Bible Time2008-12-13: Plague of Hail Begins in the Morning
This date marks the start of a 30 day long plague of Hail.
The headline date was precisely timed by Bush visiting with Ban Ki Moon at the United Nations during a gathering on Interfaith Dialog. That meeting was on November 13, 2008, so the expected fulfillment for this plague is on December 13, 2008, 30 days later.
This date marks the beginning of the plague of hail. By way of review, here is the text that applies to this date. Note that the normal sequence of plague dates would land this on December 21, 2008, which may yet turn out to matter. As originally noted this could have landed anywhere between December 11 and 21, 2008. Only because of Bush's earlier trip to the United Nations on November 13, 2008, does this date get fixed here at December 13. The report shows the whole-month, non-corrected value.
Note that this plague maps to the tribe of Simeon and the issue with that patriarch was giving and heeding Godly counsel. Jacob in Genesis 49 did not want Simeon's counsel. The plague link to this tribe is the counsel to get out of the field because the plague comes.
18: Plague of Hail: Begins.
Associated Scripture:
2 Exodus 9:18-26
18Look, tomorrow, about this time, I will cause a severe storm of hail, such as there has not been in Egypt from the day that it was founded even until now.
19Send now and gather your cattle and all that you have in the field; for on every man and the cattle which be found in the field, and will not be brought to the house, the hail will come down on them, and they will die.
20He who feared the word of Yahvah among the servants of pharaoh brought his servants and his cattle into the house.
21But he who did not regard the word of Yahvah left his servants and his cattle in the field.
22And Yahvah said to Moses, Lift up your hand toward the skies that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on men and on cattle and on all the grass in the field, throughout the land of Egypt.
23And Moses lifted up his staff toward the skies; and Yahvah sent thunder and hail, and lightning ran along on the ground; and Yahvah showered hail on the land of Egypt.
24So there was hail, and flaming fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.
25And the hail struck throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and cattle; and the hail destroyed all the herbs of the field and broke every tree of the field.
26Only in the land of Goshen, where the sons of Israel lived, there was no hail.
Theoretical Time:
- 12999/12/30 1:1:1 AA
- 2008-12-21 18:00:00 TMMT
- 2008-12-21 15:39:06 GMT
- 2008-12-21 10:39:06 EST
- 4741980 AAN
Fulfillment
This plague opened with a series of headlines that all played to aspects of the expected stories. What follows is a review of the obvious news events. NOTE THIS PLAGUE ONLY STARTS ON THIS DATE. Hail related headlines can continue into January of 2009.
December 27: Israel Attacks Gaza
The best example of water from the sky is the first replay of Noah's flood in January of 1991, when the United States began the process of freeing Kuwait from Iraqi occupation. That war defined water, or rain, from the sky as bombs from the sky.
This plague of hail expected something similar, and on December 27, 2008, the Israeli air force began pounding targets inside Gaza. This was timed to conclude before the January 20, 2009, inauguration of Obama as president. In this case the hail was bombs, similar to rain, that rained down on Gaza for about 22 days.
The text for the plague focuses on the warning of hail, and the encounter with Pharaoh gives the warning. The exact start of the hail itself is left out of the narrative, which of course, was discovered by events on the ground.
Ice and storms across the entire United States
The first an most obvious fulfillment was a series of ice and snow storms across the United States. The term "hail" in the plague narrative is rough, cold water from the sky is another possibility. The term is only used for Jacob's spotted animals in Genesis.
Starting a day or so ahead of theoretical, a major ice storm struck the north east sections of the United States, the most direct fulfillment. Storms broke out in Georgia, which heavy flooding in the south east. Louisiana saw 8 inches of snow, California record winds, Montana saw a blizzard and sub-zero temperatures, Washington State saw snow, arctic air and high winds. Here is a list of details:
The North East portions of the United States received a massive ice storm. Power was out to over 1.2 million customers, 1/2 of the customers in New Hampshire were without power. Freezing rain had fallen continuously for over 7 hours in parts of the region, knocking out power and overwhelming the ability of power crews to restore power. More here and here.
Snow fell in Louisiana and Mississippi, with snow even falling in New Orleans. Severe storms with heavy rains broke out across Georgia and the rest of the southeast. More here.
The western United States was also severely impacted. From California to Washington State the Pacific coast of the United States saw winter storms, snow and freezing temperatures. Montana saw temperatures of -35 degrees. More here.
The upper and central mid-west of the United States was also experiencing blizzard conditions and the national media on Sunday Evening were making the point that all parts of the United States were under stressful weather, a very rare pattern.
