Hasn't Happened Yet: Repentance

Today, let's talk about repentance. Most of you remember I wrote a piece back in April called Covid-19 Thoughts, where I touched on this issue in relation to the Pandemic. I believed then and even more so now that if there was (is) no repentance, even worse things could very well follow for the nation. That post is still on this page, towards the bottom.

I have not seen anything remotely like repentance out there in the nation, have you? While listening to the radio yesterday and hearing many of those from the political left 'whine' about how horrible it is being Black in America, I never once heard any sense of responsibility for Black America's state placed on anyone who was Black. It was always the police, the government, Trump, 'the system' but never many of the self-created social problems that exist in Black communities that can only be solved by Black Americans. Start with out of wedlock births and the YBM who grow up without the steady guiding hand of a father. Don't think there is a connection between that and many Black cities crime rates?

I am not going to go on a rant today about Black America because this whole spirit of 'whine' and 'entitlement' is prevalent in all segments of the country. Everyone wants to blame someone else for their situation, when as often as not, the best place to start to solve many of these problems starts with a four letter word - 'self'.

Now I am not for one moment going to say that Black Americans don't have a right to be most angry about the way some cops treat us. It's a long running scandal and if Trump bears any responsibility for it at all, it goes back to some of the things he did when he first took office and AG Sessions was running the DOJ. During the Obama administration there were some Bipartisan efforts to really bring in Police reform. One solution was Consent Decree's set up with many of the nations Police Departments. But Sessions ordered the DOJ to review Consent Decree's. You can find the actual Memo here. A cursory search on Sessions and Consent Decree with yield up many news stories on this, including why the decree's were needed in the first place. So let it not be said that I am not acutely aware of this very serious problem. If police reform has been slow, The President bears some of the blame.

But in America there has been no deeper self analysis of our individual or collective behavior. No thought about God and what he thinks about our society, which is swimming in rivers of porn, sodomy, adultery, hate, violence, fraud, bribery, drugs and corruption of every sort. The nation has not embarked on a rigid or even cursory self examination. It has continued on the way it has with most people hoping things go back to the way they were before the pandemic and now, these riots.

You see, I see America as a sick man walking. Like a man who has cancer and does not know it and only has a few years to live, this is how I see the country. Since there is no immediate pain, the subject does not realize he is dying. So I see this country. We have been dying of a spiritual cancer for some time and now the symptoms are getting bad enough where a 'medical' professional needs to be sought. This however is not a medical condition, but a spiritual and moral one. America just does not really understand how decadent she has become and how fast she is sliding in the wrong direction.

Other nations see it, but we don't. We have exchanged the word freedom with freedom from personal responsibility; freedom from doing right over doing wrong; freedom has turned into license and license to licentiousness. This is what freedom has turned into and we have made a mess of one of the greatest political experiments ever to be embarked upon.

That experiment was that a free people can freely elect leaders who will govern us and protect our rights, persons and property. It was a novel idea back in the day and until about I would say the late 20th century, it worked fairly well. But as the people became more reprobate, so the system has lost the basis for its continued existence. Namely, that the people who choose who governed them had to have a basic sense of right and wrong, a respect for God and understand their part in the social, political and economic system.

President Lincoln who confronted the greatest threat so far to that system said it well.

"...that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." - President Lincoln, Gettysburg Address

As then so now, the threat to that form of government is not coming so much from abroad, but from within. Witness these riots and with each situation then and now, race relations plays a key role.

I think that what we are witnessing is the inevitable result of a people who are more concerned about rights than responsibility, particularly, personal responsibility both to their fellow man but more importantly to God. It is no coincidence that Lincoln mentioned God in his address.

When a nation forgets God, they are on a fast track to self and later divine destruction and that is the path this nation is on. We don't see it or ourselves as being decadent, but it is safe to say that neither did Sodom nor Gomorrah. They were down right indignant when Lot tried to correct that attempted gang rape of his house guests. Who was he to judge them? 'Bring our your guests so that we can have some fun!' That was the cry of the wicked and while America has not slipped that far yet, she is rapidly moving in that direction.

Look at the violence in our cities. Look at what is going on right now, from coast to coast. Most major cities have seen at least some level of disturbance. I read today where several cops were shot in last nights protests.

