War, Terrorism, And Epidemics Are Equal Parts Of Much Larger Prophetic Picture

By Michael H. Brown

As a war -- a major U.S. strike -- grows imminent, we wonder how this will play out both in political and prophetic terms. How will it be judged? What will be the context of war -- war and terror -- in the long-term scheme of coming world events? What will happen? And who will be perceived as correct: the Vatican or the White House?

We of course vote for the Vatican because we believe it has the moral authority to perceive whether or not a war is "just," at the same time that we acknowledge and respect the right and anointing of a president to make a military discernment. As Americans, we support our government, which means that we are a bit conflicted.

We warned a few months ago of a dream in which the Lord seemed to speak the words, "After the war will come the great catastrophe." And so we are on our guard. In addition to the Church, mystics such as Maria Esperanza have loudly warned against engaging ourselves militarily. Is something in the wind, something that will occur within the coming months, something currently unforeseen? Or will the ramifications be further down the road?

If we pray, if we seek the conversion of the world, if we pray specifically at this time of Lent for Jesus' Blood, we have a good chance of escaping untoward events, and this should always be our prayer: not just to prevent a disaster like war, but to pray about the root cause of war, which is immorality, especially abortion.

Some believe that George Bush is being powered by a view that the Second Coming is nigh, that he must clear the way for it. There may indeed be a mysterious reason for his resolve in this situation, or at least a mysterious belief. He is heavily influenced by end-believing evangelicals. His own conversion came largely through evangelist Billy Graham -- who often speaks about the Second Coming -- and Bush's mother has communicated with prophetic minister Jack Van Impe and his wife Rexella, who see many apocalyptic scenarios being played out, most connected with Israel.

It is a strange time. The other day came a report in The New York Times of Hasidic Jews just north of New York who believe a fish -- a 20-pound carp they were about to carve up for gefilte -- spoke in Hebrew warning of coming events.

A repeat of Balaam and his donkey? Or simply a mockery?

A strange, strange time. There are spirits, good and bad, all over the place. When we pray, we quickly dismiss the evil ones. There is nothing to fear except lack of prayer. God will get us through everything. Every age has its trials, and we should see them as challenges on the road to eternity.

Will there be a catastrophe in Iraq during the onslaught itself? There is certainly a much greater chance of this than during the war that Bush's father waged. Our concern has always been for civilians. People are people. To God, we are all equal. We remain concerned about the innocent civilians who died in Afghanistan over the past 17 months. Has anyone prayed for them? Do we realize that they may be as great in number as the 2,000 who died at the World Trade Center? 

As far as prophetic signs: it is interesting that there have been startling auroras (as before World War Two) and also interesting that an assassination has rocked the Balkans (as before World War One). Is there really a connection? Let's just say it is all a sign of the world in consternation. The first world war was sparked not by the assassination of a Serbian (as happened last week), but by the archduke of Austria, who was visiting Sarajevo and was assassinated by a Serbian (thus the opposite of what most recently occurred).

Nonetheless, matters are swiftly realigning as they did before previous world conflicts (with sudden shifts in old alliances) and there are other signs that the years ahead will present the challenge of turmoil. While all eyes are on military matters and terrorism -- and while, by all odds, these will play into events -- let's not take our eyes off the larger picture.

For in the long play of history we may one day see the war and terrorism of our time as simply adjuncts to other events of equal or greater consequence.

We believe this is indicated by current prophecy: that the truly huge events will not be man-made, but will come from nature.

In this regard, let's consider the secrets of Fatima. They pertained to two wars (the end of World War I and the onset of a greater war that became known as World War Two), but there were other things in the mix. Most striking was the matter of plague: just after World War One, between 1918 and 1919, an incredible epidemic of flu was unleashed that in the short period killed between 20 and 40 million people throughout the world. That's far more than died in World War One and nearly as many as died in World War Two. Among the victims: two of the three Fatima seers (Jacinta and Francesco Marto), who were told privately that they would soon be brought to Heaven but whose public prophecies did not include public pronouncement of the great epidemic -- which some epidemiologists define as starting in 1917, the very year of Fatima.

This is good to keep in mind in an age when HIV continues to proliferate, when ebola is mutating in Africa, when West Nile continues to move across the U.S., when exotic diseases like "flesh-eating" bacteria remain a problem, when malaria is making a comeback, and when potentially devastating strains of flu are erupting in places like Hong Kong, California, and Connecticut among chickens.

For the first time, some of these strains seem to be jumping from animals to humans.

One new strain, believed to have started in pigs, could kill millions. The same is true with the viral strains found in chickens. Most recently, the government warned about travel to countries that have reported a severe new form of pneumonia.

These are not issues to fear. They are issues to hold in prayer. And we are remiss when we do not address them. When I visited the famed Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, I was told that the greatest fear is a new strain of influenza. In the era of air travel such a virus could be anywhere in the world in less than 72 hours. "In the winter of 1997-1998 there was a virus, avian influenza, H5N1, which is found in poultry and had never been associated with humans," Dr. Joseph E. McDade, deputy director at CDC for the infectious disease center, told me. "If that virus ever acquired the ability for rapid transmission from person to person, if that virus, which mutates very fast, had taken off, there was no underlying immunity anywhere in the world because nobody had ever been exposed to the particular virus strain and there was no vaccine available. The potential was enormous. We dodged a bullet. You can't think of a scenario more dangerous."

Note that the flu of 1917-1920 is thought by some to have started at a military base in Fort Riley, Kansas which had been hit by a weather gyration (bone-chilling winters, sweltering summers, as we see in our current time) and where a strange dark sky and striking yellow smog preceded the outbreak (which soldiers then spread to Europe, particularly the Iberian Peninsula, where it killed the two young seers).

This was similar to the Black Death, which was also preceded by extremes in weather and strange storms and fogs (in places like China, India, and Italy).

Bottom line: war is usually only an opening act and is part of a much larger scenario.

As Dr. McDade told me: "Expect the unexpected."

And as the Blessed Mother tells us: fast and pray that such things be averted. We can even suspend the laws of nature. This can't be repeated enough: pray for the world's conversion, and everything else will fall into place. If not, expect the unexpected.

We do perceive the coming of an unexpected event in the near future, about which we will have more later...

[Resources: Sent To Earth, Trial and Tribulation, The Day Will Come]