Ides of March at 666 Fifth?

By Eric Stradford, U.S. Marine Corps, Retired

AMWS, March 1, 2018, Virtual –  There is no accepted scientific evidence that precognition exists.  But the people at Gallup, who polled the 45^th president’s 38% approval rating, found that 37% of Americans surveyed believed in it.

Precognition is an alleged psychic ability to see events in the future.  A 2013 study discovered a greater belief in precognition among those who feel low in control.  The belief can act as a psychological coping mechanism which explains an unprecedented outcome of the 2016 presidential elections.

If you happen to be one of 200 million Citigroup customers or one of 219,000 remaining employees, you may need a coping mechanism by the middle of the month.  Bank on history, prophesy or precognition, but beware of The Ides of March, and keep watch for the three 6’s in your diminished investment portfolio.  Sell! Get Out!  Get to your knees and pray!

For many of today’s 2.1 billion Christians worldwide, there’s a thin line between precognition, and prophesy.  It’s a line that starts with and builds on evidence.  One established “tick-tock” starts on Ash Wednesday and leads to Easter.  The timeline is known as Lent season.  Lenten comes from the Anglo Saxon word lencten, which means "spring."  According to seasonal scholars, Lent represents the time Jesus spent in the wilderness, enduring the temptation of Satan and preparing to begin his ministry. 

Ash Wednesday is like that last wake-up call from the night before.  “Fat Tuesday” translates from the French word, Mardi Gras, reflecting the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season.

Some folks call it “Shrove Tuesday,” and make a special point of self-examination, of considering what wrongs they need to repent, and what amendments of life or areas of spiritual growth they especially need to ask God's help in dealing with."

At Youth Achievers USA Institute, a 501c3 public charity, spiritual growth is valued as ROI, a return on investment in one’s spiritual development.  Each year, economic beneficiaries are challenged to examine their “Money-n-the-Bank” goals, and make the necessary adjustments toward abundant living.

Money-n-the-Bank is that seven-part vision of each beneficiary’s future.  Abundant life is the added value to a winner’s vision of the future.  Last year, the community convened a Virtual Business Roundtable series to identify economic challenges and solutions for winners.

Conversations on Economic Security offer insight to community members on threats along with tools and techniques to counter threats.

Citigroup is just one of the major corporations discussed in plain language as a “too big to fail” threat.  While many low-income American families struggled to recover from a national mortgage crisis, Citigroup and like companies extended loans with increased interest rates on mortgages that were never meant to be paid off.   As a result, more Americans own mortgages than homes.

“Economic Security is national security,” according to the President of the United States.  Citigroup suffered huge losses during the financial crisis of 2007-2008 and was rescued in November 2008 in a massive stimulus package by the U.S. government. Too many bad habits and uninformed decisions produced a sub-prime mortgage threat on households with the greatest need.

The Citigroup system is not unlike the Jewish financial system based on a ten percent return on an unprecedented blessing.   In Genesis, the Biblical beginning, Melchizedek, king of Salem and “priest of God Most High” met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him. Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. Tithing a tenth along with simple debt forgiveness bridges the divide between haves and have nots.

The value in this model was in the blessing, and the tenth or tithe was never intended to be a revenue stream for “One Nation Under God.”   Knowing this, where then does economic reconciliation and spiritual revelation intersect?

Citigroup, and its role in the financing of 666 Fifth Avenue is perhaps an ideal starting point for a point on history’s timeline referred to as The Ides of March. According to reports, Citigroup is perceived to be one of the Big Four banks in the United States, alongside J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo. In 2016, Citigroup ranked 29th in size on the Fortune 500 list. 

Last year, Citigroup loaned Kushner Companies $325 million toward financing a group of office buildings.  But the saga of 666 Fifth Ave. stretches back to Kushner’s purchase of the tower in 2007.  The building has faced financial problems for much of the last decade because of the 2008 economic downturn, rising vacancy and its $1.2 billion debt.

One might begin with the man in the mirror and “the sign of the beast” on his forehead.  Every student of financial literacy should know that the number 666 is the number of a man that calls for wisdom.  

Man's system on earth is made up of three parts, each represented by a six. Six represents, by itself, incompleteness or imperfection, as it is one less than seven- the number of completeness. The first six of 666 represents the false perfected religion of man under Satan's lead. The second six is for the deceived false governments of this world, and the third six symbolizes man's self-centered economic system.

Few Sunday School teachers and even fewer economists will go into it, because it’s just too hard.  “Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man,” is a familiar value from the book of Revelation.  One might follow-up on current events with a little history and some serious Bible Study. 

Six hundred sixty-six (666) represents the world and all that it does to appease and gratify human nature. Three verses said to be written by the Apostle John contains a set of three verses which uses a subtle form of 6. This hidden form of six, found in the total number of times the word 'WORLD' is used, warns believers to separate themselves from man's system which is soon to DIE.

1 John 2:15-17 Do not love the WORLD or anything in the WORLD. If anyone loves the WORLD, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the WORLD —the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the WORLD. 17 The WORLD and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

A Shakespearean Revelation points to a credible cause for caution: 

BREAKING NEWS: March 15, 44 BC is recorded as “the Ides of March.”   

 

On this day, a government leader, whose exploits included, “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,” was attacked by a group of senators, including his friend and protégé.   Julius Caesar was attacked by a group of senators, including Brutus, who was Caesar's friend and protégé.

The Ides of March was marked by several religious observances and was notable for the Romans as a deadline for settling debts. The death of Caesar made the Ides of March a turning point in Roman history, as one of the events that marked the transition from the historical period known as the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire.