"Vengeance is Mine", Says the Lord

 

Paul wrote that we humans should refrain from taking revenge. Rather we should “leave room for God’s wrath”. “Vengeance is mine, I will repay”, says the Lord. (Romans 12: 19; also Heb 10:30). 

God’s wrath and vengeance are not laden with the emotion of getting even, like we humans. No, His vengeance is just, it is deserved judgment upon evil. Furthermore, it is seldom meted out immediately, in the heat of the moment. Not that God believes that revenge is a dish best served cold. He simply is not in a rush to wrath.

Why doesn’t God deal with evil more swiftly, rather than waiting? There are likely many reasons, but let me suggest just a few. Sometimes evil serves his purposes, so He waits to mete out judgment. Egypt enslaved the Jews for 400 years, and God allowed it to continue. Though it was evil it prepared a fledgling bedouin tribe of Hebrews to grow in number and strength and perseverance, traits they would need to flee their persecutors, endure forty years in the wilderness, and then defeat the inhabitants of the promised land. When Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem, he slaughtered many of the Jews and took captive thousands more. God designed the seventy-year captivity as judgment upon His own chosen people. God eventually meted out judgement upon the Babylonian empire, defeating them by the hand of the Medes and Persians.

Another reason God delays vengeance is to display His glory in the act of judgment. How memorable was the judgment upon Pharaoh and his oppressive army when they were destroyed in the Red Sea? The years of oppression and subjugation finally faced a climactic judgment, an event never to be forgotten.

Now consider the judgment of God upon the enemies of Israel in the battle of Armageddon. That great army will be an Arab-Islamic onslaught upon Israel and Jerusalem. The Arabs were the enemies of God’s people as early as the time of the patriarchs, then through repeated deliverances by judges raised up by God, continuing through the kingdom age. They were not an enemy at the time when John wrote the Apocalypse, but his vision predicted that they would once again become an enemy of the Jews (Rev 17:8,11). And that enmity is in full bloom, now, at the end of the age. When God finally judges the Arab nations, it will be just vengeance, and it will be an awesome display of his wrath and righteous judgment. His defeat of Gog and his armies (Ezekiel 38:22-23) are for one grand purpose, so that the “nations will know that I am the Lord”.

Before Armageddon, though, God will soon mete out His wrath and vengeance upon America -- the great empire of the end of the age, the little horn of Daniel 7, and the seventh best of Revelation 13 and 17.  America will be destroyed, utterly, not even allowed to limp along like other great empires that God judged (Daniel 7:11). 

Many are disgusted at bringing up the great sins and travesties of America’s past. They think such purveyors are Woke, or trying to degrade America’s history. But God says, “her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes” (Rev 18:5-8). God has withheld judgment until his perfect timing. There is no “statute of limitations”. America will be judged for its great evils – slavery, killing and corralling the native Americans, abortion, pride and arrogance, making itself rich off the nations of the world by means of cheap trade and cheap labor, and enforcing its will upon countless autonomous nations as it built an “empire”. 

Despite its evil God raised up America to serve His purpose. It brought about great gains in industry, medicine, electronics, and innovation. And it fostered an era of “pax Americana” following WW2. America was a leader in missionary outreach to unevangelized nations and indigenous peoples. But, in God’s perfect timing, America must be neutralized, by God’s judgment. 

America’s destruction will accomplish another milestone in God’s unfolding plan of the last days. It will allow the man of lawlessness and the great Arab-Islam army to rise up and invade Israel. The “restrainer”, America, will be removed (II Thes 2:6-7). 

One more thought to put into the mix. America will be destroyed before the rapture, while we as Christians will still be here, feeling smug and safe. The rapture will occur at the second coming of Christ, not seven years prior. We will suffer a great time of “death, mourning, and famine” (Rev 18:8). America, including Christians, will not escape God’s judgment, no more than the Jews escaped annihilation by Assyria, the captivity by Babylonia, or the slaughter by Titus in 70AD. “Vengeance is mine, says the Lord, I will repay.”

