Wars and Rumors of Wars

For years now there has been talk about World War III, which is what I'd like to discuss today. The very fact that it has been rumored about so much and for so long is a sign of the times in itself. For the Lord said that before he returns there will be wars and rumors of wars. He said, "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come." (Mt 24:6, NIV).

There is speculation that WWIII could begin at any moment. In fact, it may have already begun when the initially unnamed war on ISIS in Iraq and Syria began in 2014, which is now called Operation Inherent Resolve. Russia also has troops on the ground in Syria, as well as planes flying airstrikes, and warships offshore in the Mediterranean Sea. In fact, they claim to have Spetsnaz Special Forces working covertly within ISIS, helping to call in the airstrikes. The effectiveness of the Russian airstrikes may have helped provide leverage to negotiate the recent cease-fire in the Syrian civil war, which at this time seems to be partially holding. Interestingly, Russia is supporting their ally, Syrian President Assad, and a different set of combatants in the civil war than the ones the United States is supporting, so the US and Russia are fighting on different sides of the war.

Whether Operation Inherent Resolve and the war against ISIS will be the beginning of WWIII remains to be seen. But ever since September 11, 2001, the US has been at war against Islamic militants, and there seems to be no end in sight. Moreover, the fact that ISIS has publicly declared their goal of establishing an Islamic state globally means that all nations who do not agree to accept that goal have a stake in the war against ISIS.

Aside from the war on terror, there is the issue of the US military being spread too thinly around the world. Presently the US military, primarily Special Forces, are involved in 134 wars around the world, which covers 70% of the world's nations. Meanwhile the U.S. military is aging, shrinking in size, and only “marginally able” to defend America’s vital national interests. It is no longer able to fight two wars at once, can no longer guarantee its ability to win one war, and is being reduced in numbers to pre-World War II level.

Moreover, the American moral crisis has severely weakened the US military. The country has turned away from God. It has despised and ignored the prophets the Lord has sent to it. The stench of its sins, and the blood of the innocents is crying out, and is continually before God's face. The Church is lukewarm, adulterous, reprobate, and apostate. The US military has become an anti-Christian institution, and it is suffering from a suicide epidemic.

Meanwhile, in the midst of all this, China has continued to flex its military muscles in various ways. One thing that comes to mind is the time in April 2001 when one of their fighter jets rammed a US reconnaissance plane in International airspace off the coast of China, which caused it to make an emergency landing on the Chinese island of Hainan in the South China Sea. There have been other similar acts of belligerence since then against US aircraft and ships at sea. And Chinese ships have been spotted right off the west coast of the US. There was a mysterious ballistic missile launched off the coast of California in 2010, which some speculate was from a Chinese submarine. But more recently five Chinese military ships were seen off the coast of Alaska while Obama was visiting there in September 2015. The Pentagon confirmed the presence of the ships in the Bering Sea between Alaska and Russia, and it was believed to be the first time Chinese military ships have been seen in that area, which is a sign of China's global presence extending far from its own borders. Then in October 2015 a Chinese attack submarine tracked a US aircraft carrier south of Japan. In May 2016, Chinese fighter jets dangerously passed within 50 feet of a US reconnaissance plane over the South China Sea. As you can see, China has a long, track record of provocations. In terms of global fire power, China is now rated as the third most powerful military in the world.

Furthermore, since 2012, the Chinese have also been on a major buying spree, in a push to purchase significant amounts of US infrastructure, commerce, and natural resources. Their progress on this front has been astounding, and they now own major businesses in America, as well as vast amounts of prime real estate, including US ports. One example of a business front used for incursion into America is the China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO), which is controlled by the People’s Republic of China. This communist-owned company already owns vital ports in Long Beach, Calif. and Boston, Mass.

Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin at the Moscow Parade 2015

Russia, the largest ally of China, and the second most powerful military force in the world, has been busy, too, in its military activities related to America. In April 2014, a Russian intelligence-gathering ship was seen off the US coast and near the Gulf of Mexico. Then in September 2014, Russian, long-range bomber planes practiced bombing flights to North America. Then in September and October 2015, a Russian spy-ship made it's way down the entire east coast of the US, in conjunction with submarines that came dangerously close to US underwater cables used for communicating intelligence information. It is believed that the Russians were mapping out the location of the cables, so that they could cut them in the event of tension or conflict. This level of activity from Russia was similar to what we saw during the Cold War era.

