The whole world is frightened, perplexed and confused! Even the saintliest Christian must be wondering about all the fast-moving prophetic events that are rapidly unfolding.
I know that believers all over the world are asking themselves a question that I, too, am wondering: Are we in the last decade of human history?
Remember that "one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day" (2 Peter 3:8). If you interpret this literally, considering each day of the Creation as lasting a thousand years, this means the year 2000 will bring us close to the end of the Sixth Day. The question is, will the Seventh Day be one of eternal rest? Are we actually that close to the end?
I don't know — that is only speculation. But one thing is sure: We have seen an acceleration of world events — changes that have taken place literally overnight!
Suddenly, without warning, the Iron Curtain fell! Almost overnight, Eastern Europe was free! Seemingly in a flash, the Soviet empire — once threatening the United States — was brought to the brink of disintegration and utter turmoil.
Until a few weeks ago, the world was talking about peace dividends. Now, in another overnight change, the armies of the world have turned from a dismantling posture to a state of emergency alert. The nations' forces are gathering in the Middle East at a cost of $1 billion a month.
Could it be that, in the same sudden manner, the Antichrist world leader will be revealed? Could it also be that God has come to the end of His patience with the sins and blood guiltiness of North America, as it happened with Sodom and Gomorrah?
Frightening bankruptcies in our Savings & Loan organizations (now a $500 billion black hole), the mounting national debt, diseases and nationwide plagues — are they all signs that our country is entering the corridor of a divine curse as outlined in Deuteronomy 28? Read what God does to the nations that sin against the light. You can see it happening in America right now!
Are we already in the early stages of the biggest depression in our history? The Great Depression of the 1930s has been regarded as the worst ever. But many economists believe we're on the brink of a depression that will make our worst look tame by comparison.
Is God even now beginning to cut off our supply of bread? Is He bringing ruin upon us, as He did upon Jerusalem and Judah because of their sins? In Isaiah 3:1-6, you'll find that God does cut off bread — and massive unemployment results! When judgment fell in Zion, "there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast" (Zachariah 8:10). Will there be massive unemployment as God judges America's sins?
There is a sense of danger in the air — every situation seems volatile. There is a feeling that the world is on a course from which there is no turning back! There is talk of wars, race wars, holy wars. Israel is feverishly preparing for war as never before — gearing up for a final conflict! That nation is welcoming 100,000 Russian Jews, hoping that from them many strong soldiers will help double their army.
Is this the day that Jesus predicted — when men's hearts would fail from overwhelming fear as they behold the frightening things happening on the earth? Could it be we really are the generation that will behold the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ? Have we come to such a point in human history that it can now be said, "This generation shall not pass away till all these things come to pass?" Will it indeed happen in our time?
Beloved, we have arrived! We have now come to that place in human history which all the prophets warned about — the awesome Day of the Lord! We are — about to witness the unfolding of great, fearful sufferings and tribulations!
In all probability we may have a short respite from the present world crisis. Yet such a breathing spell only leads to greater hardness of heart! While Pharaoh held Israel in slavery in Egypt, he was desperate to see Egypt delivered from the plague of frogs sent by the Lord. "But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said" (Exodus 8:15).
A false peace may be granted for a short season. But even with some recess — even if some kind of peaceful settlement is made — don't think there will be a return to repentance.
No! Mankind will go into the greatest drunken, drug-crazed orbit ever! People will remove all restraints. It will be a time of sexual abandon and materialism, a Belshazzar's feast. Everything will go wild!
But rest assured that, as the prophets declare, the world is going to be turned upside down. The very foundations of the earth will be shaken — and everything will come to ruin.
"Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down.... The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled, for the Lord bath spoken this word. The earth mourneth and fadeth away.... The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate" (Isaiah 24:1-14).
"The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved.... The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage...and it shall fall and not rise again" (verses 19-20).
Hear the words of God's prophet Isaiah! The earth is not headed for rejuvenation. It is headed for total ruin!
If Isaiah could deliver one message to this generation, it would be the one found in verses 17-18: "Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake."
Isaiah was not spiritualizing any of this. He meant, literally, that laughter will cease. Confusion will reign. Houses will be shut up: "All joy is darkened, and the mirth of the land is gone...and the foundations of the earth do shake" (Isaiah 24:11,18).
It was reported recently that the University of Southern California has stored large amounts of food, water and other emergency supplies underground in preparation for the great earthquake that's expected to come soon. They believe a literal shaking is at hand!
So, what will happen to the true followers of Jesus in such times? If the world is going to grow steadily worse until Isaiah's prophecy is fulfilled — if we are to go through some or all of these calamities — then how will God take care of us?
God Has Clearly Warned Us in Detail About the Troubles Ahead — Will He Not Also Reveal to Us How He Plans to Protect Us?
The answer is, YES! God has a definite plan! It's most simple, yet it is as sure and absolute as the universe itself!