 

America Sliding Into The Abyss

Historians tell us that when an empire falls it usually happens quickly. The build-up to the fall may be gradual and prolonged, but the fall is sudden. The same is true of most cataclysms – defeat in war, financial collapse, business failure, divorce. One minute you are standing on the edge of a daunting abyss, the next minute the ledge collapses, and you tumble to the bottom of the abyss, with rocks and debris falling in on top of you.

America is featured in prophecies of the last days, in three different places. (So many still ask the question, “Is America mentioned in the Biblical prophecies of the last days?” To keep asking that question is like wondering if you have a nose on the front of your face.) America is the feet of clay mixed with iron in Daniel 2. America is the little horn in the vision recorded in Daniel 7. And America is the seventh head of the beast recorded in Revelation 13, and again in Revelation 17. In all three instances the prophecy warns that America will be destroyed – utterly, not just a temporary defeat or set-back (Dan 2:44; Dan 7:11-12; Rev 17:16; Rev 18:6-8, 10). 

Those prophecies clearly describe the ultimate fall into the abyss. And the timetable for that coming destruction is very soon, not years and years away. So, then, there must be some obvious indicators, or signs, of our gradual, prolonged build-up to the final slide. What are they?

From the Biblical prophecies of America we observe two dominant themes that denote the cause of the slide into the abyss. Current events seem to be validating, confirming, and interpreting these prophecies. I always say, History is the best interpreter of prophecy.

The first is in Daniel 2, where Daniel interprets the meaning of the feet which are a mixture of clay and iron. God foretells, through the mouth and the pen of Daniel, that the kingdom will be a divided kingdom… that the people will be a mixture and will not be united. (Dan 2:41,43). That divisiveness is building to an explosive crescendo, it seems. The saying goes, “a house divided against itself cannot stand.” The American Civil War was our first occurrence of such devastating division. The division we are experiencing now is every bit as dangerous and deeply felt, but it probably will not end in another civil war. Rather, the end result will be a country that loses it unified will and ability to stand against outside enemies that want to destroy it.

Political violence is on the rise, against officials and citizens alike. Hatred is spreading like wildfire. We cannot talk rationally and constructively about gun violence, gun control, increasing crime rates, mental illness, or homelessness. Universities are accused (sometimes deservedly) of being hotbeds for socialist ideology, antisemitism, climate apocalypticism, postmodern relativism, gender ideology, even atheism. Left-wingers are referred to as anarchists, baby killers, soft on crime, and WOKE.  Maga Trumpers are accused of being white supremacists, pro-gun, against women’s rights, intolerant of opposing views and free speech, and conspiracy theorists. America is becoming two nations, not only red and blue, but torn apart by vitriolic discourse, rampant mistrust, corrupted data, political enmity, and by social media that feeds and exacerbates extreme views, left and right, by targeted newsfeeds and algorithms that fan the flames of enmity.

One author wrote, “This is a good country. It is a great country. But it is now disintegrating.” 

The second dominant theme about America in the Biblical prophecies shows up in Daniel 7 and Revelation 13. America, and supposedly its leaders, are boastful, arrogant, blasphemous, and oppressive, particularly of the saints. I will develop this more in another article, The Strongman in the White House. 

Write About It

Re-examining Biblical prophecy has been a mission for most of my life. My message about End Times prophecies has slowly evolved over those years. The burning in my heart was ignited in a seminary class when I came to the conclusion that prophecy “theologians” were merely parroting one another rather than “rightly dividing the word of truth”. They were like lemmings going over a cliff.  I read most of the popular and scholarly books on eschatology written in the 20^th century, but each of them was merely a slight variation on one grand theme – a seven-year tribulation with a rapture preceding it. They had to be shelved if I was going to re-examine prophecy.