Then there were the week-long, Chinese-Russian, joint naval drills at sea in April 2015, which included an amphibious landing of amphibious and airborne troops, as well as firing their warships' guns. After that came the massive, V-Day military parade that China held in Beijing in September 2015, where Vladmir Putin, the Russian Prime Minister stood beside Chinese President Xi Jinping in the reviewing stand. Since Jinping had attended the Moscow Victory Day Parade in May 2015 as Putin's guest-of-honor (photo above), he returned the favor at this parade, in which China showcased around 12,000 troops, 500 military vehicles and over 200 military aircraft, including weapons systems never before seen in public.

I give all of this as background to help you understand that the world is at war, ISIS is on the move, posing a major threat, Russia and China are displaying their military might, acting subversively toward America, and the Cold War between the US and Russia is in full progress once again. This is the context for the prophecies I am about to share with you about the coming invasion of America by Russia and China.

First of all, in 1973 David Wilkerson had a vision of an economic collapse followed by a Russian invasion of America via a hydrogen holocaust. He also had another vision in 1985 of an economic collapse, followed by an attack from Russia, in which a hydrogen holocaust will engulf America in one hour. He also had subsequent visions in 1992 and 2009 of calamity and judgment on America.

Secondly, in the 1980's, a Romanian pastor named Dumitru Duduman had a vision of the US being attacked by Russia and destroyed by nuclear weapons. He was told that the US is mystery Babylon depicted in Revelation 17-18, and that certain US cities like San Francisco, Las Vegas, Miami, and New York are modern-day Sodom and Gomorrahs. He was shown that in one day America will burn.

Thirdly, around 1986, Henry Gruver had a vision of the US being invaded and totally destroyed by the Russian and Chinese. He saw a sea and air invasion would occur, including attacks with nuclear weapons and nerve gas. He was shown the Russian submarines very close to the US east coast firing nuclear missiles at cities in the US.

Fourthly, in 1985, Dr. Maurice Sklar had a vision of America as Mystery Babylon being destroyed by fire. He was told to release the vision to warn people, so they might flee from the wrath to come.

Finally, in 2013, I wrote an article titled America’s Destruction is at Hand, regarding a dream I had about war coming to America, as well as some visions of others that the Lord led me to include in that post about sudden destruction coming upon this nation. 

Putting it All Together
You can choose to believe these visions or not, but they all speak of the same thing, which is that America is marked for judgment by God. And we are closer now to that time of fiery judgment than we have ever been before.

When you combine all of this with the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster and it's dire consequences, as well as the The End Time Plagues that are currently happening, and the way the earth and its environment are experiencing multiple, severe crises, it's clear that we are in a time of distress such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world, which God created, until now and never will be again! Those with understanding will understand that these are signs of the times we live in. They point to the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back right away. 

If you don't know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, now is the time to repent and believe in Him. Now is the time to turn from sin and follow Him. If you are a believer, but you are not walking with the Lord as you should or you are backslidden into sin, then now is the time to wake up and repent, for the kingdom of God is near. Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices. Forsake your love of the world. Return to the Lord and He will return to you.

The Lord is coming back right away, but He is only coming for a holy people -- those living a holy life. Most of the Church has become apostate and rejected the truth. Please don't assume you are in good standing with God. Ask Him to search your heart and expose anything that is hidden that must go. Then when He does, repent. Don't delay. This could be your final warning!

Attribution notice: Scriptures taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®.  The "Four Horsemen" painting © 2012 Danny Hahlbohm, all rights reserved by the artist. The photo of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at the 2015 Moscow Victory Day parade, courtesy of kremlin.ru.

Author's note: You must take responsibility for your own actions. Nobody knows the day or the hour, and in no way am I date setting. This is only to provide you with information, so that you can make your own decisions, for which you will be accountable to God.  You may also want to read my other related posts:

The End Time Plagues	America’s Destruction is at Hand	Are You Rapture Ready?
The Land Mourns in the Last Days	Trumpet Sounds Heard Around the World	Grieve and Lament for the Church
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster	The End Has Come	Mark of the Beast (666)
The 311 Moment	Sequence of Signs Preceding the Coming of Christ	Synching Up the Seven Seals with the Gospels

You may also visit our Signs of the Times Directory, and access my complete blog directory at Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission.

