The Empty House

"And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans' pride, will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation; Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there, nor will shephreds make their flocks lie down there. But desert creatures will lie down there, and their houses will be full of owls". (Isaiah 13: 19-21 - see also Jeremiah 50: 39-40)

"For the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. And its (Edom, now the part of Jordan south of the Dead Sea) streams shall be turned into pitch, and its loose earth into brimstone. And its land shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night or day. Its smoke shall go up forever, from generation to generation it shall be desolate; None shall pass through it forever and ever. But pelican and hedgehog shall posess it, and owl and raven shall dwell in it; And He shall stretch over it the line of desolation and the plumb line of emptiness". (Isaiah 34: 8-11)

This last month has seen some terrible natural disasters. Cyclone Nargis took an unusual path and hit the coast of Myanmar very hard, killing tens of thousands in the first few hours. A combination of factors may result in hundreds of thousands dying in the aftermath. The removal of large sections of forests and swamplands in the years prior allowed for more sustained wind intensity and a greater storm surge. Transportation in the coast lands of this very poor country is mainly by boat, both preventing escape before the storm and prohibiting quick assistance after. Help was offered and even sent immediately, but the proud and corrupt military leadership dragged their feet for two weeks before they let in even a modest amount of foreign aid and outside emergency specialists. And when the aid started arriving much of it ended up for sale, the leaders making a profit while little children and their parents die from exposure, hunger, cholera and diarrhea.

A week before the storm I met a woman from Myanmar. She was getting her driver's license so she could go to work without having others always dropping her off and picking her up. She was happy and full of hope, and I imagine that part of what she earned at her job ended up supporting family in Myanmar. I wonder if she has any idea if they are now even still alive? There was some video the other day from Myanmar on TV, and hearing statistics is one thing, but seeing endless devastation and hundreds of people with hopeless looks on their faces is another. TV has also shown the devastation and faces of grief in China.

An earthquake, now upgraded to a size 8.0, hit a region in China, killing at least 75,000 people, but maybe 2 times that many. Unlike Myanmar, the government responded quickly and massively, outside assistance was welcome, and billions of dollars in donations was freely given in the first few days by the newly rich and the still poor of that country. The saddest part of the situation is that school construction codes apparently were quite lax, resulting in the needless deaths of tens of thousands of children, crushed by falling roofs in the middle of the school day. The goegraphy of the country changed somewhat in that over 30 new lakes were formed by earthquake moved debris blocking rivers, and some very large towns have to be completly rebuilt. Several large aftershocks have destroyed hundreds of thousand more homes. As in Myanmar, there are millions of homeless. China has even requested over 3 million tents from foreign aid services to provide temporary shelter.

Someone pointed out that the number 8 is considered by the Chinese to be a lucky number, and so the summer Olympics being held there this August are scheduled to start at 8:08 PM, 8/8/2008. China is a growing world power and they are most anxious to show off to the rest of the world their new found prosperity and powerful athletic prowess. I love sport and will watch the games if I'm still around, but I find some things interesting. The origin of the Olympics date to ancient and pagan Greece. The revived Olympics is truly an event shared by and shown to the entire world, and they honor and promote the achievements of man, paying homage at the same time (as I'm sure we will see in China) to the traditional false gods. Is it a coincidence then, that the earthquake was a magnitude 8.0, happening 88 days before the start of the games? The Chinese would say, "bad luck", but I don't believe this was just chance. We get comfortable that everything will always be the same, but for millions of survivors in Myanmar and China, things forever changed in one day and will never be the same.

Those people, regardless if they worship a pagan god or gods, regardless if they have a false theology or ideology, regardless if they have evil or corrupt leaders, and regardless even if they sometimes are without love for God or their fellow man, are real people with families and friends. They laugh and cry, love and hope, and each has a spirit which will never cease to exist. I do not wish the judgment of God on any of them. I trust that God is merciful as well as just, and I am aware that revival is going on in China and that every year millions have become believers in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, perhaps many even live in that quake stricken region. But time will not go on as usual, with death in the course of natural history being salvation's last call. These diasters should be a sign to us that God's plan for the nations could very well be coming to an apex, and that America may not be unaffected.

