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Audio is
slightly different version of this text than shown here.
This is from
the Red Dragon book.
More If/Then
Statements - Deuteronomy 28
from Doug Perry - www.FellowshipoftheMartyrs.com
- download printable PDF file here
If you have any
sense that this passage ONLY has application to the old covenant
Jews, you are sadly mistaken. My effort here is to show that since we
are clearly experiencing these curses as a consequence of our
disobedience, we need to take a hard look at the Old Testament and
see that we ARE subject to these expectations. If you disallow Deut.
28's application to us, then you have to logically disallow the Ten
Commandments as well. God does not change. What irritated Him
then, still irritates Him now. What pleased and honored Him then,
still pleases and honors Him now. These If/Then statements are
guarantees! IF you do these things, then He WILL do what He
said He would do – sooner or later, one way or the other. He
reserves the right to manifest it in whatever way He wants, but He
WILL do it.
Before you get all
personally insulted because you think you or your congregation are
being obedient and I'm being too hard on you, you need to understand
that these conditional statements that God is making here are not
accounting for individuals (Micro-Covenants like to David or
Phinehas). These are Macro-Covenants that may have personal,
individual application, but are mainly intended to apply to natural
Israel (the nation) or spiritual Israel (the Church). (You can
certainly read them as personal promises and threats, and that's OK
and He's true to His Word, but the FULL application is on the grander
scale.) Even if you are being fully obedient, if the Body of Christ
isn't, then these curses may still land on you. If you could have
stopped it, you should have. You can't just mind your own business
and hope it turns out alright even though you know other parts of the
Body are being disobedient. We're all in this together. If you hold
your tongue when you could keep a brother from sin, then his sin is
on YOUR head. (So I did my part, now it's back on YOU.)
The Children of
Israel all went into the desert for 40 years. Lots of them were
innocents. The children, the kids, of Israel got to watch all the
grown-ups they loved die. Why did God punish the little kids? They
weren't the ones that chickened out at the Jordan and were scared of
giant? (In fact, I think they should have let the little kids decide
what to do. Faith like a child is better.) But the kids have to go
because they're all in it together. WE are all in this together. If
the Body of Christ in America is being disobedient, then all of
America will suffer. In fact, because of who we are and what God has
given us, if the Body of Christ in America is disobedient most of the
whole rest of the world may be suffering. To whom much is given, much
is demanded. We're barely giving 2% of our income and the church
system is wasting most of that! Only 0.01% is reaching the most unreached.
This essay, or
exposition or whatever this is, isn't about some prophetic prediction
of coming doom. We're ALREADY in big trouble! All I'm doing is
pointing out that we're ALREADY way off the reservation and in big
trouble and pointing to the only Biblical solution I can find. Read
below and see if you agree.
This is FAR from
complete. Feel free to email me any possible applications or
statistics that I am missing. fotm@fellowshipofthemartyrs.com
THREE times the
If/Then is asserted in positive terms:
v.1
IF you FULLY
obey the Lord your God and CAREFULLY follow all his commands I give
you today, THEN the Lord your God WILL set you high above all the
nations on the earth.
America was set
high above the nations. Why? Because we gave Him honor and sought to
please Him. We were a Christian nation and our founders understood
that His blessing would guard and protect them as long as they
remained so. There is always a period of time during which a
nation may still be set high but is no longer honoring God. Sooner or
later, they fall. America is falling by LOTS of measures – in
power, in education, in esteem, in control, in money, in military
might, in health, in happiness, etc. When Israel was obedient,
they were unstoppable. When they were disobedient, practically
ANYBODY could defeat them (especially turban-wearing Arabs).
v.2-13a
IF you obey
the Lord your God, THEN all these blessings WILL come upon you:
[3] You will
be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
[4] The
fruit of your womb will be blessed, the crops of your land and the
young of your livestock – the calves of your herds and the lambs
of your flocks.
[5] Your
basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.
[6] You will
be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
[7] The Lord
will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated
before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from
you in seven.
[8] The Lord
will send blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand
to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.
[9] The Lord
will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if
you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways.
[10] Then
all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of
the Lord, and they will fear you.
[11] The
Lord will grant you abundant prosperity--in the fruit of your womb,
the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground--in the land
he swore to your forefathers to give you.
[12] The
Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send
rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands.
You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.
[13] The
Lord will make you the head, not the tail.
v.13b-14
IF you pay
attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this
day and carefully follow them, THEN you WILL always be at the top,
never at the bottom. [14] Do not turn aside from any of the commands
I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods
and serving them.
All of those
things above have come to America at time in it's history, to a
degree some of them are coming now. It's not an either/or – you
will prosper in the areas that are obedient and be cursed in the
areas that aren't. Rarely is anybody 100% one way or the other. But
the balance in America has been shifting toward the badness for some
time now. Read on.
Then it's
followed by TWO progressive, very detailed, very graphic, very long
guarantees of what will happen if you go your own way.
v.15
However, IF
you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow ALL his
commands and decrees I am giving you today, THEN ALL these curses
WILL come upon you and overtake you:
[16] You
WILL be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.
Neither our
cities, nor our country is blessed right now. Our cities are mostly
cess pools, our country lands are being swallowed by conglomerates or
killed by drought or forest fire. Abortion and unwed motherhood and
gangs and drugs and murder are rampant in the urban areas. Sexually
transmitted diseases and hopelessness are rampant in the country
areas. In spiritual terms, neither the church in the city nor in the
country is thriving and walking in His fullness. The Body of Christ
in our cities is divided and we have lost true community.
[17] Your
basket and your kneading trough WILL be cursed.
