PARENTAL RIGHTS, FREE SPEECH, BIOLOGICAL REALITY AND BIBLICAL PROPHECY

Posted on by

FamilyVoice Australia has expressed deep concern over the New South Wales Government’s plan to develop the state’s first LGBTIQA+ Inclusion Strategy, describing it as another step toward enforcing radical gender ideology across every level of government and public life.

“The government claims this strategy will make communities stronger and more connected,” said Graeme Mitchell, Family Voice NSW State Director. Which only shows that we have a government that does not believe in God or the Bible He has given us.

“In reality, it risks dividing people, silencing dissent, and undermining the rights of parents, teachers, faith communities, and especially children who hold to traditional beliefs about sex and gender.”

Mr Mitchell warned that the proposed ‘whole-of-government approach’ would likely embed gender ideology into schools, health services, and public policy, marginalising anyone who does not affirm these beliefs.

“Under the banner of ‘inclusion‘, this strategy could exclude people of faith, remove protections for women’s spaces, and pressure schools to promote harmful messages about gender identity,” he said.

“What NSW needs is truth and respect for biological reality, not policies that confuse children and punish those who speak up.”

FamilyVoice is calling on the NSW Government to withdraw the proposed strategy and instead promote genuine inclusion by protecting free speech, religious freedom, and parental rights.

Fortunately, God has revealed in His word, the Bible, that what we see unfolding in the world is exactly what would happen prior to Jesus return first to rapture His Saints before God pours out His wrath upon an unrepentant world and to rescue the nation He established for His purposes, Israel at the battle of Armageddon. Then Jesus and the glorified Saints will begin to rule and reign the nations of this earth for 1,000 years. The Bible is full of prophecies about Jesus coming Millennial Kingdom. You can go to http://www.millennialkingdom.net to discover what they are so you can prepare for what is next on God’s agenda for planet earth.

GOD IS SOVEREIGN: HE IS WORKING OUT HIS PLANS AND PURPOSES FOR PLANET EARTH

Posted on by

When we look around and see all the horrible things happening in the world – and even in the church – and it seems overwhelming. Whether it is Western nations seemingly headed on a downward spiral, or conflict in the Middle East, or communist China making menacing moves, or culture wars going berserk, or scandals in our churches, it can seem overwhelming.

Thank goodness the Bible, God’s Word, gives us many examples of people just like us in similar circumstances who were able to hear from God about what He was doing and even though they did not know the why, they came to terms with the fact that God is in control and knows what He is doing. Habakkuk is a great example. Check it out, he ended up getting the right view on things, and we must as well.

The three chapters of the book are easily broken down in outline form:

  • 1:1-4 Habakkuk’s first lament or complaint
  • 1:5-11 Yahweh’s first response
  • 1:12-2:1 Habakkuk’s second lament or complaint
  • 2:2-20 Yahweh’s second response
  • 3:1-19 Habakkuk’s prayer

Like Habakkuk, we need the courage of discernment—to know and trust that God remains sovereign in the world of history and nature. We need to listen to the news with this perspective in mind. ‘Look at the nations and watch…’ (Hab.1.5). Watch out for God at work particularly as the Bible reveals we are in the last days before Jesus returns to set up His Millennial Kingdom and restore righteousness.

If you want to get prepared for what is next on God’s agenda for planet earth go to http://www.millennialkingdom.net.

For inspiration for this post I went to Our God Reigns: What Habakkuk Tells Us About History and Hope by Bill Muehlenberg, 29th October 2025, The Daily Declaration.

TRUMP AND VANCE WILL BE ELECTED PRESIDENT AND V.P.

Posted on by

After reading JD Vance’s first speech following his appointment as VP at the Republican National Convention, I was sufficiently convinced Vance and Trump will be elected VP and President at the November election to write this post. It will be interesting to see if I am right. How things have changed so dramatically in just 24 hours. Trump is a different person following the assassination attempt on his life. He acknowledges that he is still alive only because God wants to use him to unite the nation.

Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick JD Vance took to the stage at the Republican National Convention to deliver his first address since being announced on the ticket, hailing the former president’s “fight” and call for unity.

