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Can We Move Past Talk About Signs and Wonders Please?
Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective
I’m sure some will disagree with me, but here is the truth as far as I can tell, regarding the blood moons, as well as the recently passed Shemitah. Just today – Monday, September 28, 2015, I came across yet another post (reposted from September 17, 2015), regarding the blood moons and the potential problems that are/were slated to occur in the month of September. The post highlighted a video from the earlier part of September which was a general rebroadcast of various issues related to the alleged Shemitah and blood moon “omens.”
What was more interesting to me than the actual video had to do with the people responding to the poster and the video he posted. Comments like, “I agree” and “Very interesting” tell me that people continue to have no clue. It is mind-boggling that someone can take one or two verses from the Bible and create an all-pervasive theology connected to an end-time scenario that is really built on nothing but Dominion Theology. This is a theology that states that if Christians will only work hard enough (read: pray, get involved politically, work to bring about community to national repentance, etc.), then God will “bless” America by “healing the land.”
Never mind that when the Bible speaks of healing the land, it always has Israel in mind. There is never an indication that God would heal another nation’s land. While one might argue that Nineveh had a change of heart after Jonah, the reluctant evangelist sent there by God, the truth is that Nineveh had two choices: repent or be overthrown.
Nineveh was also ruled by a king. It was a monarchy and during Jonah’s day, it was the part of the Assyrian Empire, which God also used as the beginning of His arm of judgment against Israel. Incidentally, Nineveh, though the entire city repented (ostensibly because they were ordered to by the king), was eventually annihilated some 50 years later. The repentance didn’t fully take. Certainly, it did not last.
In fact, in the history of America, there have been specific times when large portions of this country went through revivals. The problem with them is some of the questionable theology presented during those times and the reasons why people believed America needed to repent. At every point in history – every day, month, year, decade, etc. – people of any given nation or area need to repent because there are unsaved people in this world. That never changes. But apart from Israel, God has never really sought to change entire nations. He’s always been more focused on individuals.
In America, people during the time of the Great Depression believed that it was a form of God’s judgment. In fact, it can be shown that because of wars, conflicts, and other things during the 1800s, people naturally began to believe that these wars and conflicts were the result of God’s impending judgment on America. Later, when the Great Depression occurred, it too was thought to be signs of God’s impending judgment. The reality is that there are many facts that point to globalists using their power and might to manufacture wars in various parts of the world (including America) in order to sell their armaments. It had nothing to do with God and everything to do with corrupt human beings seeking to enrich themselves. The same argument can be made for the Great Depression. There are strong arguments in favor of human beings manipulating things so that while the Stock Market crashed, they became richer, while the average person who played the stocks lost everything. During that time, rules for playing the stocks were far different from what they are today, yet there are still ways of manipulating stocks indirectly.
The sad…no, make that TRAGIC part of connecting bad omens to the Shemitah and blood moons is that 2, 3, or 6 months from now, when something bad happens, some will go, “See? We were warned by Cahn, Blitz, and others!” The reality is that this hype causes people not to live better lives, or even become more committed to Christ and His life in and through us. Instead it engenders fear and worry among Christians (something Jesus tells us we should not do), who then tend to run here, there, and everywhere attending the latest seminar, reading the newest book, gathering teachers all over in order to learn the latest fads. If ever there was a group of people alive who had itching ears, it is this generation and that is a sad thing to say. People are more enamored with signs and wonders than just presenting the simple plan of salvation to those who are lost and dying.
Folks, we need to reject the shoddy eisegesis of people who would build an all-encompassing theology around just a few verse of the Bible. This is wrong. It is detrimental not only to ourselves, but also to the cause of Christ. The Christian’s job is to point people to the only One who can save, not to signs and wonders that allegedly “prove” God is angry and ready to dish out judgment. Certainly, that judgment is on its way with the Tribulation when darkness will rule. That darkness is growing now and that is clearly obvious, but to spend our time looking at signs and wonders to guide us or provide information to us is a complete waste of time and counter-productive.
The reality is that what we need to know about the end times or the last days if you will leading up to and including the Tribulation period is already noted in God’s Word. It is clear. It is unmistakable and does not have 3,000-year-old secrets that have gone undetected until today when “prophets” or teachers can bring them to the fore as though by direct revelation from God. These revelations have occurred directly because at least one author stated that God “told” him what was coming. He said God showed him a connection between the Shemitah, blood moons and more, yet apparently, God was kind of unsure about all of it because when you read his books, he sounds more like a politician than a prophet, always presenting his propositions with “might” or “could” or “may” happen. That’s not the declaration of a true prophet, yet that is what is accepted today as coming from a “prophet,” but is nothing more than emotional virtue, basing “truth” on how we feel about something. Truth is truth regardless of how we feel. Feelings can be deceiving and often take us off the path of truth. It started in the Garden of Eden with a woman who had no sin nature and in essence was “perfect” yet untried. We don’t have the luxury of living without a sin nature. It is something we must fight against all of our lives until it is finally and fully removed from us. That’s what makes our lives much more difficult than Adam’s and Eve’s because they started life without sin natures. Imagine how they felt once they realized what their sin had created.
Look in the Old Testament. Were the prophets ever that ambiguous? NO, yet in today’s world, some want the fame (and certainly the fortune), but not the fallout if they’re wrong. That’s not a true prophet of God, sorry to say. Those who continue to follow people like Jonathan Cahn, Mark Blitz, John Hagee and other seemingly unprincipled men who preach and teach error need to wake up, ask God for discernment, and ultimately stop following them. I realize these guys preach a type of “repentance” (but Hagee is dead wrong when it comes to Jews!), but their repentance is always predicated on the fact of “omens” and “signs” and not the salvation alone that God has made available to people.
I find it fascinating Regarding the story (not parable) of the rich man and Lazarus both in opposite sides of Sheol (the torment side and the good side, aka Abraham’s bosom; cf. Luke 16:19-31). The rich wanted to back from the dead to warn his brothers as he was on the “hot” side of Sheol, not the “paradise” side of Sheol, where Lazarus resided with Abraham and the other saints.
Abraham basically told the man his brothers had Moses and the prophets to discern truth. They should learn from them because they would not be convinced by signs and wonders, even if that included someone rising from the dead. Even though this was a direct response to the man wanting to be raised from the dead to warn his brothers, it was also a foreshadowing of Jesus’ resurrection of the dead. The point is simple. Signs, wonders, and even a resurrection from the dead will not convince people. Truth found in God’s Word convinces people…or not.
Yet today we have “prophets” telling us about this sign or that one and if “America” will just take note and repent (as a nation?) Then all would be well. Sorry, that’s not in the Bible. What IS in the Bible is a coming one world system of government headed by Antichrist. Nothing will change that future and America won’t be saved from it.
Let’s leave all vestiges of Dominion Theology behind and get on with the Great Commission program.
Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective
Source: http://studygrowknowblog.com/2015/09/28/can-we-move-past-talk-about-signs-and-wonders-please/
