Nearing Midnight

It is becoming very clear that the world is facing a time of economic peril that has not been seen in two generations. In all my years of watching current events, I've never seen headlines warning about the possibility of the whole financial system disintegrating into chaos. These dire reports are not from a supermarket tabloid. They are from some of the most respected news organizations in the land.

I firmly believe that God is in control of all events. Governments around the world have pledged $2 trillion dollars to try to stabilize the global economic meltdown, and still it continues to slide. The stakes have become so desperately grim, I see only two possible outcomes from the viewpoint of a believer: God is either using the economic crisis to bring about a great revival, or He is soon going to rapture the Church home and begin the tribulation countdown.

It is my view that we are headed for the second option. I would love to see revival break out, but I don't believe it is possible at this stage. Some of my friends hold to the view that the Lord is going to pour out a “latter rain” revival. Some other folks believe the Church is going to take over this world for Christ. I just don't see the Bible pointing to such a positive outcome.

I know there have been countless revivals throughout the Church Age. Here is a list of eight that stand out as having the greatest impact:

THE FIRST GREAT AWAKENING 1740 - 1745
Howell Harris, John Wesley, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, David Brainerd,

THE SECOND GREAT AWAKENING 1798 - 1832
Charles Finney, Asahel Nettleton, Lyman Beecher, Duncan Matheson

The first thing that makes revival hard to grasp as a possibility now is the Word of God's repeated mention of spiritual darkness as the hallmark of the last days. Several prophetic passages describe the last days as a time of great apostasy. Here are two examples:

"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition " (2 Thess. 2:3).

"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect" (Matt. 24:24).

Another potential obstacle to a revival is the fact we are in the Laodicean Age. Dr. David Reagan recently gave a good outline of how the seven churches described in Revelation, chapters 2 and 3, present a prophetic view of Church history: “The last of the churches mentioned, the one that represents the Church of the end times, is the church at Laodicea. It is pictured as a church that is neither hot (healing) nor cold (refreshing), but rather is lukewarm or tepid (Rev. 3:15-16). In short, it is a church that is apathetic. Jesus also pictures it as a worldly church enamored with its wealth (Rev. 3:17). The Lord is so dissatisfied with this church that He declares, 'Because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth'" (Rev. 3:16).

I think the greatest case against revival is man's growing immunity to repentance. You can look at the above list of historic revivals and see how they diminish in number and scale over the years. A key problem is that revival today means getting something from God. The people who flocked to the so-called revivals at the Toronto Airport Vineyard Christian Fellowship and Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola were mostly looking for an emotional or physical blessing. A decade later, it's hard to argue with the simple fact that these events have been marked as questionable practices, and have had nearly zero impact on society.

In the revivals of the past, saints were given their marching orders to reach the lost for Christ. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church , was very direct about how to win souls: "You have nothing to do but to save souls. Therefore spend and be spent in this work. And go always, not only to those that want you, but to those that want you most. Observe: It is not your business to preach so many times, and to take care of this or that society; but to save as many souls as you can; to bring them to repentance, and with all your power to build them up in holiness without which they cannot see the Lord."

The world will see revival. In fact, the Bible predicts a future revival that will put all others to shame. Once millions of people realize they were not rapture ready, they will find true faith. The sink-or-swim condition of the tribulation will cause many to quickly reach a level of dedication where they are willing to sacrifice their lives for the Gospel.

We Christians on this side of the rapture need to be doing everything we can to advance the Kingdom of God. Because we won't have the luxury of being able to tell the Lord we were willing suffer martyrdom for our faith, we need to take advantage of every opportunity that comes our way.

At the beginning of April (April 1-3), Thy Kingdom Come Ministries will be hosting a prophecy conference in Tulsa, OK. If you live in the Tulsa area, I encourage you to stop by the conference. The folks at TKC have lined up a top-notch group of speakers.

It becomes increasingly obvious that just as the rest of the world is reconfiguring for some profound geopolitical repositioning outcome, Israel stands at the center of the strange goings-on. Everything revolves around matters involving war and peace, particularly in the Middle East.

The Israeli elections reflect those dynamics as perhaps no other single issue and/or event of the present can do. Since the election of Tuesday, February 8, the tiny but most exigent nation on the planet has been embroiled in a quagmire that is the nightmare scenario of parliamentary-type governments. The various elements (political parties) are of such diverse ideologies as to make forming a coalition capable of governing extremely problematic.

As of this writing it, is not certain who won the election. Some thoughts from this report, perhaps, provide insights into Israel’s future governance.

“Who won the election on Tuesday night and what do the results tell us about the composition of the next government? Israeli voters decided two things on Tuesday. First, they decided that they want the political right to lead the country. Second, leftist voters decided that they want to be represented by a big party so they abandoned Labor and Meretz and put their eggs in Kadima's basket.

