Friday, July 30, 2010

Ground zero mosque; America's Babylonian invasion

“The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city shall come and set this city on fire and burn it, with the houses on whose roofs offerings have been made to Baal and drink offerings have been poured out to other gods, to provoke me to anger.…This city has aroused my anger and wrath, from the day it was built to this day, so that I will remove it from my sight... And though I have taught them persistently, they have not listened to receive instruction. They set up their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do this abomination… Now therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, 'It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence': Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, For thus says the LORD: Just as I have brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promise them.” (Jeremiah 32: 29-44)

Most Americans are deeply grieved and some outspokenly angry at the thought of New York City government discussing the building of a mosque at the site of the World Trade Center massacre (Ground Zero). The cowardice and complete disregard for the wishes of the majority of Americans by these elected and appointed officials is both appalling and disgusting. Building any symbol of Islam on the graves of fallen Americans is tantamount to celebrating the conquest of the “Great Satan” (America) by the god of Islam. This unconscionable action will embolden Muslims to continue their acts of terror and further reduce our level of security. In the physical realm, one would conclude in that government officials from “Ground Zero to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave” are either extremely corrupt or incredibly stupid. However, we believers must understand that God works in the supernatural and is already at work fulfilling His plans made manifest in what we see and hear with our natural eyes and ears.

In the sixth century before Christ the prophet Jeremiah was imprisoned and eventually killed for proclaiming what God had revealed to him regarding the people of Israel. God’s message to Jeremiah was simple: unless both king and people reformed their morals and returned to the true worship of God as taught by Moses, Jerusalem would be destroyed and its people killed or exiled at the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians who were already laying siege to Jerusalem. God was using an enemy to bring his people back to Him. Fast forward twenty six centuries and the parallels between the Babylonian invasion of Israel and the Muslim invasion of America are striking. Could our present troubles be God’s judgment is at work again in the Big Apple? (Hmmm, forbidden fruit… how interesting) We will not know for sure what God is up to in our present natural state until we have the vantage point of our hindsight, however, we can now open our bibles and see how we should conduct ourselves in accordance with God’s will by looking at the book of the prophet Daniel.

Following the siege of Jerusalem in 597 BC many of the conquered Jewish people were exiled to Babylon to serve as slaves to the conquering kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel, thought to be a young boy of twelve years, was taken captive brought to serve in the king’s palace. (Daniel 1:3-4) Daniel was of “nobility” and “without physical defect.” He and his fellow captives were taken into Nebuchadnezzar’s service because of their “aptitude for learning.”

As is common when one nation conquers another, the Babylonians immediately began to indoctrinate the best minds of Jewish society into their culture. “The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king's table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king's service.” (Daniel 1:5) However, Daniel “resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank.” (Daniel 1:8) Daniel knew that in this difficult situation his faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Joseph would sustain him. He refused to relinquish the Truth for a pagan religion. Daniel’s example is a lesson that God has provided as many will face similar circumstances under the rule of an atheistic socialist government likely influenced by pockets of Sharia law that will certainly infiltrate our statutes.

Christians must understand what Daniel faced and how he stood firm in his faith and the Truth of God’s word despite the specter of death that he faced daily. Whether escape from lions, or a smelting furnace, Daniel and his friends faced constant persecution and ridicule at the hands of pagan captors but did not forsake their God. This brothers and sisters must be our model of faith in the months and years to come as our “promised land” is systematically destroyed at the hand of our enemies. Perhaps God will help us turn things around in time to save her, but unless believers repent and seek His face, our chances to this observer seem dim. We all must choose to stand with God and the certainty of our salvation through Christ or be “numbered with the transgressors,” at the end of days.

Jesus said to his disciples, “you will be handed over to the courts and will be flogged with whips in the synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake…and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 10: 17-22) Friends, this does not sound like a picnic! Jesus has warned us all in advance. The time of easy religious acceptance and Christianity without real sacrifice is quickly coming to an end in this country. We must begin to exercise our “spiritual muscles” through daily prayer and bible study, corporate worship and fellowship with Holy Spirit-filled believers. We need God and we need each other to help us remain strong.
Jesus reassured them saying, “When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” (Matthew 10: 19-20) God through the Holy Spirit will help us, if we remain strong and trust.

The best way to trust when times are tough is to trust when times are less challenging. Today will be the least challenging day you will face at least in the near future. Each day for a while will be more difficult to develop a trust in the Holy Spirit as the times will grow increasingly difficult. Please start now!