cyclically adjusted price-earnings ratio), a valuation measure applied to the S&P 500 devised by Yale economist Robert Shiller, is higher today than it was on Black Monday. In fact, it’s only been higher at two other moments in history: heading into the stock market crash of 1929 and the dot-com bubble of 2000. Today the Shiller CAPE, ratio, is above 30 when its average is 16.8

The trading 12-month GAAP price/earnings ratio was about 20 times earnings in 1987 compared with 23 times today.

Since PE valuations of broad indexes ignore stocks losing money adding them takes the PE of the Russell from 26 to a more realistic P/E of 78.(combined market cap /all component companies trailing earnings)

Since its 2009 lows, the S&P 500 SPX,  is up more than 250%, the second-longest bull market ever, which should put you on guard.

Trading Behavior is a warning

The small-cap stocks and broader indexes are flat and have turned down to below their 200-day averages.

Dow Transports –  A traditional leading indicator has broken down and since they move the goods and products they should participate in the boom?

NYSE exchange – more stocks are making 52-week lows than are making 52-week highs triggering the Hindenburg Omen. Five such signals recently are only tied with 2007 and 2000 leading up to both corrections.

Political and other considerations

The Federal Reserve is now unloading the $4.5  trillion-dollar portfolio of mortgages it bought which has propped up Real Estate prices. Selling 4.5 trillion dollars of mortgages will reprice all fixed income securities. Never fight the Fed is a ‘truism” in trading circles.

The “business leader” president has shut down his Business Councils amid massive defections and so far his agenda is a mystery.

Korea and Iran remain nuclear thorns in our side while civil unrest and racial tensions fill the news. This President is likely to abandon the nuclear deal with Iran.

We have not paid back the trillion-dollar bailout passed by Congress in 2007  for all those “shovel-ready projects’  and we are certainly not prepared for another correction so soon.

“Make American Great Again’  is not a new idea.  The American foreign policy of Isolationism in the 20’s and 30’s  was a diplomatic and economic doctrine that aimed at self-advancement to make the United States economically self-reliant.  The policy of Isolationism in the 20’s and 30’s attempted to isolate the United States from the diplomatic affairs of other countries and limiting foreign competition by imposing high import tariffs (Taxes).

Tearing up N.A.F.T.A.  and recent trade skirmishes with England and Canada over jets…are but the beginning.

My conclusions are that a cyclically inevitable correction and a bear market must follow.

This selfie generation is best described here:  2 Timothy 3 v2 – For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred.

We need this Global Correction for two reasons: 

  1. A loving God must take away our idols to save us….and tear down what separates us from Him.
  2. On a larger scale –  the crash of 1929 set the stage for the Messiah’s of the 1930’s. That decade gave us the leaders that promised their nations a solution to the economic meltdown of 1929.  Stalin, Franco, Tojo, Tito, Mussolini, Hitler. They also brought us a World War.

There are new Messiah’s waiting to capitalize on the coming economic meltdown.  My bible says 10 in fact ….and so we watch events unfold..…

Reformation and Jubilees?

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Blow the Shofar in Zion, and sound an alarm on My Holy Mountain!  Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of the LORD, is coming; Surely it is near… (Joel 2:1)

The Feast of Trumpets falls on Sept 21, 2017, and Yom Kippur is 10 days later….

The U.N. declared International Day of Peace “just happens” to be September 21, 2017. The Theme this year “just happens” to be peace and safety.

It is 70 years from 1947 which was the rebirth of Israel. – On 29 November 1947, the UN General Assembly adopted the Plan as Resolution 181

It is the 50th anniversary or year of Jubilee for Jerusalem. It was liberated in 1967 when Jerusalem was recaptured by Israel from the Jordanians. Fifty years earlier Jerusalem was liberated by Allenby in 1917 and 400 years earlier in the Turks conquered Jerusalem in 1517.

It is the 70th anniversary of the Dead Sea Scrolls – early 1947

It is the 100th anniversary of the Balfour declaration – On November 2, 1917, Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour writes a letter expressing the British government’s support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

It is the 120th anniversary of the First Zionist Congress – “In Basel, I founded the Jewish state,” Zionist visionary Theodor Herzl said in 1897 of the First Zionist Congress.

It is the 500th anniversary of the Reformation – Catholics and Lutherans will celebrate Reformation Day Oct 31st, 2017 in Jerusalem. They will begin to set aside differences that started with Luther actions on Oct 31, 1517, in Wittenberg Germany.

 

It is 120 Jubilees from Adam.

It is 40 Jubilees since Christ’s death.

It is 70 Jubilees since Exodus (1483 B.C).

It marks year 5777 on the Jewish calendar.

So we pay attention and we note the time….for God moves in time and with design and order.

No – I make no attempt to interpret the mind of God and His inscrutable plans. I do know that ‘coincidence” is not a Kosher word….We only pray to be part of whatever He plans to do among His people and we prepare spiritually.

First Fruits and Nisan 17th

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There is a strange connection between New Beginnings and First Fruits and Nisan 17th. Yeshua was resurrected 3 days after his death on Nisan 14th on Nisan 17th on the 8th day. First Fruits and Resurrection Sunday was the greatest of all New Beginnings...

