Last weekend the LORD directed me to read Isaiah 19, confirming who would win the election and why.  I wasn’t sure how to take it since I was still holding out hope, but now that the election has concluded, these verses are about to become more real than I could probably ever imagine.

I believe the Old Testament gives us a pattern of how God deals with nations and peoples, and these patterns still apply even today.  They are written for our benefit and instruction:

Romans 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

1 Corinthians 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them {the people of the Old Testament} for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

With that in mind, I believe Isaiah 19 gives us a strong indicator of what will happen in the next 4 years.  I’ll provide the verses, then follow them up with my comments.

The burden of Egypt.  Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.  And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.

That sure sounds like a lot of race-based riots are about to happen soon, doesn’t it?  Our nation will dramatically fracture along political, ethnic and religious lines, and we will all be pitted against each other in a spirit of violence such as we have not seen for a long, long time.

And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.

Where conventional wisdom fails, people will run to unorthodox sources for answers (similar to The Secret hype we saw not too long ago.)

And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.

America, meet Barack Hussein Obama.

And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.  And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither.  The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more.  The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish.

Our defenses will weaken and our food supply will suffer.  The cost of certain groceries will likely rise, and rise dramatically.

Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks, shall be confounded.  And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices and ponds for fish.

Linen manufacture was one of Egypt’s most lucrative trades, so this indicates to me a direct hit on our economy and our ability to trade.

Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?  Where are they? where are thy wise men? and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the LORD of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt.  The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof.

Matthew Henry writes of this:  “Their politics shall be all blasted,  and turned into foolishness.  When God will destroy the nation he will destroy the counsel thereof,  by taking away wisdom from the statesmen,  or setting them one against another (as Hushai and Ahithophel),  or by his providence breaking their measures even when they seemed well laid; so that the princes of Zoan are fools: they make fools of one another,  every one betrays his own folly,  and divine Providence makes fools of them all.  Pharaoh had his wise counselors.  Egypt was famous for such.  But their counsel has all become brutish;  they have lost all their forecast; one would think they had become idiots,  and were bereaved of common sense.”

That actually sounds like Washington on any given day, but probably more so in the days to come.

The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.  Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do.

Our unemployment rate is going to skyrocket.  It’s possible we may see the same kind of double digit rates that were only previously seen during the Great Depression.

In that day shall Egypt be like unto women: and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which he shaketh over it.  And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt, every one that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the LORD of hosts, which he hath determined against it.

Judah at the time was being overrun by the powerful army of Sennacherib, and was considered an ally of Egypt.  The fear expressed here is that Sennacherib would attack them as well.  Applying it to today, a foreign war involving one of our allies may take place (if not already) and the enemy fighting this ally will be seen as a serious threat to us as well, causing much fear and distress.

And now for the good news! 

In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the LORD of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction.  In that day shall there be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the LORD.  And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the LORD because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them.

Sarah Palin 2012!

Ok, ok, on a more serious note, I think it’s clear the calamity Egypt went through resulted in a REAL revival (not like the fake ones we’ve seen for the past 10 years or so.)  A small group of cities turned and sought the LORD in a spirit of repentance and broken heartedness, pleading for His intervention.  This remnant of righteousness will spark a turnaround for an entire nation, and God will answer by sending them a deliverer.

Sarah Palin 2012!!!!!!!!   Hey, you never know…

And the LORD shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the LORD in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the LORD, and perform it.  And the LORD shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the LORD, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them.  In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians.  In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.

After smiting Egypt the LORD then heals it, and goes so far as to restore what had once been bitter relations between with them and the nation of Assyria, a possible sign that any revival we witness will be confirmed by a healing of relations with a powerful ally of ours.

None of this is set in stone of course, but the pattern is clear:  a nation becomes divisive and violent, falls under the rule of a cruel and fierce king, and all manner of economic calamity shortly follows thereafter, with our government in disarray and our country gripped with fear over the possibility of attacks from foreign entities.  The awful calamities and destructions we experience will however result in a bonafide revival, a revival that will sweep a large segment of our population and cause the LORD to show mercy and restore the nation, one more time.

I have to admit I find this hard to believe.  America has become so ridiculously blind and so breathtakingly evil that I don’t see how we could ever have a revival again, and indeed we may not.  But… if we did, if the church especially sought out the LORD with sackcloth and ashes, and we truly repented of our sins and began to obey His true Word, not being tossed about by the heresies that have so easily been allowed to flourish in the churches before, God may yet spare us, as well as restore the nation we live in.

Whether this revival actually comes or not, I don’t know.  So many people seem to believe Barack Obama was raised up by God to lead the United States, and for once I happen to agree, only not for the reasons they might think.  I believe strongly that he was raised up to be our oppressor, not our deliverer, and the reality of that fact will soon manifest itself shortly after his term begins, as we are thrust into one of the darkest times our nation has ever experienced in its 200+ year history.

