The Great Harlot – Part Eight
If the interpretation of the Book of Revelation contained in previous instalments is correct, then at some point in our future, the earth will have a close encounter with a comet, and an asteroid will plunge into the ocean. Such a scenario would lead to destruction on a scale that would devastate the entire earth. For many species of life upon the planet, including man, this would be a life-threatening event, to be compared with the Chicxulub event.
Some sixty-five million years ago, scientists believe that a vast asteroid estimated to be about six miles wide struck the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico near the present town of Chicxulub, creating an impact-crater more than 100 miles in diameter. The resulting world-wide destruction is now considered to have wiped out the entire species of dinosaurs, which were at that point the dominant life-form on the planet. In addition about 80% of all remaining life on the planet perished.
Astronomers today consider that the possibility of the earth being struck by another asteroid or comet is extremely remote. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory managed by the California Institute of Technology has this to say on the subject: “The most dangerous asteroids, capable of global disaster, are extremely rare. The threshold size is believed to be 1/2 to 1 km. These bodies impact the earth only once every 1,000 centuries on average. Comets in this size range are thought to impact even less frequently, perhaps once every 5,000 centuries or so.”
As comforting as these words may sound, the fact is that scientists have already discovered forty-two impact craters in various locations on the earth over 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) wide. The Chicxulub crater mentioned above is not even the greatest. It is surpassed by the Sudbury crater (155 miles) in Ontario, Canada, as well as the Vredevort crater (186 miles) in Free State, South Africa. Since there is proof that the earth has been struck so many times in the past, it would seem only a matter of time before another large impact occurs.
The greatest indication that such a catastrophe looms in our future lies in the fact that prophets in every culture over the last three thousand years have recorded warnings about such an event. Even ancient Biblical prophets who lived many centuries before the birth of Jesus seemed obsessed with warnings about “the great and terrible day of the Lord”. (Joel 2:31) Detailed references to this global day of terror can be found in the Biblical Books of such prophets as Ezekiel, Joel, Amos, Nahum, Habbakuk, Haggai, Daniel and Malachi, all written between 433 and 770BC.
The holy books of every major religious faith speak of a time of tribulation that will culminate in the return to the earth of a divine savior. To those of the Christian faith the savior will be regarded as Jesus the Christ. To the Jews he will be the Messiah. To the Hindus he will be Kalki, the tenth incarnation of Vishnu. To the Muslims he will be the Mahdi, the expected one. To the Buddhists he will be the Maitreya, the Buddha that is to come.
Similar prophecies of a future day of reckoning can be found among the Hopi Indians of Arizona, as well as the Maya, the Incas and the Aztecs. Even though their own civilizations have long since passed into history, their prophecies still speak of a time when their long-awaited saviors will return. To the Incas of Peru he will be welcomed as the return of Viracocha. To the Mayas of Central America he will be Kukulcan. And to the Aztec people of Mexico, the savior will be Quetzalcoatl, the leader of the Gods.
One of the most famous prophets of medieval times was the French seer Nostradamus. Although he composed his four-line verses nearly five hundred years ago, many of them apply to the times that are happening now. They relate to things that will take place during the time of “great tribulation” spoken of in the Bible. Nostradamus deliberately wrote his verses in a confusing style to avoid being accused of witchcraft by the Catholic Inquisition. But in spite of the need to disguise his predictions in obscure language, he was unmistakably clear when it came to his references to a comet in the skies of earth.
Nostradamus described the comet in a variety of ways. Among the descriptions he used were “bearded star”, “great star”, “fire from the sky”, “trail of sparks”, “burning torch”, “long meteor” and “dart from heaven”. He also made frequent references to such things as “false dust”, “raining blood, milk and stones”, “water colored by blood”, “great hail”, “red hail” and “hail larger than an egg”. Among the quatrains that refer to the coming of the comet are:
Century One: Verses 46, 67, 69. Century Two: Verses 15, 18, 32, 41, 43, 46, 62, 70, 81, 91, 92, 96. Century Three: Verses 18, 19, 42. Century Four: 67. Century Five: 62, 90, 98. Century Six: 5, 6, 10, 35, 38, 81, 97. Century Eight: Verses 2, 10, 77. Century Nine: 3, 55, 83. Century Ten: 60, 67, 72, 74.
But we do not need to rely on prophetic warnings alone to know that cataclysmic events lie in our future. Many sensitive souls are experiencing visionary dreams which speak to the current state of the world, as we can see from an example quoted in a previous instalment:
“Back in 1995 I had this dream. It seemed so real and powerful. I was on vacation at the Sand Banks in Picton, Ontario, Canada. I was sleeping in this old stone house which was part of the hotel. Anyway, the dream was of this big huge planet-like sphere in the night sky and it was pulsing and very bright. We knew it was the end of our world as we know it. It was kind of scary, yet most amazing and we were in awe, and this entity was so huge and powerful that you just accepted it. The whole event was so real. It’s like the whole world came together to look up at this thing and we all realized that there was no stopping this.” (Lawrie)