“Tonight is a night of hope,” Mr Vance said. “A celebration of what America once was and with God’s grace, what it will soon be again.

“And it is a reminder of the sacred duty we have to preserve the American experiment, to choose a new path for our children and grandchildren.

“But as we meet tonight we cannot forget that this evening could have been so much different. Instead of a celebration, this could have been a day of heartache and mourning.

“And what did he call us to do for our country? To fight. To fight for America. Even in his most perilous moment, we were on his mind. His instinct was for us, for our country, to call us to something higher, for something greater, to once again be citizens to ask what our country needs from us.

“Now consider what they said – they said he was a tyrant. They said he must be stopped at all costs. But how did he respond? He called for national unity, for national calm literally right after an assassin nearly took his life.

“And then President Trump flew to Milwaukee and got back to work.

“Now that’s the man I’ve gotten to know personally over the last few years. He is tough – and he is – but he cares about people. He can stand defiant against an assassin one moment and call for national healing the next. He is a beloved father and grandfather, and of course, a once-in-a-generation business leader.”

Mr Vance is invoking his small-town roots as he accepts his party’s nomination for vice president.

“I grew up in Middletown, Ohio, a small town where people spoke their minds, built with their hands, and loved their God, their family, their community, and their country with their whole hearts,” he said, arguing that President Joe Biden has supported policies that damaged his community.

Mr Vance said it was the kind of place that had been “cast aside and forgotten by America’s ruling class in Washington”.

“When I was in the fourth grade, a career politician by the name of Joe Biden supported NAFTA, a bad trade deal that sent countless good jobs to Mexico.

“When I was a sophomore in high school, that same career politician named Joe Biden, gave China a sweetheart trade deal that destroyed even more good American middle-class manufacturing jobs.

“When I was a senior in high school that same Joe Biden supported the disastrous invasion of Iraq and each step of the way and at small towns like mine in Ohio or next door in Pennsylvania or Michigan, in states all across our country, jobs were sent overseas and our children were sent to war.”

Mr. Vance said the GOP of the next four years would be “united in our love for this country and committed to free speech and the open exchange of ideas”.

“And so tonight, Mr Chairman, I stand here humbled and I’m overwhelmed with gratitude to say I officially accept your nomination to be vice president of the United States of America!”

Mr Vance made a pitch to the “American heartland”.

“For these places to thrive, my friends, we need a leader who fights for the people who built this country,” he said.

“We need a leader who’s not in the pocket of big business, but answers to the working man, union and non-union alike.

“A leader who won’t sell out to multinational corporations but will stand up for American companies and American industry.

“A leader who rejects Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ green new scam and fights to bring back our great American factories.

“We need President Donald J Trump.”

Will God give America one last chance to repent and return to Him? Even if God does, I do not think it will change anything. Millennials and Gen Z are lost generations due to schools and universities teaching evolution, not creation. They do not believe God exists therefore the Bible is a book of myths and legends. Biblical prophecy confirms this view. The Antichrist arises from the Middle East to dominate the world. Russia and China are featured as end-time empires, but not America.

MIKE JOHNSON GOT IT RIGHT – JOE BIDEN WAS GOD’S APPOINTMENT FOR PRESIDENT

Posted on by

The House Speaker, Republican Mike Johnson, was asked by an unidentified member of the media at the weekly press conference for GOP leadership on Jan. 17 whether he thinks President Joe Biden’s victory in the bitterly contested and politically heated campaign was, in fact, “God’s will.”

Johnson, a 51-year-old Evangelical who was elected speaker last fall after receiving the backing of former President Donald Trump, told reporters he believes Biden’s victory “must have been God’s will” because of his personal faith in the Scriptures.

“I said in my speech before I took the gavel that, look, I’m a Bible-believing Christian, right? A Bible-believing Christian believes what the Bible says, right?” Johnson replied. “The Bible says that God is the one who raises up people in authority.”

He explained that not only does he believe God is “sovereign,” but that America’s Founding Fathers held a similar view. Johnson pointed to the Declaration of Independence, a document he said shows the Founding Fathers “acknowledge[d] that our rights don’t come from government, they come from God, and we’re made in His image. “Everybody’s made the same,” added Johnson. “We all are given equal rights and value and that’s something that we defend.”

