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1:11, Zechariah 8:13, 10:6-9.)
A Fundamental Prophecy
But what about the events of the
next severa/ years
leading up to the
crisis at the close of this world's
civilization?
A little understood but founda–
tional prophecy giving many details
is set forth in Leviticus 26 and its
companion chapter, Deuteronomy
28. These prophecies are speaking
to the descendants of the pa–
triarch-all 12 tribes of the house
of Israel. Tbey detail what God
WILL DO to bis people if they turn
aside and forsake bis way.
1n Leviticus 26:3-12, God sets
fartb the blessings we could have if
our peoples sincerely turned to
God, kept his commandments and
served him from the heart. Then in
verses 14 and 16, God warns our
people: "But if ye will not hearken
unto me, and will not do all these
commandments ... I will even ap–
point over you terror, consumption,
and the burning ague [fevers], that
shall consume the eyes, and cause
sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow
your seed in vain, for your enemies
shall eat it."
This prophesied time of national
crisis began for Britain, America
and much of Northwestern Europe
in tbe Great War of 1914 to 1918.
lt
was indeed during and right after
that war that the terrible ftu epi–
demics and similar outbreaks
caused millions of deaths in
addi–
tion
to the war deaths.
In World Wars I and Il, the
farmers of France, Belgium, Hol–
land and Norway did "sow their
seed in vain." For occupying armies
either ruined the crops or confis–
cated them.
"Ye shall be slain before your
enemies" (verse 17). The millions
of dead troops in both world wars
are a mute testimony that God was
beginning to allow the punishment
of the people to whom he had given
the choicest material blessings on
the earth.
But did our nations REPENT and
truly begin to
seek the living GOD?
While viewing a massive, impres–
sive old church building in Boston
on the east coast of England, 1 asked
the verger when was the last time
this structure, which could hold
more tban 2,000 worshipers, was
March 1984
filled with people. The old gentle–
man got a faraway look and a glint
of tears in bis eyes as he answered:
"Why, it was on tbe Sunday right
after Dunkirk," he said. "People
poured into the churcbes every–
where in England because they
knew it was a miracle."
"How many people now attend
bere?" I asked.
His eyes saddened. "Oh, only
about 75 to 100 on average."
"Mainly older women?"
"Yes, that's right."
Do you think GoD is impressed
by a people who cry out to him
only
when they are in terrible trouble?
Think about it!
Our National Paralysis Prophesied
God continues in Leviticus 26:
"And if ye will not yet for all this
hearken unto me, then 1 will punish
you seven times more for your sins.
And I will break the pride of your
power; and 1 will make your heaven
as
iron, and your earth as brass"
(verses 18-19).
God decreed that if we did
not
truly repent after the sufferings of
two world wars, he would continue
to discipline our peoples. Notice!
He did not say he would immedi–
ately take away our power. God
said he would take away our
"pride" of power, our
courage,
our
national will and resolve to USE the
power we still have!
Former U.S. President Richard
Nixon, in his book
The Real War,
was moved to comment, "The
United States appears so lost in
uncertainty or paralyzed by propri–
ety that it is either unable or
unwilling to act." Later in this
same book, Mr. Nixon observes:
"America's failures of will in
recent years have been partly the
product of weariness after nearly
40 years of bearing the burdeos of
world leadership. They clearly
result in part from the traumas of
Vietnam and Watergate. But more
fundamentally, they reftect the fail–
ures of America's leadership class.
Too many of those who profess to
be the guardians of our ideals have
instead become the architects of
our retreat."
A Worsening Scenario
Reading carefully tbe foundational
prophecy in Leviticus 26, notice
that after each series of events God
pauses to see if we will repent. lf
not, then he adds further and
stronger punishment!
So in verses 21-22, God says he
will send "plagues" as punishment
in addition to our nations' paralysis
of will and the unexpected conse–
quences of drought-witness the
awesome damage to crops this past
year!
Finally, God says in Leviticus
26:28 that if we still won't repent,
"I also will walk contrary to you in
fury" (RAV). The nations ' cities
will be
destroyed
(verse 31 ), and
the people will be taken into servi–
tude by the conquering invader.
Referring to these end-time
events, Jesus Christ admonished:
"Watch ye
therefore, and
pray
always,
that ye may be accounted
worthy to escape all these things
that shall come to pass, and to
stand before the Son of man"
(Luke 21 :36).
This utter destruction will come
in OUR DA
Y
in the form of a nuclear
attack and perbaps direct-energy
weapons- now being feverishly
developed in severa! nations- if the
nations that descend from the so–
called lost lO tribes of the ancient
bouse of Israel do not repent of
tbeir sins.
Only in such a human crisis will
people wake up, it seems. Then
God will remember bis people
Israel and Judah in the concentra–
tion camps: "And 1 will strengthen
the house of Judah, and I will save
the house of Joseph, and I will
bring them again to place them; for
1 have merey upon them: and they
shall be as though 1 had not cast
them off: for 1
am
the LORD their
God, and will hear them" · (Zech.
10:6).
When these events transpire–
and they WILL come just as surely
as tomorrow ' s
sun-then
the
nations will remember that we
WARNED them ahead of time and
they will come back weeping and
repenting and begin to SEEK God
with all their heart (Jer. 31 :7-9).
What wonderful good news is
coming! The tragedy is we could
experience it now, but we have
refused to go the way that will ulti–
mately bring about the coming
world of peace and spiritual under–
standing. o
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