Last weekend I was given Isaiah 19 to read, 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.

Tags: america, barack hussein obama, barack obama, Christians, church, churches, country, depression, economy, Egyptians, election, employment, faith, God, government, healing, heresies, judgment, lord, nation, politics, promises, repentance, revival, sarah palin, Scripture, scriptures, sin, violence
Categories: Politics and Poker
 
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I realize my heathen audience just went “Uhhhhhh???” upon reading that title, but every now and then I like to discuss a Christian topic on my blog, so like it or not it’s par for the course.

One of my beloved readers recommended that I give the “worship artist” Jason Upton a listen, hoping his music would inspire.

Listening to his music did in fact inspire me with hope: hope that he never releases another album. I keed, I keed…. ok not really.

In all seriousness, I think Upton means well, though I was kinda hoping he would be the real deal, another Keith Green in the making, yet when I started giving a few of his songs a listen, something just seemed… off.

And here we go again. As soon as my spirit gets disturbed about something I know I’m about to step into a pile of fecal matter and start knocking over sacred cows, but then again, it’s what I do, and dude, I do it oh so well.

On the surface, Upton’s music and lyrics would appear to be alright and God-focused, but quite a few of his songs also seemed vague and cryptic, their meanings hidden in obscurity. I also noted the absence of any overt call to repentance and living a life free of sin, two of the most common themes found not only in Keith Green songs but in most of the Psalms as well. It might not be a big deal, but Upton’s musical words presented a rather incomplete gospel to me. Curiosity compelled me to do some digging into his background, and what I learned (so far) pretty much confirmed my suspicions about him.

Upton’s musical career began with his album “Key of David,” which according to Wikipedia was a series of prophetic worship sessions, over half of which were “spontaneously inspired by the Holy Spirit.”

Right away I knew some Christian dweeb in love with Upton must have written this. How did they know such sessions were inspired by the Holy Spirit to begin with? Did they ask Him? Did they test the spirit as the Bible instructs us to do? Did they compare their experiences to what Scripture teaches to see if it lined up? Or was it all mushy gushy feelings and since we’re all happy shappy dappy here it must be of God? And what makes his worship music prophetic anyway? Are we insinuating that Upton is not only a musician, but a modern day prophet as well? Sigh.

Things just get more bizarre as the same Wiki entry suggests Upton was able to stop a tornado with his music, and that one of his tracks contained the voices of actual angels singing.

Sure, and I’m Mickey Mouse.

I checked out the lyrics to the song that supposedly had this heavenly choir singing in it:

I declare over you, God has given you the air!
So fly, it’s time to open up your wings,
To shake off the things that hold you down (to leave the things…..)
It’s time to spread out your wings and fly!

Do you see what I see?
Do you hear what I hear?
Do you know what I know?
Do you want what I want?

Angel: (“…undiscernible… I want you to fly …undiscernible… Fly….” )

Do you see what I see?
Do you hear what I hear?
Do you know what I know?
Fly!

And of course, someone from the audience later claims to have seen one or more of these angels, so we can now accept without reservation that a brigade of angels from heaven just decided to go on tour with Jason Upton.

Really people, can you stop taking everything at face value here? There’s no doubt in my mind that fans have now used this as unequivocal proof that Upton is anointed of God. “Never mind what the Bible says. We heard angels sing! That’s proof enough for us!”

One of the failings of the charismatic crowd today is that they rely too heavily on emotions and experiences for evidence that a movement is of God, rather than on what Scripture teaches. So they never test the spirits, they never scrutinize their experiences according to God’s word, and of course the net result is that they fall away to heresy.

Is there anything overtly heretical about Jason Upton though, other than the fact that he seems to be an ignoramus? It’s hard to say. Reading his website, I noted what a pastor wrote about his first album, Key of David:

The Key of David is mentioned in Revelation 3:7 to refer to the absolute authority of Heaven in Jesus’ hands to open the doors that no one can shut and to close the doors that no one can open. But the Key of David is first mentioned in Isaiah 22:22, where it denotes a fatherly authority, a pivotal place of opening up the riches of the House of David-God’s blessing, God’s presence, and God’s glory-to God’s people. I believe the Lord is going to use worship like this to birth whole generations into His Kingdom in fire.

The Youth in our churches and campuses are going to catch fire quickly and intensely, and they are going to take back for God what the enemy has stolen-they are going to take back the churches, the universities and campuses, and the cities that we, the older generations in the Church, have longed and prayed for in spite of the fact that we have not yet seen the widespread, reclaiming revival fires from heaven that we have prayed and wept for.

