A Call for a New Message in Deliverance

I keep hearing and reading encouragement for people to pray during our pandemic but this is deceptive.  Where are the old “Fire and Brimstone” preachers when you need them?  They are a “bygone age” and one that I don’t think we will see again until the Two Witnesses are revealed as described in the book of Revelation.

Simple prayer for deliverance is the wrong message to be giving people and one that God does not honor.  The message that we must relay is to REPENT from current and past sin.  Please, hear me out.

As a consequence of the desperate corruption and rampant sin, I believe that the current earthquakes, pestilence and plagues are the birth pains prophesied in the Bible, and these trials are calls to repent that will get more destructive as the time grows nearer for Jesus’ return.  Christians must maintain a consistent message with Gods’ call to repentance.

Why do I say that we are in the prophetic “birth pains”?  Because our world is exactly like the world in the days of Noah .  Jesus said in Matthew 24:37 that “as were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of Man”, meaning that the world would have traits consistent with the world in the days of Noah before His return.  It also mirrors what Paul described in Romans 1:18-32 as what people will be like in the “last days”. And, controversially, spend a few hours getting your mind blown in daniel11truth, who has spent his lifetime elegantly and comprehensively lining up all of Biblical prophesy in a way unique to anything I have ever read.  According to his research,  world history has completed all verses up to Daniel 11:31.
The Bible clearly and consistently states that God doesnt hear prayers from the unrighteous without repentance.  All the posts and blog entries telling people to “storm the gates of heaven and pray for deliverance” is not consistent with that we are to do because God has a deaf ear to the unrighteous.  The Bible outlines what we are to do in times of distress for the Christian (those saved by the blood of Jesus Christ) and the “unsaved” (those who have not called on Jesus for salvation).

For the unsaved:
Call out for salvation in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, repent from and confess your sin then turn away from your sinful acts.  Spiritual salvation is assured in the Bible and with it peace and hope for eternal life.  As God wills, He may heal your body as well.

If you don’t know what is considered sin, the 10 Commandments in Exodus 20:2-17 are an easy list to read and understand.  Jesus said in Mark 12:30-31 that the entire Law of God can be summarized as “Love God with all your heart, all your mind and all your soul and love your neighbor as yourself.”  Examples of the ACTION of sin is all throughout the Bible.

Paul records a list of sinful actions in Galations 5:19-21 to help give you an idea of what sin looks like in action. (There are many other similar lists, this is just one example.)  Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, ²¹ envy,^[d] drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do^[e] such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 

Solomon elegantly summarizes 7 sins that God hates in Proverbs 6:16-19:

There are six things that the Lord hates,
    seven that are an abomination to him:
¹⁷ haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
    and hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸ a heart that devises wicked plans,
    feet that make haste to run to evil,
¹⁹ a false witness who breathes out lies,
    and one who sows discord among brothers.

For the saved in Jesus Christ:

James chapter 1 has clear instructions for what to do with trials, suffering and illness.  Yet I am not reading about these instructions in posts or blogs.  I am certainly not reading about what James says to do in illness.  I am puzzled as to what Christians actually believe, and I feel that we have grossly skewed the message to one that has lopped off the arms and legs of God’s personality.  He is not just LOVE.  He is first and foremost HOLY, or “pure and set apart”.  Love is an important but secondary attribute along with JUSTICE, OMNIPOTENCE and so forth.  And He works to produce holiness in us through trials and persecution.  As a group we have sorely tried this most important characteristic of HOLINESS, only to veneer our prayers with petitions without action.  Our action must collectively be repentance from ungodly action, thought, word, tolerance and idols.

 1.  Count the time of testing or persecution JOY in order to produce steadfastness.

Praising God for persecution sounds nuts.  But that is exactly the message from Christians being slaughtered in Africa and the Middle East.  Praise God for the ministry of organizations like Barnabus Fund and Open Doors USA who are bringing their stories to light and doing what they can to relieve their suffering.  Their praise in the midst of grave danger, injury and death humbles me.  What they know, because they have lived it, is that faithfully following Jesus is sacrificial and transformative.  As a caveat, James also reminds us of God’s promise to reward those who demonstrate steadfastness under trials with the Crown of Righteousness.

Professing christians in less restrictive societies must take this to heart, stop the long faces, stop hiding in “bug out bungaloes”.  We are called to love our neighbor and hoarding our stuff is a direct violation of this.  Martin Luther ran toward the plague while “Christians” ran like rats from a sinking ship.  He demonstrated his faith in trials.  I am happy to see certain organizations like Samaritan’s Purse demonstrating love in action in Italy and New York City, and it is a great example of what Christians can do to give light and hope to the world.  Give generously as you are called to do.  Write notes of encouragement to neighbors.  Offer to pick up stuff for others.  Put in your name to Christian organizations in your area.  YOU know where you are going and YOU know where they are going.  In eternal terms, it is better for us to suffer.