These two decisions--one general and one sectoral--are what brought about the anomalous situation where the party with the most Knesset seats is incapable of forming the next governing coalition. Despite Kadima leader Tzipi Livni's stunning electoral achievement, she cannot form a coalition. Binyamin Netanyahu will be Israel's next prime minister. The Likud will form the next coalition.

But what sort of governing coalition will Netanyahu form? That is today's sixty-four thousand dollar question” ("Enter the Netanyahu Government," Caroline B. Glick, http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0209/glick021309.php3?).

The opinion of the writer of the above report, at least, is that Binyamin Netanyahu, leader of the Likud party, has been given the commission of the electorate to take Israel on somewhat of a road to the political right. But he has no mandate, only a narrow pathway—one that he must walk hand-in-hand with indeed strange political bedfellows. The Likud leader has no broad-based support.

Netanyahu must include left-leaning parlimentarians in a coalition of some flavor. Ehud Barak’s Labor Party–whose founder and champion was David Ben Gurion—was deserted by the majority of the left, many of whom joined with the Kadima Party led by Tzipi Livni .

Netanyahu finds himself between the proverbial rock and hard place if he wants to form the coalition necessary to achieve the prime ministership. It will be a character tester for sure.

The easier road to go, from the standpoint of putting together a government that might win favors with the international community and the Barak Obama administration would be to bite the bullet and bring the Kadima bunch into the coalition. This would be partially palatable for the Likud leadership because Livni and much of the Kadima leadership look at the developing Iranian situation in much the same way as the Likud membership. Surprisingly, they do not rule out preemptive action against the threats of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to wipe Israel off the map, once they are ready to do so.

The rub, of course, is that Livni and the Kadema Party leadership are for making nice with Hezbollah, Hamas, and other of the Islamic terrorists to some extent. Ms. Livni is for a two-state, divided Jerusalem solution to the “Palestinian question,” and is, according to the writer of the article above, willing to give up Judea and Samaria for the peace process, and even to give the Golan Heights to Syria.

The less acceptable alternative in trying to construct a viable government coalition–from the perspectives of the international community and the Obama administration—would be to embrace the right-leaning parties within the parliamentary mix. Such a choice will bring the collective ire of the globalist elites for sure. Nonetheless, a coalition of Likud, Yisrael Beiteinu, Shas, United Torah Judaism, the National Union and the Jewish Home parties would constitute a stable governing majority that could assure that Likud maintain its ruling status against the leftist Katima party’s assaults in the Knesset.

Much more importantly, a coalition that would not only stand against Iran’s insane hatred, but against the fanatic Islamic terrorists such as Hezbollah and Hamas, Syria and that nation’s lust for the Golan would go much farther in assuring Israel’s security. Mr. Netanyahu would be infinitely wiser to choose a government that will face down Israel’s enemies while resisting at all costs the world incessant attempts to force the division of Jerusalem and further divide the land God gave Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their heirs forever.

God’s Word pronounces His wrath upon end-times Israeli leadership that crawls in bed with the leadership of earth’s satanically controlled governments:

"Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves… And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it” (Isaiah 28:14-15, 18).

Bible prophecy foretells that Israel’s leaders will, at the beginning of the tribulation, give in to the international community and its great leader. They will enter into a seven-year covenant with the man who will be Antichrist (Dan. 9: 26-27). A word of caution, Mr. Netanyahu, Ms. Livni, or whoever becomes prime minister of whatever coalition government when the political dust settles: You are precariously perched on God’s end-times timeline.

Despite the massive global economic storm raging, America continues to be the most blessed nation on Planet Earth. Its power and influence are unrivaled. So, why is the United States absent from Bible prophecy? Or indeed is it absent? This, while lesser nations like Iran, Babylon, Libya, Russia, and other less notable modern countries are front and center in God’s prophetic Word for the end of days?

To answer these and other related questions, I felt impressed to research and write in-depth on matters encapsulated within the book’s title. My urgent sense is that time is moving swiftly on God’s prophetic clock, and Israel is the timepiece to watch.

The United States has been linked to regathering Israel since before its birth into modernity. Unstoppable, dynamic rearrangements are driving the present generation toward the climax of human history.

Once you’ve looked into the prophetic matters involved—which the book places over the stunning issues and events that are occurring in today’s headlines--my most sincere belief is that you will be enlightened to the true nature of these times in which we live.

After you’ve read The American Apocalypse: Is the United States in Bible Prophecy? I would like to ask you a favor: Would you please take time to write a review? Even if you buy The American Apocalypse from a retail book store, submitting your review of the book on amazon.com or whatever website from which you sometimes purchase books will perhaps stimulate others to begin looking for themselves into these troubling though exciting prophetic days.