Our Heartland, our
bread basket, is suffering and has been for several years. We still
produce grain, but not like we should. We toil and sweat and fear
every year. It doesn't spring forth from the land and it isn't
blessed. Many farmers are on the edge of financial ruin every year.
Many have lost the fight. In spiritual terms, we are bankrupt. Our
churches have debt up to their eyeballs and we are poor in Spirit.
Our people are starving. The locusts have eaten everything and the
cattle and sheep mill about looking for green pasture. (Read Joel)
[18] The
fruit of your womb WILL be cursed, and the crops of your land, and
the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
The fruit of our
womb isn't being blessed. Fifty million have been aborted –
that's a gigantic curse that most nations couldn't survive. Of those
that were born, they are among the least educated, most afflicted,
most distracted, most frustrated, most sexually active, least faith-oriented
of all children on the planet. The crops of our land are suffering
through massive drought and disease. Mad cow and many other crippling
plagues are ready to be loosed on us. Without anti-biotics a lot of
our livestock wouldn't survive – and even that is poisoning them
and us. In spiritual terms, our progeny are few and weak. Nearly 95%
of all that come forward at a Billy Graham revival are lost a year
later. Our churches are raising only a few weak, malnourished
offspring. In America the average cost per baptism is $1.55 MILLION
dollars. We are toiling a LOT for very little result. It's an unsual,
happy surprise when a real, full-out warrior is raised up.
[19] You
WILL be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.
Ref. Psalm
121:8 We are not blessed and He is not truly watching over us.
We are going in and coming out in our own power. We are going our own
way. Our borders are porous and cannot be defended. In spiritual
terms, our people migrate from church to church and never find rest.
[20] The
Lord WILL send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you
put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin
because of the evil you have done in forsaking him.
Is America not the
biggest pot of confusion and cursing on the planet? Does anyone
produce more media garbage? More cursing? More porn? More confusion
of thought and theology? In spiritual terms, could the Church be any
more confused? We have 37,000 denominations. How could that happen
without a massive Tower of Babel kind of curse because we set
ourselves against God? How could we have divided the Body of Christ
up into so many pieces without lots of cursing at each other? The
institutional church system we've built is facing sudden ruin.
America will follow. We need to turn.
[21] The
Lord WILL plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from
the land you are entering to possess.
Are we not
plagued? Cancer, sickle cell, diabetes, heart problems, back
problems, arthritis, mercury and lead poisoning, fibromyalgia,
autism, AIDS, and so many others. Multiple pandemics are on the
horizon that could devestate entire countries. This is not a sudden
promise, it will increase gradually UNTIL he has destroyed you from
the land. In spiritual terms, we are afflicted in the church by
multiple plagues – dissension, division, wrath, envy, lust,
greed, fear, adultery, and more. All demonic and all acts of the
sinful nature that WILL keep us from inheriting the Kingdom of Heaven
(Gal. 5:19-21). We will not posses the land we were promised if we
don't turn. And the Lord sent the plagues on us, by the way.
[22] The
Lord WILL strike you with wasting disease, with fever and
inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and
mildew, which WILL plague you until you perish.
Do we even need to
elaborate? Global warming, drought, blight, scorching heat should not
require comment! Wasting diseases on the people and crops and the
livestock are rampant. Multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy,
Alzheimer's, Lou Gherig's, diabetes, e boli, herpes, STD's of all
kinds, AIDS, and how many more?* Could they even all be listed?
Nearly all terminal or substantially life shortening. He said they
would continue UNTIL you perish. Spiritually speaking, our people are
wasting away, they are inflamed by passions and fevers for all the
wrong things – NASCAR, football, fishing, golf, TV, porn,
cigarettes, donuts, Precious Moments and more – all of them
result in scorching and drought and a dimished return on treasure in
heaven. They all result in spiritual death, or at least shortened,
stunted spiritual life spans.
* Are ANY of these
illnesses evident in the Children of Israel during their time in the
desert? When God is protecting you as a people and you are obeying
Him, these do not come for you. (Or else God is a liar.)
[23] The sky
over your head WILL be bronze, the ground beneath you iron.
Our work will be
long and painful. The storehouses of heaven will not rain down and
help us. We will break up the ground, but it will be very hard and
slow. In spiritual terms, this is the state of the church system
we've built. Millions of dollars are spent to start a work or reach a
people only to find that little or no real fruit results. We pray,
but many do not believe He speaks to us anymore or answers our
prayers. Why? Because they've never heard Him or seen Him do anything
miraculous. Why? Because the sky over our head is bronze. Why?
Because of our corporate disobedience. It's not like this in China.
Over 10,000 a day are finding Jesus and they have basically NO money.
When they pray He answers in big miraculous ways. Why? Because
they're trying really hard to obey and not go their own way.
[24] The
Lord WILL turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it WILL
come down from the skies until you are destroyed.
Do we need to
comment? Isn't this the driest year on record in America? The last
decade has been the hottest in recorded history. Worldwide. (Massive
water shortages in Australia – another “Christian”
nation that has strayed.) Do a google search and see how bad it
really is. Some areas will take decades to recover, if at all. Large
parts of Africa were decimated by drought. And there is every
possibility that a possible application of this verse includes
radioactive fallout from nuclear war yet to come. Or even ash from a
super volcano like the Yosemite Caldera. Lots of options of how God
could punish disobedience. Spiritually speaking, the Latter Rain many
people have been praying for was really more of a Latter Sprinkle. As
soon as we started to divide up and fight over what it was and how to
do it right and who was going to control it, the rain stopped.
