GLOBES (excerpts):  The first stage of a mysterious disease affecting Kinneret fish begins in one of its eyes, which starts to pop out and gets destroyed, leaving an empty hole in the socket.  Then the second eye is affected.  In the third phase, the blind fish blacken and starve.  So far, there is no official answer whether the disease is an unknown virus, or a mutation of a virus, a bacteria or a parasite.  Initial signs of the problem were discovered ten years ago in small numbers.  The phenomenon was first noticed by Menachem Lev, a fisherman from Kibbutz Ein Gev, a local expert on everything that happens in the Kinneret.  The plague first affected St. Peter's Fish.  About a million Christian pilgrims visit Israel every year.  Most of them visit the Kinneret and eat St. Peter's Fish; the Ein Gev restaurant alone serves more than 300,000 fish dinners to pilgrims every year.  The problem has worsened since then, and it is not only St. Peter's Fish that are affected by the disease, but also the Jordan River tilapia raised in fish ponds in the Hula Valley, silver carp, carp and mullet.  12-15% of the fish in the lake have already contacted the disease.  Ministry of Agriculture Veterinary Services fish health director Dr. Avi Eldar is trying to discover whether a new mutated virus is the cause of the disease.  The Veterinary Services has not found an unambiguous answer, and Dr. Eldar has contacted a lab in Italy, which has not yet given its answer. 

Commentary:  Regardless of what is found to be the underlying cause (and there are many different reasons given as to why fish are dying in mass all around the world), the Bible says this will happen in the last days, before the return of Jesus (Yeshua in Hebrew), "The land will mourn and everyone that dwells in it will languish, with the beasts of the field, the fowls of heaven; yes, the fishes of the sea will also be taken away" Hosea 4:3.  The good news is that the Bible tells us that God's people will be caught up to heaven before His wrath is poured out on the wicked, "Wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivered us from the wrath to come" 1 Thessalonians 1:10.  "The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ will rise first, then we which are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and we will forever be with the Lord.  Therefore comfort one another with these words" 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18.  At this point in time, we are experiencing a time of sorrow (languishing), before the "great wrath of God" (Revelation 6:17) is poured out upon the earth, during the tribulation period.  It is a time of warning to the nations, to pray, to get saved and ready for the Lord's return.  Are you prepared for the return of Jesus (Yeshua)?  If not, please visit the "How Can I Be Saved" page of this website.  God bless you.