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Joel |
Dear Brethren,
September 11, 2011, marks the ten
year anniversary of the terrorist’s attack on America. On that day
ten years ago, the United States immediately
initiated a war on terror. Many of our leaders wish to assure us that we are safer today than we were on
9/11/01. But even today, US counterterrorism officials are pursuing al-Qaida threats to our homeland.
Is the war on terror being won? The answer to that question will not please those who wish
to remain politically correct. Search the Scriptures from one end of the Bible to the other, and you
will not find a single prophet whose views were acceptable to the political establishment of his day.
The prophet Joel is no exception to that rule. God
inspired Joel to prophesy that the war on terror will not be won. The war on terror is going
to fail. God knows the end from the beginning – and He has proclaimed it through His prophets.
A major key to understanding prophecy is knowing who the modern-day descendents of Israel
are. Today, most religious ministers and academics are satisfied that the ten lost tribes of Israel
are just that – lost. And they believe that the Jews in Israel constitute all of modern-day Israel.
Please understand this: Hundreds of years after the captivity of Israel, the writers of the New Testament
clearly knew the whereabouts of the Israelites of the diaspora.
“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
to the twelve tribes [of Israel] which are scattered [‘diaspora’] abroad, greeting.”
(James 1:1) In addition to James, John and Peter specifically mentioned the diaspora
and made reference to where they had journeyed. Eventually, many of the dispersed Israelites
settled in North-West Europe and the English speaking nations around the world. You would
think that it would be common knowledge who the Israelites are, but God says they are so far removed
from Him that they will not even consider the matter (Isaiah 1:3). After all, they went into
captivity for refusing to keep holy God’s Sabbath Day and for practicing idolatry. Those two sins
alone have taken their toll on a foolish people (Jeremiah 5:19-21).
In spite of Israel’s sins, and because of God’s promise to
Abraham, tremendous blessings have been bestowed on modern-day Israel. After 2,520 years,
God has truly blessed the descendents of Abraham, just as He had promised. "I will make
of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shalt be a blessing:
And, I will bless them that bless you, and curse him that curses you: and in you shall all families of the
earth be blessed." (Genesis 12:2-3) But now, God is beginning to remove
the wonderful blessings of power, wealth, protection and greatness that He bestowed upon us.
God tells us that we have built up our military and defenses in vain – for they will not protect us
(Leviticus 26:20) We will not win the war on terror.
Joel tells us how our demise will come. “Alas for
the day! For the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come
… Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the
land tremble: for the day of the Lord comes, for it is near at hand; A day of darkness and of gloominess,
a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and
a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many
generations. A fire devours before them; and behind them a flame burns… and nothing shall escape
them… Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness… it is
great and very terrible; and who can abide it?”
(Joel 1:15, 2:1-3, 6, 11)
Remember what it was like at ground-zero on 9/11/01 – the
death, destruction and sun blotted out by the thick ash and dust. Who can forget the faces of the
first responders covered in soot? Before the trouble started – we were a rich and prosperous land
because God made us so. We, as one people, need to repent and turn back to God, and ask Him
to spare America, and Canada, and Great Britain, and Australia and New Zealand – and all the English
speaking peoples. That is the only way we will win the war on terror. If we do not turn to
God, this time that Joel describes will surely come upon us. Our citizens, lands and towns will lie
obliterated – as were the beautiful buildings that were once the gleaming World Trade Center towers.
Return to God, or we will be as desolate as that heap of rubble where none survived
***
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"Joel" |
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