Why Katrina and Other Disasters?

Fred R. Coulter—September 3, 2005

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We've all watched hurricane Katrina and the aftermath of it. When you stop and think of it, there have been seven hurricanes to hit Florida and/or the Gulf Coast in 2004-5—three in 2004, and then three this year in 2005, plus Katrina, which hit New Orleans and Mississippi.

{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Florida_hurricanes_(2000%E2%80%93present)#2004}

Someone gave me an interesting analysis of the word 'Katrina.' It comes from the Greek goddess Hecate, which is the goddess of witchcraft and tombs for the dead. Isn't it appropriate for a hurricane that destroys New Orleans, the city of witchcraft, voodoo, and aboveground tombs, that it would hit there. New Orleans also located six feet below sea level.

That's only a part of it. You cannot say that is the sole reason as to why it happened. There are many factors involved:

• it has to do with the conditions of the earth, which are heating the waters
• it has to do with the magnetic storms, which come from the sun
• it has to do with the storms that actually come from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean
  • which bring the monsoons to India
  • which brings the tropical rains to Africa
  • which then comes off the west coast of Africa, becomes tropical depressions and develops into hurricanes

All of that has to do with the magnetic forces of the earth in that area, because in that area is what is called the Devil's Triangle.

You go to the far Western Pacific and at the same time that Katrina was hitting the United States, another big hurricane, which they call cyclones in the far West Pacific, was developing and it had winds 140 mph and three days after Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, that cyclone just skirted by the northern part of Taiwan.

It's not just the one place at the one thing. There are many, many factors involved as to how these things come about. There are some people who say that men are trying to control the weather. So, they have a hand in this. That would have to be seen and fully proved if that were so. We will say that that may be a very minor consideration. However, we can put it more in the hands of God than anything else.

Let me read some of the reports that we have on it: I'll just give you the headlines of them. We'll get to the oil problem in a bit.

A lot of people are complaining about the speed in which the relief came. A lot of it was a result of problems of the politicians who did not act in the way that they should have in the first place, to alert the people and help them.

For example, look at the city of New Orleans: If the mayor of New Orleans would have said, 'This is an emergency. The President declared it a state of emergency two days before the hurricane came. I am now working with the governors of other states and we are ordering the evacuation of the city. We're dispatching all city busses and as many Greyhound busses as we can procure, as many school busses as we can procure and we are going to evacuate you. We have two days to do it before the hurricane hits. Every bit of the problems that is shown on television today, would have been completely avoided. If there is any conspiracy concerning the timing of the relief, I think we just need to add it up to incompetent politicians who should have done their job when they should have done it.

In Mississippi and Alabama, as soon as the President declared a national disaster area for that area and an emergency, they immediately ordered the National Guard. They immediately set up the things for bringing food, bringing water, taking care of the sick, the elderly and thins like that. You're also dealing with, as you see the things going on, and seeing how thin the veneer of civilized behavior is in the time of tragedy, where it reverts to barbarian behavior within days. You can see that in almost any disaster like this anywhere in the world, regardless of where it may be.

Also, it was brought out, which may certainly be a part of it, which is the homosexual southern decadence festival in which they actually had out in the open for public view all sex acts. That may not be a primary reason. It may be a primary reason. Sooner or later God says that that population of those who live those lifestyles, sooner or later God's judgment that He brought upon Sodom and Gomorrah will also come upon them! That's part of it.

What we're dealing with is that there are many, many factors that are involved, physical and spiritual, and we are going to see that the spiritual and the violation of God's laws, lie behind the natural things that we see.

Some people are saying that there may be 50,000 lives lost in it. I don't think that there will be that many, but there will be probably be thousands. It is going to have an immediate effect upon the economy, as we have seen. Very few people realize that the heart and core of the network of crude oil coming into the Gulf area, have two main centers—Houston and then you have the Gulf region. Katrina disturbed the supply lines, several of the platforms in the Gulf where they pump the oil, and so forth. Several of them came loose. One that was being built came loose from where it was being built in the shipyard and crashed up on one of the bridges. The supply of crude oil has been reduced substantially because of it. In an emotional reaction to it, in Atlanta they temporarily got the price of gas up to $6.00 per gal.

