What??? I can't hear you!

 My speakers on the computer have died, so no M10 this week.  I'm working the OT to pay for new ones, but losing the time I need to get them!  HOWever, I do have something amusing up my sleeve... at least I think I do... 

The 2024 IGnoble awards, given every year for, well, let's be nice and say "questionable research", have been awarded.  I thought how about we combine a little music (which I can't hear) and the awards.  Our target year is 1966, so we will intersperse the biggest moving bullets with the farthest falling researchers.  Ready?

Music #s 10 and 9:  We had a three way tie for 9th at a ten- notch move, so the 2 lowest go first.  Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass and Flamingo up 10 to 38, and Frank Sinatra's Summer Wind to 36.

Award: (A blast from the past)

PEACE PRIZE [USA]

B.F. Skinner, for experiments to see the feasibility of housing live pigeons inside missiles to guide the flight paths of the missiles.  So was he planning on teaching them to use steering wheels?

Music #8:  The other ten spot mover, Neil Diamond and Cherry Cherry to 23.

Award: (But what if you're bald?)

ANATOMY  PRIZE [FRANCE, CHILE]

Marjolaine Willems, Quentin Hennocq, Sara Tunon de Lara, Nicolas Kogane, Vincent Fleury, Romy Rayssiguier, Juan José Cortés Santander, Roberto Requena, Julien Stirnemann, and Roman Hossein Khonsari, for studying whether the hair on the heads of most people in the northern hemisphere swirls in the same direction (clockwise or counter-clockwise?) as hair on the heads of most people in the southern hemisphere.  Before or after getting a swirly?

Music #7:  Oh, fudge, I missed the Surfaris and Wipe Out, also a ten spotter at #19.  This may cause the winner to be # 1A.

Award:  (Make you think it's ALL in your head)

MEDICINE PRIZE [SWITZERLAND, GERMANY, BELGIUM]

Lieven A. Schenk, Tahmine Fadai, and Christian Büchel, for demonstrating that fake medicine that causes painful side-effects can be more effective than fake medicine that does not cause painful side-effects.  I guess this means fake medicine that does SOMETHING is better than fake medicine that does nothing.  Instead of pain, maybe try CBD gummies?

Music possibly #6:  Oh, I see- I had Cherry Cherry written down as an 11.  No worries!  there are 2 12-notch movers, and the lower goes to- the Temptations with Beauty Is Only Skin Deep, at # 8.

Award: ( I suppose saying there's something fishy about this is too obvious)

PHYSICS PRIZE [USA]

James C. Liao, for demonstrating and explaining the swimming abilities of a dead trout.  I did read a bit about this.  Basic premise was, "does the fish swim the water, or does the water swim the fish?"  He wanted to compare live and dead trout- one swimming, one being pulled along.  While the living fish did better (surprise), the dead fish moved an awful lot like the live one, which somewhat proved his premise.  The most shocking thing about this story is that I spent this much time defending a scientist dragging a dead fish through the water.

Music #5:  The other 12 spot move was the Association (they sure like getting involved in these things) and Cherish, at #4.

Award: (But why would you WANT to?)

PHYSIOLOGY PRIZE [JAPAN, USA]

Ryo Okabe, Toyofumi F. Chen-Yoshikawa, Yosuke Yoneyama, Yuhei Yokoyama, Satona Tanaka, Akihiko Yoshizawa, Wendy L. Thompson, Gokul Kannan, Eiji Kobayashi, Hiroshi Date, and Takanori Takebe, for discovering that many mammals are capable of breathing through their anus.  Eleven of them, for sure....  I mean, this is not so much breathing as "absorbing" in emergency situations, and pigs, mice, and other rodents.  Can you imagine being a pig and having to... Dear Lord, let's move on.

Music #4: Monkees, Last Train To Clarksville.  The Monkees would HAVE to follow that last award... up 13 to #39.

Award: (Never when you need one...)

