Posted on 03/20/2014 8:01:21 AM PDT by xzins
Bible prophecy related to the end times mentions many nations, including Libya, Iran, Iraq Ethiopia, and possibly even China and Russia, but not the United States of America. In an article on his blog, Pastor Greg Laurie gives three plausible reasons for the nation's exclusion.
"Where is the United States? Why are we not in the last-days scenario?" asks Laurie, pastor of Harvest Church in Riverside, Calif.
One reason why the United States is not mentioned in Scripture is perhaps because the nation "might be devastated by a nuclear war," the pastor writes. "It is a horrible scenario and one that none of us would want to see, but we cannot rule it out as a possibility."
The threat remains despite the dissolution of the former Soviet Union, Laurie argues. "It could indeed be a rogue terrorist nation with nuclear capabilities, or even a terrorist group that could set off the dominoes falling onto each other. I hope this isn't the case, but we cannot rule it out."
Laurie is for a strong military for that reason. "We need to take seriously any foreign threats. But having said that, what about an internal collapse?"
A second possible reason could be that the U.S. might decline as a world power, Laurie says, quoting Proverbs 14:34, which reads, "Godliness makes a nation great, but sin is a disgrace to any people."
"As our country becomes more and more secular, systematically eliminating God and the Bible from our education system, courts, and the arts, we will begin to reap the inevitable results of sin. We will begin to rot from the inside," the pastor warns. "I think to some degree, we already have [seen that happen] as we have seen the breakdown of the family, rampant crime and so many other problems that have come from disobeying God."
Laurie points out that what once was freedom of religion seems to have now become freedom from religion. "We have succeeded in getting God out of our schools, out of our sporting events, out of our public places and out of our workplaces."
The nation needs to remember that the freedom we enjoy is built on the foundation of absolute truth, he says. "And when you remove that foundation, this freedom actually can turn into anarchy."
A third possibility could be that the U.S. will witness a revival, "which I find a lot more hopeful," Laurie goes on to say. "That is not to say a revival would eliminate us as a world power. But if our nation had a revival, it would affect us. Think about this. Let's say, for example, that one-fourth of all Americans are believers. This would mean that we have approximately 78 million true believers in our country today… When the Rapture of the church takes place, don't you think there would be an impact on the United States…?"
Laurie said we need to, therefore, pray for revival in our country today. "When I say that our nation needs God, I don't mean that we need whatever god everyone happens to believe in," he clarifies. "The only hope for America is when we turn back to the true and living God – the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God who gave us the Bible as the revelation of who he is, the God who loved us so much that he sent his own son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in our place."
You’re welcome. I just stumbled across this today and only because looking up some information. When I saw it, I recognized how well it represented this subject. Thank God for having me accidentally stumble across it!
hah! Must be a big pin. There used to be an ongoing, lo-oong FR thread titled Dimensional Door. They possibly covered the info there, previously? lol.
As to ever being in Kentucky --
I may have the privilege of traveling, again, and if I do go that direction, I hope to be able to send you a note.
Though I presently lack the capital for it...Kentucky is the one State I know of, where the State itself sponsors half-way houses for convicts upon release -- and if I could combine that with fishing for the invasive Asian carp, possibly having a boat (or several), a cutting house to fillet some of them, and freezer equipment to freeze both entire whole fish and packaged fillets too -- AND combine those sort of things with some form of self perpetuating ministry also, that combo could cover or utilize my own various callings, all in the same heaping pile.
Maybe we are the bad guys. No one ever thinks we are...but with the crew in power, we could very well be.
I have neighbors that make their living selling stuff on ebay. It’s that cheap to live here - depending on your minimum standards for a living space, including trailer size. :-D
We believe America is the beast of Rev 7
How do SDAs prove that?
The individual who posts the thread can designate it devotional, caucus, or denominational. I so designated this thread. That unique provision in the Religion Forum has to do with the nature of religious people having the right to discuss their own faith inside their own meetings without, for example, unbelievers entering and shouting them down.
Free Republic tries to mirror that, in my experience. Some threads are open.
However, a caucus cannot begin attacking other points of view or have a title that attacks other points of view. That would make it an open thread, because others have the right to respond. The idea is to be able to have a place to discuss without disruption.
To balance that, you are perfectly free to post a similar thread and have it be an “open” discussion.
Yes, I agree that many have positions that are unique to them. That doesn’t mean that you, E-S, just decided one day “Manasses = America”. I’ve known you a long time. Whether I’ve agreed with you or not, you’ve had a biblical case to make for positions that you’ve taken.
You can’t name an alternate nation, yet you persist in doubt?
How else can Yeshua have only been sent for the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel? The nations of Israel were all that the apostles ministered to, and their migration north westerly is well established.
One only has to think clearly. Yeshua didn’t just come for the synagogues along the Mediterranean, those people migrated and populated Europe, fulfilling the promises to Abraham.
