Special Report: ''Behold a Pale Horse''*

Jack Kinsella

"And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars;
and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the
waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after
those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven
shall be shaken." (Luke 21:25-26)

Depending upon whom one asks the question, mankind has been on this
planet for somewhere between six thousand and six million years. The six
million year figure is the extreme end of the evolutionist's estimates,
where the six thousand year period is the time frame generally accepted
by creationists.

Allow yourself to dwell, for a minute, on just how long six thousand
years really is. Not in abstract, cosmic terms, but rather, in terms of
human society. It was only six hundred years ago that conventional
wisdom said the earth was flat. Mankind had been on the earth for more
than five thousand five hundred years before we learned otherwise.

America, the greatest nation the world has ever known, is only
two-hundred and twenty-nine years old. It was just one hundred and
forty-five years ago that Americans were willing to kill each other over
the right to own other human beings as property.

Only sixty years ago, human beings were being shoveled into ovens in
their millions or shot down into mass graves at the hands of citizens of
the oldest and most cultured civilizations in Europe.

Even at six thousand years, man has been here a long, long time, when
you think about it.

Bible prophecy indicates that mankind's time on this earth is limited
and predetermined. Scripture tells us that God created the earth in six
days, and on the seventh, He rested.

According to Psalms 90:4, "For a thousand years in Thy sight are but as
yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night."

2nd Peter 3:8 tells "that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years,
and a thousand years as one day."

The prophet Hosea, speaking to the Jews who survived the Babylonian
exile, prophesied,

"After two days will He revive us: in the third day He will raise us up,
and we shall live in His sight." And approximately two thousand years
later (after two 'days') the Jews of Israel resumed their place among
the nations of the world on May 15, 1948.

Hosea's reference to the third day, in which 'He will raise them up and
they shall live in His sight,' takes place a day AFTER their 'revival'.

Ezekiel saw a vision of a 'valley of dry bones' in which the bones come
together, revived as "an exceedingly great army" but, "when I beheld,
lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered
them above: but there was no breath in them." (Ezekiel 37:8)

Israel is revived, but not yet 'alive' in His sight until their national
redemption at the conclusion of the time of 'Jacob's Trouble' that
ushers in the Millennial Kingdom.

So, it is safe to infer from Scripture that time, from our perspective,
is predetermined, and is running down like a stopwatch that was started
ticking at the fall of Adam and Eve.

There is a day already determined, "But of that day and hour knoweth no
man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." (Matthew 24:36)

Scripture deals with time in a way that is difficult for us to grasp; we
lack the perspective of the One knowing "the end from the beginning, and
from ancient times the things that are not yet done." (Isaiah 46:10)

Viewed from a perspective outside of the dimensions of space and time,
time would be a constant state of 'now'.

It makes following the Scripture's timeline difficult, which is why God
promised there would be signs -- or 'mile markers' -- to let us know
when time, as we understand it, is running out.

"And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was
Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over
the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and
with death, and with the beasts of the earth." (Revelation 6:8)

The approaching hoofbeats of the Pale Rider, by whatever name, are
getting too loud to ignore. Evidently, after six thousand years, the
human race has used up our host planet.

A new scientific study -- prepared in Washington under the supervision
of a board chaired by Robert Watson, the British-born chief scientist at
the World Bank and a former scientific adviser to the White House --
warns that very thing.

According to the study, human civilization has consumed two-thirds of
the world's resources, most of it in just the last sixty years. Among
the study's findings:

• Because of human demand for food, fresh water, timber, fiber and fuel,
more land has been claimed for agriculture in the last 60 years than in
the 18th and 19th centuries combined.

• An estimated 24% of the Earth's land surface is now cultivated.

• Water withdrawals from lakes and rivers has doubled in the last 40
years. Humans now use between 40% and 50% of all available freshwater
running off the land.

• At least a quarter of all fish stocks are overharvested. In some
areas, the catch is now less than a hundredth of that before industrial
fishing.

• Since 1980, about 35% of mangroves have been lost, 20% of the world's
coral reefs have been destroyed and another 20% badly degraded.

• Deforestation and other changes could increase the risks of malaria
and cholera, and open the way for new and so far unknown disease to emerge.

•Flow from rivers has been reduced dramatically. For parts of the year,
the Yellow River in China, the Nile in Africa and the Colorado in North
America dry up before they reach the ocean.

•An estimated 90% of the total weight of the ocean's large predators -
tuna, swordfish and sharks - has disappeared in recent years.

•An estimated 12% of bird species, 25% of mammals and more than 30% of
all amphibians are threatened with extinction within the next century.

Let's revisit the fact we've been on this planet for six thousand years.
Or even, for the sake of argument, some indeterminite period of millions
of years, which makes it even more amazing.

Which ever time frame fits your comfort zone, it is nonetheless this
generation that is alleged to have used it all up and begun the process
of planetary doom.

It is THIS generation in which men's hearts have begun to fail them 'for
fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.'

Signs in the sun, moon and stars have astronomers baffled; fears of a
catastrophic collision with giant space rocks have us scanning the
heavens and planning our defense from a threat that a generation ago, we
didn't even know existed.

The 'distress of nations' is palpable; the United Nations has a whole
bureaucracy exclusively devoted to saving the planet from extinction.

The study says that we are running out of food sources, out of fresh
water, we face the threat of killer plagues and epidemics; we've
overfished the oceans and destroyed the seabed.

And the study concludes all this damage took place -- not gradually over
six thousand years of human existence -- but within a single generation!

"So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know
that it is nigh, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, that this
generation shall not pass, till all these things be done." (Mark 13:29-30)

Consider the facts carefully. If the science is correct, then the
irreversible process of planetary doom has begun. Undoubtedly, the
science will be disputed by other scientists endlessly, but there is a
discernible escalation of distress with each new environmental study.

This raises several possibilities; 1) a significant and rising segment
of the scientific community don't know what they are talking about; 2) a
conspiracy of environmentalistas are propagating a unknown hidden
agenda; or, 3) the data is correct and our planet is winding down like a
clock.

In any case, this is exactly how Jesus described the situation as it
would exist just before His return; A pervasive and growing sense of
impending doom -- "upon the earth distress of nations. . . Men's hearts
failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are
coming on the earth:" is how He described it.

There are those who scoff, and deny the literal fulfillment of Bible
prophecy as it unfolds before their eyes, but if this is nothing more
than coincidence, every third lottery ticket should win the jackpot.

I like to think that I am a reasonable guy, but I can't buy the
coincidence argument. It is too big a stretch for me to get my head
around -- like picking the winners of the World Series for 2147 -- first
you have to know if we'll even still play baseball.

Bible prophecy has, to the extent it can be proved, been accurate 100%
of the time so far -- and there is therefore no logical reason to assume
that God has suddenly lost His place and the plan -- as outlined --
won't continue to be fulfilled with equal precision.

Like science, Bible prophecy also foretells the impending ecological
judgment of the planet, saying that it will come upon a single
generation, somewhere in time.

Logic demands an explanation, and coincidence won't do. The only other
explanation is that it is true. That time is running out. That the Lord
is about to return, exactly as the Bible says He will.

It is time to choose Whom you will serve. There isn't time to put it
off. There really isn't.

It doesn't matter how good you are -- or how bad you are -- the same
Jesus that knows the future of nations paid the price of your
redemption. He has secured a pardon with your name on it, and eliminated
any barrier between you and eternal life with Him, if you will but claim it.

He is willing to accept you the way you are -- all you need do is ask
Him to forgive you of your sins and to change you according to His will.

Trust Him. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God:" (Ephesians 2:8) It's just that simple.

He is coming!