Neh 9:26“But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they turned their backs on your law. They killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies. 27So you delivered them into the hands of their enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.
28“But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight. Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time.
29“You warned them in order to turn them back to your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, of which you said, ‘The person who obeys them will live by them.’ Stubbornly they turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen. 30For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you warned them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples. 31But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.
32“Now therefore, our God, the great God, mighty and awesome, who keeps his covenant of love, do not let all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes—the hardship that has come on us, on our kings and leaders, on our priests and prophets, on our ancestors and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today. 33In all that has happened to us, you have remained righteous; you have acted faithfully, while we acted wickedly. 34Our kings, our leaders, our priests and our ancestors did not follow your law; they did not pay attention to your commands or the statutes you warned them to keep. 35 Even while they were in their kingdom, enjoying your great goodness to them in the spacious and fertile land you gave them, they did not serve you or turn from their evil ways.
What does the Lord do to His people when they defy Him? He gives them over into the hands of their enemies. Its one of His signature judgements. Take a look at what is happening in the world today, America is managing to make an enemy of the entire world! That's right, even former allies are having a hard time stomaching America in 2017. Why is the entire world in the process of turning against America? Look no further than America's relationship (or lack thereof) with the Almighty. If its shedding blood, some kind of sexual perversion or associated filth, or corruption, we are for it. If its the rule of law, righteousness, holiness, goodness, we are against it.
So the world is turning against the United States and we know why this is happening (re-read Nehemiah 9:26-35 above for that). But the question remains, to what end? Who is the one guarantor of Israel's peace and security in the world today? The United States. What would happen if the United States were taken out of the way? This:
Luke 21:20 "When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near.
and eventually this:
Rev 16:16Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
17The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. 19The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. 21From the sky huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds,a fell on people. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.
While the people of the world sleepwalk through their day to day routine, they do not see the trap set for them.
Luke 21:34“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. 35For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”
Psalm 2:1Why do the nations conspirea
and the peoples plot in vain?
2The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
3“Let us break their chains
and throw off their shackles.”
4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
the Lord scoffs at them.
5 He rebukes them in his anger
and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
6“I have installed my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.”
7I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:
He said to me, “You are my son;
today I have become your father.
8Ask me,
and I will make the nations your inheritance,
the ends of the earth your possession.
you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”
10Therefore, you kings, be wise;
be warned, you rulers of the earth.
11Serve the Lord with fear
and celebrate his rule with trembling.
12Kiss his son, or he will be angry
and your way will lead to your destruction,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
This ^^ is exactly what we are seeing. Are the nations conspiring and the people plotting in vain? Yep. Is the entire world saying "Let us break their chains
and throw off their shackles.” You bet they are. This world has made its decision to say yes to Islam and no to Christianity. And the net result will be?
4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
the Lord scoffs at them.
5 He rebukes them in his anger
and terrifies them in his wrath
Yes, the days are getting dark with the whole world turning against our Lord Jesus Christ and by extension us, His children. But does "He laughs and scoffs at them" then "terrifies them in His anger and wrath" sound like our God is troubled by these events? Nope.
The deeper this world digs its heels in, the harder they will be pounded:
Rev 11:1I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers. 2But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months. 3And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” 4They are “the two olive trees” and the two lampstands, and “they stand before the Lord of the earth.”a 5If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. 6They have power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
When I look around at how nauseatingly vile this world is becoming, remembering promises like the coming of the two witnesses brings back a smile to my heart. Can you imagine the outrage, the vein popping blue faced hatred that is going to be hurled at these two witnesses? Look at the hatred and murder in the hearts of people against Trump, and Trump is no choir boy. I can hear it now, "they (the two witnesses) are racist, homophobic, xenophobic, islamophobic, religious extremist, you fill in the rest of the blank-ists. I can only imagine the surprise the so called 'tolerant' people of our world are going to experience when they try to shout down and commit violence against these two witnesses....
Enough is enough. There is a day coming when all will be settled and that day is not far off. Glory to God.
grace and peace
