8/16/2000, Vince Aquilino
America is Burning
As of August 15th, 2000 there has now been 66,629 fires in 13 states, that have already burned at least 4,926,309 acres so far. This fire season started unseasonably early, and still has a long way to go! For the third day in a row, the number of wildfires in the United States grew to a new record, fire officials said Wednesday. Montana Gov. Marc Racicot is expected to declare his entire state a disaster area after wildfires forced more evacuations in southwestern Montana near the Idaho border. Conditions are expected to continue to deteriorate. At one site, trees were bursting into huge roaring flames making control difficult.
In Montana, there are fears the fires cannot be contained until October when the snow flies. The fires are so hot, that two major 500 kilovolt power transmission lines in Montana feeding the West Coast have been destroyed -- heat from the fire had been so intense that aluminum on the lines had melted; fortunately, power companies were able to route around these outages. Questions are starting to be raised about the stability of the entire West Coast Power Grid.
Twenty Thousand firefighters are involved in containing these fires (they are so well established there is no hope of putting them out), however, things are so bad, that for the first time, firefighters from as far away as Australia have been called to help fight the fires. Critical habitat for elk and other animals is being destroyed. In Idaho alone over 350,000 acres are ablaze. In Montana, officials have closed an area the size of Vermont to public use.
The new fire flared up near Yellowstone National Park in southern Montana. It grew from 80 acres to 3,500 acres on Sunday as strong wind fanned the flames. Fires world-wide may accelerate. The recent fires in Greece and those in Indonesia a few years ago may be only a foretaste of this trend as it is believed that the next "El Nino" weather disturbance in the Pacific, due within two years, will trigger more and worse fires
However, in the midst of drought and fires, other areas of the country are being flooded. On August 14th, New Jersey residents, still reeling from a severe storm that dumped torrential rain on Saturday, faced more flooding as swollen rivers continued to rise: "The river was expected to maintain its crest peak for two to three days. The downpours strained more dams to the breaking point and forced hundreds of additional evacuations. Gov. Christie Whitman said she would ask the Clinton administration to declare Morris and Sussex counties disaster areas. The cost will surpass $100 million. This follows flooding in recent days in Fargo, N.D., and Philadelphia, P.A.
In the midst of the flooding, farmers in southeast Alabama are no longer hoping for more rain that will miraculously save this year's crops after a yearlong drought -- they have plowed under their crops and declared it a total loss. They are wondering if they will be able to plant a crop next year -- or if their region will be turning into a new "dust bowl."
Drought has wreaked devastation throughout certain areas of the United States that the government declared four states disaster areas. The Department of Agriculture deemed parts of Alabama, Florida, Nebraska and New Mexico agriculture disaster areas, due to the unrelenting weather conditions that have caused farmers irreparable losses. "This has been a devastating year for America’s farmers and ranchers, following last year’s drought and historically low prices," said Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman.
"We’ve had the driest season since record-keeping began in this state 105 years ago," said John Dittrich, 44, a soy and corn farmer in Tilden, Neb. Conditions have been deteriorating for some time in Florida. The Hillsborough River near Tampa has slowed to a trickle, one rancher and the water holes on his Tampa ranch that normally provide adequate water for his herd no longer exist. "The conditions have been drier than we have ever had in recorded history," Carlton said. "The grass is all burned up and gone and we’ve had to import hay from out of state to feed our livestock." In a state that normally gets 52 inches of rain a year, the state has had virtually none this year.
In Texas, things are so dry that many counties are under water rationing and Grasshoppers, in what could amount to a $200 million plague in 2000, are ravaging the State in unprecedented numbers. "This is the third major outbreak in as many years," said Mike Merchant, entomologist with the Texas Agricultural Extension Service. "They'll eat almost anything green, and there isn't a lot we can do to stop them." Several consecutive years of hot, dry summers and warm autumns created luxury accommodations for the ravenous insects, he said. And the long-running Texas drought is wreaking havoc on a moisture-craving fungus that typically keeps grasshoppers in check. Pesticides offer some relief from the grasshopper explosion, but even the best sprays guarantee only partial control.
So what does all this mean?
Alternating drought and excessive rain is another sign of God's judgment.
God says, through the prophet Amos: "......you have not returned to me, declares the Lord. I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three months away. I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another. One field had rain; another had none and dried up. People staggered from town to town for water but did not get enough to drink, yet you have not returned to me, declares the Lord." (Amos 4:6-8)
This speaks clearly of God's judgment on America. Amos 4:7 has been fulfilled. "One field had rain; another had none." Notice two things in this passage of scripture. Number one, God caused this situation by His own word. And number two, this passage demonstrates the purpose of the judgment: that being repentance ("... you have not returned to me, declares the Lord").