PROBABILITY PRIZE [THE NETHERLANDS, SWITZERLAND, BELGIUM, FRANCE, GERMANY, HUNGARY, CZECH REPUBLIC]

František Bartoš, Eric-Jan Wagenmakers, Alexandra Sarafoglou, Henrik Godmann, and many colleagues, for showing, both in theory and by 350,757 experiments, that when you flip a coin, it tends to land on the same side as it started.  Of course, I looked for a coin immediately upon reading this.  But, I'm in my lounge around the house shorts, and no coins.  Maybe later.

Music # 3: Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons covering Cole Porter on I've Got You Under My Skin, at #29, up 14 spots.

Award: (But what were they served?)

CHEMISTRY PRIZE [THE NETHERLANDS, FRANCE]

Tess Heeremans, Antoine Deblais, Daniel Bonn, and Sander Woutersen, for using chromatography to separate drunk and sober worms.  Again, I read a little on this one.  I believe they were made to compete against each other in a maze.  The study group finished dead drunk and dead last.

Music #2:  96 Tears, ? and the Mysterians.  Never been a huge favorite of mine, but moves 15 to 26.

Award:  (Darn that Methuselah, anyway!)

DEMOGRAPHY PRIZE [AUSTRALIA, UK]

Saul Justin Newman, for detective work to discover that many of the people famous for having the longest lives lived in places that had lousy birth-and-death recordkeeping. So I am curious here.  Looking at the lists of the 10 oldest men and ten oldest women, are we referring to the contestants from the more third world-y places ( Peru, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico got one each), or the one who hit the list the most times ( Japan with 5, USA with 4, France and Spain 2)?

Music#1: The biggest mover in this week's top 40 of 1966:  

...the Four Tops with Reach Out I'll Be There, leaping 17 spots to #28!

And the final award (and possibly the most poorly designed...)

BIOLOGY PRIZE [USA]

Fordyce Ely and William E. Petersen, for exploding a paper bag next to a cat that’s standing on the back of a cow, to explore how and when cows spew their milk.

Okay, to explain THIS one, let me take you to IFLScience (dot) com, where I found the original story...

More inexplicable was a project that attempted to find out if scaring cows using loud noises produced by bursting paper bags caused them to produce more milk from one side of their udders than the other. The weirdness was maximized by initially placing a cat on top of the cow, although this was later abandoned as “unnecessary”. 

Okay, I have to ask:

-Why does a cat make a scary event more scary?

-Why would loud noises change where the milk comes out?

- Which lunatic even came up with this theory????

I hope you have enjoyed this little bit of fun as much as I did.  Sure beats non-stop politics!

Wednesday Bible Study: Seventh bowl

 

Rev 16:17  The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, "It is done!" 

Rev 16:18  And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. 

Rev 16:19  The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. 

Rev 16:20  And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. 

End of story?  Not at all.  The fall of Fortress Babylon is told extensively, both in Ezekiel 27 under the name "the Ship Tyre"...

Eze 27:32  In their wailing they raise a lamentation for you and lament over you: 'Who is like Tyre, like one destroyed in the midst of the sea? 

Eze 27:33  When your wares came from the seas, you satisfied many peoples; with your abundant wealth and merchandise you enriched the kings of the earth. 

Eze 27:34  Now you are wrecked by the seas, in the depths of the waters; your merchandise and all your crew in your midst have sunk with you. 

Eze 27:35  All the inhabitants of the coastlands are appalled at you, and the hair of their kings bristles with horror; their faces are convulsed. 

Eze 27:36  The merchants among the peoples hiss at you; you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever.'" 

And similarly in Revelation 18...

Rev 18:7  As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning, since in her heart she says, 'I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and mourning I shall never see.' 

Rev 18:8  For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her." 

Rev 18:9  And the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning. 

Rev 18:10  They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, "Alas! Alas! You great city, you mighty city, Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come." 

And in many other spots.  But I am led to tell you the story from Isaiah 24, because, it was told me, that this version brings you INTO the falling city, and not just from the view of outside observers mourning the loss of her riches.  Before we hit this, a few things to note about Fortress Babylon.

