Participants: Steve Wohlberg
Series Code: HVT
Program Code: HVT000002A
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00:09 Birds, bats and bees, fish, dolphin and whales,
00:12 they are dying around the world in record numbers, 00:15 is this a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy? 00:18 That's our topic on His Voice Today. 00:32 Mass Animal Deaths: Another sign of the end? 00:35 That's our topic today on His Voice Today. 00:38 In the book of Luke chapter 21 we have a very clear sermon 00:46 given by Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago 00:49 as he sat upon the Mount of Olives with His disciples. 00:51 He described many things in this chapter 00:54 and if you look at verse 27, He clearly describes His return. 00:59 Verse 27 says that, 01:07 Now, not only does He describe the day of His return, 01:11 but prior to this verse, He describes many apocalyptic 01:15 signs that would take place right before He comes. 01:19 One of these signs is described 01:23 in verse 11, 01:26 or a sequence of signs, in verse 11 Jesus said, that: 01:41 Notice this phrase, "fearful sights, 01:43 great signs would be taking place in heaven. " 01:47 Now I don't claim to know exactly everything 01:50 that Jesus meant by this phrase "fearful sights and great signs" 01:54 but I have a feeling that it does apply to many things 01:59 that we can see around the world right now. 02:02 One of these "fearful sights" certainly took place 02:07 in the little town of Beebe, Arkansas, 02:09 at the beginning of 2011, 02:12 it's actually at the end of 2010 beginning of 2011, 02:15 January 1 when people in this small town woke up 02:18 and they looked around and they were shocked to see 02:21 the bodies of approximately 02:23 5,000 birds that had just fallen down from the sky 02:26 they were on lawns, they were on top of cars, 02:29 they were in the streets, they were on the tops of houses, 02:33 the media described this as a scene from a horror movie, 02:36 the reports went out around the Country 02:39 and around the world, 02:40 5,000 birds... falling from the sky, 02:43 what is going on? 02:44 Well, if this was just an isolated event, 02:46 it wouldn't be so significant, 02:49 but amazingly, the very next day another report came out, 02:54 about 100,000 fish found dead 02:57 along the Arkansas River 03:00 and that had happened the day before, one day earlier 03:02 and it was about a hundred miles away. 03:04 So you got Beebe, Arkansas, 03:05 you got the Arkansas River, 03:07 so you got the birds coming down 03:08 and then you've got all this fish 03:10 washing up the shore. 03:11 Well, that's just the beginning of the bizarre events 03:14 that were taking place at that time 03:16 and they had continued to take place. 03:17 Two days later, there was a report of 500 earthquakes 03:22 in the same area, between those two events. 03:25 And believe me, people were spooked 03:27 and the media was on top of this and they were reporting 03:31 about these strange events and then asking, 03:34 "What's going on, why is this happening?" 03:37 January 5, just a couple of days later, 03:39 another report came out on CBS News, 03:42 that two million dead fish had washed ashore 03:46 along the coast of Maryland. 03:48 Two million fish... you've got 5,000 birds, 03:50 you've got a 100,000 fish, you've got all these earthquakes 03:53 in between the birds and the fish, 03:55 and then you've got more fish 03:56 washing ashore in the Chesapeake Bay. 03:59 Another report came out, January 5 about more dead birds, 04:05 here it says... this is an article from MSNBC, 04:08 The plot thickens? 04:10 Dead birds found in Sweden and Kentucky. 04:13 First it was New Year's Eve, the article states 04:16 talking about Central Arkansas and the birds that came down, 04:19 and now, the disasters and the strange occurrences 04:24 of birds... it just continues to go on 04:26 one after another, the plot continues to thicken. 04:29 January 5... 40,000 dead crabs washed shore in Kent, England, 04:36 and here's an article that says, 04:38 "40,000 crabs join the slew of animal-death mysteries. " 04:42 Animal-death mysteries... 04:44 I tell you, the media... it was definitely stirred 04:46 over these events, and here's another one, 04:48 January 17, 10,000 dead cows and Buffalo die in Vietnam, 04:54 and the reports just continue to come in 04:57 and people around the world, reporters, television programs, 05:04 radio... they were reporting on these bizarre events 05:07 that were happening rapid-fire, one after another. 