美國第二次革命／內戰 21  

在以賽亞書頭五章我們看見以色列如何遠離神與祂的約，掉入越來越深的腐敗，後來他們腐敗到終極墮落。他們開始稱善為惡，稱惡為善，尊榮可恥之人，羞辱尊貴之人。怎麼會有任何國家陷入如此深的邪惡之中，更不用說以色列認識主的道路，看見主代表他們行了許多奇妙大事？美國也有著同樣的道路。 

我們現在正在做同樣的事，稱神所謂的善為惡，神所謂的惡為善。我們尊榮可恥之人，羞辱尊貴之人。就像以色列，我們正蹣跚邁向可怕毀滅的邊緣，聖經的警告宣稱那些事一定會臨到認識祂卻遠離祂、追隨邪惡的國家。 

神用審判的管教試圖把以色列從墮落中挽回，當他們拒絕祂管教的信息，審判會更加嚴厲。將他們帶回的最後一個嘗試，就是最後的審判是將他們交給不成熟、善變的領導人。聖經上如此寫到以色列，卻與已經臨到美國的事情如此類似。 

一些預言中的自然災害臨到列國是為要甦醒他們，從他們的愚行中轉向主，這些災害有雨災、水災、乾旱、火災與地震。我們已經看到這些災害的波浪臨到，每一個新的波浪都比上個來得更嚴重。才不過幾年前，美國若一年花費二百億美元在自然災害上就是很大的警訊了，但在2018年我們一天就花了幾乎十億在自然災害上！沒錯，一年間我們花費超過三百億在大災害上，似乎只有保險公司才能瞭解，稱它們為『神的作為』。情況到底要有多嚴重才能引起我們的注意？ 

第一步是用悔改與謙卑轉向主來重建我們的共和國，『我們人民』最終必須得著屬靈、道德與我們國家憲法根基的所有權，『我們人民』必須負責來重建。倘若我們轉向主，遠離惡行，不再稱善為惡、稱惡為善，祂會轉向我們，賜給我們成熟、智慧與屬神的領袖來重建美國，帶領我們實現我們國家的命定。 

為什麼在毀滅前的最後審判會有不成熟、善變的領袖呢？我們可能都目睹過一個家庭成為五歲孩子的暴政對象，一個被寵壞、毫無紀律的孩子可以用他們的亂發脾氣主導整個家，決定他們要去哪裡，要做什麼。現在美國被一小群聲音最大、可憎與任性的人掌控，這些人要求多數人來容忍他們的脫序行為，卻無法容忍任何挑戰他們地盤的人。 

當有智慧、有決策的領袖在家庭中被恢復，你可以預期亂發脾氣會在一段時間變得更嚴重。即便如此，倘若這個家定意不再容忍五歲孩子任性蠻橫的行為，乃是持守方針，和平與秩序便可以被恢復。和平與秩序同樣可以在我們國家被恢復，但當任性善變者失去其影響力時，我們可以預期會有一段時間的極端暴行。我們現在正經歷權柄開始被一位有決定性的總統恢復的結果，當更多權柄與秩序臨到，我們可以預期會有更多的暴行，來自那些認為可以借怒氣來控制我們的人。但我們若不屈服，平安與秩序是有可能臨到的。 

因此我們有一個選擇，我們要被沒紀律、不成熟的領袖控制，還是將要興起卻不被控制與掌控的領袖呢？不管是那個選擇，都會有一段艱難時期，但我們若做對的事，最終會更好。我們若允許聲音最大、可憎與可恥的來掌控我們，擺在我們前面的將是一場惡夢。 

我們愛年輕人，因為父母愛兒女勝過自己的生命。我們若真實喜愛要興起的世代，我們會為他們留意聖經的警告。聖經對末後世代沒什麼好評，耶穌和使徒都描述那是被欺哄與欺哄人的世代，因為他們只聽好聽的話。那正是不成熟、被寵壞孩子的徵兆，聖經預言宣稱那使他們變得『無禮、不能和解、自私、不愛良善並喜愛邪惡』。還有什麼比這些更能貼切描述現在正興起的世代？當然不是所有人都是如此，卻非常符合多數人。那我們可以為他們做些什麼呢？ 

首先，我們必須按聖經勸誡我們的來愛他們，此等同於管教。所羅門王說：『不忍用杖打兒子的，是恨惡他；疼愛兒子的，隨時管教』（參考箴言13:24）。與聖經智慧和真理相反的，是兒童心理學警告太過責打孩子在一些國家是犯罪行為，在這裡也被視為犯罪。那些心理學家保證，我們對缺乏管教的孩子包容，會產生美好又通情達理的孩子。這怎麼可能？反而釋放了耶穌和門徒對末後世代所警告的一切。 

然而，我們有著以賽亞書六十章1-5節的非凡應許：當黑暗遮蓋大地，幽暗遮蓋萬民，主的榮耀要顯現在祂子民身上。接著萬國要來就祂的光！光將得勝！光要如何得勝呢？藉由人們轉向光而得勝。現在是轉向聖經真理，轉離『不是從上頭來的智慧，乃是屬地的，屬情慾的，屬鬼魔的』的時候了（參考雅各書3:15）。 

(摘自喬納word for the week, Week21, 2019)
 

The Second American Revolutionary/Civil War, Part 21 

 In the first five chapters of Isaiah, we see how Israel slipped away from its moorings to God and His covenant, falling into deeper and deeper corruption. Then they went beyond corruption to an ultimate depravity. They started calling good evil and evil good, honoring the dishonorable and dishonoring the honorable. How could any nation fall to such profound evil, much less one that had known The Lord the way Israel had and seen so many of His marvelous works on their behalf? The same way America has.

