Signs in Real Time

Okay, we’re going to move on to our next segment, which is called Signs in Real Time. You ready for this? We’re going to be taking a look at the ancient prophecies that have been given about our day and I want to compare them. I want to compare them to what we are seeing in the world right now. Full disclosure, this isn’t always going to be happy. This is not always a fun exercise. But, if you stick with me, I promise you’ll learn something, first off. And secondly, I can promise that I will leave you with something that will uplift you. This is meant to be empowering. I believe that it is crucial for us to have our eyes wide open, and to see the world through a spiritual lens, and to be able to discern what is happening in the world around us. If we want be able to accurately measure the times that we live in, and prepare, and be looking for the Savior, we have to be awake. So that’s the goal here.

For our segment today, we are going to Revelation 9: 21. So John, the Revelator, when he was an outcast, had a vision of all of history basically. It went from one end of Earth-life, to the other. And the bulk of it is focused on our time, on the last days, and the events that are going to be transpiring. And in chapter 9, verse 21, John discloses the four sins that are going to be the most prevalent, of which the people are not going to repent. That will be characteristic of the last days. I’m going ot go ahead and read it, ready? “Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.” Okay, so let’s break it down. Let’s talk about each one, and what we’re seeing, and what we need to be aware of.

So murder. Taking this from Pew Research. the US murder rate rose 30% between 2019 and 2020. The largest year increase in more than a century, possibly ever. (Because the records are not as reliable the further back they get.) So thirty percent increase in murder rate from 2019 to 2020. Now the research, as I’m recording this, has not been published for between 2020 and 2021, obviously 2021 is not over yet, but early indicators suggest that the murder rate is continuing to trend in an upward direction. If we want to look outside of what is just considered strictly murder, we could also talk about state sanctioned activities such as abortion, which has cost over 62 million lives since 1973, which is absolutely tragic. And this is just specific to the United States. If we wanted to pan out and look more worldwide, the data would be consistently rising, the same as what we’re seeing here. So that’s number one, murder is number one.

Next one, sorceries. Well Meghan, I mean witchcraft is kind of a thing, and you know, some people practice animal sacrifices for weird things. And that’s all true, right? And that certainly has indications here. But sorceries, really you need to look at the Greek word for sorcery to get a little bit more insight. And that word is pharmakeia, which had reference to withcraft, but also had reference to poisoning, and administering drugs. So the word pharmacy and pharmaceutical are derived from this Greek word, pharmakeia. Provisional data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics indicate that there was an estimated 100,306 drug overdose deaths in the United States during the twelve month period ending in 2021, which was an increase of about 28.5%. Isn’t it interesting that the murder and the sorcery statistic is an increase of almost 30%? I don’t know, I just find that interesting for some reason. Any, that’s encompassing overdose deaths from opioids, from synthetic opioids (primarily fentanyl), psycho-stimulants such as methamphetamine, cocaine, and then also including deaths from natural and semi-synthetic opioids such as prescription pain medications. There are some major cities that are seeking to establish “drug-safe zones” where users could go shoot up in a supposedly quote-unquote secure location with healthcare workers on stand-by in case they overdose, which, to me, indicates that this trend is only going to increase. There’s almost a “state sanctioned” use of illegal drugs if we’re going to be taking those sort of steps. But I think the interesting thing about this sin of sorcery, I think it has more to do with where we are dependent. Are we dependent on material things, on things of this world? Or are we dependent on God? And I think that we could have a whole discussion, and we will in the future, about the word of wisdom. Things that we can do, things that we need to do better to make sure our dependency is only on God, and on the Savior.

Okay, next one. Fornication. Again looking at the Greek. The Greek root of this word is porneia. Obviously, this is also where pornography is derived from. I think it’s pretty well understood that pornography is rampant. That it is evil. That it has pernicious effects on those who view it, and devastating effects for those who are affected by those who view it. Speaking more to the society at large, this leads to all sorts of terrible practices, such as objectifying women (and girls especially), increase in violence and in abusive behaviors, and to the encouragement of practices of sex trafficking and pedophilia. All of these things are so present right now. I think that that’s what you should be taking away from this. Is that we are living in the times that John saw.

Last one, theft. You know, I was talking with a friend about this segment theft is the one that you are just like, ‘Huh, that’s not what I would have guessed.’ The other three, maybe with the exception of sorcery, but murder and fornication, those are very obvious. Right? You would expect to be on this list, but theft is really the one that you’re like, ‘Hmmm, one of these doesn’t seem to belong.’ But it is was one that we are seeing an increase of. We’re seeing an increase in terms of property theft. San Francisco, this year, has seen an 88% increase in larceny and theft. In the course of a year, 88%! That’s insane. And many cities across the United States can boast similar rates. Similar increases in theft related crimes. Obviously robbery, looting, theft, they all kind of fall under that category. I think that this is just indicative of that there is a lack of respect for personal property. We talk about personal property in terms of the Constitution, and that is listed as an unalienable right given to us by God. And we see that that’s true. God respects personal property. Even, and especially in systems such as the Law of Consecration, which is another thing that we’ll talk about. Personal property is respected. You have private ownership. There is no communal ownership of property, and lands, and things. There is something about ownership. Maybe it has something to do with accountability; I think it could have something to do say with the Parable of the Talents. And about how God gives us things and He expects us to take them and make more. And you can’t really do that unless you have property, unless you have ownership of the talents that He’s given you. But whatever it is, property is something that is respected and acknowledged by God, and the trend that we are seeing is that that is being trampled on here in the last days.

Okay, so what’s the point Meghan? What do we need to do about this? Well first off, we don’t participate in these things. We do our best to avoid opportunities where perhaps we could be a victim. We repent if we are guilty of some of these things. And most especially, we are here to observe, to acknowledge, and keep our eyes on the Savior. None of this is good. We don’t celebrate any of this. But, we do celebrate the fact that it is indicative of the times in which we live, and that it means the Savior is coming.