Preparation #20 (Preparation for the judgments)
Brian
Kocourek
This Morning we will again take our message from
paragraph 17 of Brother Branham's sermon Preparation. I will read from paragraph 17 through 25
since the continuity is not broken, and we will comment upon this as we
read. Now, while I read, don't forget that
the title of this message is preparation, therefore, the theme of this entire
message is about preparation, and if the entire theme is on preparation, then
that theme will hold true to everything Brother Branham is bringing to our
attention. So, therefore, when we read these next few paragraphs, keep in mind
that he is speaking to us on preparation.
017 In the garden of
Eden there were two trees: one was Life, one was knowledge. Man left the Tree
of Life to eat off the tree of knowledge. And the first bite he took, he
separated himself from God. And every time a man bites off of that tree of
knowledge, he destroys himself. He bit off gun powder, kills his
comrade. He bit off automobiles off the tree of knowledge, kills more people
than all the wars. He's bit off himself a hydrogen bomb now. What's he going to
do with that? Everything, he destroys himself by knowledge, and knowledge
always climbs so far and falls back. But this Tree of Life is endless and goes
right into glory.
Notice, he went from gunpowder, to automobiles to
atomic power, and then he said, Everything,
he destroys himself by knowledge, and knowledge always climbs so far and falls
back… That sound a lot like Y2K to me. After all, man has progressed to an age
where Daniel said, DANIEL 12:4 But
thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, [even] to the time of the end: many shall run to
and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
Notice, right up to the very end men will be on the
move, constantly on the go, running to and fro,
and knowledge will increase. And yet like brother Branham said, knowledge always climbs so far and falls
back. Isn't that what Y2K is all about? The internal computer clocks
falling back to 1900? Don't think
because you haven't heard much about it recently that everything is being
worked out. I don't care if it is Y2K or some other event, there will be a
world-wide depression, there will be a world-wide judgment. God's prophet
declared it and it must come, and there is nothing you nor anyone else can do that
can prepare to meet this judgment except get your soul right with God and be
ready for the catching away. For that is the only way out of this technological
and economical mess that man has put himself.
ROMANS 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the
creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are
made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without
excuse: 21 Because that, when they knew God, they
glorified [him] not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their
imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became
fools,
II TIMOTHY
3:7 Ever learning, and never able
to come to the knowledge of the truth. Ever learning, but never able to make heads
or tails of what he has learned.
PANIC IN THE YEAR ZERO
Army prepares for Y2K food crisis Undercover
Special Force
operatives in distribution center
By David M. Bresnahan
© 1999 WorldNetDaily.com
Army Special Forces are engaged in a secret
operation to learn how to protect food distribution centers in the event of a
Y2K emergency or other disaster, according to witnesses. Information which led to the discovery of the
undercover operation came from a witness who worked in the presence of the
soldiers who are posing as security guards and temporary workers at one of the
largest food distribution centers in the nation. Soldiers are taking part in
the exercise to prepare for the possibility they could be called on to protect
food distribution warehouses around the country if a Y2K disruption causes
civil unrest. They appear to be normal security guards and workers to those who
see them, so it was difficult to find
corroboration of the claim, which was first reported to World Net Daily in April.
The exercise began when the local Teamsters
went on strike against the Galaxy Logistics food distribution warehouse at 1700
Elm Hill Pike, Nashville, Tenn. Temporary workers were called in to keep the
very large distribution center functioning. Galaxy Logistics handles food distribution for Kroger Company.
Galaxy Logistics Inc. is based in
When the Teamsters went on strike at the end
of April, temporary workers were called in to maintain operations. The
temporary workers were actually brought to work and received training at least
four days prior to the start of the strike. Picket lines have been peaceful and
consist of only a few workers with signs, often as few as two.
AWF provides security for the large facility
and put some soldiers into their company uniforms, enabling them to easily
observe and learn at a time when they would not be easily detected, according
to a reliable Special Forces source who has worked with World Net Daily on
other investigative reports. "They
need information and experience in order to devise a plan to protect these facilities. It's simply a
fact-finding mission," the source explained after some prompting. He was hesitant because this
operation is apparently not the only one taking place, although he would not give further details.
"Ask me about something specific and I'll see what I can tell
you," he stated when asked for
locations of similar activities.
The soldiers are responding to orders to be prepared to protect and support critical facilities in the event
of Y2K-related disruptions. Undercover forces are in the process of gathering
information about those facilities now
in order to have a plan in place if it is needed. "You've got the
picture," he confirmed.