A while back Hurricane Katrina hit the coastlands of Mississippi and Louisiana very hard, and the aftermath of its devastation is still evident for thousands of square miles. I live in a Northern border state, but Katrina has had a more personal impact on me than other weather related disasters because I know so many people who have given of their time to travel to places like Biloxi, Mississippi and New Orleans, to work on rebuilding homes and churches for those despeated people. Many have gone more than once, and most have found the sacrifice tremendously rewarding. I don't know if Katrina was a judgment on America or not, but it should be a sign that things, even here, can change overnight.

I believe that God knows each individual and is aware of the course of each nation, and that He puts a wall of protection around people as well as nations who honor Him and seek after His will, putting partial limits on what the evil one can accomplish. But in His loving grace and foreknowledge He still allows bad things to happen to good people, people whose hearts are right with God. Diasters can still hit nations even if they are filled with Christian churches and have built up a reserve of good works. It is natural for us to always be hopeful that the moral condition of our country will improve, that revival will change society by changing enough hearts to make a difference, and it is good and right that we pray and work toward that goal. But we must also recognize two things. Things are not getting better, they are getting worse, and world events make it clear that we are in a time period just before the return of Christ, which must and will happen.

This April a certain minister had a brief vision, and in it there was a tremendous shaking and he saw a river so wide that he could not see either shore. Then in May he had a vivid dream. He was in an empty house which was violently shaking, surrounded by terrible loud noises. An old Spanish looking map was displayed, and on it the names of two towns. He felt that the dream was a continuation of his previous vision. After he woke up he researched the locations of the towns. The name of one was in both Illinois and Mississippi, and the name of the other was at a mid-point between the two, near the New Madrid fault, along the Mississippi River, south of St. Louis.

Between December and February of 1811-1812, there were four major earthquakes centered in the New Madrid area. From records they were estimated at being an 8.1, 7.0, 7.8, and 8.0 magnitude. The Mississippi River was rerouted in places and for a time ran backwards, new lakes were formed, church bells rang as far away as Boston from the shaking, but loss of live was minimal because the territory was sparsely populated. The geology of the Mid-West will mean that a major quake there will cause much more damage over a wider area that a West Coast quake. Experts say that the potential damage and loss of life will make Katrina seem minor by comparsion. There are hundreds of minor quakes in that area each year. This Spring a quake of 5.0 was felt in my Michigan town, and geologist estimate that there is a 90% chance of a 6.0, which would cause major damage in St. Louis, in the next 30 years and a 10% chance of an 8.0 quake in the next 50 years. That is pretty scary.

Last month I read on a web site that I often check out a report by a woman who had a dream, and in it she noticed that her house was empty but that there were strangers wandering around inside of it. She believed that this was a picture of conditions after the Rapture, and the story made an impression on me. That web site is devoted to subject matter that concerns the Rapture, and many diffeent people, for many different reasons, point to this June as a strong possibility for the Rapture. Now, if you were a betting person you could have won 100% of your bets by saying, "No, it won't happen this year", even if everything looked pretty convincing, so it's hard to get real worked up about this June. But I am anxious in my spirit, so one evening last week before I went to bed I asked God for a sign if this indeed was the time. The next morning I went out the front door of my house to get the paper, and sitting on a branch about 10 feet high and only about 20 feet away was a very large, gray owl. This was very unusual because I cannot recall ever seeing an owl. I went inside, got my camera, and walked out again and snapped the photo. After it eventually flew away I thought that perhaps this was the sign that I had prayed for. Finding my concordance and checking out the references for owl in scripture, I read and reread each verse and the sections they were in.

At first, the references seemed to indicate that an owl would be a symbol of God's judgment. There were two sections concerning the judgment of Babylon, and one concerning another judgment just before the second coming of Jesus. It finally occurred to me the next day, when I remembered the account of the woman and her empty house and the vision of the minister in an empty house, that the owl I saw could very well be a sign that soon my house would be empty because of the Rapture. The signs in nature are increasing, and the redemption of Zion is near. And so, whether here, there, or in the air, we can talk about this later.

"I have become like an owl of the waste places, I lie awake. I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop. My enemies have reproached me all day long . . . But Thou, O Lord, dost abide forever; And Thy name to all generations. Thou will arise and have compassion on Zion; For it is time to be gracious to her, For the appointed time has come". (Psalm 102: 6-7 and 12-13)