America: Repentance or Judgment

I attended an impromptu evening meeting at my church, a few years ago, with an “evangelist” from Nigeria. He was trying hard to work up the crowd to pray earnestly for repentance to sweep over America. Somehow word had gotten to him that Mr. David, sitting over there on the far side, believed that America was soon to be judged, and that repentance was past possible. So, he began to use me for a punching bag, ridiculing and badgering, I just sat and smiled. Nearly 100 people were left debating the question in their heart and mind, “Is America past the point of repentance?”

Don’t get me wrong, repentance is always possible, even when we might think it unlikely. Just ask Hezekiah, or Ninevah, or the thief on the cross. But we must consider several factors when it comes to repentance, and we may discover that “always possible” might be qualified.

First of all, we must understand that repentance is not merely an act of my own will wherein I turn myself around 180 degrees and walk in the other direction, by fortitude and willpower. Rather, it is a change of heart, instilled by the Spirit of God, to which we respond – humbly and contritely. Repentance does not begin with our own initiative.  If that is true, then God reserves the right to determine when the offering of repentance is finished and judgment is determined. Just ask Pharoah Ramses, Noah’s contemporaries, or Esau.

Secondly, repentance is seldom a national movement, it is usually personal, or a movement among an enclave of faithful believers. God’s offering to hear the prayers of contrition and heal the land (II Chron 7:14) was given to the household of Israel (i.e., “my people”). It is not a generalized promise for America, or any other nation. National repentance, the few times we see it in Scripture, was instigated by the leader of that nation humbling himself before God (e.g., the king of Nineveh, or Josiah). The opposite is also true, when a leader fails to humbly repent then the entire nation suffers judgment (e.g., Pharoah, Sodom, Zedekiah, or the Jews in 70 AD).

A third consideration is the scriptural axiom that repentance begins with the household of faith. Had that Nigerian evangelist been calling for the believers to pray for repentance in their own hearts, humbling themselves before God and praying for God to bring about contrition and holiness in their own midst, then I would have gladly gotten on the band wagon. But the idea of repentance in America, for most Christians, is to conquer evil and instill moral standards for everyone to adhere to. Prayer is only the rubber stamp for seeking victory in the political arena.

We believe and understand that God is loving, full of mercy and grace. He is not quick to wrath and judgment. He wants to give ample time for mankind to repent, always (II Pet 3:9). But there comes a time when His patience is complete and He renders judgment. And when that time comes it is predetermined, not reactionary. Furthermore, He always gives warning of His plan for judgment. (Cf Amos 3:7).  God warned for 120 years of coming judgment before hoisting the gangplank of the ark. He spelled out in detail the rise and fall of many nations in the visions of Daniel. And in these last days He has been warning the world of His coming judgment, with the trumpet warnings, and that warning period is soon to elapse. It is critical to note in Revelation, that God makes it very clear that absolutely no one repents as the trumpet warnings are sounded (Rev 9:20, “mankind did not repent”). And that includes America, arguably the key player of the first five trumpets. Do you think that God was making it clear that America would not repent in the last days, that America is in the crosshairs of His imminent judgment?

God spells it out, quite clearly, in Bible prophecy that judgment is determined for America. He spells out the reasons America deserves judgment, the agents who will carry it out, and the time when it will happen. This moment in American history is important to understand. The days ahead are not pretty, they are not “God bless America”. And they are not what most Christians expect. Death, mourning, and famine will soon overtake America, as she is consumed by fire (Rev 13:9-10; 18:8). The destruction will come at the hands of the 8^th beast, a “ten horn” Arab-Islamic alliance. They will “burn America with fire, and eat her flesh” (Rev 17:11-14).

As Jesus said to his disciples at his arrest, It must happen this way! God has determined it. Do you believe the precise and incredible prophecies of God concerning America? Or do you believe that America is too great to ever fall from its zenith of world power?  Whatever God says He will do, count on it happening. Perhaps it is time to quit praying for repentance in America and start preparing for judgment.

Ten Horns, Twice

A vision of ten horns takes the center stage in prophecy, not just once, but two different times. The first time is in Daniel 7, in a vision of five beast nations. The second occurrence is in Revelation 17, portraying an eighth beast that will dominate at the very end of the age.  

