What If?
/Two simple words that, when combined, can have profound implications.
As many of you know, I spent a significant part of my career with the NYPD conducting dignitary protection. During that period I spent a lot of time contemplating those two words.
“What if?” became a routine part of my threat assessment mindset for good reason. In dignitary protection operations you only had one chance to be right and history is rife with examples of those who failed to heed those two simple words.
Those who know me will attest to the fact that I am by no means a conspiracy theorist. While I do not dismiss things out of hand, because even a broken clock is right twice a day, I certainly look toward the evidence to validate the claims.
This morning I watched a video sermon titled, ‘The Point of No Return, by Pastor J.D. Farag of Calvary Chapel Kaneohe in Hawaii. The subject of the sermon dealt with COVID 19 and the familiar Mark of the Beast. I’m sure a lot of you reading this just groaned, but I would ask you to hear me out and finish reading this post. First I would recommend that you watch the video first, as it will put into context the remainder of this post.
The Point of No Return, by Pastor J.D. Farag
After watching the sermon, I found myself going back to my Intel days and asking, ‘what if?’
‘What if he is right?’
‘What if the vaccine is the Biblically predicted: Mark of the Beast?’
‘What if this has all been planned?’
Now I am sure that some of you have groaned even louder, and may even be getting ready to click the X button, but I would appreciate it if you would hear me out for just a moment longer.
As an author, I create fictional scenarios to entertain my readers, but I also wrote a non-fiction book titled: Where Was God? An NYPD first responder’s search for answers following the terror attack of September 11th 2001. This book started out as my 9/11 journey, but soon became an investigation into whether there was a God for us to blame. As one reviewer stated: “If you are a skeptic, and you think God is all BS, give this book a chance. It will very possibly change your life forever.”
Everyone must come to their own conclusions about God, and their relationship with Him, but I believe my book made the compelling argument for the existence of the Almighty, not that He needed my help. That being said, there have always been two issues in the Bible that caused me concern: The Rapture of the Church and the Mark of the Beast.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 – “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”
Revelation 13: 16-17 – “And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.”
As a rational thinking person I’ve struggled with these two issues because I could never wrap my head around how otherwise intelligent people couldn’t see these two events and not reach the conclusion that the prophecies in the Bible were being fulfilled. Then I saw people driving in their cars, alone, wearing gloves and masks, and I thought, ‘well, there’s that….’
This morning, two words seemed to become very clear to me, and are the reasons for this post.
“What if?”
What if our idea of the Rapture is false? What if we have been conditioned to believe, through movies and books, that it would occur in some incredible, Earth-shattering event? The image of empty planes plummeting from the skies, and driver-less vehicles crashing into one another, is visually powerful and would serve as an immediate wake-up call to humanity that something wasn’t quite right. Think about a mother, preparing to serve dinner to her family, who walks into the dining room to find everyone gone; or a pastor speaking in front of a full congregation one minute, only to see 2/3rds of them disappear in the blink of an eye. Instances of such a supernatural occurrence, on a global scale, would clearly create mass hysteria and cause most to immediately conclude that the Biblical rapture had indeed occurred, but such an event would likely cause a mass evangelization event, which would immediately turn everyone back to God, yet we don’t see any indication of this in the Bible. In fact, post rapture we see the continuation of evil and sin in the world.
But what if we were wrong? Not in the prophesized rapture, but in the way that we believe it will happen.
What if you woke up one day to find that even a fraction, say 10%, of the world’s population died overnight? You would think an event like this would cause everyone to agree that it was some supernatural event, unless of course you were caught in the middle of a global pandemic. Perhaps a second wave that proved even more deadly than the first. Not only wouldn’t it surprise you, but, judging from the current state of social media, a great many would mock those who died from their own stupidity. Now, with a significant amount of the population dead from the virus, those who were left behind would not only consider themselves lucky, for lack of a better word, but would clamor for protection.
Everyone assumes that the Mark of the Beast would be some overt action; a ‘bow the knee’ move if you will, but what if we are wrong? What if the Mark was offered, not in a malevolent way, but in a benevolent way?