Right now, even some of the most charismatic denominations are hiding
the Spirit in the backrooms so as not to look “weird” to
the World. Sitting in most American congregations, there is no
discernable difference between the Assembly of God and the Baptists
or Methodists. Our people are dying of thirst and there is not enough
to drink. Why? Because we're cursed and we're more afraid of Man than
we are of God Almighty.
[25] The
Lord WILL cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You WILL come
at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you WILL
become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth.
America is a thing
of horror to most other countries. Even to the Church in other
places, the church system here is an abomination. (The only reason we
don't hear it more is because we have the money they need.) We have
been defeated by our enemies repeatedly – Korea, Vietnam, 9/11,
etc. We have been defeated by China economically. Whether we know it
or not, they rule us already. We have been defeated by socialism in
many ways. Enemies of the church have defeated us repeatedly –
as evidence by the darkness rampant in our country. In spiritual
terms, the demons that have been sent against us have tied us into
pretzels. We are cannon fodder. We are defenseless against the
onslaught of evil among us. We have been basically unable to stop
gossip, dissension, fear, lust, pride, selfish ambition and other
demonic attacks inside the churches. In fact, many of our
institutions and programs seem designed to encourage them! We have
been defeated. If you don't think so, show me a city in America
completely under His headship where the light is shining brightly and
pushing back all the darkness and radically transforming the culture
there. Yeah, I can't find one either.
[26] Your
carcasses WILL be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of
the earth, and there WILL be no one to frighten them away.
This one is scary.
We just saw this in New Orleans. Bodies floating by unclaimed and
unburied. Certainly saw it with the Tsunami in Asia. A larger
fulfillment of this could come at any time. If a nuke was detonated
in a major American city, it's likely that because of the sheer
volume and the radioactivity, no one would go get the bodies out. In
spiritual terms, the birds and beasts (demons, powers and
principalities) are picking at the carcasses of our churches and
practically no one has enough spiritual discernment and power to shoo
them off. They are eating their fill and we let them. Mostly we don't
even see them. But there are those people that can and do see them,
and I can assure you, they are feasting on our flocks.
[27] The
Lord WILL afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors,
festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured.
Psoriasis,
flesh-eating bacteria, melanoma and skin cancers of all kinds. Not to
mention VD and herpes and others. We have lots of this stuff loose
among us. In spiritual terms, we have all kinds of festering sores
and cancers and itches inside the church that seem incurable. We have
leaders completely given over to spiritual boils of one sort or
another. There seems to be no cure on the horizon if we keep
going the way we're going. Our diseases keep mutating and getting
meaner. As soon as we find a cure, the antibiotics we were using
create a meaner strain. Why? Because it's a curse an antibiotic can't
cure and every time we try to address it with Man's methods instead
of acknowledging our sinfulness and begging for mercy, we just spit
in God's eye again.
[28] The
Lord WILL afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind.
Is America not the
most depressed, schizophrenic, autistic, ADD/ADHD, blind, confused,
anxious country on the planet? Are our churches not in about the same
shape? Have you not seen congregations that seem to have Attention
Deficit Disorders? We have to constantly give them fresh feedback and
a bigger brighter show or they'll fall asleep again. Many stumble in
the dark, bumping into things, trying every new fad ministry program
hoping that something, anything will work. None of them do. Nothing
but repentance is going to turn back the curses.
[29] At
midday you WILL grope about like a blind man in the dark. You WILL be
unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you WILL be
oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you.
America has seen
one failure after another. Many are hidden, like our Federal Reserve
situation and our true debt load and the amount of dollars we're
printing. Many are public like failed foreign policies and military
defeats. Our economy is not surviving because of good policy –
it's surviving because of the hard work of regular folks trying to do
the right thing. Spiritually we pour $250 BILLION a year into this
church system and can't even grow it enough to keep up with
population growth. We're losing ground every day and it's not for
lack of trying every new thing. The enemy is oppressing and robbing
us of any gains.
[30] You
WILL be pledged to be married to a woman, but another WILL take her
and ravish her. You WILL build a house, but you will not live in it.
You WILL plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit.
Promises and
expectations will not be met. Even things you loved will be taken
from you. In America bankruptcies are at an all-time high. Many
people are building houses and farms and businesses and losing them.
More than ever. In spiritual terms, we have pledged ourselves to a
thing, but someone else has raped what we treasured. We have seen
cherished denominations wrecked by strife and selfishness. We have
seen churches we helped build turn into abominations. We have planted
vineyards and spent BILLIONS on missions and seen no fruit. In many
cases, others who were hearing and obeying God better got the benefit
of the seeds we planted. We planted in China, but we were kicked out
and have not enjoyed the fruit at all. But a mighty harvest resulted
– as soon as the Westerners left!
[31] Your ox
WILL be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it.
Your donkey WILL be forcibly taken from you and will not be returned.
Your sheep WILL be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them.
Many in America
have already seen all their assets taken from them right before their
eyes. Bankruptcy has meant lots of people watch the government or the
bank take everything. Didn't we see whole herds destroyed because of
the threat of Mad Cow Disease? Whole farms wiped out? Future
applications may even mean martial law, confiscation of private
property or theft of assets by invading armies. It's certainly
happening in other places around the world. In spiritual terms, as
this progresses, MANY congregations will see their buildings and all
they have built given over to others. Many churches have already
closed as their membership was attracted to the new gym, children's
programs, Starbucks and Pilates class at the local mega-church.
Eventually there will be a major reshuffling as God takes those who
are obedient and gives them the wealth of those who weren't. The
mainline denominations are decreasing and their sheep will be given
over to those who are arising – the radical warriors that will
get out of God's way and let Him direct all their paths.
[32] Your
sons and daughters WILL be given to another nation, and you WILL wear
out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand.
