"IN THE DAY OF THE GREAT SLAUGHTER,
WHEN THE TOWERS FALL" (Isa 30:25)
[Does the Bible Reference the Trade Center's Twin Towers?]
WHEN IS THE END OF THIS WORLD?
Over the years I have been asked many times whether or not I thought the end of this world was near and the coming of our Lord was at hand? This question is usually asked with reference to some recent happening in the world, such as a war or rumor of wars, bad weather, famine, a new potential disease epidemic, some huge earthquake, volcano, hurricane, or a tsunami. These events are general, and have been with us for thousands of years. So my answer was always pretty much the same: "No, I do not believe that the end of the world is near, but certainly "...now our salvation is nearer than when we believed" (Rom.13:11). But that all changed on "September 11, 2001." This to me was not a "general" catastrophic happening as has been witnessed time and again, but this was a very specific catastrophe unlike anything before it.
Back in 2002 I gave a short lecture on 9-11. I now wish to make public to our readers the prophetic implications of this colossal disaster, as I believe is attested to in the Book of Isaiah.
Although numerous papers have been written about the Trade Towers and the reference to the Isaiah 30 prophecy, none seem to understand the time setting or the symbolism used. This prophecy does not fit the Babylonian captivity scenario to which most apply it, and I will show you from the Scriptures why this is so.
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Why is the World Trade Center located in New York City in the first place?
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Why not Hong Kong, or Jakarta, or Moscow?
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Does the fact that America is the greatest defender and proponent of Christianity in the world have anything to do with the fact that it is also at the very center of the world's trade and wealth?
JUST HOW WEALTHY IS AMERICA?
"Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God" (Ecc. 5:19).
"Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all" (I Chron. 29:12).
"But you shall remember the Lord your God for it is HE that gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore unto your fathers, as it is this day" (Deut. 8:18).
Since it is God Who empowers nations to get wealth, just who did God empower the most? The wealthiest nation on earth must figure into this declaration of God.
God was speaking to Israel when He made this prophecy, therefore, other prophecies for the future that regard "Israel," must also be making reference to the wealthiest nation, as wealth is one of the most obvious blessings on that nation. Let's look at America's wealth.
The GNP (Gross National Product) of the world is approximately $30 trillion dollars. Divide that among the 6 billion people of the world, and the average person would get $5000 a year. Americans earn an average of $38,000 a year.
The total wealth of the world is approximately $70 trillion dollars. Divide that among the 6 billion people of the world, and the average person would be worth $11,000. The average American is worth $60,000, and the average American household has a combined net worth of $182,000. Of the combined Gross National Product of the world ($30 trillion dollars), America gets $10 trillion dollars or thirty-three percent (one third)!
One more statistic based on religion. If we add the GNP of the next three wealthiest Christian countries (Germany, Britain, and France) to America's GNP, it would be greater than all the other 190 countries of the world COMBINED! So trust me when I say that America figures more prominently in end time prophecy than any other nation on earth.
But this paper is not just about American prosperity, but also its responsibility toward God for that prosperity, as God also provided a disclaimer in the next verse showing the consequences should we turn from God:
"And it shall be, if you do at all forget the Lord your God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that YOU SHALL SURELY PERISH" (Deut. 8:18-19) .
"THE ISLAND AT THE CENTER OF THE WORLD"
[Book Title by Russell Shorto]
"And it shall come to pass, if you shall hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord your God, to observe and to do all His commandments which I command you this day, that the Lord your God will set you on high ABOVE ALL NATIONS OF THE EARTH.
And all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you, if you shall hearken unto the voice of the lord your God. Blessed shall you be IN THE CITY..." (Deut. 28:1-3).
Israel was NEVER "...on high above all nations of the earth !" And why was that? Because Israel could not "hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord." Their greatest glory was under the rule of Solomon who turned into one of the worst idolaters in Israel's history. Oh they meant well:
"And ALL the people answered together and said, ALL that the Lord has spoken WE WILL DO. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord" (Exodus 19:8).
But before the ink was even dry on the paper of their promise, Moses told Israel this:
"Gather unto me [Moses] all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to record against them.
For I know that after my death you will UTTERLY CORRUPT YOURSELVES, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because you will do evil in the sight of the lord, to provoke Him to anger through the works of your hands"
(Deut. 31:29).
So, if ancient Israel, historic Israel, and today's State of Israel, was not and is not, "above all nations of the earth," then who is above all?
America is, and New York City is the "center" of this Nations great power and wealth. Manhattan Island truly is The Island At The Center Of The World, and here is how it started:
HOW MANHATTAN (NEW YORK CITY) CAME TO BE
I can't say, "New York City" without thinking of the ad in which a cowboy reads the label on a jar of salsa: "Made in New York City!" to which a sidekick remarks, "Get a ROPE!" Well, without New York City they probably wouldn't have ever had a rope or an open range in which to use it. As we will soon see, New York City once had its own cowboys, and the island was teaming with horses, sheep and cattle.
Back in the sixteenth century there were groups of Christians in Europe who were persecuted by both the Catholic Church and the State Churches. In England they were called Puritans, in France, Huguenots, and in French speaking Belgium and surrounding areas, they were called Walloons.
And let's not forget the Germans. Most Americans don't realize that German is now and always has been the largest ethnic group in the United States, at 15% following by the Irish at 10%.
Although most Americans have never even heard of the Walloons of Wallonia, maybe they figure into history more prominently than we'll ever know. This from the "EUPEDIA Forum:
"In the 52nd chapter of his ''Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,'' Edward Gibbon posed one of the great counterfactual questions of history. If the French had failed to defeat an invading Muslim army at the Battle of Poitiers in A.D. 732, would all of Western Europe have succumbed to Islam?
It wasn't the French, but the Franks who defeated the Moors in Poitiers in 732. Granted that the battle took place in what is now France, but the leader of the Frankish army, Charles Martel, was born and raised in what is now Wallonia, in Belgium.
Genetically, modern Belgians have a higher proportion of Frankish blood than the French. So, in the same way as the first crusade was led by a Walloon/Belgian (Godfroid de Bouillon), the Muslims were also defeated by a Walloon/Belgian 360 years before.
Without the Walloons, Europe (and the Americas) could indeed be Muslim now!"
There was great religious fervor in Western Europe in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. The Reformation started in Germany and spread westward to the British Isles, Netherlands, Belgium, and France. Many wanted deliverance from the iron hand of the Catholic and State sponsored Churches. They wanted freedom to worship God even if it meant moving into the wilderness among savage Indians-not unlike Israel entering the promised land under Joshua.
In 1623, the two-year-old West Dutch Indies Company was eager to start trade with the American Indians, especially for their quality furs. They wanted permanent colonies to aid in this new opportunity. In 1623 a young 19 yr. old man from Valenciennes, France, by the name of Joris Jansen De Rapalje (pronounced Rap-el-YAY), and his 18 yr. old girlfriend, Catelyntje Jeronimus Trico from Paris, were promising prospects for this new venture. From the recently published book on Manhattan by Russell Shorto, The Island At The Center Of The World, we read that Joris and Catelyntje, "...agreed to take part in the wildly hazardous enterprise on the condition that the company marry them in a hastier-than-normal ceremony, which took place four days before their ship [The Unity] left Amsterdam."
When they reached the New World, they settled up river from Manhattan, at Fort Orange (Now Albany N.Y.). They lived on the ship until the fort was completed. The following year Catelyntje gave birth to their daughter Sara, who is officially acknowledged as being the first European born child in New York. Some historians have called Joris and Catelyntje, "The Adam and Eve of New Netherlands," and one source calls Catelyntje, "The Mother of New York."