Unusual weather continued for days into this plague:
Los Angeles saw notable snow, closing I-5 and I-15, into the region. Both freeways have passes over 4000 feet. Snow fell in Malibu. Local bus systems in the region were effected, commuter rail was slowed, the Tiajiana river overflowed banks.
Las Vegas had the snowiest December it had ever seen, closing the airport and burying the strip.
Chicago was expecting as much as 1 foot, along with the upper mid west generally. The weather was described as a parade of storms crossing the continent dropping snow everywhere.
Geminids 2008
The text for the plague date expects "fire from the sky" as part of the fulfillment. This could have been more dramatic, like a military strike somewhere in the world, but in this case the "fire" was a more routine meteor shower, expected by many to be one of the most dramatic in years.
The Geminids are an annual meteor shower, that typically peak between December 12 and 14 of each year. In this case directly on the expected prophetic date.
The 2008 passage of these meteorites coincided with a full moon which was expected to make viewing difficult, but there were observers around the world who were able to get interesting pictures. Since most of the United States was in stormy weather, most of the best shots came from other places.
The Space Weather photo gallery of the 2008 showers is here.
Photo at right was taken in Georgia during the 1985 occurrence of the Geminid meteor shower. The time lapse shows of these "shooting stars" more dramatically.
Bush "Shoed"
US President George Bush made a farewell trip to Iraq across the weekend of December 13, 2008. Trips like this alone are often timed to prophetic dates. This strip is similarly timed.
The nominal purpose of the trip was to sign an agreement where the United States military will remain in Iraq into 2011. This is in direct contradiction to Obama's public statements that he intents to pull US troops out within 16 months of taking office.
The invasion of Iraq is known to the charts and is an interval that will be 7 years, 2550 days in particular. This is a day-for-a-year replay of the Leviticus 26 curse interval of 2550 years.
There are various possible exact prophetic start dates in the early months of 2003, including crossing the Kuwait border and the fall of Baghdad itself, so the exact 7 year fulfillment date is hard to predict day-accurately. BUT, Obama's view, 16 months out by the end of April, 2010, covers that 7 year interval handily. Bush's view of a withdrawal in 2011 will not happen, he is taking very bad counsel in this situation.
There is likely a reason for the need to have the troops home in early 2010 related to future prophetic headlines directed against the United States. The text says get home now, because a storm comes. In the short term this is seen with the sudden, nationwide, series of winter storms blizzards heavy rain and freezing rain. In the longer term there are more severe dates that the troops must be home for.
(One way to read the text is that the troops should be brought home suddenly, right now, with no delay, because there is a hail strike before early January, 2009, that they should be out of harms way for. I have no confirmation of this interpretation. Time will tell if it would have been best to bring them home the week of December 14, 2008.)
While in the Baghdad region, but apparently outside of the Green Zone, on Sunday, December 14, 2008, Bush held a joint press conference with the President of Iraq. The venue is symbolic of the theme of the plague text. Get to and stay in places of safety because disaster awaits. By holding the meeting outside of the Green Zone he was away from safety. Just as he is taking his men away from safety by leaving them in the (battle) field.
During that press conference the US President was the target of a shoe throwing Iraqi journalist. The reporter apparently worked for a network in Cairo. While Bush was making his remarks the journalist removed his shoes, one at a time, and threw them at the President, all the while screaming at Bush about a "farewell kiss" from the "widows and orphans" of Iraq.
There are 2 future dates for the Plague on Firstborn. The first in October 2009. Each shoe apparently represents one of those plagues. The farewell kiss and widows and orphans are probably not of just those in Iraq, as Bush is going to cause this in his own troops.
The cameras stopped rolling, the man was subdued, removed from the room, and brutally beaten. When the cameras started rolling again Bush was back at the Podium completely clueless about what had just happened.
Within Iraqi culture this was the most insulting thing that could have happened. Saddam statues were beat with shoes when they were pulled down as a sign of disrespect. Understanding the problem, though, goes much deeper than just Iraqi culture. It goes back to the very scriptures that Bush was blind to 30 days before at the United Nations.
Bush was acting out a specific farewell parable told by Jesus in Matthew 10:5-15. Note that the shoe size that Bush made the point of telling the audience is a match to the chapter number, lest anyone miss it.
Here in Matthew Jesus instructs disciples to shake the dust off their feet (shoes) if someone does not listen to Godly counsel. Jesus goes on to say that if they do not listen to counsel that it will be better on the day of Judgement for Sodom and Gomorrah than for that city. Here is the full quote:
41 Matthew 10:5-15
5These 12 Jesus sent out, and charged them and said, Keep away from pagan practices, and do not enter a Samaritan city;
6but above all, go to the sheep which are lost from the house of Israel.