One little book, though, stoked the flame in my heart -- Last Days in America, written by an unknown author. He wrote that the seven-headed beast of Revelation 13 represented seven nations, and America was the seventh beast, the one elaborated in the vision.  Consequently, Revelation 13 was not describing the Antichrist. Like a domino effect, that one insight helped me to understand more and more of Revelation in a whole new light.

A few years later, while serving as a Youth Pastor in Oregon, I was put on trial for heresy, because of a lengthy deliverance ministry. Soon after being expelled we went to visit another church. After the meeting, a stranger walked up to me in the aisle, handed me a pen, and said, “Write about it”. Then he turned and walked away. I look back, now, and marvel. Having just lost my job, my income, my credentials, and eventually my house, I was discouraged and defeated. Like Elijah the prophet, Ahab and Jezebel had done me in. But God gave me a new mission. He told me, “Write about it.”

I sat at a typewriter for months writing a book about demonic deliverance. But that manuscript still sits on my shelf in a 3-ring binder. Not until years later did I make sense of what God intended me to write about. The Holy Spirit reminded me of the message from years earlier and unveiled the meaning of the word “it”. One big key to understanding Revelation is the pronoun “it”, which appears throughout Revelation 13. I realized that God had told me years earlier to write about a new understanding of end times prophecy. Ah-hah, so that burning in my heart was not just a personal interest, it was a calling.

My first attempt at writing a book was self-published, Apocalypse Puzzle. I naively thought I had it all figured out. That was a beginning point, but the evolvement continued.

Along the way, I came to realize that the seven trumpet judgments were events that were already occurring, warning the world of God’s impending judgment. That meant that the seven-year Tribulation could not be a time frame in which to fit those seven trumpets, nor any of the other events of Revelation. The concept of a seven-year Tribulation was essentially a hoax, a false teaching. So, then, the pre-tribulation rapture had to go, as well.  I began to realize that my interpretations were going to be like little David going up against Goliath and the Philistine army with a tiny rock and a sling shot.

Currently (2024), my message has become a warning, almost like prophets of old, rather than a theological debate. My calling was not just to explain the prophecies, but to amplify the end-time warnings inherent within them. The aspect of warning did not come into focus until a couple years after publishing the book, Right At The Door. Unfortunately, it is hard to soft pedal an urgent warning of coming destruction and hardship.

The timing is critical to re-examine your beliefs about prophecy. The end is very near. Great turmoil is on the horizon. America will be destroyed. And then the church will be raptured, not before. In a nutshell, that is the message that God called me to write about. I have persuaded only a handful of people over the years, but perhaps I am right on schedule. When God calls you to do something for His kingdom, He doesn’t call you to be successful, He only calls you to be obedient.

Run, Or Stay Put

When the time comes that America is destroyed, there may be enough of a last-minute warning to make a run for it. Or some may decide to stay put and ride out the destruction and be a survivor, if possible. But I dare say that most people in America will not believe it even possible that America could face destruction, so considering whether to run, or to stay put is pointless to them.

First of all, what is this talk about America being destroyed? Who is so brash as to even suggest such a thing? After all, America is indomitable, indestructible. We have the greatest firepower and military strength of any nation in the world. Everyone in the world stands in awe and fear of America.

While that has been true over the last eighty years (cf. Rev 13:4), that elite position will soon come to an end. It has happened to every other great world power, and America will be no exception. God is in control of the rise and the fall of nations. God predicted in Daniel’s dream that the little horn nation, America, would be destroyed – utterly destroyed, not just defeated and allowed to limp along (Daniel 7: 11-12). God said it, not me. But most Christians will deny it, because they cannot fathom that America was in the crosshairs of God’s prophecy, 2500 years ago.

