Last Trumpet Newsletter
Volume 39
     Issue Five      May 2020
Last Trumpet Ministries, PO Box 806, Beaver Dam, WI 53916
Phone: 920-887-2626 Internet: http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org

Coronavirus And The New World Order

"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."

Romans 5:1-5

"This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord."

Lamentations 3:21-26

In this issue of the Last Trumpet Newsletter, we will once again address the unprecedented events of our day. As I write this newsletter, much of the entire world, including most of the United States, remains in lockdown mode while COVID-19, a respiratory illness caused by a new strain of coronavirus, continues to spread. It is truly mind-boggling how upended our lives have become as many of us are compelled to stay home until government authorities deem it safe for us to resume normal lives. While the infection rate continues to increase and the death count rises, economies around the world are sharply contracting. The extent of the economic damage is not fully understood at this point, but there is a very real possibility that the United States is on its way to a new Great Depression.

One thing that is absolutely evident as we navigate through our strange new daily lives is that many people are struggling to comprehend what is happening. Countless theories abound regarding the origin of COVID-19. Many have wondered if the virus was made or escaped from a lab in China, a possibility that I suspect may be true. Meanwhile, some Chinese officials have claimed that the virus may have been made in the United States and transported to China. (1) Most scientists, however, including the head of President Donald Trump's coronavirus task force, Dr. Anthony Fauci, claim that it is highly unlikely that the virus was made in a laboratory. (2) The President, for his part, seems a little less certain. When asked if the virus could be manmade, Trump responded by saying, "More and more, we're hearing the story, and we'll see. A lot of strange things are happening, but there is a lot of investigation going on, and we're going to find out." (3)

Another popular theory that is often promulgated on YouTube and social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook is that the virus is not even real but rather an elaborate hoax. However, for that to be true, it would mean that nearly every country in the world, except for perhaps North Korea, would have to be involved in this complex coverup. If that were the case, then this planet is in far more trouble than we thought. Nevertheless, I do believe that the virus, officially known as SARS-CoV-2, is real. A friend of my mother-in-law is currently suffering from COVID-19, and I am told she is very sick due to underlying conditions. The woman from whom I purchased my house, who is a journalist now living in New York City, also caught COVID-19. The virus severely weakened her body, left her struggling to breathe, and destroyed her ability to taste or smell. At one point, she was given a marshmallow peep candy doused with hot sauce to see if she could taste it, and she could not even slightly discern this bizarre combination of flavors. (4) We have also received correspondence from readers indicating that they know people who have been stricken by COVID-19.

Regardless of its origins, it is evident that the coronavirus crisis has provided an opportunity for powerful people and dark forces to transform the world. We see this in the manner that our freedom has been systematically taken piece by piece in the United States, a country that is supposed to be known for its liberty. We see the manner in which cash has been shunned for fear that it could be contaminated by the virus, and this fear is moving us closer and closer to a cashless society. Additionally, new technology is being designed and deployed to track the American people like never before, and this is being allowed because we are told it is necessary to fight the virus. A hobbled American economy has left the masses at the mercy of the government that is now relied upon to provide for the needs of the people, which in the form of free government money is providing a foretaste of socialism. Furthermore, we hear calls for the entire world to unite in a spirit of cooperation. In fact, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Gordon Brown has called for the establishment of a temporary global government according to a report by The Independent. "This is not something that can be dealt with in one country. There has to be a coordinated global response," Brown said. (5) Yes, the world is undergoing a rapid transformation. Just as the attacks of September 11, 2001, changed the United States forever, the coronavirus crisis is changing the world in a dramatic fashion. Some of these changes could be permanent. This fact prompted the elitist Henry Kissinger to write a piece for The Wall Street Journal claiming in its headline: "The Coronavirus Pandemic Will Forever Alter the World Order." (6) Perhaps this is a clue we should pay attention to because if the world order is altered forever, the end result is a new world order.