James 1:2-4 Count it all joy, my brothers,^[b] when you meet trials of various kinds, ³ for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. ⁴ And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

James 1:12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

2.  Be reconciled to God and to your brother.  Humble yourself, seek God’s face and turn from sin.

This is a worldwide need and one we need to meet collectively but we can only do that if we preach and act out repentance.  If you are unsure if unconfessed sin is in your life, the lists above are a good place to start.  Ask for wisdom and discernment to reveal what you may be doing or thinking that is not consistent with a holy life.  As grafted into God’s family, we can claim the below promise made to the Israelites:

2 Chronicles 7:14  if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Matthew 5:21-24  “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ ²² But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother^[c] will be liable to judgment; whoever insults^[d] his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell^[e] of fire. ²³ So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

4.  Ask for wisdom, in faith without doubting, from God who gives generously.  Notice the criteria of asking for wisdom.  Ask in faith and do not doubt.

James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. ⁶ But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

5.  When illness strikes, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another.  Examine yourself to make sure you are not participating in communion with unresolved sin in your heart and life.

In obedience to James 5:14, call to the elders of the church to pray over you and “anoint you with oil” (a medical practice of rubbing in the skin of olive oil for healing).  There is a promise of safety from pestilence and plague in Psalms 91 that is popular right now on many blogs, but this is a specific promise for the person who dwells in the shelter of the Most High.  I believe that this promise is for the few who are absolutely bonded to God through our saviour Jesus Christ, and obey ALL His edicts.  So I am concerned when people pull this out and say pandemics arent for Christians.  It is absolutely false.

Even devout Christians in the New Testiment dealt with serious illness.  Paul also has a strong warning about coming to the communion table with unconfessed sin.  Failure to heed this leads to illness and early death.  In our age of tolerance, broken promises, strife and idol worship, is is a wonder that so many professing Christians who participate in communion are ill?

Why do we want to obey this instruction?  As God wills, the prayer of faith from a righteous person will save the ill Christian and sins will be forgiven.  Sober reverence and confession of sin prior to communion will protect the Christian from the consequences of disobedience.

James 5:14  Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.  And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

1 Corinthians 11:27-30 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸ Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. ²⁹ For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. ³⁰ That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.^[h] 31 But if we judged^[i] ourselves truly, we would not be judged. ³² But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined^[j] so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

6.  Be prepared for God to say NO to all your prayers for healing.  If you are right with God and your brother you have no reason to be in despair.  We do not know God’s overall plan and how your suffering fits into it.  Paul entreated God for healing from a serious illness and God told him no.  What you can do is suffer with grace and patience and be a testimony to others even at the expense of your life.  Perhaps your testimony in suffering will produce a good work in both you and in them.

Calling on Jesus, a Testimony

Last year I became a Christian.  After 50 years of Christian school, church and Christian tradition, I found myself faced with the reality that I was a Christian in tradition only.  I vaguely remembered a time when I “asked Jesus into my heart” at a very young age, but I turned away from this and went my own way with my back foot in Christian tradition and my leading foot in the other direction.

Two years ago I had a mental breakdown.  I discovered myself on disability barely able to say a full sentence.  I sat for 18 months in a numb state of unreality.  I saw almost no one and was plagued with constant thoughts of suicide, my old enemy.  Early last year I developed symptoms of acute psychosis.  I had strange thoughts, bizarre homocidal thoughts and I couldn’t think a clear sentence.   My thoughts were like bright lights zooming in and out of my head.  I had crippling anxiety and a feeling like someone was pressing down on my shoulders.  I decided it was time to give up and commit suicide.

As I was contemplating my action, I received two commands.  On one other occasion I was given a command to “wake up and call out Jesus” during a dream.  These felt like that.  The first command was to look up “Leviathon” (which is an interest of mine, see my prior post).  The second command was to look up signs of Spiritual Oppression.  I looked up signs of spiritual oppression and what I read made my thinking clear up a bit.  I realized that I met all the criteria.  I began to wonder how Leviathon would tie into this, so  I looked up Leviathon.

The second link on Leviathon was for “Leviathon spirit”.  I had never heard of this and I knew this was what I was supposed to read.  This link took me to the Ministry of Nelson Schuman (restoredtofreedom.com), a man who has been working with persons under Spiritual Oppression for several years.  He put a name to a powerful oppressive spirit mentioned and described in the Bible and called it “Leviathon spirit”.  While reading about “Leviathon spirit”, I realized that the description  of persons experiencing this oppression  fit me and my family very well.  His written prayers are powerful indeed, and right then and there I poured myself out and begged down to the depths of my soul for release, confessed my sinful state, believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as my sole savior and repented of my sin.

