July 18
God Lowering the Hedge of Protection
Most end-time minded Christians understand that the days leading up to the
tribulation hour will increasingly become filled with violence and calamity.
Another thing that points to the fact that the "birth pangs" are the sign of the
end: I doubt that a majority of prophecy buffs could explain why the world
will become more unstable.
Without God's protective power, Satan would be able to do as he pleased.
America and Israel would be destroyed and every Christian on the planet
would be dead or in bondage.
The story of Job gives us good insight into what the devil is capable of
doing to mankind. In the book of Job, Satan complained that God had put a hedge
of protection around Job. Once God gave the devil limited authority over
Job's life, he had control over weather, enemy forces, disease, and pestilence,
and he could even cause fire to come down from the sky.
Right now, there is a battle going on between people who seek God's protection
and those who thumb their noses at the Almighty. Although it only takes a few
people seeking God's grace to counterbalance the folks on the negative end
of the scale, the salt of the earth, as the Bible calls them, are becoming
fewer in number.
Years ago, negative occurrences would motivate people to turn to the Lord
for guidance. Today, people have little or no reaction to the warning signs.
Any occurrence that fails to affect people in a direct way is viewed only
with passing interest.
One good example of mankind's hardheadedness was manifested in the financial
market's reaction to the terrorist bombings in London. At first, stock
markets in Europe plunged on the news of the attack. In the earlier hours,
the stock futures for the U.S. Dow Jones Industrials were indicated down 150
points. As quickly as the panic hit the market, traders decided it was
of no importance to them. The stock markets in Europe recovered most of
their losses, and the Dow Jones stabilized and actually managed to close
higher for the day.
Another good example was the muted reaction to several news reports of nuclear weapons
threatening America. Joseph Farah, writing in WorldNetDaily.com, gave the most dire report
on Islamic groups having nuclear weapons. Although I doubt Islamic extremists
have nuclear weapons, I'm amazed at the low-key reaction to the Farah article.
When a Chinese general warned that China woukd use nuclear weapons against the United States in the event of a US attack over Taiwan, it also got little coverage in the mainstream media.
When God lowers the hedge of protection and fails to get a reaction, you
can be certain He will continue to lower it a bit more. The biblical
record of ancient Israel and the tribulation hour give us a good illustration of this principle. Their lack of repentance is what drove the increase in the frequency of calamities.
The London terror bombings are just one of many indications that the hand of
protection is being lifted. Just in the past few days, the world has seen two
other dramatic examples:
The phenomenon of suicide bombers has reached new lows in Iraq. On Friday,
10 suicide car bombers exploded in a series of apparently coordinated
attacks across the Iraqi capital. Police sources said they killed at least
25 people. The following day, a suicide attacker in a fuel truck struck a
food market, killing more than 100 people.
On Saturday, Hurricane Emily became the strongest July hurricane on record in
the Atlantic Basin. You may remember the record was set the prior week
by Dennis. It's anyone's guess what Franklin, Gert, or Harvey will be like.
I believe we are reaching the point where God will allow the devil to
inspire a terrorist attack of spectacular nature. We have no certainty what
will be the next step on the road of escalation, but I have a strong feeling
it may involve chemical or biological agents. These types of terrorist
attacks are easy to carry out and have the potential to kill thousands
of people.
Because I believe we are very near to the tribulation hour, I don't have
much hope for the future. I think mankind will continue to ignore the
warning signs and the state of the world will continue to degrade. I do
rejoice in knowing the rapture is still a hedge of protection for people
who are ready to meet their Lord in the air.
"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice
of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall
rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever
be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." (1 Thes.,
4:16-18).
-- Todd
The Scariest Scenario…
Because I have received at least 25 copies of an article by Joseph Farah, with much worry expressed about things contained therein, we will look into the matter a bit.
The article is titled: “Al-Qaida nukes already in U.S. Terrorists, bombs smuggled across Mexico border by MS-13 gangsters” (posted July 11, 2005, WorldNetDaily.com).
One e-mailer gave the most salient points of the article pretty well, so I will use his basic summary as follows:
1) Al Qaida has many (apparent suitcase-size) nuclear weapons.
2) Those nuclear weapons have been smuggled into the US and are currently here in the enemy's hands.
3) All the governmental players, all the way up the ladder to the president, are fully aware of these facts and details and are keeping them secret from us.
The e-mailer, who says he is a regular reader of raptureready.com, expressed his chagrin over the fact that these frightening revelations were published without adequately listing reputable sources. He implied that something of such obvious import should at the very least have credible documentation to which one could turn to verify the accuracy of the claims.
My reply to the man was that mainstream journalists (i.e., those of CBS, NBC, ABC, The New York Times, etc.) publish stories often without more than surface sourcing. Often, I wonder about the veracity of some of the reports of recent vintage, as a matter of fact.