7And as you go, preach and say, The kingdom of the skies is near.
8Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils; you have freely received, freely give.
9Do not accumulate gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses;
10nor a bag for the journey, nor 2 shirts and shoes, nor a staff; for a laborer is worthy of his provisions.
11Whatever city or town you enter, ask who is trustworthy in it, and remain there until you leave.
12And when you enter into the house, salute the family.
13And if the family is trustworthy, your salutation of peace will come on it; but if it is not trustworthy, your salutation will return to you.
14Whoever will not welcome you, and will not listen to your words, when you leave the house or the village, shake off the sand from your feet.
15Truly I say to you, that it will be easier for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that city.
George Bush was president during 911, the modern day-for-a-year replay of Sodom and Gomorrah. What remains are 2 more events that are worse than that, worse than Sodom and Gomorrah. If his counsel is heeded, and the troops are not brought home soon, they will be "in the field" when the full force of the military plague of hail strikes them.
What form that plague will take is unclear, it may simply be the lack of funds to support the troops, it may also be fire and ice down from the sky on them, as happened domestically at the weekend. Other scenarios are possible, time will reveal the exact details.
Having a shoe thrown at him was noise compared to what could happen to his men.
More on the headline here.
Bernard Madoff Ponzi Collapse
Nearly all of the prophetic plague related dates have seen another system of financial instruments and practices essentially stop. This included the secondary market for mortgage backed securities, commercial paper, investment bankers, insurance companies, and even retail banking itself, when the US Congress authorized 2/3rds of a trillion dollars for a banking system bailout.
One category still relatively unscathed was Hedge Funds. These firms take investment money, add borrowed money, and then invest the total amount in the stock market. When market capitalization is growing faster than interest rates this scheme can increase returns for investors. It also increases risk and as with all debt, it makes the good times better, but debt also makes the bad times worse. When market capitalization goes down, that leverage increases the losses.
Some analysts have suggested that hedge funds as a category may well completely disappear, since equities may not out perform bonds for many years. What the plague series seemed to need was a stellar collapse of a Hedge Fund, similar to Bear Sterns or AIG so that the process of collapse of the category itself could become more public. That collapse happened on this prophetic date.
Curiously, this Hedge Fund collapse had been brewing for a long time, perhaps decades, and the general market turmoil triggered fund withdrawals that could not be satisfied because there were no assets at all to sell off. This was much worse than a badly executed hedging strategy, it was pure financial fraud. Here are the details.
Bernard Madoff operated a $50 Billion ponzi scheme, apparently for decades. Clients were from well connected socialites from across the country and various banking firms and other hedge funds from around the globe.
Faced with withdrawals which could not be met, the owner's sons confronted him over what was going on with the firm. Madoff told them that there was no money at all, and that the gap could perhaps be as large as $50 Billion. For comparison, this was a value much higher than the amount needed to bail out the auto companies.
There had been numerous red flags raised over his consistent financial performance. Most Hedge Funds have spotty performance, great one month, poor the next. This is a natural consequence of leverage. Madoff's firm had very few down months and the monthly increases were a very even percentage. These facts were give-aways to other fund operators that something was wrong.
Some thought he used insider trading to achieve this performance, others realized it could be a Ponzi scheme. This analysis eventually lead to requests to the SEC to investigate his operation, but since the SEC's director of such investigations was married into Madoff's family, no detailed investigation was ever conducted, only cursory reviews.
After learning about the financial situation of the firm, Madoff's sons called the FBI.
This collapse has a considerable number of supposed victims, including Mr. Wilpon, the owner of the New York Mets. This is the ball team that played at Shea Stadium, the venue for the Pope's major public service in the New York City area in April, 2008, when he visited the United States. This was the matched venue for this prophetic date, a very dramatic match.
The Pope had been very careful not to trample the grass in the infield of the stadium so the Mets could play final games in that stadium. That grass avoidance was in keeping with this plague's text, stay out of the field. What was so interesting is that particular piece of grass was the subject of this plague. The ball team had to release a statement that they would continue to operate, even though they had funds invested in Madoff's firm. Other firms may not be so lucky, and there may yet be bankruptcy announcements that attend this collapse.
There is a partial, detailed, list of victims on the Wikipedia article dealing with Madoff's Ponzi Scheme.
Gold into Backwardation
During the week ahead of the prophetic date the price of gold on futures markets dropped to prices below spot for the first time in history. This is normally an easy arbitrage since the market is willing to cover carrying costs for gold, so the condition should not last for very long, usually only happening for hours and then for technical clearing reasons.