In the middle of my prayer two things occurred.  My body jerked and I felt the pressing down on my shoulders leave me.  At the same moment that I jerked, all the anxiety left.  By the end of the prayer I once again experienced a complete feeling of peace just like the peace I had when I called out Jesus’ name during the horrific demonic dream.  This peace was like the sudden release of a tornado where all was quiet in my head and pure contentment reigned.  I really dont have words and I consider myself a bit of a wordsmith but it is the best I can do.

I believe God started to work in my life from that moment.  I was released, and continue to be released, from a sin that I was enslaved to for over 30 years.  And I was referred to a Christian counselor who in turn referred me to DBT (dialectic behavioral therapy) and I was finally and correctly diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, the problem that led to the acute psychosis (along with the medication Topiramate).

I firmly believe that I wouldn’t be here today without God’s intervention in my life.  I don’t know what He has in store for me, but I want to be ready for it.  I am working hard on the BPD symptoms and it is a very hard battle.  God so far has not chosen to release me from this so I assume I am supposed to do something related to it.  I have learned so much from DBT, it is transformative, and one of my realizations is that many many others, both Christian and non-Christian, are suffering with this disorder and are undiagnosed.  It has the potential to rip apart lives and peace in the Church like almost no other mental condition.  I have thought about starting a blog called “The Borderline Christian”, as to my great dismay Christian sites treat this condition harshly.  There is a need for Biblically based education, gentle encouragement and edification and concrete help.   It is a terrible disorder that I think has both spiritual and neurobiological components as I am most likely the 4th generation with symptoms.

As I move forward, I am conscious that my struggle with interpersonal relationships and emotional dysregulation may limit my ability for God to use me.  Paul, our great Christian example, asked for prayer that he would remain “usable”.  For him to be concerned about that really struck me.

It is my prayer as well.

I hope that this will encourage you no matter what state you find yourself.  It is possible to be released from oppression.  Paul tells us to put on the armor of God daily, pray to remain usable and meditate on the Word of God.  As I faithfully attend DBT classes I know that the Bible is the BEST DBT manual.  And be open to give account.  Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life and the only connection to God.  Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.  And tell others the Good News through your testimony.

Mt Sinai, Leviathon and “Figurative Bible imagery”

I have always been interested in Mt Sinai and Leviathon. But I never realized the two were connected.  How could they be?  The Bible tells us that Mt Sinai resides in Midian, modern day Arabia.  Leviathon is a great oceanic beast.

Both Mt Sinai and Leviathon have faded into the world of the Mystical Fantastic outside of Bible references (although Google Earth has tracked something massive in the ocean). Yet they seemed to be important to God given the many times they are mentioned and the graphic descriptions given to them.  God doesnt do this unless it is important.  If it is important to God it is important to me.  The description of Leviathon in Job 41 is a fearsome creature indeed and appears to have multiple heads, an armored body and the ability to breathe a fiery substance.

Yet in Psalms this Fantastic Mythology is connected in a descriptive and graphic way.  Psalm 74:14 says “You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces, And gave him as food to the people (or creatures) inhabiting the wilderness.”

So is this figurative Bible imagery?  Perhaps not.  I viewed an short Google earth video linking this verse with a vast shape about a mile near what is now thought to be a good candidate for Mt Sinai.  Now the story of modern day Mt Sinai and this link reads better than any suspense thriller and can be found on ronwyatt.com, who went to Saudi Arabia at great personal risk to himself and his sons.  Click on the Mount Sinai link and read in awe.  And he is not alone, others have picked up on this, although it is hotly refuted.  This is a great article with pictures of the split rock: https://www.discoveryworld.us/biblical-discoveries/the-real-mt-sinai-is-in-saudi-arabia/

Now we tend to discount what is not beautiful and Jebel el Lawz mountain is quite bleak and desolate.  But God sees what we do not, He raises the humble and uses what we discount for His Glory.  (Which I find great comfort in, as I am certainly not a human prize in any sense.  But I am a prize in His eyes, which is all that matters.)   For some reason, this mountain is special to Him.  I like to create a story that perhaps this is where He stood during the Act of Creation.  Dont quote me on that!

So what Psalms is suggesting, if one moves from figurative language into historical detail, is that one of the Leviathon was used as food for people or creatures wandering in the wilderness.  If one went to Sunday School, one knows that the Israelites and their animals wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, and that they resided for a time at Mt Sinai during the Ten Commandment initiation, so it is not too great a leap to name the Israelites as “the people (some versions say creatures) in the wilderness”.