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You need to read more of the Revelation.
The description of the beast in later chapters proves that it cannot be a representative republic. The beast is the continuation of an ancient association of royalty that has sought the rule of the world for millennia.
Revelation 17:
[8] The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
[9] And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
[10] And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
[11] And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
[12] And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
[13] These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
How can that describe any nation?
ES, when you go through the promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, you necessarily deal with the promises made to Ishmael and Esau. Nations came from them, too, and they are sometimes pretty small and pretty much known only in their era.
Manasseh’s portion of the promised land went almost to Damascus. It included the Golan. One of his descendants is said to have continued the line through an Aramean. Everything points to mixing with Syrians/Assyrians.
This will give you a reasonable summary of our position.
http://www.signstimes.com/?p=article&a=40076036100.645
The 7 heads are the 7 mountains are the 7 kings.
In my mind, that means it is an enduring system.
Thanks for the link. I’ll check it out.
Thank you for your reply. Maybe I now understand how things are worked in the Religion forum, which I did not realize was a distinctly differently-administered forum from the whole of Free Republic and, more importantly, had it’s own set of (unwritten?) rules, guidelines, and traditions.
My browser is set to land on Latest Articles posted on Free Republic as always. That means even the Latest Articles in the Religion section, it would seem.
Should posting on Free Republic Religion forum threads be treated differently than any other Free Republic forum thread? No.
I shall try harder to avoid the Religion section of FR.
R2z
The House of Israel was removed from the land, and has not returned.
They migrated along the Black sea, and the Mediterranean and then through Italy, Spain, France, and then to the British isles.
Dan migrated to Mace-Dania, up the Dan-ube river, the Dan-ieper river, and onward to Dan-sk. Some of them also are Danos, and GiorDanos.
>> “Should posting on Free Republic Religion forum threads be treated differently than any other Free Republic forum thread?” <<
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Yes! - Absolutely.
If you want to battle a religious issue out, post in bloggers and personal, but be warned, there is no protection there.
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Jeremiah 50
42 They shall hold the bow and the lance; They are cruel and shall not show mercy. Their voice shall roar like the sea; They shall ride on horses, Set in array, like a man for the battle, Against you, O daughter of Babylon.
43 “The king of Babylon has heard the report about them, And his hands grow feeble; Anguish has taken hold of him, Pangs as of a woman in childbirth...
43, that's our Bush. 9/11/01
46 At the noise of the taking of Babylon The earth trembles, And the cry is heard among the nations.
Global thermonuclear war, also: Isaiah 47
7 “Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; Sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans! For you shall no more be called Tender and delicate...
3 Your nakedness shall be uncovered, Yes, your shame will be seen; I will take vengeance, And I will not arbitrate with a man.”
Edward Snowden
8 “Therefore hear this now, you who are given to pleasures, Who dwell securely, Who say in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, Nor shall I know the loss of children’; 9 But these two things shall come to you In a moment, in one day: The loss of children, and widowhood. They shall come upon you in their fullness Because of the multitude of your sorceries, For the great abundance of your enchantments.
I am, and there is no one else besides me America the only remaining superpower...
14 Behold, they shall be as stubble, The fire shall burn them; They shall not deliver themselves From the power of the flame; It shall not be a coal to be warmed by, Nor a fire to sit before! 15 Thus shall they be to you With whom you have labored, Your merchants from your youth; They shall wander each one to his quarter. No one shall save you.
Revelation 12
12 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. 2 Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.
Woman clothed with the sun, Sun in Virgo
12 stars, moon under her feet, 12 men have had the moon under their feet, all of them Americans. See: The Secret Architecture of Our Nation's Capital: The Masons and the Building of Washington, D.C., David Ovason. Rev. 12 matches the cornerstone laying ceremony for the White House and Capitol. Birth of America.
Also Rev. 18 'One hour' ... Mr. Putin accused the U.S. of being interested in relations with Moscow because Russia was the only country that could destroy the U.S. in half an hour or less.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052970204358004577032533741783056
Those who can't find America in the scriptures are in the wrong business.
Amen DR Thorne.
Greg is a good man, who has been handed, by God Himself, the torch of evangelism that was Billy Graham’s.
The torch has been passed on, and if you go back far enough you will see how God, not man, has chosen the one who stands out among the rest as His voice of the day.
Usually it is something we don not realize until they have died, but with Billy ascending at the time of the explosion of television, we are now more privy to whom that one will be while we are alive.
Who knows, maybe because it is because of the end times when the whole earth will be witnesses to the events spoken of in the Scriptures.
Just my two cents, but I mainly wanted to let you know I agree with you about the “Lost Boy”.
I am aware of one nation mentioned in the Bible at the end.
And pretty much the rest suck.
I’ve lined up one the side that doesn’t suck.
And I’m Catholic.
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