The Trumpet Herald is a commentary on certain current events in the light of inspired prophecy.
The Crash of '99?
The October 12, 1998 issue of Newsweek featured a cover article titled, "The Crash of '99?", detailing dire predictions of how the world economy could gravitate America toward a recession on the eve of 2000. The article contains conspicuous graphics of falling dominoes, which the article uses to illustrate how events in Thailand, Japan, Russia, and Latin America could easily pull the U.S. economy downward (pp. 26-28).
One of the article's headlines poses the ominous question, "Can You Hear Our Windows Rattling?" and observes:
"With low inflation, high employment, and rising household incomes, the U.S. economy still seems strong. But our fortunes are now inextricably linked to the rest of the world's, and there are signs that the financial turmoil that has been roiling the globe is now hitting home" (p. 26).
The report closes with these words of foreboding
"The United States is the last great domino propping up the world economy. If it falls, woe to us all" (p. 31).
Inspired Commentary:
Our last Trumpet Herald reported the recent stock market plunge as a sign that the following inspired statements about the end-time economy are in process of fulfillment:
"There are not many, even among educators and statesmen, who comprehend the causes that underlie the present state of society. Those who hold the reins of government are not able to solve the problem of moral corruption, poverty, pauperism, and increasing crime. They are struggling in vain to place business operations on a more secure basis. If men would give more heed to the teaching of God's word, they would find a solution of the problems that perplex them" (Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 13).
When Sunday observance is enforced by law and the mark of the beast becomes a test, Inspiration describes what the results will be for America:
"When Protestant churches shall unite with the secular power to sustain a false religion, for opposing which their ancestors endured the fiercest persecution, then will the papal sabbath be enforced by the combined authority of church and state. There will be a national apostasy, which will end only in national ruin" (Evangelism, p. 235).
The Virgin Mary Again Impersonated by Lying Spirits
October 12, 1998 witnessed over 100,000 people converge on the town of Conyers, Georgia, to hear a woman deliver what she claimed was the last in a series of messages from the Virgin Mary. This story was featured throughout the day on CNN, and was featured as a top story on the CBS Evening News that same night (October 12).
Among other things, "Mary" informed this woman that Christians should each select a certain Catholic saint, and model one's life after that person.
Inspired Commentary
The Bible is clear that "the dead know not any thing" (EccI. 9:5), that "man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep" (Job 14:12). The Bible offers no evidence that the Virgin Mary is anywhere but unconscious in her grave, awaiting the first resurrection (1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thess. 4:16; Rev. 20:5, 6).
Inspiration makes the following prediction regarding the activity of Satan's angels before Jesus comes:
"The apostles, as personated by these lying spirits, are made to contradict what they wrote at the dictation of the Holy Spirit when on earth. They deny the divine origin of the Bible, and thus tear away the foundation of the Christian's hope and put out the light that reveals the way to heaven" (The Great Controversy, p. 557).
No specific prediction is made about Mary being impersonated, but if the apostles will be, it makes sense that Mary might be also. What we see happening along these lines today offers clear evidence that this prophecy is in process of fulfillment.
Savage Weather Rages On
Drought-ravaged Texas has now suffered the opposite terror of flooding—what the CBS Evening News described on October 20 as "the worst flooding in Texas history." As we go to press, over 20 have died in these floodwaters, which cut a swath of damage across central Texas from San Antonio to Houston. Damage is expected to total in the billions of dollars.
Two hurricanes off the coast of Mexico, one after another, are blamed for much of this severe weather. Dr. Neil Frank, former director of the National Hurricane Center, stated on the October 19 broadcast of the CBS Evening News that in all the years he has observed hurricanes, he has never seen two consecutive storms of this kind off the west coast of Mexico. Frank describes this development as "highly unusual."
On the other side of the world, Typhoon Zeb slashed through the Philippines, Taiwan, and Japan during the second week of October, taking at least 74 lives. At the time of this writing, Typhoon Babs is wreaking havoc through an almost identical path, with winds gusting up to 200 kilometers an hour and battering the Philippine capital of Manila.
Inspired Commentary:
What Dr. Frank declares to be "highly unusual" was foretold long ago by God's prophet:
"The restraining Spirit of God is even now being withdrawn from the world. Hurricanes, storms, tempests, fire and flood, disasters by sea and land, follow each other in quick succession. Science seeks to explain all these. The signs thickening around us, telling of the near approach of the Son of God, are attributed to any other than the true cause" (Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 408).
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