Based on those beliefs, he said, “then you believe that God is the one that allows people to be raised in authority.” “Biden’s election must have been God’s will then. That’s my belief,” said Johnson.

At times, God ensures we get the government we deserve so that we live with the consequences. Fortunately, God has shown us what will unfold in the future as the world turns its back on God and lives as if he does not exist.

In the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24:36-39, Luke 17:26-27) Jesus told us that in the last days before He returns to Earth to enforce righteousness the world will be like it was in the days of Noah, evil and lawlessness will abound. We are even told that Satan and His demons are cast out of heaven and Satan knowing his time is short takes over the body of the Antichrist and declares himself to be God. During the reign of the Antichrist, for Christians, it will be like the time of the early church, it will be a time of great persecution. It will also be a time for the church, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to shine, knowing their redemption is close.

“For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads because your redemption is drawing near.” Luke 21:26-28

GOD RAISES UP THOSE IN AUTHORITY

Posted on by

There is no doubt that God is in control of history. Nothing happens in the Cosmos He created that He does not initiate or allow. However, often God allows people to elect the leader they want so they get what they deserve. Gay marriage, destruction of the family, etc.

By a slim majority, the Republicans have elected Mike Johnson, a devout Christian as House speaker, and in his opening speech, he spoke strongly about His belief that God is in control of history.

A devout Baptist, Johnson said that he does not “believe there are any coincidences in a matter like this,” saying that “the Bible is very clear that God is the One that raises up those in authority.”

“He raised up each of you, all of us,” Johnson said to his Republican and Democrat colleagues. “I believe that God has ordained and allowed each one of us to be brought here for this specific moment and this time.”

“This is my belief. I believe that each one of us has a huge responsibility today to use the gifts that God has given us to serve the extraordinary people of this great country and they deserve it.”

Johnson said God called Congress to help “ensure that our Republic remains standing as the great beacon of light and hope and freedom in a world that desperately needs it.”

Johnson spoke about the national motto “In God We Trust” and how the words were placed in the House chamber as a conscious rejection of communism during the Cold War.

He stressed the value of the Declaration of Independence and its statement that “all men are created equal” by God, quoting Christian writer and apologist G.K. Chesterton, who once said that “America is the only nation in the world that is founded on a creed.”

Johnson said that while he believes that right now is “a very dangerous time” and “the world is in turmoil,” he declared that “a strong America is good for the entire world.” “We are the beacon of freedom, and we must preserve this grand experiment in self-governance,” he said. “We’re only 247 years into this grand experiment; we don’t know how long it will last.” “We are in a time of extraordinary crisis right now, and the world needs us to be strong; they need us to remember our creed and our admonition.”

Johnson touched on the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, vowing that “the first bill that I’m going to bring to this floor in just a little while, will be in support of our dear friend, Israel.” “We’re going to show not only Israel but the entire world that the barbarism of Hamas that we have all seen play out in our television screens is wretched and wrong,” he said. “We are going to stand for the good in that conflict.”

He also spoke of the dangers presented by the wave of illegal immigration and the ongoing fentanyl crisis, declaring that “we must come together and address the broken border.”

Johnson acknowledged that Americans “live in a time of bitter partisanship” and “it has been on display here today” in the House of Representatives. “When our people are losing their faith in government when they are losing sight of the principles that made us the greatest nation in the history of the world, I think we’ve got to be mindful of that,” Johnson said.

“We’re going to fight; we’re going to fight vigorously over our core principles because they are at odds a lot of times now in this modern era. We have to sacrifice, sometimes our preferences, because that’s what’s necessary in a legislative body.”

Johnson noted that while “we will defend our core principles to the end,” noting that he considered the “core principles of American conservatism” to actually be “the core principles of our nation.”

“I boil them down to individual freedom, limited government, the rule of law, peace through strength, fiscal responsibility, free markets, and human dignity,” Johnson listed.

“Those are the foundations that made us the extraordinary nation that we are, and you and I today are the stewards of those principles.”

