Paradise Lost
“Of Man’s first disobedience and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man [Christ],
Restore us and regain the blissful seat…”
—opening lines of “Paradise Lost” by John Milton (died in 1674 on Thursday, November 8)
In a sad coincidence, this past Thursday, November 8, the town of Paradise, California, was literally decimated by a wind-driven fire in a scene described as hellish. The town of over 26,000 had to escape 150-foot flames that moved the equivalent of one football field every second. The roads were jammed, forcing people to leave their cars and run. As of November 11, 23 are known dead in Paradise with over 100 unaccounted for. Figures showed over 109,000 acres burned (156 square miles), over 6,700 structures destroyed (most of them homes), and only 25% of the fire contained.
Two other wind-driven fires also began on November 8. Reports say the Woolsey Fire in Southern California tore through Malibu mansions and working-class suburban homes in Southern California’s hills and canyons, leaving two people known dead. “It looks like a war zone, with homes and businesses burned to the ground. Charred earth as far as the eye can see.” November 11 figures showed over 70,000 acres burned (109 square miles), and zero percent of the fire contained.
The Hill Fire in Southern California, as of November 11, had burned 7 square miles with 25% of the fire contained. Between the Woolsey and Hill Fire, over a quarter of a million people were evacuated. But it’s the Paradise Fire that is being called the most destructive wildfire in California history. Reports are absolutely heartbreaking.
It’s also heartbreaking what has happened to America. It used to be a kind of paradise, especially when compared to the way things are today. America was blessed abundantly by God because this nation was founded on biblical principles. Its citizens honored Him, as did our founding fathers, who designated this nation as a Constitutional Republic – “a Republic if you can keep it” as Benjamin Franklin said.
Surprisingly, I found an article in the more left-leaning Huffington Post from 2014 that I agree with. Here is an excerpt from journalist Diane Dimond, who has worked at both liberal and conservative networks, and appears from her articles to be a concerned American who tells it like it is:
Americans have adopted the idea that we are a democracy, not a republic. Nothing could be further from the intent expressed at that Constitutional Convention in 1787. Have today’s history teachers been remiss in their lessons or has some sinister power oozed into our consciousness to make us believe we are something we were never destined to be?
James Madison, often called “the father of the Constitution,” wrote “Democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have, in general, been as short in their lives as they are violent in their deaths.”
Other writings from the time are full of warnings about how dire a democracy can be on the population, how democracies will, ultimately, cause a nation to crumble.
In the early 1800s, John Marshall, the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court wrote, “Between a balanced republic and a democracy, the difference is like that between order and chaos.”
You won’t find the word “democracy” in either the Declaration of Independence or the U.S. Constitution. The United States of America was established as a Republic — period.
A republic is guided by an overarching set of laws — a charter or constitution — which, in our country’s case, explicitly guarantees the individual’s rights against the desires of the majority. Each of us has the indisputable right to think, worship and vote anyway we want.
A true democracy, on the other hand (stay with me on this), allows the majority to rule and to disregard the desires of any individual who doesn’t agree with them. Think of a democracy like this: If the majority of your neighbors voted to paint all houses bright purple, you would be forced to follow suit. Okay with you?
While today’s school kids are often being taught that “majority rule” is the fairest form of government — I think it’s quite the opposite. It destroys individualism and can foster a pack-thought mentality….
Wonder if in 2015 there will be a leader who can get us back to the idea of pledging allegiance to “The United States of America and to the republic for which it stands?” – source
Well, one showed up in 2015 and was elected in 2016 who also adds “one nation under God.” No, he’s not perfect, but neither are any of us. Not one, no way, no how. But how he’s managed to get many good things done under the circumstances is beyond me.
From Canada Free Press (summarized): It’s no longer a matter of the assassination of Donald Trump being the sole province of conspiracy theory when a plethora of hate-spewers in the Entertainment industry keep openly wishing him dead; ‘comedians’ have sent pictures of his severed head viral; witches and wizards continue to cast hexes on him… The New York Times posted a fictional account of President Trump being gunned down by a Russian assassin with a Glock belonging to his own security detail… [Even Democrat politicians and mainstream medianites have called for harm to come to the president, and other Republicans].
