Ebola: The start or a precursor to coming pestilence?

Ebola has killed thousands and the World Health Organization has stated that the death call is vastly understated:

September 27, 2014

The confirmed death toll from the Ebola outbreak has passed 3,000 as the World Health Organisation (WHO) warns that the available figures “vastly underestimate the true scale of the epidemic”.

In its latest situation report on the virus, the agency said 3,133 deaths had been reported in total, mainly from the worst-hit West African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and cases are growing “exponentially”.

Ebola is spreading and has also caused several deaths in Nigeria, been reported in Senegal and is edging towards the border of the Côte d’Ivoire.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, thousands of miles away from the disease hotspots, there is also a “separate, unrelated outbreak of Ebola” that has killed more than 40 people.

It is believed to be a different strain of the viral haemorrhagic fever ravaging the other side of the continent.

A spokesperson for WHO warned that the epidemic is showing no sign of slowing, killing an estimated 71 per cent of people infected as the search for a cure continues.

“These figures, which are far greater than those from all previous Ebola outbreaks combined, are known by WHO to vastly underestimate the true scale of the epidemic,” a spokesperson said.

“The Ebola epidemic ravaging parts of West Africa is the most severe acute public health emergency seen in modern times.

“Never before in recorded history has a biosafety level four pathogen infected so many people so quickly, over such a broad geographical area, for so long.” http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/ebola-outbreak-death-toll-passes-3000-as-who-warns-numbers-are-vastly-underestimated-9759314.html

The world is concerned about this:

The United Nations declared the West Africa outbreak a threat to international security and is mobilizing global assistance. The United States may spend up to $1 billion to fight Ebola and is sending 3,000 soldiers in to help with the logistics of testing and setting up treatment centers. http://www.voanews.com/content/life-is-harder-for-liberians-post-ebola-quarantine/2462134.html

The Secretary General of the United Nations made statements :

September 17, 2014

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the United Nations is “taking the lead” in efforts to combat the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa.

He told reporters Tuesday that he and World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan will outline an international plan on Thursday during an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council…

“Every day we delay, the cost and suffering will grow exponentially. We cannot allow bans on travel or transport to slow us down. We need isolation of people affected by Ebola — not of nations struggling to cope with it,” said Ban. http://www.voanews.com/content/ban-un-international-ebola-response/2452455.html

September 24, 2014

Warning that the world’s “fasten seat belt” light is illuminated, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today opened the 69th annual debate of the United Nations General Assembly with a call for decisive leadership at a time when the ghosts of the Cold War have returned and much of the Arab Spring has gone violently wrong.

“This year, the horizon of hope is darkened. Our hearts are made heavy by unspeakable acts and the deaths of innocents,” he told the assembled leaders from 193 nations. “Not since the end of the Second World War have there been so many refugees, displaced people and asylum seekers. Never before has the United Nations been asked to reach so many people with emergency food assistance and other life-saving supplies,” he said.

“It may seem as if the world is falling apart, as crises pile up and disease spreads. But leadership is precisely about finding the seeds of hope and nurturing them into something bigger. That is our duty. That is my call to you today.” …

He highlighted the crucial importance for funding in dealing with climate change, the post 2015- development efforts, and the “unprecedented crisis” of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa where a twenty-fold surge in care, tracking, transport and equipment is needed.

In conclusion, Mr. Ban again stressed humankind’s role in creating many of the crises the world now faces and its responsibility to eliminate them. “Today we face far more man-made crises than natural calamities,” he declared. “We may not control Mother Nature, but who else but us is responsible for securing peace and justice in our world today?

“War. Poverty. Ignorance. Crises caused by people can be stopped by people. I do not think we can yet feel comfortable about the world our generation is leaving to our children. Still, I have hope. I draw it from our Charter, our enduring guide in times of dramatic challenge and change.” http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=48808#.VCbIAhZ_T3k

Ban Ki-Moon reported about wars, rumors of war, famines, and pestilences.

Nearly 2000 years ago, on the Mount of Olives just outside of Jerusalem, Jesus warned of such matters:

4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:4-8)

The World Health Organization stated the degree of dangers:

“Quite frankly, ladies and gentlemen, this health crisis we face is unparalleled in modern times,” WHO assistant director-general Dr Bruce Aylward told reporters.

“The gravity of the situation is difficult to get across with just a few numbers.” He said the number of infected and dead had doubled in the past fortnight.

“You start to get a sense of the rapid escalation we’re now seeing of the virus, as it moves from what was a linear increase in cases to now almost an exponential increase in cases.” The UN estimates 20,000 people could be infected by the end of the year. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-16/who-to-launch-global-response-coalition-to-combat-ebola/5748552

There are risks from Ebola.

Is this a sign that the fourth horseman of the apocalypse has began to accelerate his ride or simply a precursor of things to come?