Since Jebel el Lawz is desert, it is possible that the bones of a massive creature may still reside if God used it for food for either the Isrealites or provision for their animals.

I believe that the potential discovery of a massive creature about a mile from this site certainly lays further evidence that this is the Biblical Mt Sinai, for in addition to the archeological finds, Bedouin oral history states that this mountain is the sacred mountain of Moses.

Links dont last very long especially in the era of Youtube censorship, so while I have placed this video below, if it is missing or doesnt word then look up bornforbattle74 on Youtube if you want to see a one minute video that is, at the very least, thought provoking and if you are excited by really cool connections, it will rock your world 🙂

To me, this raises questions as to whether Bible scholars and readers should be looking at the Bible in a “new” (or, to be more accurate, return to the old) way.  I have come to believe that the Bible isnt just a text for religious and moral truth.  I also think we have put the Bible in a neat little box of “literal” and “figurative”.  But that isnt how God operates.  I think that we need to keep our mind open to literal, historical, spiritual and figurative truths in every verse we read.

Otherwise it is likely that we are  missing, by our choice, deeper layers to the brilliance of God’s inspired Word.

Revealing an unreported link between Pandemics and the Seven Seals of Revelation Ch 6

I read the Bible several times a week.  And I live in a state of astonished amazement in regard to how accurately it explains the state of the world in the Last Days.  I have been going through Paul’s letters from start to finish, and I really advocate a start to finish read to get a flavor of what he says about the state of the person’s heart, mind and soul in the Last Days.

I recently started the Netflix series Pandemic, and what it said in the first 3 episodes answered a question I have had for a long time.  I immediately went to Revelation Chapter 6, the chapter that describes the Seven Seals unleashed upon the world before the events of the Great Tribulation.  And I saw two words that turned my world upside down.

To remind you of the complete context, I am copying Chapter 6: 1-7 here from the English Standard Version.  Pay careful attention to verse 7.

Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of ^ethe seven seals, and I heard ^fone of the 4 living creatures say ^gwith a voice like thunder, ^h“Come!”

2 And I looked, and behold, ⁱa white horse! And ^jits rider had a bow, and ^ka crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.

3 When he opened the second seal, I heard ^mthe second living creature say, “Come!”

4 And out came another horse, ⁿbright red. Its rider was permitted ^oto take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the ^mthird living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, ^pa black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, ^q“A quart of wheat for a denarius,² and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and ^rdo not harm the oil and wine!”

7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of ^mthe fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 And I looked, and behold, ^sa pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and ^uby wild beasts of the earth.

I want to pay close attention to verse 7, the last phrase, because we are seeing all of these play out on our world stage NOW in more ways than I believe you realize.  This verse talks about a series of great events that would reduce the worldwide population through sword, famine, pestilence and wild beasts.  We have seen typologies of each of these in our past as obviously our Great Wars, the Great Depressions etc have temporarily derailed humanity.  And we have seen us conquer these terrible events, sigh over the loss of life, and move on into greater states of selfish rebellion against all of God’s rules and decrees, not realizing that these events are meant to get our spiritual attention.

There is one typology that no one has ever discussed in all my 50 years of church, commentary reading, and Bible studies.  And it is the typology of the Black Death that terrorized and destroyed Europe’s economy in the mid 1300’s.  Of course we now know how this terrible plaque started.  With wild animals.

I have always been confused over the end phrase in Rev 6:7 “wild beasts of the earth”.  How can the “wild beasts” harm us on a global scale in the end times?  Especially as the wild animal population has been struggling and becoming extinct on a global scale?

The Bubonic Plaque showed us exactly how that could happen.  With viral and bacterial mutation from the animal host into an intermediate host then a mutation into humans brought about by the Chinese Silk Trade through travel on the Silk Highway.

The second warning, or typology, was the Spanish flu of 1918.  The beginning of the unleashing of the Viral Plagues that have dogged us despite our intelligence and the international pouring out of billions of [currency] and our determination to eradicate it with vaccines and what not.  The problem is that man didn’t realize that it cannot be eradicated as it originates in the wild birds (ducks are the primary culprits) who fly hundreds of miles dropping off and picking up new strains each year, only to expose farm animals and mutate again into human transmission.

And of course we cannot forget what brought about AIDS and Ebola.  Wild animals.

And now we have the Coronavirus family from the bats.  Perhaps the next pandemic.  If we are able to stop the spread now, it will only land on top of a series of potential pandemics, warnings that go unheeded.  At some point, Revelation 6:7 will come true, and it will start with wild animals.  We can discuss and debate whether these are “natural” events vs God’s judgement.  Personally, I think that God put barriers into wild animals’ DNA that, if breached, would start a cascade that ends in uncontrolled pandemic.  It is our choices, our rebellion, our breaching of His rules, that have led us here.