Let’s make it clear at the outset, the two images of ten horns are not portraying the same thing. Although the ten horns signify ten nations in both cases, the two prophecies are clearly describing two different things. They are distinctively unique. This is important to understand, because sometimes the imagery in Daniel’s prophecies is reiterated in Revelation. But not the ten horns.

Daniel records the first prophetic vision that includes ten horns. He saw four beasts – a lion, a bear, a leopard, and a terrifying beast. Each beast represented a specific nation – Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. On the head of the fourth beast there were ten horns. They took center stage for only a brief moment, though, because a little horn grew up in their midst, and that horn upstaged the ten horns and took on a character that dramatically captured Daniel’s curiosity. The ten horns represent ten nations that arose out of the Roman empire when it finally collapsed (Dan 7:24). As history unfolded, some one thousand years later, people from these old-Roman nations migrated to the New World in significant numbers. Eventually, America flexed its muscle and became an independent nation. In the process it had to defeat three of the original horns (Dan 7:24) -- England, France, and Spain. What began as a puny, little, fledgling horn in the vision grew to become a boastful, arrogant, oppressive, powerful, and violent empire (Dan 7:25; Rev 13:5-7).

History is always the best interpreter of prophecy, and in the case of Daniel’s vision the interpretation is pretty clear now. There is no need to speculate or conjecture what the ten horns or the little horn represent. The little horn is not a vision of Antichrist as many would suggest, even though it is portrayed with eyes like a human being and a mouth that spoke boastfully. We know the little horn represents a nation because when it is destroyed it is compared with the destruction of the other four beasts, all of them nations. (Dan 7:11-12). The little horn is even referred to as another “beast” (Dan 7:11), a fifth nation in Daniel’s vision. America, the boastful and oppressive little horn, is likewise the seventh head of the beast in Revelation 13. The lion, bear, and leopard are also heads of that beast (corresponding with the Daniel 7 beasts), specifically heads number three, four and five. Beast nation number six was Rome (cf Rev 17:10) and numbers one and two, if you’re curious, were Egypt and Assyria.

The second prophecy of ten horns occurs in Revelation 17. Actually, it first appears in the Revelation 13 vision of a beast with seven heads and ten horns, but the ten horns are not elaborated until chapter 17. A cryptic statement about the seven heads confirms that the seven-headed beast represents seven nations, not Antichrist. “They are seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come” (Rev 17:10). At the time of John’s writing Rome was the empire on the scene, and America had not yet come. But then the prophecy goes on to describe an eighth beast that would supplant the seventh beast and receive authority for just “one hour”. The ten horns in the vision of the beast represent ten kings who will give their authority to the beast (Rev 17:12). They are ten Arab-Islamic kingdoms that will unite under one Caliph-Mahdi at the end of the age to become the last beast empire. The leader of that Arab-Islamic army is identified elsewhere in Biblical prophecy as Gog (Ez 38 and 39) and the man of lawlessness (II Thes 2).

Another little cryptic phrase in the prophecy helps to determine that the eighth beast is indeed an Arab-Islamic alliance.  “The beast who once was, and now is not, and yet will come, is an eighth king” (Rev 17:8,11). The Arabs were always a thorn in the side of the Jews, from the time of Jacob and Esau, all through their history in the land of Israel. But at the time of John’s writing the Arabs were not a force to be reckoned with, not at all (“now is not”). But with the rise of Islam, instituted by Muhammad, in the 7^th century, the Arabs rose up again on the world scene, astonishingly so (Rev 17:8). The Arabs’ long-standing hatred for Israel, coupled with their latent Islamic Jihad mission, will boil over when Armageddon unfolds. That is the message of the ten horns in the Revelation 17 prophecy.

Ten horns, two prophecies. One already fulfilled, for the most part. The other beginning to take shape and dominate the world scene in just the next few years.

Truth Be Known

 

We live in an age of untruth. Who are you going to believe? Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.” I think He was attesting that while truth may be elusive the search would be worth it. For most people truth is simply what everyone agrees on, it is not based on fact, or reason, or revelation. Although they think it is. They settle for hearsay, or cultural consensus. They follow the wide road. 

The Church is not exempt. Just consider how many denominations there are, each claiming to be the guardian of the truth. From the earliest Gnostic heresy to the plethora of false doctrines today, truth is not too terribly plain to see, it would seem. Truth is usually what you want it to be, what you create it to be. False teachers abound, like the false prophets of old. Think about it, though, they do not intend to deceive. They really, really think they are leading their listeners into truth. Just like the false prophets who thought that their advice was much more accurate than that of Elijah or Jeremiah.