The destruction of America is also prophesied in Revelation 17. An eighth beast arises for just one hour at the very end of the age, and that eighth beast hates the Great Babylon, America. The eighth beast is an alliance of ten Arab nations who will eventually invade Israel – the battle of Armageddon. But first it must destroy America, probably with the help of some nuclear-armed super-powers. “They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire” (Rev 17:16).  The Arab-Islam nations have a chant, “Death to America, Death to Israel, Allah is great.” Their threat is very real.

Now, if you choose to take seriously these prophetic warnings, we in America may want to plan ahead. We have a choice – run, or stay put. In many of God’s previous judgments the righteous were encouraged to run. Two angels led Lot and his family out of Sodom and Gomorrah just hours before the sulfur and brimstone rained down (Genesis 19:15-17).  Lot’s sons-in-law were warned, too, and could have escaped. But they thought that the warning of the two angels was a joke (Gen 19:14).

When Jesus spoke to his disciples about the coming destruction of Jerusalem he said, “Let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (Matthew 24: 15-22). Forty years later Titus ransacked and burned the city, killing a million Jews. Only a handful of Christians who were living in Jerusalem fled to the Transjordan hillsides.

God warned Joseph to take the baby Jesus to Egypt to escape Herod’s slaughter of newborns in Bethlehem. It is not a cowardly act to flee destruction and judgment.

Where would be a good and safe place to flee to, though? Maybe Canada, or Mexico, or Brazil, perhaps. I am not sure what benefit would be gained, though, since much of the world will be in turmoil, and the build-up to Armageddon will hastily proceed.

The return of Christ, including the rapture, will not occur until a few short years after America’s destruction, so it may be nearly impossible to hang on as a survivor.  Regardless, some Christians may make a decision to stay put, hoping to survive the nuclear destruction and fallout. Their heart may lead them to try to assist friends and family to endure the “death, mourning, and famine” (Rev 18: 8) that will be left in the wake of destruction. Jeremiah told the remnant in Jerusalem, after it fell to Nebuchadnezzar, not to flee to Egypt, but rather to stay put. But the situation was different – it was safe to stay put.

Each person will have to decide, based on the leading of the Spirit of God, whether to run, or to stay put. May we trust God fully, hear His voice, and respond accordingly.

A Matter of Life and Death

I recently had a video trailer produced for my book, Right at The Door. I sent the producer a page of talking points to give him some ideas to include in the narrative. One particular line that he included in the trailer caught my attention. “Understanding prophecy accurately is a matter of life and death.” When I heard my talking point restated in the trailer it seemed very bold. I had to ask myself, was it dramatic hyperbole – exaggerating for effect? Or is it really true?

There are many people – Christians, for the most part – who say that understanding prophecy correctly is not that important. After all, God is going to do what He is going to do, anyways. Oh my, you cannot believe how many times I have heard that statement. In my opinion, that view pretty much relegates Biblical prophecy to the same level as Aztec folklore of the end of the world.

That view conveniently goes hand-in-glove with the prevailing belief amongst most American Christians that the rapture will precede a seven-year Great Tribulation. If that were true, God’s prophecy is not really much of a matter of life and death. It’s more like an intriguing puzzle to contemplate and debate. Because, after all, God will dish out death and destruction after Christians escape. You must admit, there is no urgency, no matter of life and death in prophecy when you believe that you will be blissfully caught up and rescued from any severe turmoil and suffering which is coming upon the world. Yes, for the rest of mankind prophecy is certainly a matter of life and death. They must look forward to extreme tribulation, death, torment, famine, and pestilence. But not Christians, there is simply nothing too scary or painful on the horizon.

But if the Great Tribulation theory is jettisoned, along with an early-escape rapture, then the end times prophecies become much more urgent. They take on a foreboding character. The seven trumpet warnings of Revelation have already been sounding, for over 100 years. The end is very near, like at the door, right now. Daniels vision (Dan 7) and John’s vision (Rev 13 and 17) both make it clear that America is the beast nation of the end of the age. And here’s the crux of the matter, the matter of life and death. God also makes it clear that America will be destroyed (Dan 7:11; Rev 17:16), before the ten-nation Arab alliance rises up as an eighth beast, before the great battle of Armageddon, before Christ’s second coming and simultaneous rapture. Armageddon is the sixth trumpet, and Jesus does not return until the last trumpet. So, then, Americans are in fact facing a life and death scenario. And Christians will still be here when America’s destruction happens.