What really “floors” me is the knowledge that the writer of Revelation knew that wild animals would cause devastation during the Last Days 2000 years ago.  If NOTHING ELSE convinces you to take an interest in the Bible, this simple phrase in verse 7 should send you scurrying into scripture. 

If you need a suggestion, I am “hooked” on the Blue Letter Bible, a free app that you can carry everywhere.  With one touch on any verse on your screen it pulls up a library full of scholarly research, translation comparisons and commentaries.  If you can read notation, I  personally like David Guzik for his insightful body of work and I love how he adds in commentary from the great preachers of the past.  If you like reading a sermon there are several but I love Chuck Smith and his “tells it like it is”….. truth is a rare and valuable gem these days.

Finally, pray for us all but especially for the spiritual and physical health of the people of China.  May the Word of God spread unchecked, removing the spiritual darkness and causing them to turn to their Creator and the glorious freedom found in His Son, Yeshua (Jesus).  And an assurance (that I have experienced more than once), that in one’s darkest hour, one has only to call out Yeshua/Jesus name and be saved.

May God’s will be done.

 

Biblical typology in America: A warning

The Bible is full of a form of prophesy called typology.  Typology is the study and interpretation of types and symbols.  Isaiah and other prophets describe the typology of a corrupt nation along with God’s judgment and punishment if repentance is not sought.

The seventy nations, led by America, are now firmly in the typology of the corrupt nation of Judah and and the judgement phase has begun.  Think about America and your country as I follow the fall and Judgment of Judah and apply this to the current state of corruption engulfing nations.

How does one identify a corrupt nation?

Firstly, Isaiah chapter 5 describes the sins of a corrupt nation, specifically of Judah.  But Judah’s sin is not unique to them as a nation.  Reading through the list, one can clearly see that this is a universal list of any corrupt nation.

The sin of injustice (Is 5:7):

“He [God] expected a crop of justice, but instead he found oppression. He expected to find righteousness, but instead he heard cries of violence.”

The sin of greed: (5:8)

“You buy up property so others have no place to live. Your homes are built on great estates so you can be alone in the midst of the earth!”

The sin of pleasure-seeking: (5:12)

“They furnish wine and lovely music at their grand parties — lyre and harp, tambourine and flute — but they never think about the LORD or notice what He is doing.”

The sin of blasphemy: (5:19)

“They even mock the Holy One of Israel and dare the Lord to punish them. ‘Hurry up and punish us, O Lord,’ they say. ‘We want to see what you can do!'”

The sin of moral perversion: (5:20)

“They say that what is right is wrong and what is wrong is right; that black is white and white is black; bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter.”

The sin of intellectual pride: (5:21)

“Woe to those who are wise and shrewd in their own eyes!”

The sin of intemperance: (5:22)

“Woe to those who are “heroes” when it comes to drinking and boast about the liquor they can hold.”

The final sin identified by Isaiah was political corruption: (5:23)

“They take bribes to pervert justice, letting the wicked go free and putting innocent men in jail.”

When applied to the corruption in America, the list is deeply disturbing and clearly describes what is occurring in our country.  I was deeply grieved when I saw these parallels.  I hope you are as well.

Isaiah concluded his list with a summary statement that identified the fundamental reason for all the sins: (5:24)

“…they have thrown away the laws of God and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.”

  So the prelude is a falling away from the knowledge of the Word.  As we know, the “Bible” has been under attack in America for several decades, but the tide is turning against us as more and more people believe the lie and succumb to the corruption.  And less and less know about it because fewer and fewer read the Bible or get exposed in any form to what it says.

To recap, the eight sins of Judah that Isaiah reported were: Injustice, Greed, Pleasure-Seeking, Blasphemy, Moral Perversion, Intellectual Pride, Intemperance and Political Corruption. All of which he asserted were produced by contempt for the Word of God.

Isaiah also reported that all his calls to repentance were met with scoffing and frivolity (22:12-13):

“The Lord God called you to repent, to weep and mourn, to shave your heads in sorrow for your sins, and to wear clothes made of sackcloth to show your remorse. But instead, you sing and dance and play, and feast and drink. ‘Let us eat, drink, and be merry,’ you say: ‘What’s the difference, for tomorrow we die.'”

Isaiah responded to this crass indifference with a strong warning: (5:26-30)

“God will send a signal to the nations far away, whistling to those at the ends of the earth, and they will come racing toward Jerusalem…Their arrows are sharp; their bows are bent; sparks fly from their horses’ hoofs, and the wheels of their chariots spin like the wind. They roar like lions and pounce upon the prey.”