Because of the Mohawk and Mohican Indian wars of 1625, however, it was decided for safety's sake, to move from Fort Orange down to Manhattan Island. By 1628 they had completed Fort Amsterdam which they hoped would help protect them from local Indian attacks. They also built a church. Ironically, today The National Museum of the American Indian sits on the exact original site of Fort Amsterdam, which is part of Battery Park.
This is the earliest view of New Amsterdam, at the southern tip of Manhattan Island, first settled in 1625. The Rapalje, Monfort, du Trieux, and Vigne families came to Manhattan from their initial residence at Fort Orange (Albany). This drawing was probably made by Cryn Fredericksz, who visited the colony in 1625-26 to lay out a town and fort for the West India Company. The fort was not built until 1628, and along more modest lines.
Their first houses were little more than huts. It took five additional years of European immigration before Manhattan (New York City, mind you) had reached a permanent population of 300. Ships brought new immigrants to American and took discouraged colonists back to Europe. Life was hard, but not as futile as was Jamestown. They grew enough food and hunted enough game to survive, but little was left to profit the West Dutch Indies Company. Joris built two homes and lived in the one that became house #5 in Section G on Pearl Street right next to the wall of the Fort. Manhattan was simply a large farm. As the colony grew, streets were laid out and buildings constructed according to strict codes.
Lower Manhattan: After growing into a sizeable town.
In 1637 Joris bought 330 acres on Long Island from the Indians for what was reported to be "a lot of merchandise." Here he raised produce for guests of his hotel/tavern which he built on Pearl St. When Sara was grown she married Teunis Bogart (7th great grandfather of Humphrey Bogart), and helped run the family tavern. Catelyntje's second daughter, Marie, along with her husband, ran a tobacco plantation in what is now Greenwich Village. It all seems so surreal-New York City covered with fields, orchards, and cattle. The Rapalje's grew and prospered as did Manhattan. Joris was for a time one of the Council of Twelve to consult with Governor Kieft regarding unrest among the Indians. This was the beginning of representative government among the Dutch settlements in America.
And there was unrest among the Indians. Sara's son, Jacob, was killed by the Indians while sitting on the front steps of their tavern. They needed better protection from the Indians. The fort was getting too small to hold all of the town's people, so in 1653 it was decided to build a palisade of solid planks tapered to a point with a 12 foot wide and 5 foot deep trench paralleled by a street. They called this palisade barricade, "The Wall," and it went all the way across lower Manhattan from the Hudson River to the East River.
The Palisade Indian barricade called "The Wall"
How much protection was this "Wall?" Just two years later there was another Indian uprising when a farmer killed a squaw for stealing peaches from his orchard. This time 2000 Indians gathered on the Hudson of which 700 landed on Manhattan. These Indians killed 100, took 150 captives, and burned many homes leaving 300 homeless.
About this time Joris sold his business and property on Pearl Street, and moved to Long Island. He built the first home on Long Island on property partly covered today by the Brooklyn Naval Yards and Hospital. He served for years as a Magistrate of Brooklyn where he lived out his life. Near the end of Joris' life, New York was under the control of the English. Joris and his family along with a few dozen other families had found religious freedom in America. Soon their number swelled to thousands, then hundreds of thousands, and now many millions.
Original site of New Amsterdam [yellow shaded area]
They had big families. Joris and Catelyntje gave birth to eleven children for which we have baptismal records. The Rapalje family and their descendants lived in religious freedom for exactly one and a half centuries before America was even a nation.
But it was not their goodness that gave them freedom. Christians didn't build this nation. Our founding fathers did not build this nation. It was God's time to build a city and a nation. The unseen hand of God built American, and God can take it away.
"And you say in your heart MY power and the might of MY hand has gotten me this wealth. But you shall remember the Lord your God: for it is HE that gives you power to get wealth... And it shall be, if you do at all forget the Lord your God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that YOU SHALL SURELY PERISH" (Deut. 8:17-19).
FAST FORWARD THREE AND ONE-HALF CENTURIES
In just a few short years it will be 2023, exactly FOUR HUNDRED YEARS since Joris and Catelyntje sailed to America to find freedom. That's a long time.
How shocked would they be to find that "The Wall" that was supposed to protect them from their enemies is still here. Today we call it "WALL Street," the Financial Capital of the World. It's still there, right where it was 350 years ago.
And Americans still look to the power symbolized in this "Wall" to protect them from their enemies.
THE IMPORTANCE OF SYMBOLISM
Just off Wall Street is the World Trade Center, where the recent Twin Towers symbolized the power and might of America. The Towers were more than just office buildings; they were symbols of the grandest kind. They stood 110 stories each (1,368 ft.), that's over a quarter mile high. The Towers were seven years in the building, and boasted 10,000,000 sq. ft. (240 acres) of office space where 50,000 people worked. The tenants were diversified, but mostly it was a center for banks, trading companies, manufacturing headquarters, shipping fleets, securities, insurance, financial institutions, and did I mention banks?
The greatest center of financial power in the world is New York City. And the Symbol of Power for that "Great City" was the Twin Towers. Previously it was the Empire State Building: New York is the " Empire State."
When those Twin Tower Symbols fell, it was not just another disaster-it was a symbol of disaster to come of "BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS!"
Let's see what God's Word says about this monstrous event of September 11, 2001.
ISAIAH 30
Isaiah was the first of the "Latter Prophets," (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the "Twelve Minor Prophets), and he had a public ministry of approximately 60 years.
Isaiah is considered the greatest of all Hebrew writers, and considered a man of refinement and culture, "a truly poetic soul," and a profound observer of creation and of human nature, a true statesman, and called by some, "the Evangelist of the Old Testament."
The Book of Isaiah is considered to be a bible within the bible. It consists of sixty-six chapters (66 books of the Bible). The first 39 chapters are likened to the 39 books of the Hebrew Scriptures with its judgments upon sinful humanity. And the last 27 chapters are likened to the 27 books of the Greek Scriptures which bring salvation through the Messiah. Isaiah's prophecies cover thousands of years. Isaiah 30 covers thousands of years:
Isaiah 30:1-3, 6-7- "Woe to the rebellious children [Israel] , says the Lord, that take counsel, but not of ME: and cover with a covering [Heb: 'make an alliance' or 'ratify a covenant'] , but not of MY spirit [Heb: 'against My will'] , that they may add sin to sin.
That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked of MY mouth [Heb: 'asked My advice'] , to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of EGYPT!
Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion [Heb: 'humiliation'] ."
...they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young donkeys, and their treasures upon the humps of camels, to a people that shall not profit them."
For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still [Heb: 'therefore I have called her, Rahab {an epithet of Egypt} who sits still,' or 'Insolent they sit still,' or 'Dragon do nothing'] ."
The beginning of Israel's captivity (northern 10 tribes) was taking place near the beginning of Isaiah's ministry. Israel had depended upon alliances with other nations to protect them from Assyria, but Assyria defeated Israel's allies as well.
Now Judah is making overtures to Egypt for protection from Assyria's advances. But before Judah is attacked, Assyria is defeated by Babylon and now Judah has a new foe to fear. Judah's attempt to buy an ally fails for them as it did for Israel:
I realize the following may sound a little complicated (hence my bracket comments), but it is necessary to see from experts on Biblical History, that Israel's and Judah's alliances on foreign powers had zero effect on saving both of their nations.
"When Israel [the northern ten tribes] confidently made its pact with Damascus [the capital city of Aram (Syria) north of Palestine and Israel], it found itself allied with Judah's enemy when Damascus attacked Judah in its own attempts for conquest. Three years after the pact Damascus itself was overrun by Assyria [northeast of Syria, in 739 BC], nullifying any value to Israel that the pact had promised.