"Protection of food distribution centers will be critical if it gets really bad. People will
be out of food within days," he
explained. Although the Red Cross and
the Federal Emergency Management Agency
have stated they are prepared to move
people to shelters within three to five
days of a Y2K disaster, the source said
the military believes it will take much
longer and many people will be out on the streets looting and causing unrest.
A
memorandum from Deputy Secretary of Defense John J. Hamre
to all defense agencies spells out the
need to be prepared to "respond to
requests for assistance from civil authorities both domestically and overseas
throughout the Y2K date transition
period (defined as
Now, why would our government be so concerned about
the distribution centers? Because this nation used to keep enough food surplus
in reserve to feed the people for months almost one year. I believe our food
reserves were 70% of the annual output at one time, but are now less than 8%
which means about one month.
Last night Brother Vayle
read an article about the U.S. dollar and how many of the smaller countries,
especially in
Now, every nation is identified with their currency.
And does not Revelation 13 tell us that the
I'd like to read another article from Y2KneWS.COM.
This week, public perception shifted
suddenly and forcefully, demolishing the
illusion of compliance that has
successfully stopped nearly all
preparedness for the last seven weeks. While
we haven't identified the core reason for this recent reversal, its existence is undeniable:
sales are up sharply at food storage
companies, subscriptions are way up
at Y2KNEWSWIRE.COM and major media
are once again picking up the story.
HOW
SPIN SHUT DOWN THE Y2K INDUSTRY On
April 1 of this year, sales of Y2K-related
information, food and other products plummeted. As one supplier told Y2KNEWSWIRE in
mid-April, "It was as if someone just turned off the spigot. We haven't sold a single
food package in ten days now..."
Cited as the most likely reasons for
the shut-down were:
Burnout: people were getting sick of hearing
about Y2K. Even though they knew it was important, they just didn't want to
hear any more. No failures on April 1st: the
people figured,
Everybody says they're compliant: with the
government claiming 92% compliance and nearly every industry and private firms
claiming 90%+ compliance, people thought Y2K was solved. But now, just seven
weeks later, here's what has actually unfolded:
As reported in the New York Times, new
research results from Cap Gemini show some frightening facts: only about half
of the companies that expected to have 50% or more of their code renovated by
January 1 of 1999 actually met that goal. The percentage of firms expecting to
have more than 3/4ths of their code "completely tested and compliant by
are behind schedule and 88% said that would have to -- yet again -- increase
spending estimates.
An
analysis of Fortune 100 firms by Weiss
Ratings showed that eight had only spent
from 25% - 30% of their total Y2K
budgets by the end of 1998, and
thirty-one more of the Fortune 100 were
rated as "below average" on Y2K compliance status.
The
public found out how the North
American Electric Reliability Council
(NERC) allowed power companies to claim Y2K-compliance simply by
listing non-compliant systems on an
"exceptions list." This sham
was immediately recognized as yet
another compliance gimmick designed to hide the truth from
the people.
A new report from Triaxsys
Research, another independent research firm, shows that nearly 20% of Fortune 1000 firms have spent only around 40% of their
total Y2K budgets. Another 30% have
only spent from 40% to 60%. The study
shows that budgets continue to grow, and
the vice president of Triaxsys indicates she's
only confident 231 companies will actually make it.
A
Canadian study of large companies
reveals that while 15% stated they were Y2K-compliant last year, only
18% said they were this year: an
improvement of only 3%. Furthermore, while most
companies said last year they would be compliant by December 31, 1998,
the story changes this year: most say
they'll be
compliant
by the Summer of 1999.
A statement by Italy's equivalent of John Koskinen shocked
the world. In this Times report, he's
quoted as saying, "Italy is going
to crash, and we are going to be crucified. We are supposed to make things go so smoothly that nobody would realise there was
ever a problem. Instead we will be the
scapegoats."
Another Fortune 1000 research project,
conducted by Weiss Ratings, revealed yet more startling figures: 34% of Fortune 1000 firms continue refusing to release data, utilities and telecommunications
industries show a surprisingly-poor status
(no telecommunications firms received a
"high" rating, for example), companies have still only spent half their Y2K budgets, and America's two largest corporations -- General Motors and Ford -- received a "below average"
rating.