Jeremiah’s Report

Sixty years later, God called a young priest named Jeremiah to do the same thing he had requested of Isaiah. He asked him to go forth and make an inventory of the sins of Judah.

When he reported back to God, he listed the same sins as Isaiah, but he added three new ones.

The first was immorality.

This, of course, had been hinted at in Isaiah’s accusation of moral perversion. But Jeremiah got specific: (5:7-8)

He declared that God had fed His people until they were full, but they thanked Him by “committing adultery and lining up at the brothels.” He added, “They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor’s wife.”

The second sin Jeremiah detected was religious corruption: (5:30-31)

“A horrible and shocking thing has happened in this land — the prophets give false prophecies, and the priests rule with an iron hand. Worse yet, my people like it that way!”

The third sin he added to the growing list was closed minds: (6:10-11)

He declared the people do not listen when God speaks: “Their ears are closed, and they cannot hear. They scorn the word of the Lord. They don’t want to listen at all.”

Jeremiah then concluded with three powerful summary statements:

“Their faces are harder than rock” (5:3).

“They have a stubborn and rebellious heart” (5:23).

“They do not know how to blush” (6:15).

Jeremiah issued a called to repentance, coupled with a stern warning (6:26):

“Oh, my people, dress yourselves in burlap and sit among the ashes. Mourn and weep bitterly, as for the loss of an only son. For suddenly the destroying armies will be upon you!”

But the people of Judah were so caught up in rebellion that they refused to repent, and they scoffed at the warning, responding by shouting, “The Temple, the Temple, the Temple!” (Jeremiah 7:4).

What they meant by this taunt was that they did not believe God would ever destroy their nation and their capital city because the Shekinah Glory of God rested in their Temple.

God’s Response: Remedial Judgments

Meanwhile, while God was speaking through prophetic voices, calling the people to repentance and warning them of an ultimate judgment, He was simultaneously inflicting the nation with remedial judgments.

These are judgments designed to humble people and motivate them to think with an eternal perspective.

Before they entered the Promised Land, God had warned them through Moses that if they were not faithful to His commandments, they would suffer remedial judgments to call them to repentance. These judgments are listed in detail in Deuteronomy 28, and they include such things as crop failures, rebellion of teenagers, an epidemic of divorce, rampant disease, confusing government policies, defeats by enemies, foreign domination and the ultimate judgment — exile from the land.

But the people of Judah were set in their sins, and Jeremiah therefore declared that their “wound was incurable” (Jeremiah 10:19).

The result was the Babylonian conquest of the nation and its capital in 586 BC, resulting in most of the people being carried away into captivity.

God in His mercy allowed them to return 70 years later, but during the next 400 years, they persisted in their sins, and so, in 70 AD, God allowed them to be conquered by the Romans and dispersed worldwide, just as He had warned.

This sordid history of a richly blessed people rebelling against their God who had blessed them so overwhelmingly is summed up in two very sad verses in which you can almost hear the Lord weeping (2 Chronicles 36:15-16):

15) And the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place;

16) but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against His people, until there was no remedy.

How God Deals With A Rebellious Nation

From this history of Judah, we can draw some conclusions about how God deals with a rebellious nation which He has so richly blessed.

1) He raises up prophetic voices to call the nation to repentance. And, if there is no repentance,

2) He places remedial judgments upon the nation.

3) If the nation repents, He forgives and blesses. But if there is no repentance,

4) God destroys the nation when its rebellion becomes entrenched, reaching a point of no return.

This point of no return occurs when “the wound becomes incurable.” Nahum declared that Nineveh had “an incurable wound” (Nahum 3:19). Jeremiah used the same terminology with reference to Judah (Jeremiah 30:12).

How does the United States fit this typology?

Now, let’s apply these principles to the United States.

I believe God raised up this nation with a dual the purpose: 1) to use our great natural resources and technical ingenuity to spread the Gospel all over the world and 2) to shepherd the new Israel.

As we fulfilled His first purpose, He poured out blessings upon us — blessings like unparalleled freedom and prosperity and immense power, worldwide influence and — the greatest blessing of all — sharing the Gospel with the world. He even gave us the blessing of serving as the key nation in the re-birthing and nurturing of the nation of Israel.  We are still fulfilling our second purpose, but when we turn our back on Israel we will be done.  

We became enamored with our wealth and power, and in due course we began turning our back on God.

The Almighty Dollar became our god.

Greed became our motivator.

Gambling became a national pastime.

Sex became our obsession.

We became the world’s largest consumer of illegal drugs.

We kicked God out of our schools.

We legalized abortion.

We endorsed moral perversion.

And we became the moral polluter of planet earth through our violent, immoral and blasphemous movies and television programs.