In America, we
have given our children over to drugs, satanism, hip-hop and gangster
rap, new ageism, atheism, socialism, consumerism, witchcraft, Planned
Parenthood, gay rights, and more. We have been unable (or unwilling)
to stop the tide of the influence of these things on our children.
Spiritually, the church seems mostly powerless to scrub these things
out of the kids as well. We are losing about 80% of the youth once
they go to college. No one can understand why we are not keeping them
engaged. It's not that complicated – it's a curse AND we're not
showing them the Power of God that is greater than the power of satan
and his system. Nothing we are giving them or teaching them feels
better than the hedonistic pleasures of America. Because they are not
tasting the life-transforming glory of the Holy Spirit and daily
communion with Jesus – and mostly we can't teach them because we
aren't either.
[33] A
people that you do not know WILL eat what your land and labor
produce, and you WILL have nothing but cruel oppression all your days.
In America we're
kind of used to it, but the fact is that we are under cruel
oppression. Our forefathers would NEVER have stood for taxation rates
of 50% to 75% and up. We are controlled and manipulated and oppressed
by global media organizations, by governmental bodies, by the public
schools, by corporate giants, by banking laws. In my mind, this verse
is fulfilled in that giant chunks of our revenue are going to China
and they are feasting on the produce of our land. They are building
and growing far more than we are – because we're sending all of
our industry (and profit) to them. Spiritually, America is oppressed
by a love of money, by sloth, fear, doubt, confusion, anger, murder,
lust, and many others. Our churches are oppressed far beyond what
they should be and very few people know how to lift the oppressions
corporately or individually. Why? Because we're cursed. Why? Because
we went our own way.
[34] The
sights you see WILL drive you mad.
Television is one
of the leading causes of depression and panic attacks and phobias of
all sorts. The movies we see (Jaws), the stories we hear (kidnapped
kids), the medical reports (skin cancer), the commercials (bad
breath), the magazine models (anorexia), the nightly news of death
and mayhem and destruction. They all seemed designed to prey on weak-willed
people and drive them mad. And it's working. Spiritually, we seem to
be totally given over to the lust of the eyes. I've seen pastors that
had been to a local mega-church and you could see the building-envy
in their eyes. I've seen churches start building campaigns and plan
for new sanctuaries when they were only halfway filling the one they
had. It's like having a horrible marriage and thinking having a new
baby will make things better. It's just mad. All it does is make
things MUCH harder. So many in the churches watch the political
process and see the evil in our country and want to DO something, so
they get more entrenched in the world systems and politics –
which is why we were being cursed in the first place! Our battle
should be in the spirit, not with flesh and blood.
[35] The
Lord WILL afflict your knees and legs with painful boils that cannot
be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.
Diabetes,
psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, boils, bed sores and lots of others
– some caused by the massive obesity that we have brought upon
ourselves. Spiritually speaking, these are pains and inflamations
that affect our walk with Christ. They slow us down and make it hard
or impossible to walk with him or even to stand on the day of battle.
These boils are impurities and infections that keep us from being
holy and therefore from tasting the fullness of what He has for us.
They clog us up and keep us from being able to flow in His Spirit. We
are so bloated and overweight from eating all kinds of “Jesus
Junk Food” that we have trapped all of the impurities and
infections inside and they have taken root and are destroying us
internally and hurting our walk. This is a demonic strategy to
minimize and marginalize us and we have allowed it.
[36] The
Lord WILL drive you and the king you set over you to a nation unknown
to you or your fathers. There you WILL worship other gods, gods of
wood and stone.
The nation we have
become is certainly not the nation of our fathers. We are not the
representative republic founded on faith that we were designed to be.
From the unconstitutional power of the Supreme Court to the power
grabs by Presidents and Congress, to the removal of the Ten
Commandments and faith from the public eye, to a thousand other ways,
we are not the nation we were. We are in captivity in Babylon and we
barely even noticed that it happened. In America we do worship gods
made by human hands, whether that's Wall Street or Madison Avenue or
Hollywood or Washington D.C. In spiritual terms, we have built
denominational headquarters and seminaries and set kings over us and
we obey them more than we obey God. We have built monstrous buildings
and we call them the House of the Lord – as if He inhabits the
wood and stone we put together. No matter what we say, by the
evidence of where our money and our energies go, we are worshipping
the buildings more than caring for the people. Not all the churches,
but enough – and more all the time. We have statues of the
virgin Mary and saints and others that we are NOT to worship, but we
pray to them anyway.
[37] You
WILL become a thing of horror and an object of scorn and ridicule to
all the nations where the Lord WILL drive you.
America is almost
universally scorned, until they want money. Either for our arrogance,
our filthiness, our greed, our hypocrisy, our waste, our military
hegemony, our corporate hegemony, whatever. Pretty much everybody
doesn't like us. Even nations we consider allies ridicule us. And we
can't just mind our own business inside our own shores anymore, we
HAVE to go out and deal with them. Spiritually, the church in America
is in the same boat, derided and ridiculed, except when they want
money. Pick a denomination and you'll find their adherents elsewhere
somehow irritated with the American members for one reason or another
(Lutheran, Catholic, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, etc.)
Christians in America are scorned and reviled by other Americans as
hypocrites and seen as selfish holier-than-thou jerks. Or worse,
alternatively seen as SUV-driving-right-wing-Bushites, brain-washed-Ditto-heads,
snake-handling-hillbillies, emotion-driven-holy-rollers, stone-cold-Liberal-socialite-country-clubbers,
or any of a wide array of ugly stereotypes that are not entirely
without basis in reality. But VERY few people in America fear
Christians because they are a united, unwavering, unstoppable,
fearless army of truth-telling, Spirit-led warriors for Christ that
act like Jesus and fight for the needs of the oppressed and needy
with everything in them. That stereotype just isn't in circulation
much. (At least not yet – but that's the goal.)
