“The Lord warned Israel and Judah through all His prophets and seers: ‘Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire law that I commanded your fathers to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets.’ But they would not listen . . . Therefore the Lord rejected all the people of Israel; He afflicted them and gave them into the hands of plunderers, until He thrust them from His presence.”
– 2 Kings 17:13–14, 20
Thoughtful Christians are worried. They keep asking themselves how much longer God’s patience will last. Surely, the alarm on God’s “evil detector” is emitting a scary noise in Heaven’s courtroom. Christians know that God’s patience with evil has a limit. God destroyed the whole world in Noah’s day. God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. God destroyed the ten northern tribes of Israel in the seventh century B.C. God destroyed the two remaining tribes in the fifth century B.C. Finally, God destroyed Jerusalem in the first century A.D. God also destroyed Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome! God is changeless and so are His policies. His patience with degenerate and decadent behavior has a limit and when that limit is reached, destruction always follows. Today, many pastors and TV evangelists are warning the United States that God’s judgments are coming unless its citizens repent of their ways. These clergy support their “repent or else” message by citing God’s consistency in the past. They use examples like same sex marriage, dishonesty, corruption, rebellion, greed, predatory behavior, violence, and flagrant sexual immorality to make the point that the U.S. is going in the wrong direction.
A democracy can only flourish when people uphold the highest standards of personal responsibility and moral conduct. The United States is failing in both standards and is becoming a restless nation unfit and unprepared for self-rule. The seeds of hatred and revolution are popping up like dandelions. In the pursuit of riches, pleasure, and prosperity, the U.S. has forgotten its Creator and His rules. Spiritually speaking, the U.S. has been in moral decline for decades, and spiritual poverty is now mirrored by national poverty. More people are living in poverty than ever before!
The devil controls the owners of the media, and he sees to it that violence, sexual immorality, and idolatry are big moneymakers. A culture of sin is glamorized and glorified because the perpetrators believe their edgy programming rakes in “big bucks.” For decades, the media has fed a growing appetite for disgusting music, movies, TV programs, and magazine articles that delight in overstepping the boundaries of decency. Fewer people than ever attend church. The idea of doing right to please God has either been eclipsed by the goddesses of pleasure or the gods of idolatry and arrogance. A huge demonic force is causing a wave of opposition toward God’s laws throughout the United States. Open your eyes; this wave is more powerful and sophisticated than human prowess. The United States has become alive to sin and dead to righteousness. This is “the state of the union.”
The Problem with “Repent or Else”
You may not realize it, but there is a significant problem wrapped up in the “repent or else” message, and we cannot do anything about this problem right now. Nevertheless, you need to know about it, because a little foreknowledge will be helpful in days to come. Consider this: Corporate repentance within the United States is not going to happen. The “repent or else” message that we are hearing has accomplished nothing, because too many people are spiritually dead and they insist on remaining this way. Corporately speaking, there is no remedy for America’s decline or for that matter, the world’s decline. Looking at the distant future, the Lord said to Isaiah, “The Earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse consumes the Earth; its people must bear their guilt. Therefore Earth’s inhabitants are burned up, and very few are left.” (Isaiah 24:5–6)
The Bible gives one example when corporate repentance took place and God’s wrath was avoided. The prophet Jonah warned Nineveh of God’s coming wrath and the city repented, but repentance did not last long. Later, God sent king Nebuchadnezzar to destroy the city because God’s policies do not change. God consistently destroys cities and nations (and if necessary, the whole world) for one reason: When a group of people reach a point where extended mercy has no redeeming effect, God’s wrath is aroused and His judgments follow.
This brings me to another point: Even if the United States wakes up spiritually, it is too late to stop God’s oncoming wrath. The U.S. represents 5% of the world’s population, and the sins of the whole world are so great that mankind cannot atone for them. Of course, it is not too late for any individual to repent, forsake his sins, and receive the gift of salvation; but corporately speaking, it is too late for this nation or any other nation to repent. The world is polluted with bloodshed. Its religions are polluted with blasphemy and man-made traditions. Schools are polluted with a view of science that denies the existence of our Creator and Redeemer. The media and airwaves are polluted with every imaginable display of sin.
There is not enough time left to turn the world around. Long ago, the Father set a date for the end of the world. He foreknew that corporate repentance would not happen, and I believe His patience with Earth expired in 1994 (when the Jubilee Calendar ended). Even though God’s patience has ended, He is not willing that any should perish. Revelation 7 indicates that since 1994, four angels have been waiting for God’s servants to be sealed before they hurt the Earth. This date set by the Father must arrive before corporate destruction occurs. Christians have been preaching the gospel of Jesus for two thousand years, and this only proves that no amount of preaching or evangelizing can change the world corporately. It’s over. Earth is doomed. I think the “repent or else” message is a well-intentioned effort that will soon produce unexpected consequences.
