I have noticed a recent interest
among believers over the past several years concerning the nature of
“judgment” in relation to modern acts of terrorism as well as natural
disasters. Is God behind these occurrences, and if so, is His
involvement direct, as if He outright caused these things, or indirect,
as if He simply removes His protection in allowing them to occur? We are
all aware of those who promoted hurricane Katrina as an act of God’s
judgment on a city whose sinfulness reached the tipping point. But is
that an accurate portrayal of the reason disasters such as these occur?
Then, what about Israel? Does our dealings
with Israel have anything to do with our successes or downfalls as a
nation? After all, the day Katrina hit causing mass evacuation of a
major U.S. city, was the same day the Israeli Defense Force IDF stormed
Gaza forcing Jewish residents to evacuate their cities and homes. Yes . .
. the same day! And the U.S. used political pressure on Israel to do
it. Was Katrina retribution then, or perhaps just a spiritual law in
operation over God’s words concerning the treatment of His people
Israel? (Genesis 12:3)
There is no doubt that spiritual laws are
in operation in every aspect of human life, including major events such
as these. It is important then to keep in mind that the spiritual laws
operate in response to human wills and actions, and not to any “knee
jerk” reactions of God Himself. So in response to the question of, “why
do bad things happen to good people?”, it is not a matter of if God did
it to them. There are a whole lot of things that happen in this world
that are not His will. Rather, it is necessary to remember we live in a
fallen world system, with an adversary on the loose, and spiritual laws
that are in full bore operation as well. The devil is always cruel, but
God is always good . . . and just!
If by chance it has escaped your attention,
the good old U.S. of A. launched way out into economic distress
starting back in Aug. 2008. As a result of our economic “cold” the world
has caught “an economic flu”. Certainly, hard times have hit our shores
. . . but why? Well, I am one who believes we are at the very threshold
of the beginning of the fulfillment of end-time prophecy. All the
evidences, as far as I am concerned, point to that reality, seemingly
even the heavens are boldly declaring this as well.
In the very beginning when God made the sun, moon and stars He said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.” (Gen.1:14) And
it is so that our days, years, and even seasons are in fact governed by
those empyreal bodies. But let’s not overlook the word signs in that verse. In Hebrew the word signs here is “owth”, and it means a signal as a flag, a beacon, monument, or mark. It
has been said the God has marked the heavens by positioning the sun,
moon, stars, and planets so as they would proclaim His plan of
redemption for mankind, along with marking future events of prophecy as a signal or warning of things to come. Consequently,
I believe current happenings in the sky above us are declaring we may
have entered into a phase of “judgment” on the Gentile nations.
Last year, on August 1, 2008 there was a
total eclipse of the sun. Nothing unusual about that . . . eclipses
happen. This year, on July 22, 2009, there will be another total solar
eclipse. OK . . . still normal. Next year, on July 11, 2010 there will
be yet another total solar eclipse. Now then, this would be considered a
bit unusual for three total solar eclipses one year after another, but
still not enough to grab our attention, right? What if all three
eclipses would have landed on the same day of the year, let’s say on
August 1st 2008, 2009, and 2010? Would that get your attention? Well,
the fact is that all three total solar eclipses do fall on the same day
of the year . . . just not on our Gregorian calendar. If God was going
to mark certain days on His prophetic timetable, He would obviously use
His calendar, the one He gave to the Jews in the Old Testament, not
ours. August 1, 2008, July 22, 2009, and July 11, 2010 all fall on the
same day of God’s calendar (the Jewish religious calendar). . . the 1st
of Av.
In the Jewish mindset, solar and lunar
eclipses where taken as a “divine sign” hung in the heavens especially
when they fell in sequence or on certain days of significant importance
such as a religious feast day. They considered a lunar eclipse to bode
bad for Israel, however, they considered a solar eclipse as a sign of
pending “judgment” on the Gentiles.
So, this begs the question, has judgment on
the Gentile nations been declared in the heavens? Has it already begun?
Unless you have been living in seclusion for the past year, it is
obvious to see things have not been peachy for many nations, especially
ours. In fact, our economy began its descent in August 2008 . . .
immediately follow the first total solar eclipse in the three year
sequence.
My concern is that many Christian are
asleep at the moment, and not discerning the seriousness of this present
distress. However, some conversations I’ve had recently with close
friends and fellow ministers seems to be mostly centered around the soon
return of the Lord. I believe God is speaking to the body of Christ at
this moment to wake up, and get serious about the things of God. Let the
natural things that used to be so important to you be overcome with
spiritual matters. Keep your mind on things above. (Romans 8:5-6)
Now, there are two more total eclipses in
the sequence. What lies ahead then? Some would have you believe that I
am one of those so called “doom and gloom” preachers, which by the way
is a phrase that has been widely used in an un-scriptural sense. They
Bible is full of warnings for God’s people as well as unbelievers. So
not to echo those warnings is not preaching the whole gospel! Don’t
knock those men and women of God whom He has called to minister along
those lines. There have been too many preachers tickling too many ears
anyways. I do have strong feelings about certain calamities which will
be unleashed over the next two years on Gentile nations, and I will be
expressing them in detail in future blog posts.
It may be a time of darkness that is
looming over the nations of the world, but for the Church great days are
straight ahead. This is our time to shine! Darkness will overtake those
in the world, but stay in the light and you’ll be fine. A candle shines
brightest in darkness. As the sun is blotted out as a signal of
judgment over the nations in the following two years, allow the light of
the Son to shine through you.
This post is the 1st in a series. Here are the other articles:2 – The Great Total Solar Eclipse of 2009
3 – The Great Total Solar Eclipse of 2010
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