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster

Aerial view of Fukushima plant 1975

On March 11, 2011, an earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, causing the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.  We are now coming up on the fifth anniversary of that event, and the effects of radiation are still impacting the planet. The global impacts from this disaster are too numerous to list here. If you have not seen my previous article, The 311 Moment, in which I wrote about the adverse global effects of this tragic accident on our ecosystem, and their prophetic implications, I recommend reading it for proper background.

I recently read an article by RT News from August 2013, titled "Fukushima apocalypse: Years of ‘duct tape fixes’ could result in ‘millions of deaths’". That report contained some very disturbing information about the fact that they need to remove spent fuel rods from the damaged reactors, which is the most dangerous fuel removal in history. Much of what I am about to tell you is a summary of that report.

They must extract over 1,300 fuel rods at the crippled nuclear power plant. Even the tiniest mistake during this operation could set off a chain reaction of failures with an apocalyptic outcome, according to fallout researcher Christina Consolo. There are 400 tons worth of spent fuel rods, which must be extracted from the plant’s damaged Reactor No. 4. These spent fuel rods are stored in a pool on Reactor 4, which has the most significant problems structurally, and this pool is on the top floor of the building. The cranes that would normally be used for the removal were destroyed in the initial accident, so the operation must be done manually from the top of the damaged building. The integrity of the fuel pool has been severely compromised. This is a radiation-contaminated environment, and it is impossible to use computer-guided robots to perform this task. There is no other way than to do it manually. 

Humans will have to undertake this dangerous and complex task while being blasted with radiation. Each rod is very heavy, weighing two-thirds of a ton, making it difficult to carry or move. They must remove each rod without incident, and this process must be repeated flawlessly over 1,300 times. Even under optimal conditions in a plant that has not been damaged, this is a delicate process, but this will need to be done in a contaminated environment, in a building that is sinking. The workers will need to be replaced often as they reach their radiation dose limit, or if they become physically or mentally incapable of continuing.

If they mishandle a single rod, it may become critical. If the rods come too close to one another, it would set off an unstoppable chain reaction, resulting in a nuclear meltdown above ground, which would release radioactive fallout. Since there would be no way to stop it, this would result in a worst-case scenario. Such a scenario has never happened before in the history of the world. Arnie Gundersen coined the term “Gamma Shine Event” to describe it, and Dr. Christopher Busby has called it an “Open-air super reactor spectacular.” However, there is no other option than to undertake this risky process. If they leave things the way they are now, the risk of a similarly bad outcome increases every day.

As long as they leave the spent fuel rods in place, there are multiple factors that could result in a tremendous disaster. For one, there is the danger of contaminated water build-up which we already know about. There is water running across the surface of the ground into the damaged plant, which becomes contaminated when it comes into contact with the debris. This tainted water is being pumped out and stored in tanks. There are currently 1,000 tanks containing 750,000 tons of radioactive water, and a new tank is added every three to four days. This obviously cannot go on forever, since there is not unlimited space to store these tanks.

Moreover, by pumping water out from under the damaged reactors, they are further weakening the stability of the buildings, which increases the risk of structural compromise or failure. As the buildings shift on such unstable ground, the rods inside could come too close to each other, resulting in another nuclear fire and subsequent meltdown that would leave three, 100-ton blobs of molten radioactive debris underground to contaminate the ground water. Meanwhile those huge, radioactive water storage tanks are subject to corrosion and possible leakage. And all it would take is another earthquake or tsunami to cause the tanks to rupture and release all that water into the ocean.

We already know that this build-up of contaminated water is very dangerous. But the fuel rod situation is far worse. In the early days of the initial accident, the explosion caused damage to the racks inside the pool that contain this fuel. They were initially cooled with saltwater, which has caused the pool walls to become corroded. Corrosion has probably also happened to the fuel rods and racks. Therefore, the contents of the pool could potentially burn and/or explode, causing further damage to the entire structure or even collapse. Once those rods are moved and get too close to each other, this would set off a chain reaction process, which could be self-sustaining and continue for a long time. This would obviously be an apocalyptic scenario. Needless to say, another earthquake or tsunami to hit Fukushima would be all it takes to set something like this off. Since Fukushima sits on an active seismic fault line, and the planet is currently experiencing an average of 1,232 earthquakes per month (M4.0 or higher), or about 40 per day, the probability of this risk is high (see Editor's afterword at the end of this article).