[38] You
WILL sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little, because
locusts WILL devour it.
America spends
BILLIONS on education and defense and social programs and prisons and
FEMA and Social Security and HUD and by and large, they're all giant
money pits that get a horrible return on investment. It's cheaper to
send a felon to college then to a federal prison. Our public schools
are NOT producing excellence. Our foreign aid is not buying us real
friends, particularly in the Middle East. We pour money into
thousands of government programs and get practically nothing as a
result. For our spending, we should be able to eliminate the ghettos
and illiteracy and childhood illnesses and poverty. But we can't.
Why? Because it's a curse. Spiritually, based on our current spending
levels, the average American has a chance to hear about Jesus at
least once a day. Hundreds of exposures per year per person –
and yet it's not bearing real fruit. Why? Because the locusts are
eating it as fast as we throw out the seed. What are the locusts?
Demons sent to oppress the people and blind them to those who reach
out to them in Christ. And why are there locusts loose? Because we
were disobedient to God. It's curse. We are harvesting VERY little.
Truly staggeringly very little. Statistically speaking it's so
miniscule as to practically be insignificant compared to all the
money we're spending. Total spending on the American
“church” divided by number of baptisms means the average
cost per baptism in the USA is $1.55 Million!
This one is about
Grain. The Bread of Life, the fullness of Jesus. It will be scarce.
[39] You
WILL plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the
wine or gather the grapes, because worms WILL eat them.
See above. Demons
devour all the fruit before you can even gather it, much less make wine.
This one is about
Wine. The New Wine, the fullness of the Holy Spirit. It will be scarce.
[40] You
WILL have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use
the oil, because the olives WILL drop off.
See above. The
fruit will fall to the ground wasted and unused. The olive – the
sign of peace will be unused and no one will benefit from it as a
nation or a church. We have no peace in the Body of Christ in America
– we have constant wars and rumors of wars between leaders and
congregations and denominations. We start a new denomination every 48 hours.
This one is
about the Oil. The annointing of God, the empowering for His service.
It will go unused and wasted. When someone does raise up with an
annointing, they will be discarded.
[41] You
WILL have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they
WILL go into captivity.
See v. 32. Fifty
million of America's children were taken from us through abortion. In
most cases the first born sons and daughters were killed. The first
fruits of a whole generation gone. The other children were given over
to socialism, liberalism, capitalism, depression, anorexia,
Hollywood, fear, doubt, hopelessness, porn, alcohol and drugs, and a
thousand other things. They are captive and their parents don't know
how to free them – because THEY are captive as well.
Spiritually, our children are not free and walking in peace and joy
and victory and we don't know how to show them how to do it because
we don't know. The church was supposed to be the light to the world,
but it's really dark out there, even inside the churches.
[42] Swarms
of locusts WILL take over all your trees and the crops of your land.
As a nation and as
a church, demons of all kinds have come and devoured our fruit.
Systems of Man have devoured our fruit. Our own selfishness has
devoured our fruit. Nothing we seem to do is stopping it. Political
involvement isn't really stopping it. Home schooling isn't stopping
it. Better youth programs isn't stopping it. Why can't we stop it?
Because it's a curse. There's only one solution. Say you're sorry and
mean it. (See below.)
[43] The
alien who lives among you WILL rise above you higher and higher, but
you will sink lower and lower.
In America isn't
this happening? There has always been a strong Jewish presence. Now
there is a rising aristocracy of African-Americans and a growing
middle and upper class of Asians, Russians/Slavics,
Middle-Easterners, Caribbeans, Hispanics, and others. Many are not
citizens, yet are benefiting from programs and services and
opportunities. Even taking jobs from Americans. This will only
increase if a borderless North American Free Trade Zone is
established. Why could they prosper and we not? Because they are
aliens and their fathers didn't bring this curse down on them –
OUR fathers did. Spiritually, those from outside the
“system” will reap the benefits – the Jesus freaks
that God raised up from outside and speak a whole different language
(or tongue). These will rise up – and they are. These will
prosper – and they are. This is where the growth in the church
is right now. With the giant non-confessional, non-denomational
charismatic megabloc that is growing massively all over the world.
Reportedly, the out-of-church Christians in America meeting in home
groups and work Bible studies and elsewhere, if added all together
are the second largest denomination in the country, behind only the
Catholics – and gaining fast. Because of the massive inertia
involved, the aircraft carrier church system cannot compete with the
speedboat Jesus freaks. It just can't turn on a dime and be ready
fast enough without massive effort. And since it's what brought the
curses, the effort involved is going to mean lots of crying and repenting.
[44] He WILL
lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He WILL be the head, but
you WILL be the tail.
America is
endebted to many other countries. We like to believe we are the head,
but if they called in the loans or something happened that
substantially devalued the dollar, we'd be in big trouble. The
world's lenders know that they have us by the throat. Don't believe
otherwise. Our outstanding loans remain out only so long as it's in
their best interest to allow it. If the dollar drops, there will be a
rush on the bank. Spiritually, our churches are in debt up to their
eye-balls. We have preached fiscal responsibility and living within
our means, but we have borrowed substantially to fund our building
campaigns. If even 10% of church goers stopped giving, it would mean
substantial problems for almost all congregations and require
completely reworking budgets and maybe even renegotiating with banks.
At some point, if the migration from the mainline churches continues,
there will be more and more church buildings seized by the banks and
auctioned off for pennies on the dollar.