Likewise, Judah made its alliance with Egypt [while Assyria was still in power]. When Babylon [who had now conquered Assyria] swept over Judah Egypt failed to honor its part of the alliance and had long before retreated from Nebuchadnezzar's advance, leaving Judah defenseless." (American Journal of Biblical Theology).
And so we have the historical fulfillment of this Isaiah 30. Or do we? It has been remarked many times that "prophecy is dual." Actually, I believe that many prophecies are multi-layered. That is, they are numerous fulfillment's usually beginning with the physical and literal, moving toward the figurative and spiritual. Example: In the very first book of the Bible, Genesis, we have mention of physical Sodom and Egypt (Genesis 13:10), but in the very last book of the Bible we have mentioned "spiritual" Sodom and Egypt (Rev. 11:8).
So, who is Egypt and Sodom TODAY? And who is Israel TODAY?
Is the Israel of all these major prophecies (foretold to happen before the coming of God's government to this earth), the handful of racially mixed tenants of the State of Israel today? Give me a break.
Is the Jerusalem in prophecy inside today's Israel? Don't take my word for it
" And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified" (Rev. 11:8).
And where was our Lord crucified? In literal Sodom? NO. In literal Egypt? NO. He was crucified in Jerusalem, which is now for prophetic purposes, "SODOM & EGYPT!"
And when does God's word tell us "Jerusalem" (which symbolizes all Judah and all Israel) will be restored?
"When your sisters, Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then YOU [Jerusalem, Verse 2] and your daughters shall return to your former estate" (Ezek. 16:55).
This can only happen after "...the day of the great slaughter when the towers fall" as Sodom is still in the grave. They have not been restored since their original slaughter and destruction.
WHEN GENTILES ARE JEWS AND JEWS ARE NOT JEWS
[Is American Part of Prophecy?]
Now for one of the most profound scriptural truths you will ever learn; nowhere taught or believed in Christendom.
According to virtually all Christian teachers and scholars, when prophecy mentions Jerusalem, Judah, or Israel, it is speaking of literal Jerusalem, Judah, or Israel. For them, if "context, context, context" is the god of theological interpretation, then "literal, literal, literal," has got to be their vice-god. If this is true, then when it speaks of "Abraham's seed," it must mean "literal" bloodline descendants of Abraham, correct? No, NOT correct!
What was the most holy, righteous, sure sign that one was a descendant of Abraham and obedient to the One True God? Answer: Being circumcised the 8th day.
"This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and your seed after you; Every man child among you shall be CIRCUMCISED"
(Gen. 17:10).
Now then, who are the "circumcised Jews" of end time prophecy? Are they the literal, physical, circumcised Jews who are the literal, physical Jews of the literal, physical racial line of Abraham? NO:
"For he is NOT a Jew, which is one outwardly [physically circumcised and of the physical line of Abraham] neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh: But he IS a Jew which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and NOT of the letter [context, context, context: literal, literal, literal] ; whose praise is not of men, but of God" (Rom. 2:28-29).
Notice that this Scripture is found in "Romans." Rome is a Gentile nation, not a nation of Israel. Paul is telling Gentile Romans that THEY can be the TRUE JEW INWARDLY OF THE HEART AND SPRIT. Wow! Romans can be "JEWS?" Who would have ever thought? Maybe that was just a slip of Paul's tongue. Surely he isn't telling us that under the New Covenant GENTILES ARE JEWS is he? Here's a second witness:
"Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision [mutilation-those Jews who wanted to cut off the flesh of grown men among the Gentiles]. FOR WE [former pagan, present GENTILE Philippians of Philippi-North Central Greece] ARE THE CIRCUMCISION which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus, an have NO confidence in the flesh" (Phil. 3:2-3).
According to God, are those literal, physical Jews of the racial line of Abraham who are circumcised in the flesh, "Jews." NO, former pagan Gentiles are the TRUE JEWS according to Scripture.
But weren't all the "promises" to Abraham for "HIS SEED? Yes, of course, but the question now is, "Who IS Abraham's seed?"
"Not as though the word of God has taken none effect [God is not contradicting here] . For they are NOT all Israel, which are Israel. Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children, but, In Isaac shall your seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the FLESH, these are NOT THE CHILDREN OF GOD: but the children of the PROMISE ARE counted for the seed" (Rom. 9:6-8).
Yes, God intended from the beginning that the TRUE JEW, the SPIRITUAL JEW, the TRUE SEED of Abraham, the TRUE HEIR to the promises was to be the GENTILES!
"And if you [Paul is writing to GENTILE Galatians] be Christ's, then are you Abraham's SEED, and HEIRS according to the PROMISE" (Gal. 3:29).
"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature [or creation] . And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the ISRAEL OF GOD" (Gal. 6:15-16).
Yes, it is the "new creature in Christ Jesus" which is now "the ISRAEL OF GOD," not the Christ forsaking Jews of modern day Palestine.
"...they who ARE the Israel of God" (The Twentieth Century N. T.).
"...on the TRUE Israel of God" (Williams Translation).
"...to the TRUE Israel of God" (Phillips Translation).
Can Christ's Church also be a "nation?" It can and it is:
"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy NATION, a peculiar people: that you should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light: Which in time past were NOT A PEOPLE [they were pagan and they were GENTILE. See Rom. 10:20] , but are NOW the people of God; which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy" (I Pet. 2:9-10).
The Church of Christ has grown into a "Great House," with many children. Paul explains:
"But in A GREAT HOUSE there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth and some to honor, and some to dishonor"
(II Tim. 2:20).
Just what is this "great house" of which Paul speaks? Let Paul answer:
"But if I tarry long, that you may know how you ought to behave yourself in the House of God which is The Church of the Living God, the pillar and ground of the truth" (I Tim. 3:15).
The Apostle Peter tells us that this House of God definitely needs judging:
"For the time is come that JUDGMENT must begin at The House of God..." (I Pet. 4:17).
If the "House of God" needed judgment in the days of the Apostles, how much more judgment does it need today? And what did Paul prophesy would happen in this "GREAT House" in our day, "in the LATTER TIMES?" Let's read it from the source:
"Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the LATTER TIMES some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking LIES IN HYPOCRISY; having their conscience seared with a hot iron" (I Tim. 4:1-2).
And this:
"This, know also, that IN THE LAST DAYS, perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent [without self-control], fierce [brutal], despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady [reckless] , high-minded [haughty], lovers of pleasures more than [rather than] lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away... EVER learning, and NEVER able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (II Tim. 3:1-7).
Some Christians naively believe Paul and all these prophecies are speaking of the whole world of mankind in general. Oh no He isn't:
It is not the atheistic heathen world which has "departed from the faith," who "blaspheme God," who have a "form of godliness," or who have "turned away from such."
Oh no. It is the HOUSE OF GOD which has done these things and continues to do them. It is the "CHURCH of the Living God." It is: "THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS, AND THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" who commits spiritual fornication by going to the "Egypts" of this world and making alliances with the nations rather than trusting in God.
And lest we get puffed up in the realization that the Christian democracies of America and Europe are indeed the "ISRAEL OF GOD" in prophecy, let us not forget that God's Church is made up of the "MANY called, but FEW chosen" (Matt. 22:14 & Matt. 7:21-23).
And so, although Isaiah 30 speaks of physical, literal Egypt and Judah, and both these nations fulfilled the prophecy of Isa. 30:10-7, this is not, however, the main fulfillment of Isaiah 30 at all. And how can I say that? Because Isaiah 30:8 dates this prophecy to a far distant future fulfillment. Therefore all these symbols were for a future yet unfulfilled event.