Knowing what the Bible has prophesied about the days we are living in, I doubt Mike Johnson will be able to change the trajectory of the USA as it continues to cast God out of all aspects of its life. Nevertheless, in His opening speech, he challenged the government’s representatives about the consequences of their decisions before God.

GOD IS SOVEREIGN – YOU CAN BANK ON IT

Posted on by

The arrogant ruler, King Nebuchadnezzar, the greatest king of the Chaldean dynasty of Babylonia (605 -561 BC) made a humbling discovery. God promised to take Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom from him for a time, and told him, “Your kingdom will be restored to you when you acknowledge that Heaven rules” (Daniel 4:26). That’s exactly what happened, and the truly humbled king afterward insisted that God “does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: ‘What have you done?’” (Daniel 4:35).

“Dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations” (Psalm 22:28). Because God has absolute power, no one—including demons and humans who choose to violate His moral will—can thwart His ultimate purpose.

Paul wrote, “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:11). What does “everything” not include?

Even what appears random is not: “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from Yahweh” (Proverbs 16:33). If we believe this, our reaction to many of the difficulties we face will change. Problems will seem smaller, for although we can’t control them, we know God can—and that everything will work out for His glory and our good.

God is sovereign over evil and disaster.

Though evil had no part in God’s original creation, it was part of His original plan, because redemption from evil was part of His plan. Therefore, Scripture doesn’t distance God from disasters and secondary evils the way His children often do. Amos 3:6 says, “When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it?” A description of natural disasters follows in Amos 4:6–12, where God says He intended these not only as punishment but also as a discipline designed to draw His people back to Himself. (These passages have specific contexts in which God is bringing judgment on His people; they do not prove that all disasters are God’s judgment.)

Satan may bring about a “natural” disaster, but the Book of Job makes clear that God continues to reign, even while selectively allowing Satan to do evil things. Evil never takes God by surprise, nor makes Him helpless.

God isn’t the author of evil, but He is the author of a story that includes evil. In His sovereignty, He intended from the beginning to permit evil, then to turn evil on its head and use it for a redemptive good. God didn’t devise His redemptive plan on the fly, simply making the best of events that spiraled out of His control.

God is sovereign in the outworking of historical events.

Jesus declared that some events “must” happen, in line with Scripture and God’s sovereign will, among them, “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life” (Matthew 16:21).

Because of what the triune God knew and decided in eternity past, Jesus not only might or could go to the cross, but had to. God chose.

Peter, speaking to a Jerusalem crowd, said of Christ, “This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge” (Acts 2:23). God planned His redemptive work and did what was necessary to make it happen.

God is sovereign over disabilities and diseases.

Every day since 1985 I’ve had to deal with the implications of my insulin-dependent diabetes. As a result, I recognize my absolute dependence on God. This has drawn me closer to Him, and I’m deeply grateful.

Some Christians try to distance God from disabilities, arguing that if we attribute them to the sovereign hand of God, we’re making Him out to be a monster. This argument doesn’t change what Exodus 4:11 actually says with startling clarity, that God directly claims to give people their disabilities: “Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, Yahweh?’”

I may fail to understand it, but if the Bible is my authority, don’t I have to believe it? I’ve spoken with many disabled people who didn’t find comfort until they came to believe God made them as they are.

My brilliant friend David O’Brien lived with a severe form of cerebral palsy since birth, and yet he demonstrated joy that transcended his body’s bondage.

At a conference for the disabled, David commented, “If Christ had to suffer to be made complete, how can we expect not to have some form of suffering?” Then he said something unforgettable: “God tailors a package of suffering best suited for each of his own.”

David spoke the following, in words difficult to understand, yet prophetically clear: “Dare I question God’s wisdom in making me the way I am?”

Skeptics may say of disabled believers, “They’re denying reality and finding false comfort. If there’s a God who loves them, he wouldn’t treat them like this.”

David’s audience found better reasons to believe and worship the sovereign God who purchased their resurrection with His blood—and who offers them comfort and perspective—than to believe the skeptics who’ve purchased nothing for them and offer only hopelessness.

We can trust God’s loving sovereignty in every hardship.