        We now do the same thing, calling evil what God has called good and calling good what He has called evil. We dishonor the honorable and we honor the dishonorable. Like Israel, we are now tottering on the brink of a terrible destruction, those that the biblical warnings declare will surely come upon any nation that has known Him and then turned from Him to follow evil.

        God sought to turn back each step of Israel’s fall with the discipline of His judgments. When they refused the message of His discipline, the judgments got more severe. In a final attempt to turn them back, the last judgment was to give them over to immature, capricious leaders. This was written about Israel, but it is a stunning parallel of what has come upon America.

         Some of the natural disasters prophesied to come upon nations to wake them up to their folly and turn them back to The Lord are storms, floods, droughts, fires, and earthquakes. We have seen waves of these come, and each new wave has been more severe than the last. Just a few years ago it would have been alarming for the U.S. to spend $20 billion on natural disasters in a single year. In 2018, we spent almost a billion a day! That is correct, we spent over $300 billion dollars in one year on catastrophes that only insurance companies seem to have the understanding to call them what they are—“acts of God.” How bad will it have to be to get our attention?

        The first step in restoring our Republic is to return to The Lord in repentance and humility. “We the people” must ultimately take ownership for the meltdown of the spiritual, moral, and constitutional foundations of our Republic, and “we the people” must be responsible for restoring them. If we return to The Lord by turning from our wicked ways and the depravity of calling “good evil, and evil good,” He will return to us and give us mature, wise, godly leaders who will restore the Republic and lead us to fulfilling our destiny as a nation.

        Why is having immature, capricious leaders the final judgment before destruction? We have all likely witnessed a family that has become subject to the tyranny of a five year old. The spoiled, undisciplined child can dominate the entire family with their tantrums, determining where they go and what they do. Now the U.S. is controlled to a large degree by a tiny percentage of the loudest, most obnoxious, and capricious ones. These demand tolerance for their aberrant behavior, but they most intolerant of any who challenge their dominance.

        When wise, decisive leadership is restored in a family, you can expect the tantrums to get even more severe for a time. Even so, if the family resolves not to endure the tyranny of the capricious five year old, but holds their course, peace and order can be restored. Peace and order can likewise be restored to our country, but we can expect some extreme outrage for a time when the capricious lose their influence. What we’re experiencing now is the result of authority beginning to be restored to a degree by a decisive President. As more authority and order come, we can expect more outrage from those who think they can control us by their tantrums, but peace and order is possible if we do not cave to this.

         So we have a choice. Are we going to continue to be controlled by the undisciplined and immature or will a leadership arise that will not be controlled or manipulated, but rather persevere until order is restored? Either choice requires embracing some rough times ahead, but if we do what is right, things will ultimately get better. If we go the way of allowing the loudest, most obnoxious, and outrageous to control us, then we are headed for a nightmare.

        We love the youth because parents tend to love their children more than they love their own lives. If we truly love the emerging generations, we will give attention to the biblical warnings for them. The Scriptures do not have anything good to say about the last generation. Both Jesus and the apostles described it as being deceived and prone to deception, because they can only hear what makes them feel good. That is the symptom of an immature, spoiled child, which biblical prophecies declare will result in them becoming “disrespectful, irreconcilable, selfish, haters of good and lovers of evil.” What could better describe what the emerging generations are like now? Certainly this is not true of all, but it fits most. So what can be done for them?

        First, we must love them as The Scriptures exhort us to, which is equated with discipline. King Solomon wrote that “He who spares the rod hates his son” (see Proverbs 13:24). Contrary to biblical wisdom and truth, child psychologists warned against spanking to the degree that it is now a crime in some countries and is treated like one here. Those psychologists promised that our tolerance and lack of discipline would produce wonderful, reasonable children. How has that worked out? It seems to have unleashed everything Jesus and the apostles warned about with the last generation.

         However, we have this remarkable promise in Isaiah 60:1-5: when darkness is covering the earth and “deep darkness” the people, the glory of The Lord will arise and appear on His people. Then the nations will come to His Light! The Light will win! So how does the Light win? It wins by the people turning back to it. It is time to turn back to biblical truth and turn away from the “the wisdom that does not come down from above, but is earthly, natural, and demonic” (see James 3:15).