HOW CLOSE ARE WE TO GOD'S JUDGMENT?
Those of us who have been been privileged to share from behind this pulpit have often quoted from Ecc 1:9 which says:
"That which has been is what will be (again), that which has been done is what will be done (again), and there is nothing new under the sun."
And Heb 13:8 which tells us, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever." He does not change, nor does His thinking, though at times, He may relent from bringing punishment.
In order for this message to be fully understood, there are four assumptions that have to be accepted:
1) That, what is written in Eccl 1:9 and Heb 13:8 is absolute truth.
2) That, what the prophets spoke centuries ago after hearing from God - Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, Joel, Daniel - these prophecies remain in effect even today.
(For Ex) In Dan 12:4, after the archangel Michael gave Daniel a message from God as to what would happen in the last days, Michael said to Daniel:
"But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end ..."
In other words, close the book because no one will understand this prophetic message except for the people living in the time of the end ... us.
Daniel chapter 12 clearly tells us the power of the holy people, God's people, who are living in the end times, would be completely shattered for 3 1/2 years. This is likely the second half of the 7 year tribulation period. Which leads to a third assumption:
3) God and the words He speaks, do not change. His word spoken through the prophets centuries ago don't just disappear.
"That which has been shall be again; that which has been done shall be done again."
And 4) When the bible speaks of 'Mystery Babylon' in Rev 17:9-10 and the 'Daughter of Babylon' in Isa 47:1 and Zech 2:6,7 it is referring to America or its people. But, there is disagreement among bible scholars as to this point. However, many students of prophecy believe it refers to the U.S.
That said:
Q: What the prophets prophesied as to what would happen to Babylon and Moab, or to Ammon and Edom ... and did happen just as prophesied, will it happen again - in our generation?
--If America, or any other nation that exists today, commits the sins the ancient nations committed and for which God punished them, why do people think God won't judge the nations now in similar fashion?
--If God punished Sodom for its sins, why would He withhold punishment on the nations that commit similar sins today? America, Israel, Britain, France?
Doesn't God's word tell us He is the same yesterday, today and forever?
--If God spoke the following words to ancient Babylon through the prophet Isaiah, why wouldn't He speak them to Mystery Babylon, America of today? Isa 47:10-11 says:
"For you have trusted in your wickedness; You have said, 'No one sees me'; Your wisdom and your knowledge have warped you; and you have said in your heart, 'I am, and there is no one else besides me.' (Get outta my way; I'm better than you!) "Therefore evil shall come upon you; you shall not know from where it arises. And trouble shall fall upon you; You will not be able to put it off. And desolation shall come upon you suddenly ..."
How many of America's 'politicians and church leaders' have said in their heart:
1. No one sees me 'embezzling' from the public treasury!
2. No one sees me 'committing adultery' with my neighbor's wife, or with the
church secretary!
3. I'm smarter than my constituents! They just turn their heads and I get away
with it! Whose gonna stop me!
But God says: "Your wisdom and your knowledge have warped you ... Therefore evil shall come upon you. ... And desolation shall come upon you suddenly ... "
And through the prophet Jeremiah, God spoke these words to the nations in Jer 49:31-32, using the king of Babylon (Nebuchadnezzar) as His enforcer:
"Arise, go up to the wealthy nation that dwells securely, says the Lord, which has neither gates nor bars, dwelling alone. (Could America and Israel fit this description?) "Their camels shall be for booty, and the multitude of their cattle for plunder. I will scatter to all winds those in the farthest corners, and I will bring their calamity from all its sides, says the Lord."
--As it happened to the ancient nations, what's happening to Israel NOW? Is God using Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran as His enforcers, as He used the king of Babylon to get Israel's attention in ancient times? So that,
--The Israelis 'look up' to their protector and defender, the One to whom so many Israelis barely give a second thought ... because of their widespead secularism?
--Do we see how calamity is coming upon Israel from all sides? Hamas rockets from the south, Hezbollah rockets from the north, and rockets even farther south from Yemen?
--Israel is surrounded by enemies on all sides: Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, and Russia to the north; Iraq and Iran to the east; Libya and Yemen to the south; and the Mediterranean Sea to the west.
And it is said there are less than 10 million people living in all of Israel.
And what's now happening in America?