It takes real COURAGE for Trump to appear at airport hangars and other public venues for his rallies, where the risk of being targeted runs high…
It is courageous for President Trump to declare “We trust in God,” “We protect the freedom of worship,” and “We believe in the power of prayer” at a time when the foes he faces have driven The Almighty out of the Public Square, pushed the wholesale slaughter of babies through abortion, robbed children of their God-Given birthright of gender, and failed to provide safety in school washrooms…
Midterm elections can be best described thus: The Democrats, led by “Resistance” leader Barack Obama and egged on by the Deep State plants he left behind, are trying to claw back control, while patriots, led by a courageous President Donald Trump, are fighting to get their country back. – source
As soon as the Democrats took control of the House of Representatives in the midterm election, they suddenly called for the political fires to cool down—for civility to return. Too late. Of their own doing, Pandora’s Box was flung open wide.
The day after the election, an Antifa mob showed up at the home of Fox News host Tucker Carlson, shouting, “Tucker Carlson we will fight, we know where you sleep at night!” The leftists were also chanting, “No borders! No walls! No USA at all!” The group left minutes after police arrived with no arrests made. The group vows that this is just the beginning. An Antifa-associated Twitter account published Carlson’s home address as well as his brother’s – along with the addresses of Sean Hannity Ann Coulter, and Daily Caller’s Neil Patel.
From an African-American writer and Reverend, Jesse Peterson: The Democrat Party is evil. They are worse today than ever before – worse than during slavery, Jim Crow, lynch mobs, or the heyday of the KKK. Most people don’t realize we are in a spiritual battle of right versus wrong, good versus evil. There are people of all cultures, male and female, on the side of good. And there are men and women of all races, all cultures, on the side of evil. – source
After the midterm Democrat takeover of the House of Representatives, Barack Hussein Obama praised Americans for electing leaders that reflect the growing diversity of the nation, and said he is optimistic that the country will now “return to… honesty, decency, compromise, and standing up for one another.” He emphasized, “The change we need won’t come from one election alone, but it is a start.”
Obama’s claim of a Democrat Party win returning the nation to honesty, decency and compromise, etc., is just more of his lying rhetoric. How can the leaders in his Party return to something they never possessed?
And the change that he and the Democrat Party leaders of today want (including some Republicans in name only—RINO’s) is a takedown of the United States of America. It’s the same thing the globalist left is doing in Europe. They want to wipe out Judeo-Christian values. They hate Christians and they hate God’s chosen covenant people Israel. But they’re really rebelling against God. Practically every position the left has is an attack on Christian beliefs.
Read the article “Rebelling Against God Is What’s Behind Almost All Left-Wing Beliefs” at this link and share it with liberals. Hopefully, the Democrats will read their liberal-left views compared to what the Bible says, and wake up while there’s yet time. Because time is running out on this sin-infested world.
We’re living in Paradise Lost. Only Jesus’ intervention can bring a return to honesty and decency. And He does not compromise His standards.
In the meantime, watch and warn and spread the Gospel to as many as you can while you still can. And pray unceasingly. Yes, and pray for our enemies. We see the converged signs all around us that tell us Jesus will very soon, in the twinkling of an eye, catch up His own to heaven with Him. Then, after the 7-year Tribulation, He will return along with his raptured believers to rule and reign in the thousand-year Millennium. Afterwards, there will be a new heaven and a new earth.
“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new” (Revelation 21:1-5).
One day in the near future, Paradise Lost will be Paradise Regained.
“Thy Father is the Eternal King, who rules
All Heaven and Earth, Angels and Sons of men,
A messenger from God fore-told thy birth
Conceiv’d in me a Virgin; he fore-told
Thou shouldst be great and sit on David’s Throne
And of thy Kingdom there should be no end.”
—lines 236-240 of “Paradise Regained” by John Milton
Even so, Come Lord Jesus.
Cynthia Nuara
www.facebook.com/propheciesinthebible
articles at https://www.raptureready.com/search_gcse/?q=articles%20by%20cynthia%20nuara