I just have long suspected that this great American democratic experiment is on its way to failure, not because it can't work, but because it can't work with the kinds of people who now reside in the country. This new generation of people and even many of my own age group, there just seems to be something fundamentally wrong with them, their moral compass and their ability to process information. Education, brainwashing, media, propaganda... take your pick of causes. I think it boils down to this. The nation and its people at first started to stray from God, and that straying now has turned into a rapid sprint away from him and his ways. As the new Left began to take over America's schools back in the 60's the whole face of education changed and with that came other changes as well in society as the early-age social conditioning began to take effect when the people got older. Education became more of a tool for social indoctrination than for education. It's why I think we have so many politically correct half-wits in the country today, Hypersensitive wimps who are 'offended' by anything that they don't agree with and then start taking anti-depressants and often try and turn their thin-skin into a political cause or some new medical condition. My view is that some of this emerging generation of emotional basket cases should not even be allowed to walk the streets alone at night without adult supervision, let alone walk into a polling booth and vote.

I am always struck by the parallels that exist between the US and Rome and the social, economic and political paths that sent Rome downwards and what is now sending the US whirling down the same socioeconomic loo.

No, what this nation needs is a strong dose of reality. Spiritual reality that only God can give. That wickedness, licentiousness and ignorance has its own reward and that we may be well on the way to reaping it. If COVID-19 did not get the nation's attention, these riots might. If that does not work, there may be much more trouble from other directions to come.

You see, I think the Lord is slowly removing his hand of protection from the country. Not because he hates us but because he is insisting that the nation needs to change direction and repent. Will we? I rather think not, at least not yet. Most people don't see anything wrong with how they live, the dope they take, the adultery they commit, the frauds they engage in, the lies they tell. They see everyone else doing it and that is often their justification. It's the herd morality and its going to send the nation stampeding over a spiritual cliff.

So no, I don't see any signs of repentance yet, but God may very will begin to turn up the 'heat' so to speak so that people begin to or perhaps are forced to make some spiritual choices.

God bless all who serve the Lord, in Spirit and in Truth

Brother Mark

Know Your Enemy III

Going Into Labor

Let's talk about jobs today.

Gotta Job? I mean... still gotta job? Be thankful, very very thankful. Why? Because The good news is that many people who are not working right now as a result of this pandemic will indeed return to work and begin be able to pay their bills. The bad news is that many will not. Estimates for long term unemployed are all over the place. Given that over 30 million people have filed for unemployment benefits these past couple of months, we can safely assume that there will be millions of Americans who will, within the next couple of months realize that they no longer have a job, or if they are lucky, will return to work as a part time or casual worker. Over the past several weeks, over 30 40 million Americans have filed for unemployment. That number is not a typo. In six weeks we have witnessed one of the greatest employment disasters the nation has ever witnessed. And it is not over yet, though many are starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. It's still not clear if that light is the sunrise or a freight train heading right at us.

       Source: BLS

The following is from the CBO.

The Labor Market

The pandemic and associated social distancing measures have led to a collapse in consumer spending and caused many businesses to reduce or cease operations and to lay off or furlough their employees. Between the third week of March and the first week of May, more than 30 million unemployment insurance claims were filed. The unemployment rate surged from 3.5 percent in February to 14.7 percent in April. That change reflects the net effect of a decline of more than 25 million in the number of people employed and a reduction of more than 8 mil- lion in the size of the labor force.

The effects of the pandemic and economic shocks have not been uniform across industries, regions, or businesses of varying sizes. During March and April, more than 20 million nonfarm payroll jobs were lost; those losses were concentrated in industries that rely on a high degree of in-person interactions, such as leisure and hospitality, retail trade, and education and health services. The leisure and hospitality sector was hit particularly hard, losing 8 million of its 17 million jobs in March and April (see Figure 1). In addition, many local economies that rely heavily on the tourism and hospitality industries have sustained great employment losses. More broadly, the impact of the pandemic has varied greatly across regions, and some states have been hit harder than others. Across all industries and all regions, though, businesses that are small and young are expected to suffer a greater share of job losses than are larger and more mature businesses, because smaller and newer businesses are less likely to have the financial resources to withstand the shocks. - Source CBO

This gives us a snapshot of how bad things are. I should add how bad things are going to be because for those millions of Americans who are not going to go back to work, the pain has not hit yet. Sure they can't go to work, but many now are getting enhanced unemployment benefits and they got a decent stimulus check and it does not seem unlikely that they will get another within another 60 days or so, if the GOP and Democrats can get another bailout package together.

But the pain has not set in yet. No, we have not yet begun to feel it. Right now millions of Americans are depending on the governments largess to pay their bills. But that may very well change in the weeks ahead at least for some and the degree with which this happens will be dependent on policy makers.

