Has Judgment Begun on Gentile Nations?

I have noticed a recent interest among believers over the past several years concerning the nature of “judgment” in relation to modern acts of terrorism as well as natural disasters. Is God behind these occurrences, and if so, is His involvement direct, as if He outright caused these things, or indirect, as if He simply removes His protection in allowing them to occur? We are all aware of those who promoted hurricane Katrina as an act of God’s judgment on a city whose sinfulness reached the tipping point. But is that an accurate portrayal of the reason disasters such as these occur?

Then, what about Israel? Does our dealings with Israel have anything to do with our successes or downfalls as a nation? After all, the day Katrina hit causing mass evacuation of a major U.S. city, was the same day the Israeli Defense Force IDF stormed Gaza forcing Jewish residents to evacuate their cities and homes. Yes . . . the same day! And the U.S. used political pressure on Israel to do it. Was Katrina retribution then, or perhaps just a spiritual law in operation over God’s words concerning the treatment of His people Israel? (Genesis 12:3)

There is no doubt that spiritual laws are in operation in every aspect of human life, including major events such as these. It is important then to keep in mind that the spiritual laws operate in response to human wills and actions, and not to any “knee jerk” reactions of God Himself. So in response to the question of, “why do bad things happen to good people?”, it is not a matter of if God did it to them. There are a whole lot of things that happen in this world that are not His will. Rather, it is necessary to remember we live in a fallen world system, with an adversary on the loose, and spiritual laws that are in full bore operation as well. The devil is always cruel, but God is always good . . . and just!

If by chance it has escaped your attention, the good old U.S. of A. launched way out into economic distress starting back in Aug. 2008. As a result of our economic “cold” the world has caught “an economic flu”. Certainly, hard times have hit our shores . . . but why? Well, I am one who believes we are at the very threshold of the beginning of the fulfillment of end-time prophecy. All the evidences, as far as I am concerned, point to that reality, seemingly even the heavens are boldly declaring this as well.

In the very beginning when God made the sun, moon and stars He said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.” (Gen.1:14) And it is so that our days, years, and even seasons are in fact governed by those empyreal bodies. But let’s not overlook the word signs in that verse. In Hebrew the word signs here is “owth”, and it means a signal as a flag, a beacon, monument, or mark. It has been said the God has marked the heavens by positioning the sun, moon, stars, and planets so as they would proclaim His plan of redemption for mankind, along with marking future events of prophecy as a signal or warning of things to come. Consequently, I believe current happenings in the sky above us are declaring we may have entered into a phase of “judgment” on the Gentile nations.

Last year, on August 1, 2008 there was a total eclipse of the sun. Nothing unusual about that . . . eclipses happen. This year, on July 22, 2009, there will be another total solar eclipse. OK . . . still normal. Next year, on July 11, 2010 there will be yet another total solar eclipse. Now then, this would be considered a bit unusual for three total solar eclipses one year after another, but still not enough to grab our attention, right? What if all three eclipses would have landed on the same day of the year, let’s say on August 1st 2008, 2009, and 2010? Would that get your attention? Well, the fact is that all three total solar eclipses do fall on the same day of the year . . . just not on our Gregorian calendar. If God was going to mark certain days on His prophetic timetable, He would obviously use His calendar, the one He gave to the Jews in the Old Testament, not ours. August 1, 2008, July 22, 2009, and July 11, 2010 all fall on the same day of God’s calendar (the Jewish religious calendar). . . the 1st of Av.

In the Jewish mindset, solar and lunar eclipses where taken as a “divine sign” hung in the heavens especially when they fell in sequence or on certain days of significant importance such as a religious feast day. They considered a lunar eclipse to bode bad for Israel, however, they considered a solar eclipse as a sign of pending “judgment” on the Gentiles.

So, this begs the question, has judgment on the Gentile nations been declared in the heavens? Has it already begun? Unless you have been living in seclusion for the past year, it is obvious to see things have not been peachy for many nations, especially ours. In fact, our economy began its descent in August 2008 . . . immediately follow the first total solar eclipse in the three year sequence.

My concern is that many Christian are asleep at the moment, and not discerning the seriousness of this present distress. However, some conversations I’ve had recently with close friends and fellow ministers seems to be mostly centered around the soon return of the Lord. I believe God is speaking to the body of Christ at this moment to wake up, and get serious about the things of God. Let the natural things that used to be so important to you be overcome with spiritual matters. Keep your mind on things above. (Romans 8:5-6)

Now, there are two more total eclipses in the sequence. What lies ahead then? Some would have you believe that I am one of those so called “doom and gloom” preachers, which by the way is a phrase that has been widely used in an un-scriptural sense. They Bible is full of warnings for God’s people as well as unbelievers. So not to echo those warnings is not preaching the whole gospel! Don’t knock those men and women of God whom He has called to minister along those lines. There have been too many preachers tickling too many ears anyways. I do have strong feelings about certain calamities which will be unleashed over the next two years on Gentile nations, and I will be expressing them in detail in future blog posts.

It may be a time of darkness that is looming over the nations of the world, but for the Church great days are straight ahead. This is our time to shine! Darkness will overtake those in the world, but stay in the light and you’ll be fine. A candle shines brightest in darkness. As the sun is blotted out as a signal of judgment over the nations in the following two years, allow the light of the Son to shine through you.

This post is the 1st in a series. Here are the other articles:

2 – The Great Total Solar Eclipse of 2009

3 – The Great Total Solar Eclipse of 2010

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