News and Prophecy Staff

For the last couple weeks, an intense fight has raged in the Holy Land. Following an Israeli court case to evict several Palestinian families from their homes in Jerusalem and Israeli police action on the Temple Mount, Hamas began barraging Israeli border cities with thousands of rockets launched from Gaza (Reuters, May 17, 2021). Israel responded with its own targeted attacks on suspected rocket launch sites within Gaza.

While it might seem preposterous, in nations that once composed “Christendom,” believing in and preaching from the Bible is now subject to persecution and threats of criminal charges. Recently, a 71-year-old preacher in London was arrested, hand-cuffed, and jailed for publicly preaching from the book of Genesis that marriage was between one man and one woman (Newsweek.com, May 2, 2021).

As a country, Israel is quite small—smaller than Belgium, about half the size of Costa Rica, and roughly the same size as the state of New Jersey. But as small as it is, Israel is experiencing drastic differences in precipitation across the country (Times of Israel, April 5, 2021).

New research by Shanna Swan, an epidemiologist with Mount Sinai Medical Center, projects that “by 2045 most men may no longer be able to reproduce because of the impact of hormone-altering chemicals” in their environment (Politico, March 10, 2021). This research also suggests that female fertility rates are falling by about 1 percent each year.

The EU Observer reported on March 31 that more than 25 world leaders signed an open letter calling for the creation of an international treaty on pandemics. Signatories include the director-general of the World Health Organization and the president of the European Council. The letter states, “The question [of future pandemics] is not if, but when.”