This is the city the AntiChrist builds to run the economies of his world.  His first step was taking power, the "Rome" phase; the last was becoming "god", the "Jerusalem" phase.  If you stop to read the passages around the ones in Ezekiel and Revelation, you'll see this is an economic realm here.  Some, myself included, wondered how that could be possible.  I recently talked with someone who believes Dubai is the "new Babylon".  I don't see it, but going from a lowly fishing village in 1966 to this now:

credit Ivan Siarbolin

Shows it can be done- and faster, if you are using the entire world's (almost) resources to do it.  But there is a catch- the fifth bowl plunged this Babylon into darkness; and the sixth set loose the kings of the Rising Sun after them.  So now you have an attacking army, led by demons, and suddenly this great earthquake hits.   

Look again at the last two verses of the bowl judgment:

Rev 16:19  The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. 

Rev 16:20  And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. 

Now, let's look at Isaiah 24...

Isa 24:1  Behold, the LORD will empty the earth and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants. 

Isa 24:2  And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the slave, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the debtor. 

Isa 24:3  The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered; for the LORD has spoken this word. 

Isa 24:4  The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and withers; the highest people of the earth languish. 

Look at v1 and v4 first.  Empty = depopulate.  John is no longer hearing what fraction of the population is being killed; these are NOT survivable events. Twist its surface= turns everything upside down. This is no longer recognizable as the world we know.  In verse 4, it has both "the earth" and "the world".  This isn't mere poetic licence. One refers to its physical features; the other to its ability to sustain life.  This is an extinction event; and while we are looking at it in Babylon, this is happening across the globe.

Now look at v2.  the first 3 pairs- people/priest, slave/master, and maid/mistress tell us there is no protection from this in your position;  the second three, buyer/seller, lender/borrower, creditor/debtor, tell us that no economic status, no wealth, even that number of the Beast, will save you.

As always, God gives the reasons for His judgment:

Isa 24:5  And the land is defiled under its people; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, and have broken the everlasting covenant. 

Transgressed the Law means unrepentant sin; Changed the ordinances?  Look here:

Dan 7:24  And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise. And another shall arise after them. And he shall be different from the first, and he shall humble three kings. 

Dan 7:25  And he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and plot to change times and laws. And they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and one-half time. 

This is the 'new rules' the AntiChrist laid out; the new "Christmas" celebrating the deaths of the Two Witnesses, the false Easter of his own "resurrection", and more.  This charge, then, is obedience to the false god.  And the everlasting covenant they are breaking, is rejecting what Jesus Christ did for them; rejecting the salvation He won at the Cross.

Isa 24:7  The new wine mourns, the vine droops, all the merry-hearted sigh. 

Isa 24:8  The gladness of tambourines ceases, the noise of those who rejoice ends; the joy of the harp ceases. 

Isa 24:9  They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to those who drink it. 

Isa 24:10  The city of shame is broken down; every house is shut up so that no one may come in. 

Isa 24:11  A crying for wine is in the streets; all joy is darkened, the gladness in the land has gone. 

Isa 24:12  In the city is left desolation, and the gate is stricken with ruin. 

This is a city who have countered seven years of disaster with drunkenness and music, and now it's gone.  No more music; people are crying out for alcohol ( as it is the only thing still drinkable after the third bowl), and there is none to be had.  Look at v10; the commentators tell me this means every doorway, every means of escape, is blocked by ruins.  The fortress the AntiChrist counted on, his "god of fortresses" has failed the people of Babylon.

Isa 24:17  Terror and the pit and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth! 

Isa 24:18  He who flees at the sound of the terror shall fall into the pit, and he who climbs out of the pit shall be caught in the snare. For the windows of heaven are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble. 

Even if they could get out of the city, where would they go? Because the earth is on its last legs...

Isa 24:19  The earth is breaking, breaking! The earth is crashing, crashing! The earth is tottering, tottering. 

Isa 24:20  Like a drunkard, the earth is staggering, staggering! And it rocks to and fro like a hut. And its trespass is heavy on it; and it shall fall, and not rise again. 

As this is happening in Babylon, it is happening across the very universe...

Isa 24:21  On that day the LORD will punish the host of heaven, in heaven, and the kings of the earth, on the earth. 