To demonstrate the rapid collapse of our moral society, eighty years ago this was the norm in America:

Abortionists were sent to prison.

Pregnancy out of wedlock was thought of as scandalous.

Homosexuality was considered unnatural and immoral.

Pornography was despised as a perversion.

Drugs were something you bought at a drug store.

Marriage was sacred.

Living together was taboo.

Divorce was a disgrace.

Same-sex marriage was beyond even the wildest and most depraved imagination.

Homemaking was honored, and day care was provided by mothers in their homes. Child abuse was almost unheard of.

Ladies did not curse or smoke.

The word,”Damn,” was considered flagrant language in a movie.

The first major motion picture to use a curse word was Gone with the Wind in 1939. The movie ended with the phrase, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” In 2013 a film called The Wolf of Wall Street, starring Leonardo de Caprio, had the “f-word” in it 544 times in 180 minutes!

In 1997, the veteran television star, Steve Allen, denounced the growing filth contained in movies and television programs by saying, “We have become a society where vulgarians entertain barbarians.” And that was 20 years ago!

God’s Response to the growing corruption:  Remedial Judgments

As we wallowed in the sexual revolution of the 1960’s, God began raising up prophetic voices like Rev Billy Graham, calling this nation to repentance.

We did not repent and are now experiencing His remedial judgments.  A remedial judgment can be determined by the magnitude, timing or unlikely placement.  You may disagree, but I believe the listed events below meet the criteria of a remedial judgment:

The 9/11 Attacks (2001)

The first real call to repentance was ignored.  God allowed the terrorists to be successful in attacking the two symbols of our pride: The Twin Towers in New York which represented our wealth, and the Pentagon in Washington, DC which represented our power.

Our response to this was the same prideful boast as Judah:  build a better tower and be more patriotic.  Repentance was never even mentioned.  And patriotism has quickly fallen by the wayside as well.

Massive Apocolyptic style hurricanes

The hurricanes escalated in the early 1990’s, after our reprieve with President Reagan.

Hurricane Sandy was not intended to land where it did.  A hand literally moved it into place.

God can, and does, change the climate to fulfill His will.  There are no “natural” events.

The Sept 2008 Stock Market Crash

Again, a response to our attempts to strong arm Israel into surrendering its heartland.

It occurred on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and the market fell by 777 points, God’s very own number.

Massive apocolyptic style earthquakes and volcanoes will be next.

God’s Warning: The 2017 Great Solar Eclipse

I believe this is the start of the heavy hitting judgments over the next 7 years until the next great eclipse that will mark the other side of the X across America.  Notice how Harvey came right in the Aftermath?  This eclipse is chock full of disturbing parallels if you want to make a study of it.

God is not treating us any differently. He has raised up prophetic voices to call us to repentance, and He is sending remedial judgments. And our response has been one of patriotism, when the needed response is repentance.

The “Dumbing down” of Christianity 

A crucial reason why we will continue to slide into a moral state of  “incurable wound” is the ignorance of God’s Word that has come to characterize both our nation and professing Christians. This ignorance is reflected in the latest polls conducted by the Barna Association which show that only 9% of Americans are Bible-believing Christians! And even more shocking, only 17% of professing Christians are truly Bible-believing Christians!

And what determines a Bible-believing Christian? Answers to the following six questions:

1) Does absolute moral truth exist?

2) Is the Bible totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches?

3) Is Satan a real being and not simply a symbolic force?

4) Can people earn their way into Heaven by doing good works?

5) Did Jesus live a sinless life?

6) Is God the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today?

Again, only 9% of Americans can answer these questions Biblically, and only 17% of professing Christians can do so. Is it any wonder that a recent national poll by the George Barna’s American Culture and Faith Institute revealed that:

77% of Americans believe divorce is acceptable.

71% believe sexual intercourse between unmarried adults is acceptable.

69% believe having a baby out of marriage is acceptable.

58% believe viewing pornography is acceptable.

Or, consider what public opinion polls are showing regarding same-sex marriage: acceptance of the abomination of same-sex marriage has increased rapidly from 37% in 2007 to 62% in 2018. The acceptance among white Evangelicals has increased from 14% in 2007 to 35% in 2018.

The latest poll in 2018 shows that Alabama is the only state in the Union where a majority of people oppose same-sex marriage!

Our nation needs to wake-up to the fact that legalizing an abomination does not make it moral.

Legality does not equal morality

The Triumph of Humanism

We are close to abandoning our morally upright constitution.  The attack on our constitution is now a daily news event.  It is only a matter of time.

Morality is like vinegar to the ungodly who are forced to keep its tenants

Will the Supreme Court stand as a wall of protection against the tide of paganism and secularism?  Not if 1) our constitution is abandoned and 2) a president changes the number of Supreme Court judges.