Actually, what it was, was that the one that hit the bridge was what they call a floating hotel, which was being serviced at the dry dock in the harbor. They take it out to the oil derrick platforms. It's a part of where the people live, eat, sleep and all that sort of thing, that work there. It's going to effect the price of oil. They have stabilized it at about $3.25-$3.50 a gallon gasoline.

Here are some of the things that it's going to affect. Here's the summary:

from The San Jose Mercury News:

Energy: Crude oil prices decline Friday…

Because they found out that they're going to get some of these refineries back on line. They already have six of them back on line. So the price declined from $71.00 a barrel to $66.00 a barrel. The price of gasoline on the wholesale market went down $.18 a gallon. If they don't stabilize it, they're going to have a real rebellion in America because we live and function on gas. You just stop and think if you don't have gasoline, water or electricity your whole civilization is over. Most of us are not prepared with even a three or four days supply of food, to even get along until disaster relief could come in, if there was a disaster.

Airlines: It's going to increase the price of it. The same way with travel. It's going to cut down on tourism down South.
Equipment makers: They're going to have to make all kinds of Caterpillars and trucks and things like this to handle it.
Coffee: 1.5-million sacks of coffee stored in warehouses at New Orleans was destroyed.

Agriculture: There were things there that will make it go up.
Retail Prices: Will go up.

I expect that we will see within two months, a 10% increase in everything that you buy across the board at the store: clothes, shoes, everything.

All of these things affect what we're going to do. In listening to all of the reports that you either, read, hear on the radio or see on television, very few of them get to the real reason why these things happen!

Today we live in a world that has rejected God. Yet, they want everything to be as perfect as if they obeyed God. The old saying is 'you can't have it both ways.'

God is God and He made His laws! Here's what people don't understand. God's laws are always functioning all the time everywhere with all people. Anyone who breaks any of the laws of God is going to suffer consequences in degree, on an individual basis and on a collective basis, depending on the degree of obedience of the people in the letter of the Law.

It operates and functions just exactly like the law of gravity. You break the law of gravity, guess what's going to happen? You're going to fall down! If you're in a free-fall from an airplane, the law of gravity is still working. While you're going down, you may not feel any pain, but when you hit the ground the law of gravity has caught up with you and you're history. This is what people do not understand. When you get rid of God and you just look to men, then you do not think that there are any consequences to the actions that you take. In your opinion, as people think with a deceitful, carnal mind, 'All the ways of a man are right in his own eyes, but the ways thereof are the ways of death'; so, they do not think of the consequences because they are not taught:

• right and wrong
• truth and error
• good and evil

Let's see that God is not way off some place. He's in close communication with the earth.

Psalm 105:1: "O give thanks unto the LORD! Call upon His name; make known His deeds among the people."

That's important because if you start teaching people the ways of God from a very early age as children, they are going to have their consciences trained to understand good and evil, right and wrong, truth and error; but if you don't, then they won't understand it.

Verse 2: "Sing to Him, sing praises unto Him; talk of all His wonderful works." Today you can't even talk about 'intelligent design' because the evolutionists are so much in power, you can't even bring out His "…wonderful works."

I imagine that all the evolutionists and those who believe in the theory of evolution, in the interviews that they have on television, I've noticed that almost everyone of them has a watch on his or her wrist. My question would be to them: You say that evolution is true, yet, you agree that the human body and everything is very, very complex. Let's just take a simple thing. The watch that is on your wrist, did it evolve? or was it made? They'd have to answer that ofcourse, it was made!

• Do you know who made it, other than the brand name that's on there?
• Do you know the man who did it or the men or women who put it together?
• Do you know the people who sold it?
• Do you know the people who transported it?
• Do you know the people that brought it to the jewelry store or department store where you bought it?

No!

They do exist even though you haven't seen them and you have on your wrist the end product of their work. So, likewise with God: You can't see Him, but you can witness His works and what He has done. You would have to admit that it is certainly very intelligent.

That's how I would talk to them if I had an opportunity to do so. They would have no answer. If we talk of all His wondrous works, then we're going to understand that God is the One Who does these things.

Verse 3: "Glory in His Holy name; let the heart of those who seek the LORD rejoice. Seek the LORD and His strength; seek His face evermore…. [rather than going against Him] …Remember His marvelous works, which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth" (vs 3-5). This is important for us to understand.

