FULFILLED PROPHECY : THE BEGINNING OF SORROWS - 1

Copyright 1994 - 2008 Endtime Prophecy Org

Last Updated : July 23, 2006

Immutability Of God's Word, 'Beginning Of Sorrows', The Four
Horsemen, A Century Of Wars, Wartime Death Toll Tables, None
Would Survive, Nuclear Accidents, Indian-Pakistani Conflict,
Russian And Chinese Relations, NATO's Expansionist Policies



After faithfully studying God's Word for so many years, if
there is one thing of which I am absolutely certain, it is
that God is not a man that He should lie. If the Lord says
that He is going to do something, then He will do it; when
He wants to, and however He wants to; regardless of what we
mere humans may think, say or do. He is the One who is in
charge, and not us. Consider the following verses which
clearly describe the immutability of God's Word:

"God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of
man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not
do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?"
(Numbers 23:19)

"I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever:
nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and
God doeth it, that men should fear before him. That which
hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been;
and God requireth that which is past."
(Ecclesiastes 3:14-15)

"Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there
is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring
the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the
things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall
stand, and I will do all my pleasure:" (Isaiah 46:9-10)

"God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as
it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy
sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged."
(Romans 3:4)

"In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie,
promised before the world began;" (Titus 1:2)

Based upon the inerrancy of God's Holy Word, it has become
clear to quite a few Christians, myself included, that we
are now living in the apocalyptic times plainly prophesied
by Jesus, Paul, John, Peter and many of the other Holy Men
and Prophets of the Bible. At this current time, it is still
a bit difficult to pinpoint exactly how far we have advanced
into the final years of the Last Days. If one takes into
consideration current world events, I would speculate that
we are still in the time period which Jesus referred to as
the 'Beginning of Sorrows' in His Endtime sermon found in
Matthew chapter twenty-four:

"And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye
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, KJV

We have but to look at this current century of the world's
history, in order to see that the Lord's words have indeed
come to pass; and that they are continuing to be fulfilled
to this very day; exactly as Jesus had prophesied. It is
interesting to note that the previous verses go hand in hand
with John's vision of the Four Horsemen found in the Book of
Revelation:

"And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I
heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four
beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white
horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was
given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to
conquer. And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the
second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another
horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat
thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should
kill one another: and there was given unto him a great
sword. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the
third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black
horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his
hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts
say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of
barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the
wine. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the
voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked,
and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was
Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto
them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword,
and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the
earth." Revelation 6:1-8, KJV

If we first consider our Lord's reference to 'wars and
rumours of wars', not only have they indeed been many, but
the collective death toll from these wars is nothing short
of astounding. These deadly wars have included, but are not
limited to, the Mexican Revolution, World War I, the Russian
Civil War, the Spanish Civil War, World War II, the Chinese
Civil War, the French Indo-China War, the Korean War, the
French-Algerian War, the Viet Nam-Southeast Asian War, the
Six-Day War, followed by another Israeli war in 1973, the
war in Bangladesh, the Biafran revolt in Nigeria, the
Angolan Civil War, the Mozambique Civil War, the Iran-Iraq
war, the war in Afghanistan, the Gulf War, civil wars in
Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia, the recent U.S.-led aerial
bombardment of Baghdad, the 1995 war in Chechnya and the
renewed war in the same, and the various wars in the Balkans
involving Bosnia, and even more recently, Yugoslavia. For a
more in-depth look at my views concerning the aerial attack
on Belgrade, please refer to the article 'The Battle of Gog
And Magog, And War In Yugoslavia'.

Exactly how deadly have these wars been? As I said a moment
ago, the numbers I discovered while conducting my research
are nothing short of astounding. The following figures are
provided to you courtesy of Matthew White's 'Historical
Atlas of the 20th Century' web page. In sharing this data
with you, please understand that, as Mr. White explains at
his site, it is virtually impossible to provide one hundred
per cent accurate data. This is due to a variety of reasons,
primary of which is the fact that in dealing with numbers
which are associated with death tolls from war, there is
always a certain degree of manipulation involved, due to
either political or personal reasons. In some cases, the
numbers are purposely underestimated, while in others they
are exaggerated. As the saying goes, history is written by
the victor. Not only that, but during times of war, large
numbers of people can be destroyed from off the face of the
Earth without ever being accounted for. In such cases, one
must rely upon a certain degree of educated guesswork, based
upon the facts that are known.