(1) Millions of illegals are flooding into this country from the southern border. Most are of unknown identity and their country of origin is also unknown. And many photos of the caravans reveal mostly military age males crossing over.
Some of those who have been stopped at the border were found to have come from, not only South America, but also from middle eastern and African nations.
And our government is deliberately spreading them all over our country. Many predict our cities, suburbs and small towns could be attacked, 'at any time', by these soldiers crossing the border upon command of their benefactors.
(2) Many economists predict the crash of the U.S. petro dollar, being replaced by either gold or the new BRICS currency (Brazil, Russia, India, China, S Africa). This alone, will cause America's economy to crash even worse than the 1929 Great Depression.
3) America's military has become 'woke.' Many of its leaders care more about 'gender affirmation' and 'climate change' than they do about defending the country and its citizens.
4) America, a once great food producer, is predicted to experience a food shortage in the next couple of years. This may be due to the government placing too many restrictions on farmers; the 'mysterious' fires destroying poultry farms and cattle; and because Bill Gates and China are buying up much of our farmland.
5) Laws are changing and the foundations on which this country was built are methodically being dismantled. It is said Communists have infiltrated both state and federal government, taking positions of power with the help of globalist cash.
6) Inflation is tearing into people's paychecks, diminishing spending capacity.
7) Rent, food and gasoline prices have skyrocketed. And there is talk of more tax increases.
8) LGBTQ insanity has infected America and much of the world. Good is now considered evil, and evil good. The Jan 6 protest is considered evil, but Antifa and BLM riots are considered good.
Is all that's happening just coincidence? Or, should we take seriously God's words spoken through the prophet Jeremiah in Jer 50:14-15,
"Put yourselves in array against Babylon (America) all around, all you who bend the bow; shoot at her, spare no arrows, for she has sinned against the Lord. Shout against her all around; she has given her hand (to wickedness), her foundations have fallen (our very culture) , her walls are thrown down (southern border) ... Why is this happening? "For it is the vengeance of the Lord. Take vengeance on her. As she has done, so do to her."
And verses 22-32: "A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction. How the hammer of the whole earth has been cut apart and broken!" (What nation has consistently acted as the world's policeman, 'the hammer'?)
"How Babylon (America) has become a desolation among the nations. I have laid a snare for you; You have indeed been trapped, O Babylon (America), and you were not aware; You have been found and also caught, because you have contended against the Lord. (How many ways has America contended against God?) "The Lord has opened His armory, and has brought out the weapons of His indignation; For this is the work of the Lord God of Hosts."
"Come against her from the farthest border (southern border); open her storehouses (America's wealth being destroyed through reckless gov't spending; goods and services being taken from American citizens and given to illegals); cast her up as heaps of ruins, and destroy her utterly; let nothing of her be left."
A Russian defector, Col. Alexander Lunev, wrote a book titled, Through The Eyes of the Enemy. He said years ago, many of the 100 suitcase nukes gone missing from the Russian arsenal have been planted in the U.S. by the Russian Spetsnaz, their version of Navy Seals.
"Repay her according to her work; according to all she has done, do to her. For she has been proud against the Lord." "Behold, I am against you, O most haughty one,! says the Lord God of hosts; for your day has come, the time that I will punish you. The most proud shall stumble and fall, and no one will raise him up; I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it will devour all around him." (Invaders setting fires, or suitcase nukes, or nuclear missiles sent from Russia, China, Iran?)
God's word tells us in Lk 12:48, "... to whom much is given, from him much will be required." Through wicked leaders, America has been transformed from a nation blessed by God, to whom much was given, into a nation with little to no moral compass.
God also says in Jer 51:7-9, "Babylon (America) was a golden cup in the Lord's hand, that made all the earth drunk." (Drunk with pornography, illicit drugs, child trafficking, and embracing evil in Hollywood movies for all the world to see, as examples.)
"The nations drank her wine; therefore the nations are deranged. (Are the nations of the world deranged with LGBTQ insanity, drugs, child trafficking?) Babylon (America) has suddenly fallen and been destroyed. Wail for her! ... We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed." (Because America has consistently refused to repent and come back to God as it once was during its foundation.) ... "For her judgment reaches to heaven and is lifted up to the skies."