Regardless, while “Egypt” may be judged, those who have remained faithful and loyal to the God of creation will find themselves in their own private Goshen.  I believe the Lord will supernaturally care for us even while a nation of people around us becomes severely judged for its sins.  In spite of my own failings and sins, one thing I am still confident of even now, and it is that God will always keep His promises.  He will care for me just as He will care for His people, because He has promised to do so.  And it is that promise I am holding on to, now more than ever.

Sarah Palin is right, the election for the U.S. Presidency IS in God’s hands after all.  Oh, you thought it was in the hands of millions of U.S. voters?  Well, yes it.  And no, it isn’t.

We do have free will, but it ends where God’s sovereignty begins.  If His hand is in this election, His Spirit is able to move the hearts of the people to vote one way or the other.  The Bible credits Him for building up nations and for tearing them down, democracy or not, and ultimately, just as so many nations have been before it, the future of our country is in His hands.

If Obama wins, I believe he will be the instrument by which God begins judgment on this nation for its grievous sins, beginning with the Christian church.  If McCain wins, I believe we will have been granted a miraculous reprieve from judgment, perhaps in part because of the remnant of God’s people who have even now refused to bow down to Baal and have prayed fervently for a stay of execution.  But whether it’s McCain or Obama, God’s will WILL be done.  He will work, and “who shall let it?”  (Isaiah 43:13)

In light of this truth, it makes me wonder: what if, in spite of a half-billion dollar campaign, in spite of massive voter fraud, in spite of polls predicting landslides and demoralizing the opposition, in spite of a dominating mass media machine that has been completely in his tank, in spite of a world population that overwhelmingly supports him, in spite of an economic crisis that has caused people to blame the wrong villains, Obama still loses?

In the face of such insurmountable odds, will we give God the glory for it?  Will even the non-Christians marvel and admit the “finger of God” has been in this?  Or wil lthey rationalize with excuses and claims of racial bias?

Or what if Obama wins, devastating the followers of movements such as Lou Engle’s The Call?  Will they take it as proof that God does not hear their prayers and subsequently fall away to bitterness and apostasy?  Or will they recognize the folly of their ways and repent, recognizing that in order for a nation to be restored, the church itself must be restored first?

These are interesting times we live in indeed.  But whether we face judgment or a stay of execution, I am convinced that those who belong to the Lord will lack for nothing even in the darkest of times.  They will not be forsaken, nor their seed begging bread.  One thousand may fall at their side, but it shall not come near them.  While the world of Egypt is plagued, the people of God will remain safe in Goshen.  This is the heritage of the servants of God, and their righteousness shall always be of Him.

Now, if I can just get a girlfriend… 

Feeling kinda blah today, trying to resign myself to the reality that Hitler: Part 2 will soon be moving into the White House (a name he’ll probably be changing too.)

It makes me wonder what life will be like in this brave new world that will soon come upon us.  A world where Iran goes nuclear, the big bear of Russia rears its ugly head yet again, and our status as a superpower (and even a sovereign nation) finally comes to an end.  A world where high taxes cripples our society in order to pay for monumentally absurd bailouts and massive social programs run by a den of incompetent bureaucrats and corrupt government officials even as our economy lies in ruins.  A world where gas prices reach astronomically high levels while promised alternative energy sources continue to be out of reach and impossible to implement.  A world where race wars seem imminent as our government continues to provide handouts and freebies to minorities while shunning the white folks (who’s had it good for too long anyway) and reducing their status to second class citizens.  A world where Obama’s catastrophic failures and broken promises will be blamed on Bush even though he is no longer in office.   A world where troops are prematurely withdrawn from Iraq and it once again falls into violent chaos.  A world where Georgia loses its sovereignty after Russia completely overwhelms it and takes over its crucial oil pipelines.  A world where terrorists will have nuclear powered bombs on loan from Iran to attack America with.  A world where sexual deviancy is promoted through abortion on demand and by diluting the sanctity of marriage.  A world where the greed of our financial markets and the burst of our real estate bubble puts us in one of the severest depressions in history.

A world where I still don’t have a girlfriend. 

Remember that scene from Ghostbusters?

Dr. Peter Venkman: This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions.
Mayor: What do you mean, “biblical”?
Dr Ray Stantz: What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath of God type stuff.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Exactly.
Dr Ray Stantz: Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling!
Dr. Egon Spengler: Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes…
Winston Zeddemore: The dead rising from the grave!
Dr. Peter Venkman: Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together… mass hysteria!