Neither demon, angel, or general will escape what is happening in that day.  This will be FINAL judgment.  And if there is a time lapse, it is only an hour that the sailors will be able to mourn "the Great City".  But in that hour, with the world falling apart around them, there is one last act to play out...

Rev 16:14  For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. 

Rev 16:15  ("Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!") 

Rev 16:16  And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. 

Pictures

 This wasn't a big week for pics.  Tuesday at work, I tripped over some scrap and gackked my back.  Didn't miss work, but Tuesday and Wednesday nights were off the walking schedule.  Which was okay, because it was "WHOOSH" hot those nights.

Monday

This was not so much supposed to be a selfie, but to demonstrate just how high this weed on Groundhog Road was... see below

No rain lately, so no water on the golf course- Misty's ready to complain

The river, too was a, "Let me wade past all this gunk" adventure.

Well, scratch that romantic gesture, I guess

Thursday

After the sun set, it got cooler fast, and with a slight breeze, it was great walking...

Already getting dark

But tons of people out: dog walkers, strollers, skaters, socceristas...

Oh, and the moon

That's new...

Not quite dark enough for the proper "Moon over the river" effect

This was us about a half mile from home...

Friday

Pretty morning

Autumn is coming in

And that brings us to Saturday- a morning I was musing on how "Nothing neat ever happens on our walks anymore", and considering doing a "best of " post, instead...

Actually beat the sun up for a change

"Hey, let's cross-country to the Duck Pond"

Ducks were at the river.

But here comes the adventure.  We saw this doggie and Mom up ahead.  She had her doggie sitting very still- a great feat since he was just a big puppy.  We were about as far off on the other side, with me telling Misty what a good dog that one was being, while Misty does her rush foreward, back and forth thing.  But when we got even with them, her dog ran straight for us- and SNAPPED the handle right off the leash!  She was panicking, running after the dog saying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"  The dogs were playing, running around each other, I had Misty's bungee tight in my hand.

Apparently she hadn't been through one of these events before, and was trying to grab the leash instead of stomping on it to stop it first.  As a result, her doggie led her on about three orbits around us before she used her command voice to say, "Chicita! Come here!" Didn't phase HER dog, but Misty SAT DOWN; and when she did, her doggie stopped to sniff Misty's behind, and was captured.  I told her we've been through the same thing, thus the bungee leash.

"I heared a froggie!"

On the way home through the addition, we ran into a gentleman setting up tables for a garage sale.  His question, "How old of a dog is that?" started a pleasant conversation about his dogs ("The one is fourteen and about dead, and the other is three and has SO MUCH energy, I can hardly keep up"), our shoulders (His had frozen up too, his PT took three times as long and probably 6-8 times as many appointments), and the economy ("I'm putting off surgery on the shoulder as long as I can.  Everybody thinks you're rich to live back here, but you aren't, and I'm 60 and getting ready to retire, so I have to watch the money").

Just funny how you mention to God how uneventful walks have been lately, and you and doggie both make new friends!

M10 show week 135

 

Well, things are back to normal for a bit, and that means my Big Buddy is back...

Elvis:  Yeah, that was some nice vacation I got there!  No deadlines, no groupies...

Deadlines?  What deadlines?  I'm the one who has to juggle a million things to put this together every week, not to mention trying to come up with your bits...

Man, you're like breaking the fourth wall there... or is it the sixth dimension?

Whatever, dude!  Anyway, we return to you in target year 1967- would you like to let our fans know what was #1 that week?

Lemme see... here in the US of A, it wuz  Bobbie Gentry's Ode To Billy Joe- also #1 in Canada at some point, an' 4 in Australia.

In Canada, it wuz... ugh!- the Beatles an' All You Need Is Love... #1s across the board, figures....

An' in Australia, it was the Fifth Dimension (there's me mistake- fifth, not sixth) an' Up Up And Away- which also got #1 in Canada, but only 7 here.

Nicely done, no rust at all!  We have three new songs in the M10 this week, and it's time to play the first one!  At #9, more from the Heavy Heavy....

************************************************************

So, as I recollect, you switched to a new chart thing back last time or so...