Benjamin B. Warfield taught at Princeton Seminary for thirty-four years until his death in 1921. Students still read his books today yet few know his story. On their honeymoon, lightning struck his wife, Annie, permanently paralyzing her. Warfield cared for her until she died. Because of her extreme needs, Warfield seldom left his home for more than two hours at a time during thirty-nine years of marriage.

Warfield viewed his personal trials through the lens of Romans 8:28–29 and wrote this:

The fundamental thought is the universal government of God. …If He governs all, then nothing but good can befall those to whom He would do good.… And He will so govern all things that we shall reap only good from all that befalls us.

Really, Dr. Warfield? Only good from all that befalls us? Warfield spoke from the playing field of suffering, answering an emphatic yes to the loving sovereignty of God.

Our state of mind determines whether the doctrine of God’s sovereignty comforts or threatens us.

Charles Spurgeon wrote, “There is no attribute of God more comforting to his children than the doctrine of Divine Sovereignty.… On the other hand, there is no doctrine more hated by worldlings.”

Imagining that God should let us run life our way sets us up to resent God and even “lose our faith” when our lives don’t go as we want. However, that’s a faith we should lose—to be replaced with faith in the God of sovereign grace who doesn’t keep us from all difficulties but promises to be with us in all difficulties.

God has a way of making what seems worst into the very best.

Nancy Guthrie writes of a speaker asking people to fold a paper in half. She then instructed them to write on the top half the worst things that had happened to them, and on the bottom half the best things.

Invariably, you’ll find things at the top of the page that are also at the bottom. Experiences labeled as the worst things that had ever happened, will, over time, give birth to some of the best things.

It’s the same with my own list. If enough time has passed since some of those “worst things” have happened, then almost certainly we’ll find an overlap.

Our lists provide persuasive proof that while evil and suffering are not good, God can use them to accomplish immeasurable good. Knowing this should give us great confidence that even when we don’t see any redemptive meaning in our present suffering, God can see it…and one day so will we.

Adapted from Randy’s book Hand in Hand: The Beauty of God’s Sovereignty and Meaningful Human Choice.

GOD’S WORK DONE IN GOD’S WAY WILL NEVER LACK GOD’S SUPPLY

Posted on by

We often hear people say, ‘The end justifies the means.’ In other words, it’s okay to do something dishonourable, if necessary, in order to achieve something honourable. But that is not a biblical perspective. God is as concerned about the process as much as the product.

“So they brought the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.“
2 Samuel 6:17

Early in King David’s career, he learned this lesson the hard way. He was moving the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. But he failed to follow God’s instructions on how to transport the Ark. A man died as a result, and the Ark’s movement was delayed for three months. There is a lesson there: God cares about how we serve Him as much as He cares about what we accomplish. For example, not only are we to speak the truth, but we are also to speak the truth ‘in love’ (Ephesians 4:15). We are to defend the faith but with ‘gentleness and respect’ (1 Peter 3:15).

Do God’s work today—yes! But do it God’s way so He is free to bless and honour it.
God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply. Hudson Taylor

“In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:6

“Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever. For the LORD loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever.” Psalms 37:27-29

God tells us what is next on His agenda for this world. The rule of Satan and man on planet Earth is coming to an end. We are fast approaching the last seven years prior to Jesus’ return to this earth to establish His Millennial Kingdom about which we are given a lot of detail in God’s Word.

Check out http://www.millennialkingdom.net and Matthew Bryce Ervin’s book, One Thousand Years with Jesus – The Coming Messianic Kingdom.

“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be released for a little while. Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also, I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.” Revelation 20:1-6

GOD MADE EVERY NATION ON EARTH

Posted on by

“The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,” Acts 17:24-26

This Scripture reveals the extent of God’s control over nations. Having established nations at the Tower of Babel by confusing the languages these verses prove God has allotted the nations “periods and their boundaries“.

