I’m more than a little nonplussed to put it mildly over the Republicans and Democrats coming up with these two contenders for the White House. It just doesn’t make any sense to me unless politicians have determined national suicide is preferable to any of them losing their cushy jobs. The latest and pathetic so-called debate between McCain and Obama struck me as more of an epitaph for America, an only slightly premature requiem for America and the body politic.
The news is all so bad here of late it isn’t good for anyone’s BP; but without any decisive leadership out of this mess perhaps the time has come for the Man of Sin to make his debut. Obama’s spiritual mentor and advisor of some twenty years Jeremiah Wright speaking better than he knew was correct in calling on God to damn America, but for the wrong reason. Wright should have known that in calling for God’s judgment on America he was calling on God to bring to an end all the works of the Devil. And whoever he may be that Man of Sin will arise and achieve power, and promising peace will lead the nations of the world astray into destruction.
Like the drowning man clutching at straws I saw Governor Sarah Palin as a glimmer of hope. But despite my incredulity over the choice of Barack Hussein Obama and never giving him a chance at either the nomination or any hope of being elected I’m forced to recant and call to mind the warning of Scripture concerning the End Times: II Timothy 3:1-5: This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
The book of Revelation could not possibly have been written addressing only contemporary issues at the time but was clearly prophetic in many instances of a time yet to come, and the parallel of the description of Babylon in Revelation to America had struck me as very plausible long ago. But like believing Satan is a real entity and a real enemy of humankind even as the Bible has it including the affirmation of Jesus, considering my country being in the grip of the Evil One and God bringing judgment on America is not something I really want to believe; after all, who in possession of all their faculties would want to believe such a thing?
But as someone who credits the prophets of the Bible the signs of the times seem to be indelibly clear. Many fall into the category Paul outlines to Timothy, and the warning is absolute so far as I am concerned, that Paul is describing the very age in which we live. And since I don’t think it will matter who wins the White House, that God is bringing judgment against America my real concern is that Obama will only hasten this judgment rather than delay it and give America another chance to repent of wickedness and turn to God. Whether he would prove to be the Man of Sin in II Thessalonians remains a question yet to be answered, and as improbable as it seems I’m not quite willing to entirely discount the possibility. Now if he should gain the White House and recover from a mortal wound…
My position concerning matters of what I consider to be Biblical truth sets me at odds with the great majority of people, and I understand this. Such beliefs are considered extreme by the great majority, but there are many good scholars who share my beliefs in some of these things. A part of the foundation for some of my beliefs is the fact that no one would have thought Israel could ever again rise from the ashes and become a modern nation. But there is the nation of Israel, a testimony to the truth of the Bible in many instances and the times of the gentiles may in fact be coming to a quick and calamitous close.
I’m among the fortunate as Paul said of Timothy being taught and knowing from childhood the holy scriptures and having examples of holy living around me as a child, people of strong moral convictions and Biblical beliefs that taught me right from wrong and lived what they taught, even dedicating me to God at birth and giving me the prophet’s name as a token of that dedication as Samuel’s mother in the Old Testament. Now isn’t that a quaint anachronism as it would seem to most of an age long past, an age in which there were people who would do such a thing and actually believe it was of any consequence. But the events of my life, some of them life threatening have caused me to wonder many times whether God has set angels to guard over me because of the love and faith of those who promised me to God.
Even in the midst of such somber thoughts I’m not beyond being reminded of the scene in Young Frankenstein where he is in bed having that nightmare and begins exclaiming “Destiny! Destiny!” However, in my case it is something that seems very real at times and given the circumstances I might be excused for some of my thoughts crediting such a thing. And while most would dismiss such a thing as superstitious nonsense, there are those of sound mind willing to credit it or at least admit of the possibility. There are many unexplained mysteries, some among the paranormal that while real enough defy any rational explanation. Much in the way of the well known picture of an angel watching over two children on a rickety foot bridge as they are crossing a threatening raging torrent of water beneath them my having escaped death in so many instances falls within this realm of the paranormal. If I were back in our small church in Little Oklahoma this would quite properly be called “Testimony time.” Some of you brush arbor, tent meeting, and sawdust trail folks will understand what I am talking about.
Among my most precious possessions is a New Testament my maternal great-grandmother bought and reading through it painstakingly underlined many passages she hoped I would read and take to heart as I grew up. It would be some years before I was old enough to appreciate how rare this kind of thing was even for that age now long past. What was not rare back then was my great-grandmother’s complete and confident faith in God, something this generation knows little about. But as I hold and look through this precious New Testament I’m reminded of the major role my great-grandmother had in that dedication at the time of my birth, and I have come to appreciate how rare such faith as that of my great-grandmother was even back then.
That age long past into which I was born and one that was still characterized by people with faith in God and an America that still honored God, one often referred to as Norman Rockwell’s America was not representative of Paul’s warnings to Timothy about a time presaging the End of the Age when God brings his final judgment against the evil of this world system, destroying the works of the Devil and restores all things in which there will be a new heaven and a new earth where there will be no evil and righteousness will prevail.
All thoughts of the supernatural aside, there is no doubt about the precarious position America is now in. The things presently happening on the financial front are in fact ushering in a time of growing danger for our nation. In a relative moment of time the very foundations of our nation are being rocked as though a massive earthquake had occurred and we are only now assessing the damage, not knowing how to rebuild that which was lost, some wondering if in fact the foundation can even be restored upon which to build?
Obama may not be that Man of Sin and quite frankly the very thought seems patently ridiculous, but I remind myself it wasn’t that long ago his chances of even being a contender for president struck me as patently ridiculous and now… But if not that Man of Sin he certainly would be a willing accomplice and is promising to “rebuild” America while in collusion with the thoroughly anti-American U.N. and I am forcefully reminded for a man like him to win the presidency only requires a generation like this one: For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God…