A Massive Surveillance Apparatus

On April 25, 2020, the Washington Post published a story warning that "quarantine fatigue" is setting in, and the American people are not staying home as much as they should be. How do they know this? As it turns out, the mobile phones of most American people are being tracked. Governments are then using this data to determine how compliant people are with stay-at-home orders. (7) The fact that government agencies are using this information and openly admitting it is yet another indicator that privacy no longer exists in the United States of America. While we have known for quite some time that our wireless phones act effectively as tracking devices, it is obvious that the coronavirus pandemic is being used as an excuse to further erode civil liberties and expand the massive surveillance apparatus now operating in our modern world.

In April 2020, it was reported that Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, had released a massive amount of location data that had been recorded by users' smartphones as they traveled and went about their daily business. This data encompassed users in 131 countries around the world and revealed just how many people were actually staying home. (8) To further encroach upon privacy, it was also announced in April that Google and the iPhone maker known as Apple are teaming up to make it easier to track smartphones for the purpose of tracing coronavirus infections. Updates to smartphone operating systems will enable the devices, whether they use Google's Android system or Apple's iOS system, to keep a digital record of a phone user's movements and track their interactions with others. If someone is diagnosed with coronavirus, that user's smartphone will then notify the smartphones of other people who had been in close proximity to the infected individual. (9) While Google and Apple have pledged to discontinue this new technology when the pandemic is over, there is no guarantee that they really will.

Governments around the world have used sophisticated technology to keep tabs on its citizens. In South Korea, smartphone data tracking enabled the authorities to determine with whom people had interacted in as little as ten minutes. (10) In Hong Kong and India, digital fencing systems were used to track electronic signals from smartphones and wristbands, thus allowing the authorities to quickly apprehend quarantine violators. In Western Australia, lawmakers passed a bill allowing for the installment of surveillance trackers in people's homes to ensure compliance with government mandates. (11)

Looking back at the United States, authorities in Elizabeth, New Jersey, have deployed drones to warn people to observe social distancing. (12) In Meriden, Connecticut, drones have been used to monitor the city's trails and parks. (13) Meanwhile, a company known as Draganfly has announced plans to unleash highly sophisticated camera-equipped drones with astonishing capabilities. "What these cameras can do is actually detect fever, which is very different than detecting just temperature. They can detect sneezing. They can detect your heart rate, your respiratory rate, and they can also detect social distancing. So imagine, if you will, a situation where there's a crowd, and you want to determine what's the infection rate of the crowd and if they are practicing social distancing. Is this a hot spot that is a problem?" said Draganfly's chief executive officer Cameron Chell. (14)

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, privacy was quickly becoming a thing of the past. Nevertheless, we see that the current health concerns of the day are being used to erode civil liberties at a historical level. If this crisis has taught us anything, it is that government entities can get away with far more than we realized if there is a public health emergency. Are these encroachments justifiable? Arthur Caplan, who is a professor of medical ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center, seems to think so. "In a plague, civil liberties have to be suspended. There are good reasons for that," he said. Caplan also suggested that this country might not be able to return to normal unless the people are willing to sacrifice their privacy. "That's the biggest reason to want to yield on privacy. If we don't get a vaccine or a cure miraculously soon, the only way we're getting out of isolation and quarantine is to track who is positive and who isn't and who they are around." (15) Unfortunately, the technology being implemented to track and watch the people could very well remain in use even after the pandemic is over. Jake Laperruque, a senior counsel member at the Project on Government Oversight, was quoted as saying, "A lot of times during various types of emergencies, we see things happening that we're doing just because it's an emergency. It's really hard to claw back from those and turn them off." (16) Thus, we see another way in which the COVID-19 pandemic could change the world forever.

When Will The World Return To Normal?

At times I have heard people and news reports refer to the conditions of our world during the coronavirus pandemic as "the new normal." In reality, however, there is nothing normal about what is happening right now. As such, we are left to wonder: when will the world return to normal?