05:11 And these strange occurrences have continued since 05:16 January of 2011, rapid-fire, to this very moment. 05:21 I've got a list here of animal die-offs, 05:25 and I've got 20 pages, and I've read these 05:29 and I've looked at these, it's just not Arkansas, 05:31 it's not just Maryland, it's not just Vietnam, 05:34 the list just goes on and on and on and on and on. 05:37 Peru... dolphins washing ashore, 05:39 other places where there's a whole beach full of dead Orcas 05:44 and people are looking at these things 05:46 and they are wondering what is going on. 05:48 I don't know if you've heard about all of the... 05:50 all of the bees that are disappearing. 05:53 But this is a major... a major concern. 05:57 if the bee population gets too decimated, 06:00 they're calling it a "Colony Collapse Disorder," 06:02 a third of the food supply of the world, 06:05 is connected to pollination 06:07 and if any sizable amount of bees continue to disappear, 06:12 it could just do terrible things to the world's food supply. 06:16 There's also evidence that the bats along the East Coast, 06:21 are disappearing rapidly, 06:23 and the list just goes on and on and on. 06:26 fish, whales, bees, dolphins, birds... 06:29 scientists are wondering what in the world is going on, 06:35 and they're trying to figure these things out. 06:38 As I've read news reports 06:39 on these different mass-animal die-offs, 06:43 I've read different explanations 06:45 of why these things are happening, 06:48 various reasons are given, but many times 06:51 the experts really say that they don't know. 06:55 Sometimes it's connected to 06:57 weather patterns and weather changes, 06:59 extreme cold weather that's not usual, 07:01 other times it may be connected to environmental pollutions, 07:04 poisons, there's all kinds of conspiratory theories 07:09 about, maybe the Governments involved in this, 07:12 lot of ideas, 07:14 and I'm not saying that I agree with all these ideas, 07:16 but I do know that 07:18 in the midst of all of these mass animal die-offs, 07:21 and the studies that are being done, 07:23 that many times the experts are absolutely clueless. 07:27 They just really don't know what is going on, 07:31 why is this happening, they're continuing to study 07:34 and to try to figure out what is happening on Planet Earth. 07:39 There are a number of Bible verses 07:41 I'd like to direct your attention to, 07:43 that I think are extremely timely, they're significant, 07:46 I think that this book has something to say, 07:48 about these mass animal die-offs, 07:50 and a number of months ago, I was contacted by 07:52 National Geographic International, 07:54 they wanted me to fly to Washington, D.C. 07:56 and to be involved in the documentary about these things, 07:59 and they wanted me to represent the Biblical position, 08:03 to share with those that may watch the documentary 08:06 whether these events have anything to do with the Bible. 08:10 Of course, the majority of "experts"... they don't think so 08:15 they think these are just natural occurrences 08:17 but a lot of people are really spooked about it, 08:20 and there are many that do believe 08:22 that these bizarre deaths of so many animals and birds 08:27 and fish and bees and whatever else, 08:29 that somehow there may be a connection with Bible prophecy. 08:33 I personally believe that there is a connection. 08:36 Let's take a look at a verse, a couple of verses 08:40 in the book of Job, scholars tell us that Job was 08:44 probably the first book ever written... 08:46 that was probably written by Moses, out in the wilderness, 08:49 when he fled from Pharaoh, 08:51 even though it's not listed as the first book, 08:54 it is probably the first book that was written 08:56 and in Job chapter 12, 08:58 there is an amazing series of verses, 09:03 that talk about the things that God has made, 09:07 the creatures that He has formed. 09:10 Verse 7 says: 09:31 So these verses are clear that we can look to the beasts, 09:35 we can look to the fish, we can look to the birds, 09:37 and we can learn... we can learn things 09:40 that God wants to teach us from His creatures. 