Quote:
Originally Posted by Timotheist
This observation is one that I have thought of, as well.
I only know what I hear in the media, but my impression is that Israel is like the US. They are mostly secular nations populated with God-fearing folk as a minority.
Does either nation in their current state deserve "preservation"?
perhaps the "end times" are not so close after all, unless the US is the Beast.
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Thanks, Timothiest,
Me too. I only know what I found in my research. But, if the Jewish population of Israel, and around the world, had accepted Jesus as the Messiah, or come anywhere close to fulling Ezekiel 36:24, 26-28, "Things" would be different.
I also think many American churches today can be described as "secular Christianity." But again, I only know what I see on TV.
Does Israel or the US deserve preservation? Not in their present condition. It's a good thing we haven't yet gotten what we deserve... none could stand.
I think we can look back to the time after God created man, man sinned, and was driven from the garden. Soon, things had badly deteriorated:
Genesis 6:5-8 5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7 And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
It appears that we're back to the former state of the great wickedness of man...globally.
There are so many beasts! Hard to keep them all straight!
Witness Lee said, in the Revelation training--20-25 years ago, that the U.S., based on its religious freedom, is the Revelation 12 wilderness, a place to receive and protect the woman who was carried away on the wings of an eagle (American Eagle?) for protection, after she gave birth to the manchild.
That speculation may have had some merit, back then, but today, IMHO, not so much. I wonder if Lee were alive today, would his perspective change?
Today, we can only live a life that would find grace in the eyes of the Lord, and keep our eyes open and heads up. Read the book.