Our constitution does not specify the number of judges on the Supreme Court. This is determined by Congress. A radical President with a supporting Congress can undercut the Court by passing legislation to increase the members from 9 to 11 and to allow for additional appointments for each judge who stays on the court beyond the age of 70.

Yes, FDR tried this in 1937 when he was at the height of his popularity and failed. But what most people forget or don’t know is that after originally determining in 1789 that the Supreme Court would have six justices, the Congress has changed the size of the Court five times by either increasing or decreasing the number of justices — each time for political reasons.

God’s Wrath Revealed 

The Warning of Romans Chapter 1

Romans chapter 1 makes it crystal clear that the fate of our nation is sealed. It says that the wrath of God is called down from Heaven by: ungodliness, unrighteousness, suppression of the truth, and worship of the creation rather than the Creator.

Well, that’s exactly where we are in our nation’s history.

We are practicing ungodliness as we kick God out of our schools and all aspects of our public life.

We are practicing unrighteousness in our daily murder of babies.

We are suppressing the truth of the origin of the universe and of life.

We are worshiping the Creation rather than the Creator.

Romans 1 says that God responds to this kind of rebellion against Him and His Word by stepping back and lowering the nation’s hedge of protection, allowing evil to multiply. And the results are:

1) A sexual revolution — which occurred in our nation in the 1960s (verses 24-25).

2) A plague of homosexuality — which followed in the 1980s and 90s (verses 26-27).

3) The society being delivered over to a depraved mind — which is where we are today (verses 28-32).

My Prediction: The Future of the United States of America

Nor are we alone. Europe has wholeheartedly rejected Christianity, turning christian churches into homes and offices, and Christians are being persecuted and slaughtered worldwide. Our world is a ticking time bomb. And one of the tragedies is that the average person is just going about his normal business as if nothing is wrong, oblivious to the fact that the wrath of God is about to be poured out.

One wonders why America is mentioned very little in the Bible (yes it is there in the form of the Eagle in Daniel and the shepherd in Jeremiah 23:1-8 ).  It is because we will destroy ourselves before the end times.  While I have no Biblical proof, I believe the destruction of America is what throws the world into chaotic disorder. Several disasters are in the making which will destroy 100% of America.  I believe these will occur within the next 50 years, which I will explore further in a future post.

The collapse of the western part of La Palma island

The collapse of the newly formed, and fragile, shelf of Hawaii

The eruption of Mount Ranier and Yellowstone

The Great Midwest Earthquake

Our Hope 

Is there any hope for our nation? I do not believe so. But we should not despair for several reasons.

First, what we are experiencing is a fulfillment of end time prophecy. The biblical prophets, including Jesus Himself, all prophesied that in the end times society would disintegrate into violence and immorality — that it would become as evil as in the days of Noah, and that people would go about their business as if everything was normal.

That is exactly where we are today. And thus, we are witnesses to the very signs that are heralding the return of Jesus.

The second reason we should not despair is because there is individual hope. For those of us who are believers. God has promised that He will never forsake us. That does not mean that we will not endure hardship, trials, persecution and death.  The Bible is clear that in the end times the elect will suffer greatly to remove the chaff from the wheat, or, in other words the false christians from the true believers.

A third reason we should not despair is because of what God is doing in Heaven right now. The Bible says in Psalm 2 that while all the political leaders of the world conspire against Him, His Word and His Son, our Creator sits on His throne and laughs. He is not laughing because He does not care. Oh no! He is laughing because He has the wisdom and power to orchestrate all the evil of mankind and Satan to the triumph of His will in history.

And don’t forget, we have a fourth reason for hope. We have the incredible hope of the day when Jesus returns and gathers to Himself all who know Him.

There is also hope for unbelievers. As these judgments unfold, more people than ever will be drawn to salvation in Jesus.  It is already happening in the middle east.  I have read many testimonies of Muslims who abandoned their religion and converted after a vision of Jesus.  This phenomenon is the reason for the destruction of churches in China, the destruction of villages all across Africa.  Satan is desperately trying to hold onto his stronghold in these areas.

Meanwhile, as the darkness deepens, those of us who are believers must serve as salt and light, standing for God and His Word and refusing to give in to the demands of a pagan society, regardless of the cost.

We must be beacons of hope, pointing people to the God of hope while urging them to put their hope in their only Hope — Jesus, the Son of God and the soon returning King of kings and Lord of lords.

Rend your hearts rather than your garments, and turn back to Hashem your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in kindness, and renouncing punishment
Joel 2:13 (The Israel Bible™)

(1) Parts of this post was inspired by an original publication at Christ In Prophecy

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