Here's some more food for thought, this time from Isaiah. WE SHOULD CONSIDER OURSELVES WARNED. Looks like a close match to me.
Isaiah 18:
1 Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:
2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!
3 All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.
4 For so the Lord said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.
5 For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches.
6 They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.
7 ¶ In that time shall the present be brought unto the Lord of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, the mount Zion.
" Looks like a close match to me." Indeed, me too.
Different translations are revealing as well. Is "whirring wings" a reference to aviation? It did originate here.
The "tall and smooth" has also been translated "tall and smooth-skinned" in several translations as well, and I have since read that "smooth-skinned" could also be interpreted as "fair-skinned." Dunno.
Whatever He does, it seems it will be in summer. This is the ESV:
"5 For before the harvest, when the blossom is over, and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he cuts off the shoots with pruning hooks,"
I'm confident that "birds of prey," and "beasts of the earth" are metaphor for demons. Imagine for a moment twenty-five million people not only VERY hungry, but suddenly unable to get their antidepressants. Posessed/out of control? You betcha.... Murder/crime wave from hell, literally.
Looks like we ultimately repent though, perhaps after only a few months to a year (some translations say a summer and a harvest, others a summer and a winter). This is the RSV:
Isaiah 18
1 Alas, oh land of whirring wings Which lies beyond the rivers of Cush,
2 Which sends envoys by the sea, Even in papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters
Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth,
To a people feared far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation
Whose land the rivers divide.
3 All you inhabitants of the world and dwellers on earth,
As soon as a standard is raised on the mountains, you will see it,
And as soon as the trumpet is blown, you will hear it.
4 For thus the LORD has told me,
"I will look from My dwelling place quietly Like dazzling heat in the sunshine, Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest."
5 For before the harvest, as soon as the bud blossoms And the flower becomes a ripening grape, Then He will cut off the sprigs with pruning knives And remove and cut away the spreading branches.
6 They will be left together for mountain birds of prey, And for the beasts of the earth;
And the birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them,
And all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time on them.
7 At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the LORD of hosts
From a people tall and smooth,
Even from a people feared far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation,
Whose land the rivers divide--
To the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, even Mount Zion.