We know that Judah went down bearing gifts to Egypt for her to be an ally and protect her against the northern kingdoms, but the real fulfillment is for a larger symbolic Judah and Egypt.
ISAIAH 30:8 PUTS THIS PROPHECY WAY BEYOND HIS DAY
"Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever" (Isa. 30:8) .
What, pray tell did the translators mean by "the time to come for ever and ever?"
How can a "time to come" be "for ever?" If this prophecy is "for" "a time to come for ever," then this prophecy could never be fulfilled, as the time of the event or for the event would never end? How pray tell can an event that lasts "for ever," ever be fulfilled?
Then to add insult to injury we are left to believe that this "for ever" will ALSO last "for ever." As it is to last "for ever and FOR EVER" AGAIN. Just how many "for EVERS" do these translators and theologians think there are?
Now then, who do I think I am that I can explain these words? Am I a Hebrew scholar? No. Do I even know Hebrew? No. But one doesn't always need to be a scholar to see the truth in a matter the translators failed to see. Were the Wright brothers aeronautical engineers? No. Then why would anyone in their right mind stand out on a windy hillside and watch their antics? Because THEY KNEW HOW TO FLY AIRPLANES, that's why.
The phrase translated "for the time to come for ever and ever" came from the following Hebrew words:
Hebrew: Olum od lod achrun lium uthei
English: eon until future after the-day and she shall become
As Hebrew reads from right to left, let's reverse it to, left to right:
"and she shall become the day after future until eon"
There is no repeat of the word "eon" so even erroneously translating "eon" into "for ever," still doesn't justify "for ever AND EVER" as in the King James. As it is a physiological impossibility for a sequence of prophetic events to ever be fulfilled if the fulfillment period is not only "for ever," but also for ANOTHER "for ever." Here are some responsible translations of this verse:
"...and it shall come to be for the day hereafter, For the future, till the eon" (Concordant Literal Old Testament).
"...That it may serve for a latter day, For futurity, unto times age-abiding" (Rotherham's Amplified Bible).
"...And it is for a latter day, for a witness unto the age" (Young's Literal Translation).
Now then, it is easily seen that the above three versions include all the words, in the proper sequence, and with the proper translations. Young's translation of "lod" (future), into "a witness," is a little weak, but certainly far more accurate than the King James family of Bibles which is "for EVER."
Here's the simple truth of this phrase: This prophecy is principally for a "future day and time until or unto an age to come." This is speaking of a period of TRANSITION from one age to another age! What may appear to be a phrase that many would think to be hazy and ambiguous, is in reality quite precise.
The first half of this prophecy is gloom and doom at the end of THIS age, but it ushers in the time of God's blessings in the NEXT age that follows even though the theme of that age is JUDGMENT. There is going to come peace and harmony out of God's judgments:
"...for when Thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Isa. 26:9).
THE UNITED STATES AND EGYPT IN PROPHECY
If the United States is the primary nation among those making up the "Great House" of symbolic Israel, then we must see evidence of her going to the nations rather than to God for defense from her enemies. But surely as great a nation as the United States would not be involved in so insignificant a nation as today's Egypt, would she? Does the United States...
"...carry their riches upon the shoulders of young donkeys, and their treasures upon the humps of camels to a people [Egypt] that shall not profit them" (Isa. 30:6)?
(Millions of Dollars to Egypt)
[Webmaster’s note: Ray referenced information up to the year 2006
which is now very outdated and has been replaced by the link below]
US will spend $4.79 trillion thru 2017 on Middle East wars and Homeland Security
And what did God say through Isaiah? What did God call Egypt?
"Their strength is to SIT STILL."
Moffett translates it:
"Dragon DO NOTHING,"
Living Bible,
"Reluctant Dragon" (Isa. 30:7).
Washington policy makers wanted to reduce this ungodly excess in Egyptian foreign aid for the coming year, but Colin Powel forcefully persuaded them to continue, as he sees this as essential to the stability in the Middle East. "Stability in the Middle East"-now there's an oxymoron if I ever heard one. Just kidding: what do I know.
"Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help" (Psalm 146:3).
From "The Middle East Forum Promoting American Interest:"
Hochstein: "If Egypt is not careful, and it relies solely on U.S. military and economic aid to be the basis of the relationship, there will be no relationship very soon."
How true are Isaiah's words today:
"...that take counsel, but not of Me; and that make alliances, but AGAINST MY WILL..."
"Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your SHAME, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt YOUR HUMILIATION."
"They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be an help nor profit, but a SHAME, and also a REPROACH."
"...to a people that SHALL NOT PROFIT THEM."
"Their strength is to SIT STILL."
You can't make this stuff up-US foreign policy, straight out of the Bible!
SEPTEMBER 11, 2001
On that fateful autumn day, I turned the TV on some minutes after the first plane hit the North Tower. When I saw the second plane flying at extremely low altitude in the background, I shouted something like, "WHAT IN THE WORLD!" And within a few seconds the second plane disappeared into the South Tower followed by a giant fireball. As I watched in horror, I got on the phone and started calling people from PA to Oregon to tell them to turn on their televisions. This was big. Something huge was happening, and it was on live TV.
I don't think anyone watching this ever expected to see the Towers fall. What was so amazing was how fast they fell. The South Tower completely collapsed to the ground in 9 seconds. That is only one second slower than free fall. They fell as if there was no resistance whatsoever.
At the time the estimates were erratic, from ten to thirty thousand people were trapped in the towers, but for sure it was a lot of people. Plus all those firefighters. It was more than sobering.
WHY THE TOWERS COLLAPSED
"As the joists on one or two of the most heavily burned floors gave way and the outer box columns BEGAN TO BOW OUTWARD the floors above them also fell. The floor below (with its 1,300 t design capacity) could not support the roughly 45,000 t of ten floors (or more) above crashing down on these angle clips. This started the domino effect that caused the buildings to collapse within ten seconds, hitting bottom with an estimated speed of 200 km per hour." ( University of Sidney-World Trade Center, Some Engineering Aspects)
"As the joists on one or two of the most heavily burned floors gave way and the outer box columns began to BOW OUTWARD, the floors above them also fell. From the journal JOM, 53 (12) (2001) , pp. 8-11.
"On this assumption he proposed that 'the joints on the most severely burned floors gave way, causing the perimeter wall columns to BOW OUTWARD and the floors above them to fall.'" Collapse of the World Trade Center From Wikipedia.
"The prolonged effect of high heat is likely to have led to THE BUCKLING OF THE COLUMNS, collapse of the floors, as well as to the shearing of the floors upon the failure of the joints." SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN by Steven Ashley.
"Temperatures soaring from 1,000 to 2,000 degrees caused the steel columns around the tower facades TO BUCKLE. With their supports weakened, the concrete-slab floors plunged." From: ABOUT ARCHITECTURE.
All conspiracy theories aside, the final reason the Towers fell was because the vertical columns of steel could no longer hold the tremendous load above the impact area.
The World Trade Towers were unique in skyscrapers in that they had no internal steel framing as do traditional skyscrapers except for an inner core around the elevators. Totally unlike the Empire State Building, for example. The Towers were held up by two cones of light-weight, extremely strong vertical steel columns. One cone of columns encircled the elevator shafts while the outer ring of 244 vertical perimeter columns made up the exterior walls with the siding and windows attached.
This unique design allowed for many more thousands of square feet of interior office space. And it was a good system. These towers were so strong that they could have held several more times their own weight. But what caused the Towers to fall was the weakening and destruction of several stories of floor joists holding the outer walls perfectly vertical to the inner core. A combination of the plane impacts, explosions, and super-heating of the metals caused the floors to give way. With weakened interior floor joists, the outer walls began to buckle and bow outward, and when that happened the vertical strength became so weakened that the tremendous weight of the floors above started pan-caking on one another; floor after floor.