We are told that medical experts and scientists are working frantically to develop a cure or a vaccine to treat COVID-19. At the forefront of this quest is Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Gates, who famously developed the Microsoft Windows operating system that took the world by storm in the 1990s, is one of the world's richest men today with a net worth exceeding 100 billion dollars. (17) Now retired from Microsoft, he has become well-known as a philanthropist with a keen interest in vaccinations. Delving into the history of Mr. Gates reveals that his obsession with vaccines stems from a belief that the world is overpopulated. This fact was revealed in a 2011 cover story published by Forbes Magazine with the headline "With Vaccines, Bill Gates Changes the World Again." (18) His interest in the topic has propelled him into the limelight in recent weeks as numerous news sources interview and quote him in reference to a vaccine for coronavirus. Yet, to my knowledge, Mr. Gates has no medical degree, so why is he constantly consulted regarding these matters? Why should Bill Gates have any say in how the American people are treated?

Nevertheless, Mr. Gates has indicated that the United States likely will not return to normal for quite some time. Specifically, he reckons that social distancing measures will need to remain in place until a vaccine has been developed. "It is fair to say things won't go back to truly normal until we have a vaccine that we've gotten out to basically the entire world," Gates said while being interviewed on the Fox News network. (19) In another statement, Gates seems to suggest that everyone in the world will need the vaccine when it is ready, thus implying that perhaps it will be mandatory. "There are seven billion people on the planet. We are going to need to vaccinate nearly everyone," he insisted. (20) Personally, I believe it is immoral to force anyone to undergo a medical procedure. Yet, considering the recent events of our day and the restrictions forced upon the people, it would not be surprising in the least if a vaccine was declared to be compulsory by the authorities. That is assuming they ever have one.

If you follow the news regularly, you've probably heard the often-repeated timeline of 12 to 18 months before a COVID-19 vaccine is ready for the public. However, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease and Donald Trump's top advisor on the coronavirus task force, has said it would take "at least" that long, (21) meaning that it would likely take much longer. Furthermore, there's no guarantee that there will ever be a vaccine. Christopher Whitty, who is the Chief Medical Officer in the United Kingdom, was quoted in a report by Business Insider as saying, "Be careful that we don't assume that we are going to have a vaccine for this disease as we have had for, let's say measles, which once you have it you're protected for life. We cannot guarantee success. Vaccines are looked for, for every infectious disease, they are not found for all of them." (22) Here let it be noted that the virus which causes COVID-19 has already mutated, and there are now over thirty strains of it in existence. One of these strains was found to have a viral load 270 times greater than the weakest variation. (23) Thus, just as there are many variations of influenza, there are many variations of coronavirus. We should also remember that despite the fact that they release an influenza vaccine each year and then try to convince everyone to receive it, thousands of people still get the flu, and yes, that includes people who have been vaccinated.

In any case, Bill Gates does not have the final say in determining our future or when we can return to "normal." It is our God who will make that determination. Needless to say, there's a lot of mistrust regarding the man who made Microsoft a household name. When we consider his eye-brow raising remarks, it is not difficult to understand why. It is also quite strange that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in association with the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and the World Economic Forum, hosted a coronavirus pandemic simulation in October 2019, just a few months before the widespread outbreak of COVID-19. They called it Event 201. (24) The John Hopkins Center for Health Security issued a statement on their website insisting they were not predicting COVID-19. "Although our tabletop exercise included a mock novel coronavirus, the inputs we used for modeling the potential impact of that fictional virus are not similar to nCoV-2019," the website declares. (25) Still, that's a rather peculiar coincidence, is it not?

