Israel and USA

                I received a letter recently from a man by the name of Michael D. Evans; he is the Chairman of the Board of Corrie ten Boom House in Holland and the Chairman of the Board of the Jerusalem Prayer Team International and of course wanted money.  I have no idea what his credentials are and do not feel inspired to send money to him at this time, but I have given his words a great deal of thought.

                Like many of us, Mr. Evans loves America and feels that America is in serious trouble because we have abandoned Israel.  It appears that Congress has sided with Iran – the same nation that cries “Death to America” and threatens to “wipe Israel off the map” within the next 25 years.  He knows as I know that the deal with Iran is a bad one, but our political leaders and representatives in Washington, D.C., have made it.  We must stand with Israel and make our voices heard!

                Mr. Evans included a famous statement by the German pastor Martin Niemoller who opposed Hitler and was imprisoned in 1937.  I am including the statement to make us all think more clearly.

                When the Nazis came for the communists

                                I remained silent; I was not a communist.

                When they locked up the social democrats,

                                I remained silent; I was not a social democrat.

                When they came for the trade unionists,

                                I did not speak out; I was not a trade unionist.

                When they came for the Jews, I remained silent;

                                I wasn’t a Jew.        

                When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out.

                I also watched part of a video about the prophecies of the latter days and how Babylon will be destroyed.  The video brought new thoughts to me about the “Great Babylon” that will be destroyed in the latter days.  It used various scriptures to link the “Great Babylon” to the United States of America; it also states that things will happen before another President takes office in January 2017.  I believe this could be true because I have seen many of the signs of the times; including the great wickedness of our nation and world.  I encourage you to think of this comparison as you study your scriptures and determine if you agree.

                The fact is that many prophets saw our day and described the war between good and evil that is currently gathering strength.  One such prophet is Zechariah who wrote:  “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.

                “For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

                “Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.

                “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

                “And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; ….

                “And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; ….

                “And the Lord shall be king over all the earth:  in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one…” (Zechariah 14:1-9).

                Israel is in trouble and will see some horrible times, but it will survive because God will defend it.  I cannot say the same for the United States.  I thought for many years when I read this scripture and others like it that the United States would not be included when “all nations” gathered to fight against Jerusalem.  Today I am not so sure because I have watched the determination of Barack Obama and his administration as they have “fundamentally transformed” our nation.

                I believe that the United States is in much more trouble than that of Israel.  What can we do about it?  We can pray for our nation.  We know that the prayers of the righteous are heard and honored by God.  If enough of us are praying for God’s protection, our nation will survive.  We can also pray for Israel and the Jewish people.  We must pray that our eyes will be opened and we will be able to discern good from evil; we must pray for the ability to destroy the power of the secret combinations that are in control of our government and governments all over the world before they destroy the freedoms we enjoy because of our Constitution.  I know there is much power in prayer!

                We must be concerned, but we do not need to be fearful because there are some things that we know for certain.  (1) God is in control of all things; (2) Good will win over evil in the end; (3) Israel will be saved by Jesus Christ; (4) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will never be taken from the earth again; (5) Heavenly Father hears our prayers and answers them for our best good; (6) The righteous people on the earth will be taken up to meet God before the earth burns; (7) Jesus Christ will reign personally upon the earth for a thousand years.