There is a questionable, and likely false report, that many have circulated on the internet that in 1847 a Professor Lloyd Cunningdale found a prediction about the end of the world in 2016:

An article in Weekly World News describes a find by a Professor Lloyd Cunningdale of Salt Lake City who was excavating with his students at the site of the famous Donner party disaster of 1847. The latter were a group of settlers bound for California who became trapped by snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Cunningdale and students have found a time capsule left by the settlers which contains many predictions for the future. They predict that nations will abandon traditional methods of conflict and resort to the use of biological warfare. In 2016, one such disease will spread out of control and kill all of the humans on the planet. (http://www.religioustolerance.org/end_wrl18.htm viewed 09/27/14)

As the claimed source, Weekly World News, often reported fiction, why mention this here?

Because some do feel that the United Nations and others have an agenda to kill off much of the planet and some feel that massive pestilences will destroy much life in 2016. Some allege that governments around the world are working towards that.

All humans, however, will not be killed in 2016.

As far as Ebola goes, it should serve as a warning, a precursor of pestilences to come. One of the way Ebola is spread is by fruit bats. As it turns out, Fruit bats are eaten by people in parts of West Africa where they are smoked, grilled or made into a spicy soup. If this practice and certain others were stopped, this would help reduce the spread of the disease. And it is not just fruit bats, the Reston ebolavirus (REBOV) can be transmitted to pigs and was found in Virginia in 1989. Since the initial outbreak it has since been found in nonhuman primates in Pennsylvania, Texas, and Italy–but the problems were contained (Ebola. Wikipedia, viewed 09/27/14). However, avoidance of consumption of biblically unclean animals would help prevent certain pestilences, but most ignore what the Bible teaches about that (see also The New Testament Church and Unclean Meats).

As I mentioned, Ebola be considered as a precursor to coming pestilences. Why?

Because both in Jesus’ list of sorrows and the opening of the seals of the Book of Revelation, there is an order. In both lists, famines proceed pestilences. Notice what Revelation shows:

5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.” (Revelation 6:5-6)

Famine to the degree what Revelation 6:5-6 is discussing have not happened yet.

And it is after this time of famine has began that pestilences will get worse. In time and more will die in the future with the ride of the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse:

⁷When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” ⁸So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth. (Revelation 6:7-8)

Many believe that infectious diseases and possibly bugs are part of the “beasts of the earth” that are prophesied to kill a significant portion of humankind in Revelation 6:7-8, especially in the light of what Jesus taught in Matthew 24:7-8.

Ebola is one of many pestilential threats. And it is one that has been killing thousands already. However, because we have not had massive famines yet, the time for the fourth horseman to start his final ride does not seemed to have started yet.

Ebola is a precursor of other pestilences and the end will not come in 2016.

That being said, my prayers are with those in Africa and elsewhere who are affected with Ebola.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse What is the pale horse of death and pestilences? What will it bring and when? Spanish: El cuarto jinete de Apocalipsis, el caballo pálido de muerte y pestilencia.
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse What do each of the four horseman of the Apocalypse represent? Have they began their ride? Did Jesus discuss the any of this? Might their rides coincide with the “beginning of sorrows? Do they start their ride prior to the Great Tribulation? Did Nostradamus or any other ‘private prophets’ write predictions that may mislead people so that they may not understand the truth of one or more of the four horseman? There is also a related YouTube video titled The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
The New Testament Church and Unclean Meats Are foods considered to have been unclean in the Old Testament considered to be food in the New Testament? This article discusses this from the perspective of the New Testament. It also has a list of clean and unclean animals and tells of infections like Ebola being spread by eating bats. It also answers the question, is pork healthy or is pork dangerous? There is also a sermon-length video on this: Christians and Unclean Meats.
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2014, 2015, or 2016? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: ¿Puede comenzar la Gran Tribulación en 2013 o 2014? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? You can also see the English language sermon video: The Great Tribulation from the Mount of Olives.
Africa: Its Biblical Past and Prophesied Future What does the Bible teach about Africa and its future? Did the early Church reach Africa? Will God call all the Africans?
United Nations: Humankind’s Last Hope or New World Order? Is the UN the last hope for humanity? Or might its goals end up with sinister results? A related video would be United Nations and Vatican Are Planning the New World Order.
Prophecies of Barack Obama? Reasons why Barack Obama is apocalyptic and reasons why Barack Obama is not the Antichrist. This article includes many biblical and non-biblical prophecies, from around the world, that seem to discuss Barack Obama. Did Nostradamus predict Barack Obama dealing with the Antichrist? Might Barack Obama set the stage for the kings of the North and South as at least one Shiite prophecy suggests? Read it and decide for yourself if President Obama seems to be fulfilling various prophecies. Watch also the YouTube Barack Obama and the State of the Apocalypse.