It Must Happen This Way

 

At His arrest, on the night before His trial and crucifixion, Jesus said to his disciples: “Put your swords away…. How then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen this way?” To the chief priests, guards, and elders making the arrest, Jesus said, “This is your hour – when darkness reigns.”  (Mt 26:54 and Lk 22:53)

The birth of civil unrest was unleashed on January 6, 2021, when a mob invaded the Capitol building. They adamantly believed that Trump told them to steal back the election. Some call that day the darkest day in modern US history. Schwarzenegger likened it to the Kristallnacht pogrom in Germany (1938), the spark that ignited an inferno.  

We are approaching the appointed time of God’s judgment upon America, a precursor to Armageddon and the second coming of Christ. America must be removed from world power (Dan 7:11-12; Rev 18:8-21), like the six beast nations that preceded it. It must happen this way!  

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. Our nation will soon experience God’s judgment. Death, mourning, and famine will soon overtake America, and she will be consumed by fire (Rev 13:9-10; 18:8).  The destruction will be complete. God will not allow America to live on, even in a crippled state, like Greece and Rome (Dan 7:11-12). The destruction will come at the hands of the 8^th beast, a “ten horn” Arab alliance. They will “burn America with fire, and eat her flesh” (Rev 17:11-14). They need America neutralized so they can invade Israel with an army of “200 million”. It must happen this way! 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?  

So many evangelical Christians, including most of my Christian friends, are unwavering supporters of Trump. Nothing can convince them of his lies, his arrogance, or his danger. Steve Duin, in an editorial for the Oregonian (Dec 6, 2020), suggested that we are seeing a whole new religion of white Christians. “The raw primal energy of the evangelical movement today finds salvation in Trump and his Republican party.”  Rick McKinley, pastor of Imago Dei Church in Portland, wrote, “We have a new religion that is nationalism with Jesus’ face on it.” Emmet Wheatfall, a black poet and pastor in Portland said, “America has moved into a time of mass delusion… when truth no longer settles the issue, and evangelicals are driving the bus.”

Ed Stetzer, head of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College said this: “It's time for a reckoning. Evangelicals should look at how their own behaviors and actions may have helped fuel the insurrection. White evangelicals overwhelmingly supported President Trump in the 2020 election…. Our allegiance is to King Jesus, not to what boasting political leader might come next…. A big part of this evangelical reckoning is a lot of people sold out their beliefs.”

But there is no turning the tide, I am afraid. Truth will not change the minds of the mob, the insurrectionists, nor the vast majority of evangelicals. It must happen this way.  Darkness reigns. God help us to be faithful and walk us through the dark valley of the shadow of death.