History Repeats Itself

 

People never change. We ignore warnings until the catastrophe is right on top of us. And then it’s too late. Hurricanes, wildfires, floods, check engine light. But most importantly, God’s warnings of judgment. History seems to always repeat itself. We just don’t learn. We tell ourselves, “They were foolish and stubborn, but we are not that stupid.”

When it comes to Biblical prophecy, God always gives clear warning before He metes out judgment. “When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it? Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets” Amos 3:6-7).

God warned mankind of coming judgment in the days of Noah. For 120 years Noah “prophesied” that God would destroy the world with a flood. But they ignored him and continued on in their sinful lifestyles. God warned Sodom and Gomorrah by sending two angels into the city but they perversely mocked the messengers from God. God warned Israel that Assyria would destroy them. And it happened in 721 BC, so completely that we now call them the “lost tribes of Israel”. God warned Judah and Jerusalem, through the prophecy of Jeremiah, that they would be destroyed and taken captive if they did not submit to becoming a vassal state to Babylon. None of the religious leaders believed Jeremiah. They were crushed, many taken into exile. King Belteshazzar was warned that his kingdom would fall to the Persians, by God’s handwriting on the wall inside the palace ballroom. He denied that his walled city could be captured by the army of Cyrus. God even judged His own beloved, chosen people, the Jews, again in 70 AD.  He had warned them twice, but they refused to believe it. More than 1 million were slaughtered.   

What do these lessons from history have to teach us about the coming judgment in our near future. God clearly prophesied that this age would come to an end in catastrophic judgments. He even made it clear that there would be seven trumpet warnings when the time of judgment drew near. Those trumpets began with World War 1 and have continued for nearly 120 years now. Yet the masses of mankind continue on in life like nothing will ever change. And that’s exactly what Jesus predicted (Mt 24:37-39). 

Christians live in denial of coming judgment, also, particularly American Christians. We can’t believe that a nation as great as America could possibly be destroyed, even though God clearly has given warning in prophecy (Dan 7:11; Rev 18:8). We insist that those prophecies are not about America, rather, about the Antichrist, or someone else. Anyone and everyone else are deserving of judgment, but not America. We have come up with a great alternative to judgment. Christians will be raptured, unscathed, prior to the seven-year Tribulation. Then God can cut loose and pour out His judgment upon all those wicked people left behind. How convenient to interpret prophecy the way you want it to turn out. We ignore that God severely judged his chosen people in 721 BC, 606 BC and in 70 AD. We ignore that judgment begins with the household of God. And we ignore the sins of our nation, both past and present. We are convinced, contrary to both history and prophecy, that we will be caught up before judgment and destruction begins.

History teaches us that people who are warned by God of coming judgment always ignore it, manufacturing their own desirable outcome. But God will not be mocked or misconstrued. American Christians, and the world as a whole, should prepare for destruction and devastation.