There is little doubt that the current presidential impeachment hearings paint a vivid picture of a nation divided. Just as the United States were once divided along the lines of slavery, we are divided along the lines of political ideology today.

It is difficult to see our nation so divided.

In 1858, Abraham Lincoln was running against Steven Douglas for a U.S. Senate seat. Perhaps because of the recent Dred Scott decision, Lincoln solemnly paraphrased scripture (Matthew 12:25) and made the following pronouncement about our nation:

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.” I believe the government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new — North as well as South.”

No one argues the atrocities that derived from our Civil War. To Lincoln’s premonition, and because of God’s grace, we survived as a nation. We have been able to sustain our politics and preserve our constitution through Reconstruction, the era of Agriculture, and the era of Industrialization.

However, slowly but surely, another ‘great divide’ for our country has risen, beginning in the 1960s.  Here’s a sampling of those things that break the heart of our Lord:

The Sexual Revolution,

The proliferation of drug addiction,

The proliferation of pornography,

Over 65 million abortions to date,

Eliminating prayer from public schools,

The proliferation of alcohol addiction,

The gay-lesbian agenda.

A couple of weeks ago, I was attending our small group meeting at church. We were studying some of David Jeremiah’s Bible prophecy curriculum – ‘signs’ of the End Times.

The small group leader was facilitating a mini lesson on the Gog/Magog War found in Ezekiel 38. This is, of course, a prophecy of a coming attack on Israel by nations interpreted as the modern nations of Russia, Iran, Turkey, Ethiopia, Libya, and Sudan.

The future attack is to take a ‘spoil’ of newly discovered vast resources of oil and natural gas in Israel. I believe the prophecy of Ezekiel 38 may very well be a trigger for the seven-year Tribulation Period.

Here is an excerpt from Ezekiel 38:

“You [the invading countries] will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’— to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land.

“Sheba, Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions will say to you, ‘Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?'”

Let’s break down the probable cast of characters:

Sheba and Dedan are most probably Saudi Arabia.

The merchants of Tarshish are nations from western Europe, probably Spain and/or Britain.

The young lions are countries born out of western Europe, including possibly the United States.

So then, Sheba and Dedan, along with the merchants of Tarshish, and the young lions only question the invasion of Israel; they collectively sit on the sidelines during the invasion of Israel.

In other words, the United States could very well be a silent witness regarding Ezekiel’s future war. Why would the United States remain silent?

Getting back to our small group discussion, our leader started the session by saying …

“I’m hoping our absence [from the events in Ezekiel 38] signifies a great revival that is occurring in the United States at that time.”¹

This posit means the United States ignores the terrible future invasion of Israel for a spiritual reason, like revival.

Oh, how I hope this is true!

But me thinks differently.

I believe our great nation can’t respond to Israel’s invasion by Russia, Turkey, Iran and its puppet proxies because of an internal implosion.

The great divide that we are witnessing, best exemplified by the current impeachment process, is only escalating – there is no broad indications of spiritual revival in the United States. In fact, our country should become a target for national and foreign evangelical missionaries, much the same as we have provided so many other third-world nations in the past.

The Barna Research group reports, “The role of religion in public life [of the United States] has been slowly diminishing, and the church no longer functions with the cultural authority it held in times past.”

Perhaps our house is about to fall.

Are there small pockets or regions of revival in the United States? Yes, of course! The Spirit of God is still alive and moving. But, for all the reasons outlined in this article, there doesn’t seem to be a national inclination of spiritual revival.

Look at the daily headlines; notice how the very liberals among us have taken a stronghold in the changing demographics, politics, and legislations.

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and talks like a duck …

We, as Jesus prophesied, have become a nation divided against itself. And regardless of what we want, God has a sovereign plan for our country. My heart tells me that our country is subject to the divine purpose of Jesus’ soon return to set up his kingdom.

Maranatha, Dear Lord. Maranatha.

“God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them” (Romans 1:28-32, NKJV).

Tom Hoffman

tom@fearlesstom.com

¹ https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2019/june/barna-the-cradle-of-christianity-in-us-is-now-most-post-christian-region-nbsp

Prophecy Update & 7 Encouraging Keys for Watching Believers 

Breakneck Speed

I’ve been hesitant to write a prophecy update lately because things are happening at such a rapid pace that it is difficult to keep up with everything happening. Yet, this is exactly what Jesus said would happen at the time of the end. He said over and over again that he would come at a time when the signs were occurring in rapid fire.

He used the Greek word tachu (think tachometer) and various forms of the term. He wasn’t saying he was coming “soon” as some translations render it, but that he was coming “swiftly” at a time with things were revved up—at the top end of the end-time tachometer, so to speak. We seem to be there now. I suppose things could rev up even more—but at some point, the tachometer is going to redline. Jesus also referred to these as birth pains. Most prophecy experts agree that the birth pains began with the rebirth of Israel and have steadily increased since that all-important prophetic event. At some point the baby must be born. Things are truly happening at breakneck speed—right now.

Snapshot of the Current Perplexity and Lawlessness

In the Olivet Discourse Jesus said the nations would have perplexing problems in the last days—problems they didn’t even know how to fix. In the context of the aforementioned birth pains, he also taught that these (and other signs) would increase in frequency and intensity the closer we got to his return. In addition to Jesus’s teaching about the last days, Paul taught (in 2 Timothy 3) that there would be terrible (dangerous, violently brutal) times in the last days characterized by selfishness, greed, pride, lawlessness, slander, immorality, and “spirituality” but not godliness.