A Strained Food Supply

Over the years, the American people have become accustomed to being able to buy what they need at the supermarket. Yet, as recent weeks have demonstrated, it is no longer a guarantee that you will find everything you are looking for when you set out to buy groceries. The American food supply has become increasingly strained in recent weeks as meat processing facilities have been forced to close due to outbreaks of COVID-19. At least thirteen meat processing plants in this country have closed over the last two months, including some of the largest facilities in the United States. This includes Smithfield Foods in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; JBS pork processing in Worthington, Minnesota; and Tyson Fresh Foods in Waterloo, Iowa. These closures have resulted in a 25 percent reduction in pork processing and a 10 percent reduction for beef. (26) In response to these closures, Smithfield Foods issued a sobering statement. "The closure of this facility, combined with a growing list of other protein plants that have shuttered across our industry, is pushing our country perilously close to the edge in terms of our meat supply. It is impossible to keep our grocery stores stocked if our plants are not running," cautioned Ken Sullivan of Smithfield Foods. (27) John Tyson, who is the board chairman at Tyson Foods, also issued a warning stating, "The food supply chain is breaking." Noting that farmers around the country no longer have anywhere to send their animals, Tyson further stated, "Millions of animals - chickens, pigs, and cattle - will be depopulated because of the closure of our processing facilities." (28) Regarding these unpleasant circumstances, Will Sawyer, an economist at CoBank, was quoted as saying, "We haven't seen a situation in our lifetime where the industry has contracted as quickly as we have seen in the last month." (29)

Even as the country's supply of meat is very much in jeopardy, the lack of demand for dairy and fresh produce in schools and restaurants has forced many farmers around the country to destroy their product. In my home state of Wisconsin, farmers have been told to dump tens of thousands of gallons of milk. (30) Elsewhere, eggs have been purposely smashed, and crops of fruits and vegetables have been destroyed. "We're not going to let [the food] die; we'll go in and destroy it. It's a mental thing, you don't want to see your crop rot and suffer," said a farmer from Plant City, Florida. (31) Another farmer in Huron, California, was forced to plow under 230 acres of lettuce. "The demand [from the large customers] just went to zero. And not only did we lose restaurants and schools, but people were going to the grocery store buying nonperishable stuff to put in the pantry. They were not buying leafy greens." (32)

The tremendous waste of food is heartbreaking, especially in light of the fact that millions of the American people are now unemployed, and as a result, struggling to put food on the table. In scenes reminiscent of the Great Depression of the 1930s, bread lines have returned to the United States. Such is the case in San Antonio, Texas, where on the morning of April 18, 2020, cars lined up for more than two miles as the occupants of the vehicles hoped to procure sustenance for their families at a local food bank. So desperate were these people that the line began to form at 2 A.M. (33) In New York City, where one-third of the food pantries have now closed, long lines of hungry people gather at the facilities that are still open. In some cases, these lines stretch for twenty blocks. (34) Demand for food banks is soaring all over the country. In fact, in Amherst, Massachusetts, a local food bank distributed 849 percent more food in March 2020 than they did in March 2019. (35) Conditions are similar in Pennsylvania, too. "I've been in this business over 30 years, and nothing compares to what we're seeing now. Not even when the steel mills closed down did we see increased demand like this," stated Sheila Christopher, who is the director at Hunger-Free Pennsylvania. (36)

Meanwhile. David Beasley, who is the head of the World Food Programme, stated the world may soon see famines of "Biblical proportions." He warns that 265 million people could be facing not only hunger but also starvation. (37) Thus we see again, the urgent need to turn to God in prayer. The world is very much in a state of chaos, and we are seeing fearful sights and unprecedented problems. As such, I urge every reader of this newsletter to repent of your sins if you have not yet done so, dedicate your life to God, and draw near to Him like never before.

In closing, as we face the trials and the tribulations of this modern day, we see an opportunity to let the light that Jesus Christ puts within us shine even brighter. In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus tells us as He preached perhaps the finest sermon ever given, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." We also know from God's Word that despite the desperate circumstances of our time, we always have hope. Lamentations 3:21-26 tells us, "This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord." We are further admonished by the Apostle Paul in Romans 5:1-5, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." Thus we see that in times of struggle, God's people not only survive but grow as Christians. Tribulations teaches us patience, patience gives us experience, and experience gives us hope.

