Post by Cindy on Sept 7, 2016 13:14:44 GMT -5
As I was studying today, the subject of a drought came up. My bible library sometimes has glitches where it seems to just randomly pop up a book linked to one of the words in the passage I'm studying, whether or not I tell it to do so; and sometimes the topics have nothing to do with what I'm studying. That's what happened today and the subject it chose to bring up was drought. That interested me since the area I live in is having the worst drought we've ever had as long as statistics have been recorded here.
Droughts: The first thing I saw under the heading of drought, was that God sent a drought as a judgement on Ahab for his idolatry. (1 Kings 17:1 & James 5:17) That instantly reminded me of what I've been saying for some time now, that all these so called natural disasters (floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, droughts, etc) that have been hitting the US for the last couple of years, are showing us that we not only are no longer being blessed by the Lord, but instead are under His judgement. I've never seen so many disasters happening in our country. There have not only been a lot of them, but they seem to be more and more as time goes by and that's simply not "natural".
While I've been sure these things were God's judgment on our country (and on the rest of the world as well) it never occurred to me to check and see why God had sent these same things on other countries. So let's look and see what we can find. I've already shown that God sent the drought because of idolatry and we can be sure that there's a LOT of that going on here in my area, and the rest of the nation as well. In Zechariah 14:17 God sends a drought during the Millennial Kingdom because the people failed to worship Him. A drought is more then just not enough rain, which means not enough water for people. Here, a huge number of people's wells have gone dry so they have no water at home for anything. Many people in New England don't have public water, instead they have wells. That's bad enough, but the lack of water also means that crops can be totally ruined or at the least not as good as they should have been. That means less food for both people and animals, not only here, but everywhere since the farms export to other states as well. And as we all know that also means higher prices for food. In Revelation 11:6 we're told that the two prophets who will prophecy in Israel during the Tribulation have the power to stop the rain during the 3 and a half years they are there, just like Elijah did in Ahab's day, and likely for the same reasons: idolatry and not worshiping the Lord. Psalm 107:33–34 says that God does this because of the wickedness of the people.
Listen to what Jeremiah says about droughts: “How long will the land lie parched and the grass in every field be withered? Because those who live in it are wicked, the animals and birds have perished. Moreover, the people are saying, “He will not see what happens to us.”” (Jeremiah 12:4) That sure sounds like the people of today doesn't it? Let me share what one of the commentaries says about this: God had judged the nation because of the sins of the wicked, but the righteous also suffered in this judgment. Jeremiah was not contradicting what he had just said about the prosperity of the wicked in verse 1. The thought is that even in times of difficulty the wicked seemed to come through better than the righteous. God had sent a drought to judge the nation so that the land was parched and the grass was withered. Yet the people refused to acknowledge God’s hand of judgment. They believed that God was indifferent to their sin as they claimed that He would not see what happens to them. The Bible Knowledge Commentary That really sounds like people today!
Earthquakes are mentioned in scripture as well. In Isaiah 24:19–20 we're told that it's due to rebellion. Then, later in that passage God tells us a little more about the attitude of the people: “The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.” (Isaiah 29:13) Here we see people who supposedly know the Lord and find out that they really don't. They talk the talk but don't walk the walk. They're among those that the Lord says: “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matthew 7:22–23)
Floods too are mentioned, especially the flood in Noah's time since it covered the whole earth. Let's look at that one since the Lord told us that our time would be like Noah's. “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” (Genesis 6:5) “Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.” (Genesis 6:11–12) That reminds me of yet something else we've all seen - the tremendous increase in violence in our country. Ten years ago, if anyone had told me that we'd see riots in our cities, civil disobedience, people killing police, adults killing children, parents killing their own children and children killing their parents or siblings, people out shopping or going to the movies being slaughtered, I'd have wondered what they'd been drinking. Not anymore though. Now, just as the Lord said it would be, people are becoming afraid to leave their homes. It seems like nowhere is safe anymore. Jesus told us what the root of this problem is: “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,” (Matthew 24:12) Sadly, that's so true today, not just of people who don't know the Lord, but also of those who have been born again. There is no comparison to what the Bible shows us about the love the early church had for each other, and the love shown each other in churches today. Granted, Christians have more love, or should have more then unbelievers, but it's pretty hard to find these days.
Then there are the wildfires. In Isaiah 66:15–16 we see a picture of God coming with fire to judge the earth. Fire is often associated with judgement, and/or with purifying. “Fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side.” (Psalm 97:3) “Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the LORD, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.” (Numbers 11:1) I was surprised though when I saw that fire is also used in the Bible to illustrate wickedness: “Surely wickedness burns like a fire; it consumes briers and thorns, it sets the forest thickets ablaze, so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke.” (Isaiah 9:18) It also illustrates the ungodly tongue in Proverbs 16:27 and James 3:6. I'm sure we've all seen how people today show little respect when speaking to others, and that even many Christians use vulgar language.
I hate to admit it, but all the ways God describes people in connection with natural disasters, are good descriptions of people today, and if anything the descriptions fit better and better with every day that goes by. In some ways it's surprising when you think about it. Fifty years ago, when I was a child, I doubt if anyone, child or adult, would believe it if you described the way the average person acts and speaks today. In fact, back then, no adult would allow you to tell a child about a lot of it as it would be considered very improper and unfitting for a child to hear. Nor would they believe that you were talking about the US if you described an average day in the news to them, or what the president's done that month, or what the presidential candidates say in their speeches. Can you imagine an adult from 50 years ago reading one of the speeches that either Trump or Hillary has made? For us, we've seen it all happen little tiny bit by tiny bit and so became immune to it, but if we were able to go back 50 years and show people this, it would be a tremendous shock to them.
