Of Jehu, Manasseh, and the 2016 Election

I woke up this morning to some new news ...

(Donald Trump had won the presidential election) and to some old news... (another 3,000+ babies were going to be killed today, while in their mothers' wombs). Both the praises and the laments for the former are LOUD, while the laments for the latter can barely be heard.

Much of the evangelical church jumped on the Trump Train, hailing him as perhaps a modern day version of Cyrus (The Persian king appointed by God [Isaiah:28-45:13] to release the Jews from captivity so they could return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple [2 Chronicles 36:22 - Ezra 1:8; 5:13 - 6:14]). I suppose there is some expectation that Donald Trump will be the one to release us from the captivity of the liberal/leftist/progressive/fascist elements of society, including an oversized and oppressive federal government.

May I submit that Israel's captivity had been both proclaimed by God (through His prophets), limited by God, and ended at the hand of the man appointed by God even before that man was born. So I wouldn't get too caught up in the Cyrus analogy. Perhaps a better analogy can be found in Jeremiah 8. There Jeremiah refers to the impending desolation of Jerusalem and Judah as if it had already occurred. Their fate would be the result of the people's stubborn rebellion and sin. Jeremiah's prophetic vision caused much sorrow, yet while he spoke doom and judgment, false prophets were predicting peace. The kingdom had arrived at a place described in these words:
     "'Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed,    Nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; In the time of their punishment They shall be cast down,' says the Lord."  (Jeremiah 8:12)

"So what does this have to do with Jehu, Manasseh, and Josiah?" you may ask. Jehu was one of the kings of Israel, appointed to be anointed by Elijah (1 Kings 19:16-17) but actually anointed by Elisha (2 Kings 9:1-13). All of Israel's kings did evil in the sight of God, yet among them Jehu was most pleasing to God.
       "And the Lord said to Jehu, "Because you have done well in doing what is right in My sight, and have done to the house of Ahab all that was in My heart, your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation." ³¹ But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart; for he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin." (2 Kings 10:30-31)

The main purpose for which God had placed Jehu on the throne was to obliterate the house of Ahab, including bringing wicked Jezebel to her prophesied demise (2 Kings 10:30-37). Perhaps Donald trump's appointed task is to bring judgment upon the Clinton Crime Family. This is just speculation on my part, but the analogy is pretty clear.

Now for Manasseh and Josiah. Here the analogy is stretched a bit regarding the players, but it holds strong as to the over-arching principles. Manasseh was a king in the southern kingdom of Judah. He was extremely wicked...
      "He also built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, "In Jerusalem I will put My name." ⁵ And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. ⁶ Also he made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger."  (2 Kings 21:4-6)  "Moreover Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the Lord." ( 2 Kings 21:16)

Because of the sins of Manasseh and Judah, God said that he would destroy Jerusalem and take the people into captivity. This began with Manasseh himself being taken captive by the Assyrian army, a hook being put in his nose, and being taken prisoner to Babylon. It was there that Manasseh humbled himself greatly before God and sought His favor. God heard his prayers and restored him to Jerusalem where removed all of the idols and places of pagan worship. (2 Chronicles 33:11-17) It is important to note that in spite of God's mercy towards Manasseh, which extended to all of Judah, even to 4 generations (although it proved that even the most vile of sinners can find grace through genuine humility and repentance) did not negate the nation's sin of shedding innocent blood. Thus after the 2 year evil reign of Amon, the righteous 31 year reign of Josiah (which included genuine revival), the 3 month evil reign of Jehoahaz, there began the 11 year evil reign of Jehoiakim. It was during this time that the Babylonian invasion began which would ultimately result in the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of the Jews. The Bible's own commentary as to why this calamity fell upon God's chosen people follows:
       "Surely at the commandment of the Lord this came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, ⁴ and also because of the innocent blood that he had shed; for he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the Lord would not pardon." ( 2 Kings 24:3-4)

I am no more concerned with timing than Isaiah was when he prophesied the Babylonian invasion/captivity during the reign of Manasseh. Manasseh ruled Judah for 55 years - longer than any king before or after him. His sins ushered in the beginning of an Assyrian invasion, resulting in Manasseh being taken to Babylon. His repentance brought about a reprieve followed by a reformation, and several years later actual revival. There is no doubt in  my mind that the USA is as guilty of the shedding of innocent blood as was Manasseh and Judah. We have been doing it for over 43 years now, and God will judge that. When and how are up to Him.

