Is Bible prophecy now starting to come true regarding a prelude to the great tribulation?
Full disclosure: I still don't believe in the Bible's claims about the existence of the supernatural, even of Jehovah God (I'm an atheist and a scientific/philosophical naturalist), but I am asking this question because recent events are starting to seem (to me) to fit well the description of some prophecies in the Bible. Consider the following.
Several hours ago (on 11-26-2021) as I was about to enter a local Fred Meyer store of my city (in suburb or small city in the metro area of a large city) a person I know told me that a moment earlier a person left the store in a hurry with a cart load up with unpaid merchandise (I think I was told it was groceries but I don't remember that for sure). He said the store employee(s) tried to catch up to the theif but were unable to do so. This happened during the day time. The Bible says that in the last days there would be widespread lawlessness.
Later I got home and talked with my mom, who is a convinced JW. She asked me if I now have changed my views regarding the JW religion and the Bible and God's existence, in light of what I we see taking place. I said no, while also acknowledging that are new major problems including rioting in my mom's city (the city I was born in). She said that what is happening in her city is terrible, but that the city is still a beautiful city.
Later I turned on the TV and saw in the evening/national/world broadcast news a news segment showing a large number of people dressed identically entirely in black (with their faces covered) smashing into a department store, and rapidly stealing valuable things from the store. They were organized thieves (and I think the news might have said they were part of gang) and the news said the theft happened in broad daylight. The news mentioned multiple stores (and I think in multiple cities) experienced such crimes. The Bible says that in the last days there would be widespread lawlessness.
To me the people doing the above horrible things are acting crazy. To me it does not make sense that such things are happening.
In the same news program there was a news segment about a new strain of Covid-19 (newer than Delta). The strain is called Omicron and is in southern Africa (and the strain was first identified in the country of South Africa) and it was said to be far more transmissible than the Delta strain and more dangerous. The news says it is mutating rapidly and has multiple new mutations. The news also said that medical scientists/experts do not know if any of our Covid-19 vaccines can deal with it. In the news USA President Biden said the only way we can defeat Covid-19 is if we have Covid-19 vaccines globally. The news about Covid-19 reminded me of the book of Revelation saying there would be deadly plague (in 7:8, 9:18, and 16:2, 9, 11) and that such would be part of the bowl of wrath poured out upon the Earth by God. The news report also said that the stock markets (including the S&P 500 Index) plunged (though in low volume due to the holiday weekend) today on the news about the new Covid-19 strain, making the biggest one day plunge of this year thus far. For one news source about the new strain see https://deadline.com/2021/11/new-heavily-mutated-covid-variant-identified-in-africa-called-a-big-jump-in-evolution-1234880724/ . It says in part the following.
' “This variant did surprise us,” Tulio de Oliveira, director of the KwaZulu-Natal Research and Innovation Sequencing Platform told the New York Times. “It has a big jump in evolution, many more mutations than we expected, especially after a very severe third wave of Delta [variant].” ... The new variant has more than 30 mutations in the spike protein alone, which raises fears of increased transmissibility, according to a South African researcher cited by the Times. The new variant has 10 mutations alone on the ACE2 receptor, which helps the virus to enter cells. That’s five times more mutations on that structure than the Delta variant exhibits, according to the researcher.'
Months ago a wildfire in my state spread so much that it spread to the outskirts of the southern end of my metropolitan area. People in small city it spread into is a city I drove through years ago - it is near enough that the public transportation of my metro area has a bus line which goes to that city. People in that city/town located south my city were told to evacuate.The local news was saying how people in the towns having the wildfires were having severe health problems as a result to the fires and the smoke. That reminds me of Revelation 16:8-11. My supervisor lived in an area which was told to evacuate and he told me he did evacuate. Fortunately his property did not catch on fire. The smoke from the wild fires in my state was so bad that I could see, smell, and feel the sting (in my throat) the smoke in the sky above my city, and the smoke made the sun look red for days and it made the moon look orange (or red) for days also. It recalled to my mind Revelation 6:12 and 16:8. In my entire lifetime I had never ever experienced such a prolonged amount smoke in the air of such magnitude. My experience of it (as well as knowledge of numerous other wildfires in my state at the time) recalled to mind the verses in the book of Revelation (in 8:17) of a third of the trees being burnt, of a third of grass being burnt, and a a third of the ground being burnt, as well as the sun and moon turning to blood, and of such being a pouring out of a bowl of wrath by God.
The same news broadcast showed a man shoot dead a father over a dispute about child custody. Recent previous news reports mentioned killing rampages taking place. Those things remind me of Revelation 7:14.