Warning Of Coming Judgement For Modern Nations, Including The West

Many things in the Old Testament serve as examples to us today. From these ancient writings, we learn how obedience brings the blessing of God and how continual sin initiates God's judgment. The apostle Paul warned the church at Corinth of the dangers of carnality and pointed to the unbelief and disobedience of the ancient Israelites in the wilderness to illustrate that God's judgment fell upon those who rebelled (see 1 Cor. 10:5-10).He wrote, "Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted" (1 Cor. 10:6).The Scripture also tells us there is nothing new under the sun; the "thing that hath been... shall be" (Eccl. 1:9). Past events will not only repeat themselves in the future, but we can discern the outcome of blessing or judgment in present-day events by understanding the obedience, or lack of obedience, of people who have gone before us. Three historic events recorded in the Scriptures depict three syndromes many individuals in the West are currently experiencing-the Hezekiah Syndrome, the Goliath Syndrome, and the Belshazzar Syndrome. A syndrome is a group of symptoms indicating a condition or a characteristic pattern of behavior.

1. The Hezekiah Syndrome and Western Christianity

King Hezekiah of Judah became sick with an incurable disease. Because of the king's humility and prayer, God extended mercy to him, restoring him to health and granting him an additional fifteen years of life (see 2 Kings 20:1-6). Afterwards, a delegation from BabyIon paid the prosperous king a visit. Hezekiah foolishly opened the treasure houses of the temple, boasting to these foreigners of Jerusalem's wealth in gold (see 2 Kings 20:12-13).After the Babylonian convoy departed, the prophet Isaiah under divine inspiration gave the king a rebuke and a warning that the Babylonians would attack, rob all the treasures, and take captive his sons (see 2 Kings 20:17-18).If a reputable world leader had credible evidence that a foreign army would overtake his nation, burn his cities, seize the wealth, and enslave his children, would he turn to God and repent in intercession to prevent the event from occurring?

Note that King Hezekiah prayed for his healing when he was dying, but did not intercede for his city and his grandchildren's future! After hearing Isaiah's dreadful warning of future destruction, Hezekiah replied, "Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken," thinking at least there would be peace and truth in his days (2 Kings 20:19). At that moment, King Hezekiah could have joined the prophet Isaiah and interceded for God to alter the dreaded prophecy and preserve the holy city. Instead, the king only cared about having peace and prosperity in his day. Hezekiah understood that by the time of the Babylonian invasion, he would not be personally affected because he would already be dead. I call this attitude the “Hezekiah Syndrome." 

It says, "I am not concerned about the future generations, as long as I can have what I want right now!" Political, economic, and spiritual waves of blessing or (lack of blessing) come and go in cycles, especially in western empires and in modern nations. Often these are based on cycles of war and peace or cycles linked to the rise and fall of an empire, including their governmental leaders, military power, and economic strengths and weaknesses. The west has witnessed high debt, high unemployment, the devaluation of currency, internal terrorism, and seasons of war with other nations. Too many men and women, including Christians especially in North America, are not concerned about the trillions of dollars of debt their children will incur and the possible collapse of the world's greatest democracy.

The attitude is, "Be sure I have my paycheck, my retirement, and my government subsidies. Let the future take care of itself!" If we follow the same thinking as Hezekiah, we will only be concerned about the here and now, and we will not see future generations blessed. If we see trouble coming, we should begin to pray for God's help and intervention. We should not just pray for the present and forget the future; we should pray for the present and the future.

2. The Goliath Syndrome and the Western Government

The first king of Israel was Saul, a tall, charismatic leader who became more concerned about his perception and approval among the people than approval from the Almighty (see 1 Sam. 15:22-30). The people of Saul's time were weighted down by three economic and social burdens. They were in debt, in distress, and in discontent (see 1 Sam. 22:2).With Saul as king, the people expected things to change for the better, but Saul's pride drove him to make decisions that eventually led to his demise (see 1 Sam. 15:17-24). Even the Almighty warned Israel that if they selected a king, their new leader would raise their taxes and take one tenth of their food for his own servants (see 1 Sam. 8:14-15).In Saul's day, the army of the Israelites was at war with the Philistines.

On one occasion, the battle was stalled and going nowhere; the Philistines and Israelites had camped on opposite mountains and the Philistine giant Goliath stood in the valley taunting Israel (see 1 Sam. 17). Saul and his army had no heart to fight and endured continual verbal harassment from the Philistine champion. Saul had no self-confidence and was unwilling to ignite a conflict with his enemies. He was passive and lacked boldness. He could have been thinking, if we treat our enemies nicely maybe they'll be nice to us. We can imagine Saul giving a speech to his troops:

"Fellows, I know the Philistines are terrorists and historically have raided our farms, killed our people, and harassed us for generations. However, this is a new day, and we need a new policy toward our enemies. In fact, let's see if we can sit down at a table and make a peace treaty...!

