Shake Off the Creature

Tuesday, October 01, 2013, 7:44 a.m. – the Lord Jesus put the song “My Jesus, I Love Thee” in my mind this morning as I was waking. Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Ezekiel 31 at around 1:20 a.m. and I read Ezekiel 32 this time that I woke up.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” — Matthew 5:11-12 (Verse of the Day on Bible Gateway)

Its Heart was Proud

“Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because it towered high and set its top among the clouds, and its heart was proud of its height, I will give it into the hand of a mighty one of the nations. He shall surely deal with it as its wickedness deserves. I have cast it out. Foreigners, the most ruthless of nations, have cut it down and left it. On the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs have been broken in all the ravines of the land, and all the peoples of the earth have gone away from its shadow and left it. On its fallen trunk dwell all the birds of the heavens, and on its branches are all the beasts of the field. All this is in order that no trees by the waters may grow to towering height or set their tops among the clouds, and that no trees that drink water may reach up to them in height. For they are all given over to death, to the world below, among the children of man, with those who go down to the pit.” ~ Ez. 31:10-14 (ESV)

When I read chapter 31 early in the morning I could not help but see the parallels between the king of Egypt and the US Government, for I had seen this many times before. There was one news story that stood out to me, and it was about the government shutdown. Key words jumped out at me from this news article in relation to this government shutdown – “prepare;” “expire;” “execute;” and “plans.” [Since news articles these days change wording from minute to minute, it is impossible to quote from a specific news article, because minutes later, utilizing the same link, the wording has disappeared and has been replaced.]

For some time now the Lord Jesus has been giving me this picture of his judgment to come upon the USA – upon the government of our land, and upon his adulterous and idolatrous church, which is in a covenant relationship with the Satanic government via 501 (c) (3). Yet, the Lord Jesus is not judging his adulterous church here in America just because of her unholy union with the US government, but because she has run after other lovers and has allowed the things, philosophies, culture, and values of this evil world of sin to influence her away from her pure devotion to Jesus Christ and toward following after the flesh of humans.

I believe that America is Babylon of Revelation, that she now rides the beast (the New World Order), but that soon the beast will turn on her and will destroy her as a nation and will bring her down to the dust. “What goes around comes around.” If one reads the description of the Great Prostitute in Revelation 17-19, I believe the parallels to this prophecy in Ezekiel with regard to Egypt become very obvious. The people of God of old did turn to Egypt for their protection instead of trusting in God when the king of Babylon was coming against them, and that trust in man ended up being to their shame. The institutional church here in America has turned to the US government for protection [via the 501 (c) (3)], instead of relying upon her Lord. She, in essence, made the government the head of the church instead of Jesus Christ, and that will be to her shame, as well.

The New World Order Beast will come against us as a nation. This is what we are to prepare for. It will mean the expiration of life as we have known before, and it will mean the execution of all who will not bow to the beast. And, this is the Obamacare plan of action. Our leaders, many of whom have probably never had true loyalties to the constitution of the United States or to the people of this land, will desert us, and they will leave us as orphans. God will judge our nation for its pride, for its cruelty, for its thinking it is superior to all other people, for its lack of compassion, and for forgetting the God who created us. He will bring us down never to rise to such heights ever again.

You Consider Yourself

“Son of man, raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him:

“You consider yourself a lion of the nations,

    but you are like a dragon in the seas;

you burst forth in your rivers,

    trouble the waters with your feet,

    and foul their rivers. ~ Ez. 32:2 (ESV)

Sadly enough, this is a quite accurate description of the US government. They consider themselves, by their words and by their actions, as a young lion – great orators, bloodsuckers and parasites, great hunters of prey, strong, fierce, cruel, and tyrannical in many nations. They go into other nations under the guise of humanitarian aid or assistance, when in reality they are bloodsuckers and parasites of the worst kind who kill, loot, rape and destroy wherever they go. Their goal is to conquer the kingdoms of this world for the beast, and to bring the entire world under one rule of law. They are big bullies, murderers of the innocent, in particularly of God’s servants and witnesses, and they are liars and deceivers, convincing the people of America to follow them and to believe in them.

A dragon is often a term used to describe Satan. Basically, the government is like a sea monster which brings terror on land and sea, and it invades other nations and states. Right now, via Obamacare, it is invading the 50 states of these United States, but what that eventually ends up looking like may not be anything like what we are seeing right now. Obama is not concerned with the health and welfare of the people of this land. His goal is to kill and to destroy for he is of the beast and he is of Satan, and thus he is our enemy, not our friend. He is here solely to make trouble for the people of this nation. Yet, in time he will meet his end, too. What the US government has planned for the people of this nation is a takeover and a handover of the government and its people to foreigners. Our republic as we now know it will cease to exist. And, I believe that time is not that far away.

He Shook Off the Creature

After we were brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta. The native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold. When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. ~ Acts 28:1-5 (ESV)

Then the Lord Jesus led me to read in Acts. He has had me going back and forth between Ezekiel and Acts for several weeks now, so Acts 28 was next.

I believe the Lord Jesus wants his people, the church, to “shake off the creature,” i.e. to do what it says in Revelation 18:4-5:

“Come out of her, my people,

    lest you take part in her sins,

lest you share in her plagues;

 for her sins are heaped high as heaven,

    and God has remembered her iniquities.”

First of all, I believe God is calling upon the institutional church to “shake off” the US government – the sea monster - even if it means losing their tax-exempt status, and to make Jesus Christ the only head of the church once more. And, I believe he is calling upon the institutional church to “shake off” the worldliness that has overcome her – the focus on entertainment, having fun, being comfortable, making the gospel more palatable, following after the ways of humans with their marketing schemes and humanistic teachings, and being more tolerant of sin so as not to offend anyone with the truth. And, I believe he is calling out to individual Christians to “shake off” their sinful lifestyles and addictions, their “other gods/lovers”, and their worldly passions and desires which war against their souls. As well, I believe he is calling out to individual believers to “shake off” the institutional church (Babylon); to come out of her lest we partake in her sins and we share in her punishment.

If we do not “come out of her,” and we do not “shake off” the dragon (Satan), God will bring judgment upon us so that we will shake her off. I believe in this time of judgment soon to come upon our nation that eyes will be opened and we will all be able to see our government leaders for who they really are, and we will be able to see the lies and the deceptions which we have bought into because we have gotten so engrossed in the ways of the world. I believe with all my heart that God will revive his church, that the church will endure great persecution and death for their faith and testimonies for Christ, but that the gospel will go out throughout the world, and then the end will come. Amen!

My Jesus, I Love Thee / William R. Featherstone / Adoniram J. Gordon

My Jesus, I love thee, I know thou art mine;

for thee all the follies of sin I resign. 

My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art thou;

if ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now. 

I love thee because thou hast first loved me,

and purchased my pardon on Calvary's tree;

I love thee for wearing the thorns on thy brow;

if ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now. 

I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,

And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;

And say, when the death-dew lies cold on my brow,

If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.

In mansions of glory and endless delight;

I'll ever adore thee in heaven so bright;

I'll sing with the glittering crown on my brow;

if ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.