Thank you all for your kind support of this ministry. The state of Wisconsin is still under a "safer at home" order put in place by the governor, but it is scheduled to be lifted on May 26, 2020. We certainly hope that it will be. I know some areas of the country are now reopening while others remain closed, but whatever the days ahead bring, we know there will be a lot of work to be done. If you have any prayer requests please send them our way. We always give each request individual attention. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Samuel David Meyer

This newsletter is made possible by the kind donations of our supporters. If you would like to help us, you may send your contribution to our postal address or donate online at http://lasttrumpetnewsletter.org/donate.

Acknowledgments

    01. Foreign Policy, March 30, 2020, By David Gitter, Sandy Lu, and Brock Erdahl, http://foreignpolicy.com.

02. Business Insider, April 18, 2020, By Josh Haltiwanger, http://businessinsider.com.
03. Ibid.
04. The Washington Post, April 23, 2020, By Mary Pflum Peterson, http://washingtonpost.com.
05. The Independent, March 26, 2020, By Harry Cockburn, http://independent.co.uk.
06. The Wall Street Journal, April 3, 2020, By Henry A. Kissinger, http://wsj.com.
07. The Washington Post, April 25, 2020, By Katherine Shaver, http://washingtonpost.com.
08. Silicon UK Tech News, April 3, 2020, By Tom Jowitt, http://silicon.co.uk.
09. Vox, April 16, 2020, By Sara Morrison, http://vox.com.
10. The Wall Street Journal, April 15, 2020, By Liza Lin and Timothy W. Martin, http://wsj.com.
11. Ibid.
12. ABC7 New York, April 15, 2020, By Dan Krauth, http://abc7ny.com.
13. Ibid.
14. Ibid.
15. NBC News, April 16, 2020, By Julie Appleby and Victoria Knight, http://nbcnews.com.
16. Ibid.
17. Business Insider, April 22, 2020, By Hillary Hoffower and Taylor Nicole Rodgers, http://businessinsider.com.
18. Forbes Magazine, November 2, 2011, By Matthew Herper, http://forbes.com.
19. RealClearPolitics, April 5, 2020, By Tim Hains, http://realclearpolitics.com.
20. AFP, April 15, 2020, By Paul Handley, http://news.yahoo.com.
21. Business Insider, April 1, 2020, By Bill Bostock, http://businessinsider.com.
22. Business Insider, April 25, 2020, By Adam Bienkov, http://businessinsider.com.
23. Futurism, April 21, 2020, By Dan Robitzski, http://futurism.com.
24. Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, http://centerforhealthsecurity.org.
25. Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, http://centerforhealthsecurity.org.
26. CNN, April 27, 2020, By Dianne Gallagher and Pamela Kirkland, http://cnn.com.
27. Ibid.
28. CNN, April 26, 2020, By Rob McLean, http://cnn.com.
29. The Wall Street Journal, April 23, 2020, By Jacob Bunge, Sarah Nassaurer, and Jaewon Kang, http://wsj.com.
30. TMJ 4 News, April 2, 2020, By Shaun Gallagher, http://tmj4.com.
31. The Wall Street Journal, April 26, 2020, By Ben Kesling, http://wsj.com.
32. Ibid.
33. KSAT News, April 18, 2020, By Alicia Barrera and Steven Chavez, http://ksat.com.
34. Gothamist, April 27, 2020, By George Joseph, http://gothamist.com.
35. The Guardian, April 2, 2020, By Nina Lakhani, http://theguardian.com.
36. Ibid.
37. ABC News, April 21, 2020, By Morgan Winsor, Emily Shapiro, and Meredith Deliso, http://abcnews.go.com.

 

To learn more about the history of our ministry and our founder, Pastor David J. Meyer, please visit http://pastormeyer.org.

If you would like to submit a prayer request, you may send email to prayer@ltmmail.org or mail it to our postal address.