• Why are there so many evolutionists and people who believe in no God or a God Who is way off someplace?
• What is the root cause of that?
• Why do they not believe in the creation of God?
• their vanity won't allow it, they have enmity to God
• they don't keep the Sabbath of God, so they don't know the Creator

It says to 'Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy for the Lord, God made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them and rested the seventh day.'

The heart and core of not knowing that God is Creator—in the way that they ought to—and His laws, is that, they don't keep the Sabbath. Some people who believe in God and believe part of His Word will have some understanding to that degree. In the mix of all of this, we need to understand that:

• God is dealing with the children of Israel
• God is dealing with His Church
• God is dealing with the world

Verse 6: "O you seed of Abraham…"

• the physical seed, being Israel
• the spiritual seed of Abraham, who are those who are of the true Church of God, having the Spirit of God

Israel was called 'a nation of priests' (Exo. 19) when God said, 'If you will obey My voice then you shall be a peculiar people unto Me and you shall be a nation of priests.' They were to bring the laws and commandments of God to the entire world. They didn't do it. They partially have done it.

It also says, "…you children of Jacob… [all the 12 tribes of Israel] …He is the LORD our God; His judgments are in all the earth."

• there's a lesson for us who are in the Church of God
• there's a lesson for us who live in physical Israel today
• there's a lesson for physical Israel because they take the name of God in flattery but do not keep His commandments and His laws

They ascribe to God a false religion with Sunday-keeping, which rejects Sabbath-keeping, rejects Holy Days and all of these things.

The whole mix is very complex. When we look at one thing one time, we can see this aspect of it. When we look at it again from another point of view, we can see another aspect of it. When we look and see these things today, just like with the storm Katrina:

• it's not one cause
• it's not one fault
• it's like a sphere
• it's a combination of many things that have built up and built up over a long period of time

Also, it goes clear back to the founders of the city of New Orleans, believe it or not. If they would have followed what God said, the Words of Jesus Christ, about the foolish man who built his house on the ground, 'and the rains came and the floods came and the winds blew upon it'—does that not describe what happened—'and great was the fall thereof.' They didn't do that. What did they do? They built in an area that was below sea level! Then they built dikes that couldn't hold it.

I remember that I told Delores the first, thing, when those dikes went out, I said, 'You know what they should have done before they built those dikes? They should have gone over to Holland to see what the Dutch did to hold back the ocean.' They have dikes that can withstand over 200 mph winds. That's the first thing they said that they needed to do after this thing took place.

It has been brought out that they had been warned for 40 years that these dikes would not hold, or these levies would not hold storm surges from 20-feet upward and more. What did they have? Twenty-eight to thirty foot storm surges!

This is why, even in the New Testament, when it talks about building a house, we can apply this to a house, a barn, a city or to whatever you want. You count the cost. Out here in California we've had enough earthquakes that all the building codes demand that you build the house to certain specifications, to withstand an 8.0 earthquake.

The places that collapsed in 1988 when they had the big earthquake out here, was because they build on alluvial soil that was filled in to the bay and the soil underneath, when an earthquake comes and shakes it, it turns it into Jell-O and everything falls. All the houses that were built according to the earthquake code of later years, had no problem. At our house, we lost nothing, except one statue that fell over. We have not one crack on the stucco on our house because we built it more than the code required.

Verse 7: "He is the LORD our God; His judgments are in all the earth." God judges the whole earth. That means He's right here. He knows what's going on. {note sermons: Spirit of God, Spirit of Man, Seven Spirits of God #s 1-2, which are the seven eyes of God} He knows what's going on, on the earth, all the time.

Verse 8: "He has remembered His covenant forever…" Remember, His covenant has blessings and cursings:

• to all people who keep the laws of God
• to the nation of Israel, who should be keeping the laws of God
• to the Church of God, who should be in a relationship with God

Remember that God's covenant to Abraham covered all of that, because he was to be a blessing to all nations of the world—physically and spiritually.

"…the word, which He commanded to a thousand generations" (v 8). You think about that. That begins with Abraham. A lot of people that say that the laws of God were done away because the Old Covenant is no longer functional because He replaced it with a new one, He did not replace the laws! He changed the covenant and gave all the laws and commandments of God a spiritual meaning with the a spiritual consequence for breaking them.