The
game of musical deadline chairs
continues: companies that were screaming, "December 31, 1998!" are now whispering, "June, 1999." But
even that doesn't give them enough time:
June deadlines are already slipping
into September, October and even
December. No deadline is real, it seems,
and the public is no longer buying it.
The
stunning lack of compliance
announcements has spooked everyone.
Only a handful of companies have actually achieved anything near compliance, and when they do, they shout it loudly and
clearly. For example, look at the compliance
statement from Compass Bank. Even then,
it's a qualified compliance, covering
only "mission-critical" systems.
There's more, too. Everywhere we turn, new evidence points to a
worsening compliance situation, not the
rosy, "we made it" dream world
spun by Y2K-deniers over the last six
months.
THE
DENIERS ARE LOOKING SILLY Denial of the
Y2K problem is fast becoming the
quickest way to look silly in front of the whole world. So-called "experts" and
economists are looking at plain-Jane
data, right under their noses, and
reaching fantastic conclusions. For
example, in this David Eddy essay on the Westergaard site,
we see how Canada's chief statistician, Dr. Fellegi,
looks at data showing only 18% of large
organizations expect to be finished by
April, 1999, even though 40% once
claimed they would be finished by December of 1998. Faced with this backslide in
progress, Fellegi
proclaims, "We seem to be in basically
good shape if the plans are realistic."
Many
economists are still predicting, in fact, the
myth of a "Y2K economic boom." They claim the Year 2000 disruptions will actually help
the economy and boost the stock market.
Even
the heads of organizations are looking sillier than ever. We hardly need to mention
Jane Garvey anymore -- the FAA
administration who claimed 99%
compliance last September, 100% last October,
then winced as the agency revised
everything and said it wouldn't really be ready until the Summer of 1999 (as they quietly
pulled buggy air traffic control
software from various airports,
replacing them with the old,
non-compliant versions).
Then
HCFA got caught lying about compliance.
As we reported in a previous story, Gene Dodaro, assistant
comptroller general for the GAO,
explains how HCFA (which administers
Medicare) exaggerated compliance: "For example...none of HCFA's
54 external mission-critical systems
reported by the Department of Health
and Human Services as compliant as of
December 31, 1998, were Year 2000 ready, based on serious qualifications identified by the independent verification
and validation contractor."
(Amazingly, the HCFA responded, saying
that the problems were minor and would
be fixed by 2000.)
PEOPLE ARE WISING UP The denials continue, but this time,
something is different: they are no
longer being swallowed by a gullible
public. People are wising up. They're
figuring this out: seven months left, yet
another deadline about to be missed, no compliance claims being
announced, industries caught lying about compliance, federal agencies dropping over 3,000 systems from the "mission-critical" lists and a
triple-whammy from independent research
firms that shatters the hype-based
claims of compliance in corporate
America.
It all adds up to one thing, and this is
exactly what we've been saying all
along: the compliance claim was a
deception designed to blind you from
the truth. The truth, it turns out,
isn't a happy one. It's not end-of-the-world,
but it's ugly. It means unemployment, an end to the happy-happy stock
market ride, possibly a recession as
predicted by Ed Yardeni or a "decade of Depression," as
predicted by Ed Yourdon. It means the
last great financial party of the
millennium is just about over: people will
no longer get "free 25% returns" on monkey-see, monkey-do stock picks. The magic-wand money creation engine that people now think
of as "normal" is about to
slide into reverse.
BUT
THE DREAM WEAVERS AREN'T DONE YET This battle of truth vs. fiction isn't over
yet. The spin-masters are hard at work, coming up with new angles on all this. They're wondering
how they can keep the public lulled
into ignorance for a few more months.
And maybe, just maybe, by that time, a
software miracle will appear and they'll
get it all fixed. Then nobody will be the wiser.
But
what these people don't know -- because
most of the dream weavers aren't programmers -- is that the programmers were overly-optimistic, as always. The managers
and owners are in for a shock. One day, a
gnarly-looking programmer wearing sandals and a T-shirt is going to walk into the board
room and declare, "We need another
year." Jaws will drop, of course,
but that wide-eyed look will quickly
fade to a squint-eyed planning session:
"Ok, folks, we've got to figure out how to claim compliance anyway."
In
the mean time, watch for more staged drills
by various industries. The FAA may put another plane in the sky and roll
its clocks to 1/1/2000. NERC might test
all the walkie-talkies in the electric
industry and claim, "Industry-wide compliance!" The NRC might hold a
shut-down drill somewhere. In every case, the goal will be to imply compliance
without rigorously testing it. After each test and subsequent press conference, there will be no proof offered:
no documentation, no independent verification and no guarantee that anything will work on 1/1/2000. It will simply be another fuzzy
cloud in the dream-world of Y2K compliance.
