When Storms Rage

When Storms Rage

As Ida leaves millions literally powerless, many are no doubt asking the “why” questions. The wisdom of this age responds with “man-made climate change.” But could there be a clear answer that points us to a sovereign God, firmly in charge of human affairs?

Yesterday evening much of Judaism began the celebration of Rosh Hashana, or Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets. I adore the majestic Fall Feasts of the Lord, and I write every year about the fascinating picture they yield of our Lord’s soon return, when He’ll take the throne as our High Priest and King.

That was my plan again this year, except that the Holy Spirit seems to be directing me somewhere completely different right now.

New Orleans Faces Weeks of Darkness

Yahoo.com has this heart-wrenching report:

New Orleans may be without power and air conditioning for more than three weeks in the wake of Hurricane Ida, which roared ashore with more powerful winds than Hurricane Katrina, according to utility owner Entergy Corp.

Almost 750,000 homes and businesses were without power across Louisiana as of 7:26 p.m. local time on Sunday…

Then “Ida” Went on to Kill Dozens in the Northeast

I don’t feel like I’ve ever seen this before. After slamming along the Gulf Coast, Ida ran like a buzzsaw through a dozen states… 

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

…before creating a “historic weather event… with record-breaking rain across the city, brutal flooding, and dangerous conditions” in far off New York City (per NYC’s Mayor DeBlasio on Twitter), as well as dozens of fatalities.

According to Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards:

“…Quite frankly, if you had to draw up the worst possible path for a hurricane in Louisiana, it would be something very, very close to what we’re seeing.”

And again, from DeBlasio:

“I have never seen this much rainfall this quickly. It is absolutely astounding … We are talking 3 inches, 4 inches [75 – 100 mm] in an hour. Unbelievable accumulation.” 

By Friday morning 9/3, the death toll in the Northeast had reached dozens: 23 in New Jersey; 15 in New York City, and at least 4 in Pennsylvania.

The “Why” Questions…

In the face of unprecedented events like these, it’s natural for many to ask the “why” questions. The wisdom of this age has a ready response: “man-made climate change.”

But could there be a different answer? One that points us to a sovereign God, firmly in charge of human affairs?

And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse. (Gen 12:3)

And in that day I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. (Zech 12:9)

God’s truth? Or a lie?

Prophecy watchers have done landmark work over the past decades documenting how these ancient words from the Hebrew Scriptures are proving true in our day. From the summary for the 2006 edition of William R. Koenig’s book, Eye to Eye: Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel, last revised in 2017:

The ten costliest insurance events in U.S. history

The twelve costliest hurricanes in U.S. history

Three of the four largest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history

The two largest terrorism events in U.S. history

All of these major catastrophes and many others occurred or began… within 24-hours of U.S. presidents Bush, Clinton and Bush applying pressure on Israel to trade her land for promises of “peace and security,” sponsoring major “land for peace” meetings, making major public statements pertaining to Israel’s covenant land and /or calling for a Palestinian state. Are each one of these major record-setting events just a coincidence or awe-inspiring signs that God is actively involved in the affairs of Israel? In this book, Bill Koenig provides undeniable facts and conclusive evidence showing that indeed the leaders of the United States and the world are on a collision course with God over Israel’s covenant land.

And from the most recent edition:

Over one hundred billion-dollar, record-setting catastrophes and/or events occurred while US presidents George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump were pressuring or calling on Israel to divide their covenant land.

John McTernan’s As America has done to Israel is another excellent resource.

To cherry-pick a couple of illustrative examples…

October 1991: The “Perfect Storm”

The most memorable example for me is “The Perfect Storm” that formed October 30, 1991—the same day the Madrid Peace Conference opened. President Bush forced this conference on Israel. In his opening speech, Bush told Israel that “territorial compromise is essential for peace.” A.k.a. “Land for Peace.”

On the day Bush made that pronouncement, the legendary Perfect Storm “traveled 1000 miles the wrong direction and sent 35-foot waves slamming directly into President Bush’s home in Kennebunkport, Maine.”

Coincidence? I’ll let you decide!

May 2011: The Joplin Tornado

Obama’s administration was the most hostile to Israel in a generation. It also broke records for the number of natural disasters declared. In fact, 2011 saw the most national disasters FEMA had ever recorded to that point and more than double the average annual number. But manmade climate change was the culprit for that, natch…

You can make a case that pretty much any disaster that occurred during Obama’s administration took place against a backdrop of increasing pressure against Israel–a track Biden appears on course to continue. But on May 19, 2011, Obama made a noteworthy foreign policy speech in which he introduced the language “pre-1967 borders” to the Mideast narrative, thus denying Israel’s claims to historic areas of Jerusalem.

On May 22, 2011, three days later, a tornado cut a 22-mile swath through Joplin, Missouri, obliterating 8400 houses and 450 businesses and killing 161 people.

“On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth will gather against it.” (Zech 12:3)

“…for he who touches you [Jerusalem], touches the apple of His eye.” (Zech 2:8)

The “apple of His eye” expression refers to the central aperture of the eye. It also came to imply something tender, carefully guarded, something or someone treasured above all else.

So even as Obama advocated “sticking God in the eye,” a killer storm struck the very heart of our land!

Jopin Missouri Positioned within the U.S.

It would be hard for a city to hold a more central geographic position within the 48 states than Joplin, Missouri!

Coincidence? Again, I’ll let you decide!

Back to “Ida”

There are many more fascinating examples I could list–and did, in a message I put up some years ago. But let’s shift the focus to the here and now.

Note this, from Israel365News.com!