Having said that, Mr. White assures us that he has consulted
a wide variety of sources, and that he has tried to be as
fair, accurate, and conservative as possible in his data. In
the following table are listed what he considers as the top
twenty wars of the twentieth century, and the approximate
death tolls associated with each. Please note that these
numbers only represent military death tolls. They do not
include civilian deaths due to primary or secondary causes
such as war-induced famine :

 Est. Death Toll
 War
 Dates
     
 20,000,000  Second World War  1937-1945
 8,500,00  First World War  1914-1918
 1,700,000  Korean War  1950-1953
 1,200,000  Chinese Civil War  1945-1949
 1,200,000  Viet Nam War  1965-1973
 750,000  Iran-Iraq War  1980-1988
 700,000  Russian Civil War  1918-1921
 400,000  Chinese Civil War  1927-1937
 400,000  French Indo-China War  1945-1954
 200,000  Mexican Revolution  1911-1920
 200,000  Spanish Civil War  1936-1939
 160,000  French-Algerian War  1954-1962
 150,000  Afghanistan War  1980-1989
 130,000  Russo-Japanese War  1904-1905
 100,000  Riffian War  1921-1926
 100,000  First Sudanese Civil War  1956-1972
 100,000  Russo-Polish War  1919-1920
 100,000  Biafran War  1967-1970
 90,000  Chaco War  1932-1935
 85,000  Abyssinian War  1935-1936
     
 36,265,000  Estimated total military deaths  


To add some balance to this picture, I will now provide you
with a second table with some data from Mr. White's site which
shows some of the same wars, but with civilian death tolls
included, as well as other human atrocities which have been
either directly or indirectly associated with war and/or
political and social struggle. Between these figures and the
previous ones, we should obtain a general idea of how many
lives have been lost due to man's inhumane treatment of man
in the events listed, during the past century. Pleae note
that I have added footnotes to six of the listings :

 Est. Death Toll
 Event
 Dates
     
 50,000,000  Second World War (a)  1937-1945
 48,250,000  China: Mao Zedong's Regime (b)  1949-1976
 20,000,000  Russia: Stalin's Regime (c)  1924-1953
 15,000,000  First World War (d)  1914-1918
 7,000,000  Russian Civil War  1918-1921
 4,000,000  Chinese Civil War  1945-1949
 4,000,000  China: Warlord/Nationalist era  1917-1937
 3,000,000  Korean War  1950-1953
 2,400,000  Viet Nam War (e)  1965-1973
 2,100,000  German expulsions after WW II  1945-1947
 2,000,000  Congo Free State  1900-1908
 1,900,000  2nd Sudanese Civil War  1983-
 1,671,000  Cambodia: Khmer Rouge Regime  1975-1979
 1,500,000  Armenian Massacres (f)  1915-1923
 1,500,000  Afghanistan: Civil War  1980-
 1,400,000  Ethiopian Civil Wars  1962-1992
 1,250,000  Mexican Revolution  1910-1920
 1,250,000  Bangladesh  1971
 1,000,000  Iran-Iraq War  1980-1988
 1,000,000  Nigeria: Biafran Revolt  1967-1970
 800,000  Mozambique: Civil War  1976-1992
 800,000  Rwandan Massacres  1994
 600,000  French Indo-China War  1945-1954
 500,000  India-Pakistan Partition  1947
 500,000  Indonesia: Communists massacred  1965-1967
 500,000  Angolan Civil War  1975-1994
 500,000  1st Sudanese Civil War  1955-1972
 365,000  Spanish Civil War  1936-1939
 350,000  Somalia: Civil War  1991-
 320,000  French-Algerian War  1954-1962
     
 175,456,000  Estimated total deaths  


Footnotes:

a - Some overlap with Stalin. Includes Sino-Japanese War, but does not
include post-war German expulsions.

b - Includes famine.

c - Includes World War II era atrocities.

d - Some overlap with Russian Civil War and Armenian massacres.

e - Includes Laos and Cambodia.

f - Some overlap with World War I.

Isn't that absolutely amazing? If we accept these figures as
being close to accurate, between 36,265,000 and 175,456,000
people have lost their lives in this century alone due to
wars, and the atrocities and side effects associated with
war. In all of the research I conducted for this series, no
other death toll figures for any of the other Endtime signs
came even close to these! That is like twice the current
population of Australia, or about eighty per cent of the
current population of the United States of America! Man's
wars and oppression against his fellow man have clearly been
the most destructive force upon the face of this planet!