Yes, I thought to give you more of an idea of what's hot, I'd feature this week's biggest moving 'bullet' songs from the year in question.  A few of them had my head shaking because I didn't really know them- others were really big hits- and some started hot and bogged down.  Let's look at the list...

4- There were three songs that moved up 11 spots- two that I didn't really know, and the highest charting one: from 15 to 4 for the Box Tops and The Letter- it would spent 3 weeks at the top on Cashbox, 7 in Canada, 27 in Australia.

3- Up 14 to #39 this week was one of those I didn't know (until I just played it).  Frankie Valli with I Make A Fool Of Myself- to me, it sounded like one of those songs the producer tries to make sound like the last big hit (in this case, it's a bad sound-alike to Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You), and it flamed out at 18 here, though it did better in Canada (#7), but only a #86 in Australia.  I love Frankie, but for my money, Australia had this one right.

2- Gettin' Together, Tommy James and the Shondells, a 16 notch rise to #34.  One of my faves from TJ, it also was an early flame-out, 18 here, 24 in Canada, 42 in Australia.

And the big bullet this week was...

1- The Association, Never My Love.  A #1 in North America that never made its way to the Antipodes, it leaped 31 spots to land at 27 this week.

Second debut this week, with new lead singer Emily Armstrong, it's Linkin Park at #8...

********************************************************

I know there are some on SM that are bashing LP for picking this new singer- but I like it.  Chester's dead- he chose to do it.  Life goes on.

I sense a little hostility there...

A little.  Chester's kid is trying to cancel her, and calling Mike Shinoda a traitor.  I think he needs to grow up and remember the world doesn't revolve around him, and didn't revolve around Chester.  Maybe if Chester grasped that, he'd still be with us.

Yeah...uh, movin' right along... you gonna pick yer favorite from this week in '67?

You know, I didn't even think about it!  Let me bring the chart back up.... oh, well, that was easy!  It sits at 6 this week, up three... peaks at 3 here, 2 in Canada... and only peeked in at #99 in Australia...

We had that record, and played it a ton.... Memories...

Ahem.  You ain't really focusing here, boss...

Quite right.  I have one more debut this week, and it's by an old favorite- illuminati hotties... at #7...

******************************************************************

Good ol' Sara Tudzin... 

Right with ya.  You wanna pick up the rest of the ten?

Sure, I needs ta get caught back up anyway... 

10- The Linda Lindas, All In My Head, down 4.

6- Up one, Dorothy an' Mud.

5- down 2, an' now 24th all time, Decemberists an' Long White Veil.

4- Up 4, Emblem3 an' Chloe (You're The One I Want).

3- Wanderin' back up a spot, Orion Sun an' Mary Jane.

2- Slippin' from the top, Beabadoobie an' Beaches.

An' postin' their 15th M10 hit, an' their seventh #1...

...Beach House with Somewhere Tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, that's a wrap!  Time to go give the doggie a surprise walk....

Wednesday Bible Study: to the last bowl

 

What comes next is going to be the worst things you've ever heard of.  So let me do an "assess and re-assess" and prepare us for what comes.

Last time, I connected Babylon the Great with Jerusalem.  That may have been a simplistic way of looking at a very complicated Judgment on the world.  To the Jews, there are three offices: prophet, priest, and king.  For us, Jesus is ALL of them in one.  The AntiChrist seems to have taken them on in reverse order.  King, through his 'new-Rome' power base in Europe.  Priest, in establishing his new world order in a reborn Babylon.  And Prophet, through his declaring himself god at the Temple in Jerusalem.  So, by now, he has grown past his "Roman" roots, overthrown his three kings, Set up worship of himself- possibly by the 'recording studio' of his image that the False Prophet tends in Jerusalem; while he himself hides in a highly fortified Babylon.  Wait, where did I get that?  Look here in Daniel:

Dan 11:37  He shall pay no attention to the gods of his fathers, or to the one beloved by women. He shall not pay attention to any other god, for he shall magnify himself above all. 

Dan 11:38  He shall honor the god of fortresses instead of these. A god whom his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. 

Dan 11:39  He shall deal with the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god. Those who acknowledge him he shall load with honor. He shall make them rulers over many and shall divide the land for a price. 