When I read the 2013 article by RT News a few days ago in February 2016, I was hoping to find that this spent fuel rod clean up was successfully completed by now, since that report was three years old. However, I learned from a more recent report that the rods have still not been removed. In fact it will probably take 40 years to do so! On February 11, 2016, CNN published an article titled, "Japan: Fukushima clean-up may take up to 40 years, plant's operator says." According to the article, Akira Ono, head of the Fukushima plant, states the biggest challenge they face in permanently shutting down the plant is removing from three reactors all the nuclear fuel debris that has been melted. Moreover, TEPCO, the power company that operates the plant, says it is in the dark about the current state of the debris. Nobody will know the exact status of the spent fuel rods until they go into the damaged plant to find out.

As you can see, there are potentially apocalyptic scenarios that could occur both before and during the removal of the spent fuel rods. The risk of such scenarios is increased by delaying the clean up, as well as by proceeding with it. The Fukushima Daiichi power plant is a ticking time bomb of global proportions just waiting to go off. When it does, it could result in the deaths of millions or even billions of people. In light of all this, the outlook for the future of this planet is grim.

This dilemma is not isolated to Japan, and is not solely Japan's problem. This is the world's problem. It is mankind's problem. It is higher priority than any other project any nation is working on right now. And even if they were to all stop what they are doing and work together to solve it, all of the kings' horses and all the kings' men could not put Daiichi together again. The only One who can solve this is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only answer for this problem.

Therefore, the only solution is for all people of all nations to repent and turn back to God. Put your trust in Jesus. Ask Him to forgive you for your sins and save you. Anyone who refuses to see that this a sign of the Lord's soon return is in denial of reality. In addition, if you put all this together with the signs I outlined in my articles, The Land Mourns in the Last Days and The 311 Moment, it should be obvious to anyone that time is over. Jesus Christ is coming back right away, but He is only coming for the holy ones. So prepare yourself in holiness for His return before it is too late.

Editorial afterword: I was praying that the Lord would give me a powerful conclusion to this article. Amazingly, once I finished writing this present article of mine, and was searching for free images to use in it, I just happened to come across an article posted today (14 hours ago), February 19, 2016 at 13:39, by RT News, titled "5.1 magnitude earthquake strikes off Fukushima coast of Japan." This is breaking news! It states: "A 5.1 magnitude earthquake has struck off the coast of Japan, according to the US Geological Survey. The quake, which had a depth of 20km, struck 105km from the Fukushima Dai-Ni power plant...Fukushima Dai-Ni is just 12km from the Fukushima Daiichi plant, which suffered a meltdown of its nuclear reactors after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, resulting in Japan's worst nuclear accident." The fact that this quake happened on the same day I wrote this article, and that I had no idea about it until after I had completed the entire article, should be a confirmation to anyone reading it that this is a message from the Lord!

Upon further research after that, I learned that the seismic activity is becoming more active around Japan. The M5.1 quake was actually the fourth of five quakes in and around Japan on 2/19/2016! Six quakes occurred on 2/18/2016, including an M4.3. Three quakes occurred on 2/17/2016, including an M4.3. In fact, there were a total of twenty-seven quakes reported by the Japan Meteorological Agency in February alone up to the date of this article, including an M6.2 on 2/15/2016. There were also quakes in January as well, including an M4.2 that hit Fukushima offshore on 1/25/2016. I did not know any of this when I wrote the article. Indeed, these earthquakes and the following Scriptures prove the points made in this article:

"And there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven." (Luk 21:11)

"For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will." (Mat 24:21)

"There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken." (Luk 21:25-26)

"Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door." (Mat 24:32-33)

Sources:
[1] Fukushima apocalypse: Years of ‘duct tape fixes’ could result in ‘millions of deaths’, RT News, August 2013
[2] Japan: Fukushima clean-up may take up to 40 years, plant's operator says, CNN News, February 11, 2016.
[3] Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, Wikipedia
[4] 5.1 magnitude earthquake strikes off Fukushima coast of Japan, RT News, February 19, 2016 13:39
[5] Japan Meteorological Agency Earthquake Information.
[6] Understanding the accident of Fukushima Daiichi NPS (video) - IRSN, February 2, 2013.
[7] Global Earthquake Numbers on Par for 2015, USGS, Released: 2/1/2016.
[8] List of Earthquakes in 2015, Wikipedia.