Throughout history there have been a number of claims that ‘the end is near,’ but they have all come and gone.
From 66-70 AD, the Jewish uprising against the Romans in Judea was seen as the final end-time battle that would bring about the arrival of the Messiah.
Pope Innocent III predicted that the world would end 666 years after the rise of Islam in 618 AD.
A quatrain by Nostradamus predicted that the "King of Terror" would come from the sky in "1999 and seven months" and was frequently interpreted as a prediction of doomsday in July 1999.
Martin Luther, a German priest and professor of theology, predicted the end of the world would occur no later than 1600.
Many believed that WWI signaled the end times, which was then revised to infer that WWII signaled it.
During and before 1999 there was widespread predictions of a Y2K computer bug that would crash many computers on midnight of January 1, 2000 and cause malfunctions leading to major catastrophes worldwide, and that society would cease to function.
Psychic and Astrologer Jeane Dixon predicted that Armageddon would take place in 2020.
Then again, at the rate 2020 is going, it remains to be seen if she was correct.
I believe that the vast majority of these people, and many others, made their predictions in good faith, but there was always a missing element to the equation. In law enforcement parlance it is called the means and opportunity, which is to say that in order for something to occur, the conditions have to be right. You don’t rob a strong man’s home when he is there, but you wait for the time when he leaves it unguarded.
Considering what is going on in the world today, the COVID Pandemic seems to be the perfect storm to provide the means and opportunity. First, it is a global event that has brought together political leaders and the ‘great minds’ of the spiritual, medical, technical, and media worlds. Every day we are bombarded with messaging about how we need to stand together to ‘fight the spread’ until a vaccine can be discovered. We are being pre-conditioned to believe that the only way we can return to normal is to get vaccinated as soon as it is available. In the United States, Constitutional scholars are already on record as saying how you have ‘no right’ to refuse to take the vaccine and that it can be forcibly administered.
What if a second wave caused the sudden, mass deaths of a staggering amount of the population? Would the deaths of 1 or 2 billion people cause mass chaos? You bet it would. Would it make people more eager to not be like those who died? Absolutely.
What if, after this wave of mass deaths, people were told that, unless you received the vaccine, you would be shunned by society? No work, no shopping, no entertainment, no medical care, no benefits. Would you be turned in by your neighbors, friends or even family; because you were deemed a grave risk to the safety and security of the whole? We are already seeing this happen now, so I can only imagine that it would become even more severe.
This morning I read an article, in a major daily newspaper, that talked of a line of people in Queens (NYC) that stretched for a quarter-mile as they waited for food; the result of those left jobless because of the pandemic. Where the food pantry used to hand out food to 1k a week, that number has grown to more than 10k and they feed lunch to over a 1k a day, mostly children. Across the wider five boroughs of NYC, estimates put the number of hungry in the hundreds of thousands.
What if the government promised you that by taking the vaccine, everything could go back to normal? That you could go back to work, feed your children, travel, attend events, be a productive and safe member of society?
I know that if I were penning a post-apocalyptic novel this is the approach I would take.
As Nobel Prize winning French philosopher, author, and journalist, Albert Camus, once said, ‘fiction is the lie that tells the truth.’
What if that book has already been written?
What if what we are seeing is the harbinger of Revelations?
As in my book, many will ask the question, ‘Where Was God?’
But is this really the question we should be asking? Consider for a moment that what we are dealing with, like most events, is not of divine creation, but of humanity. The people behind the problem are the same ones we are turning to for the solution. Simply put: Create the Disease, Sell the Cure.
What if the people we are turning to don’t have our best interests at heart, but theirs?
What if they already planned this?
Now I know some of you are probably thinking that at this point I have gone full on conspiracy theorist. I mean, who could have known something like this would happen?