One very popular part of the bailout was the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). It has been widely used by businesses. But Republicans are eyeing it very carefully. Then there are the enhanced unemployment benefits. They maintain that with these benefits, many people see no advantage in returning to work. Such people can remain on their respective couch's with the remote control firmly in their grasp and still collect a paycheck. They note that in some cases with these benefits, people are making more on the dole than they were working. The idea is that the longer people sit around doing nothing and getting paid for it, the longer any recovery will take. Democrats want to extend these benefits. Given the dire employment situation, their calls are not without merit. But the GOP's observations bear considerable merit as well.

The key here I think is to make decisions along these lines without too much emotion. Fiscal sense and the goal of protecting the long term health of businesses that provide jobs should be top priority, not letting our hearts bleed and with tears in our eyes and thus lead Americans, businesses and later the nation into bankruptcy on a river of tears. Care is very important, but so are economic and fiscal realities. Better to take a couple of cuts and bruises now than fall of a 1000 foot fiscal cliff later. You'll be dealing with far more than cuts and bruises.

The PPP however is probably one of the best idea's, not because I am in favor of bailouts (I am not) but because businesses, small and medium sized can't reopen. The Governors of many states have made it illegal for them to open, so this is all through no fault of their own. They need help and should get it. For now this program is directed just towards certain businesses related expenses and if done properly, is no longer a categorized as a loan, but a grant. They are looking at making some changes including consideration of allowing for the money to be used for other things and still be considered a grant. My view is that for many bushiness these loans are essential, particularly if these lockdowns continue through June. Many businesses would simply go out of business were it not for this program. But the view of many is that this is best kind of answer, get the employers what they need to keep their shops open and people working. Don't let hundreds of thousands of small and medium sized businesses go bankrupt and have to close, leaving those dreaded 'For Lease' signs on abandoned office buildings across America and even more Americans heading to the local homeless shelter.

So What's Gonna Happen?

I don't know. But do want to throw out some thoughts to you all because what's gonna happen is probably gonna do so within the next 90-120 days, barring significant continuing government help/bailouts/loans and grants.

These programs will probably keep the worst from happening, at least right away, But that does not mean that we won't see serious problems ahead. Rather than cite facts figures and links, I will just give you a 'stream of consciousness' today.

Right now people can stay in their homes because in many places evictions are no longer possible or legal. That is going to change. Real Estate owners, banks and others with political power are going to put the pressure on to get those who are not paying rent or their mortgages out so that they can get someone in who can. No, this is not going to happen overnight, but the reality is that real estate investors are in business to make money and they too have expenses, often quite significant. Granted as long as 'enhanced' unemployment benefits are in the mix, this is not going to be a major crisis as millions of Americans can take that check and pay their rent. Such bailouts are and are going to be wildly popular and remember, this is an election year. The party that proposes these hand outs, even bigger ones are going to be considered more electable that those who do not, to an economically illiterate voting population. One look at the fiscal situation in many of the nation's State capitols, local and of course Federal government shows you that people vote for the continuance of such fiscal ignorance and illiteracy. The fiscal retard is voted Treasurer and bailouts, borrowing and spending the policy. Change it and the voters will send you back to your day job.

But what will it mean when several million Americans suddenly get eviction notices? Well, it's going to happen and already is in some places. Keep in mind that under the CARES act, those properties that are mortgaged using federally backed loans have severe restrictions on foreclosure, even if it's a rental property (and the owner bought it using such a loan). If the owner of the property got his loan from a Federally backed program, he can't evict you. That is at least as I understand it. But that is set to run out here in several weeks. What then? That's the question. And it boils down to either people get back to work and make arrangements with their lender or landlord; keep getting more bailouts and hope the gravy train never ends or the third alternative.

Living On The Street

Yes, I see a homelessness crisis beginning to emerge in the nation once the bailouts and the effects thereof end. Being an election year, politicians may try their best to keep some of these programs in place at least through the election. But that is no guarantee. The effect of the loss of millions of jobs, permanently and the loss or reduction of public largess will be devastating, whenever it comes. I certainly hope I am wrong about this and this level of homelessness does not transpire. The best case will be to make sure that as many small and medium sized businesses can remain viable and can keep their employee's. That is the only real long term and viable solution whereas others seem to be pushing for longer term or a permanent government dole, perhaps hoping this will turn into some new impetus for guaranteed basic income all based on even more government indebtedness.

So I look for an increase in homelessness. This will be reflected and generated probably more by State level and perhaps local policy than Federal. How long will the state enforce lockdowns? What cumbersome, business-killing regulations will be instituted before a business can re-open? Contact tracing (giving name and address and time of visit wherever you go, adding significantly to the agenda of the surveillance state). Allowing restaurants to open and only 50% capacity? Restricting various aspects of sales? New taxes?