Again with this fire thing. Fires and revivals, they’re all the new rage these days, and yet I wonder if any of them even know what they’re talking about. When God’s fire is referred to in Scripture, it’s always in the sense that it consumes sin. Fire purifies and burns away all that is displeasing to God, and it is without exception, a PAINFUL experience:

1 Peter 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ…

Faith is always described as a precious metal that’s been purified by fire (trials), so if a Christian grounded in the Word asks for an anointing of fire, he is in essence asking God to purify his faith (regardless of how painful that process might be). Yet from the quote above it seems readily obvious that such fire is being defined in a different context, that it instead signifies some sort of vague mutinous takeover of churches and cities by today’s Christian youth.

The more I read, the more I wondered, “What the blue flipping dip are these people talking about?” Then I read about Upton’s strong association with yet another “Christian” movement called The Call, which was founded by Lou Engle. You can see a video of Upton performing for Engle here (what’s with this weaving and bobbing crap by the way? What are we, Hassidic Jews?)

As for Engle himself, he’s a bit of a weenie, obsessed in raising up an “army” of young believers who can help turn back the “black moral morass” that has plagued America since the Beatles, mostly by doing lots of praying, fasting and worship (and a wee bit of political grassroots action.) Some of his bizarre antics have been shown in the anti-Christian documentary Jesus Camp, where he gives a sermon espousing on the evils of abortion and the need to have conservative judges on the Supreme Court… to KIDS. Seriously. Because you know, nothing is more important than making sure children understand the need for having constructionist judges on the bench by the time they’re ten years old. Chuckie Cheese? Pffft, that’s for godless atheists. We’re doing God’s work here.

In spite of this flaming stupidity, some of Engle’s rhetoric still seemed to ring true. Here’s a synopsis of what his movement “The Call” is supposedly all about:

TheCall is a divinely initiated, multi-racial, multi-generational, and cross-denominational gathering to corporate prayer and fasting. We believe that our nation is in desperate need of the mercy of God and a great Spiritual Awakening. TheCall is committed to mobilizing people from all across America to gather together to petition God for His undeserved mercy for our nation in 12-hour solemn assemblies. Just as in the days of Joel, we believe that now is the time to blow the trumpet across our land, to fast, to pray, and return to the Lord with all our hearts.

Sounds all well and good right? Until you start delving into Engle’s background and you start to realize, “Holy cow, this guy’s batsh*& insane!”

It seems Engle’s ultimate goal is really to take America back for Christians, and this “call” is basically a hyped up, Promise Keepers style movement based on the notion that if we just pray really really really hard enough, magical things will happen (and the U.S. Supreme Court will instantly be filled by 9 ultraconservative judges who all graduated from Regent University and are diehard fans of Jason Upton.)

Not that there’s anything wrong with getting involved in the political process, but Engle’s problem is that he apparently thinks God specifically told him to start this movement, in spite of the fact that there’s no Scriptural support for doing such a thing.

The Bible clearly tells us what constitutes a true revival:

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. – 2 Chronicles 7:14

Revivals are a call to individual repentance. It’s not the world God is concerned with in this regard, it’s His people. Any revival movement then should always have this as its primary focus: that we as a Christian community have sinned before God and it’s OUR ways we need to change, not the world’s.

Engle’s movement though is not about that. He makes mild overtures about returning to the Lord and all, but what his movement is really about is changing the socio-political climate of an entire nation. His emphasis is on reforming America, not on reviving the church itself, despite the fact that the Bible clearly indicates things are supposed to get worse, not better, as we move ever closer to the end. He and his followers also don’t seem to realize that before God judges the world, He is going to judge His church FIRST:

For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? – 1 Peter 4:17

Knowing this, doesn’t it make more sense that we clean up OUR house first before we start trying to save the world? Unless of course, you’re so absolutely mind bogglingly obtuse that you think the church today isn’t facing any serious problems, in which case I’d like to invite you over to my place so I can stomp your face in with my spiked boot.

The fact is, we don’t need a revival in America. We need a revival IN THE CHURCH. The time will soon come when God is going to judge a completely unprepared Christian church before He does anything with the rest of the world. We’re going to be weighed in the balance, and at the state we’re in today, we are going to be found severely wanting.

We are so screwed.

Tags: album, america, angels, apostasy, bible, christian, Christians, church, criticism, critique, falling away, God, jason upton, Jesus, judgment, keith green, lou engle, lyrics, music, repentance, review, revival, Scripture, sin, song, thecall, wordpress, worship
Categories: Christians Gone Wild
 
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