2020 – WHAT WILL IT BRING?
Wednesday, January 1, 2020
I closed 2019 with a word concerning what had been and what lay ahead. As we begin 2020, I’m led to continue that word. What will the year 2020 bring? What are the signs?
First, we are in a critical period. I’ve described it as a window of time. There is a biblical pattern to the fall and judgment of a nation or civilization. It often involves a period of time given to return to God, a grace period, a temporary holding back of judgment.
In the case of Israel’s northern kingdom, the initial warning came in the form of an enemy strike on the land, the attack of the Assyrians in 732 B.C. Then came the window, the period of grace for the nation to turn back. But the nation never turned back. And then the window ended and the judgment came – total destruction. What The Harbinger reveals is that this biblical template is now replaying on American soil – beginning with the strike that came on the land on 9/11. Since that time, America has not grown closer to God – rather, its spiritual and moral fall has accelerated into brazen defiance. In this, it has likewise followed the footsteps of ancient Israel.
At the same time, we’ve been living through another window – that of Donald Trump’s presidency. This has likewise followed a biblical template, the template of Jehu, the unlikely and even questionable warrior who came to power for the ultimate purpose of slowing down and holding back Israel’s apostasy. But this window was likewise temporary and, without revival, gave way to national destruction. The Trump presidency has served as a lightning rod between that part of America committed to overturning the nation’s Judeo-Christian foundation, and those seeking to preserve it. The resulting cultural polarization and frenzy reveals what the future holds if the political situation should give way.
At the same time, as noted last month, the period of four hundred years is of great significance in the Bible. 2020 will mark America’s four hundredth year - from the journey of the Mayflower, Plymouth Rock, and the initial covenant made by those who founded American civilization. Could it be significant?
There is another time period that could also be significant but in an ominous way. With regard to the kingdom of Judah, the progression of judgment unfolded this way – in 605 B.C. came the first strike when the armies of Babylon invaded the land. It was again a temporary and limited invasion, a wake-up call. But the nation didn’t turn back. And in 586 B.C. came the full force of judgment, national destruction. The time between the two events, the first strike and the judgment was nineteen years. Nineteen years from September 11, 2001, will be 2020. Whether or not 2020 proves to be an eventful year or an uneventful year, we need to be aware that we are on borrowed time. Every biblical template warns that any nation that so brazenly abandons the God of its foundation is heading toward calamity. Will we see judgment or revival – or both? Let us all the more pray for a national turning, and let us, this month, each commit to our own revival in the Lord. And may God greatly bless you as you do!
Your brother and co-laborer
See Message: Days of the Tishbite
Scripture: Nehemiah 9:30,31
