FLU PANDEMIC – NEVER – SOON – LATER?
SOONER OR LATER IT MUST OCCUR!
Supplement to Archive Prophecy Update Numbers 18, 19 & 20
Earthquakes, Pestilence, and Famines
October 9, 2005
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
The previous BLOG had an article saying hundreds had died in the 7.6 earthquake between Pakistan and Kashmir, but I indicated I expected the casualties to exceed 4,000. The earthquake has now been raised to a 7.7, so don’t be surprised if it ends up being a 7.8. This is important as there is a logarithmic increase on the intensity scale.
A 7.5 releases the energy equivalent of 160 million tons of TNT, but an 8.0 releases the energy equivalent of 1 billion tons of TNT. The final casualty count may exceed 25 thousand. Well, the “beginning of sorrows” earthquakes are with us, but so is the pestilence and famine.
It may not be the current avian flu virus [A (H5N1)] that mutates to cause a flu pandemic, but sooner or later one will, and the results could be almost as catastrophic as the one in 1918 if we do not have a vaccine in place.
We are not yet in what the Bible calls the tribulation period, but we are, and have been, in a period of time that was to precede it, known as “the beginning of sorrows.” One of the things that was to plague the human race, as it multiplied and space per human on the earth decreased, was pestilence. The word used for “pestilence” in Matthew 24:7 is the Greek word “loimos,” which means “any deadly infectious disorder.” The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is certainly a deadly infectious disorder created by a virus that has mutated into several different types since its discovery, and still there is no cure for it. (Please see Archive Prophecy Update Number 19).
Matthew 24:7,8 –For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be FAMINES, and PESTILENCES, and EARTHQUAKES, in divers places. [8] All these are the beginning of sorrows.
While it is true I believe the virus of HIV is the major pestilence virus referred to in Matthew 24:7, the Scripture has pestilences (plural), and there have been many others in the last century. Among the numerous pestilence virus types affecting the 20th Century were the many different flu producers. Three were able to produce flu virus pandemics between 1918 and 1969. They were as follows:
• 1918-19, “Spanish flu,” [A (H1N1)], caused the highest number of known influenza deaths: more than 500,000 people died in the United States,
and up to 50 million people may have died worldwide.
Many people died within the first few days after infection, and others died of complications later. Nearly half of those who died were young, healthy adults.
Influenza A (H1N1) viruses still circulate today after being introduced again into the human population in the 1970s.
• 1957-58, “Asian flu,” [A (H2N2)], caused about 70,000 deaths in the United States. First identified in China in late February 1957, the Asian flu spread to the United States by June 1957.
• 1968-69, “Hong Kong flu,” [A (H3N2)], caused about 34,000 deaths in the United States.
This virus was first detected in Hong Kong in early 1968 and spread to the United States later that year. Influenza A (H3N2) viruses still circulate today.
Both the 1957-58 and 1968-69 pandemics were caused by viruses containing a combination of genes from a human influenza virus and an avian influenza virus.
I had both the Asian and Hong Kong Flu. My grandmother Drennan had the Spanish Flu in 1918 – it settled in her ears and she completely lost her hearing from it. She was considered to be one of the lucky ones.
Last week a scientific team led by Dr.
Jeffery Taubenberger, chief of the molecular pathology department at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, reported that the 1918 flu virus [A(H1N1)], which killed 50 million people worldwide, was a bird flu that jumped directly to humans.
But, while the 1918 flu virus was highly contagious, so far the current avian flu virus [A (H5N1)] has shown little ability to spread from person to person. However, mutation of the virus could suddenly set the stage for a world pandemic.
One concern about the avian flu virus is that it has become widespread, kill ing millions of birds
in 11 countries, widely dispensing itself among migratory birds, able to carry it for great distances.
It was reported on Saturday in birds in Romania and Turkey. It is widespread among birds across Asia, and has persisted in this area where it first emerged in 1997.
Based on the last century, we are overdue for a flu pandemic, but no one can be sure which virus will mutate to produce it.
Pandemics occur when a flu virus changes so radically from previous strains that people have no immunity, and vast numbers become ill. Perhaps the most troubling thing about [A (H5N1)] is that it has not gone away, and has shown some warning signs of mutation.
Even though it has not affected many humans so far, when it does it is quite lethal. Of the 116 known to be affected, it has killed 60.
Part of the information in this BLOG came from the Center for Disease Control.
So, since we have discussed earthquakes and pestilences, we might as well briefly discuss famines. At the present time there are food security emergencies in Chad, Somalia, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Niger, and Zimbabwe. There are food warnings in Djibouti, Uganda, Eritrea, Mauritania, Kenya, and Malawi.
There are food watches in Zambia and Mozambique.
No, we are definitely not yet in the tribulation period, we are still in the “beginning of sorrows.” But, sooner or later, the intensity of all three phenomena will suddenly increase, and we will find ourselves in great tribulation.
Matthew 24:21,22 – For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. [22] And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.
Luke 21:25-28 – And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; [26] Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. [27] And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. [28] And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.