As a new regulatory environment develops, so will businesses have to comply. What can be certain is that whatever comes, it will be more restrictive and more difficult to run a small business in this new post COVID-19 business environment. Government leaders are great ones for encumbering businesses with all manner of legal and administrative minutiae that they don't realize can wreck havoc on the little guy. But when 'King Regulator' gets on the throne, he doesn't care, he just wants more control, more hassle and more trouble for businesses, strangling them and often putting them out of business, as he sits on his throne made of forms, regulations, edicts and cumbersome legal requirements.

The King will play up to those who don't know or don't care about businesses as the King explains how these new regulations will help. What they don't say is they are really helping millions out of their homes and jobs and onto the street.... all thanks to King Regulator. So depending on how these new post pandemic regulations are put into effect, we will see how this goes. In a nearby county, my favorite chain of used bookstore is open, while it is not open in my county. But in the nearby county, you have to register at the door. It's little things like this that is going to be the kiss of death for many businesses. They won't tell you who will get this registration information. They may say it's going to the CDC, and not tell you that the military and the intelligence community and God knows who else and despite whatever they tell Congress, be assured, they will use it for much more than contact tracing.

People will find out or just be suspicious of the whole contact tracing agenda and like me, many just won't go to the local business. It's little things like that that is going to kill small businesses, not intentionally, but in reality. People don't want to be tracked, logged and traced and have some health bureaucrat show up at their door 'wanting to help' because they went over to the local barber shop last Thursday. Particularly when it is not clear what they will do with the data, don't know how long it will be kept and what they actually plan on doing with people who have come in contact with another who is infected.

They are not doing much now, but what about in 6 months? Will they keep you from working? Will they put in in some kind of forced quarantine? Today, no they are not doing that, but a year from now, who knows what government bureaucrats will do, particularly if some new new friend of King Regulator gets into the White House. Consider what was attempted recently with the proposal of putting people into detention without trial. Never underestimate the governments ability to make matters worse while selling it to the masses as a good idea.

So as businesses decline and close up, so I look for homelessness to become a problem, but it will probably be more regional in nature and then based more upon State and local policy makers and the nature of economic activity in each state/region. Farm states may do better than manufacturing ones; States that rely more on the service sector vs. those that deal more in high tech, etc. But chronic homelessness in many places may become a far greater problem than it is today.

Yet today, there are many who are living on the edge. I read this AM a story out of the Texas Tribune called "Living in hotels, students lose ground ...". If you have a moment, check it out. It also talks about how important things like School Lunches are for many kids. Many people who have fallen through the economic cracks and can't rent because they don't have great credit. What happens? They wind up living in hotels. Then there is the problem of student safety. Yes, eviction hurts a lot more than the worker, the kids are deeply effected too. Similar stories on evictions and possible future evictions can be found around the web at many Major News network local affiliate sites. I think the key to understand is this. Once legal moratoriums are up, the eviction notices will be nailed to several million front doors across America, the courts will be flooded and then the real problems begin for many.

So yes, homelessness and that precarious place in between (hotels, living with parents, relatives and sleeping on the sofa, etc).... the number of those kinds of people will grow I think very significantly over the next 12 months. I think states and localities should quietly and realistically start to make plans for just such an eventuality because prepare for it or not, it looks like it is coming. That and the almost certain rise in crime.

The other real problem is one that many are not talking about it, is the fiscal situation of State and local governments. They are getting hit hard with a reduction in sales and other business related tax revenues. The (projected) shortfalls are significant, but not quite disastrous. I will give you two examples. One is for my home state of Maryland and the other is the most populous state, California.

What will happen? Who knows. In my state the governor just vetoed a whole slew of new taxes and new spending, citing his concerns over COVID-19 as a major reason. Maryland is a very liberal state, but we have a down to earth, moderate GOP governor who I think has done a decent job of putting the brakes on some the loopier idea's coming out of the legislature.

But as revenues fall for State and local governments, so will fiscal problems come more to the forefront. They will be left basically with three choices. One is to cut spending, something that is absolutely anathema to hard line liberals. Another is to raise taxes, anathema to hard line conservatives. The final option will be to borrow more money. Getting that money may not be as easy as it sounds. Lenders are going to want to make sure they get paid. Sure, they can probably get the money by selling municipal bonds, but the risk is going to be written into the interest rate. Risk? Yes, even with state and local governments the possibility of them declaring bankruptcy is not out of the question, certainly not in a post COVID-19 environment.

Legislators who are sadly more interested in politics than basic accounting can easily drive a state into the bankruptcy courts. The scary thing is that lenders may one day start to require hard assets as collateral and thus securing their loans making sure that they are first in line during bankruptcy proceedings. Still default risk is low because the reality is that State governments have taxing authority. We will have to see if the Fed steps in and provides some kind of monetary/lending facility for State's or if the market will be able to do it. But given the political environment in the nation, I don't see much real change - when the question of cutting spending or raising taxes are at issue, borrowing more seems to be the usual solution.

