A Chain Of Events

My first concern was for the running engine; it was a warm morning and engines are not designed to just sit and idle, for however long it was going to take to get in the van, but I couldn't even open the hood because that too was locked and could only be opened from inside the van. I then thought to call the local garage to get a mechanic to come out and get the van door open with the specialized tools that they have - hopefully before the engine seriously overheated, if that was going to happen. The problem was that I couldn't call anybody either; I was locked out of the house so that I couldn't get to the telephone, and although I have a cell phone, it was sitting on the front seat of the locked van from when I was about to put the seat belt on. The simple, single act of forgetting something on my way out set off a chain of events that put me in the ridiculous position where I might have to damage my own property, either the house or the van, to rescue myself.

A Chain Of Events

The good news is that I did manage to get myself out of the predicament without much damage, and some positive things did come from the experience - I discovered how relatively easy it was to break into my house (a security flaw that I have since corrected) and I have learned that it's a good idea to carry a spare vehicle key in my wallet, and to keep a spare house key hidden outside, where no one can find it, but where it's available if it's ever needed.

Much of Bible History is also a chain of events, not from a simple act of overlooking something like that which got me locked out of my house and van, but a sequence of events that happen because something specific happened before it. An example of that occurred during the plagues upon Egypt at the time of the Exodus; cattle became sick partly from disease spread by corruption-eating flies that covered the land, because of all of the dead frogs that had left their life-giving habitat in the rivers, because the rivers had been miraculously turned to blood. A miracle set off a chain of natural events that were also controlled and enhanced by further miracles.

"And Moses and Aaron did so, as The Lord commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river" (Exodus 7:20-21 KJV)

"And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt ... And The Lord did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the villages, and out of the fields. And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank." (Exodus 8:6-7,13-14 KJV)

"And The Lord did so; and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants' houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies." (Exodus 8:24 KJV)

"Behold, the hand of The Lord is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain" (Exodus 9:3 KJV)

An end-time example of such a chain of events in Prophecy is the so-called "four horsemen of the apocalypse." Religious imperialism will cause war (e.g. like the Crusades), which will cause famine from environmental and infrastructure damage, which will in turn cause widespread pestilence and disease.

"And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer."

"And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword."

"And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine."

"And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth." (Revelation 6:2-8 KJV)

Fact Finder: How did the Book of Revelation come to be called that?
See What Does "Apocalypse" Really Mean?

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