Perhaps now you the reader will begin to understand why it
is imperative that the production and storage of nuclear,
biological and chemical weapons be completely halted! If
evil men are able to wreak this much carnage and destruction
from conventional weapons, only God knows what he would do
if Nagasaki and Hiroshima were repeated on a grand scale by
many nations simultaneously, and with much more powerful
weapons!

While I would truly like to be optimistic regarding this
issue, the Lord's own words seem to indicate that the future
of the world is not bright; at least not for the nation of
Israel. In describing the Great Tribulation of the Endtime,
which I personally believe will center in Israel, Jesus said
in part:

"And except those days should be shortened, there should no
flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be
shortened." Matthew 24:22, KJV

In other words, the Red Horse and the Pale Horse are going
to ride hard in these final years of the Endtime; and if God
Himself did not intervene and shorten, or limit, the days of
the Great Tribulation to just three and a half years through
the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, foolish, destructive man
would absolutely annihilate himself! Nuclear, chemical and
biological weapons have brought our planet nearer to the
brink of destruction than ever before; and unless the evil
rulers of this world are stopped, they will eventually play
again with their toys of mass destruction, just as they did
with Hiroshima and Nagasaki! In fact, they have been playing
with their toys for a while now; and due to the foolishness
of some, a number of serious accidents have occurred. Most
are never even made public; however, a few have found their
way into the mass media of the world. Need I remind you of
Three-Mile Island, Chernobyl, and the latest incident which
occurred in October of this year in Japan?

Following are some excerpts from an AsianWeek news report
concerning this latest nuclear accident which occurred at a
fuel processing plant located in Tokaimura, Japan:

----- Begin Quotes -----

'We're Scared for Our Baby'

Japan Suffers Its Worst-Ever Nuclear Accident

Expressways were blocked, and trains stopped. Schools
and stores emptied. The townspeople and those in
surrounding villages were told to stay indoors with their
windows tightly shut. For most of the weekend, Tokaimura,
140 km north of Tokyo, looked like a scene from On the
Beach, the movie about a world depopulated by radiation from
an atomic war. The residents shut inside their homes knew
that something had gone dreadfully wrong at the nearby
nuclear fuel processing plant, but for a long time they
could only guess what it was and how dangerous it might be.

The nation's leaders were almost as much in the dark.
Prime Minister Obuchi Keizo, concentrating on forming his
new cabinet, was only informed a few hours after the
accident began. He delayed the appointments and convened an
emergency task force. But at 10 p.m. on Sept. 30, twelve
hours into the accident, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nonaka
Hiromu, could only say: "We believe that it is a severe
situation, and there are concerns about high radiation
levels."

Probably the last thing plant operator Ouchi Hisashi
saw before he passed out was a blue flash in the
concentration of uranium he was mixing in a steel vat. In an
instant he and two co-workers were hit by a wave of intense
radiation. Ouchi is believed to have absorbed about twice
the amount of radiation that is usually considered fatal,
though he may survive. His colleagues suffered lesser though
substantial doses. Put another way, they took in as much as
somebody standing within a kilometer of the Hiroshima atomic
bomb.

Ouchi and his colleagues had just set off the one thing
that nuclear workers fear most - a spontaneous,
uncontained nuclear chain reaction. That happens when
fissionable nuclear materials, such as uranium or plutonium,
are brought together in sufficient quantities and under the
right conditions so that a chain reaction begins. Such
accidents do not usually spew out large amount of
contaminated particles, as happened at Chernobyl, but they
do give off intensive radiation. Levels around the plant
were at times 20,000 times higher than normal. The accident
measured 4 on an international scale of 7, making it Japan's
worst nuclear disaster.

The uncontrolled chain reaction ran on for nearly 20
hours before it was finally stopped. Relays of power plant
workers finally brought it under control by draining the
mixing vat basin of water (which helps keep the chain
reaction going) and by dumping the chemical boron into the
tank (which absorbs neutrons and thus dampens the chain
reaction). Each worker could spend only a couple of minutes
inside the plant before absorbing the maximum radiation and
still remain healthy.

Some of the people evacuated from the immediate vicinity
of the plant returned home two days later, considerably
more skeptical of Tokaimura's main industry. "We never knew
that we were living next to such a dangerous facility," said
one farmer among those evacuated. "We were scared for our
baby," said a young mother. "As I understand it, babies are
the most vulnerable to radiation." For the next few
days, hundreds of people lined up for free radiation checks,
some of them bringing their drying laundry to be scanned
too.