Verse 9: "The covenant, which He made with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac." Read Gen. 12; 15; 22; 25. That will fill you in on all the details of what this verse is talking about.

Verse 10: "And He confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant"—which also is a prophecy of the Church and that all the prophecies that were given in Gen. 49 and Deut. 33, concerning the twelve tribes of Israel, are in effect 'in the latter days.'

A lot of people say, 'Well! In Bible times…' Hello! We are in Bible times! There has never been a time when it has not been a Bible time! Think on that!

I want to go to Jer. 18 so that we understand when it says that God's judgments are in all the earth. That He is judging, as I've said before, all people, all the time, everywhere in the world. That means that He is judging:

• groups of people
• communities of people
• cities of people
• countries and nations

How does He do it?

• by His Spirit
• by the seven eyes which go to and fro on the earth, which are the seven Spirits of God so He knows what's going on
• because every human being has the spirit of man in him, so God knows

After Jeremiah was told to go to the potter's house and see what he did to make one pot one way and another pot another way.

Jeremiah 18:6: "'O house of Israel, can I not do with you even as this potter?'.…" In other words, mold you in the way that I want you for a blessing that I can use you.

"'…Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hands, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel'" (v 6). Just because people don't believe God, just because people don't believe in God, doesn't mean He's going to conveniently go away and you can receive all of the blessings in spite of your disobedience.

Verse 7: "If at any time I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck it up and to pull it down, and to destroy it." Here's why we have these disasters: to give an opportunity for repentance!

Some people ask me what I think of this hurricane Katrina, and how should we pray for the people. We should pray that all of those who will repent will turn to God with a sincere heart. Whatever there is to relieve the suffering of those who are physically suffering, yes, that should be done.

My staff and I called around to all of these on our mailing list in Louisiana and Mississippi. We found that to those to whom we could get through, that most of them, in fact all of them, were in areas that were not greatly affected by the hurricane. I talked to one woman who was surprised I called her. I said, 'How are you doing down there in Lake Charles?' She said, 'We're doing fine. It didn't even affect us.' I said, 'We're thankful.'

Note Psa. 91; we cover this whenever there's a tragedy, that we trust in God. He will protect us in spite of the worst of circumstances possible. I imagine that a lot of those people who were stuck in situations and were praying to God even though they had lived sinful lives up to that point. If they say, 'O God! Help me! Save me!' Maybe God will reach down and help them. We've seen this in every tragedy, every disaster that's happened in the world.

Verse 8[transcriber's correction]: "If that nation, against whom I have spoken, will turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do to them." That is a judgment of God! This is not restricted to those who are Christians or those who belong to a certain Church. This is for all people and nations in the world.

Verse 9: "And if at any time I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build it and to plant it; if it does evil in My sight, that it not obey My voice…" (vs 9-10). Notice that obeying the voice of God has nothing to do whether you're the children of Abraham or not! It has to do with the fact that you are a human being and it matters not what nation in the world you live.

"…then I will repent of the good with which I said I would do them good. Now, therefore, speak to the men of Judah, and to the people of Jerusalem, saying, 'Thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am forming evil against you, and devising a plan against you…. [here's the purpose of every tragedy and correction that comes from God]: …Return now, each one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good"'" (vs 10-11). God expects that of all human beings:

• for those in the Church, spiritually, to love God and serve Him
• for those in the world, to obey in the letter of the Law

Verse 12: "And they said, 'There is no hope; but we will walk after our own ways, and we will each one do according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.'" That's by choice! Whenever there's a tragedy, whenever there's a catastrophe, people have a choice:

• What are you going to do now?
• How are you going to live your life from now on?

—whether they're in the Church or not in the Church.

We know that in Matt. 24 it says that in the end time that 'lawlessness, or iniquity, shall abound and the love of many shall grow cold.' We know that there're going to be tragedies, pestilence, earthquakes and famine in various places. As you can see with this hurricane Katrina, you can also understand this. Famine will set in within a week and cannibalism within ten days. If they hadn't gotten in there when they did, all those who had the guns and ammunition, how long to you think it would have been before they would have resorted to cannibalism in order to survive? That's why God says, 'in the siege you shall eat your sons and your daughters.' So, you can see the thin veneer between civilized behavior and barbarism.