The arbitrage is to sell into the spot market and buy a futures contract for delivery 30 days later for less. The dealer does not have to pay rent for a vault to hold the gold, so the arbitrage is profitable, both based on price and based on expenses. Market Makers usually jump at this sort of free profit play.
By Friday, December 12, the condition had lasted for the better part of 10 days, suggesting it was not a technical abboration, but a shift in market fundamentals. It was also impacting both December, 2008, Gold futures contracts and February 2009 Gold futures contracts, suggesting the market dynamics had truly changed.
The condition of Backwardation had been predicted from certain theoretical Economics models, particularly recent research in the Austrian school of economics.
That theory suggests Gold Backwardation should happen about the time interest rates approach zero, which they also did in mid December, 2008, when the Federal Reserve dropped interest rates to zero. That lowering of interest rates has been going on generally since the United States went off the gold standard. The theory also suggests that interest rate collapse is the primary mechanism that causes offshoring and unemployment, a key aspect of the Plagues Series generally, impacting the slave labor force of the United States and other countries.
That theory also says Backwardation means certain specific things:
Holders of Physical Gold are unwilling to part with it, even for 30 days, for fear that they will not be able to get it back at the end of the contract. Or, that the profit they are able to make in the trade will not hold value across the period.
This implies a collapse of the market for physical gold, that Gold is becoming unavailable at any price, or that the paper currency system is collapsing.
The Theory that predicted this pattern says Backwardation is a warning of the soon collapse of paper currency generally. The theory says the result is probably hyper-inflationary, but potentially hyper-deflationary.
Nothing in the theory that predicted this market event says how long before general currency collapse. Gold and Silver are the subjects of the last plague, the Plague of Plunder on Egypt. This is just the early warning, and the first prophetic date where the monetary metals markets have responded on a prophetic date.
That this condition in the Gold markets is a warning about currency system collapse fits tightly with the way the prophetic text functions for this date. Get under cover, hail comes.
Articles are listed here.
Ecuador Defaults on Foreign Debt
The president of Ecuador announced that his government would intentionally default on $10 Billion in foreign debt interest payments when it came due on Monday morning, December 15, 2008.
He accused previous administrations of fraudulently entering in to the debt agreements, making them invalid.
A default would prevent further investment in Ecuador by outsiders, though oil revenues would continue to provide hard currency financing of the government. Of course oil prices are headed down, so this might not be a sound strategy.
More here.
Illinois Governor Blagojevich
Starting earlier in the week the governor of Illinois was found to be selling Obama's former Senate seat for $1 Million in bribes. He was arrested and later released.
The scandal was tainting everyone involved in the process of selecting a replacement senator, including Jesse Jackson Jr., as well as some of Obama's staff.
In normal times finding a solution would not be particularly urgent, but the state of Illinois has run out of funds and a $1.4 Billion short term loan demands the Governor be certified as having no reason for leaving office any time soon. That clause cannot be met as long as he remains in office, so there are many people and firms in the state waiting state payments who cannot receive their funds.
At the weekend the state supreme court had been asked to remove him from office on the grounds that like medical disability, he was unable to serve. The state legislature was also expected to begin the process of impeachment. More here.
Other Headlines of Note
Sarah Palin's church was torched by arsonists. This may have been political retribution over Palin's candidacy for Vice President.
India breached Pakistani airspace. India said it was an accident, Pakistan agreed. This was a candidate for an escalation over the Mumbai massacre.
Comments
The ice storms and Geminid showers matched the ice and fire from the sky. Bush's visit to Iraq triggers the thought that the "field" of interest to this plague is the battle field of Iraq where US soldiers are outside of their homes, outside of safety. The shoe throwing incident suggests Bush is under very bad counsel. It may be that the troops should be brought home immediately in order to protect their lives. This is how the narrative of the plague works.
The other headlines have serious economic consequences, moving the financial collapse squarely into the domain of Hedge Funds. Madoff's scam is likely to cause further collapse of the Hedge Fund business. It may also take out many wealthy individuals and firms from across the country.
On nearly all of the Exodus Plague series of prophetic dates there have been headlines related to Obama's quest for office. Blagojevich taints Obama because Obama is from the same political machine. In this case it simply taints some of Obama's advisors, and not Obama himself. Though it does indicate the type of political machine Obama normally works within. Blagojevich's controversy is also highly financial, stopping $1.4 Billion in state payments, which in tight times is likely to have wider reaching consequences.
This page will be updated as headlines warrant...