Sloppy plant operation and lax safety precautions
were clearly to blame for an accident unprecedented in
Japan. Ouchi and the two other plant operators were dumping
the uranium into the vat from a steel bucket by hand. In
other countries such operations are automated and
calibrated. They seemed unaware that they were mixing highly
enriched uranium, more susceptible to spontaneous fission
than normal power plant fuel, and they put in 16 kg instead
of 2. Plant officials admitted that they may have used an
unauthorized manual detailing ways to cut corners.

----- End Quotes -----

Imagine; due to sloppiness, laziness, and a desire to cut
corners, the lives of many Japanese citizens were placed in
extreme danger. Of course, the Japanese government quickly
implemented damage control, in order to pacify the nervous
public, and quell the voice of the anti-nuclear protesters.
Japan relies upon its fifty-one nuclear reactors to supply
roughly one third of its electrical energy needs; thus the
government has always defended the need for the industry, in
spite of the hazards it presents, and the accidents which
occur. In order to show how safe the situation had become
shortly after the accident had occurred, the Japanese mass
media displayed photographs of Prime Minister Obuchi Keizo
in Tokaimura, eating a meal consisting of fresh vegetables
and fruits harvested from farmlands very near the site of
the accident; at least so the newspapers claimed.

If you are one who doubts my words concerning the threat of
nuclear war, consider the fact that only a few months ago,
the newest nuclear powers of Pakistan and India were flexing
their military and rhetorical muscles with each other; and
even went so far as to threaten to retaliate with the deadly
neutron bomb, if the other chose to launch a pre-emptive
strike. Despite warnings from other nations of the world,
neither of the two sides showed any willingness to exercise
restraint, by withdrawing from their belligerent and very
provocative posturing. The recent underground nuclear tests
conducted by both are a clear sign of how dangerous and how
unstable the situation has become in that area of the world.

As if the situation weren't already aggravated enough, the
hawkish United States of America, which formerly lent its
support to Pakistan, has been quietly shifting its support
to India; which it views as a strategic partner in keeping
Communist China and Russia in check. China already views
India as one of its most serious threats in that area of the
world. Currently, it appears that hostilities between India
and Pakistan may be temporarily defused. This is the result
of a bloodless military coup on October the 12th, in which
the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was toppled by
Pakistani General Pervez Musharraf. Whether or not this is
simply political rhetoric remains to be seen, but General
Musharraf is currently claiming that the military will only
remain in power, until full democracy has been restored to
Pakistan. General Musharraf also appears to be making peace
overtures towards India, by withdrawing Pakistani troops
from the Pakistan-India border, as we see by these recent
CNN news reports:

----- Begin Quotes -----

Pakistani Army Leader Declares Himself Chief Executive

Pakistan's army chief declared a state of emergency early
Friday, suspending the country's constitution and naming
himself chief executive, two days after the military toppled
elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. CNN's Nic Robertson
reported from Islamabad that military leaders had issued a
"presidential proclamation" announcing the state of
emergency, which suspended Pakistan's National Assembly and
officially removed Sharif and his ministers from office.

. . .

Pakistani Coup Leader Vows Return To Democracy

Pakistani Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who took over the
government in a bloodless coup October 12, pledged to form a
National Security Council to restore "true" democracy, in a
televised speech Sunday. He also announced a unilateral
pullback of forces from the Pakistan-India border and said
the military would not remain in power indefinitely.

----- End Of Quotes -----

At this current time, ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is
standing trial, along with some of his associates, due to
crimes against the state, according to the new military
government. His fate will be determined soon.

Despite the current, and undoubtedly temporary, calm between
India and Pakistan, the move by the American administration
to align itself with India is not being welcomed by Russia
or by China; both of which had already become alarmed due to
the recent, merciless seventy-eight day aerial bombardment
of the sovereign nation of Yugoslavia by American-led NATO
forces; a bombardment which really has resolved absolutely
nothing. The Russian bear is being forced more and more into
the corner as American and NATO expansion continues to move
ever eastward towards the Russian borders; but it will only
be permitted to move so far before the Russians decide that
enough is enough. May I suggest that you read 'Communism: Is
The Dead Beast Really Dead?' and 'Communism: The Raging Bear
Out Of Control' for a more in-depth look at this situation.

