U.S.A. FLOODS
Hello, everyone. I'm sorry it's been such a long time since I've been able to blog, but I simply had to respond to the present sight of the hurricane and floods on the American East coast, and especially in New York. This is probably going to be a "one off" blog
At the end of July Billy Graham, now 93, published an open letter to America calling for repentance in the face of threatening judgement. In his letter, “My heart aches for America” Billy Graham said he recalled how his late wife, Ruth, once expressed concerns about the “nation’s terrible downward spiral” – exclaiming, “If God doesn’t punish America, He’ll have to apologise to Sodom and Gomorrah”. He went on to say that he wondered what Ruth would think of the country today where “self-centred indulgence, pride, and lack of shame over sin are now emblems of the American lifestyle”.
Charisma
magazine, which widely publicised the letter said, “Graham’s letter calling
America to repentance comes as a growing number of respected Christian leaders
have issued similar warnings in recent months, noting that the nation is on a
downward spiral of economic decline, immorality, corruption, growing secular
humanism and attacks on religious liberty”. Jack Hayford says Graham’s letter
comes as the nation is in “a very grim hour as we approach the election this
year. We are at the point that desperate
action is needed and Billy’s voice can give rise to that”. Rabbi Cahn, the
senior pastor at the America’s largest Messianic (Jewish Christian)
congregation said in his book, The Harbinger, “The same progression of
judgement that occurred in the last days of ancient Israel is now occurring in
America. The call is ultimately for salvation for those who don’t know the Lord
and repentance and revival for those who do”.
All this
caused a stir and produced large prayer gatherings throughout October and which
continue. We need to thank God for this.
It is in this context that the
flooding of New York and its surrounding states needs to be weighed and taken
very seriously to heart. If ever there was to be a divine affirmation of the
relevance and accuracy of Billy Graham’s warning, this flooding has to be it. It is a remarkable fact that for
several months before and up to the 9/11 disaster, David Wilkerson’s church in
Times Square, very close to Ground Zero, was impelled to prayer and fasting
sensing that some grave danger threatened the U.S. Billy Graham’s warning seems
to have been a similar kind of spiritual forewarning.
We need to
be very thankful for such forewarnings and prayer. One feels very much that
such prayer must have brought a mitigation of what might have been worse
destruction. However, the stark fact remains that such prayer did not prevent
the disaster occurring. This is the fact that we have to ponder very seriously:
the flood still came.
The present
disaster, the flooding in New York and New Jersey in particular, was huge as we
have all seen. The storm with its diameter of 1,000 miles was huge, the 13ft
surge which swept across Manhattan was unparalleled, and millions were left
without water and power. The cost of the damage will be in billions of dollars
at a time when the U.S. economy can least afford such draconian demands on its
already debt-laden public purse. It is one more disaster in a train of
disasters suffered by the U.S. since the turn of the millennium.
It has to
come into the category of a “judgement” in its own right, though. like 9/11 it
seems very clear that it is also a pointer and a warning against worse that is
to come. Billy Graham was right to talk of judgement in the American context.
It was another warning, another wake-up call, another call to repentance and a
return to God. But will it be seen in
that light? That is the critical question. 9/11 certainly wasn’t seen in that
light except by very few Christians. The nation didn’t see 9/11 that way, but
proudly talked of a rebuild and a crusade against an “axis of evil”. The
American church in general didn’t see it that way and preached against such
talk of judgement. What of this latest
disaster? I sense that the timing of Billy Graham’s letter was such that there
will now be a few more ears open to and ready to accept that the idea of
judgement is not one to be trifled with. We should be thankful for that, though
many evangelical Christians will still find difficulty in coming to terms with
the concept and challenge of a God who brings such judgement.
The secular,
“enlightened” world will not see it this way (unless there is a miracle on the
scale of Nineveh’s repentance after Jonah’s preaching). Their intent is to get
Wall St. (part of the essential problem!) back into operation as quickly as
possible and they will take pride in such human restoration. The religious and
denominational leaders will be rightly urging help and aid for the victims but
none the less will cling to the humanistic concept that to talk of judgement is
abhorrent, immoral and non-Christian.
What grounds
have we for insisting on such a judgment dimension? There are two; First,
biblical, and second, experiential.
The biblical
case for understanding God as a God who judges nations is overwhelming.
Likewise the biblical case for those judgements taking the shape of war and
natural disasters is equally overwhelming. There are 3 Major Prophets (Isaiah,
Jeremiah and Ezekiel) and there are 12 “minor” prophets. In every single one,
judgement and judgement by natural disasters is foundational. This is their
fundamental message. Likewise they are foundational doctrines in the historical
books, and in books of the Law. Natural disaster as judgement is epitomised in
Amos 4 where Amos catalogues the disasters which Israel has suffered over a
number of years, disasters which the Israelites chose to ignore. The question
is never whether these concepts of judgement are biblical; the question is
whether we receive them as the word of God and active for our own generation.
The humanistic strain in religion has rejected that possibility (and with
vehemence!) and looked for a more up to date ethic. But to a Christian who sees
God speaking and enunciating principles in scripture that is not an option;
they have to come to terms with what they are reading.
The second
reason, experiential, relates to what we can see happening around us in our
experience. Briefly, for example, if we put together the moral state of the
U.S. as a nation and the severe buffeting that has been happening to it on many
fronts in the last ten years then we are forced to see the power of the
biblical paradigm of judgement that the prophets give to us: it is there in
front of our eyes. God judges nations, even America! Billy Graham is an
American, he is not out to “bash” America, but he sees very clearly the utter
corruption of corporate America, its appalling sexual license, self-indulgence
and pride. As a spiritual man it sickens him and he knows there have to be
consequences. He knows, and we know, that these things cannot go on without
some divine rebuke. That is the simple truth we have to wake up to.
Postscript. 9/11 brought severe destruction to
the Twin Towers which epitomised corporate America, and also some destruction
to the Pentagon, the military HQ of the nation. In the ten years that followed
both corporate America and the military have taken a severe drubbing and been
deeply shaken. The White House, representing the Presidency, was significantly
spared in the 9/11 attack. One wonders whether the timing of the flooding just
prior to the Presidential election has significance. These judgements are
prophetic pointers which it is wise just to keep in mind as we look to the
future.
Our prayer
must continue to be that of Habakkuk, “Lord, in wrath remember mercy”.
Bob
Bob
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