This will probably be the way out for many states, but bonds are just that, a loan, they have to be paid back and that means some source of revenue. Also keep in mind that many states are already wallowing in debt.

In closing this can be a fiscal disaster for the nation. It need not be, and if aid is carefully, judiciously and evenly applied in those sectors that really need (as opposed to just wanting) it. This crisis may not be nearly as bad is it has every potential of becoming. Can leaders get real about finances and put petty political bickering aside, not just at the Federal level, but also at the state and local level? Can they learn and more importantly, apply some basic accounting and use that as a guideline for fiscal policy instead of a obsessing about getting a new transgender section in school textbooks into the classroom or some new tax-break for the 1%?

Let us all pray for our leaders at the state, local and Federal level. They are all facing some very significant issues that will deeply effect us all in the coming years.

I know many Americans just loath President Trump. I am not one of them, I never liked him much before he was President but even despite many of this 'un-Presidential' things he has done and Tweeted, and at times his demeanor, I have developed a healthy, if a bit admittedly grudging, respect for him. I left partisanship by the wayside back in my early 30's and look at Presidents by their ability to push their vision, get things done and do what they think best for the country both domestically and internationally within the confines of the office, which is not nearly as powerful as many might think. I don't think any President, Democrat or Republican could have done better in light of this crisis and the whole range of unknowns they were dealing with from the beginning. Yes, the response was slow at first, but in some ways, it worked to the country's advantage. If the US had started lockdowns in January, we would have 60 million newly unemployed right now instead of 'just' 40 million.

So whatever your leanings politically, please pray for him, Speaker Pelosi, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Schumer, your respective governors and state officials as well as and the Supreme and other important Courts whom I think may be forced to make some very important decisions in the months ahead relating to a whole range of issues dealing with the fallout from the Virus. State level Supreme Courts as well. Evictions? Vaccines? Contact Tracing? Bankruptcy reorganizations/ liquidations? Insurance Claims (Acts of God)...? These are all things that are at various levels of the legal system, are going to have to be dealt with.

***

This piece is just personal commentary, not financial or legal advice. Please seek professional advice for your financial, legal and investment decisions!

Know Your Enemy II

In the last section of this series we did a kind of introduction and looked at a few of the anomalies (to us) on the different kinds of spirits who rebelled against God. Now I know many of you, I am going to lose you as I do this study, but as time passes and strange and weird things begin to transpire in our world, you will remember what I have written here and things will be much clearer for you. Right now we see these things through a glass darkly.

Moreover, you will have a much better understanding of the spiritual foes many of you will have to directly and personally face as the evil one and his host are cast down upon the earth. If you are in Christ and you are here as the final 42 month system arises and is enthroned be assured, you will be facing these beings on one level or another.

Ignorance of your enemy could become a costly affair.

 But this kind doesn’t go out
 except by prayer and fasting.
   (Matthew 17:21 [WEB])

New levels, new devils. This was a saying one old woman of God used to use describing what happens to Christians when they rise in the Lord or become of great use to him. The higher up you go in the Lord and in his service, the more demonic resistance a person will face. Brothers and sisters, when you serve the Lord in spirit and in truth the devil is going to attack you, guaranteed. But there are different levels of spirits and spirits of different orders. There are the top angels with great power who rebelled (the 'Generals'), there are the mid-level fallen spirits (The Captains and Sergeants) the lower level spirits (the Private's) and then there are what I will call the 'contractors'. These are people (humans) who serve these spirits, knowing they are serving evil. For much of this series, I will express things in military terms because it, I think is the best way to describe a hostile army arrayed against us. Like military contractors, they work for a 'fee', but are not true parts of the army.

Judas' contractor fee was 30 pieces of silver.

Others fee's include political power, wealth, sex, fame etc. These things are what the host of rebels against God give in return for something. Yes, Satan even made his 'contracting' offer to our Lord.

The devil knows how to tempt and he does have the resources to keep his part of any satanic bargain, for he is the prince of this world. But Satan himself is not going to be the key part of subject matter today.

Some of these spirits have enormous power and we cannot cast them out but with prayer and fasting. With such spiritual darkness, there has to be a struggle, a fight, a battle to free a soul or institution of such demonic influence and/or possession.

