WINNING WITH THE WORD

“Winning with the Word” is a weekly blog that will help you to be a winner in life by applying God’s principles for living the abundant life as found in the Bible, God’s manual for life.

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Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, novelist and life coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Monday, July 18, 2022, and this is Episode #29 of Series 2022. 

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Today I have a very special surprise for you. I’m so excited to welcome on this podcast this week my awesome husband Dr. Dominic Diorio.  Dr. Dom is a retired E.R. physician who, during his retirement, has become quite an expert on End Time Prophecy.  And today, we are going to discuss some of the topics related to the End Times.  Welcome, sweetheart, Dr. Dom!

Dr. Dom: 
Hey!  It’s great to be here for my very first podcast.  Uh-I’m a novice at this, so if my voice cracks, you’ll understand why.  I have to laugh every time MaryAnn introduces me as an “expert.”  I try to remind her that “expert” comes from two words: “ex” is an old has-been and a “spirt” is a drip under pressure.  So, every time she introduces me as an “expert”, we chuckle.

Dr. MaryAnn: 
So, get ready for some good humor and fun during this podcast. All right, let’s begin.  Our first question is “Where do you think we are on God’s timetable and why?”

Dr. Dom: 
That’s an interesting point.  I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this, a lot of reading and pondering, and it is my opinion that we are in the end of the times, we are in the end time. Uh-I read Genesis—Genesis chapter 6 verse 3–when God says He’s fed up with man – I’m paraphrasing. He’s fed up with mankind and He is going to give them 120 years.  I initially thought that that was before the flood because it took Noah maybe 100 or so years to build the arc, and I thought that that was what He was referring to.  But the more I think about that, God knew that after the flood Noah and  his family would survive and would go on to generate more people. So, the more I went to that in prayer, I think what God was saying, I’ve come to the conclusion that what God was saying was He was going to give man 120 Jubilee years.  And a Jubilee year is 50 years.  So, if God gave man 120 Jubilee years, that’s 120 times 50 or 6000.  And we are in the 6000^th year since the creation.  So I believe that we are very close to the end times.

Dr. MaryAnn: 
Wonderful.  OK, next question. You know that today a lot of people are eschewing the validity of the Bible.  They are saying that the Bible is just an ancient book and that it really doesn’t have any more validity than that.  So let me ask you, why do you believe the Bible?

Dr. Dom: 
I believe the Bible is God’s book of instruction for life.  I believe that because in the Bible there have been approximately 2500 prophecies that are listed.  The Bible is a huge book of prophecy.  Of those 2500 prophecies, about 2000 of them have come to pass.  There is a whole list of Bible prophecies that have been realized so far.  Just to name a couple of them, in Micah chapter 5 verse 2, it states that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem and we all know that’s where Jesus was born.  Another interesting one is in the book of Zachariah chapter 11 verses 12-13 when Zachariah, who wrote this 500 years before the birth of Christ, he wrote that the Messiah would be betrayed for the price of a slave, which was about 30 pieces of silver and that this money would be used to buy a burial ground for the poor.  Well, we all know that Jesus, I mean Judas sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver and when he returned it to the authorities they used it to buy a potter’s field which is a burial ground for the poor.

Dr. MaryAnn: 
It’s really amazing isn’t it how everything that the Bible has prophesied is coming to pass and that a lot of it has already come to pass exactly as it was prophesied.  And, interesting you know that the Bible was written by the Holy Spirit.  It is the inspired Word of God.  And He used men in different time periods to write down what He Himself, God Himself was saying. And these men didn’t know one another and they lived thousands of years apart and yet they do not contradict one another in any way because the Bible was written by God Himself and He used people to transcribe it.  All right – next question.  Why do you think we are in the end times?

Dr. Dom: 
Well, there are several reasons I firmly believe it.  One of the most important things that has happened in our lifetime happened on May 14, 1948.  That is the day that Ben Gurion, Prime Minister of Israel, declared Israel was a country.  Israel was born in one day.  And Scripture very clearly states that the generation that sees this happen will be the generation when all these things will happen.  We are that generation.  Now other reasons I believe we are in the last days, if you read Matthew chapter 24.  He talks about wars, rumors of wars, nation against nations, kingdom against kingdom.  The word for kingdom is “ethnos” and we get ethnos is ethnicity and we are seeing ethnicities against ethnicities today.  People against people.  Many will fall away, great apostasies will happen.  And we are seeing today apostasies that I have never seen in my entire life.  When we see churches that are ordaining transgenders, and churches that are accepting—that are accepting alternate life styles.  I think we should accept the people who live alternate life styles because we should love everyone, but we cannot condone their behavior.  But we are seeing that happen.  We are seeing love growing cold. We are seeing increasing in earthquakes.  It’s been estimated that in 1920 or since 1920 there has been a 3-4 times increase in the number of earthquakes that have happened.  There are three massive events that are going to happen in the not-too-distant future.  When you look at the Cascadia Subduction Zone off the coast of the northwest that is overdue, when you look at the Yellowstone Caldera that’s been acting up, when you look at the earthquakes that have been happening along the Madrid Fault line which is in the center of America.  And Scripture very clearly says that if you divide my land, I will divide your land.  And what that means – He didn’t say I will divide your people, He said “I will divide your land.”  Our people are being divided already, but the land is an earthquake.  I believe that’s going to happen if we continue to emphasize that Jerusalem has to be a two-state solution.