Let us consider the other New Beginnings
• Nisan 17, Noah’s Ark safely rested on Mt. Ararat (Gen 8:4) Note that the seventh month was later designated as the first month at the time of the Exodus (Ex. 12:2).
• Nisan 17, Hebrews entered Egypt (Exo 12:40-41) 430 years before deliverance. ...even the self-same day it came to pass...
• Nisan 17, Moses led the Israelites through the Parting of the Red Sea (Exo 3:18, 5:3)
• Nisan 17, Israel entered and ate the first fruit of the Promised Land (Joshua 5:10-12)
• Nisan 17, The cleansing of the Temple by Hezekiah (eight hundred years after entering the promised land. (2 Chronicles 29:1-28)
• Nisan 17, Queen Esther saved the Jews from Elimination (Esther 3:12, 5:1)
• Nisan 17, The Resurrection of Messiah

The odds of just two of these events both happening accidentally on the same day of the Hebrew year (360 days) are one in 129,000. The odds of these events all happening coincidentally on the same day of the Hebrew year are one in 783 quadrillions, 864 trillion, 876 Billion, 960 Million (783,864,876,960,000,000).

1. Noah’s Ark
Genesis 8:4 dates in a Hebrew Word Study: The Hebrew New Year begins in the month of Nisan (April of the contemporary calendar). However, there is another calendar that may have been used to account for the days of the Flood. This account is documented in an ancient Jewish commentary on the Genesis passage.
According to this ancient calendar, the ark rested on the mountain on precisely the same day that Jesus was resurrected from the tomb. Yes, that’s right. Thousands and thousands of years before the resurrection, God engineered history to point toward the pinnacle event of salvation. Just as the ancient judgment ended on the day the ark touched the ground, so the judgment of the restored world ended on the same day of the year when the tomb could not hold Him.

2. Entered Egypt
The Hebrews entered Egypt 430 years to the day they excited Egypt.

3. Crossing the Red Sea
Moses recorded the fact that Israel crossed the Red Sea and physically left the land of Egypt on the 17th of Nisan in Numbers 33:1-8: These are the journeys of the children of Israel, which went forth out of the land of Egypt with their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron.2 And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of the LORD: and these are their journeys according to their goings out. 3 And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; (Nisan) on the morrow after the Passover (still the 15th) the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians. (Remember, Israel’s days start at sunset) 4 For the Egyptians buried all their firstborn, which the LORD had smitten among them: upon their gods also the LORD executed judgments.5 And the children of Israel removed from Rameses, and pitched in Succoth. (Evening of the 15th) 6 And they departed from Succoth, and pitched in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness. (Evening of 16th) 7 And they removed from Etham, and turned again unto Pi-hahiroth, which is before Baal-zephon: and they pitched before Migdol. (Evening of the 17th) 8 And they departed (morning of the 17th) from before Pi-hahiroth, and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and went three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham, and pitched in Marah.”

4. Ate Fruit in Promised Land
Nisan 17 in 1445 BC (BR). On this same day, Israel makes the first camp at Succoth beginning the Exodus and their first day out of Egypt on the evening of Friday Nisan 17 as stated in Exodus 12:37-39. On this same date, 40 years later, Joshua would meet “the Commander of the army of the Lord” which begins Day 1 of the 7 day Battle of Jericho according to Joshua 5:13-6:5.
On Nisan 16 last day God rained Manna. On Nisan 17 Israel ate the first fruits of the promised land.

5. Hezekiah
Immediately upon becoming king, Hezekiah commenced a great religious reform. In eight days they had re-opened the great Temple of Solomon and cleansed it of defilement (2 Chronicles 29:1-17). The cleansing of the temple was not completed until the sixteenth day of the first month (Nisan)

6. Queen Esther
Haman had convinced the king to sign a decree to destroy the Hebrews (Esther 3:1-12). The decree went out on the 13th Nisan (Esther 3:12). Esther then proclaimed a three-day fast (Esther 4:16) for the 14th, 15th and 16th. On the 3rd day (5:1) Esther approached the king saying to herself ‘If I perish, I perish!’ (an attitude of death or resurrection… it’s in God’s hands!) On the 17th Nisan, the tables were turned on the enemy Haman and instead of the Jews being destroyed, his own life was taken!

7.Yeshua the Messiah
With the death of Jesus, all looked lost to His disciples and followers. Their Messiah was dead! The one they had placed all their hope in was gone and two of them headed out of town to Emmaus. The disciples, being Jewish, knew that God had told Moses that the first Sunday following the Sabbath after Passover would be the feast of Firstfruits. (See Lev 23:9-14). It was on this day that they were to offer to God the first-fruits of the harvest. And yet, even the disciples didn’t see that God was starting a new ‘first fruits’ on this day, the 17th Nisan. A ‘first fruits’ of those that would be raised from the dead!

Luke 23:1-8 “On the first day of the week (17th of Nisan), very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright, the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’” Then they remembered his words.”

1 Cor 15:20-23 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ, all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.

Like the defeat of the Egyptians and the death of Haman on this same day previously, this Sunday morning on Nisan 17th saw the resurrection of Jesus and the defeat of Satan!

Death had been turned into the life and defeat into victory!  Like the two travelers on the road to Emmaus on that fateful Feast of First Fruits, could the opening of the scriptures cause our "hearts to burn." Could this day not be an annual New Beginning for each of us?