Now we have talked about the different ranks or orders within the kingdom of God. We know there are different orders of angels, There are the Cherubim (see Ezekiel Chapters 10), the Seraphim (Isaiah Chapter 6) and of course the Arch angels. I am fairly certain there are other orders as well. We have seen angels as watchmen who have no name for their order but are the spirits who go out and apparently report back what they have seen (Zechariah Chapter 6). There are all manner of living spirits and angels in heaven and the book of Revelation gives us a small glimpse of this. There are certainly other orders of such spirits but we have no real information on them.

The Rebellion

But I think we all should get a good understanding of the rebellion against God and why it is important that we understand these things.

We all know satan rebelled and did so long ago. He appears in the garden when man was first made in the form of the serpent. It seems clear that his fall was before the creation of man (for man was just created when he appears). I don't want to get too much into the creation debate because it causes many to scratch their heads, but I have long held (using scripture) that the earth was destroyed before man was made and became formless and void. It was not created that way, but became that way. This is something I covered in this piece many years ago. I am not going to re-hash the issue. But what I will say is that from my considerable studies I believe that - long ago, before mankind came onto the scene, there was a massive rebellion against God. Satan led it. This rebellion really messed up the earth. So much so that it became formless and void. We don't know what inhabited the earth back then, but we can look at things like dinosaurs and other strange creatures that are now long extinct and know that they did exist long ago. Even now, Scientists believe that some kind of cataclysm destroyed the dinosaurs in ages past.

I bring this all up so that we humans and Christians cease to think of our lives, the earth and even our existence as being the center of the universe. This was the belief of Churchmen in the middle ages. They taught that the earth was the center of the solar system and fought those who taught otherwise as being heretics. Today, I see many of the same errors, like believing that anyone who does not subscribe to a 6000 year old earth is a 'heretic'. But understanding that this rebellion against God is more ancient than the creation of mankind gives us pause to consider and be humble. We humans are just not that important except that God loves us and has mercy on us. The Bible did not teach that the sun revolved around the earth anymore than it teaches a 6000 year old earth.

We humans are a very, very new and frankly somewhat insignificant 'cosmic arrival' and the sooner we all realize that, the more we can better understand the depths of God's love and mercy towards us...

...and not take it for granted!

I say these things so that we fully understand that when dealing with these fallen angels, at least most of them, we are dealing with a very, very ancient evil. These fallen spirits have seen men come and go. They were around when David was King, Columbus sailed to America; the Ming dynasty ruled China, Henry VIII was beheading his wives and Hitler murdered the Jews. They are very, very familiar with our ways and what makes us tick. So don't for one instant think you can outsmart these spirits. We humans were made a little lower than the angels (Psa 8:5, Heb 2:7) and thus can safely assume that they are considerably more intelligent than we are.

But another class of spirits needs to be discussed here. That is evil spirits or demons. Is that not just another name for fallen angels? Well, perhaps, but from my studies and spiritual experience, I don't think so.

Now I pray God I cause no one to stumble in what follows so please get into your prayer closets before you fire off a nastygram to me. Read the passages and pray if you are confused or it assaults what you already thought about the subject.  But live a little longer, I strongly suspect that the things that will be coming upon the world will change the minds of any skeptic who really wants to understand these things and win in the spiritual battles that lie ahead.

***

As Jude makes clear in his book, he talks about a class of angels who left their first estate and are now in everlasting chains reserved for Judgment.

This passage is important again because we see that this class of spirits are in chains. But Satan and those other spirits we saw in Revelation are still out and about roaming around. So who is this class of spirits who are in chains? There are two very strong hints. First is they kept not their first estate. Second, Jude tells us where to look and it is not where most would, but it is right there in the book.

This prophecy has Apostolic/Biblical approval. It was spoken by Enoch and quoted from by Jude and its right there in your New Testament. This is where we have to look for some of these answers.

Today, we are going to take a break from the news and deal with some prophetic issues. There is a lot going on these days, but we can hit some of the highlights later in the week (for insiders). I see lots of trouble ahead for the world on the economic and perhaps later on the political and social front.

But let us get to the passage above from the book of Ezekiel.

In the previous chapter (Ezek 8) we see Ezekiel describing a powerful visitation of the Lord. He was sitting in his home with the elders of Israel about him and the hand of God fell upon him. He carried him away by his hair above the earth. The purpose was to show him something.

He went to Jerusalem and the whole purpose of this divine interruption was to show Ezekiel the sins and abominations of Israel. Now consider. He was in his house talking to the elders of Israel who came to his home. The message deeply effects them as they were the pillars of the nation. Here the abominations are noted. There were several. First was some kind of idol, an image of jealousy (8:3). We don't know exactly what this image was but some think (K&D) it may have been Baal or Asherah. The passages in Ezekiel chapter 8 show a pattern of idolatry and religious abomination taking place both inside and outside of the Temple. The Lord was most displeased at this. In fact, he was utterly furious about it. But before God acts, he will send in his prophets to warn and this was Ezekiel's job. How angry was the Lord over these things?