NO OTHER TOWER OR WALL COLLAPSE FITS ISAIAH'S PROPHECY
Continuing Isaiah's prophecy:
"Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach [Heb: perets-'a break, breach, breaking forth, gap']
ready to fall [Heb: napahl-'to fall, cast down, cease, die, fail, fall down, be judged, overthrow, overwhelm, perish']
SWELLING OUT [Heb: baah--Margin, 'bulge']
in a HIGH wall [Heb: sagab-'lofty, inaccessible, safe, strong, defend, exalt, excellent, high, to be too strong']
whose breaking [Heb: sheber-- 'fracture, ruin, breach, broken, crashing, destruction']
comes suddenly at an instant [Heb: petha-'in a wink, moment, quickly, unexpectedly'] " (Isa. 30:13).
Now a couple of things to consider:
Some might suggest that this is speaking of a high wall, or maybe a high wall of a tower, or a wall of some fortification, in which the foundation was "breached" or "broken" out, and hence the wall or fortification would fall.
Interestingly, when the Trade Center was bombed in the parking garage back in 1991, which blew a huge crater in the foundation, the tower did not fall; it did not collapse. Yet on 9/11 the breach was high in a high wall, and it did collapse.
I asked my wife what would happen in an ancient wall or stone tower in which some stones would brake out high up in the top of the wall? She said: "I guess the top of the wall or tower would fall off." Exactly! That wouldn't cause the entire wall to fall down, but only that portion above the breach or breaking out.
If the foundation of a stone wall breaks out or gives way, it doesn't "fall down," as it is already on the ground. The Hebrew suggests this fall of the wall starts with the "breach" falling, before the actual "wall" falls. Here is the word order from a Hebrew Interlinear:
Kphrtz [as-breach] nphl [one-falling].
Technically it is not "as a breach ready to fall." There is no word for "ready" in the text. Only "kphrtz & nphl" [as-breach one-falling]. So what is it that is actually falling that starts the collapse of this wall? It is the "breach" that is falling. The Concordant Literal Old Testament translates it "a falling breach."
But even if we stay with many translations which say that this is "a breach ready to fall," it's still THE BREACH which is ready to fall, not the wall. It is the FALLING BREACH which causes the entire wall to collapse. And something cannot fall down unless it is first UP.
God is describing through Isaiah a great and high wall that will collapse because of a "FALLING BREACH" up on the wall. Now then, who has ever heard of a stone wall or tower falling down because some stones came loose or broke out higher UP on the wall. The breach would merely fall down and have virtually no effect on the wall beneath it. Yet with the World Trade Towers, in both cases, it was a breach high up on the walls that brought down the entire Towers. Just as Isaiah prophesied.
THE ULTIMATE WEAPON USED BY TERRORISTS
[May I digress for one minute?]
How could such a thing like this happen? We were not at war with Russia or China. So how could the Twin Towers be totally demolished in the greatest city on Earth, in the greatest country in the world?
Unfortunately our government had not prepared against a weapon of mass destruction such as was used to bring down the World Trade Center. Oh they were prepared for a foreign invasion. They could detect an incoming IBM. They could prevent a naval invasion. NORAD never sleeps. There can be no sneak attack on America. But there was one weapon of mass destruction our government never considered. The one which fooled our greatest minds and our greatest military intelligence. One which temporary brought a city and a nation to their knees. And what sophisticated weapon of technological superiority and unstoppable power could that be? Answer: A four-inch box cutter.
What was a simple toy as far as military armament goes, nonetheless, in the hands of religious monsters destroyed the World Trade Center in the greatest city, in the greatest nation on earth.
FALLING STONES VERSUS TOTAL DISINTEGRATION
Continuing Isaiah's prophecy:
"And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters' vessel that is broken in pieces ['smashed so ruthlessly' NRSV] ; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a shard to take fire from the hearth, or to take water out of the pit [cistern] " (Isa. 30:14).
One of the workers at ground zero was heard saying:
"These were two 110 story buildings. You don't find a desk, you don't find a chair; the biggest piece of a telephone I found was a two inch piece of the key pad."
There were thousands of computers and telephones in the Twin Towers, yet not even one was found (let alone one the jet engines)!
God said through Isaiah that this collapse would be so disastrous that a vessel big enough to take coals from a hearth or water from a cistern, would not be found. How could such a thing be said of an ancient stone tower or wall falling?
Even in Jericho, the most notorious wall of the ancient world, they found many large jars filled with grain that survived under the collapsed stones. The remains of the Twin Towers consisted of little more than twisted steel and powdered concrete. No, Isaiah was not describing an ancient stone wall of his day when he stated: "...and it shall come to be for the day hereafter, for the future, till the eon"
When a stone wall or tower falls, whatever is at the bottom gets covered with a layer of rock, and from there on it is merely stone upon stone upon stone. A hundred stones or a thousand stones, attributes very little damage to whatever is under the first layer or two of stones. Not so with the Twin Towers.
Each section of wall and flooring in the Twin Towers weighed approximately 4,545 tons. The first plane took out parts of the building and flooring between floors 93 and 99. So there were 17 floors above the lowest damaged floor. Eleven times 4,545 tons equals 50,000 tons of weight. However, not stationary weight, but moving weight. Fifty thousands tons falling down on the 93rd floor accelerating to a speed of roughly 124 miles per hour. By the time the falling debris reached the 12th floor above street level (the 110 story debris pile was roughly 12 stories high), the weight of the falling material would have been 445,000 tons crashing down at 124 miles per hour! Show me any wall or tower in the history of the world that can compare to such staggering proportions and utter pulverization of some of the strongest materials on earth? Yet Isaiah prophesied of just such a tower falling with such destructive force, IN AN INSTANT, wherein their could not be found a vessel large enough
"...to gather coals from the hearth or water from a cistern!"
And so we have a prophecy about God's people, Judah/Israel (the Christian nations of Northwestern Europe, Australia, South America, Canada, and AMERICA) who look to their wealth and to the strength of foreign nations for protection from their enemies. Not that it ever entered into their minds that some of the nations they have alliances with to protect them, ARE THEIR ENEMIES.
And they reject the counsel of God. They go against God's will in these matters. And so God tells us why our nations will fall:
"...as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly at an instant."
We have all now seen the "prelude."
WHY JUDGMENT IS COMING ON AMERICA
"Wherefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay [Heb: 'rely'] thereon: Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as..." (Isa. 30:12-13a).
Despise, oppression, perverseness, iniquity..." Just words to most people who read this, but these words portend sinister consequences for all those guilty of them. Here are some definitions from Strong's Hebrew Dictionary:
despise: "despise, abhor, spurn, cast away, distain, loathe, refuse, reject..."
God says that whoever it is that is represented as Judah/Israel in the prophets regarding end-time prophecy, they "DESPISE this word." Try and convince any professing Christian that he "despises" God's word. You better be ready to run.
oppression: "injury, fraud, distress, unjust gain, extortion, oppression, deceitfully gotten."
perverseness: "turn aside, depart, perverse, froward."
And, of course, every one of these definitions also have definitions, and so after a couple of generations of definitions, we have a mountain of evil, sick, greedy, perverse carnality. And that is why Isaiah starts off his prophetic book with these words:
"Ah sinful nation [OUR nation] , a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone out of the way backward.
Why should you be stricken any more? You will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is NO SOUNDNESS IN IT..." (Isa. 1:4-6a).
AMERICA-A CHRIST-LIKE NATION OR A "CHRISTIAN" NATION?
