Post by alasdair on Dec 23, 2006 11:28:32 GMT -5
The teachings of Jesus show us that we must sell our possessions, give the money to the poor, then follow him; a teaching seen as foolish even by most church-going Christians. In general, people do not follow this teaching. The result is that for every person in rich Western society, there is someone in the world living on less than the equivalent of $1 (50p) a day – about a billion people. A further 1.5 billion live on less than $2 a day, meaning that about half the world’s population is in poverty.
In order to alleviate the suffering of the poor and to provide a means for people to repent from their sins, God has arranged for an end. Plagues are necessary (a) to get the attention of those who would otherwise be apathetic to the plight of the poor, and (b) to begin the destruction of what has resulted from not following Jesus – the products of our own wisdom, the infrastructure of our self-centred capitalist society.
The first of these plagues is a tsunami, predicted to hit the East Coast of the USA on 1st April 2007. This date is significant because (a) it is Palm Sunday, celebrating the return of Jesus to Jerusalem and (b) it is All Fools' Day. Solomon and wisdom are the number of the beast (see www.worldends.co.uk) and foolishness is the opposite of wisdom. As stated above, following the commandments of Jesus is seen as foolish by modern society. Therefore All Fools' Day is a day of anti-wisdom and destruction of the beast.
Emphasis is placed in the Bible about not knowing when things will happen (Luke 12,40: "And you, too, must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you are not expecting him."). Therefore, because the date is predicted, you can be sure that no one will expect the tsunami to happen on that day (it would be foolish wouldn’t it?).
