Very good article, and it certainly fits with our understanding of the church, and with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Thank you.
Another thought that may be of intrest,
If God wanted to punish the US for promoting her sins around the world, and for expelling Him from our educational system, what would God have to do to get our attention?
What could He do that we would actually consider it as a warning from God, and not just another disaster that a little gung ho speech to rally us together, and a lot of money wouldn't satisfy everyone that it isn't God doing it, but it's always someone or something else causing the problem?
What would it take, and how do we know it isn't already happening?
JH
I heard at church yesterday while we were talking about current events, that the gay rights issues were voted down at the UN. Who voted them down? The Muslims. The US voted for them. Anyone else hear this? I find that rather ironic if it is true.
Becky
Any God-fearing, praying Christian can do as Daniel did. Compare to the Scriptures what we see happening right before our eyes, and you will know beyond any doubt that America is even now under the fury of God's curse for disobedience.
Moses listed in Deuteronomy 28 all the signs of the curse. We need to be reminded of these dreadful signs which shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments" (Deuteronomy 28:15). I'll list just 12 of the fearful curses here:
1. A curse Upon Our Cities: "Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field" (Deuteronomy 28:16). American cities are doomed. Our own magazines have declared them to be Western "Beiruts" or war zones. Crack is tearing them apart. New York City is becoming unlivable. A murder occurs every five hours, a crime every 20 seconds. Our cities are headed for anarchy, and there is no turning back. Now it's spreading even to our smallest towns.
2. A Curse Upon Our Economy: "Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store" (Deut 28:17). This refers to gross national product, banking and reserves. A curse will fall upon it all, bringing confusion, fear and uncertainty. "I (will break) the staff of your bread" (see Leviticus 26:26) -- meaning widespread unemployment.
3. A Curse Upon Our Futures Market: "Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine (cattle), and the flocks of thy sheep" (Deut 28:18). This curse will fall on our crops and cattle.
4. A Curse Upon Our Foreign Negotiations: This curse will bring shame and embarrassment. "Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do...because of the wickedness of thy doings" (Deut 28:19-20). U.S. foreign policy today is in complete disarray! Our negotiators come home confused-- upstaged by Russia, upstaged in China. We appear befuddled before the whole world. President Bush is trying to turn this around, but its a hard after Bill Clinton has set us on this path.
5. Plagues of Incurable Illnesses: "The Lord shall make the pestilence (sickness) cleave unto thee...with a comsumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation" (Deut. 28:21,22). "The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt...and with the scab...whereof thou canst not be healed. The Lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment (panic) of heart (Deut. 28:27,28). "The Lord shall smite thee...with a sore botch (boil) that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head" (Deut. 28:35). The mark of AIDS is the purple blotch--the incurable boil.
6. Dust Bowls and Areas of Drought: "The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee" (Deut. 28:24). This is God's doing. All of it is sent from heaven!
7. Insignificant Enemies Will Put Our Armies to Chase: "The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before them...And thy carcass shall be meat unto all fowls of the air" (Deut. 28:25,26). Think of the stalemate in Korea. Or our troops fleeing from Vietnam and being chased out of Lebanon. Or tiny Panama holding a gun to our head.
8. An Epidemic of Divorce: An epidemic of broken homes has erupted. "Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shll lie with her: thou shalt build a house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof: (Deut. 28:30).
9. A Wave of Bankruptcies: "Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes...thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue them:"(Deut. 28:31). This describes the ancient Oriental custom of the creditor taking everything from the debtor for restitution. It warns of the wave of bankruptcies that will come upon this cursed nation.
10. The Loss of an Entire Generation of Youth: "Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them"(Deut. 28:32). Today a nation of adults, supplied with all money and might, can merely stand by and watch in horror as drugs and violence swallow up an entire population of youth. This Scripture is a prophetic warning about the despair that falls upon parents in a nation under the curse. "Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity' (Deut. 28:41).
11. The Prosperity of Other Nations at our Expense: "The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low" (Deut. 28:43). Hosea describes the blindness of people under this curse: "Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not: (Hosea 7:9). Whatever the crop, whatever the fruit, "The strangers shall swallow it up" (Hosea 8:7).
12. You will Become a Debtor Nation Rather than a Lender: "He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail (Deut. 28:44). In the last five years we have become the world's biggest debtor nation. At this moment we are now the tail - and Japan is the head. We can't even bail out our own bankrupt savings and loan institutions. Consider the $150 billion that's needed to save our banking system -- and then tell me America is not under the curse! We are now experiencing the full fury of it!
BigMack