Understanding the Biblical prophecies of the last days is not exempt. False teachings flourish, totally obscuring the truth. Jesus warned that many false prophets will abound, and because of deception many will fall away at the end of the age (Mt 24:10-13). I think that disappointment and disillusionment will become overwhelming when Christians endure death, mourning and famine, rather than being delivered from tribulation by the rapture, like they have been taught. The false teachers have not a clue they are deceiving, they resolutely think they have it all figured out. Let me repeat it a third time: false teachers of end times prophecy, en masse, are convinced that they speak the truth. Their teaching, though, is based on speculation and conjecture, and they merely mimic what all the others propound. Their lies do not become truth just because they are accepted by the majority.

Here are some teachings about prophecy you might want to fact check, just a sample. You must decide, personally, what is fools’ gold and what is the gold nugget of truth. Unfortunately, it probably comes down to this, who are you going to believe? I say unfortunately because most Christians, even teachers and preachers, don’t know how to study the Bible inductively, free from the biases and opinions of their favorite Bible teachers or commentaries.

Fact Check: The Bible teaches that there will be a seven-year Great Tribulation at the end of the age, preceding the second coming of Jesus. Truth be known, that is a hoax, started by John Darby about 1840, who twisted the great Messianic prophecy of Daniel 9 into a teaching never, ever conceived of before. It was then spread by the likes of Scofield, Moody, Pentecost, Walvoord, Chafer, Lindsey, Tim LaHaye, and Jerry Jenkins, to name a few.

Fact Check: The seven trumpets are judgments of God during the seven-year Tribulation. Truth be known, they are warnings to mankind of God’s impending judgment at the end of the age, and they have already started, more than 100 years ago.

Fact Check: America is blessed by God, and will never suffer defeat or judgment. Truth be known, America is clearly identified in prophecy as the little horn of Daniel 7, and the seventh head of the beast in Revelation 13. Daniel’s vision predicts that America will be utterly destroyed, and Revelation 17:16 says that the eighth beast will “bring her to ruin and destroy her with fire.” 

Fact Check: The rapture is the next event on the last days timetable. Christians will be taken out of this world before tribulation, tumult, and destruction occur. All that judgment stuff is reserved for the wicked who are left behind in the Great Tribulation. Truth be known, the rapture is simultaneous with the second coming of Christ, when the seventh trumpet sounds. Much turmoil will occur while Christians are still on earth. America will be destroyed. Wars will abound. Armageddon will be in full force. Christians will cry out, “Come quickly, Lord. Come quickly!”

Fact Check: Antichrist is the central figure during the Tribulation. He will make a peace covenant with Israel, and rebuild their temple. He will then turn evil and mean at the midpoint of the Tribulation. He will be a “one world” ruler. He will make everyone have a mark of the beast. And that’s just a short version of this larger-than-life monster. Truth be known, there is no basis for all these beliefs about Antichrist. The seven-headed beast, in Revelation 13, is a prophecy about seven nations, not Antichrist. The man of lawlessness is the “antichrist”. Proclaiming himself to be God, he leads a group of ten Arab nations against Israel at the very end of the age.

Suffice it to say, prophecy needs to be re-examined. Unfortunately, American Christians are so invested in the lie that they cannot see the truth. Not even interested. And they will be horribly confused and disillusioned, I’m afraid.

Any Moment

I hear it so often, “The Lord could return any moment now!” Any moment. In layman’s terms they are expressing what theologians call the “imminent return of Christ”. The word imminent means “impending, or likely to happen at any moment”. What is being suggested is this: there is nothing more in Biblical prophecy that needs to happen before Jesus comes to rapture the Church. They can say that because they believe the rapture will occur before any and all of the events of the Great Tribulation.

The imminent return of Christ is taught by the vast majority of evangelical prophecy teachers and writers in America. It is taught in unison with the teaching of the Great Tribulation theory and the accompanying pre-tribulation rapture. These three teachings have become a fundamental belief for many Christians in just the last 200 years.

The actual second coming of Christ, when He sets foot on the Mount of Olives, when He defeats His enemies and sets up His kingdom, will not occur until after many tumultuous events take place (supposedly in the Great Tribulation). But what if there is no Great Tribulation? Then the rapture occurs when Jesus actually comes again -- one single event. That pretty much blows holes in the “any moment” concept, because the tumult and judgment that precedes the second coming also precedes the rapture. This singular event will not be an unexpected surprise.