This is how angry he was. He gives the reasons and the consequences in the two above passages.

So in chapter nine, we begin to see how the Lord will deal with this. This is a spiritual vision and clearly what Ezekiel is seeing what will transpire in the spiritual realm that will be translated into the natural.

The first part is God first marks those who are his and who honor and regard the Lord enough to be deeply troubled by the sins and abominations of the people, elders and priests.

Ezekiel hears a cry, a command go forth. It was to the overseers of the city. Not the temporal ones, this is clearly directed at powerful spiritual beings. The words used are (H6486, H5892). The idea here is that God has set certain angels to stand watch over the city. These are 'watchmen' or guardians of the city. Their job was to stand watch. But given two interesting indications, they may have had other jobs as well, like recording. Note that the word H6486 can also mean account, reckoning or numbers. Also note that one of these angels had some kind of writing device (inkhorn) by his side (9:2). He may have had a special task from the others as some kind of recorder. Some commentators believe he was the captain or leader of the others. The others are the ones noted by the destroying weapons they posses.

Protection

So in this passage, we see that before the Lord unleashes his judgement and fury, he moves to protect those who honor him and recoil at the wickedness of the nation. God looks out for his own and will not suffer the punishments that the ungodly have so diligently earned to fall on his people. No, he is going to mark those who serve him. It will be the same in the last days. God will seal a select group of believers from what is to come.

A seal is a little different from a mark we saw in Ezekiel, in that it is often used by a person in high office, an ambassador or some person in a very important business or fiduciary position. So here we look to be dealing with a very special group of God's servants who will be set apart in the times of this judgement. Also see Rev 9:4ff on this. In those passages you can see just how important that seal will be in the last days.

So we see an important parallel. The Lord got tired of the idolatry and the violence and the wickedness and the evil and finally one day, he had had enough. He lays out to his prophet what he is going to do and even how he is going to do it. This appears to be the purpose of the vision.

God is not going to hear the cries of suffering his judgment is going to cause. He is going to 'plug up his ears' from hearing. Old and young, no one is going to escape God's fury and he is indeed furious. 

God is not playing games with the sins and abominations of our times either. We as Christians must remain true to God and have a healthy respect for God and his power and his love of the right and his hatred for the wrong.

When God begins to recall and and recompense our nation and world for its sins, will you be one whom he has set his mark, his seal upon and who shall receive divine protection from his fury? Or will you run into the arms of the devil and receive his mark in your right hand or forehead after you worship the beast and his image (Rev 14:9-12)? For you insiders, I think we all should know where each of us stands.

May God grant all who read this that you shall stand in the evil day and resist the beast, his system, his mark even if it costs us our lives!

And they overcame him
because of the blood of the Lamb,
and because of the word of their testimony;
 and they loved not their life even unto death.
(Rev 12:11 ASV)

In closing, this harsher side of God's character is rarely talked about in today's Christianity, but we would all be wise to go back and find out more about it and how it applies to the events of the end times!!

In Christ,

Brother Mark

Is There No God In Israel?

In the above passage, Elijah rebukes king Ahaziah. It was a stern rebuke. You see, the king had fallen down though a lattice and as a result was laying in bed ill. So what the King did was sent messengers to Ekron (in Philistia) to inquire of the gods of the Philistines, specifically the god known as Baal-zebub. This was probably some kind of fly or insect like idol for which it was shaped after. It may bear some relation to the god myiagros. It has been referred to as the Lord of the flies. It is this god that Christ referred to in the gospels and was accused of being in league with when he cast out devils (see Mar 3:23ff). I must remark here that this is one of the most terrifying passages in the NT for it was because of this deeply offensive remark about the Lord and his work that he sternly warned the scribes that the kind of spiritual sin they had just committed was moving into the realm of the unpardonable.

It was this kings inquiry to this foreign god that made the Lord quite angry. Angry enough that the Lord directed his trusted prophet Elijah to get involved. The messengers the king sent were (by divine direction) intercepted by Elijah who asked of these messengers as in the above passage 'is there no God in Israel?....'. The Lord was most displeased with the King over his decision to place his trust in these foreign gods, which, were really nothing more than devils masquerading as gods. But being deceiving spirits, they know how to fool people into worshiping them as well as the idols they can deceive men into making.

The king was sick and wanted to be healed. But he went to the wrong source. Instead of seeking the Lord, he sought the gods of the enemies of Israel and its God.