In 1 Kings 19:9-12, we find that wind, earthquake and fire, is another pattern of judgment. Let's go back to 1989. First there was Hurricane Hugo (a level-4 storm), then the Houston Oil Refinery explosion and fire, and then the San Francisco earthquake (three billion in property damage). More recently, we have experienced Hurricane Andrew (a level-5 storm; sustained winds of 200 miles per hour with tornadoes packed inside of it), the California Firestorms (over 200,000 acres burned), and the Los Angeles earthquake (estimated damage, 13 to 20 billion -- the worst in U.S. history).
We are currently experiencing fires at an unprecedented proportion. The Hurricane season has yet to get under way and although there is an upswing in world-wide earthquake and volcanic activity the U.S.A. has not experienced much in recent days. It may be that this will soon change as we continue to move farther and farther from God.
Some may argue that "its the economy stupid" and God is pleased with America as we continue to prosper with a strong economy and stock market. However, God speaks to a nation in prosperity: "I spoke unto you in your prosperity; but you said, "I will not hear. This has been your manner from your youth, that you obey not my voice." (Jeremiah 22:21)
This is God's pattern. 100 years before God caused King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to attack Israel, militarily destroying her corrupt society, Israel had enjoyed the greatest run of material prosperity in her history! Remember that before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah that they were exceedingly prosperous and they dominated the culture and the commerce of that day. [Genesis 13:10 and Ezekiel 16:49]
Too many Americans really believe that God must not be too angry with us or He would not allow us to become so prosperous. Yet, the opposite is true. Consider Satan's offer to give Jesus all the wealth of the nations if He would just bow down and worship the enemy. This is the same trap that Satan uses today as he causes the wealth of the wicked to be heaped up and brings them into bondage.
Consider God's pattern of judgement:
1. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He must punish sin, both individual and national. Massive national sin always triggers God's judgment.
2. Jer. 12:17-- God's words here are of complete, total, and thorough destruction.
3. God's destruction, when it finally comes, is very sudden, without specific further warning.
4. God uses a more wicked nation (Russia?) to attack the nation under judgment (America? - See Ezekiel 38 Study).
5. God then turns immediately to destroy the nation which He has used to bring judgment (Russia). (Ezekiel 38-39.)
As we review the judgments of the Old Testament, we see that God is merciful. He doesn't bring catastrophe on a nation without warning, and His initial acts of chastisement are redemptive in nature. They are designed to get us to examine our sinful state, to recognize "the height from which we have fallen" and, ultimately, to secure our free will act of repentance and turn back toward God. It is not God's will that any should spend eternity in Hell. Jesus came to save the world, not to condemn it. Only man can condemn himself to that fate by rejecting God's provision for forgiveness: that being Jesus Christ. But although God is long-suffering, there is a limit.
It is sobering to recognize that it was 120 years from the time that God instructed Noah to begin constructing the Ark until it was completed and that, over that 120 years, there were four generations of Noah's prodigy who warned others of God's impending judgment. Did the people heed Noah's warning? No. They probably laughed and ridiculed him. That is, until the flood came and God closed the door to the ark. By that time, it was too late to enter into the refuge which God had provided. So it was in the time of Noah; so it shall be at the time of the second coming of Jesus Christ.
We are living in a time of moral and spiritual blindness. We no longer fear God. In fact, many are openly hostile and antagonistic toward Him. Others deny His existence. They are comfortable in their sin. It is time to get serious about God before it is too late. Judgment is again coming. It is right on our doorstep. It is time to recognize the signs of the times and take heed. Don't be like Noah's neighbors -- caught up in everyday living, separated from God, ignorant of spiritual things and the signs which will herald Jesus' return.
Is the United States ripe for judgment? The book of Ezekiel tells us that God brought judgment upon the Jews and dispersed them to the four corners of the earth. One reason was because they had spilt blood in the land. We have now sacrificed the blood of over thirty million unborn children in this country. Will God not judge us likewise?
Perversion is rampant in this country and is now seated in power in the highest positions in the land. Billy Graham was quoted as saying: "If God doesn't judge America soon, He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah."
Let's examine the five warning signs of God's judgment upon a nation
For a detailed description of the above five signs of judgement, see the series on America on this web site:
http://prophecyandcurrentevents.com/thglory/america1.htm
http://prophecyandcurrentevents.com/thglory/america2.htm
http://prophecyandcurrentevents.com/thglory/america3.htm
Consider some of the sins for which God has decreed the death penalty:
Do not be deceived; the time is quickly approaching for God's Judgment upon America.