09:45 "Ask the animals and they will teach you... " the Bible says. 09:49 Now obviously we can learn a lot of lessons, 09:53 by looking at the creatures that God has made, 09:56 there's a verse in the Bible that says, 09:57 to look at the ant, how the ant gathers it's food 10:01 and prepares for the winter, and how we don't want to be lazy 10:06 we want to be like the ant, and we want to prepare ourselves 10:10 for things that are ahead of us, 10:12 there are a lot of verses in the Bible 10:14 that talk about what we can learn from the animals, 10:16 and most of the time, it's describing how we can learn 10:19 by looking at them while they are alive. 10:21 But what about... from their deaths? 10:24 Can we learn things from their deaths 10:26 especially these mass deaths that have been happening 10:30 in increasing frequency 10:32 especially since the beginning of 2011. 10:36 Well, let's find out, 10:37 let's take a look at some other verses, 10:40 and see what the Bible actually says. 10:42 Can we learn from the global demise of God's creatures? 10:49 In the book of Hosea chapter 4 there is an amazing sequence 10:56 of verses that I believe have tremendous relevance to us today 11:02 lessons from Hosea chapter 4 verses 1 to 3 11:09 and then verse 9, the Bible says, 11:20 here in this verse we find that God had a controversy 11:23 with the people back in those ancient days 11:26 "for there's no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land 11:29 by swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, 11:32 and committing adultery, they break all restraint 11:35 with bloodshed upon bloodshed. " 11:38 Now this verse is listing 11:39 different ones of the 10 Commandments, 11:41 swearing is Commandment number 3 11:43 lying is number 9, committing adultery is number 7, 11:46 bloodshed upon bloodshed is Commandment number 6, 11:49 and God is listing how the people of the land 11:52 were violating the 10 Commandments, 11:53 one after another, after another, 11:55 it was just rampant throughout Society. 11:57 Now, then we go to verse 3, look at what that says, 12:01 "Therefore the land will mourn and everyone who dwells there 12:04 will waste away with the beasts of the field 12:08 and the birds of the air and even the fish of the sea 12:12 will be taken away, 12:14 and so what this verse is telling us 12:16 is that when Society was full of sin and breaking God's law, 12:20 the result would even ripple into the animal kingdom 12:23 and animals would start dying, en masse, 12:26 as a result of the breaking of God's law 12:30 that had to do with people, 12:32 now then, if you go down to verse 9, 12:34 and verse 9 is a rather scary verse, 12:36 Verse 9 tells us that after the animals suffer 12:41 as a result of man's sin, 12:42 then it talks about the people, 12:45 how I will punish them for their ways. 12:48 So you look at the sequence, 12:50 God had a controversy with the land, with the people, 12:53 they were breaking the 10 Commandments, 12:55 the animals and the birds and the fish will be taken away, 12:57 and then, verse 9 says that people would be next. 13:01 The Millennium... 13:03 will it be a thousand years of peace on earth, 13:06 the Age of Aquarius or something totally different? 13:08 Find out amazing facts about this often-misunderstood topic 13:13 of the Bible in today's free offer by Steve Wohlberg, 13:16 The Millennium, order your free booklet today 13:19 by calling 1-800-782-4253, you can also write to us 13:25 at White Horse Media, PO Box 1139, Newport, WA 99156. 13:31 Now, many people say to me, "Well, that was ancient Israel 13:35 that has nothing to do with our world today. " 13:37 But when you look at 1st Corinthians chapter 10 13:40 verse 11, the Bible is very clear 13:42 that Israel's history... ancient Israel's history 13:46 is a Lesson Book for those of us that live 13:49 right before the end of the world. 13:52 You can read it right in your own Bible, 13:55 in 1st Corinthians chapter 10, verse 11. 13:59 Now let's go to Revelation chapter 11 14:02 and let's look at verse 18, 14:07 Revelation 11:18 clearly describes 14:11 an apocalyptic sequence, it describes events that are 14:15 going to be taking place 14:16 right before the end of the world 14:18 it talks about the nations being angry, 14:20 about God's wrath coming, 14:21 the time of the dead that they should be judged, 14:23 and that God should give a reward, 14:25 to his servants the prophets, and to the saints, 14:27 and to those who fear His name small and great 14:30 and then the last part of verse 18, 14:32 says, notice 14:34 "... that He will destroy those who destroy the earth. " 14:40 The Bible says, God will finally... 14:42 at the very end... destroy those who destroy the earth. 