THE
PRESS IS SUDDENLY WILLING TO LOOK AT
Y2K Perhaps the greatest influencing
factor on this Y2K reversal is the mainstream
press: they covered Y2K scams, Y2K people and Y2K companies to the point of overkill in 1998,
then they dropped the ball. They bought
into the compliance claims, almost never questioning anything. They didn't even have the guts to
ask, "Can you prove it?" Even today, many stories blindly reprint compliance claims without a
shred of evidence.
But
in May, all that changed. They've finally
started questioning these claims, asking tough questions, and demanding proof. After all, journalists were spoofed three times already. Every journalist and publication
that printed the statement,
"company {x} should be done by December 31, 1998," without inserting the word, "CLAIMS," should issue
a public apology for misleading readers.
Because, in fact, newspapers and
magazines promoted the myth of
compliance. They blindly printed and reprinted
pie-in-the-sky target dates. They believed the fantastic claim that all companies would
magically finish on precisely the same
day: 12/31/1998. And they bought it
again for the 3/31/1999 deadline, then
once again for the June, 1999 deadline.
They're wising up, though. Now, "60 Minutes" is scheduled to air a shocker Y2K story
this Sunday. The New York Times
actually prints the Cap Gemini research
results, and all around the country,
newspapers are once again willing to
approach this issue. Journalists are waking up and realizing, "Hey, we've been scammed.
These companies claiming compliance were
jilting us. These federal agencies are just making up these numbers."
From
here on out, it's a whole new world:
anything can happen. The battle of truth over fiction continues, of course, with the truth-promoters having nothing but facts and
the fiction-promoters having nothing
but money. Only the public at large
can decide the outcome of this battle,
and in doing so, they may decide
whether a Y2K panic will ensue. If people prepare now, there will be no
panic. If people wait until the last minute, or if they are denied the truth until the last minute, Y2K may be precisely the firestorm we've been trying
to prevent.
E-18
018 So, Don't depend on your
knowledge, and don't never try to figure anything out that God says. If you
could figure it out, or I could figure it out, or any other preacher could figure it out, we
would be equal with God. We are not supposed, and never will be able to figure
it out, because when we can figure it out, it's not faith any more.
We've got to accept it by faith. Is that right? God said so. I don't know how.
I can't tell you how He's going to do it, but He's going to do it 'cause He
said so. That's the basis. God is going to do it because He promised to do it.
He's God, and He can't break His promise, how it is. And some of God's preparations
has been so ridiculous to the people who depend on the tree of knowledge. God's
preparation has been absolutely ridiculous to the natural mind, 'cause the
natural can't conceive the things that are of God. Because they are foolishness
to him, and he just thinks it's horrible to think. "Why, God would
do..."
E-19 019
A few minutes ago I seen some woman... I was coming in; everybody was
praying at one time. And I seen a man shake his head and say... I said,
"All right, that's Scripture." It's a whole lot better than one of
these old cold formal moth-eaten something or another standing around. I said,
taking the Bible, "They played--prayed with one accord until the building
was shook where they was assembled together." I said, "They got out
on the street and staggered like a bunch of drunk men, till even they said they
was drunk."
E-20
020 And now listen friends, and
to you women, the blessed virgin Mary was with that bunch of drunk people on
the Spirit. And if God wouldn't let the mother of God come into the--heaven
without receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost and acting like that, do you
think you'll get there anything short of that?
Now, let's lay it down flat. Don't try to say virgin Mary wasn't up
there; she was. And she acted just like the rest of them. And don't you think
because your name's on a book, and you can drive an automobile and--and run
around with a nice hat on, and a lot of clothes, and dress your children nice,
that means, or belong to the church that you're going in. You're going to get
the same thing or you're out. That's right. Now, I don't know nobody, and I
only know Jesus Christ. And I'm responsible and have to answer at the day of
judgment for what I speak and say.
