I woke up at 2 am this morning - feeling dizzy. It was a very uncomfortable feeling. Could not sleep after that. Could it be due to the side effects of the drugs I have been taking? Or a new medical complication as far as I am concerned? The technical term for this most miserable of sensation where my world & i are spinning is Vertigo. In the Alfred Hitchcock movie ‘Vertigo”, the character played by James Steward actually suffers from acrophobia or fear of heights. In my case I still do not know what it is. Vertigo while sleeping? I have never experienced it before.
Vertigo has reminded me of my mortality once more. Better live one day at a time. No one knows what will happen tomorrow or the future. Why plan for the future? After all, even the money we put into banks is not guaranteed to be there in the future. Banks may all collapse and money and all other instruments of trading may be rendered a thing of the past in a single day (or hour) one of these days. We may all suffer a vertigo and who knows what then…which brings me to the present American economic crisis which is affecting global financial markets. The world seems to be having an economic vertigo of its own. And no one knows what will happen tomorrow or the future. Even the $700 billion dollar plan is only said to be short term measure. The world is looking at an economic recession.
The earlier conversation I had with a good Christian friend of mine during tea time came to mind. As usual he spoke about bible revelations. As I type this, I hear a loud thunder outside my room. A sign perhaps that God confirms that what I am writing now is inspired by the Holy Spirit?
Anyway for the record, very briefly the bible has this to say:-
Rev. 18:19 "They will throw dust on their heads and with tears and groans: 'Mourn for this great city whose lavish living has made a fortune ... for in one hour is she made desolate.'"
Rev. 18:9 - 'the kings of the earth lived with her in luxury'
verse 3 - 'every merchant has grown rich through her debauchery'
verse 11 - 'the traders of the earth wept in distress over her fall'
verse 12 - 'there is no one left to buy her goods'
verse 14 - 'the life of magnificence and ease has gone'
verse 15 - 'the traders had made a fortune out of her'
verse 17 - 'her riches were destroyed in a single hour'
verse 18 - 'all those making a living out of the sea and sea transport, lamented over her fall'
verse 19 - 'her lavish living had made a fortune for shipowners' (oil carriers?)
verse 23 - 'her traders were the princes of the earth and all the nations were under her spell'
Wall Street fits to be the present day symbol of the city the bible refers to. In John’s time it was Babylon.
Now what is the significance of this collapse of the world’s fragile economic system? Is it to make way for a new world economic order? Where there will be no need for money anymore? According to my friend, the bible says that a new system will have to be implemented which only requires the mark of the beast to buy and sell.
According to the Scriptures and my friend, the "mark of the beast" is received on the right hand or forehead. With modern technology, it is very possible that this mark may be directly linked with a computer chip - planted into the right palm or forehead. Better the forehead as the hand can be chopped off.
"He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666" (Rev. 13:16-18).
With the latest advance in information technology, the internet, sophisticated mobile phones, pocket computers, cheap airlines and fast trains, another prophecy comes to mind -.
"But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase" (Daniel 12:4).
Like it or not, whether logical or not, whatever the faults one may find with the book, the bible has predicted present day events…the vertigo is now being felt. It will continue until the second coming of Christ. Hallucination or not..we will find out in the fullness of time. And the fullness of time? 2012.
Why 2012? Reveleation 20:12 - "And i saw the dead, small and great stand before God: and the books were opened: and another book was opened- which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works" - JUDGMENT DAY.
A close Buddhist friend of mine told me he once placed a bet on 2012 at the gambling house. He won first prize.. but he lost the ticket and could not claim the prize! He was devastated. But that is ok. Its only money. As the christians and moslems say, when judgment day comes, let us not lose our souls and lose the biggest prize of all.
I have not heard the thunder again. Odd that it only happened once all this while...God must have spoken...