14:46 And as I look at this verse 14:48 about humanity destroying the earth, 14:51 there's no doubt in my mind that that it is happening right now. 14:55 I'm not a rabid Environmentalist but I certainly do appreciate 14:58 the world that God has given me, 15:01 our family lives in the mountains in North Idaho, 15:03 and we appreciate the beauties of nature, 15:06 and as you look around the world, 15:08 increasingly it is being just devastated by the things of man, 15:14 and that there's just so much pollution, 15:17 there's so much waste, nuclear waste, 15:19 that is being pumped into the environment, 15:21 I heard about a whole island, about the State of Texas, 15:24 it's really... it's in an island 15:25 that's out in the Pacific Ocean 15:27 and they call it the Plastic Island, 15:28 there was a book written about this 15:29 that somehow the ocean currents have 15:32 accumulated all of this plastic and quarantined it in one area, 15:36 out in the middle of the ocean, 15:38 that again is as big as the... the State of Texas. 15:41 So it's no secret that there's a lot of pollution 15:44 and corruption... a lot of this is fueled by 15:46 big business and industry that don't care about humanity, 15:50 I certainly put people above animals, 15:53 but as I look at what's happening around the world, 15:55 and I look at mankind destroying the earth, 15:59 and I look at the Bible, 16:00 it tells me that one of these days, 16:02 God is going to say, 16:03 "Enough is enough, enough is enough" 16:05 and He is going to step in 16:07 and it says... the Scripture says, 16:08 that He will destroy those who destroy the earth 16:12 and there's no doubt in my mind, 16:13 that the mass animal die-offs are connected to the destruction 16:18 that is occurring because of the greed and the pollution 16:22 and a lot of the waste, 16:24 that is coming from the human race, 16:27 and it's a tragedy. 16:29 We live in a polluted, sinful, mixed up crazy world 16:32 and it's not going to get any better, 16:34 it's only going to get worse 16:35 until the Lord comes and makes it all better 16:38 and that's the hope that we have 16:40 and we'll talk about that more, 16:42 we've got a lot to say about what is coming 16:45 and the hope that we have. 16:47 There is a light at the end of the tunnel 16:50 and it's not a train. 16:51 It's going to be ultimately the return of Jesus Christ 16:54 to get rid of sin and sorrow and suffering 16:56 and we'll look at that before we're done today, 16:59 but let's look a little bit more about the animals... 17:01 let's talk about the animals... 17:02 Matthew chapter 24 is an amazing chapter 17:04 where Jesus... back on the Mount of Olives 17:08 describes events leading up to the end of the world, 17:12 things that are going to be happening, 17:14 all over the Planet, and in verses 37 to 39 17:19 Jesus said: "As it was in the Days of Noah 17:24 so also will the coming of the son of man be. 17:27 For as in the days that were before the flood, 17:31 they were eating and drinking 17:33 and marrying and giving in marriage, 17:34 until the day that Noah entered the ark, 17:36 and they did not know 17:38 until the flood came and took them all away, 17:41 so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. " 17:45 These verses are very clear, 17:46 Jesus is very clear that there will be some 17:49 definite parallels between Noah's ancient days 17:54 and the days on earth right before his return, 17:58 right before the end of the world. 18:00 That's exactly what He says. 18:02 Now if you go back to the days of Noah, 18:05 and you look at what happened in Genesis 6, 7 and 8, 18:10 it's amazing that Noah built the ark... it took him 120 years. 18:15 When those 120 years were over, 18:17 the time came when Noah preached his last sermon, 18:22 and right before he preached his last sermon, 18:26 something very unusual happened, it was a sign, 18:30 God gave the antediluvians as they're called... 18:33 the people before the flood... he gave them one final sign 18:37 that the end was at hand and you know what that sign was, 18:40 when you read Genesis chapter 7, it's very, very clear 18:43 that the last sign before the door of the ark closed... 18:49 was the sign of the animals. 18:51 All of a sudden, out of the forests 18:53 and in the skies, 18:55 the sky was darkened because the birds were coming, 18:57 and the animals were coming out of the forest 18:59 and all these animals, two by two, seven by seven, 19:02 Genesis describes in a very orderly way, 19:05 they went into the ark 19:07 and that was right before the door closed. 