Maybe it’s bravado, but strangely enough just like Venkman, I seem to be relatively ok with the fact that we’re all going to die.  No, really.  Because if this crisis is truly meant to be the beginning of we’re-all-royally-screwed-end-times judgment on America for its many sins, then I can’t think of a better way to ensure our complete and total destruction than to elect a Christ denying (yet Christ imitating) dillweed who thinks he can neutralize the threat of a nuke building Iran and a nuke ready Russia with his charm.  Really, what better way to tell God just how ridiculously irredeemable we’ve become than to elect a guy who claims to be a Christian and yet thinks a good Muslim could still make it to the pearly gates as long as he keeps the bombing of civilians to a minimum?  Hey, we’re all good people here, really(!), even if we do think having a baby is tantamount to a punishment, and if we don’t seem to be too bothered at the thought of leaving those that survived failed abortions out to die.  Not that Big-O would ever intentionally do such a thing, he just doesn’t think they merit protection of course, at least not until the kind of offensive language that dares to remotely suggest a fetus is a living thing is completely stripped from such a bill of protection.  Because you know, God forbid we should toss those whacky pro-life freaks a bone that even NARAL wouldn’t have had a problem with.  We do need to be principled here, after all.

No, I just don’t see why God would want to rain fire and brimstone on us darling cherubs of light… except for possibly giving our rich folks far too many tax breaks.

When I think about it, it’s not even Obama that I can’t stand so much.  I don’t even hate on the heathens for supporting him either, since such a godless sort devoid of any sense of morality will obviously go for the Barry-O show.  I can respect that.

No, it’s the self professing Christians who hang on every word he speaks, and who teach their children to sing musical praises of Hopey-O-Change that make me want to stomp their faces in with something rusty and spiky.

It’s no secret that I intensely dislike what passes for American Christianity today, whether we’re dealing with dimwits sipping Starbucks while they fawn over girlie boy Rick Warren’s latest perfume scented books, or Calvinist snotheads who think knowing two words in Greek makes them the most brilliant scholars in recorded history, or charismatics who scream and flail their arms in revival meetings because they think they’re “on fire” and they’re about ready to projectile vomit out a stomach’s worth of 24 karat gold.

Yet nothing makes me want to go out and start bouncing people’s heads off the cement more than those ever devout Christians drooling puppy love over that Obamanation of nature otherwise known as Barack Hussein Obama.  I am absolutely convinced that this very same flock of fluffy sheep will also someday jump at the chance to stand in line for an opportunity to lick the hairy hindquarters of the Antichrist, thinking it will taste just like rainbows.

These to me represent the most darkened, clueless minds in all of creation, and because of their depraved stupidity I may end up witnessing the one thing I never wanted to see in my lifetime: the death of my country.  Thank you so, SO much for that, my brothers and sisters in the Lord.

I don’t get it.  I really don’t.  You hate Bush?  Fine.  You think he’s a war mongering, oil happy, half brained cowboy who caters to the rich?  Fine.  I can understand that.  I even dig the pacifism thing.

Explain the abortion thing to me then.  Explain to me how the violence involved in ripping fetuses to shreds doesn’t somehow repulse your pacifist side the way “Bush’s war” does.  Because when I see people looking to extend human rights to red assed baboons or wail whenever a dolphin is caught in a net, but scream at the top of their lungs for the right to twirl up a fetus into itty bitty bits that would have otherwise become a full fledged human being, then I see only the kind of deranged, twisted up minds that no medicine on earth could ever possibly cure.

And yet somehow, you’re all ok with it.  You can relate to a guy who can’t even get the basic tenets of Christianity right, (though I admit, it would have been more palatable to me if you merely agreed with him on some points and decided only to vote for him while holding your nose at the polls.)  But no, your attitude is one of complete adoration for a morally compromised Chicago politician as if he had come from the very throne of heaven itself.  It exhibits the same kind of mentality that the Antichrist will no doubt someday feed on: unabashed adoration and unquestionable loyalty, despite the transparent seedy and evil character of your so called hero.

It almost makes me want to see the Obamanation become President, if for no other reason than to see the collective look of your ashen faces when you realize with horror that “the one” turned out to be the second coming of JC after all: JC as in Jimmy Carter that is.  Mr. Malaise has finally come back to finish the job.

You know what really frosts my Chips Ahoy cookies about all this though?  It’s the fact that I’ll have to endure the travesty that will soon come upon us, alone.  There will be no honey bunny snuggles to share my misery with while we watch our beloved country commit suicide.  No cuddly bunchikins to hold and share a sweet, tender moment with while our cities riot and burn.  Every dark day that lies ahead of me I will have to face completely and utterly alone, all because not a single one of you hateful, despicable, vile women could manage to find it in your hearts to wubs me.

Fine then.  Don’t come crying to me when the world ends and you desperately need a manly shoulder to cry on.   I won’t be there.

Well maybe I will.  I am desperate and all so who knows, perhaps I can learn to forgive and forget.