The exact moment may not be known, but it will be quite evident when Jesus is right at the door. As Jesus said, “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened” (Mt 24:32-34). I don’t think this supports a surprise, any moment, imminent rapture.

What, then, is likely to occur at any moment, if not the rapture? Let me set the stage. Paul told the Thessalonians that the coming of Christ and the gathering of the saints would not occur until after the man of lawlessness is revealed, and the great rebellion occurs (II Thes 2). He makes it crystal clear that certain tumultuous world events will serve as a precursor to the gathering of the saints. What Paul describes is the same scenario as prophesied in Revelation 17, the rising up of a ten-nation Arab-Islamic coalition (Rev 17:8, 11-14). The “eighth beast” will destroy the seventh beast, America (Rev 13:1-10; 17:9-10, 16), and then it will rule for only “one hour”. America must be destroyed (Dan 7:11; Rev 18:8) before the Arab-Islam nations unite to invade Israel and war against the Lamb (Rev 17:14).

The destruction of America is not even on the timeline of most Prophecy teachers. It’s not even on their radar, because they refuse to acknowledge that the little horn (Dan 7) and the Great Babylon (Rev 18) are prophecies about America. I cringe when I think of the destruction coming upon America, and how few Christians are awake, alert, and ready for such calamity.

America will be destroyed, not during a seven-year Tribulation, but in the final few years of the end times, while Christians are still on earth. We will suffer greatly – “death, mourning, and famine… consumed by fire” (Rev 18 8). This event is most likely the next event on the end times timeline. It could happen at any moment.

The "Great Tribulation"

Most Christians believe that the Great Tribulation is clearly prophesied in Revelation. One verse in Revelation 7 is cited as the proof positive. That verse reads, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev 7:14). No place else in Revelation is there mention of the great tribulation, so a whole lot of theology is hanging on this one verse.

A closer look at that verse, in the context of the chapter, and the whole of Revelation, suggests that it is not at all speaking of a seven-year tribulation period. “The great tribulation” is translated from the Greek in various English translations in many different ways – the great suffering, the great affliction, very bad trouble, the terrific suffering, the terrible persecution, the great oppression, great distress, much trouble, and the great ordeal. One English translation, interestingly, reads “they who have come out of the Great Tribulation.” The translators clearly reveal their theological bias by translating the Greek as a formal title. Quite audacious, if I may say so.

Technically, the Greek word, thlipsis, translates best as tribulation, suffering, affliction, or persecution.  The word tribulation actually comes from the Latin word tribulum, an object made of a heavy plank of wood with sharp barbs on the underside, used to drag over grain for threshing. Tribulation is perhaps the best word to translate thlipsis, because it tends to incorporate the concepts of affliction, suffering, turmoil and persecution. But that does not give license to use Tribulation as the name of a seven-year dispensation invented in the 1840’s by John Darby. That is pure shenanigans, a very misleading false teaching, 200 years old now. 

The great tribulation being spoken of in this verse is not a seven- year period called the Great Tribulation. The chapter clearly does not suggest that. Those who come out of the great affliction were a great multitude that no one could count and they were wearing white robes (Rev 7:9). If the verse were speaking of people that will get saved during the Great Tribulation, who would then die and go to heaven, it probably would not be a multitude so great that it could not be numbered. Furthermore, saints wearing white robes are mentioned throughout the church age in Revelation, starting with the churches of Sardis and Laodicea (Rev 3:4-5; 18). Saints wearing white robes is mentioned again in reference to the twenty-four elders (4:4), and also the martyrs of the church age highlighted in the fifth seal (Rev 6:11). 

What is being revealed to John in Revelation 7 is an innumerable host of saints worshipping God in concert with the elders and angels. They wear white robes, having been made holy and righteous by the blood of the Lamb. They have entered an eternal peace, having come out of great tribulation throughout the Church Age. Amidst all the turmoil, destruction, and judgment portrayed in Revelation, John is given a reassuring vision that the saints of the Church age go immediately into God’s heaven when they die, into the presence of Jesus. Based on other scriptures, we believe that while the spirits of the saints await reuniting with their resurrection bodies they are in a cognitive, spiritual state of peace, holiness, and worship. 