This will come of great importance when we hit the sixth bowl.  But before we get there, John sees another bit of symbolism to explain to what has to be a stunned mortal mind what was to come:

Rev 14:14  Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. 

Rev 14:15  And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, "Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe." 

Rev 14:16  So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped. 

Rev 14:17  Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 

Rev 14:18  And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, "Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe." 

Rev 14:19  So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 

Rev 14:20  And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia. 

Sorry for such a long chunk of Scripture there, but what it boils down to is this:  Jesus is ready for the judgment.  The last of the martyrs, whom we saw praising God last time, are harvested; what is left of man (those who are not being supernaturally protected at this point), are to be thrown into the "winepress" of their last days on earth.  This winepress is about to be constructed, in the valley of Armageddon.

Back to chapter 15 now, as the seven angels to deliver the last plagues step to the stage.  We have not seen such as these before; they have been hidden in the Holiest of Holies in Heaven (15:5-6), and as one of the four living creatures hand off the bowls (which we would call plates, broad and shallow),

Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from His authority. And no one was able to enter into the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed. 

This is as close as any there had come to the true power, the true wrath, of God Almighty.  And it's going to be over the course of one single, terrible day:

Rev 18:7  As much as she has glorified herself and has lived in luxury, so much torment and sorrow give her. For she says in her heart, I sit as a queen, and I am not a widow; and I do not see mourning at all. 

Rev 18:8  Therefore her plagues will come in one day, death and mourning and famine. And she will be consumed with fire, for the Lord God who judges her is strong. 

And in Heaven, the first angel walks to the edge of Heaven and earth...

Rev 16:2  And the first went and poured out his vial on the earth. And a bad and grievous sore fell on the men who had the mark of the beast, and on those who worshiped his image. 

Reminiscent of the fifth plague on Egypt, against which the magicians could not stand (Exodus 9); of the curse from Moses should the Israelites not obey the word of God, which could not be healed (Deuteronomy 28); of the boils Satan used against righteous Job, who must have been nodding and saying, "It is well" (Job 2); This almost has to be God saying to wicked man, "Remember these?"

Rev 16:3  And the second angel poured out his vial on the sea. And it became like the blood of a dead one, and every living soul died in the sea. 

Mind you, this is a world that already has seen a third of its water ruined; not to mention that the Two Witnesses stopped the rain and bloodied more waters (Rev 11:6); now the entire remaining ecosystem is going to be destroyed, the last source of the world's purifying itself gone; the stench must be incredible.

Rev 16:4  And the third angel poured out his vial on the rivers and fountains of waters, and they became blood. 

No more fresh water.  This has now reached a level, even the angels recoiled in horror; but-

Rev 16:5  And I heard the angel of the waters say, Righteous is the Lord, who is, and was, and who will be, because You have judged these things, 

Rev 16:6  since they have poured out the blood of the saints and prophets; and You gave them blood to drink, for they were deserving. 

Rev 16:7  And I heard another out of the altar saying, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.

But even this is not the end...

Rev 16:8  And the fourth angel poured out his vial onto the sun. And it was given to him to burn men with fire. 

Rev 16:9  And men were burned with great heat. And they blasphemed the name of God, He having authority over these plagues. And they did not repent in order to give Him glory.

Note that even then- just hours away from the end- God was giving them chances to repent.  Even knowing of a certain, by the word of the Angels from last week, that God Almighty was bringing this on them- they refused His mercy.

Rev 16:10  And the fifth angel poured out his vial on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom became darkened. And they gnawed their tongues from the pain. 

Rev 16:11  And they blasphemed the God of Heaven because of their pains and their sores. And they did not repent of their deeds. 

Why was this painful?  I don't think it of itself was.  You see, there yet remains one force of men on earth who were semi-independent of the AntiChrist, and they are about to be drawn into the picture:

Rev 16:12  And the sixth angel poured out his vial on the great river Euphrates. And its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the rising of the sun might be prepared. 

Rev 16:13  And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 

Rev 16:14  For they are spirits of demons, working miracles, which go forth to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that day, the great day of God Almighty. 