I could write a lengthy article on all the sins and abuses, crime and corruption in the United States, but that is not the emphasis of this paper, although it is a very important part of it. Let me make just one observation for you:
The United States is a "Christian" nation, but is not very "Christ-like." Of all Americans, 82% claim to be Christian; only 4 percent are atheists. Now then, the United States has 2,000,000 of her citizens in jail (that's one out of every 136 persons). That's a higher per capita rate than Iraq!-seven times that of Germany. The state of Maryland has more of her citizens in prison (not per capita, but more numbers of prisoners) than the entire country of Canada. In fact, the United States of America has a larger per capita prison population than ANY OTHER NATION ON EARTH, AND MOST ALL AMERICAN PRISONERS ARE CHRISTIANS. A total of 7,000,000 Americans are either in prison, on probation, or on parole.
Okay, just one more statistic: Seventy-two percent of Americans believe that Politicians are CORRUPT! Do we think that statistic is baseless? According to CBS News 58% of Americans think that corruption in government is "WIDESPREAD." Well, did Isaiah prophesy: "...the whole HEAD is sick."
ENTER THE 21st CENTURY SEERS OF GOD
Now for maybe the most incredible part of all in this prophecy of Isaiah when:
"...it shall come to be for the day hereafter, for the future, till the eon"
Our day. The END of this eon and the ushering in of the next.
What saith our great United States seers and prophets concerning this destruction of the World Trade Center? Was the World Trade Center destruction accomplished by the ingenious thinking of a handful of Arab terrorists, or by the Hand of God?
I'll give you the Scriptures: you'll have to decide for yourself. Amos 3:1-7:
"Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.
"Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" NO.
"Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey?" NO.
"Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing?" NO.
"Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no trap is for him?" NO.
"Shall one take up a snare [does a snare spring up] from the earth, and have taken [caught] nothing at all? NO.
"Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid?" NO.
"Shall there be EVIL in the city, and the LORD HAS NOT DONE IT?" NO
"Surely the Lord God will no nothing, but He reveals His secret unto His servants the prophets."
Well that is what the Scriptures teach, but it is not what Christian theology teaches. They teach and believe that the answer to the first six propositions God presents, is "NO." But to the seventh, and final, and most important of all propositions, they answer "YES." YES, all evil in the cities happens independent of God.
God proposes six propositions, to which the answer is always "NO," so there will be NO doubt in anyone's mind when He comes to the seventh proposition, there can be no question as to whether God is responsible for "evil in the city."
These Truths of Scripture are too high for any carnal mind to comprehend. How can "God" bring such evil to the cities? How could "God" destroy the World Trade Center? WHY would "God" destroy the World Trade Center? What saith the great seers of America? What advice do the prophets and seers of this great nation offer, when "a trumpet is blown in the city"-When God gives America a final "WAKE-UP call?" Let us see:
"That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will NOT hear the law of the Lord:
Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets [inspired person, seer, spokesman, interpreter of divine revelation] Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to CEASE FROM BEFORE US" (Isa. 30:10-11).
What holy man of America would ever prophesy such a things? Prophesy LIES, SMOOTH things, DECEITS? Would America groom such a false prophet and have him address the entire Federal Government and all of her citizens and televise it to the entirety of the world, to have him tell them "All is well with American?" "God bless America?" "We are stronger than ever?" "God is not judging America?" "God did not bring this evil upon us?" "God is not the author of evil?" "Evil in the city is NOT OF THE LORD?"
Most Christians would no more know when a seer or prophet was speaking "lies, deceits and SMOOTH things" to them than they would recognize Satan if he were sitting across the table from them. Well let me give a 21st century example of a seer prophesying deceit, and smooth things.
BILLY GRAHAM AT THE NATIONAL CATHEDRAL, WASHINGTON, D.C.
Four days after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, Billy Graham addressed an audience of distinguished members of the United States Government, the citizens of America, and the people of the world.
Now I don't mean to single out Mr. Graham above other celebrity preachers, but he just happens to be the man responsible for the following "smooth and deceitful" rhetoric against which Isaiah so forcefully warned:
"But how do we understand something like this? Why does God allow evil like this to take place? Perhaps that is what you are asking now. You may even be angry with God."
COMMENT: You would think Mr. Graham never read the Bible. "WHY does God allow evil like this to take place? Unbelievable! WHY? Here's why:
"A SINFUL NATION, a people LADEN WITH INIQUITY, a seed of EVILDOERS, children that are CORRUPTERS: they have FORSAKEN THE LORD... they are gone away BACKWARD... the whole HEAD IS SICK, and the WHOLE HEART FAINT. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is NO SOUNDNESS IN IT" (Isa. 1:4-6).
"CRY ALOUD, SPARE NOT, LIFT UP YOUR VOICE LIKE A TRUMPET, AND SHOW MY PEOPLE THEIR TRANSGRESSIONS, AND THE HOUSE OF JACOB THEIR SINS" (Isa. 58:1).
But what seer or prophet of America would ever do that? That would not be "politically correct" in front of such a distinguished audience! They don't want to hear the truth. They want to hear "deceit" and "SMOOTH things." They don't want to hear that it was God Himself Who has brought this evil on America:
"...cause the Holy One of Israel to CEASE from before us" (Isa. 30:11).
"eradicate from our face the Holy One of Israel" (Concordant Version)
"desist from setting before us the Holy One of Israel" (Rotherham's Bible)
No, don't tell us God had anything to do with this evil in our city. We don't want to hear WHY God does such evil things to such a sinful nation. Mr. Graham:
"But what are some of the lessons we can learn? First, we are reminded of the mystery and reality of evil. I've been asked hundreds of times in my life why God allows tragedy and suffering. I have to confess that I REALLY DO NOT KNOW the answer totally, even to my own satisfaction... The Bible says that GOD IS NOT THE AUTHOR OF EVIL." (CAPS are mine)
COMMENT: Mr. Graham doesn't know why God allows tragedy and suffering, but he does know that: "The Bible says that God is not the author of evil." Oh really? And does he have chapter and verse on that bit of unscriptural heresy? No, no he doesn't. And if he read the Bible as much as he claims, he should surely know that what he has stated is total unscriptural DECEIT.
"That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there if none beside Me. I AM THE LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, AND CREATE EVIL [Heb: ra-- #7451, 'bad, evil.' Same word translated "evil" 442 times in the Old Testament]. " (Isaiah 45:6-7).
"Out of the mouth of the Most High proceeds not EVIL and good?"
(Lam. 3:38)."...and experience of EVIL has God given to the sons of man to humble him thereby" (Ecc. 1:13, Concordant Old Testament).
"...I [the Lord] will raise up EVIL against you out of your own house..."
(II Sam. 12:11)."...I [the Lord] will bring EVIL from the north, and a great destruction"
(Jer. 4:6)."...thus said the Lord, Behold, I frame EVIL against you, and devise a device against you..." (Jer. 18:11).
"...so shall the Lord bring upon you ALL EVIL THINGS, until He have destroyed you from off this good land... (Josh. 23:15).
"What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God and shall we not receive EVIL?..." (Job 2:10).
"...shall there be EVIL IN A CITY [New York City?] and the LORD has not done it?" (Amos 3:6).
Etc., etc.
No, America doesn't want to hear the truth of God's word; they want to hear "deceit and SMOOTH things."