This type of compromising with the enemy can also be seen among pacifist leaders in the west who allow dangerous nations for the sake of "peace" to acquire nuclear weapons and continue with biological weapons programs. Some of these nations tend toward a radical form of Islamic government and are anti-Semitic, having great animosity toward the west and Israel. David arrived at the battlefield and refused to enter a peace treaty with the Philistines. Instead, he ran toward the giant. With one stone in his sling, David slew the champion of the Philistines. Our true enemy is a spiritual one; and we must never compromise with him. When we compromise the Word of God, we open the door to the adversary, and soon we are stuck in a battle unable to defeat spiritual opposition.

3. The Belshazzar Syndrome and the Western Nations

In Daniel 5, a party took place in the palace of Babylon. King Belshazzar had filled the banquet hall with the finest wine and foods for the leaders of his administration (see Dan. 5:1-4). Daniel's description could be a representation, 2,600 years later, of the "party spirit" controlling so many people in the west. For example, in the United States during the 1920s, all seemed well. Jazz musicians sang and "flappers" and "bootleggers" danced the night away in dance halls. The "hot" stocks were in the radio and automobile industries. The war on poverty was declared to be over, and America anticipated a great future. Then in October 1929, the stock market crashed on "Black Tuesday." The implosion of the stock market caused banks to run out of money, businesses to fold, and unemployment to skyrocket.

The"Great Depression" that ensued in the 1930s strangled families for years.The drunken party life of the roaring '20s came to a sudden halt in one day just as it did in ancient Babylon. On the night of Belshazzar's party, the hand of God wrote a warning on the plaster behind the candelabra (see Dan. 5:5). Through Daniel, God revealed that very night that the kingdom had been weighed and was found wanting. The kingdom would literally be divided within twenty-four hours by the Medes and Persians (5:17-28).That night the Medes and Persians snuck into the city and overthrew the BabylonianEmpire (5:30-31).The Scriptures ask, "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Ps. 11:3). In the Old Testament, there are seven Hebrew words for the English word foundations. This word is shawthaw, meaning "a basis or purpose." This word is used figuratively for political and moral support. The verse is asking, if political and moral support is destroyed, what can the righteous do? The word destroyed here means to "beat or pull something down." The Hebrew word for destroyed is harac, which almost looks like the word harass. Like termites that would devour wood behind a wall, people who have no biblical foundation and no spiritual experience with God are undermining the foundations. Believers must learn from the past to live in peace in the future. Remember, these and all biblical narratives are written for our example.

Did the Prophets Predict a Modern Israeli Weapon? (2:3-4)

Since 1948, Israel has been surrounded by enemies and nations seeking her destruction. Because of these continual threats, Jewish scientists, engineers, and researchers have spent years developing defensive and offensive weapons to protect the Israeli population and to defeat invading armies. It is interesting that the names of certain modern weapons are found in various Old Testament prophetic passages. For example, Nahum and Joel both mention chariots:

"The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings" (Nah. 2:4); "Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array" (Joel 2:5).

The Hebrew word for rage in Nahum 2:4 is not the usual Old Testament word for rage, which is ragaz, meaning "to be violently angry." This Hebrew word for rage is halal, meaning "to boast or shine." In other words, the chariots will shine in the streets. The KJV English word justle is the Hebrew word shawkak and refers to something that runs to and fro. The phrase broad ways refer to a large, wide area. There are also two Hebrew words used for chariot in these two passages from Nahum and Joel. Nahum uses the Hebrew word rekeb, which is translated as "a chariot, a wagon, or a multitude" in verses such as Judges 5:28; 2 Samuel 8:4; 1 Kings 20:25. Joel 2:5, however, uses the Hebrew word Merkabah for chariot. Many people assume Joel is referring to an ancient chariot that existed in his day, as this word is used in various Old Testament scriptures to depict a chariot (see Gen. 46:29; Exod. 14:25; Judg. 4:15). Joel describes the noise of the Merkabah (chariots) leaping on the tops of the mountains like a fire devouring the stubble. Joel's unusual description does not seem to describe the typical ancient chariot pulled by horses.

If we move from the ancient days of Nahum and Joel to our present day, the nation of Israel now has weaponry in their military arsenal, including hundreds of "chariots." The Merkava is the name of the main battle tank of the Israeli Defense Forces. The Israeli Defense Forces are the ground, air, and navy forces; the military side of Israel's security forces. Since the early 1980s, the Israeli military has developed several models of this tank, and today the Israeli Merkava is considered one of the top battle tanks in the world. When these tanks move across the mountains in the upper Golan Heights, they appear to be literally "leaping" on the tops of the mountains. When the missile is fired, a huge ball of fire appears in a split second, and the missile can literally "devour" the object it strikes. It is unlikely that Joel or Nahum actually saw a tank or a modern weapon in a vision.

However, Joel's description could have been a prophetic word with a double reference. Joel could be referring to the chariots of his day; he also could be saying that in the end-time battles another form of chariot would be used. It is likely that the Israeli military engineers who developed this tank may have known the prophetic scriptures and selected the same Hebrew word for tank, the chariot (Merkava), for Israel's main ground weapon.