Moreover, God uses the nations for His purposes. Two great examples are how God used Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon (He ruled Babylonia from 605 to 562 BC. As the most influential and longest-reigning kings of the Neo-Babylonian period, Nebuchadnezzar conducted the city of Babylon to its height of power and prosperity):

“The king (Nebuchadnezzar) answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery (Daniel 2:47)”

and Darius, King of the Medes and Persia ( He was king of Persia 521–486 BC, known as Darius the Great):

“I (Darius) make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.” Daniel 6:26-27

Also, King Cyrus the Great was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire and king of Persia from 559-530 BC. He is venerated in the Hebrew Bible as Cyrus the Messiah for conquering Babylon and liberating the Jews from captivity. 

“Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed: “I will go before you and level the exalted places, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron, I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret laces, that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name. For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I name you, though you do not know me. I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me, there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things.” Isaiah 24:1-7

Read what David has to say about God, His nation Israel and His control over His universe. Above all, God established Israel as His nation for His purposes, and with Jesus as its King and Priest, it will rule over all the nations in His soon-coming Millennial Kingdom.

“Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing to his name, for it is pleasant! For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel as his own possession. For I know that the LORD is great and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps. He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth, who makes lightning for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouses. He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and of beast; who in your midst, O Egypt, sent signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants; who struck down many nations and killed mighty kings, Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan, and gave their land as a heritage, a heritage to his people Israel.” Psalms 135:1-12

WHO’S BEHIND THE WEATHER? OUR CREATOR GOD

Posted on by

If you ask most people what controls the wind, most people would probably answer it has to do with the relationship between the earth and the sun, temperature, and pressure imbalances. Few people think of God having control over the wind’s cause or its lack thereof.

Yet Revelation 7:1-3 says: “Then I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds so they did not blow on the earth or the sea, or even on any tree. And I saw another angel coming up from the east, carrying the seal of the living God. And he shouted to those four angels, who had been given the power to harm land and sea, ‘Wait! Don’t harm the land or the sea or the trees until we have placed the seal of God on the foreheads of his servants.’”

In this text, the Bible says God employs his angels to restrain the winds to accomplish a specific purpose. The wind belongs to God. The winds are under his control and subordinate to his will. It’s not so much what’s behind the winds and storms; it’s who.

In his commentary on Revelation, William Barclay, the renowned Scottish Bible scholar, says that the Old Testament often pictures the winds as God’s agents employed in his acts of judgment. Here are a few of Barclay’s examples:

“Zechariah has the picture of the chariots of the winds, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth (Zechariah 6:1-5). Nahum speaks of the Lord who has his way in the whirlwind and the storm (Nahum 1:3) … The winds are God’s chariots (Jeremiah 4:13). God comes with his chariots like a whirlwind (Isaiah 66:15). [Chariots were utilized for warfare and judgment on one’s enemies.] The wind is the breath of God (Job 37:9, 10). The wind rends the mountains (I Kings 19:11) and withers the grass (Isaiah 40:7, 24) and dries up the stream, the river, and the sea (Nahum 1:4; Psalm 18:15). God’s day [Judgment Day] would be the day of the whirlwind (Amos 1:14). The whirlwind of the Lord goes forth in its fury and falls on the head of the wicked (Jeremiah 23:19; 30:23). The wind of the Lord…will come from the wilderness and destroy the fertility of the land (Hosea 13:15). God will send his four winds upon Elam and scatter the people (Jeremiah 49:36).”

Other passages of Scripture provide a window for looking inside God’s pilothouse, not only for the winds but the weather in general. God can use the weather to either bless or punish. Job 37:11-13 reads: “He loads the clouds with moisture, and they flash with his lightning. The clouds churn about at his direction. They do whatever he commands throughout the earth. He makes these things happen either to punish people or to show his unfailing love.”

Perhaps one of the strongest passages which present the way God uses climate conditions to display his sovereignty is in Haggai.

“You hoped for rich harvests, but they were poor. And when you brought your harvest home, I blew it away. Why? Because my house lies in ruins, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, while all of you are busy building your own fine houses. It’s because of you that the heavens withhold the dew and the earth produces no crops. I have called for a drought on your fields and hills — a drought to wither the grain and grapes and olive trees and all your other crops, a drought to starve you and your livestock and to ruin everything you have worked so hard to get.” Haggai 1:9-11

In God’s economy, angels are also associated with affecting weather patterns. Angels have a ministry concerning the earth. They are linked to winds, fires, storms, and pestilence (Psalm 103:20; 104:4; I Chronicles 21:15, 16, 27). Throughout the book of Revelation, they are connected with fire, hail, blood, a plague of locusts, and the poison of scorpions. At certain times in history, God authorizes and directs them to use their tremendous powers to affect meteorological conditions.