19:09 And so, as I pondered that, 19:11 and this was just something to ponder, 19:12 it's just something to ponder 19:14 that God gave humanity one last sign, 19:18 before the door closed, 19:19 and that sign had to do with animals, 19:23 they went into the ark, 19:25 and then in a short time... the door closed, 19:29 a sign of animals... 19:30 and the reason why this is significant to me, 19:34 is because when I read Matthew 24 verse 37, 19:37 which we just read, 19:38 Jesus said, "As it was in the days of Noah, 19:42 so shall it be, before He comes. 19:45 Now, obviously, in Noah's day, the animals weren't dying, 19:48 but nevertheless, it's clear that God used animals 19:52 as part of His voice, 19:55 where He would speak to the people 19:58 before a flood. 20:00 When the skeptics saw the animals come in, 20:03 they didn't believe it, they thought, 20:04 "Ah, this is nothing, this is insignificant, 20:06 there is nothing to this, but those skeptics were wrong, 20:10 and in a short time, they were... under water 20:13 and that was it. 20:14 And again, Jesus said, "As it was in Noah's day, 20:17 so shall it be, before He comes. " 20:20 Again, back to Matthew 24, 20:25 the final sign that Jesus gives us 20:28 or at least one of the signs, in Matthew 24 verse 14, 20:34 Jesus said, "And this gospel of the kingdom... " 20:37 and the gospel means... the good news, 20:39 the good news of God's grace, 20:42 of His love, of His mercy, of His kindness 20:44 and of what He did for us through Jesus Christ 20:46 that Jesus came down to this dark world 20:48 and took our sins and paid the price for you and for me. 20:52 "And this gospel of the kingdom 20:54 will be preached in all the world 20:57 as a witness to all the nations; and then... " 21:01 Jesus said... "then shall the end come. " 21:04 There is a day coming when it will be the end. 21:07 That's exactly what Jesus Christ taught there 21:09 there's no doubt about it and to me as I've pondered this, 21:15 it is significant that all throughout the Old Testament 21:21 ever since Adam and Eve sinned, what was it that God used 21:27 specifically, methodically, and purposefully 21:31 to communicate to humanity the message of the gospel 21:35 of His son? It was the death of animals 21:38 all throughout Hebrew history, the temple services, 21:41 they would offer lambs as sacrifices 21:45 and those lambs pointed forward to the coming of Jesus Christ. 21:48 God decided... in His infinite wisdom... 21:50 a long time ago, 21:52 that He would use the death of animals 21:55 to speak to humanity 21:57 about the seriousness of breaking His law 21:59 about the seriousness of sin, 22:01 and about the seriousness of our need for Jesus Christ 22:05 and that certainly is the need that we have today. 22:09 We need the Lord, I need the Lord, 22:11 you need Him... we all need Him. 22:16 I don't know if you've... 22:18 have heard the story or not, 22:20 but it's rather amazing, 22:22 it came out of Argentina 22:24 in April of 2012, it's about a husband and wife 22:27 that were looking forward to having a baby. 22:31 But problems developed and the woman was not full-term 22:35 and she was... quite a bit early, 22:37 and so they took her to the hospital 22:40 and she was trying to go through her delivery, 22:42 and things weren't going right, and apparently the baby died 22:47 and it was... they said that it was a stillborn death 22:50 and so they took the child away from the mother 22:53 and put... they pronounced it dead, 22:55 the hospital pronounced it dead 22:56 and they placed it in the hospital morgue, 22:58 well, within the next 12 hours, the mother and father 23:02 after the woman was recovering, she decided... 23:05 we want to see our baby one more time, 23:08 we never... we didn't even get to hardly see 23:10 this child... this little baby girl 23:12 because she was taken away so quickly 23:14 and so they went into the hospital morgue 23:15 and there was nobody there, 23:18 but they found the coffin where their child was 23:20 and so amazingly... the father pried open this coffin 23:24 and then looked down at this little body 23:28 with a blanket over it, and then he pulled the blanket 23:33 away from his child 23:34 just so he could see his little girl... one last time 23:37 before they closed the coffin forever, 23:40 and as he pulled the blanket off this little girl, 23:46 she began to cry, 23:50 and her parents were just absolutely shocked 23:53 and they found out their little girl was alive, 23:57 she wasn't dead! 23:59 As far as I remember from the news report, 24:01 five hospital administrators lost their jobs 24:04 as a result of that and the little girl... 24:07 the last I read... was doing... 