Hurricane Katrina produced a death toll of over 1,833 souls and became the largest disaster in US history. This historic storm evicted 1,000,000 from their homes and destroyed a quarter million homes. The total bill for Katrina is believed to be somewhere around a quarter trillion dollars.

August 17, 2005, is exactly 2,520 days before July 11, 2012. I find it very interesting and troubling, that the US Government would announce fast track steps to aid farmers and ranchers with losses due to the drought on this day.

Famine and drought are some of the most powerful judgments found in the armory of the LORD. Only the LORD knows the extent, cost, and duration of the current famine and drought, but living here in Oklahoma, the drought is constantly in the news.

I firmly believe that this situation merits further prayer and vigilance. I have a deep sense of foreboding that this drought and natural disaster declaration, the largest ever of its kind, is pointing to a darker day ahead.

The 9th of Av is coming soon. The 9^th of Av falls on July 28, being that it is a Sabbath, the 9^th of Av will be observed on the 29^th.

The 9^th of Av is a day of mourning and a period of reflection upon the tragedies of the past that have befallen the Jewish people over the centuries. Some of these tragedies associated with the 9^th of Av are the destruction of both Temples, the decree from the LORD that the generation freed from Egypt would die in the wilderness and not pass into the Promised Land, various expulsions through the centuries, and aspects of the Holocaust, all transpired on or within days of the 9^th of Av.

The Olympic Games will open on the eve of the 9^th of Av.  It was in 1972, September 5^th, Arab Guerillas members of the Arab terrorist group known as Black September, raided a compound housing the Israeli athletes visiting Munich, Germany, to participate in the Olympic Games.  This attack resulted in the deaths of 11 Israelis.

In closing, I would like to also bring attention to another interesting event to take place this 9^th of Av. Presidential candidate Mitt Romney is scheduled to arrive in Israel on the 9^th of Av, and upon the urging of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he will join the Prime Minster for the traditional meal breaking the fast following sundown after Tisha B'Av.

I believe this meal on the 9^th of Av is symbolic in that the US president will not be attending and was not invited. I believe this meal together between Romney and Netanyahu is a type and shadow of the days to come, when Israel, in time of great tragedy and sorrow, will not have the support of the US President, who will be absent from Israel's side. The US will betray Israel.

The following link is a post that my mother put up which sparked the conversation that led to me looking further into the announcement on July 11. She has noted that David Wilkerson spoke of a coming devastating drought to America, a drought that would indicate the United States of America was thus in the full swing of judgment.  Whether this drought announcement confirms this or not, it is clear in Scripture that drought is not a judgment to take lightly.

Keep your eyes on HIM. JESUS CHRIST is our only HOPE.

God Bless, daniel

P.S. The sunspot 1520, which unleashed a X1.4 class solar flare on July 12, directly towards earth, is ironically, 1520 days after the 60^th anniversary of Israel's Independence.

May 14, 2008 to July 12, 2012 is 1520 days.