[45] All
these curses WILL come upon you. They WILL pursue you and overtake
you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the Lord your
God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you.
Just a reminder of
why this is happening. Think of this as an intermission before we get
to the REALLY ugly stuff below. Why are we suffering? Because we're
cursed. When's it going to stop? When you're destroyed – or He's
sufficiently impressed with your repentance.
[46] They
WILL be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever.
Well, they should
be, but most of the time we don't realize it while it's happening.
Like the frog in a pot of water where the fire turns up slowly until
he's cooked. Right now, the average American may think we're just
fine and this is a Christian nation. But if you bring a true
Christian from Kenya or China and show them around, they'll want to
throw up. I hope that this writing helps to show the “sign
and wonder” aspect of this. God is really big and He has all
kinds of ways to enforce His will, but when He says He's going to do
something, He WILL do it. And He's done and doing the curses in Deut.
28 to America and the American church system we've built. And He's
going to continue until it's destroyed.
[47] Because
you did not serve the Lord your God joyfully and gladly in the time
of prosperity,
Yep. That's why.
He blessed us and we made it about us. We got comfy and went our own
way. Just like Israel, we went into the Promised Land, won our early
victories, settled down, got fat and then forgot about Him. American
forgot her roots, forgot her God and He's bringing judgement on us.
Our enemies are no longer repelled at our shores. We are vulnerable
because God has lifted His hand. Spiritually, our churches grew and
forgot God. We went into the Promised Land and left Him in the desert
and now no one can tell us apart from all the other nations. We are
more like Elks Lodges or country clubs than we are like the church of
Jesus Christ as He intended it.
[48]
therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you
WILL serve the enemies the Lord sends against you. He WILL put an
iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.
Much of America is
drought-stricken, water-logged, mud-slidden, forest-fired, bankrupt
and/or otherwise impoverished. And it's spreading. The Lord sent the
enemies we're serving. The Lord put an iron yoke on our neck and we
can't corporately break loose of the worldly systems set over us.
Why? Because it's a curse. Spiritually, the churches are doing works
and serving those set over us – serving the government, serving
denominational headquarters, serving mammon, serving the new
building. We are poor in spirit and naked and blind. We are lukewarm.
We are not slaves to Christ, we have let someone else own us. Why did
this happen? Because it's a curse. Because we disobeyed God and went
our own way. WE decided what WE wanted do for the cause of our
religion instead of waiting on Him to tell us what HE wanted us to do
for HIM.
[49] The
Lord WILL bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of
the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you
WILL not understand, [50] a fierce-looking nation without respect for
the old or pity for the young.
America is
certainly in a position to admit that nations whose language we don't
understand are against us. At any moment, we could be subject to a
terrorist attack by Muslims who are fierce and have no respect for
the old or pity for the young. You could also say these are demons
afflicting our culture. Spiritually, I believe this is the Third Wave
of charismatic believers whose language isn't understood (tongues).
There is no growth in history like the growth of this movement. The
mainline denominations are decreasing, but this group of fully
switched-on radicals is growing worldwide way out of proportion with
their resources and apparent influence. Why? Because God is helping
them. This is not a malevolent movement, but it will not spare the
old or the young. It will try to absorb all who will hear. The old
remember the days of revival and are desperate and hungry to see a
move of God again. The young are desperate for anything that isn't
dead and cold. They will always sign up for something radical if they
feel a challenge and can taste the power.
[51] They
WILL devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land
until you are destroyed. They WILL leave you no grain, new wine or
oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you
are ruined.
America will
suffer and is suffering at the hands of its oppressors. It will
continue until someone repents sufficiently or we are ruined.
Spiritually, those sent by the Holy Spirit and empowered and walking
in Christ will devour all of the young, will absorb resources. Here
again we see the three aspects of God, the grain (Bread of Life), the
new wine (Holy Spirit) and the oil (Annointing of God). These
invaders will consume it all and none will be left for those under
the curse. All the young, the first fruits of all that you have will
be taken until you are ruined.
[52] They
WILL lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high
fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They WILL besiege all
the cities throughout the land the Lord your God is giving you.
Every city in
America is oppressed by something. All of them believe themselves to
be bastions of capitalism and free enterprise and individual rights
and fairness, but all of them are suffering losses of rights, seizure
of property, infringement on religion, errosion of state's and local
rights and more. All of the cities have been beseiged. Spiritually,
the Body of Christ in every city in America has been divided up into
little pieces that mostly don't talk to each other. This is an
intentional and strategic plan because the Body in a locality, the
city church is what God wants and is necessary to bring in the last
great harvest. We thought the high walls around our congregation
would protect us from the world, but it didn't do that at all. We
look just like them and we're just as oppressed and yoked.
[53] Because
of the suffering that your enemy WILL inflict on you during the
siege, you WILL eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and
daughters the Lord your God has given you.
This is getting
serious now. This DID manifest in Israel in literally exactly this
way in 2 Kings 6:28-29 as fulfillment of this curse. How this might
manifest in America is scary. We do have fetal tissue being used in
makeup and for other medical uses. We are cloning them and using stem
cells from fetuses for cures for diseases. So in a sense we are
devouring the flesh of our young already. But it's entirely possible
that things could get so bad that cannibalism is the only available
option to stay alive. It's certainly got that bad at times in other
countries. God willing, we escape this consequence, but if we don't
turn, it's probably coming – or else God is a liar.
Spiritually, we have raised up spiritual sons and daughters in the
churches and then devoured them. No question. We have chewed them up
and spit them out. We have been so desperate to build something or to
keep people in their seats that we have manipulated and controlled
and threatened them – and even sucked all the resources out of
them until they were empty, then thrown them away.