Well, just a few months before the outbreak, an exercise called Event 201, which simulated a global pandemic of a coronavirus that was transmitted from bats to humans. The event was hosted by Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, Bloomberg School Of Public Health, World Economic Forum, and Microsoft founder, Bill Gates charitable foundation. The simulation analyzed the health impacts, as well as the economic, lifestyle, and trade fallout from the virus.
Ever hear of the ID2020Alliance? An article in September 2019, again just months before COVID would strike, detailed how the alliance was working in India ‘to leverage immunization as an opportunity to establish digital identity.’ The article went on to say how ‘Digital identity is a computerized record of who a person is, stored in a registry. It is used, in this case, to keep track of who has received vaccination.’ This group is headed by Kim Gagné, a lawyer and former US State Department official, who, after serving in the government, took a position with Microsoft prior to joining ID2020Alliance.
Not scary enough?
How about the Quantum Dot Tattoo? An article from December 2019 says that, ‘they've found a covert way to embed the record of a vaccination directly in a patient's skin rather than documenting it electronically or on paper - and their low-risk tracking system could greatly simplify the process of maintaining accurate vaccine records, especially on a larger scale.’ The solution comes by way of researchers at MIT, who were funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. You know, Microsoft.
Create the Disease, Sell the Cure.
Again, I truly believe that COVID-19 was created. I know there are many that will insist it was naturally occurring, but after looking into the matter, I cannot help but reach the conclusion that this disease was manufactured. Given the lack of transparency, and China’s propensity to engage in propaganda, deceit, and the crushing of any dissent, especially those in the medical field, I don’t think it foolish to not accept the ‘neat’ story they provided. Again, this is my opinion and you must reach your own decision, but ask yourself the question: What if?
What if this is all happening because it is supposed to?
I’ve said this before and I will say it again, I am not a biblical scholar. At best, I am a student who struggles to keep his grades up. I have always been perplexed at how the rapture of the church could occur, without it being so overt that it caused the remainder of society to drop to their knees and immediately turn to Christ, and how so many would willingly agree to take the Mark of the Beast. Suffice to say I am no longer perplexed.
I don’t know if these are the ‘end times’ as prophesized in the Bible, but what if?
In Where Was God? I posed this question: “If I believe in a fairy tale, that Jesus died for my sins, and that belief then causes me to live my life, not perfectly, but in trying to be a good person to others, what harm have I done? What have I lost?” Have I wasted anything by accepting Christ’s death and resurrection as payment for my sins? What cost is there in surrendering myself to this? If I am wrong, what have I lost? I led a moral life, was kind to others, and then I died.”
I now ask you the question: What if I am right?
The thought of the apocalyptic scenarios, depicted in Revelation, is terrifying to most, but is ignoring them the wise choice?
Revelation 2:7 - He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life in the paradise of God.
Revelation 2:11 - He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be harmed by the second death.
Revelation 3:6 - He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Revelation 3:13 - He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Revelation 13:9 - He who has an ear, let him hear.
Five times we are reprimanded to hear; to listen. Revelation is a warning.
What if we are indeed living in the end times? What if each seemingly innocuous step we take is really just a calculated path. We are told that we have to ‘trust’ the government for our safety, but is the government really trustworthy? Consider for a moment that in 1958, trust in the government was 73%. In 2019, that number was down to 17%, and this is a number that is reflected across the generational divide. Now, as we are facing this pandemic, we are being told we need to trust them, but what if we shouldn’t?
Would you rather give your life to Christ now, and avoid the horrors that will plague mankind during the tribulation, or would you rather roll the dice and see what happens? For me it is a no brainer.
Ephesians 2:8-9 – “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
I write this post, not as a perfect person, who has earned his way into Heaven through acts of unequaled goodness, but as a sinner that has fallen short time and again, but who has mercifully been saved, not by anything I have done, but through salvation and mercy in Jesus Christ.
John 14:6 – ‘Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’”
If you have never trusted in Jesus before, then I encourage you to recite the Sinner’s Prayer and begin your relationship with God today.
Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness.
I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and ask that You come into my heart and life.
I want to trust in you and develop a personal relationship with You, as my Lord and Savior.
In Your Name. Amen.