I can give testimony that once the Great Tribulation concept is tossed overboard, Revelation takes on much clearer meaning. The seven-headed beast of Revelation 13 no longer represents the Antichrist, but rather seven nations, the last of which is America. The trumpets of Revelation 8-9 cannot be judgments poured out by God in the Great Tribulation. They can be seen for what they are, seven warnings to mankind of God’s imminent judgment, five of them already occurring over the last 100 years. And the often-used idiom of “three and a half years” no longer needs to represent one half of the seven-year period. It can take on its own unique meaning. The second coming of Christ no longer has to be split into two events. The argument over pre-trib rapture becomes a moot point since there is no Tribulation. The rapture of the saints occurs concurrently with the coming of Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And lastly, some severe events in the very lasts day unfortunately come into clear focus – the destruction of America, the rise of the man of lawlessness, and the build up to Armageddon – events that will occur while Christians are still here on the earth.

Trump Puts a Mute on the Fourth Trumpet

 

President Trump recently reversed decades of climate change policy in America. On February 12, he announced that he was rescinding the scientific finding of the EPA (2009) that climate change endangers human health and the environment, ending the federal governments’ legal authority to control man-made greenhouse pollution.  This means that automobiles will no longer be subject to emission mandates. If the change in EPA policy stands the test of judicial challenge, the next regulations to be rescinded will be industrial emissions.

Trump’s motivation is economic, not scientific. He wants to make cars cheaper for Americans, and deregulate industry’s pollution standards, and validate America’s need for oil production. In the process, he is thumbing his nose at any and all global scientific findings on climate change. 

To tell you the truth, I don’t give a hoot about the politics of climate change -- under Obama, under Trump, or even UN efforts. Regulations, solutions, statistics, and deterrents are never going to solve the problem. Not emission controls, not carbon capture, not solar energy. While I firmly believe in climate change, I do not think there is anything mankind can do to reverse the effects of population explosion and the industrial revolution. Only the return of Christ, when He reigns as King of Kings in the millennial kingdom, will bring a halt to climate change.

Most MAGA-Trump enthusiasts are probably ecstatic that Trump found a way to stick it to the science of climate change. Most conservative Christians that I know agree with Trump when he mocks climate change as a “hoax”, and regulation as a “con job”. Nothing will change their mind, not even Biblical prophecy, which predicted climate change and affirms it.

Here's my point. Trump can thumb his nose at science all he wants, and thumb his nose at a host of International Climate Change Organizations. He does it often and he does it well. But he cannot get away with thumbing his nose at God. He cannot mute the fourth trumpet. He cannot preempt the prophecy of God. Actually, he doesn’t have a clue what prophecy says about climate change. But then, most Christians don’t have a clue, either. 

Climate change is one of the seven trumpets and seven bowls in Revelation – the fourth one to be exact. These trumpets are warnings that God gives to mankind that judgment is rapidly approaching. The trumpets are not judgments of God reserved for the seven-year Tribulation period. They have been occurring as signs from God for nearly 120 years, similar to the warning time that God gave mankind before the flood. The fourth trumpet prophesies the warning sign that the sun, moon and stars will turn dark (Rev 8:12). One third of each, to be exact. (One third is simply the inverse of three, a number used by God to indicate His divine providence in a given event. It does not indicate a statistical, measurable quantity). In the corresponding bowl description, the sun is allowed to scorch people with intense heat, such that people end up cursing God (Rev 16:8-9). These prophecies are interpreted many different ways. Speculation abounds. But when history interprets prophecy then we can be sure what God was foretelling. Climate change is a warning sign to mankind to prepare for judgment. Trump can thumb his nose all he wants, but Christians would be wise to understand what these prophecies are predicting instead of denying climate change. These prophecies can in fact be a conversational tool to discuss the soon-coming return of Christ and the judgment that will ensue.

Jesus, perhaps, also referred to these trumpet and bowl prophecies of the end times when He spoke to His disciples about future events. He said, “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken” (Mt 24:29; cf Isa 13:10, 34:4). Jesus is referring to the same prophetic event alluded to in Revelation. He is not predicting blood moons, eclipses, or other such phenomenon, but on a supernatural scale. No, he is saying that one of the signs of His return would be the darkening of the sun, moon, and stars by pollution, the main component of climate change.

(The picture shows the Great London Smog which occurred in December, 1952. It killed thousands.)