It is interesting to note that the USA has been undergoing an invasion of people from a foreign land whose countenance is fierce and whose ideology of world conquest is veiled by a thin veneer of religion. I speak of Islam. Perhaps there will now be a temporary halt to the invasion. Perhaps there will be some reforms. Christians are well-known for dusting off 2 Chronicles 7:14 periodically, but the fruit of repentance remains sorely lacking. The continued genocide with the church's passive permission continues.

I am encouraging evangelicals everywhere, from the prominent TV figures down to the members of small village churches to take up the banner of Personhood. There may never again be a window of opportunity to put this national sin of abortion behind us and legally declare that personhood, and all of its due process protections, begins at the moment of conception. Whether Donald Trump is a modern day Cyrus, or representative of a repentant Manasseh, the duty of the church to be salt and light remains the same. As part of that, the "3.1.10 Initiative" (contacting our 3 congressmen at least 1 time per month to pass a Personhood Bill, and urging at least 10 friends to do the same) will be moving into high gear. I'm confident that Donald Trump will sign into law such a bill. May our efforts going forward outweigh our passivity of the past. In Jesus' Name!

World News Through the 3rd Lens: Connecting the Dots

What do evolution, abortion on demand, same sex marriage, and Islamic terrorism have in common?

 The Scopes Monkey Trial, was an American legal case in 1925 in which a substitute high school teacher, John Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which made it unlawful to teach human evolution in any state-funded school.^[1] The trial was deliberately staged to attract publicity to the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, where it was held. Scopes was unsure whether he had ever actually taught evolution, but he purposely incriminated himself so that the case could have a defendant.

Scopes was found guilty and fined $100 (equivalent to $1,349 in 2016), but the verdict was overturned on a technicality. The trial served its purpose of drawing intense national publicity, as national reporters flocked to Dayton to cover the big-name lawyers who had agreed to represent each side. William Jennings Bryan, three-time presidential candidate, argued for the prosecution, while Clarence Darrow, the famed defense attorney, spoke for Scopes. (Wikipedia)

While the verdict itself proved indecisive, it opened Pandora's Box and over the next 35-40 years the theory of evolution was accepted more and more as true science and the teaching of it crept into every aspect of society. Creationism was swept aside, not even given a place as an alternate theory. Science books touted evolution, and its corresponding ancient earth (millions or billions of years old) theory; government and privately funded research projects at universities were built upon this premise; and the language of "40 million years ago this, and 250 million years ago that" became common everywhere natural history was displayed. Evolution became the science of the religion known as Secular Humanism, and of political systems such as Communism, Marxism, and Fascism. God was being squeezed out of all expressions of public life.

The anti-God crowd had several willing spokespersons. Madelyn Murray O'Hair is best known for the Murray v. Curlett lawsuit, which led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling ending official Bible-reading in American public schools in 1963. This came just one year after the Supreme Court prohibited officially sponsored prayer in schools in Engel v. Vitale. It would take an encyclopedia to list all of the attempts to eliminate and public reference to the "Christian God" of "the God of the Bible" since then. They continue non-stop up to now, with no letup in sight.

So with evolution our national science, and God on the outside looking in, is it any wonder that man would be lured into codifying his position in the process of natural selection? Behind the scenes, Margaret Sanger, in 1921, opened a birth control clinic in Brooklyn, NY and founded the American Birth Control League. The name was changed to Planned Parenthood in 1942. Planned Parenthood championed eugenics, its founder being a rabid racist. While disguised by a lot of double-speak, the core thinking was that the black race was inferior and it should be eradicated, so why not accelerate the natural selection process. Such thinking under girded what became known as Nazism in Germany, only the inferior races included all Jews.