Now these kings of the Rising Sun had two obstacles between them and the AC's army- and one of them had just been removed.  Remember, the AntiChrist claimed to be god; what was left in the world, he had- and the rest of the world, was desperate, crazed enough to come after it.  But wait- spirits FROM the AC aren't likely to bid them ATTACK him.  Somehow, the Chinese hordes are going to be convinced to rally to the side of the god of men, to fight the God Almighty.

Next time, we'll look at how Isaiah describes the fall of Fortress Babylon the Great.

M10 show week 134

 

This week, we announce the Song of Summer '24!  This was year #9- eight years that we've actually did a SOS- and this week begins year #10!  So while I give you some of this week's M10 in the Summer countdown, let me give you the ones that didn't make the summer top ten first!

At #10, dropping 2, is Shaboozie's A Bar Song (Tipsy).

Also dropping 2 to 9 is Hazel English and Goner.

Debuting at #8 is one of those vacation game songs I was telling you about.  It came out in 2013, and they call themselves Emblem3.  See if you can guess who they were singing about...

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First time I watched the video- that makes me like it even more!

At 7, Dorothy moves up a pair with Mud.

5 and holding for Jelly Roll and Dead End Road.

And 2, up two in just its second week, Beach House and Somewhere Tonight.

Which brings us to the top ten songs of summer- actually, the top eleven, because 30 points (1st being 10, 2nd being 9, etc) is my traditional cut off for big hit status, and eleven songs make that cut.  Those eleven give us 103 songs over the 8 seasons of summer on the M10, and I will let you in on where they rank there as well.

At #11, in a tie for 94th all time, Johnny Cash and Well Allright .

At #10, tied for 83rd all time- and this week's #1 for the second week- Beabadoobee with Beaches .

An 8th place tie, which is also a 76th place tie over all:

      This week's #6, and holding, The Linda Lindas and All In My Head .

      This week's #4, slipping a spot, Orion Sun and Mary Jane .

At #7, just dropping from the M10 this week and in a tie for 63rd, The Heavy Heavy and Sleeping On Grassy Ground .

At #6, pulling into a tie for 54th all time, Lucius (with Marcus Mumford) and Go Home .

At #5, the one song with a spot all to itself (53rd), Lorde and Take Me To The River .

At #4, tied for 35th all time, Rainbow Kitten Surprise and Meticulous .

At #3, tied for 23rd, Pierce The Veil and Karma Police .

At #2, and tied for 18th, Shannon & the Clams and What You're Missing .

And the top song of summer 2024- still at #3 this week, with a solid shot of taking over the year's top spot...

The Decemberists and Long White Veil !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, yeah, and they climb into a tie for 7th on the all time SOS list, and another week where they are will add them to the all time top 20!  Two good weeks will put them within striking distance of the years top song... whatever that might be...

   

Wednesday Bible Study: Patience, Wisdom, and the False Prophet

 

So a couple posts ago, I mentioned the horror coming was displayed in the last passage we looked at:

Rev 13:9  If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 

Rev 13:10  He who leads into captivity will go into captivity. If anyone will kill with the sword, he must be killed by a sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. 

And today, we'll see what that links to.  But first, we have one last character in Satan's mad plan to look into:

Rev 13:11  And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. And it had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke like a dragon. 

This being is later on called the False Prophet- the "Unholy Spirit" to Satan's "Father" and the AntiChrist's "Son".  And the passage here following- a mere 8 verses- contain all we know about him.  But let's see what we have here.

First, unlike the AC, the Beast that rose out of the sea, this Beast rises up from the land.  Most commentators can only give educated guesses to what this means; even John McArthur, whose sermons have been so helpful in this journey, basically says he doesn't know.  But I think "like a lamb" gives us a clue.  As I meditated on this, a song passage from Genesis- the band, not the book- came to mind:

Take a little trip back, with Father Tireseus

Listen to the old one speak of all he has been through

"I have crossed between the poles,

to me there's no mystery;

Once a man, like the sea I raged

Once a woman, like the earth I gave;

But there is in fact more earth than sea..."