Here's some more smooth things. Mr. Graham:
"A tragedy like this could have torn our country apart. But instead it has united us, and we've become a family. So those perpetrators who took this on to tear us apart, it has worked the other way - it's back-lashed. It's backfired. We are more united than ever before. I think this was exemplified in a very moving way when the member of our Congress stood shoulder to shoulder the other day and sang 'God Bless America... There's hope for the present, because I believe the stage has already been set for a new spirit in our nation'"
God Almighty slaps America across their face with this horrendous destruction of property and life in New York City, and what do we do? Do we beseech God to forgive us for all of our crimes, evils, sins, and corruption? No, we join "shoulder to shoulder" and sing "God Bless American" without repenting of any of our sins. We haven't sinned: only the terrorists sinned.
"Every one that is proud in heart [ 'We are more united than ever...' ] is an abomination to the Lord: though HAND JOIN IN HAND [ ...Congress stood SHOULDER TO SHOULDER] , he shall not go UNPUNISHED" (Prov. 16:5).
"Here in this majestic National Cathedral we see all around us symbols of the cross. For the Christian - I'm speaking for the Christian now - the cross tells us that God understands our sin..."
COMMENT: Yes, of course, God "understands our sin," but let's not use a phrase like that to turn the cross of Jesus into license to sin without repentance.
"Understanding" is not synonymous with "condoning." Do we think the nearly 3000 people who fell with the Twin Towers were sinners above all men that dwell in New York City?
"Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you NAY: but, except ye [ALL OF YOU] REPENT, YE SHALL ALL LIKEWISE PERISH" (Luke 13:4)
One final quote from Mr. Graham:
"We all watched in horror as planes crashed into the steel and glass of the World Trade Center. Those majestic towers, built on solid foundations, were examples of the prosperity and creativity of America. When damaged, those buildings eventually plummeted to the ground, imploding in upon themselves. Yet underneath the debris is a foundation that was not destroyed. Therein lies the truth of that old hymn that Andrew Young quoted: 'How firm a foundation.'"
COMMENT: What a crock! Billy Graham had a huge captive audience that few people have had in the history of the world: The entire United States government! All the citizens of America! Hundreds, maybe thousands of millions of people around the world. And what does Billy Graham have to say? What does this greatest of American seers and prophets have to tell us? What word does he have FROM THE LORD? He has no word from the Lord. He sells out for a "politically correct" speech that will tickle the ears of his listeners. He'll make no waves today, nor ever. He'll ruffle no feather in Washington or anywhere else in American Christendom. It was politically perfect! It was Scripturally, a shame and an utter disgrace!
Mr. Graham could have said: "Those majestic Towers, built on solid physical foundations, were examples of GOD'S undeserved prosperity gift to America. But because we did not consider God to be the SPIRITUAL foundation of our success and prosperity, GOD BROUGHT DOWN THOSE TOWERS, just as He will BRING DOWN THIS NATION, if we do not "ALL LIKEWISE REPENT."
But no. Don't ever expect that kind of "politically incorrect" rebuke from any of the modern seers and prophets among God's prophetic Israel.
AMERICA "BUCKLING?"
As we speak (December, 2006), China holds ONE TRILLION American dollars. Hours ago Iran announced that the Iranian Central Bank is converting the state's foreign dollar assets into Euros, and it will be using the Euro for foreign transactions (what are the consequences for America if oil becomes pegged worldwide to the Euro? Russia is also talking about disconnecting oil sales from the US dollar). The war in Iraq is costing American taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. Americans have reached record personal debts backed up with negative savings. Our government (and North Korea) are printing hundred-dollar-bills as fast as the presses can crank them out. We have a giant national debt. We have no energy policy, and we get over half of our oil from other nations, etc.
"When a small number of conglomerates provide most of our information, we should not be surprised when the news we receive is pretty homogeneous. And when those media conglomerates have hundreds of billions of dollars invested in hundreds of thousands of different products and services, we should not be surprised if the news they deliver is rather toothless." From: Money Buys Speech as Well as Politicians Jeff Golden.
Not only do our Christian seers and prophets preach "deceits and smooth THINGS," but our news media does likewise. Not only is the news toothless, but when it comes to what is really happening in the world, most Americans are clueless.
"Alas, alas that GREAT CITY Babylon, that MIGHTY CITY! For in one hour is your judgment come" (Rev. 18:10).
Ironically, the South Tower collapsed in just 56 minutes after being impacted. Is God sending us a message?
"And [they] cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!" (Rev. 18:18).
TWIN TOWERS JUST A PRELUDE?
If America doesn't return to God and repent of her national and individual sins, America is going down, and nothing is going to stop it. Nero fiddled while Rome burned, and our great seers fiddle their messages of "deceit and SMOOTH things," while America is ready to go down in flames. 'Me thinks' Washington will also fiddle while America burns.
Yah, like somebody's going to listen to this "trite" warning, for: "Who has believed our report?"
But surely God Himself would not use such utterly wicked monsters as those Arabs who flew those planes into the Twin Towers, would He?
"Is there EVIL in the city and THE LORD HAS NOT DONE IT?" (Amos 3:6).
Of course He would:
"O Assyrian, the rod of MINE anger, and the staff in their hand is MINE indignation. I will SEND him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I GIVE HIM A CHARGE; to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets."
"Howbeit HE MEANS NOT SO, neither does HIS HEART THINK SO, but it is in HIS HEART to destroy and cut off nations not a few" (Isa. 10:5-7).
But when oh when will they ever believe our report? "For WHO has believed our report?" (Isa. 53:1)
Matt. 24:21-22- "For then [when? At the END of this age, Verse 3] shall be GREAT TRIBULATION [pressure, anguish, affliction, persecution, tribulation, trouble] , such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no nor EVER SHALL BE. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened."
Yes, there will be salvation for the human race, but it will happen only after a great slaughter of humanity to the point that no flesh would remain alive except for God shortening that period of carnage. Are we told elsewhere of such a great slaughter of humanity? Yes we are, back to Isaiah 30:
"And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of water [yes God will bring peace to the earth, but He also tells us when this will be...] in the day of the GREAT SLAUGHTER, WHEN THE TOWERS FALL" (Verse 25).
Throughout the entire Bible God tells us what will happen to us if we are good and then what will happen to us if we are bad. After telling us how quickly and completely our destruction will come in verse 14 of Isaiah 30, God tells us this in verse 15:
"For thus says the Lord God, the holy One of Israel; in returning and rest shall you be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength, and YOU WOULD NOT."
Why not?
"But you said, NO; for we will flee upon horses; [God then answers...] therefore shall YOU flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue YOU be swift" (Verse 16).
Verses 17 thru 25a show how God will save our people, but only after a great slaughter in verse 25b. Next notice verse 26:
"Moreover the light of the moon [revelation from God's anointed] shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun [spiritual revelation directly from God] shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord binds up the breach [the destroyed nation symbolized by the falling breach of verse 13] of His people, and heals up the stroke of their wound"
But once more God shows us that this will not come until great Judgment upon Israel (Verses 27 thru 32).
Then in verse 33 we read something very strange. Yet it is the key to Judgment, to Christ's reign on this earth, to the Sermon on the mount, the mysterious enigma of Isaiah 66 where the worms don't die and the fire isn't quenched, and many other sections of Scripture. Here is the last verse of Isa. 30 and it ties the whole chapter together under a particular symbolic judgment:
"For TOPHET is ordained of OLD for the King it is prepared; He has made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, does kindle it."
WHY TOPHET IS ORDAINED OF OLD FOR THE KING
In II Kings 23:10 we read:
"And he [King Josiah of Judah] defiled [destroyed] Topheth which is in the valley of the children [son] of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire of Molech."
Since King Josiah destroyed Tophet and the altars of GeHinnom (just a few
years before Babylon captured Judah and took them into captivity), why does
Isaiah talk like it is coming back again? For what purpose? It is a
symbol for judgment. GaHinnom (Gk: GeHenna) is a symbol for judgment.