Dr. MaryAnn: 
You know that gives us serious reason to pause and to re-evaluate our lives and to ask ourselves “are we ready to meet the Lord when He returns?”  This is an exciting time in which to be alive because we are seeing the actual fulfillment of Bible prophecy before our eyes.  I often say that when I read the Bible and then read the headlines, it’s almost the same thing.  So tell us please, Dr. Dom, what specific prophecies do you see coming to pass?

Dr. Dom: 
Well, if you study what’s happening especially around Israel, Israel is God’s home.  Israel—the Bible states multiple times that God has chosen Jerusalem to be His land.  And when we try to say that Jerusalem is to be divided, we’re dividing God’s land.  I see multiple prophecies in the process of being fulfilled right now. 1.) Ezekiel 38 Gog and Magog wars.  I see Russia cozying up to Iran, to Syria, to Turkey and recently has been making some very negative statements about Israel.  And we know that the Ezekiel 38 war is going to be an attack on Israel and an attack that only God will help Israel survive.  Globalism today – we are talking more and more about a world globalism how we should all come together.  It’s nice that we cooperate with each other, but we don’t want a one-world government, and we are seeing globalism taking effect.  Most recently, another thing I see happening is America is looking forward to converting to a digital currency. And a digital currency is what the Antichrist is going to be using in the end times during the tribulation when he can control what  you buy or sell.  I always wondered how he was going to control what you buy or sell but when they do away with paper money, when they do away with the currency that we are currently using and converting everybody to a digital currency, that can be controlled by one person.  With a digital currency one person can say you can only buy so much groceries, you can only buy so much fuel, you can only go certain places, because they will control how and where you spend your money.  Umm – there has been a significant decline in America, and when you read Revelation, America is not mentioned.  America is nowhere mentioned in Revelation.  In 2017, there was a solar eclipse over the United States.  It was well-known, it was a fascinating event, in fact.  That eclipse is going to be repeated in 2024 and what’s interesting, I want you to notice the time difference between 2017 and 2024.  It’s a seven-year period of time!  And I think that’s fascinating! OK?  The second solar eclipse is going to come from the south to the north – southwest to northeast. And when you superimpose it over the first solar eclipse it creates a big “X” over the United States of America.  And the cross point of that “X” is right over the Madrid Fault Line, and if I’m not mistaken, it is also over a city called New Egypt, so I wonder if God is telling us that, you know when you are writing on a paper and you want to cross something out, you put an X over it.  And I really wonder if God is telling us that He is putting an “X” over the United States of America.  Another thing that I believe that I see coming to pass is the Shemitah Cycles. And that is something I think you should look into.  The Shemitah Cycle is a 7 year period of time when, at the end of the7 years everything is given up, everything is forgiven and we are in the end of a Shemitah Cycle and the next Shemitah Cycle is going to be a Jubilee year and all this I think plays into what’s happening.  The next Shemitah Cycle is going to be the 11^th Shemitah Cycle since 1948 and 11 is the number of judgment.  That’s another reason that I see prophecies coming to pass.  Another one is the upcoming Great Reset which is being publicized by the World Economic Forum.  And lastly, a prophecy coming to pass is the getting ready for the Temple to be rebuilt and the Temple has to be rebuilt for the Tribulation.

Dr. MaryAnn: 
You know, honey, you make some really great points here.  God is speaking to us.  He is speaking to us through the heavens, the signs in the heavens, the solar eclipses, the blood moons.  He is speaking to us through increasingly severe weather patterns.  He is speaking to us through many many ways.  The problem is that we are not paying attention.  You mentioned the seven-year span between the two solar eclipses. Would you elaborate a little bit on that?  And give us an explanation on what the Rapture is and then what the following Tribulation is.  Is the Rapture before the Tribulation, in the middle of the Tribulation or after the Tribulation?