Do you see where this is going? In the USA, the idea that all life sprang from some random combination of proteins in a primordial soup, attacked the common concept that all human was sacred and valuable. Soon the attacks would turn into victory with the Roe v. Wade decision (by the Supreme Court, 5-4) on January 22, 1973. Since then some 60 million babies have been murdered while in or emerging from their mother's wombs. This doesn't count the number of babies killed while in the germinal stage of life by the morning after pill. All the while, a disproportionate (approximately 3:1) number of black lives are snuffed out by abortion.

Disregarding, on a national level, the fact that all human life comes from and reflects the image of the Creator has just led to more strange concepts and practices. One of them is to disregard God's definition of marriage as between one man and one woman for life. Little by little, the pressure from a segment of the population which numbers about 1-2% pushed for recognition of same-sex marriage until it became the de facto law of the land because of a 5-4 decision by the Supreme Court in the Obergefell v. Hodges case on June 26, 2015. It would be fair to assume that polygamy, incest, and dozens of other perversions will push for their day in court should the Lord's Second Coming be delayed.

 

 

Scripture declares "Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people." Proverbs 14:34 "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance." Psalms 33:12 The Bible contains many Scriptures which state that god will judge the nations. One with end-times significance is "Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; For there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations." Joel 3:12 It is quite possible that God has been gradually judging the USA as we have gradually been turning from Him. Be that as it may, there are, and have been, natural consequences stemming from our unnatural national decisions. There are now millions fewer productive workers contributing to a more robust economy and contributing to the Social Security Trust Fund. Consequently the over-65 portion of our population has been increasing an to a degree is being supported by contributions from a shrinking workforce. Same-sex marriages do not naturally produce babies, and so the situation is further aggravated.

Now where does Islamic terrorism fit in? In ancient Israel, ultimate judgment for their rejection of God (often referred to as whoring after other gods) came at the hands of another nation (Assyria, Babylon, Rome). When God spoke concerning the coming destruction of Babylon by the Medes, He said, "Surely I will fill you with men as with locusts and they shall lift up a shout against you." (Jeremiah 51:14) This nation must beware of its enemies and Islam has declared itself as such. Islam is comprised of people described as "Their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; Wasting and destruction are in their paths.  The way of peace they have not known, And there is no justice in their ways; They have made themselves crooked paths; Whoever takes that way shall not know peace." (Isaiah 59:7-8) Because of various government practices, some intentional and some by bureaucratic ineptitude, the camel of Islam has gotten its nose in the American tent.

Since 1991 it has been known that the intent of the Muslim Brotherhood is to implement social jihad in this country. The MB stated plan (General Strategic Goal In North America 5/22/1991) is to unite those who believe in their work of destroying America from within. Then rule over them. At the same time The Immigration and Nationality Act passed June 27, 1952 revised the laws relating to immigration, naturalization, and nationality for the United States. That act, which became Public Law 414, established both the law and the intent of Congress regarding the immigration of Aliens to the US and remains in effect today. Among the many issues it covers, one in particular, found in Chapter 2 Section 212, is the prohibition of entry to the US if the Alien belongs to an organization seeking to overthrow the government of the United States by "force, violence, or other unconstitutional means." This, by its very definition, rules out Islamic immigration to the United States, but this law is being ignored by the White House.

The Islamic invasion may not be God's final judgment upon America because she has rejected God on a national level, but it certainly seems to be part of that judgment. The irony is, the very same government which has spurned God is the government opening the doors to an evil people bent on our destruction. As though given over to a strong delusion, the government of the United States is poised to shoot itself in the foot, and perhaps the heart. "Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands afar off; For truth is fallen in the street, And equity cannot enter." (Isaiah 59:14)

The American Christian must "...Take heed that no one deceives you." (Matthew 24:4) Jesus has told us what would happen before hand, not to scare us but to prepare us. "But he who endures to the end shall be saved." (Matthew 24:13)