Question four: Is this the end of America?

This is indeed an interesting question; and one with very profound and far-reaching implications. The idea that a way of life, a culture, a society and a nation whose influence has changed the course of history on many occasions for three hundred years may be coming to an end is truly mind boggling! And add to this that it is our culture, our nation, our society, and our way of life; a nation in which we have all taken so much pride and in which we are so emotionally invested. It is a thought that is almost too difficult for us to entertain!

We as Christians are, I think, a fundamentally optimistic people. We believe in a world where the good guys win in the end. We believe in a good God, who is carrying out a good plan to triumph over evil. We believe that “God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (Rom. 8:28 NLT). Even in the midst of Israel’s captivity we find God telling His people “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.  (Jeremiah 29:11 NLT)

Yet, almost to a man the writers that we have talked about say without reservation that the United States of America, as we know it, is finished as a nation, and that the catastrophe that is about to come upon us is irreversible. There is only one exception to this opinion. We will talk about him later.

I am forced to admit that I find the irreversibility of our demise to be a convincing argument. We are afraid to talk about the 17 trillion dollar elephant in the room, but it is hard to imagine that we can get out from under such a massive debt. The moral attitudes that are dragging us down seem entrenched. They seem to be not just a change but an outright reversal of the formerly held Judeo-Christian ethic. There is now a whole generation who not only themselves, but their parents have not seen the inside of a church.

And there are many who share my reluctant pessimism. I read recently in a newsletter published by Messianic commentator, Jan Markell the following quote:

“[A] secular talk show host who is most often an optimist, said this week that he fears America will not last until the next election. At least, will not last in the form it has been in for a couple of centuries.” (Jan Markell, Olive Tree Ministries, November/December newsletter, P.1)”

We could search for, and find quotes like these all day long. Things look very dark indeed.                                   

As I look at our world, it seems to me that nothing short of a miracle could reverse the collision course we seem to be on. Yet I am continually reminded that our God is a God of miracles. To Him nothing is impossible.

If indeed what we are experiencing is the transitional period into the last days, and the world stage is really being set for the endtime, rather than this simply being a “dress rehearsal” (and I believe we have had many dress rehearsals in our history), then there is nothing we can do to stop what is about to happen. If however we are still able to claim God’s healing and redemption of our society and our nation, we do indeed have hope.

Who is that lone dissenting voice of hope for our nation that I mentioned earlier? It is none other than the much criticized and much maligned novelist, Jonathan Cahn the author of The Harbinger. I got to see the accompanying video of The Harbinger on TV the other night. Mr. Cahn “decodes” the message in his novel in this video by pointing out in plain fashion what he was trying to say in his novel. As I tell you about this, please keep in mind what we said about prophets and their prophecies in the earlier post What Some Others Had to Say, and about Deuteronomy 18:21-22 and 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21.

Mr. Cahn believes that because of sin and arrogance, America is being “shaken” with the first shaking being the 911 attack, which he points out, occurred on a date that has significance in Judaism, the 29^th of the Hebrew month of Elul (Elul straddles the months of August and September on differing dates each year). Because the nation did not respond with repentance toward God, a second shaking occurred exactly seven years later in the form of the financial meltdown of 2008, which Mr. Cahn says began on the 29^th of Elul. If this prophetic pattern holds, and we do not turn back to God as a nation, hang on to your hats when we get to about 13 September, 2015  (this is I somewhat cursory calculation on my  part, so please don’t hold me to a too precise standard of accuracy). Yet Cahn believes that if our nation repents, this shaking will be avoided, and that our favor with God will be restored.

I read something this afternoon that I thought was quite interesting. Prayer Connect magazine was talking about an organization calls Intercessors For America which “. . . encourages strong intercessory prayer for God’s mercy on a forgetful and sinful nation, and for the establishment of a righteous government.” (Issue 13, P.7) and it occurs to me that if our nation is to survive, those two items will provide us with a very good starting place.

So what about those four crises we talked about earlier. What are they about, and what has God led me to do to protect myself and those around me in these times? We’ll talk about that next time.

Thanks for sharing this moment with me today.

Question Three:

Is the world stage being set for the coming of the Antichrist?

 

To this one I am going to say,”maybe”.

I am afraid that I am not as knowledgeable about the subject of the antichrist as I should be. I have often said that in cases where we have not done enough study on a particular topic we usually adopt the point of view of others whom we trust until we have had time to study it for ourselves.  I have to say that I find myself in that position regarding the antichrist.

One thing I do know is this regarding the title, antichrist. The term antichrist only appears in the Bible books of first and second John. While the passages in those books imply that there was to come one who would be the antichrist, they also refer to a spiritual attitude. To simplify this, I will list the following, which are literally all the instances in which, the word antichrist in the New Testament:

Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come. These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us. 1 John 2:18-19 (NLT)

And who is a liar? Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ. Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist. 1 john 2:22 (NLT)

But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here. 1 john 4:3 (NLT)

 I say this because many deceivers have gone out into the world. They deny that Jesus Christ came in a real body. Such a person is a deceiver and an antichrist. 2 John: 3 (NLT)

So in these passages John tells us that not only will there be one who is the antichrist, but that anyone who denies the true identity of our Lord Jesus Christ as “ . . .the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16) and that He came to earth in “. . . a real body . . .” has the spiritual attitude of antichrist. And it is of such persons that the antichrist and the false prophet of Revelation will build their “church”.

Interestingly, John, who also wrote the Revelation, in which book most of the specific information about this man is revealed, refers to him therein, not as antichrist, but as “the beast”

Paul refers to this same individual as the man of sin, or the man of lawlessness:

for he can be revealed only when his time comes. For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, but the Lord Jesus will kill him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming. 2 Thess.  2:6-8 (NLT)

Paul is concurring here with John that the spiritual attitude of antichrist is already at work in their day. Paul goes on to say that he must be revealed only when his time comes.  He has not yet been revealed. In spite of some rather lame attempts to identify him with our current president, it appears to me that Mr. Obama is merely a small pawn in a much larger game.  But make no mistake about it, the one we call antichrist will be revealed at the assigned time, and to those who are spiritually discerning, it will be clear who he is when that day comes.

Here is where we get to the part in which I am not well studied, but am depending on the ideas of those who are. It is commonly taught that the antichrist will be the global leader of a one-world government. What I have read in scripture seems to support this idea. While there will be some nations that will resist, virtually all the world will follow him and his false prophet (see chapters 12 through 20 of Revelation). Frequently there is talk involving the antichrist being in control of one-world government, one-world economy and one-world religion.

As all of this relates to our own time, and whether the stage is being set for the anti-christ; certainly this is a time when all this is possible. The technological advances that we have seen in our time, and the presence of institutions such as the United Nations, the central banks, the European Union, and the like, form a framework in which such a situation could exist. There is a greater desire for world unity now than ever before. We are a long way off from a one-world currency, yet scarcely anyone is unable to perceive the possibility of such a thing. The term “Global Economy” is a household word. If such a world dictator were to come along, a world just like ours would be necessary for him to take power.

 

For all the talk of freedom, liberty and individualism, our recent economic troubles have demonstrated that for the majority, the most important issues are the pocket book issues, and we are only one economic crisis away from following someone who comes along promising relief from such a crisis.

Is the world stage being set for the revealing of the antichrist? Maybe. We can scarcely discount the possibility. As time goes by we will see, yet I would not be surprised.

Next time: is this the end of America? Is there any hope for us?

Thanks for sharing this moment with me today.