What you need to do is read the book of Jeremiah all the way through. That's going to be quite an experience.

Jeremiah 5:19: "And it will be, when they shall ask, 'Why does the LORD our God do all these things to us?'.… [Why'd this happen to us?] …Then you shall answer them, 'Just as you have forsaken Me and served strange gods in your land, so you shall serve strangers in a land that is not yours.'.… [going to happen] …Declare this in the house of Jacob, and cry it in Judah, saying" (vs 19-20).

There's a responsibility to those who preach and teach the Word of God to carry this message that is recorded in the Bible in the book of Jeremiah to the very people that it applies to today.

Verse 21: "'Now hear this, O foolish people and without understanding; who have eyes and see not; who have ears and hear not; do you not fear Me?' says the LORD. 'Will you not tremble at My presence, even I Who have placed the sand for the boundary of the sea by a never-ending decree, so that it cannot pass it? And though they toss themselves, yet, they cannot prevail; though its waves roar, yet, they cannot pass over it'" (vs 21-22). That happened even with this storm; the water went back because God gave the decree.

Verse 23: "But this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart; they have revolted and are departed from Me…. [gone backward] …And they do not say in their heart, 'Let us now fear the LORD our God…'" (vs 23-24)—which they should have done when this disaster happened down there. No! They started robbing, looting, shooting, killing, raping.

"'…Who gives both the former and the latter rain in its season; He reserves to us the appointed weeks of the harvest'" (v 24). That's all up-side-down and backwards. Why?

Verse 25: "Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good things from you"'" (vs 24-25). This is telling us that we cannot live in sin and expect good things to happen.

Let me give you another example that is true. We do have a fantastic prosperity unprecedented in the history of the world today, but understand this: It is all based upon lies and deceit and there is no value in the money in the world. That's why it's going to be replaced with the mark of the beast. There is no other way to do it because they rejected God.

Verse 26: "For among My people are found wicked ones; they lie in wait, as one who sets snares; they set a trap, they catch men." Apply this to what you saw on television, heard in the news with this experience in New Orleans and what happened with the people gone wild down there. It's exactly what happened.

Verse 27: "Like a cage full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit; therefore, they have become great and grown rich. They have become fat… [in sin, false prosperity] …they have become sleek. Yea, they excel in evil deeds… [and invite the days of decadence into the city] …they do not plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet, they prosper; and they do not defend the right of the needy" (vs 27-28).

What happens when a catastrophe comes like this? It's not that this is a storm that is discriminating against the poor. It is that it came upon the rich and the poor. The poor have suffered because those in power and those who are the leaders did not teach and train the poor to be independent and subsist on the work of their own hands. Rather, they created a welfare state that parceled and handed out everything to them. So, when the disaster hit, they blamed the government because they trusted the government rather than God. The government did not do what they should have done for these people to help them become independent well-functioning human beings to stand on their own two feet and bake their own way. No! For political reasons, they put them on the dole and kept them there.

Verse 29: "Shall I not punish for these things?' says the LORD…."

• What was the hurricane?
• What were all the hurricanes that we have seen?

What about all the disasters that happen everywhere in the world? It is all the judgment of God and He's visiting for these very things that He has said here, upon all people.

"…'Shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this? An astounding… [awesome or unbelievable] …and horrible thing has happened in the land…. [here is where God places the principal blame] …The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means… [first goes to the prophets and the priests] …and My people love to have it so…'" (vs 29-31). They go along with it! How can you, then, blame the leaders if you believe and follow their lies?

"'…and what will you do at the end of it?'" (v 31). What are you going to do in the final analysis? We'll see! We've covered some of this before, but let's read it into the record again.

Whenever we cover some of these disasters and these tragedies and God lays it right at the feet of all of the:

• evangelists
• preachers
• ministers
• priests
• bishops
• cardinals
• popes
• dalai lamas
• imams

—through the whole world. Put in the mix: How about all of those in the Church of God who have gone back into the world and have given up on God? Maybe God's hand of correction hasn't come down hard on them, yet, but as we just read, they didn't consider the end. That hand of correction is coming! Like we all know, 'Those who have ears to hear, let him hear,' and we can say, 'take action and repent.'

