Lately many prominent Christian writers and preachers are waving works on "The Blood Moons" as well as Jonathan Cahn's "The Harbinger" about as powerful indications that the "End Times" are upon us Maybe they are, but not because of what is laid out in the various books and DVDs on "the Blood Moons" or Cahn's "The Harbinger" (or any spin-offs of these). These critical looks at both ably dismember and lay bare the falsity of their premises:
A critical biblical analysis of "The Harbinger": http://www.biblicalintegrity.org/2012/04/26/harbinger-fact-fiction/
12+ minute video exposing the deep flaws in prophetic interpretations that pivot on "The Blood Moons" (Tetrad of 2014-2015): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--kA2-5z2zI
Is America and the world in general in the grips of natural and human-made events that could signal the "march to Armageddon"? Some are now arguing prophecies in the books of Daniel, Ezekiel and Revelations will be fulfilled twixt between now and 2024, while others argue for fulfillment further down the road.
It is, of course, tempting to think current horrific events and the spread of evil regimes in many parts of the world forebodes only the worst lies ahead. This seems logical but does not necessarily mean the proverbial end is at-hand. Sadly, many people here in the US seem blissfully unaware of or else have forgotten how much worse things were in just about every respect in the US and Europe and elsewhere during the Great Depression and what followed. During this period drought effected 46 of the 48 states, the "Dust Bowl" raged across the Great Plains burying farms and hope under tons of dirt, a quarter to one third of workers were unemployed, banks and Wall Street were for a time poorly or inadequately regulated with predictable consequences, there was no system to insure a retirement income or pension for aging people (Social Security became law thanks to the passing of progressive legislation spearheaded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his administration), and so forth.
This and the spread of fascism across Europe and Asia (followed by the diplomatic and then swift military victories of Nazi Germany & Imperial Japan) led many American preachers to conclude that they had to be living in the "End Times". Here in America, Louisiana's Huey "Kingfish" Long stated that that fascism would come to America as antifascism (Some contend he said, "It will come as Americanism"); aviation hero Col. Charles Lindbergh visited Nazi Germany and then made speeches back home in which he characterized Hitler's vast military machine as pretty much "invincible"; Roman Catholic priest Father Charles Coughlin promoted fascist thinking and antisemitism on the radio and had a substantial following and many sympathizers; and many American college and university academics were pro-Nazi.
My mother, who grew up on her parent's (my grandparent's) farm outside Lubbock, Texas in the 1930s, drove home just how long a shadow Nazi Germany cast in America in the 1930s: As a little girl she saw American and Nazi flags hung outside more than a few homes (German descended Americans mostly, as she recalled). Also, the board of directors of one of the biggest banks in this West Texas town were so impressed with the "good" Hitler had done in Germany that they commissioned the creation of a huge marble eagle & swastika sculpture, which was then hauled up the side of the bank building and affixed to it. As this building was the tallest one in Lubbock at the time, just about everyone who came within miles of it saw this celebration of Nazism on display (The sculpture & flags all disappeared by the outbreak of WWII on September 1, 1939).
She recalled, too, that as Hitler's armies rolled across Europe many local ministers began preaching that they were surely in the "End Times". Many felt there little doubt but that Hitler was the prophesied Antichrist (Anti-messiah) and Nazi propagandist and idolater, Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels, the "False Prophet".
Of course, the "End Times" in this instance came to the various fascist regimes and the economic & natural calamities that preceded and enabled their rise to power.
This is not to say that we are not in or headed towards the prophesied climax of history and all that follows (As depicted in ancient prophecies in the Tanakh and in the book of Revelations). But, what I hope to impart is a cautionary note concerning forgetting that Israel and the Jewish people are the focus of these prophecies and not America. Also, those tempted to believe things are vastly worse for Americans now than anytime in the recent past need to go back and spend some time getting intimately acquainted with the history of the 20th century, especially the late 1920s through the mid-1940s. One good place to start IMO is Ken Burn's new series "The Roosevelts" (PBS). I especially recommend watching episode #5: http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-roosevelts/watch-videos/
Summer Cloud