News and Watch Dates

72 years ago today (1948) the Latter Rain outpouring of the Spirit began to take place under the leadership of brothers George and Ern Hawtin.

Six years ago today, the well-known prophet Bob Jones died.

Some years ago we received revelation that January was a “Passover” month, being our first month that correlated with the Hebrew first month. By extension, this made February a “Second Passover” month, specifically February 14.

So today is the start of the Passover season, and the parallel time of Unleavened Bread then extends seven days from February 15 through the 21^st. Special attention should also be given to February 16, which is a type of resurrection day for the Second Passover.

There is too much happening in the world to keep up with all the news. I have to leave that to other people, as my main focus must be on teaching the Scriptures.

But we should watch the spread of the coronavirus from China to other countries. China now has 400 million people under lockdown and quarantine. Early scientific studies found that Asians were more susceptible to the coronavirus than other ethnic groups. However, further study has shown that this is probably not due to genetics but to the fact that there are so many smokers in Asia, especially Asian men. The coronavirus affects the lungs, especially in those whose lungs have been weakened or compromised by smoke or pollution in general.

China’s pollution problem is near catastrophic, although now with the lockdowns, the air in the cities are reported to be much cleaner, as the use of coal has dropped dramatically.

https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/china-has-ground-halt-ground-indicators-confirm-worst-case-scenario

The lockdown, however, means a third of China’s population is unable to work or travel. This is proving to be disastrous for China’s economy, and I expect Walmart to start having some empty shelves soon. Sixty percent of their merchandise comes from China.

Europe will probably be affected more than the USA, because it normally imports more from China than we do here.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/world-economy-projected-to-shrink-for-first-time-since-2009-as-coronavirus-plays-havoc-with-global-supply-chains

Likewise, if China’s economy slows down, their banks will start to collapse as well. Since all banks in the world are connected now, these bank failures could easily spread to Europe and the rest of the world even faster than the coronavirus itself. It makes me wonder if perhaps this will prove to be the catalyst for the global reset, with power taken away from the Central Banks and being returned to the sovereign nations where they belong.

Another concern is that many of those on lockdown have limited supplies and food in the house. Many could starve, as reports from China are already suggesting.

Trucking companies here could also suffer, as container ships from China no longer unload cargo on the West Coast to be shipped inland. Five cruise ships are already quarantined.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8002211/Cruise-ship-placed-lockdown-Sydney-Harbour-passenger-tested-coronavirus.html

18 Royal Caribbean cruises have been canceled, as their ships have become petri dishes for the coronavirus.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/royal-caribbean-halts-18-cruises-cancellation-wave-starts-amid-covid-19-outbreak

No doubt other companies will follow suit shortly. It’s probably not fun being quarantined in a cruise ship cabin for many weeks without being able to enjoy the public activities or get off at a port to do some sightseeing. I suspect at some point all cruises will be cancelled and will probably be suspended for a year or more. The problem is that the cruise ship companies will still have to make payments on their billion-dollar ships. Most could go bankrupt, so I would not want to own any shares in those companies right now.

I wonder how long people will want to travel on airlines. I expect the airline industry to suffer, more than it did after the Twin Towers demolition using airliners. Because we are just now getting ready for a world-wide ministry, this crisis suggests that God will soon provide us with our own plane. That, of course, has much wider implications for the future.

Meanwhile, the plague of locusts in East Africa, Yemen, and Pakistan threatens millions of people with famine and starvation. A normal sized swarm of locusts can eat as much as the entire nation of Kenya. Locusts were the most feared plague in ancient times.

These are things that we should all be aware of, so that we can prepare accordingly.

As for myself, I have been expounding on the Gospel of John and have been formatting the studies into books as I go. The fourth book on John was finished at the end of John 17 when Jesus’ prayer was concluded. I am now on Book 5, and this should complete our study of the last four chapters in John.

In my “spare time,” I have also begun writing my fifth novel, covering the story of King Saul. I have only done four chapters so far, and even these will be modified as I go. Nonetheless, I finally received sufficient revelation to begin the book and to know the main themes that need to be set forth.

I can only write two or three pages at a time, because it takes far more mental energy to write creative novels than to expound on the Scriptures. The styles of writing are totally different. My main goal in doing Bible study is clarity, simplicity, and accuracy. Novels, however, replace clarity with some mystery, obscurity, and symbolism.

Simplicity is not as important as eloquence in the manner of communication. And although accuracy is obviously important in historical novels such as this, I do enjoy a certain amount of literary license to fill in the details not directly stated in Scripture.

I enjoy this type of writing, but it takes time and energy. When I finish the Gospel of John, I hope to have more time to finish the book. At the present time, I do not know if I will start another commentary on a book of the Bible. Things are changing, and we are getting closer to getting the Bible school(s) up and running. The study in John seems to be the climactic study for Module 5 (“Apostolic Studies”).

Meanwhile, teachers are being trained, and they are now writing test questions for each of the books in the curriculums. They discuss portions of the book every Saturday morning, and so this serves to teach the teachers as well.

So we are making progress, and once the full curriculum is in place, we can begin to implement the studies that have been written over a long period of preparation.