Correction: This article originally stated incorrectly that there are 3,000 quakes per month on earth, but there were actually about 1,232 per month in 2015.


Attribution: Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Aerial image of Fukushima Daiichi nuclea plant in 1975, copyright © National Land Image Information (Color Aerial Photographs), Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, via Wikimedia Commons. 

Author's note: You must take responsibility for your own actions. Nobody knows the day or the hour, and in no way am I date setting. This is only to provide you with information, so that you can make your own decisions, for which you will be accountable to God.  Also see my initial write up about Fukushima disaster and its adverse global effects in The 311 Moment. You may also want to read my other related posts:

The Land Mourns in the Last Days	Michael Shigaba's End Time Message for Mankind	Are You Rapture Ready?
The End Has Come	Trumpet Sounds Heard Around the World	Grieve and Lament for the Church
Something is going on 2012	News Headlines Reflect the End Times	Mark of the Beast (666)
Something is Going on in 2013	Sequence of Signs Preceding the Coming of Christ	Synching Up the Seven Seals with the Gospels

You may also visit our Signs of the Times Directory, and access my complete blog directory at Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org

The Amazing Sign of Jonah

"I can't believe in God unless I see some kind of sign that He exists." I've heard people say things similar to this before. Maybe you have heard this from someone you love or even said it yourself. This is what the religious people wanted to see from Jesus -- some sort of sign to prove his divinity.

Jesus said, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah." And He left them and went away. (Mat 16:4) Also see Luke 11:29, 30.

In fact, Jesus compared himself to Jonah, and said that the sign of the prophet Jonah would be given to this adulterous generation. This study examines that sign, comparing and contrasting the experiences of Jonah and Jesus on the sea. I'll put these comparisons side by side, so you can see them one by one, first about Jesus, and then about Jonah. (All references to the book of Jonah will be abbreviated Jon)

Jesus	Jonah
Son of God gave the order to go across the lake to the other side (Mat 8:18)	God told Jonah to go to Nineveh (Jon 1:2)
Jesus got into the boat to cross over and the disciples followed him (Mat 8:23)	Jonah got into a boat and fled from the Lord’s presence. He disobeyed God, heading away from Nineveh (Jon 1:3)
Without warning, a furious storm came up on the sea. (Mat 8:24)	There was a great storm on the sea (Jon 1:5)
The waves swept over the boat (Mat 8:23)	The ship was about to break up (Jon 1:4)
Jesus was sleeping in the boat (Mat 8:24)	Jonah was sleeping in the boat (Jon 1:5)
The disciples in the boat cried out in fear for their lives to the Son of God (Mat 8:25)	The sailors in the boat became afraid and every man cried to his god (Jon 1:5, 10)
The disciples went and woke Jesus (Mat 8:25)	The captain approached Jonah and woke him (Jon 1:6)
The disciples expected the Son of God to save them from the storm (Mat 8:25)	The captain expected the God of Jonah to save him and his crew from the storm. The sailors called on the Lord to save them. (Jon 1:6, 14)
Jesus is the Lord God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land (John 1:1-3)	Jonah feared the Lord God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land (Jon 1:9)
Jesus rebuked the wind and the waves of the sea (Mat 8:26)	Jonah was thrown into the sea (Jon 1:15)
The sea became perfectly calm	The sea stopped its raging (Jon 1:15)
The key to the sea becoming calm again was Jesus being in the boat	The key to the sea becoming calm again was getting Jonah out of the boat (Jon 1:11, 12)
The disciples were amazed at the power and authority of the Son of God. They took note that the winds and waves obeyed Him. (Mat 8:27)	The sailors feared the Lord greatly after the sea became calm, and they offered sacrifices to Him and made vows (Jon 1:16)
A fish has represented Jesus for centuries, because of the Greek Ikhthus (ΙΧΘΥΣ) acronym (Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior) that means fish. The Lord ordained that Jesus would be crucified and die on a cross. (Mat 20:18,19 and Luk 9:22)	The LORD appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah (Jon 1:17 and Is 53:10)
Jesus died to save us from God's wrath. Yet, unlike Jonah, He never sinned, and the wrath was on account of our own sins. (Rom 5:91 and Thes 1:10)	When Jonah asked them to throw him into the sea, he was willing to die to save them from the wrath of God. (Jon 1:12) Jonah seems to have died of drowning before the sea creature swallowed him (Jon 2:5-7).
Jesus was in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. (Mat 12:39, 40)	Jonah's body was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. (Jon 1:17)
Jesus went down to the dead. In 180 AD, Irenaeus of Lyons wrote, “…the Lord went away into the midst of the shadow of death where the souls of the dead were…” In 350 AD, Cyril of Jerusalem wrote, "(Christ) descended into the subterranean regions so that He might ransom from there the just...” (1 Pet 3:19 and Ac 10:40)	When Jonah died, he cried to the Lord from Sheol (the subterranean world of the dead). (Jon 2:2)
Many people repented at the preaching of Jesus (Mat 12:41)	The men of Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah (Jon 3:1-10)
After three days in the heart of the earth, Jesus rose from the dead. (Luke 24 and John 20, and 1 Cor 15:3-5)	After three days in the belly of the sea monster, the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land. He was raised back to life again by the Lord. (Jon 2:6, 10)