God uses the things that we think are holy, but are abominations to Him,
to be the very instruments which He uses to judge us. Notice again what God
tells Judah in Isa. 30:16:
"But you said, NO; for we will flee upon horses: [but God answers...] therefore shall YOU flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; [but God answers...] therefore shall they that pursue YOU be swift."
And:
"With the pure You will show yourself pure; and with the froward you will show yourself froward" (Psalm 18:26).
Don't get on God's " froward" side. For if we insist on doing abominable things, God will turn those abominations back on us.
Israel sacrificed their children in the fire to Molech. Are we not spiritually sacrificing our children in America as well?
Young people's entertainment like MTV is polluting our children's minds with blatant sexual simulations in dance and music lyrics. Our children's role models kiss and fondle members of the same sex live on TV for all to see. Rebecca Hagelin reported:
"In 171 hours of MTV programming, PTC analysts found 1,548 sexual scenes containing 3,056 depictions of sex or various forms of nudity and 2,881 verbal sexual references" (WorldNetDaily Exclusive Commentary).
Our public school system is a sham. Up to 40% of school teachers in Washington D.C. send their own children to private schools. Children are forced in public schools to learn alternative life styles, in other words, they are taught to accept sexual perversion as natural and normal.
Even the example-setting pastors of huge mega churches are often money-motivated, money-crazed, money-worshipping clowns or worse: thieves, liars, murderers, and practicing homosexuals.
While it is true that ancient Israel sacrificed children in the fire to Molech, it may have been relatively few--dozens, perhaps hundreds. But America's abortion clinics have killed an estimated 40 million unborn babies. That's more killings than were committed by Saddam Hussein, Adolph Hitler, and Mao Zetong, COMBINED!
We are poisoning our children's minds, their souls, their bodies, and their very spirits. We are killing them by the millions before they draw even their first breath. Do you think that we shall go unpunished for these unspeakable abominations?
God is going to bring back "Tophet of old," only this time "deeper and larger" with "fire and much wood" and "kindled with brimstone." Not literally, but figuratively-Tophet is the symbolic setting of Isaiah's prophecy "when the TOWERS FALL."
CONTEXT THIS...
To theologians and ministers, context is the god of interpretation. Something is true ONLY in the context in which it is found. To them there are no universal truths, only contextual truths. "GOD IS LOVE" they say, but ONLY in the context of I John 4:8 in which this statement is found. How foolish.
Yes, many times Scriptures speak of local history, in local surrounding, and with limited application, but not always, and even in those "limited" events there are many things that can be applied for our understanding today. For example, Jeremiah like Isaiah speaks of local wars and the local downfall of nations and city states:
Jer. 25:1-13- "The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah... And go NOT after other gods to serve them... Yet ye have NOT hearkened unto Me... Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, says the Lord, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land... And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon... And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it..."
All local stuff. All things that happened in the past. Nothing here for us, right?
Jer. 25:14-26- "For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds...Take the wine cup of this fury at MY hand, and cause all the nation to whom I send you, to drink it... all the nations to drink, unto whom the Lord has sent me:
To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah... to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse as it is this day; Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people... and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod, Edom, and Moab, and the Children of Ammon, and all the kings of Tyrus, Zidon, and the kings of the isles... Dedan, and Tema, and Buz... all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert, and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes, and all the kings of the north far and near..."
All local stuff. All smaller nations of the Middle East. Nothing to concern us. What did Jeremiah and Isaiah and Ezekiel know of our day? CONTEXT THIS...
Jer. 25:26- "...AND ALL THE KINGDOMS OF THE WORLD, which are upon the face of the earth... For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by MY NAME, and should you be utterly unpunished? You shall NOT be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon ALL THE INHABITANTS OF THE EARTH... Therefore prophesy you against them ALL these words... against ALL THE INHABITANTS OF THE EARTH.
A noise shall come even to the ENDS OF THE EARTH; for the Lord has A CONTROVERSY WITH THE NATIONS [ALL nations], He will plead with all flesh; He will give them that are wicked to the sword... Behold, evil shall go forth from NATION TO NATION, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.
"And the slain OF THE LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground ['And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against Me for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh [Isa. 66:24] .
"HOWL, YOU SHEPHERDS, and cry; and wail yourselves in the ashes you principal [leaders] of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished: and you shall fall like a pleasant vessel. And the shepherds shall have no way to flee [no more {Heb: 'refuge'} for their soul] , nor the leaders of the flock to escape. A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling [wailing] of the leaders of the flock, shall be heard: for the Lord has spoiled [plundered] their pasture. He has forsaken His covert, as the lion because of the fierceness of the oppressor ['injury, fraud, distress, unjust gain, cruelty, extortion,'] (Jer. 25:34-38).
Just local skirmishes in an ancient by-gone time? Hardly-this is just around the corner. Theologians want everything in "context"-God will put them in context and God will punish and destroy them IN CONTEXT.
Yes, "...for the days of your SLAUGHTER and dispersions are accomplished..." Jeremiah warns. We are nearing "The day of the GREAT SLAUGHTER when the towers fall" (Isa. 30:25), when God will once again "ordain Tophet of old."
Remember that Tophet is in the Valley of the son of Hinnom. Is God going to ordain this Valley of Hinnom also? For what purpose? Will it once again be used to worship Molech the god of the Canaanites? No, it will serve another purpose in prophecy:
"Therefore, behold, the days come, says the Lord, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The Valley of the son of Hinnom, but THE VALLEY OF SLAUGHTER" (Jer. 19:6).
"Therefore, behold, the days come, says the Lord, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the Valley of the son of Hinnom, but THE VALLEY OF SLAUGHTER: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there BE NO MORE PLACE. And the carcasses of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall frighten them away" (Jer. 7:33).
"...and they shall be an abhorring to all flesh" (Isa. 66:24).
"...and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the Great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men both free and bond, both small and great" (Rev. 19:17-18).
Make no mistake about it: There will be hell to pay in the years ahead. Our sins have reached to high heaven, and our leaders fiddle while our great spiritual leaders "speak unto us SMOOTH things and prophesy DECEIT" in our darkest hours and in our greatest need to repent and turn to God. I don't apologize for how that sounds to many of you, but not to all, I hope.
Have you ever wanted to just take charge of some evil, some oppression, some inequality, some rotten situation in our nation, but just lacked the opportunity and power to do anything about it? Well God is offering some the grand and glorious opportunity to reign and serve with HIM in HIS glory, wisdom, and power.
"And he that overcomes, and keeps my works unto the end, TO HIM WILL I GIVE POWER OVER THE NATIONS... To him that overcomes will I grant TO SIT WITH ME IN MY THRONE, even as I also overcame and am set down with My Father in His throne" (Rev. 2:26 & 3:21).
As we have seen in Jeremiah, God will punish ALL NATIONS, but the Christian Nations will be the first to fall. First God punishes His people, and then He punishes those He used as a club in His hand to punish His people. Few will take this warning seriously-what about YOU?
"Thus says the Lord of hosts; EVEN SO WILL I BREAK THIS PEOPLE AND THIS CITY, as one breaks a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again: and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury" (Jeremiah 19:11).
ARTIST'S CONCEPTION OF THE NEW WORLD TRADE CENTER
"Unless the Lord Guards the City, the Guard Keeps Watch in Vain"
[Psalm 127:1, New Revised Standard Version]
There was a time when there was more right with America than there was
wrong with America, but that can no longer honestly be said. I love this
country, and my roots here are as deep as anyone's. On my great grandmother's
side, Joris Jansen De Rapalje and Catelyntje Jeronimus Trico De Ralphaje are my
great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather and
grandmother.