The whole purpose of all of this is for people to realize how evil they are before God and how they need to repent and get back with God, whether in the letter of the law for people in the world, or whether in the spirit of true repentance for those who are in the Church of God. It applies all the way around. God says the day is coming!

Jeremiah 23:1: "'Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture,' says the LORD. Therefore, thus says the LORD, God of Israel, against the shepherds who feed My people, 'You have scattered My flock, and have driven them away, and have not taken care of them. Behold, I will bring upon you the evil of your doings,' says the LORD" (vs 1-2).

It's coming! How many ministers in the Church of God have done exactly that same thing? For all of you who have 'ears to hear,' God has totally removed his name from the Worldwide Church of God; it is now called Grace International Fellowship. All you have to do is this: You read the Journal, if you get the Journal, and you will see the heresy, the wretchedness and the absolute false doctrines being preached in the Churches of God, even to the point of denying that God had sent Jesus Christ Who was God before He came! It's in the Church of God! God says, 'He will visit!' If He hasn't yet visited, He is coming!

Verse 3: "But I will gather the remnant of My flock…" God is going to do that. This is spiritually and physically. You can apply this to Israel. You can apply it to the Church.

"…out of all the countries where I have driven them, and will bring them again to their fold. And they shall be fruitful and multiply" (v 3). He's going to set up shepherds over them 'after His heart.'

Here is what Jeremiah saw. It tells us that the earth and the land reacts to sin because of the breaking of the laws of God.

Verse 9: "As for the prophets my heart within me is broken; all my bones shake. I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine has overcome because of the LORD and because of the words of His Holiness." Remember. The Words of the Holiness of God include promises of blessings and cursings.

Verse 10: "For the land is full of adulterers. Because of swearing the land mourns; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and they wield power unjustly. 'For both prophet and priest are ungodly; yea, in My house I have found their evil,' says the LORD" (vs 10-11).

Let me just tell you something. I read a recent report—excluding the sex problems of the Catholic Church, this has to do with the Protestants—fully 35% of all Protestant ministers are hooked on online pornography as an addiction. They're the ones who are supposed to help people with their problems. If that doesn't describe profaneness…

Verse 12: "So their way shall be to them as slippery ways in the darkness; they shall be driven on, and fall…" Try this some time when it's pitch black and you can't see anything. Try walking on a slippery surface. Let's make it wet with slimy moss and see if you can find your way without falling.

"'…in their way; for I will bring evil on them, even the year of their judgment,' says the LORD. 'And I have seen repulsive things in the prophets of Samaria… [capital of Israel] …they prophesied by Baal… [the sun-god] …and caused My people Israel to go astray. I have also seen in the prophets of Jerusalem a horrible thing; they commit adultery and walk in lies. They also strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that none returns from his evil; they are all of them like Sodom to Me, and her inhabitants like Gomorrah" (vs 12-14).

That's a perfect description of the religious scene of America in those churches that call themselves Protestant, who worship the sun-god on the day of the sun.

I've got a book called Grace, which shows the schizophrenic understanding of the Protestants concerning grace and the laws and commandments of God. When you really understand it, the grace that the Protestants have is insane. One man said that all 613 laws and commandments of the Law of Moses have absolutely no forensic value to Christians today.

Let's see what people say today and why they continue to walk in the way that they are going. In Isa. 28 we know what it talks about and how to understand the Word of God. It says in the first part of the chapter that they're all drunken, spiritually drunk.

Isaiah 28:14: "Therefore, hear the Word of the LORD, you scornful men who rule this people in Jerusalem. Because you have said, 'We have made a covenant with death…'" (vs 14-15). That means that they know that what they are doing with:

• Sunday-keeping
• the holidays that they have
• their twisting, turning and destroying of the Word of God
• all of these vile and filthy translations that they're putting out now

There's even one translation now that proclaims that Jesus was a woman and it was really 'Judith Christ'! God's judgment is coming upon them! They know better because here's the prophecy of it:
"…Because you have said, 'We have made a covenant with death, and we have made an agreement with the grave… [with Satan, the devil, we are in agreement] …when the overwhelming rod shall pass through, it shall not come to us… [but it will, just like Katrina came upon the Gulf Shores and New Orleans] …for we have made lies our refuge, and we have hidden ourselves under falsehood'" (v15). You think about it:

• Sunday is a lie
• Christmas is a lie
• Easter is a lie
• New Years is a lie
• Halloween is a lie
• all of the occult holidays are lies
• their false interpretation of grace is a lie
• the doing away with the commandments of God is a lie

They have made a league with Satan, the devil and lies and say they're proclaiming the grace of Jesus Christ, which is a profound effrontery to God.