My friend, you've got your sign.  Jesus, One Who is greater than Jonah, has come and walked among us (Mat 12:41, Luke 11:32).  He Himself is a sign, as Simeon said of Him to Mary, His mother, "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against..." (Lk 2:34).

After Jesus rose from the dead, he manifested himself (appeared) to the disciples by the sea where they were fishing. There he was by the seaside, cooking a piece of fish on the charcoal fire. He gave them some of the fish and they ate breakfast together. John 21:9

"The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. (Luk 11:32)

The IKTHUS Fish
The Greek word for fish, ikhthus (ichthys in borrowed words), spelled, in Greek characters, Iota-Chi-Theta-Upsilon-Sigma (ΙΧΘΥΣ looks like IXOYE in Roman alphabet characters) is regarded as an acronym for Ιησως Χριστος Θεου `Υιος Σωτερ (or, in Roman alphabet characters, Iesou (Jesus) Christos (anointed) Theou (of God) Uios (son) Soter (saviour)), which means Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour.

According to "Knowledge Rush" encyclopedia, "One of the signs for Christianity is the fish. The reason for this dates from some early societies of Christians who protected themselves and their congregations by keeping their meetings secret. In order to point the way to ever-changing meeting places, they developed a symbol which adherents would readily recognize, and which they could scratch on rocks, walls and the like, in advance of a meeting. The fish was chosen as eminently apropos." 

What's Your Response to the Sign
When you are driving your car and see a road sign warning that there's danger ahead, you heed the road signs, because you know you could die if we don’t respond properly to the sign.

Jesus has given us in Himself the sign of Jonah. What should our response be at this sign?

First, we should repent with the same wholehearted fervor as the men of Nineveh.  If we do turn from our wicked way, then God will relent concerning the calamity that He had declared He would send on us and we will not perish. If we don’t repent, the men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment and condemn us.

Second, we should believe that God raised Jesus from the dead and receive forgiveness for our sins. Remember that Jesus said the sign he would show was that he would be in the belly of the earth for only three days and three nights, as Jonah was temporarily in the belly of the great fish. Just as it was a miracle that Jonah made it out of the fish alive, it was a miracle that Jesus came back out of the grave. This is the most remarkable aspect of the sign Jesus gave to the world.

The apostle Paul wrote: “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; (Rom 10:9). This means that there are two very important things you must do to be saved. The first is to confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord. That means you say out loud that He is Lord over your life personally and Lord of the Universe. And the second thing you need to do is to believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead.

This takes us back to the sign Jesus gave us. He is no longer in the grave. After three days, He rose again. What will be your response to this sign? Let me encourage you today to repent of your own sin and believe on Jesus Christ. Confess that He is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. And as the Scriptures say, “You will be saved.”

Will you repent of your sins, and put your trust in Jesus today to save you?

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Author's note: I recommend my other posts called, "Jesus Christ Descended Into Hell," "Trumpet Sounds Heard Around the World," "Something's Going on in 2012" You may also visit our Signs of the Times Directory, and access my complete blog directory at Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.