By Joe Newby
Is God preparing to pour his judgment on an unbelieving world? That’s the question many in the conservative blogosphere are asking following the recent re-election of Benjamin Netanyahu, despite efforts by members of President Obama’s 2012 campaign team.
For quite a few, it seems the answer is yes.
After winning a fourth term as Prime Minister, the Obama Administration responded with signals that the U.S. would “re-evaluate” its position with regard to the Jewish state. Moreover, the administration has said it may bypass Congress and no longer block U.N. efforts to impose demands that Israel withdraw to its 1967 borders and accept a Palestinian state, something Netanyahu said is unacceptable given the current conditions in the Middle East.
The Rev. Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham and head of Samaritan’s Purse, addressed the issue in a post on Facebook.
“The Bible tells us that in the end times there will be ‘distress of nations with perplexity,’” he said, referring to Luke 21. “This is certainly the case today. The meltdown of the Middle East. The rise of anti-Semitism in Europe and here in the America. China and Russia building their military at cosmic speed. The financial crises worldwide. The political crisis in Washington. Israel is desperate to have peace, but the Bible says ‘they will seek peace but there shall be none.’”
That same passage in Luke adds: “Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”
“There can be no doubt, biblically speaking, that the prophecies of the last days before the return of Jesus Christ speak of Israel being abandoned by the nations of the world, and then, ultimately, being attacked by a specific coalition of nations. The coalition that is prophesied to attack them is made up largely of Middle Eastern nations, and of course, most of those nations today are Islamic and openly hostile to the Jewish state,” added Pastor Carl Gallups, author of the bestseller “Final Warning: Understanding the Trumpet Days of Revelation,” speaking of the prophesies contained in Ezekiel 38 and 39.
Those two chapters speak of a massive attack against Israel by a number of nations, including Iran.
But it’s not just events in the Middle East that have conservatives believing that end-times prophesies are coming true.
Speaking with the Huffington Post’s Michelangelo Signorile, Cal Thomas, a conservative Christian whose work appears in publications across the country, pointed to the issue of gay marriage.
“I think it’s going to go 5-4 or even 6-3 in favor of same-sex marriage. All of these things are not the cause of our decadence, they’re a reflection of it,” he said, referring to a same-sex marriage case currently before the Supreme Court.
“If you read the Scriptures, as I do, in both testaments all of these things are forecast in prophesies, in the book of Daniel and what Jesus and Paul said, so I’m not worried about it,” he explained. “I say everything is right on schedule. I’m trying to shore up my own family first and, hopefully, that will be an example to other people… If you look at not only what Jesus said, but Paul the Apostle, about what things would be like in the end times, people will be lovers of lies rather than the truth. They will elevate things that are called abomination in scripture to normality… All of the prophesies up to the final ones have come true. And that’s why I say that everything is right on schedule.”
Thomas wasn’t alone in that assessment.
Jonathan Cahn, author of “The Harbinger” and “The Mystery of the Shemitah,” told WND he believes the redefinition of marriage would be simply another nail in the coffin.
“I believed for years it was going to happen if we didn’t turn around. These are milestones of world history to begin with,” he said. “But in another key Shemitah year was 1973. That year saw Roe v. Wade, the other kind of milestone. And within one month of Roe v. Wade, that Supreme Court decision with abortion, the financial realm collapsed. Led to a global recession. That same year, America lost its first war in modern history, or ever, in Vietnam. So these were watermark years. And now we have another Shemitah, with another Supreme Court ruling most likely in June; that is another kind of cataclysmic, moral, spiritual thing. What’s that going to do in the spiritual realm? Well, I believe it’s all coming together.”
Speaking at a conference titled “U-Turn: A Conversation with Pastors on Society, Culture and Leadership,” Sandy Rios, director of governmental affairs for the American Family Association and host of a daily radio program, said Christians who do not support the idea of gay marriage “must prepare for martyrdom.” She did not specify how that martyrdom would take place, but the book of Revelation says those who continue to follow Christ in the period known as the Great Tribulation will be beheaded.
Some point to events like the recent eclipse over the Northern Hemisphere and other astronomical events as signs of impending judgment. Still others say the global dictator known as the Anti-Christ is preparing to make his or her existence known.
According to a 2013 poll, about one in four believed Obama would be the Anti-Christ, and others have said they think Hillary Clinton would be the evil world dictator spoken of in prophesy. A post at the conservative Right Scoop, citing the Turkish publication Hurriyet, said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was outed as the Anti-Christ.
The Bible, however, is clear that this world dictator will not be revealed until after Christ removes the church from planet Earth. Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 2: “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”
For conservative Christians, it’s not a question of “if” the world will be judged. It’s a question of “when.” There is hope, however. As Franklin wrote on Facebook: “There is only one ultimate, eternal solution—Jesus Christ and him alone.”
Join SpokaneFAVS for a discussion on Divine Judgement at its next Coffee Talk at 10 a.m., April 4 at Indaba Coffee/The Book Parlor.
Quite honestly, part of me hopes this happens just so we can all finally settle the matter.