Dr. Dom:
Well. briefly, the seven-year span between the two solar eclipses, the number 7 is a Biblical number of completion, of perfection.  So I just think it’s fascinating that there is seven years between these two instances.  It’s just something that just caught my attention.  As far as the Rapture and the Tribulation, we talk about the Rapture and I frequently hear people say that the word “Rapture” is not mentioned in the Bible.  And I say “you’re right!  It’s not. And, by the way, neither is the word “Trinity” mentioned in the Bible.  But we know about the Trinity.  The word “Rapture” comes from the Latin word “raptus” and the Latin word “raptus” means to “carry off.”  And “raptus” is a translation of the Greek word “harpazo” which is a snatching away. When you read the Bible in Greek, the word “harpazo” is mentioned.  It is described in detail in First Thessalonians, Chapter 4, verse 13-17.  The rapture is a snatching away of Christians who believe in the Lord Jesus and who live according to His Word.  I believe that a lot of people who call themselves “Christian” are mislabeling themselves because there’s a lot of so-called “Christians” have fallen away from the teaching of the Lord.  But the Rapture is a catching away.  It is, in my opinion, a pre-Tribulation event.  I know a lot of people say it’s mid-Tribulation, post-Tribulation. I have multiple problems with that.  Scripture says that no man knows the day or the hour.   Well, we know when the Tribulation starts.  So if the Rapture were a mid-trib, we would know the day or the hour.  If it were post-Trib, we would know the day or the hour.  But if it’s pre-Trib, we don’t know the day or the hour.  I believe that the Rapture is going to occur on a specific day.  There are seven feast days that the Jewish people celebrate.  There’s Passover, there’s Unleavened Bread, there’s First Fruits, there’s Pentecost, there’s Trumpets, there’s Atonement and there’s Tabernacles. The first four of those feasts were completed with the first coming of Jesus, with Pentecost, First Fruits, with Unleavened Bread and with Passover.  The last three are yet to be fulfilled and I believe that the last three are going to be fulfilled with the Second Coming.  When Jesus said that no man knows the day or the hour, He was speaking to the Apostles in the language of the day.  And in the language of the day, no man knew what day the Feast of Trumpets, Rosh Hashanah, would fall on.  That’s why, even today, Rosh Hashanah is a two-day feast.  It’s a two day holiday because no man knows what day Rosh Hashanah is going to fall on.  So when He said He’s coming on the day no man knows, I believe he was telling us that He is coming on the Feast of Trumpets.  What’s interesting is that when He comes, the Rapture is going to occur really rapidly. Scripture says that it is going to occur in the twinkle of an eye. It does not say the blink of an eye, it does not say the wink of an eye, it says the twinkle of an eye.  And the twinkle of an eye is the time it takes for the light to enter the eye, reflex off the retina which is the back of the eye and come back out again, it’s just a real fast twinkle.  Well how fast is that?  We know that light travels 186,000 miles in one second.  That number is a big number and it never really impacted me exactly how fast that was until recently when I did some studying on that.  When you look at the earth at the diameter of the earth, the earth is 25,000 miles in diameter at the equator.  Well, if light travels 186,000 miles in one second, that means light can travel around the earth at the equator, over seven times in one second.  That’s how fast light travels.  Well the eye is only, when you measure it, 1.6 inches from the back to the front and back again.   How fast does it take light to travel 1.6 inches?  I did a calculation.  The Rapture is going to occur in less than 1/17^th of a billionth of a second.  So when people say they will repent at the Rapture, there’s not going to be time for that.  You gotta repent before the Rapture.

Dr. MaryAnn: 
Well, thank you so much, Dr. Dom.  I hope that you all enjoyed this conversation as much as I did.  Please let us know if you were blessed.  And as Dr. Dom says, there won’t be time to repent when the Lord returns for His church in the Rapture.  The entire church will be removed from the earth in the twinkling of an eye.  So today is the day of salvation the Bible says.  If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, I urge you to pray this simple prayer with me now.  Lord Jesus, I want to know you as my Savior and Lord.  I turn away from my sin and I receive you now into my life.  Forgive me and cleanse me and make of me what you created me to be. Amen.

If you sincerely prayed this prayer, welcome to God’s family.  Please write down today’s date as your spiritual birthday.  And please write to me at drmaryann@maryanndiorio.com.  I would like to send you a free PDF booklet titled “After You’re Born Again”.  This booklet will help you to get started in your walk with Jesus.  I also encourage you to get yourself a Bible and read it every single day.  The Bible is God’s love letter to you, His manual for your life.  In the Bible, God reveals who He is and He teaches you how to live.  Finally, ask the Lord to lead you to the church of His choice for you, where you can learn truth and experience fellowship and encouragement with other Christ-followers.

Until next time, remember that God loves you just as you are, and just where you are, and that He will help you to keep on winning with the Word.