Back to the storm Katrina just a bit. Back in the backwoods of Mississippi there were some poor families that lived back there and there was an account of it in the newspaper, where some families had to take chainsaws and cut eight miles of fallen trees on the road to get out to the road. It took them four day to do so. They had very little preparation.  They had very little store. The word to the wise is, if you see danger coming, you make sure that:

• you get out of the way
• you have some supplies to last you

Not enough that it's going to cause a riot and you'll get killed, but enough that you can survive for a short time.

What was said was this: Everything was so nice and comfortable out here. Living out in the country and away from everybody. We just became complacent. Quite a lesson! They are not in a league with death, as we just read here, but nevertheless, their complacency got them trapped.

All I will say is this, if anyone has ears to hear, you better hear! If you're complacent about God and His ways, just as Katrina came upon them and caused trouble, disaster and isolation for them and the barely escaped with their lives, if you do not wake up before the disaster comes upon you, you likewise are going to be in the same situation. If you do not repent, which is what God wants with all of these disasters and problems, you're going to be in greater trouble.

Lev. 26 is the parallel account that we have in Deut. 28; you can read that. Also, you're going to see the different things that are in there that we have covered at different times. Such as:

• the stranger is going to get high above you and you're going to be brought low
• you're going to be burdened under debt

which we are, and it's soon going to 'come home to roost.'

Leviticus 25:55: "For to Me the children of Israel are servants…." All of those of us who are in spiritual Israel in the Church of God, we are the 'servants of God,' in one way or the other:

• to teach or to preach, if that's what God has called you to do
• to help and to serve, if that's what God has called you to do
• to be an example and a witness to your family and neighbors, if that's what God has called you to do

But you are the servants of the Lord.

"…They are My servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt…." (v 55). God has brought us out of sin and brought us out of the bondage of Satan and this world. He says:

"…I am the LORD your God" (v 55). Another interesting study, in case you're so complacent that Bible study has become a bore to you, get out whatever concordance you may have, or if you have a computer, get on an electronic digital program where they have a Bible concordance, and look up every place where it says, 'I am the Lord your God.' As a matter of fact, all you have to do is just plug in that sentence, 'I am the Lord your God,' and hit 'all verses' and it will being up every verse in the Bible where that is.

You look at that and you see how often God has said, 'I am the Lord your God.' What He's doing is saying, 'You better listen and pay attention to Me because I AM GOD!'

Lev. 26—notice how He starts this out, how He says you can receive all the good things:

• without trouble
• without disaster
• without lack
• without starvation
• without poverty

Leviticus 26:1: "You shall make no idols to yourselves; and you shall not set up for yourselves graven images, or a standing pillar. And you shall not set up any image of stone in your land in order to bow down to it, for I am the LORD your God." We're going to see that emphasized right here, again and again.

Why do we have the problems in the land today, and in the Church today?

Verse 2: "You shall keep My Sabbaths… [the Holy Days] …and reverence My sanctuary. I am the LORD." Think of it today. When they had the tabernacle and the temple, the priests had to follow exactly the instructions that God gave:

• how to run the sanctuary
• when to go into the Holy of Holies
• when to offer the incense
• when to offer the morning and evening sacrifices
• what sacrifices to offer on every Holy Day down through the year

I want you to think of this. We have access to God the Father in heaven above and direct access into the sanctuary of God in heaven:

• if you are complacent
• if you are sinful
• if you are not coming to God with an attitude of:
  • yieldedness
  • service
  • doing the things that God says

Are you not then defiling His sanctuary in heaven by:

• your attitude?
• your conduct?
• your acceptance of a lawless grace?

Think on that!

When David had the Ark of the Covenant in his house, he had a special tent for the sanctuary. Asaph, the priest, was the one who was in charge of it. When David committed his sin with Bathsheba and murdered her husband, Uriah the Hittite, did he not pollute the sanctuary of God? It was in his household! Where did he commit this adultery? In his house in which there was a special tent set up for the sanctuary of God to hold the Ark of the Covenant!