God's plan to preserve His people can be summed up in one sentence: God is going to preserve His people by the power of His predetermined Word!
We are going to be preserved by the spoken word of God — a word of deliverance that was pronounced from the foundation of the world! It is something God determined before the world was!
Just a few weeks ago the U.S. military was caught off guard by Iraq's takeover of Kuwait, and overnight an emergency plan had to be developed. The Pentagon scrambled to draw up contingency plans in the event of more surprises. The War Room is now in a day-to-day, hour-by-hour emergency!
Beloved, our God is never caught off guard! Nothing surprises Him! He does not need to call an emergency meeting with heavenly hosts to come up with a last-days strategy of protection. He has no "Operation Preservation." God spoke a plan into existence long before there were nations, armies, wars, depressions, plagues and violence.
God foresaw it all, and He spoke into existence a word of preservation that is as eternal and unshakable as His own character! Paul says that God "hath determined the times before appointed" (Acts 17:26).
Hour by hour, day by day, God is going to preserve us in the same way He now preserves the sun, the moon, the stars, the galaxies and the very forces of nature — by His predetermined, spoken word. It is the same word that governs light, darkness, the tides, the seasons, the air we breathe!
God's predetermined word was spoken: "Let there be light: and there was light" (Genesis 1:3). From that moment on, and throughout time and eternity, there was and is and always will be light!
God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven...two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night" (Genesis 1:14,16).
Suddenly, by the power of His predetermined word, a ball of intense fire appeared in the firmament. It was so majestic that only an eternal, all-knowing God could create it! And just as suddenly, there appeared in the firmament a smaller planet, orbiting the earth and reflecting the light of the sun — this was the moon.
The sun, the moon, the billions of stars, the multitudinous galaxies all stay in their prescribed orbits, obeying the spoken word of our Lord. His once-spoken word holds everything in place!
God doesn't have to repeat a single word, nor does He have to keep reminding the planets to stay in their orbits. He does not have to keep telling the seasons to change or warning the tides they mustn't overflow the land. He spoke the word once — and it was, and always shall be, until He speaks again and creates a new heaven and a new earth!
Job said that by His word God "commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars" (Job 9:7). Peter said, "By the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth...but the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment" (2 Peter 3:5,7).
"Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear" (Hebrews 11:3). He simply spoke the word and out of nothing He created everything!
Jesus Christ upholds all things by the power of His word! "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power" (Hebrews 1:3). "And he is before all things, and by him all things consist" (Colossians 1:17).
Jesus spoke a sustaining word to all created things! When He came to earth as a man for 33 years, all created things were sustained by the eternal word He spoke only once at the beginning. Only at His command did these forces change and obey a new order. When Jesus' disciples saw Him calm the sea, they said, "What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!" (Matthew 8:27).
As Surely as He Created All Things by the Power Of His Word, the Lord Has Spoken Into Being an Eternal Word of Preservation and Keeping Of All His Children!
Since the beginning God has promised to preserve all who trust in Him. He spoke this eternal word to Abraham: "I am thy shield!" (Genesis 15:1).
That word was for all eternity! And God extends it to all of Abraham's seed — all who are of the faith. He will be our shield all through eternity!
God spoke a word in the beginning, and every generation has proven — through thick and thin, through everything Satan could throw at them — that God is our shield!
For years I have wondered what is the full meaning of the Lord's words: "Man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live" (Deuteronomy 8:3). Now I know!
Moses spoke these word to the Israelites as he reminded them of God's faithfulness. The meaning is this: "God allowed you to experience hunger — He humbled you by bringing you to a place where all human ingenuity was in vain. If God had not taken care of you supernaturally, you would have died!
"The issue was not food, but rather trust in God! God, who spoke the world into being, had a word of preservation for you. All His words were yours by faith!"
When Israel was in the desert God did a new thing for them. He spoke the words, "Let there be manna — let them wonder what it is!" He created something new!
Israel could have called together their princes and leaders to plan and strategize how God might feed and care for them. But none would have ever conceived that God would cover the ground with small, white, round seeds — a new kind of food that mankind had never seen or tasted before. It was angels' food!
Do you want to know how God is going to preserve you in all your hard times? By speaking a new word, if necessary! By creating all you need by the power of His word! All God had to do was speak the word "manna" — and an entire generation of Israelites was preserved!
Jesus used this same word when Satan tempted Him to turn stone into bread in order to ease His hunger pangs: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4).
Jesus knew He was the seed of Abraham! He knew that God's eternal word of preservation was spoken to Him: "I am thy shield [protector]" (Genesis 15:1). Jesus could face a situation that was hopeless by man's standards, and rest in God's word: "I am your Protector!"
As He faced hunger and thirst in the wilderness His heart was at rest, for He knew the Father had spoken the word that He was safe! His mission had been spoken from the foundation of the world, and no weapon formed against that mission could prosper! He trusted in His Father to preserve Him in God's own way — by the power of His word!