The Bible knows nothing of secondary causes. Barclay concludes: Since Adam and Eve, who were initially placed in a perfect environment, rebelled against God and fell into sin, this universe, this planet, has been negatively impacted.

We live in a fallen world. Nature itself is broken like humanity and doesn’t work correctly, and it can’t until the redemption of humankind is complete (Romans 8:19). Therefore, natural disasters are often simply the result of an ailing earth in convulsion.

Nevertheless, when a nation or nations operate grievously in sin, ignore God, reject his ways, and despise Christ and His people with increasing intensity, it shouldn’t surprise us if he intervenes and sends catastrophic natural calamities to get people’s attention. These extraordinary misfortunes mercifully remind us of who is in control. They are warnings with redemptive messages to be reconciled with our Maker.

In their book, God’s Answer for America, Darrel and Cindy Deville rightly state these environmental conditions are referenced as “global warming” or “climate change.” But the Deville’s point to a more likely cause, arguing: “No matter what they call it, these things are all part of the birthing pains and natural disasters that will increase as Jesus prophesied (Matthew 24:7; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:11, 25-26).

These are not ‘global warming’ (or ‘climate change’), but they are part of God’s ‘global warnings’ as signs for these last days. These will continue to increase and shift as the return of Christ gets closer to birth a new age, his millennial reign. We also believe things will be happening and shifting in the days ahead that will cause scientists to be baffled.

Politicians claim we all need to work together to ‘battle climate change,’ but there is nothing they can do to stop it. Like a woman in labor, the contractions will become more frequent and more intense the closer the new birth gets. So, this is not about ‘climate change.’ But the earth is instead preparing for a ‘kingdom change’ – the coming glorious kingdom and reign of Christ on earth (Revelation 11:15)

WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I LAID THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE WORLD?

Posted on by

This is the question God asked Job. For thirty-five chapters Job seeks answers to why tremendous calamity has overcome him.

Star studded cluster in the constellation Sagittarius

“God doesn’t give Job an explanation. He just shows Job who He is. … and then says,

‘I ask the questions and you give the answers. Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Job 38:4

We know why calamity overtook Job, God allowed Satan to bring it upon him. To most of us, this seems unjust, even offensive. Even though we know that God restored Job’s fortunes, twice as much as he had before, it is only when we read Job’s final response that we get to understand what God had achieved. Moreover, it is obvious who is in control of all that occurred.

“Then Job answered the Lord and said: “I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.’ I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” Job 42:1-6

As Francis Chan said in a recent sermon, “For any of us who think that we can come into the presence of God and say, ‘God, why did you make me this way? Why did I go through this? This is my body, my choice.’ God says: ‘No, wait a second. No. Nothing is yours. I spoke this world into existence.’ The world is the Lord’s and everything in it. It’s all made by Him. And He doesn’t owe us an explanation for what He does in it. 

Chan also referenced Isaiah 66:2, where God says: “This is the one to whom I will look, he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at My Word.” 

“Do you tremble at the Word of God? Do you tremble? Because if you want God to choose you and see you, you need to tremble at His Word. Do you tremble at James 4:6, where it says, ‘God opposes the proud? If there’s ever a verse to tremble at, that might be it,” Chan said. 

Chan warned the audience against becoming like those who say they are Christians, but “they are not close to God, not the God of the Bible.” He added that they “can sing … [and] cry, they can talk about their quiet time, but if they are proud, then they’re not very close to that throne.” 

“Those who are closest to God are those who are most humble. … Do you understand this God that we pray to? When people were close to God, they were not proud. Chan said, ‘whenever I see pride in my life, the answer to that is not OK, let me try to be more humble.’ No. ‘Let me try to get closer to God.’ Because when I’m in the presence of God, there is not going to be pride there.”

“As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.” James 5:10-11