I believe what the prophets of old have prophesied will happen to both America and to Israel, in this generation. Israel will be involved in the judgment because God's word tells us in Zech 13:8-9 , speaking of Israel:
"And it shall come to pass in all the land, says the Lord, that two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die. But one-third shall be left in it. I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, 'This is My people;' And each one will say, 'The Lord is my God.' "
This catastrophic judgment will likely occur during the 'Time of Jacob's Trouble', the seven year tribulation period, rather than now. But, judgment on America and Israel appears to have started, by what we're witnessing in both countries.
We don't know when this will all unfold, but we know it's near by what Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 24.
But, let's ignore the other nations for now. HOW CLOSE IS AMERICA TO GOD'S JUDGMENT?
Jer 51:13-14 says: "O you who dwell by many waters (lakes, rivers, streams across this country), abundant in treasures (gold, silver, oil, natural gas, cattle), your end has come. The measure of your covetousness, the Lord of hosts has sworn by Himself: Surely I will fill you with men as with locusts (coming across the southern border?), and they shall lift a shout against you."
And in Jer 51:11, "Make the arrows bright! Gather the shields! (make ready for war) . The Lord has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes. For His plan is against Babylon (America) to destroy it, because it is the vengeance of the Lord." Who were the Medes? They were the ancient Iranian people.
God goes on to say through Jeremiah in verses 29-32: "And the land will tremble and sorrow; for every purpose of the Lord shall be performed against Babylon (America), to make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant." "The mighty men of Babylon (America) have ceased fighting." "They have remained in their strongholds." (Could Americans have stopped fighting, hiding in their strongholds because they are outnumbered by the 'locusts' entering into the country; or, could they have run out of ammunition?)
1) The largest civilian ammo manufacturer in U.S., Vista Outdoors, just sold ALL their factories to one man, a young Czech billionaire.
2) The U.S. is reported to be short on primer needed for the manufacture of bullets and shells for tanks and heavy artillery.
3) And what ammo America has managed to stockpile is being given to Ukraine and Israel.
To continue in Jer 51:30-32: "Their might has failed, they have become like women; (LGBTQ members are welcomed into the military and said to offer free sex changes while serving. And those who undergo transition surgery aren't required to participate in combat)
"They have burned her dwelling places, the bars of her gate are broken (southern border?) "And the men of war are terrified." (Perhaps because they ran out of ammo, or had to trust a man sitting in a foxhole with him during combat dressed as a woman).
Then in Jer 51:36-64: "I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry. Babylon shall become a heap, a dwelling place for jackals, an astonishment and a hissing without an inhabitant."
"How Babylon has become desolate among the nations! The sea has come up over Babylon; she is covered with the multitude of its waves (Is this referring to massive tsunamis, or waves of invading soldiers?)
Remember what God said in Jer 51:14, "Surely I will fill you with men as with locusts, and they shall lift a shout against you."
"Her cities are a desolation ... a land where no one dwells, through which no son of man passes." "For the plunderers shall come to her from the north, says the Lord."
Dimitru Duduman brought a warning from God to America that it would burn. This Romanian brother reported that once America becomes embroiled in a civil war, it would be attacked by China from the west coast, Russia from the east coast down through Minnesota, and certain other countries through the southern border.
"Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will bring judgment on her carved images (All the idols: money, sex, false gods; anything people place ahead of God). And throughout all her land the wounded shall groan ..."
"Because the Lord is plundering Babylon (America) and silencing her loud voice ... For the Lord is the God of recompense, He will surely repay." (repay America for all its wickedness). "Thus Babylon (America) shall sink and not rise from the catastrophe that I will bring upon her..."
IS THERE ANY HOPE? YES. TURN AWAY FROM SIN, REPENT, THEN SURRENDER TO GOD THROUGH OBEDIENCE TO HIM. AND LOVE HIM FOR WHO HE IS.
I'D LIKE TO END THIS MESSAGE WITH WORDS OF HOPE:
The good news is God will protect all those who are His from what's coming ... as long as we love Him, trust Him, and remain obedient to His word.
As God protected the Israelites in Goshen from the plagues He sent upon Egypt, He will also protect those who are His REGARDLESS of the country in which we
reside.
And these are a few of God's promises to us for protection:
Ps 91: 14-16, "Because He has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation."
Ps 121:7-8, "The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in, from this time forth, and even forevermore."
Ps 18, "The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust ... For You will save the humble people, but will bring down haughty looks ... He is a shield to all who trust in Him."
Amen.