At the end of 40 days Jesus, too, was eating angels' food. He had meat that no man knew anything about, as well as water from glory! "Behold, angels came and ministered unto him" (Matthew 4:11).
Today many Christians are trying to figure out how God is going to take care of His people when the ruin comes in full force. Some plan to head to the outback of Australia, others for the mountains of Colorado or Montana.
Some talk of survival farms and Christian communities. I even tried that myself! I purchased a 250-acre farm and built lakes on it, stocking them with fish. We bought 50 head of Black Angus cattle and were ready to ride out the Tribulation, depression or whatever else came!
But that wasn't God's plan! The cows got Bang's disease and had to be sold. The hay we grew cost less to buy than to produce. We ended up nearly giving away "Shangri-la" for 10 cents on the dollar — to a ministry whose purpose is not survival but evangelism!
Jesus warns us to "take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? Or, what shall we drink?" (Matthew 6:31). Our heavenly Father knows what we need, and He has spoken this eternal word: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33).
All you need! His predetermined word about us was settled in heaven long before any of us were born! God, the Creator, spoke a word of finality: "In every generation I will protect, keep, feed, preserve, all those who seek Me first!" And that word is as firm as the word that keeps the planets in place!
I believe God's greatest desire for His people in these troubled times is to bestow on us an unshakable conviction that He is going to keep us from the power of the wicked one. God is desperately trying to fill us with consolation and peace. He has sworn that His word is enduring and for us:
"Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath [meaning, God is deeply interested in showing us the permanent character of His word]: that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil" (Hebrews 6:17-19).
Is your soul anchored in hope? Do you enjoy the strong consolation based on knowing that God cannot lie and that His word has gone forth to preserve you in evil times?
Take time to read and digest all of Psalm 91, and you will find the eternal word of God delivered once and for all. It is given by a God who cannot lie — and though it was spoken to David, it holds true for every generation since then and especially for us.
Finally, We Have an Even Stronger, Better Hope Than Job, David or Any Other Old Testament Believer: We Are the Body Of Christ!
We are bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh! "For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones" (Ephesians 5:30).
We are His household. God's Word says, "If any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel" (1 Timothy 5:8).
You see, to even entertain the thought that the Head of our house will not provide for us is to accuse Him of denying Himself and to call Him an infidel! "For no man ever yet hated his own flesh: But nourisheth it and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the Church" (Ephesians 5:29). It is impossible for Christ to neglect His own body!
God would have to hate His own flesh to neglect you or me in a time of trouble! Oh, but it is written: "He cherishes, He nourishes [feeds and cares for] His beloved!"
Don't try to figure out how He will do this for you! You can't figure it out anymore than you could have guessed how He would open the Red Sea, or how He would keep the Hebrew children alive in a furnace that was so hot it killed their tormentors outside the entrance...
Or how He would shut the mouths of hungry lions all night long as Daniel stood among them, untouched! Or how God would bring water out of a rock. Or how one angel would wipe out an army of 185,000 men in one night! Or how a raven could feed a prophet in the wilderness. Or how a barrel of meal and a bottle of cooking oil never bottomed out for months on end. Or how Jesus would pay for His disciples' taxes by getting money out of the mouth of a fish. Or how He could feed 5,000 people with just a few loaves and fishes. Or how He could turn water into wine!
We could never figure any of it out! He has the words of eternity!
And God is going to sustain us all throughout eternity! In glory we will have no other means of support but the Son of God. We're going to be sustained by His very presence. The word that will keep us for all time is the very same word that is sustaining us even now — and will continue to sustain us no matter how desolate or ruined this old world becomes!
There is a doctrinal fuss that has been going on in the church for years: Will true believers go through the Great Tribulation? Will we who love Jesus live to see all these awful sights?
Some say Jesus will come and take away His bride before the suffering. Some say He will come after three-and-a-half years of tribulation. Still others say we will go through it all. Some say only Jews will go through the Great Tribulation.
Let me put your mind at ease! This Scripture passage ought to assure us no matter which doctrine is right:
"After this I beheld...a great multitude, which no man could number...and one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?...and he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation" (Revelation 7:9, 13-14).
These believers came out! A great multitude! And that is the point: They went in — but they came out!
Not only did they survive the great sufferings, but they came out shouting with a very special testimony! They were saying, "Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever" (Revelation 7:12).
These people did not just "survive" — they sang of Who had brought them out! God had proved Himself to them in every way! They had learned to "serve Him night and day."
Beloved, God is not interested in simply preserving us physically with food, water and shelter. That is no great victory. These overcomers triumphed in the worst of times because the whole word of God came alive to them!
They had His strong arm and His glory and wisdom to the end. Every word out of His mouth became real. They were praising Him with great thanksgiving!
Imagine — no despair, no cowering and no surrender to satanic threats! These overcomers came out washed, dressed in white and victorious! (verse 14).
Brothers and sisters, be encouraged. His Word says that no matter what we go through — we're coming out!