E-21
021 Now, God, in the beginning
when Adam and Eve... Man has always tried to prepare himself. Oh, yes, sir, he
tries to prepare himself. When he first sinned in the beginning, the first
thing you know, he went out and prepared himself an apron: fig leaves, wrapped
it around him. He's making himself... Now, the word "religion" means
"covering." And Adam and Eve made themself
a religion, a covering. But when God called them and they had to stand face to
face with God, they realized that their manmade religion wasn't no good. And if
you're anything short of the Holy Spirit and death strikes your body, you'll
find out that manmade religion won't stand in the time of death. Oh, don't tell me, I've stood to the
hospitals and seen the doctors shoot hypos in the arm when there was deacons
and everything else. That's right. Hear them scream and say... call to their
pastor, "You deceiver of man. Why didn't you tell the truth?" It'll
tell when you get down at the end of the road. So the best thing to do is make
preparation for it right now. Get the thing straightened up. Get right with
God.
E-22
022 Now, I notice that Eve
wrapped herself up in some fig leaves, and Adam. But when it come time for to
face God they were condemned. They realized that that manmade religion wouldn't
work. So when God called them... Now, how true it is today. When God first had
prepared Himself to speak to Adam, and Adam, in a manmade way, was trying to
prepare himself to speak to God. But God had to prepare Adam to speak to Him.
So in order to do that, they begin to pass the buck one to the other, in the
old street expression. And then what happened? God went out and got some skins
and made them aprons. I want to give you who I think God is, just in a minute.
E-23
023 Let's take and take a little
mental trip tonight, you and I. And let's go back before the--there even was a
star in the heaven, 'fore there even wasn't anything. Setting way back in eternity, that was God.
And then going out of God, or God unfolding Himself, come the Logos, which was
the Son of God or the Word of God. "In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh and
dwelled among us," the Logos. Now watch, we're seeing God unfold Himself.
Then He said in Genesis: "Let us make man in our own image." What
kind of man was he? He had to be a spirit man. And then He put him in five
senses to contact his earthly home. He might've given him a foot like a bear
and a hand like a monkey. I don't know what He did. But anyhow, them five senses
wasn't to contact his Maker. He knowed his Maker by
faith. His soul was what contacted that. But his body here couldn't contact,
'cause it's just the senses. He wasn't... These things were given for earthly
uses: see, taste, feel, smell, and hear. As I proved to you the other night,
that seeing and hearing and so forth, wasn't believing, far from it. But
notice. Now, in this earthly home they had sinned. And when God came down and
He said, "Because you listened to your wife in the stead of God, I took
you from the dust, dust you shall return. And woman, because you listened to
the serpent instead of your husband, why, you'll--you'll brought... took life
out of the world and you'll bring life in the world and multiply your
sorrows," and so forth. And the serpent, "Dust shall be your
meat."... And I can see Adam standing there then, and Eve... I think Eve,
not like some of these artists paint her, a horrible looking brute; she was the
most beautiful woman the world ever knew, wherever in the world. And if I had
time to go into it, I can prove that by the Scriptures. She was lovely. When
Adam woke up that morning and seen there that beautiful woman, flesh of his
flesh and bone of his bone, he took her by the arm and walked down through
Eden. What a beautiful home: no sickness, no sorrow, no nothing, to live
together forever.
E-24
024 And friends, Christians,
that seems, maybe to some of you, like a Santa Claus dream. But it's wrong.
That's the truth. We're returning back to that. That's right. I believe it more
than I believe I'm in Owensboro now in this auditorium. 'Cause there's
something inside of me believes that when this won't let nothing else happen. I
don't go by this; it's by this. And this believes the Word of God. This
reasons; this doesn't; this just believes it
E-25
025 And then in--when I see Adam
as it was standing there, and Eve, the beautiful statue of her. And while she's
standing there, these old bloody sheepskins, the blood running down her legs...
Adam in his great fine statue of a man, the blood off these sheepskins running
down him, and God standing there pronouncing death, sorrow, and heartaches, and
destruction. Watch. Then I can see Eve put her lovely head over on Adam's
shoulder and him put his arms around her. They started weeping. Turned around
and started to walking out of His Presence. God depart from him. He sinned.
There's your judgment.
E-26
026 Then when I can hear, going
down along that path through the garden of Eden, something like this [Brother
Branham claps--Ed.] What is it? Bloody sheepskins slapping on Adam's leg as he
went down. Then I could see all that great space-less eternity come forming
down like a funnel to four little letters L-O-V-E. He loved His children so
much till He couldn't turn them away. Then I hear Him say, "Stop. I'll put
enmity between thy seed and the serpent's seed," promising a Redeemer, God
making preparation to redeem.