[54] Even
the most gentle and sensitive man among you WILL have no compassion
on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children,
[55] and he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his
children that he is eating. It will be all he has left because of the
suffering your enemy WILL inflict on you during the siege of all your
cities. [56] The most gentle and sensitive woman among you--so
sensitive and gentle that she would not venture to touch the ground
with the sole of her foot-- WILL begrudge the husband she loves and
her own son or daughter [57] the afterbirth from her womb and the
children she bears. For she intends to eat them secretly during the
siege and in the distress that your enemy WILL inflict on you in your cities.
Eww! Things really
could get that bad in America. Spiritually, the Body of Christ in our
cities are already so badly damaged from what it should be that it
can only be said that it's been under seige for a long time. We
jealously guard all that we have, lest someone else would take it and
get nourishment from it. In some towns, the pastors fight desperately
with each other to keep that tither in their seat or to get that one
extra fat sheep they need to keep the budget balanced. Either way,
it's really ugly and if we're not there yet, it would sure be nice if
we repented before this gets fulfilled literally! Please?
And then we do
it again, but this time with a note of God's intentionality:
v.58-
IF you do
not carefully follow ALL the words of this law, which are written in
this book, and do not REVERE this glorious and awesome name--the Lord
your God-- THEN
[59] the
Lord WILL send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and
prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses.
On America, on the
cities, on the families, on you, on the church. All of it. Every
possible application. This is a guarantee. You don't even need to
believe in God or have faith that the Bible is true. He's going to do
it to you anyway. Even if YOU are obedient, if your people aren't but
maybe you could have stopped it, you're going to suffer right along
with them. Even the prophets that warned them went into captivity
with Israel.
[60] He WILL
will bring upon you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and
they WILL cling to you.
Yep. We got them
all. And they're clinging. Even in the church, we have diseases
galore and they're clinging. We can pray that God would give the
doctor's wisdom OR we can pray that God will forgive us and heal our
land Himself. Which do you think is more likely to get His attention
and get Him to lift the curses against us? Just a thought.
[61] The
Lord WILL also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not
recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.
Yep. Got new ones
that aren't in there. That's for sure. And more diseases coming all
the time. Some really nasty ones. If we don't have enough nasty ones,
some idiot revives Small Pox or a killer Flu or mutates a strain of
something just to see what will happen. And they think it was their
idea, but it was really just God lifting His hand a little so
satan could talk them into something really stupid. He intends to
destroy the church system WE have built and replace it with one not
built by human hands. It's just a matter of how much we're going to
fight Him along the way. I'd really suggest not trying, what with Him
being really big and everything. We should have learned from this
that building it ourselves is a BAD idea.
[62] You who
were as numerous as the stars in the sky WILL be left but few in
number, because you did not obey the Lord your God.
There are all
kinds of way this is fulfilled for America, including some really
scary, population-decreasing ways like nukes on our cities or a super
volcano that would wipe out the whole center of the country (the
Bible Belt, by the way). If that verse isn't a description of
the mainline denominations, I don't know what is! Whoever is going to
repent and obey is going to inherit the promises and the resource and
the fruit. Those who steadfastly insist that they are not being
cursed and are just fine and continue to go their own way are going
to be flattened until they are “but few in number”. Which
one do you want to be?
[63] Just as
it pleased the Lord to make you prosper and increase in number, so it
WILL please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from
the land you are entering to possess.
OK, now this one
stings a little. We don't like to think about God being like this,
but He can take as much pleasure out of destroying us as blessing
us?! How can that be? I thought He was just loving shepherd and warm
and fuzzy?! What happened to the love of Jesus and His intercession
for us and mercy and stuff? What happened to “I stand at the
door and knock” gently and sweetly? How come the New Covenant
didn't keep us from being cursed and how come God's going to enjoy
destroying us?! That's not nice at all! Something is seriously wrong
here! It's really hard to get this to jive with church teachings
about grace.
But you see, God
loves justice more than anything. More than He loves you, He loves
justice. He sent Jesus so that justice could be fulfilled, NOT so
that mercy could displace justice, but so that it could propitiate
(satisfy) it. So that it could meet the requirement of justice. And
Christ's atoning sacrifice does wash us clean our sins, but
corporately we still have to walk it out. IF we love Him THEN we will
obey Him and IF we're to love one another and IF he that loveth not,
knoweth not God, THEN if we're NOT loving one another THEN we're not
really obeying and we are still unrepentantly in our sin and the
Blood of Jesus hasn't been activated.
God wants justice
and when a whole nation (church) unrepentantly strays and should know
better, He WILL punish it. To whom much is given, much is demanded.
And America has been given more than anybody in history. And God gave
it to us and if we don't give Him proper glory and establish His
headship over us, He will take it away. And the taking away can
happen VERY fast!
Note, they had not
fully possessed the land, they were just entering it and were
uprooted. The Church has not done any more than scratch the surface
of the potential of what He wants for us. And yet, even what we have
will be taken away if we don't start obeying fully and completely and
REVERE the name of the Lord. And that means Love the Lord your God
with ALL your heart, ALL your mind, ALL your soul and ALL your
strength and love your neighbor as yourself – especially the
Brothers and Sisters! Or just keep loving Him with SOME and fighting
and feuding with the Brethren and see how that goes for you.
[64] Then
the Lord WILL scatter you among all nations, from one end of the
earth to the other. There you WILL worship other gods--gods of wood
and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.