However, I got to thinking more deeply about his complaint and had to conclude that he is right.The article isn’t well sourced. My next thought was that those of us who claim to represent news from a truthful, even Christian perspective, are obligated to try to substantiate claims, especially those of an inflammatory nature. Certainly this article was at the very least inflammatory, simply based upon the number of people who sent me the article, many with notes of great concern.
The article itself, does indeed present some scary scenarios. It says, in part:
According to captured al-Qaida leaders and documents, the plan is called the ‘American Hiroshima’ and involves the multiple detonation of nuclear weapons already smuggled into the U.S. over the Mexican border with the help of the MS-13 street gang and other organized crime groups.
Al-Qaida has obtained at least 40 nuclear weapons from the former Soviet Union – including suitcase nukes, nuclear mines, artillery shells and even some missile warheads. In addition, documents captured in Afghanistan show al-Qaida had plans to assemble its own nuclear weapons with fissile material it purchased on the black market.”
If that isn’t frightening enough, the article goes on to say “the most disturbing news is that high level U.S. officials now believe at least some of those weapons have been smuggled into the U.S. for use in the near future in major cities as part of this ‘American Hiroshima’ plan.”
The writer even gives the names of American cities targeted for the nukes –but with quite nebulous information sourcing: “The future plan, according to captured al-Qaida agents and documents, suggests the attacks will take place simultaneously in major cities throughout the country – including New York, Boston, Washington, Las Vegas, Miami, Chicago and Los Angeles…”.
Agreed --if ever a nation and a world deserved God’s judgment, it’s America and Planet Earth. It’s all enough to make the most courageous among us sleep uneasily. And, let me be clear: I am not saying it isn’t true, just that I am highly skeptical because of inadequate sourcing. Journalists we have come to think of as a cut above what now represents mainstream journalism should--no, MUST--be held to a higher standard, in my view.
But there are other needle points of thought that poke at me. One is that we have been hearing about suitcase nukes on the loose since before the fall of the Soviet Union. Nuclear weapons degrade rather quickly, and it’s doubtful they would have been maintained this long without being used by the Islamic terrorists. Another is that if NBC, ABC, CBS and The New York Times, not to mention the Democrat Party bigwigs, had even the slightest inkling that there was a possibility that George W. Bush had exposed America to such horrendous threat, it would be immediate, front page news, with demands for his impeachment –maybe even his lynching!
Why, then, is it left to Mr. Farah to expose this egregious lapse of homeland security? There are many facets of his claims that we must at least look at with a questioning eye.
The main question, from the geopolitical standpoint, is this: Why would Russia (the “former Soviet Union," as the article claims) take such a chance as to turn loose the likes of these Islamic fanatics with nuclear weapons, knowing the Osama bin Ladens among their ranks want to nuke major cities in the U.S.? What could that possibly do for the Russians, the Chinese, or any other nation for that matter, except almost certainly get them involved –at least collaterally-- in a thermonuclear conflict? If that was their goal, they would launch an all-out unprovoked attack themselves.
But, the most profound thoughts against such scenarios as presented in Mr. Farah’s dire article is that the carnage involved would almost without question take the world situation out of the prophetic pre- Rapture conditions, as given by Jesus. The Lord said about the time just before He comes for His Church in the Rapture:
And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed
them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed (Luke 17: 26-30).
We know the era Jesus was describing is not the end of the seven-year tribulation. It will definitely NOT be business as usual when He comes back to earth to put an end to man’s murderous war called Armageddon. As many as two-thirds of the world’s population will have died from the Antichrist regime’s genocide and God’s direct judgment. The planet will be a wreck. The time Jesus talks about here is the time before He reveals himself to His Church and, in effect, to the whole world by the carnage that His catastrophic intervention into business as usual will wreak upon the lives of those left behind.
My contention continues to be that if four or five major cities –or even minor ones—within the US were evaporated in thermonuclear blasts, the entire world would be thrown into absolute chaos. This would not be the business as usual described by Christ for His coming at the Rapture.
To be sure, there will doubtless continue to be terrorist strikes around the globe, some likely to involve this nation. But a devastating destruction of America’s infrastructure such as would result from what Mr. Farah describes would negate any likelihood of business continuing to be conducted as usual for, most likely, a decade or more. Thus, the imminent (any moment) coming of Christ for the Church would no longer be possible.
What happens after the Rapture is another matter. Nuclear clashes might then well be the catalyst that brings the nations to the peace table, with Israel at the center of the matter. As frightening as Mr. Farah’s propositions are, the scariest scenario is the one that is prophetically destined to come to pass. Jesus said it will be the worst time of all human history.
--Terry