America’s destruction is very, very near on the horizon, and it will be unexpected and utterly cataclysmic. Many, many people will be killed when America is destroyed. I hate to have to say it so bluntly, millions will meet their death. Are you ready to die? Have you believed and trusted in Jesus as your savior, God’s provision for the forgiveness of your sin so that you can spend eternity with Him in heaven?

And for those few who do not die in the destruction, prophecy is a warning to prepare for living in extreme hardship. How do you prepare to live in a war-torn, nuclear destroyed landscape? How do you prepare psychologically? How do you prepare logistically? How do you prepare socially – family, friends, neighbors, and enemies?

And there you have it. Interpreting and understanding the prophecies of the end times is a matter of life and death. That’s no exaggeration. 

Trusting The Lone Voice

 

“When the whole world is running over a cliff,

 he who is running in the opposite direction 

appears to have lost his mind.” – C. S. Lewis

  

Throughout the Biblical story there have been men and women that stood out as a lone voice. Their message, or mission, was so contrary that everyone took them to be fanatic, or lunatic. Noah must have endured incredible mockery and rejection because he warned of judgment while building a monstrosity of a boat – for 120 years, no less. Jeremiah lamented, in anguish, over being a messenger of doom and destruction. Jesus, too, was a lone voice – the vast majority of the Jews wanted nothing to do with his kingdom message.

I recently had a lengthy discussion with a church elder about prophecy, explaining my contrary interpretation of the tribulation, the false hope of a pre-trib rapture, and the seven trumpets that are already being fulfilled. Eventually, he stated his biggest concern. How could all the great prophecy teachers of our day all be wrong? He listed a few – David Jeremiah, John McArthur, David Reagen, and his favorite, JD Farag. Actually, the list is quite extensive. But the truth is, they all parrot one another. Like lemmings running over a cliff, they all follow the leader. Their teachings may have slight variations, but they could all be condensed into one uniform theme, or encapsulated onto one Revelation Timeline chart.

The overwhelming majority of American Christians and their prophecy preachers have bought in to a false teaching -- hook, line, and sinker. It started with John Darby in the !840’s, then came down through Scofield, Pentecost, Chafer, and Walvoord. Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins rode the wave, a tidal wave by that point, casting in stone the false teachings about a seven-year tribulation, a pre-trib rapture, and false notions about the Antichrist.

I am sure they all mean well. I am sure they have all studied and read countless books to come up with their teachings. And I am quite sure they have no intention of knowingly misleading their followers. Don’t get me wrong. I am not trying to cast aspersions on their character or discount their studiousness. Like little David with his sling and a smooth rock from the brook, I just want to slay the giant and send the Philistine army, with their pervasive false teachings, fleeing into the foothills. “Rightly dividing the word of truth” is a huge responsibility – it really does matter (2 Tim 2:15). I have a passion to re-examine prophecy and get it right. My motive is not to be the winner in some sort of theological contest, but to help God’s people be prepared for what God revealed about the coming days ahead. Most of the time I feel foolish and hopeless spouting the warning that I do. But that’s my lot in life, my calling I guess, a messenger of doom and destruction, starting in America, with Christians still on board the sinking ship.

So, there you have it. You can continue to believe the host that are running over the cliff, or you might seriously consider listening to the message of the few who are running in the opposite direction. America will be destroyed, before Armageddon. We will endure death, mourning, and famine (Rev 18:8). After that (not before) Jesus will return to gather up those Christians who are still alive and desperately awaiting His rescue and redemption.