See v.36. Telling
us again that He will turn us over to badness and we'll go willingly
and further increase the blood on our head. He'll turn us over
to our own depraved nature. He will set us in a place where He knows
that we will intentionally continue to bring even more of His wrath
on our head. And yet He put us there. Weird, isn't it. His ways are
not our ways. You might want to pray and ask for more Fear of the
Lord. That's the beginning of wisdom, you know. Wisdom is good, but
you can't get it without fear of the Lord. And if the church are
acting unwisely (which is what this verse says He did to them), it's
probably because they don't have enough fear of the Lord. In fact,
the curses started because there wasn't enough fear of the Lord. So
we might want to pray for lots of it about now. Even if it hurts.
[65] Among
those nations you WILL find no repose, no resting place for the sole
of your foot. There the Lord WILL give you an anxious mind, eyes
weary with longing, and a despairing heart.
This one is hard
for folks. The LORD will give you an anxious mind and a despairing
heart. He didn't stutter. He said HE would do it. You will have no
rest and HE will give you anxiety and despair. People say that the
Lord never sends fear and despair and anxiety and confusion, but He
sure seems willing to do it – in fact, taking pleasure in it
– if you are THIS far off the reservation. By the time it gets
to this point, He is VERY mad at you and you are really, really
overdue for justice to step in. That we have Jesus interceding for us
with the Father is the ONLY thing that keeps us from ALREADY being
totally destroyed by our enemies. How many times could America have
been destroyed already – and probably deserved it? It may
squirrel with your understanding of God, but He says right here that
HE will personally mess with your head. He did it to Pharoah and
Saul, He can do it you.
[66] You
WILL live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day,
never sure of your life.
America is on a
constant state of alert. At any moment we could go from yellow to
orange to red on the Terror Warning system. We might put it out of
our mind for awhile, but we know it's there and that it could affect
all of our lives dramatically. The drought and power outages and
forest fires have us constantly watching the news. Layoffs and
mergers and social security revamps keep us stressed out. National
elections engage us, but bring more worry and trepidation. The church
leadership rarely can rest and believe that things are under control,
they have to be constantly outdoing the last program or putting on a
better show than that other church in town. Constant improvements and
promotions. We are not at peace. We do not even remember what peace
looked like. I don't think they teach peace classes in seminary.
[67] In the
morning you WILL say, "If only it were evening!" and in the
evening, "If only it were morning!"--because of the terror
that WILL fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see.
We all keep
thinking the grass is greener over there. If only this or that were
different. If only we had a new building. If only we could be
raptured and get out of all this. If only I could send money to that
ministry on TV so God would bless me. If only I could win the
lottery. Anything just to escape my current sad reality. If only
... Dude, don't be betting on the lottery to solve your
problems. God is just. And don't be betting on a rapture to get us
out of here before we have to suffer – we're ALREADY suffering
and since the darkness is OUR fault, I don't see why we're going to
avoid the consequences. We made this mess. People are dying because
of the church system we built went it's own way and didn't obey God.
It's our fault. Step up and take your medicine.
[68] The
Lord WILL send you back in ships to Egypt on a journey I said you
should never make again. There you WILL offer yourselves for sale to
your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.
He will put as
back into the state we were before He took us out. In fact, worse
that before. Christians came to America to find religious freedom
– and we had it for awhile. But now we're being returned to
Egypt, back to the beauracratic, heirarchical control that we were
trying to escape – and probably worse is coming, if that stuff
about a One World Church in Revelation is for real. It will be
enforced on us. Why? Because we're cursed? Why? Because we went our
own way. And the Lord says that many will offer themselves up to it
freely, but nobody will buy them. You will be slaves and have gotten
nothing in return for your labors.
Spiritually, the
church system we built is all about law. It's all about control and
heirarchy and building pyramids for Egypt. We have set Pharoahs over
us and we labor for them as they direct. We had a chance to live
under grace and we chose law instead. Jesus came and opened the way
to the Tree of Life and we continued to run back the Tree of the
Knowledge of Good and Evil. We have 37,000 denominations because of
our own laws, not because of God's grace. Can there be any other interpretation?
We went our own
way. We're suffering. You may not think you are, but that's just
because you haven't tasted what it was SUPPOSED to be like. You've
been eating dirt and faking a smile for so long that now it tastes
good. But the banquet table of the King is waiting as soon as you
decide you're sick of dirt. All you have to do is say you're sorry
for being a dirt eater.
So what do we do?
If you're a
pastor, don't you get tired of reaching people and growing them and
then losing them back to the “world”? Do you see a solution
on the horizon? Is there a silver bullet out there that will turn
this whole thing around and the land will spring forth with fruit? Yes.
Read Joel. IF
you declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly and repent and weep
and mourn before the altar, THEN He will turn. THEN the
land grows green again and the harvest replaces all the years the
locusts have eaten. Personally, congregationally, locally,
nationally, globally – works the same way all the way up the
food chain.
America is dry and
dead, cursed in thousands of ways on different levels. The locusts
came BECAUSE we were disobedient. The land springs up again and the
rains come only when we say we're sorry and really mean it.
Do this:
(Read Joel again)
Call a sacred assembly
– gather those who are clean before the Lord and have His heart
about the state of things (see Ezek. 9).
Declare a Holy Fast
– that's Isaiah 58 (more If/Then's). Do that stuff as much as
you can.
Repent and weep
and mourn before the altar – tell Him how sorry you are and
keep at it until the rain comes. And you get bonus points if you do
it in public.
That's the ONLY
Biblical formula for turning this thing around. Nothing less is
going to work. You can't get revived until you say you're sorry
for being the kind of people that need reviving. You can't ask for
blessings until you acknowledge and repent for the curses already in place.
Scripture
quotes here are from the NIV, International Bible Society Used by permission..
If you prefer
something else, go for it. Deuteronomy 28 is just as scary in any of
the translations.
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