Elijah was one prophet who was known by the king and he finally arrived at the Kings side, but only after the drama of calling down fire from heaven and consuming the soldiers who were sent to take him. Only when the Lord said it was safe, did Elijah go with the third set of men sent for him.

God protected his prophet from whatever scheme the king had in mind for him. Why? So that he could deliver his message.

Is there not a God in Israel to inquire this word? So since he had sent messengers to the gods of the Philistines, the Lord pronounced a hard word against the King. His illness was terminal and he would not leave his bed.

Israel had subdued Moab in Davidic times but as the kings of Israel were getting worse and worse, so God's protecting hand was slowly being removed. They were having problems now with Moab and we all know of the whole house of Ahab and their sins.

But here we must note that the sin of idolatry is a particularly serious crime. Rather than going to God, the king went to idols... and was punished for it. The Preachers Homelitical makes some very interesting points here noting that all idolatry is a sin to God. He will not let it 'pass'. This was one such incident where God dealt with this sin speedily. We should never forget that various forms of idolatry in the last days are one key reason so many judgements fall upon the sons of men.

And the rest of mankind,
who were not killed with these plagues,
repented not of the works of their hands,
that they should not worship demons,
and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass,
and of stone, and of wood; which can neither see,
nor hear, nor walk: and they repented not of their murders,
nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication,
nor of their thefts.
(Rev 9:20-21 ASV)

One of the big sins of the last days are the worship of idols. All manner of idols. An idol is anything we worship, adore, seek guidance and salvation from instead of God. It is something that we adore and or place our faith in, in the place of God.

Given this definition, idolatry is a key component of our times. I think one of the biggest idols of our times is what is often false called science. Now, I am not against legitimate science and discovery, so let it not be said I am some kind of Luddite. Anything but. Yet at the same time as I watch the reaction the world has to the coronavirus, I see mankind seeking answers from one what I see as being one of the most corrupt establishments and one with a considerable about of innocent blood on its hands. That being the so called scientific establishment. It's a trillion dollar industry in the US and arguably the largest segment of the economy. There is big money in 'pharmukia' (G5331) and in essence that is what we are dealing with. The gods of pharmukia, or medicine and sorcery. Sorcery probably being more applicable to the hallucinogenic drugs people take. Yet take note of something the scriptures say about it. It says that by pharmukia all nations are deceived (Rev 18:23). Before you put your trust in science to solve this whole crisis go and do a search on 'business with disease' you'll find something interesting.

While the world and America is now 'sick' and on lockdown what we have done is inquire of god of 'science-zebub' who history has shown often mean mankind no good. Yet foolishly, the King ran to those gods to inquire of them. I see the same things today.

From all we can determine by reading well researched documents online, is that there appears to be some pretty serious hanky-panky going on with this whole virus thing and how it was created, who and why. We don't know all the facts. But something about this stinks, and the malodorous scent is not only coming from Wuhan.

We don't have all the facts and are not likely to get them and officials who push too hard to find out may find themselves in some physical danger. My point is an important one in that those whom the US and the world is now seeking 'salvation' from with regards to this virus may have had a significant hand in creating it. They certainly stand to make a lot of money if they come up with a high priced treatment/vaccine. Also keep in mind this is an election year - and I don't think it is a total coincidence - that party, Presidential, Senate and Congressional campaigns will be looking for big money for their political war chests and guess who has that money? You guessed it - the gods of 'science-zebub' or Big Pharma who already spend copiously on the Hill and elsewhere, go to Opensecrets and see for yourself. I just cannot help but wonder if some of the men advising the President have been pushed on Trump by elements in his own party who are being told that either those folks stay and run the President's response or the campaign money dries up.

I want to make this clear as well. There have always been some dark elements in the medical establishment and any good researcher will find all manner of excellent, well researched and historically accurate information on many of these major drug companies and their pedigree.

Moreover I just don't think any cure coming out of these companies will be very effective or they could very well wind up having considerable side effects. Yes, it is much too early to tell, but the whole approval mechanisms we have in place have not always worked as well as they should for many rea$on$.

Also keep in mind that a vaccine program of global inoculations could provide certain Malthusians exactly what they have been praying to their 'science gods' for and have not necessarily been shy about telling us about either.

Salvation from such things will not come from the gods of drugs. Note the passage of scripture as to who has ultimate power over the plagues of the last days. It's God. He is looking for repentance. I don't see any out there in the US, do you?

We have seen many major tragedies in our world, the oceans are dying, just like our Bibles predicted, plagues are happening more and more and fires have been noted world wide that burns up many of the world's trees. Just remember that things do not get better, they get worse and one day all life in the sea is going to die (Rev 16:3).