Significantly, Ida made landfall just as Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett began his flight back to Jerusalem after his first face-to-face meeting with US President Joe Biden. The focus of their meeting was on the existential threat of Iran’s nuclear program that the Biden administration is hoping to rejuvenate through a reinstated Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran. But their discussions also dealt with the future of Judea and Samaria. Biden is dedicated to a “Two-State solution” which would create a Palestinian state similar to Gaza inside of Israel, ethnically cleansed of Jews, with its ethnically cleansed capital in Jerusalem.

…Ida made landfall on Sunday, precisely on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina that catastrophically flooded New Orleans, causing over 1,800 deaths and $125 billion in damage. Katrina hit the US in late August 2005, while the Israeli government was forcibly evicting over 10,000 Jews from their homes in Gush Katif. This marked Katrina’s place in the long line of natural catastrophes that are the road marker for any political agenda that tries to obviate the covenant that ties the Jews to their homeland.

(The Israel365News.com article also includes a long list of recent U.S. natural disasters that have been linked to pressure on Israel to divide the land.)

And adding insult to injury… Did Biden actually doze off during his meeting with the Jewish State’s Prime Minister? In this video, it certainly appears so! 

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

(The Twitter censors have flagged this post as “Manipulated media,” but this article explains that the version we see here is the actual original. C-Span later replaced it with another version that panned away so as not to show Biden’s lapse in attention. THAT version is the manipulated one!)

You can see a longer version of the video here. Biden’s drowsies appear to strike just after Bennett expounded from Isaiah 60:4 on the role of the gentile nations in Bible end-times prophecy.

Lift up your eyes all around, and see;
they all gather together, they come to you;
your sons shall come from afar,
and your daughters shall be carried on the hip. (Isaiah 60:4

Precious Are the Promises!

All of which brings us around again to our blessed hope, which we receive a beautiful reminder of every year in these Fall Feasts.

…the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ… (Titus 2:13)

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. (1 Thes 4:16-17)

(For an exploration of the link between the Lord’s Feast of Trumpets and end-times prophecy, see this.)

Yes, brothers and sisters, the times are perilous, but that’s to be expected. It’s the price we pay for watching the long-prophesied end-time events unfold. 

Psalm 2:2-5: “The kings of the earth take their stand
And the rulers take counsel together
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
‘Let us tear their fetters apart
And cast away their cords from us!’

And we who believe can rest in the happy assurance that all this lawlessness is a signal that He will return for us soon! 

He who sits in the heavens laughs,
The Lord scoffs at them.
Then He will speak to them in His anger

And terrify them in His fury…”

If you knew these were the last weeks or months before the Rapture, how would you live??

Shouldn’t we live that way anyway?

Let us be about our Father’s business!

Five Minutes to Midnight

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

If you’ve never opened God’s free gift of salvation through Jesus (Rom 3:23, 6:23), please please please be persuaded to do it now! It’s simple. Just tell God from your heart that you admit you’re a sinner that needs a Savior (“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Rom 3:23) that you’re done running your own life, and that you’re ready to truly make Jesus Lord of your life.

If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” (Rom 10:9-11)

The decision that saves you is that simple!

Simple… But no one said living it out will be easy. Especially now.

DividerTorah scroll image in banner: Lawrie Cate, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

I’m simply mind-blown at the news that The Mulberry Leaf Whispers has received an “IPPY”: the Independent Publisher Book Award Gold Medal in the Religious Fiction category. I now have an award-winning series!

Now shipping on Kindle and in paperback | Experience both award-winning stories FREE on Kindle Unlimited

A WWII Japanese naval officer. The teenage daughter of a legendary Christian samurai. Three centuries separate them, but a crucial question binds their destinies together.

Which lives have value?

In the highly anticipated sequel to her award-winning debut novel, The Plum Blooms in Winter, Linda Thompson provides a riveting story inspired by true events.

“Splendid story!… Rivals Shogun with its sweeping story of passion and faith, of survival and hope…. Be prepared to be enriched, moved and deeply satisfied.” – Jane Kirkpatrick, award-winning author of Something Worth Doing 

“Gorgeous… not-to-be-missed…”  – Sarah Sundin, bestselling and Carol Award-winning author of When Twilight Breaks and the Sunrise at Normandy series 

1587. Bartered off in a peace agreement to the ancient enemies of her illustrious house, is Sono a war prize, a hostage, or a bride? One hope sustains her. If she can provide an heir to the dashing husband she just met, she’ll ensure decades of peace for the beloved family she was forced to leave behind. But when a dark secret threatens her desperate bid to purchase their security, she must rise to a battle she never dreamed she’d fight.

1942. Akira Matsuura’s naval vessel explodes under enemy fire. Everything he has lived for disappears in flames with it. His command, his crew, his future—all lost. Worse, his honor is eternally decimated. A prisoner’s life is of value to no one. Least of all to himself. But a stunning twist reveals his family’s secret shame. Can a long-buried truth provide the vital spark that reignites his will to live?

Thrill to two poignant journeys of courage, duty, and sacrifice, deftly woven through the centuries to inspire with dynamic faith that conquers despair.

4 Comments

  1. Ted Bates says:

    Thank you Linda. We need to stand with Israel and the people who are honored to be Jewish. Time is short for the world and if not for the rapture, it would be doom and gloom. But the rapture is in the Bible, and if you study scripture, it is pretribulation. We need to serve the Lord now. While it still is day. The night is coming when no one can work. It’s now or never.

  2. Ted Bates says:

    I’ve got a second book ready for publication myself. I cannot compete with the big people, but my writings are to honor the Lord and share the gospel with those who don’t know Him and that pleases me. May the bless and use you in these last days.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Don’t Miss Out

Sign up for Linda’s bi-monthly newsletter and giveaway.
Gain access to a FREE story, updates and prizes.