God’s Coming Judgments
The books of Daniel and Revelation contain a road map revealing God’s plans. They describe a series of judgments that will soon fall on notably wicked places. When God releases His wrath, there will be death, sorrow, suffering, and destruction on an unimaginable scale. The survivors will quickly conclude that God has spoken, because everyone will see that God’s wrath fell on notably wicked places. The first judgment will be a meteoric firestorm that burns up a third of the Earth. (Revelation 8:7) A few days later, thousands of wicked cities will be washed off the map by an asteroid impacting an ocean. The resulting tsunami (several hundred feet high) will cause a ring of destruction around that ocean that is unimaginable. Then, the third judgment will be a second asteroid impacting a continent well known for its wickedness. This impact will fracture the geologic strata. Underground rivers and aquifers will be contaminated with buried sewage and toxic waste. Even though the impact will kill everyone at ground zero, millions of people who live hundreds of miles from the impact zone will also die after drinking the contaminated water. (Revelation 8:10,11) Finally, a series of volcano eruptions will occur. This judgment will bury hundreds of cities with ash and ejecta. Moreover, billions of tons of ash and soot will enter the jet stream, and the result will be darkness over the middle third of the planet, where most people live. The survivors will huddle in darkness as nuclear winter begins. There will be an extended period of darkness. No sunlight means no crops, and no crops mean global famine.
According to Revelation 6:8, these four judgments will destroy about two billion people. When these terrors occur, clergy of all faiths, who have been reluctant to call sin by its right name, will manage to wake up; and with a great show of solemn authority they will tell the survivors the obvious, “God is angry with all mankind.” In this setting, everyone will be ready to listen to the “repent or else” pastors and TV evangelists. These pastors and TV evangelists will point to their record and say with the utmost confidence, “I told you so.” With these leaders’ advanced insight into the Bible, many people will suddenly find them credible, because the people did not know that: (a) corporate repentance was not possible, (b) time had run out, and (c) God’s judgments were coming anyway. This level of credibility is exactly what Lucifer wants for these clergy!
The first four judgments described in Revelation 8 will occur quickly (according to my calculation, within a span of about two months). During the darkness of the fourth judgment, the religious and political leaders of the world will manage to assemble. The political leaders of the world will hear the clergy explain the following: God is obviously angry with all nations because notably wicked places within all nations have been destroyed; and man’s only hope for survival is simple: Appease God or die. There must be swift repentance and reformation otherwise, He will kill us all.
The terrified survivors respond to the idea of repentance and reformation by trembling with fear of more judgments to come. Many will say, “Whatever God wants, we will gladly do.” Given this voluntary acquiescence and fearing more wrath to come, the religious and political leaders of the world will proceed to fulfill a terrible prophecy. Revelation 13:1-8 describes man’s response to the first four trumpets. The leaders of the world will create “a beast of a government.” This crisis government will be given authority over every nation. The name for this government will be called “Babylon” (“confusion”) in the book of Revelation because its laws and directives will be maddening.
Babylon will be given authority to do whatever is necessary to appease the Almighty, but a religiously diverse world cannot appease one God. What is proper for Catholics is not proper for Muslims, Hindus, Jews, Atheists, or Protestants. Therefore, Babylon will create laws for appeasing God that are in direct opposition with its own laws! Depending on the majority religion of each nation, Babylon will create a series of “sin-less laws.” The idea is that each nation needs to sin less, therefore each nation will be given laws that are in harmony with the prevailing religion of that nation. These laws will be enacted and enforced within each nation by its own military and police.
You may be wondering about two things. First, how can one angry God be appeased when Babylon commands Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Protestants, Hindus, and Atheists to do different things to appease the same God? No global solution, not even Babylon, can overcome man’s religious diversity, but this fact will not concern the leadership of Babylon. This is why the laws created by Babylon will be so maddening. You may also wonder, how will Babylon be able to impose its will on all nations? When God’s judgments begin, all nations will be forced into crisis mode. All constitutional rights and freedoms will be suspended. Martial law will be put into effect. This sudden change in the governance of all nations will enable the leaders of Babylon to impose its laws on the political leaders of the nations, and none will disobey Babylon. Babylon will dictate behavior and impose worship. Babylon’s laws will have very powerful teeth, and the penalty for disobedience will be severe. The irony of this story is that God’s judgments will appear to suddenly stop! (Note: The apparent cessation of God’s judgments will have nothing to do with Babylon’s efforts. The next judgment (the fifth trumpet) does not occur until 2½ years later.)
The leaders of Babylon will rejoice and think their dramatic efforts to appease God has caused His judgments to cease. The people of Earth will hear the religious and political leaders of Babylon boasting, “Behold! The laws of Babylon are a good thing. God is pleased, there have been no more judgments. We are doing the right things!” During this time, Babylon will blaspheme God, slander God, and make war against His saints. Babylon will conquer the saints and force everyone on Earth to bend to its demonic will. See Revelation 13:1-8.
I know that it sounds crazy that anyone should want to debunk the “repent or else” message that is being espoused today, but Bible prophecy does not support this message. It is too late and repentance at this late date is not going to happen anyway. I have written this report because I think this “fine-sounding message” will have a terrible outcome. In a similar vein, when the leaders of Babylon boast that their extreme efforts to end sinful behavior brought a sudden end to God’s judgments, it will be perfectly clear that those speaking for God have no understanding of God’s Word or His will. And in case you are wondering, the Bible has a message for right now: “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.” (Colossians 3:5–6)
Larry Wilson