Because of the wall-to-wall coverage of the ongoing KGB-like political coup taking place in Washington, most Americans don’t even realize the incredible rise of division and social uprising around the world. In addition to the deepening division occurring right now in America (with the impeachment), in Israel (possibly heading toward an unprecedented 3rd election, and with the official charges leveled on Netanyahu), in Great Britain (with the ongoing Brexit break-up perplexities), here is a snapshot of actual, ongoing, often-violent, and widespread civil uprisings around the globe:

France, Hong Kong, Iran (where the internet was shut down and over 100 protesters were killed in 21 cities), Turkey, Venezuela, Lebanon, Chile, Spain, Haiti, Iraq, Sudan, Russia, Egypt, Uganda, Indonesia, Ukraine, Peru, Zimbabwe, Columbia, the Netherlands, Ethiopia, Brazil, Algeria, Ecuador, and other places.

Circling back to the division in America—it truly seems our country is too far gone. I’m an optimist by nature, but as I study scripture and survey the landscape and recent history of our country, I don’t see how it can be healed. Scripture tells us that a nation divided cannot stand. It is a spiritual law, so to speak. I do believe, however, that God is delaying this supernova explosion until the rapture has occurred.

The rapture will likely be the trigger that causes the concussive collapse. All systems are poised for this future trigger event. Such a collapse would have global repercussions that would perfectly set the stage for the rise of the Antichrist and the ensuing events of Revelation.

I believe Jesus taught in the Olivet Discourse (through his mention of the end times being like the days of Noah) that the world would be characterized by lawlessness, violence, widespread immorality, and business-as-usual commerce—right up to the moment the end-time ark closes (i.e. The rapture). Right now we’re on all systems go—and I believe it will stay that way (and worsen) as time goes on.

The End-Time Fire-Pot

Zechariah 12 says Israel will be like a “firepot in a woodpile” in the last days. Even though this tiny country could fit into Lake Michigan (with room to spare) and merely wants to exist in peace—hundreds of rockets can be fired into her civilian areas without any real condemnation from the UN, EU, or any major country except the US. Last week Israel was attacked daily (and rightfully defended herself) as rockets were fired into civilian areas—and this barely made the news in America.

Then we have the matter of Iran’s proxies and specialized Quds Force preparing daily (and openly stating this fact) for a near-future attack on Israel. By the way, did you realize that Quds means Jerusalem? In other words, Iran has a specialized elite unit within their Revolutionary Guards that literally means Jerusalem Force. Let that sink in. End-Time Bible prophecy centers on the tightening concentric circles of Israel, Jerusalem, and the Temple Mount.

As a matter of fact, we discover that every Old Testament prophet (except Jonah) predicted that Israel would become a nation again after a long period of worldwide dispersion (and mistreatment) of the Jewish people.

For example, Ezekiel 36-39 very clearly predicted the detailed chronological milestones that we have witnessed in modern history—much of it in just the past couple of years. These milestones include:

• The scattered bones of a nearly annihilated Jewish race (Ezekiel 36/WWII)
• Being brought back to their homeland again
• Leading to the rebirth of their ancient nation
• Followed by the threat of an unlikely alliance of 3 nations
• These ancient nations cited being modern-day Russia, Turkey, and Iran
• Having other nations in tow (Sudan, Libya, etc.)
• With the storm forming from Israel’s northern border
• But without the involvement of Syria (a traditional/consistent Biblical enemy of Israel)
• And with Russia being the main “guard” of the other nations involved
• For the purpose of taking valuable resources from Israel at the opportune time

The stage for this near-future attack is being set before our eyes—in real time. Prophecy is leaping off the page onto our newsfeed. These prophecies of Scripture could not more clearly be coming to pass than they are right now—except for the moment when this future attack begins and God intervenes. Even the US pull-out from northern Syria lines up with this prophecy. It’s as if someone were reading Ezekiel 38 like a movie script and directing the players how to act!

Some Encouraging Marching Orders

I want to end this weighty article on a positive and encouraging note. Aside from the fact that God is in control and we win in the end—we can be encouraged as people who are watching the end-time signs in a few other ways.

As a prophecy student and end-time watchman myself, I’ve had to wrestle with the tension between the worsening conditions of the world and the blessed hope event horizon we call the rapture. Here are a few conclusions I’ve come to in terms of how to navigate through these turbulent waters with our hope and joy still intact. I pray that these are an encouragement to others who have eyes to see the prophetic events taking place before our eyes, as so many seem to be asleep to these amazingly prophetic events. The foundation to all of these is trust.

1.) Don’t second-guess your calling.

Tether your obedience to a specific moment in time when you know God called you.

2.) Stay in your lane.

Focus on what you are called to impact, not on the 1,000+ other things you can’t control.

3.) Look up!

Fix your attention on eternal things. Trust that God is in control.

4.) Obey, one step at a time.

God knows exactly where he needs to position you on the end-time battlefield. When events are coming fast and furious, we must seek the Lord and obey one single step at a time. This is less overwhelming.

5.) Embrace the season.

We are in the end-times. Embrace this fact and understand its implications.

6.) Fellowship with like-minded believers.

Intentionally seek out other watchers—even if you have to fellowship from afar. Technology can help.

7.) Bloom where you are planted.

Prayerfully consider how to be a blessing to your church—even if many don’t recognize the relevance, importance, or urgency of the signs that you see. Perhaps the Lord is positioning you as a “go-to” source whom other believers can call on at the right time. As conditions worsen, perhaps more believers will see what you see—or at least be more curious about them. You’ll be uniquely positioned to answer their questions. Be patient and loving in the meantime.

By: Todd Hampson | ToddHampson.com