Take heart though, for as the Lord tells us: “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”” (Luke 21:28) He must be almost here as these things haven't just "begun" to happen but are happening!
Droughts: The first thing I saw under the heading of drought, was that God sent a drought as a judgement on Ahab for his idolatry. (1 Kings 17:1 & James 5:17) That instantly reminded me of what I've been saying for some time now, that all these so called natural disasters (floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, droughts, etc) that have been hitting the US for the last couple of years, are showing us that we not only are no longer being blessed by the Lord, but instead are under His judgement. I've never seen so many disasters happening in our country. There have not only been a lot of them, but they seem to be more and more as time goes by and that's simply not "natural".
While I've been sure these things were God's judgment on our country (and on the rest of the world as well) it never occurred to me to check and see why God had sent these same things on other countries. So let's look and see what we can find. I've already shown that God sent the drought because of idolatry and we can be sure that there's a LOT of that going on here in my area, and the rest of the nation as well. In Zechariah 14:17 God sends a drought during the Millennial Kingdom because the people failed to worship Him. A drought is more then just not enough rain, which means not enough water for people. Here, a huge number of people's wells have gone dry so they have no water at home for anything. Many people in New England don't have public water, instead they have wells. That's bad enough, but the lack of water also means that crops can be totally ruined or at the least not as good as they should have been. That means less food for both people and animals, not only here, but everywhere since the farms export to other states as well. And as we all know that also means higher prices for food. In Revelation 11:6 we're told that the two prophets who will prophecy in Israel during the Tribulation have the power to stop the rain during the 3 and a half years they are there, just like Elijah did in Ahab's day, and likely for the same reasons: idolatry and not worshiping the Lord. Psalm 107:33–34 says that God does this because of the wickedness of the people.
Listen to what Jeremiah says about droughts: “How long will the land lie parched and the grass in every field be withered? Because those who live in it are wicked, the animals and birds have perished. Moreover, the people are saying, “He will not see what happens to us.”” (Jeremiah 12:4) That sure sounds like the people of today doesn't it? Let me share what one of the commentaries says about this: God had judged the nation because of the sins of the wicked, but the righteous also suffered in this judgment. Jeremiah was not contradicting what he had just said about the prosperity of the wicked in verse 1. The thought is that even in times of difficulty the wicked seemed to come through better than the righteous. God had sent a drought to judge the nation so that the land was parched and the grass was withered. Yet the people refused to acknowledge God’s hand of judgment. They believed that God was indifferent to their sin as they claimed that He would not see what happens to them. The Bible Knowledge Commentary That really sounds like people today!
Earthquakes are mentioned in scripture as well. In Isaiah 24:19–20 we're told that it's due to rebellion. Then, later in that passage God tells us a little more about the attitude of the people: “The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.” (Isaiah 29:13) Here we see people who supposedly know the Lord and find out that they really don't. They talk the talk but don't walk the walk. They're among those that the Lord says: “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matthew 7:22–23)
Floods too are mentioned, especially the flood in Noah's time since it covered the whole earth. Let's look at that one since the Lord told us that our time would be like Noah's. “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” (Genesis 6:5) “Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.” (Genesis 6:11–12) That reminds me of yet something else we've all seen - the tremendous increase in violence in our country. Ten years ago, if anyone had told me that we'd see riots in our cities, civil disobedience, people killing police, adults killing children, parents killing their own children and children killing their parents or siblings, people out shopping or going to the movies being slaughtered, I'd have wondered what they'd been drinking. Not anymore though. Now, just as the Lord said it would be, people are becoming afraid to leave their homes. It seems like nowhere is safe anymore. Jesus told us what the root of this problem is: “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,” (Matthew 24:12) Sadly, that's so true today, not just of people who don't know the Lord, but also of those who have been born again. There is no comparison to what the Bible shows us about the love the early church had for each other, and the love shown each other in churches today. Granted, Christians have more love, or should have more then unbelievers, but it's pretty hard to find these days.
Then there are the wildfires. In Isaiah 66:15–16 we see a picture of God coming with fire to judge the earth. Fire is often associated with judgement, and/or with purifying. “Fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side.” (Psalm 97:3) “Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the LORD, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.” (Numbers 11:1) I was surprised though when I saw that fire is also used in the Bible to illustrate wickedness: “Surely wickedness burns like a fire; it consumes briers and thorns, it sets the forest thickets ablaze, so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke.” (Isaiah 9:18) It also illustrates the ungodly tongue in Proverbs 16:27 and James 3:6. I'm sure we've all seen how people today show little respect when speaking to others, and that even many Christians use vulgar language.
I hate to admit it, but all the ways God describes people in connection with natural disasters, are good descriptions of people today, and if anything the descriptions fit better and better with every day that goes by. In some ways it's surprising when you think about it. Fifty years ago, when I was a child, I doubt if anyone, child or adult, would believe it if you described the way the average person acts and speaks today. In fact, back then, no adult would allow you to tell a child about a lot of it as it would be considered very improper and unfitting for a child to hear. Nor would they believe that you were talking about the US if you described an average day in the news to them, or what the president's done that month, or what the presidential candidates say in their speeches. Can you imagine an adult from 50 years ago reading one of the speeches that either Trump or Hillary has made? For us, we've seen it all happen little tiny bit by tiny bit and so became immune to it, but if we were able to go back 50 years and show people this, it would be a tremendous shock to them.
Take heart though, for as the Lord tells us: “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”” (Luke 21:28) He must be almost here as these things haven't just "begun" to happen but are happening!