National transgressions and temporal punishments
Jim Bramlett
Oct 25, 2007
Dear friends:
Someone has observed that God punishes people eternally, but with nations He must do it temporally because they are only temporal.
QUESTION: When the U.S. does something negative relative to Israel's biblical and prophetic destiny, does our nation suffer some kind of direct disaster as punishment?
Many people believe so, including journalist friend Bill Koenig of Koenig's International News. See http://www.watch.org/. Bill even has a fascinating book carefully documenting his research, showing numerous such correlations. The book is titled Eye To Eye.
Bill's work is compelling and I believe there is something to his hypothesis, but I cannot personally guarantee any such cause-and-effect correlation is 100 percent. And I do not believe God is directing the various destructions from above, saying in effect, "Okay, angels, put another fire down there in Malibu, and one more over there near Lake Arrowhead. We need to burn down more homes today, and kill a few more people because George and Condi ignored my Word and messed up again today. Look! Scorch that mother and child over there. This'll teach 'em!"
That ain't my Jesus. The reality reveals something much deeper. Such anti-biblical, anti-faith actions must release something negative, a curse, in the spirit world, enabling the devil to wreak his havoc. He is the one who comes to steal, kill, and destroy, and not God. One Bible scholar told me that verb usage in the Bible suggesting otherwise should technically be translated "God is caused to allow…" meaning that man's actions force God's hands (only as He has restricted Himself by His Word).
However it happens, let us assume a strong correlation. This assumption can give us cause for great alarm. We're in trouble.
Below I have listed some (1) Transgressions against God, and some (2) possible Effects.
TRANSGRESSIONS (anti-God, against Israel, and/or immoral):
1. The Bush administration is in a full-court press to establish a terrorist state on Israel's God-given real estate, forcing Israel to give up everything and the terrorists nothing in return. Insanely, proponents of this deny all reality. God warns against dividing His land.
2. President Bush has recently promoted other gods at the expense of the most holy God of the Bible. Bush called the pagan Dalai Lama "His Holiness" and a great spiritual leader. Congress followed suit by awarding the Buddhist the Congressional Gold Medal the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a civilian. The US Mint created a coin in his honor (at taxpayer expense).
3. The President, in responding to the Muslim observance of Ramadan, said he believes, "…in an Almighty God, and I believe that all the world, whether they be Muslim, Christian, or any other religion, prays to the same God. That's what I believe." That ignorant statement is a slap in the face of the most worthy, loving and merciful God of the Bible, who sent His son to die for us.
4. This year the Empire State Building in New York City was lit green to honor Ramadan and Islam's moon god. Authorities said this would become an annual event in the same tradition of the yearly Christmas lightings (which are banned in many places.)
[Just the above alone, if I did not believe in the rapture, would be enough to cause me to head for the hills
at 100 mph to flee the coming destruction. But the above is not all. See moral transgressions below.]
5. Homosexuals' in-your-face aggressiveness continues, with most politicians afraid they will lose a vote to confront or condemn them. In an ultimate blasphemy, just the other day, costumed homosexual marauders invaded and desecrated a church in San Francisco. There was little public outcry.
6. The other day California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law bills designed to teach homosexuality as normal in California's public schools.
7. The U.S. Congress is considering legislation to require employers to hire homosexuals by not allowing businesses to discriminate based on "sexual orientation."
8. This has been ongoing since 1973, but the carnage continues in the nation's abortuaries, as beautiful unborn babies continue to be slaughtered on the altars of hedonism and selfishness. There have now been close to 50 million dead babies. When will God shout, "ENOUGH! STOP!"?
9. A school board in Maine voted to give birth control pills to sixth graders without parental notification.
POSSIBLE DIRECT EFFECTS OF THESE TRANSGRESSIONS
1. The Western third and the Southeastern United States are under severe to extreme drought conditions, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center.
2. Atlanta's water supply is running out, with only days left.
3. Southern California is experiencing raging fires described as the worst in history, which have caused the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people.
4. New Orleans is experiencing flooding.
5. National gasoline prices are reaching new highs, and international oil prices are hovering at record levels.
6. China and Japan have been dumping the dollar on foreign markets, devaluing the dollar against other currencies.
7. Radical Islamists are spreading like a cancer.
8. War clouds are rapidly forming with Iran's nuclear threat and Russia's new hostility, and other potential hotspots.
Are the above transgressions and effects connected? Journalist Bill Wilson of KIN writes: - "Most people would never connect all these current events. But from a spiritual sense, they may well be connected. First, the United States through its leadership is on a fast track in turning against God. Psalm 33:12 says, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." If the leadership of this nation reflects the nation, it is apparent that America is turning away from the Lord. In Zechariah 12:9, the Lord says, "And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem." These are days of great prophetic significance. The prophecies contain both blessings and judgments and while people cannot stop the march of prophecy, they may determine their place in it. It is time to stand firm in the Lord."
May God protect and deliver you from the coming judgment. Keep Psalm 91 close at hand.
Jim |
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