What I drew from this is:  The AC is raging power, like the sea; the False Prophet is the calm, giving, lamb-like soothing voice that gets you to go along with him.  He has "two little horns"; Without knowing what else this could mean, I'm thinking it might indicate that he is a lamb too old (and thus, UNFIT) for sacrifice, unlike Jesus.  Unlike, but similar.  But behind his sweet words, he is every bit as much a devil as the AC.

Now the passage goes on to describe a list of things he was empowered to do that were coin-flips of Jesus.  Regard:

- He does great signs and wonders (v13); He copies what Jesus did in the distant past, AND what the two witnesses did just prior to this.  I believe the "attempted assassination" and following coronation of the AC as god, the murder and resurrection of the two witnesses, and the destruction of the Harlot Church happen bang-bang-bang, and this is when the False Prophet steps in, to proclaim this new, final religion.  But how is it that these lunkheads are convinced by him when the Witnesses did the same thing and were rejected?

- He deceives everyone (v14a).  Remember, the ones deceived are those who were not sealed prior to the Seal judgments- and the deceptions are so great...

 Mat 24:24  For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders; so much so that, if it were possible, they would deceive even the elect. 

Jesus came as the Truth.  The FP comes as the Lie.

-He orders an "Image" of the AC to be made (v14b).  He is going to command a technology- perhaps a holographic TV with sensor capabilities- to be designed and put in every house, so that everywhere you are, 'Big Brother' is watching you.  And how far from that are we right now? Where Jesus was "The image of the invisible God" (Col. 1:15), the False Prophet is going to create an image of a visible man.

- He is going to endow this 'image' with the ability to discern his followers from resisters, marking them for execution (v15).  The Lord judges the heart and gives life; the 'image' judges actions and brings death.  This will tie into what comes next in a minute.

- And the part you've all been waiting for:

Rev 13:16  Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 

Rev 13:17  so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. 

Now, not only has the AntiChrist the reins of economic power through his artificial famine, but now it is tied into WORSHIPING him; much like Nebuchadnezzar back in Daniel's day:

Dan 3:4  And the herald proclaimed aloud, "You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, 

Dan 3:5  that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 

Dan 3:6  And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace." 

So Nebuchadnezzar was in effect a Satanic dry run for the False Prophet.  In this, the FP and Jesus are similar in that each has a sign by which others might live; the difference being that Jesus's sign was the Cross on which He died, and the FP's is the mark that leads to death.  You might know what's coming next, but I'm going to veer off just for a minute- and shoot ahead to the next chapter.  John sees a vision next of the martyr's of the AntiChrist's persecution (which we saw at the top, followed by "Here is the patience of the saints".  Hold onto that.)  After the martyrs, John sees 3 angels making proclamations to the world.  The first one warns the world to give glory to God, because the final judgment comes.  The second declares, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great"- repeated because not only is the Harlot Church destroyed, but also the great city that the AntiChrist dedicated to himself; this we'll get into at a later time.  The third declares that everyone who takes on this mark from the FP will be cast into hell, do not pass go, do not collect $200.  And the passage ends with some very familiar phraseology:

Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints. Here are the ones who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. 

Rev 14:13  And I heard a voice from Heaven saying to me, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they shall rest from their labors, and their works follow them. 

This is the reward of that patience.  And there is another one of these bookend "here is" statements that I want you to bring up.  The second you might remember from last week:

Rev 17:9  And here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits. 

I told you this is the verse that makes many think the Harlot Church and the remains of the Roman Catholic Church are one in the same- and I also told you, I don't think it's that easy.  Because here's the first part of that bookend- the part you've been waiting on:

Rev 13:18  Here is the wisdom. Let him having reason count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. And its number is six hundred and sixty-six. 

A while back now, I mentioned that Chuck Swindoll believes that this is something that will only make sense when the surviving believers NEED it to.  And, as I've mentioned before, in my reading of Proverbs, I've come to see that Wisdom= the Holy Spirit.  Thus, my theory is both of these things have a meaning that we cannot discern- but those who believe then will be guided to.

All right so now the players- Satan, the AntiChrist, the Harlot and her successor, the False Prophet, have all been introduced.  And that leaves us the final curtain to raise:

Rev 15:1  And I saw another sign in Heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels with the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.