24:08 she was doing fine 24:10 after being nurtured back to health. 24:15 As I think about the world that we live in, 24:18 as I think about the mass animal die-offs 24:21 that are happening all around us 24:22 and as I think about something even more important, 24:25 which is the struggles and the suffering 24:30 and the dying of humanity, 24:33 we live in a polluted, mixed-up world 24:36 that's just full of poison, waste, toxicity, 24:40 pain and suffering, sorrow and death, 24:43 and as I look at all this, and then I look at my Bible, 24:46 and I look at the signs that Jesus predicted, 24:48 the fearful signs, the great signs, 24:50 the things that would be happening, 24:51 and look at ancient Israel, when I look at how 24:53 when Society was breaking God's law over and over and over again 24:57 the result would ripple into the animal kingdom 24:59 and God said that even the birds and the fish 25:02 would be taken away as a testimony against men, 25:04 because of man's sinfulness, then I read in Matthew 24 25:07 that in the midst of all these signs 25:09 that precede the coming of Jesus, 25:11 the final sign would be the good news of the gospel, 25:14 the good news of His love that will go to all the world, 25:17 as a witness to all the nations and then the end will come. 25:20 As I think about that father who reached down into this coffin 25:23 and grabbed his little girl, 25:24 I mean, what if he wouldn't have come after her, 25:26 what if they would have left her there, 25:28 what if they would have thought that she was dead 25:29 and never tried to get the coffin open? 25:31 She would have perished but the father and the mother... 25:35 they went to see her one more time, 25:38 and as I think about my Bible, 25:40 and think about God, and think about His love, 25:41 I know that God is reaching out His hand, 25:43 to you... you may feel like you're in a coffin, 25:45 you may feel like your life is a mess and you have no hope, 25:48 but I want you to know that you have a daddy in heaven, 25:51 you have a father in heaven who loves you 25:53 and He's reaching out His hand to you 25:56 in the midst of all the problems in this world 25:57 and all the problems that you may be going through, 26:00 He loves you and He's trying to get a hold of you 26:02 and get you out of sin 26:04 and get you out of all these difficulties 26:06 and prepare you to live in a holy place... 26:08 to prepare you to live in heaven with Him forever. 26:12 In Luke 21, Jesus listed signs that would take place, 26:17 He said there would be fearful signs, 26:18 there would be great signs 26:19 that would be happening all around the world, 26:21 and these things would take place right before, 26:23 as He said, they would see the Son of Man 26:27 coming in clouds, with power and with great glory. 26:32 This book gives me hope, it tells me that Jesus is coming 26:36 it tells me that sin is not going to go on forever, 26:38 that animals won't die forever and people won't die forever, 26:42 one day, Jesus is going to come, He's going to make it all right, 26:45 He's going to come with power and glory to get His people 26:48 and to take us home. 26:50 You... have just heard, from this book... 26:53 His voice today. 26:56 We hope you've enjoyed this timely message 26:58 from Pastor Steve Wohlberg and we want you to know 27:01 that White Horse Media is deeply committed 27:04 to bringing you many more simple messages 27:06 straight from the Bible designed to educate the mind, 27:09 inspire the heart and help bring our viewers 27:12 and our families closer to God. 27:13 To learn more about White Horse Media, 27:16 or to watch more of Pastor Steve's 27:18 Television Programs online, 27:19 including His powerful new series of two-minute talks, 27:22 visit hisvoicetoday. com 27:25 that's hisvoicetoday. com 27:28 if you have any prayer requests, you can e- mail them to us 27:31 at prayerrequests@hisvoicetoday .com 27:34 if you would like a free copy of Steve Wohlberg's audio CD, 27:38 "Behold the White Horse" 27:39 you can call us at 1-800-78-Bible 27:43 that's 1-800-78 Bible. 27:46 We hope you will join us next time 27:48 for another inspiring His "Voice Today" presentation 27:52 with Steve Wohlberg, until then... keep the faith. |
Revised 2015-10-22