In Leviticus 18:2-24, God lists all sorts of sexual sin He prohibits. Then, in verse 25, God tells us "and the land is defiled." God views sexual sin amongst the people of a nation as being a pollutant to the land on which the inhabitants are living. Then, God leaves no room for misunderstanding the inevitable results of this spiritual pollution : "... therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants ...
God here is warning that He will cause the land itself to vomit her evil inhabitants out, through His physical judgment. Finally, God gets really specific as to what will happen to the evil inhabitants of a spiritually polluted land when His Divine Judgment falls. Are these Wild Fires a harbinger of what is to come?
"For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people." [Lev 18:29] The words "cut off" literally means "killed". God will kill the evil inhabitants of the land which is spiritually polluted by sins, sexual and otherwise. The sexual television programming that is prevalent today, such as "Sex And The City", is spiritually polluting America. Soon, God's physical, annihilating judgment will fall; the question now is not, "Will God Physically Destroy Us"? Rather, the question is only "When will God destroy us, and whom will he use as his military instrument of justice"?
"For be sure of this: that no person practicing sexual vice or impurity in thought or in life .. has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one delude and deceive you with empty excuses and groundless arguments [for these sins], for through these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of rebellions and disobedience." [Ephesians 5:5-6, Amplified Bible Commentary; Emphasis added]
America has gone far in cutting its national ties with the morality of the God of the Bible, and embracing the values of Satanism.
Remember that a person need not participate in a coven ceremony at midnight on the night of the Full or New Moon to be a Satanist. According to the founder of the American Church of Satan, Anton Lavey, Satanism urges the enthusiastic indulgence of Lust: "Satanism condones any type of sexual activity which properly satisfies your individual desires -- be it heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or even asexual ... Satanism also sanctions any fetish or deviation which would enhance your sex life ... transvestism , sadism, masochism, urolagnia, exhibitionism -- to name only a few ..." [Lavey, Satanic Bible , p. 67-8]
The United States is not exempt from God's wrath. We will reap what we sow. Judgment is at hand. Be sure your trust is in the Lord and not in the things of this world, for soon, everything that can be shaken will be shaken. Only those that have truly built their house upon The Rock will survive.
In closing, remember two things: 1) God is in control. ``He changes times and seasons; He sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.'' (Dan 2:21) God is in control, not Russia or any other nation. And 2) God knows how to preserve His people while reserving sinners for judgment.
And what if judgment does come? Are you ready, physically and spiritually, to be God's instrument to bring hope and healing? Don't despair or grow depressed. There is Hope. Jesus has promised His children, those who have been reborn of the Spirit, that He would never leave them or forsake them. If you have accepted Jesus' free gift of salvation, then no matter what happens in the future, He will be with you. When the storms of life come against you, it will be possible for you to stand by His mighty power and presence in your life.
God knows how to deliver His people. Noah and his family were protected through Judgment by the Ark of their salvation. During their exodus from Egypt, God fed the children of Israel with manna in the wilderness and provided water out of solid rock. He even parted the Red Sea. Lot and His family were escorted out of the city by Angels before Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego walked through the fire unharmed, because God was with them. "I have never seen God's people forsaken, or their children begging for bread." (Psalm 37:25b)
Psalms 23 and 91 are beautiful promises of God to preserve and comfort his children. Read them, walk with the Lord, trust Him to preserve you and protect you. God has begun to shake America, but Jesus says: "Do not let your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in me" (John 14:1).
For the Turtle Rock community, in the middle of the California firestorms a few years ago, these promises became a reality. A wall of fire 200 feet high was heading for their community. Destruction was all around. Many of God's children were in that community. Their home church, when notified of the impending disaster, went into corporate prayer for them. They prayed: "God, your judgments are just, but there are righteous there, like when you destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah." They prayed for God to stop the wind. The next day the papers reported: "It was like a miracle, the fire came right up to the edge of the community and then, inexplicably, the winds shifted and the fire took a right-hand turn." After the fire, Turtle Creek looked like an island of safety in a sea of destruction. Yes, God answers the prayers of His children. And yes, God knows how to deliver His children.
But beware of being Luke-warm. Do you have ears to hear? "So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth. "Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing' - and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked - "I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. "To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." ' "(Rev 3:16-22)
"I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD Almighty." (Hag 2.7)
"Watch and pray, therefore, that you would be counted worthy to escape the judgment that is coming upon the earth and be able to stand before the Son of Man" (Luke 21:36).
References:
http://www.cuttingedge.org/ce1001.html
Maranatha
``Watch and pray, therefore, that you would be counted worthy to escape the judgment that is coming upon the earth and be able to stand before the Son of Man'' (Luke 21:36).
Judgement on America - Part 1
Judgement on America - Part 2
Judgement on America - Part 3
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