As a result of American and NATO expansionist policies, and
the current trend to augment the number of nations included
in the economic bloc of the European Union, as is witnessed
by Turkey's current consideration for the powerful group, as
of late, Russia and China have been warming up to each
other; and have been emphasizing the idea of a multi-polar
world; and not one which is dominated only by the United
States of America. Consider the following two news reports.
The first one was issued during the third week of August,
1999, by CNN, the American Cable News Network, and the
latter report appeared in the South China Morning Post on
August 26, 1999:

----- Begin Quotes -----

Yeltsin To Hold Summit With Leaders Of China, Central Asia

A re-energized President Boris Yeltsin is looking to further
strengthen Russia's ties to China at a summit this week with
the leaders of four Asian nations. Yeltsin heads to the
former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday for a summit
aimed at building stability along China's 7,000-kilometer
(4,340-mile) border with Russia and three Central Asian
nations.

. . .

President Jiang Zemin and his Russian counterpart, Boris
Yeltsin, yesterday discussed expanding their 'strategic
partnership', and regional security issues. Diplomats
traveling with the leaders said that during bilateral talks
the pair expressed support for a multi-polar world and
mutual opposition to Nato expansion. The diplomats added
that opposition was also voiced against 'world domination'
by the United States. The talks were conducted over
breakfast ahead of a five-nation 'Shanghai Five' summit,
grouping Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and
Tajikistan, on regional security and economic co-operation.
Presidents Yeltsin and Jiang 'discussed further practical
steps in the development of a strategic partnership between
Russia and China in the international arena', Russian
Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said..."

----- End Of Quotes -----

In addition to this recent warming up of relations between
Russia and China, Russia and Belarus are also involved in
the process of completing their union, as it existed prior
to the post-Soviet days. While there have been some snags in
the process, it will undoubtedly become a reality sooner or
later. This is clearly evidenced by the following report
from the London Times released the third week of October,
1999:

----- Begin Quote -----

To loud applause from Russia's Communists, Aleksandr
Lukashenko, the hardline Soviet-style leader of Belarus,
denounced the International Monetary Fund yesterday as a
"pack of swindlers" and urged Russia to sell its missiles
instead of seeking foreign loans. Mr Lukashenko, who has
long advocated a reunion of Russia and Belarus, earned a
warm reception from the Duma's Communist faction during a
45-minute speech in which he appeared to try to force
Moscow's hand on the question of reunion and offered a novel
way out of Russia's financial troubles.

'Why should Russia be on its knees before the IMF, begging
for $600 million,' he demanded, 'when one Russian S-300
strategic missile system is worth $550 million? Why not just
sell two of them?'

Mr Lukashenko is thought to be familiar with the challenges
of selling off Soviet-era arms, having spent much of last
year in the Middle East attempting to offload weaponry left
in Belarus by retreating Soviet forces in 1991, according to
human rights activists. He is also fond of demonizing the
IMF, the World Bank and Madeleine Albright, the US Secretary
of State who is among those most concerned by the idea of a
reunion of the old core of the Soviet Union.

Yesterday, as protesters waved 'Hail Lukashenko' placards
outside the Duma building, Mr Lukashenko said such a reunion
with Belarus was imminent. 'From my talks with President
Yeltsin I am convinced that he is fully committed to the
idea of a union,' he said, adding that a treaty would be
signed in the first half of December.

----- End Of Quote -----

In light of the Belgade bombardment, it also seems quite
possible that, with some work, Ukraine may also rejoin this
union sometime in the future. This would effectively block
the United States as well as NATO from expanding any further
eastward. While the Russians are greatly concerned about the
recent NATO incursion into Yugoslavia, EU expansion, and the
American doublecross on Pakistan, due to their own political
and economic problems, at this current time, besides forging
closer ties with China, Belarus, Ukraine, and other of her
neighbors, there doesn't appear to be much more that Russia
can do concerning the situation, short of outright military
conflict with the United States of America, and other NATO
nations; and that doesn't appear to be possible for the time
being, although Mr. Yeltsin would have the West to believe
otherwise.

In part two of this series, we will continue our discussion
by taking a look at the situation in Chechnya. In addition,
we will discuss the recent so-called Russian terrorist bomb
blasts, government psychological manipulation, trouble in
the two Koreas, the current explosive situation between
Beijing and Taiwan, and the fork-tongued hagglers of the
on-again-off-again Middle East peace process. I trust that
you will join me.

[ Click Me ] Go To Part Two . . .

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