That's why God sent Nathan the Prophet to correct him. You read there what happened to David and the punishment that he had. He had a thorn in his flesh the rest of his life because he despised God in that. We need to think on those things.

When we go pray to God, we're to reverence Him and His sanctuary. It is no slight little matter that God, through His Spirit and His grace, has given us this great, marvelous, wonderful relationship with Him and that we can pray directly to Him in heaven above, know and have confidence that Jesus Christ is right there and that:

• They both love us
• They have called us
• They have given us of Their Spirit
• They want us in Their kingdom
• They want us to change, grow, overcome and develop the very mind and character of God

Think about how complacency will also defile the sanctuary of God.

Verse 3: "If… [this applies from vs 3-13] …you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments and do them, then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit" (vs 3-4). Every good blessing comes from:

• no idols and statues
• keeping the Sabbaths of God
• reverencing His sanctuary
• walking in His statutes
• keeping His commandments

Whereas a lot of people want today to keep their sins and 'bring them blessings on Lord.'

Verse 5: "And your threshing shall reach to the vintage, and the vintage shall reach to the sowing time. And you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land safely. And I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down and none shall make you afraid…." (vs 5-6).

What I want you to do is to think about what we saw in New Orleans. What you're seeing there is the exact opposite of what God promised.

"…And I will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land; neither shall the sword go through your land. And you shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. And five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight. And your enemies shall fall by the sword in front of you, for I will have respect to you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish My covenant with you. And you shall eat of the old provision, and clear away the old because of the new" (vs 6-10). In other words, you can have surplus food to give away.

Verse 11: "And I will set My tabernacle among you. And My soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be My people. I am the LORD your God Who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt from being their bondmen. And I have broken the bonds of your yoke, and made you go upright" (vs 11-13).

You think about all the spiritual applications of that today and how God has called us out of spiritual Egypt. He's 'broken the bands of the bondage' of sin against us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, through His love and mercy and grace; so that we may keep his commandments in Spirit and Truth, not get rid of them and have a lawless grace and a contemptuous, complacent attitude toward God.

Verse 11: "And I will set my tabernacle among you…." Greater than that, we are a tabernacle of God each and every one of us who have the Holy Spirit of God!

2-Corinthians 6:14: "Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers…."

• Are not the religions of this world unbelievers? Yes!
• If they were believers, what would they do? They would believe in the true Jesus and they would keep the commandments of God!

Unbelievers also include those who are profane and those who reject God. Keep this in mind. We will see this will agree with Lev. 26 when we get back there.

"…For what do righteousness and lawlessness have in common? And what fellowship does light have with darkness? And what union does Christ have with Belial? Or what part does a believer have with an unbeliever? And what agreement is there between a temple of God and idols? For you are a temple of the living God…" (vs 14-16). He's not in a sanctuary some place far off; He is in you!

You can apply that to the meaning of the Feast of Tabernacles, which is coming up, which I cover during the Feast.

"…exactly as God said: 'I will dwell in them and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore, come out from the midst of them and be separate,' says the Lord, 'and touch not the unclean, and I will receive you; and I shall be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters,' says the Lord Almighty" (vs 16-18).

That's a great amplification of what we just read in Lev. 26. Let's see what happens if people don't do that.

Think about the same thing that's going to happen to the people in the Church and the Church. We have a great witness of the Worldwide Church of God. It no longer exists! It probably, with the exception of various Feast sites, will not even be a footnote in history. That's an example of what happens when people seek to please the world, to please themselves and go their own way. God is going to send the forces of evil in as punishment to destroy it and it is gone. Unless we learn the lesson of it—for all of you who are yearning for the 'good 'ole days,'—the 'good 'ole days' were filled with error and sin. You need to get with God's way today, and renew yourself with God's Truth, His Spirit, His light and not yearn for the 'good 'ole days' that you thought were good years ago in the Church of God.

With that said, let's come back here to Lev. 26:14. We can apply this:

• to physical Israel, all the 12 tribes
• to nations of the world, in the letter of the Law
• to the Church

You see, God's Word is no respecter of persons. It applies to all—young and old, rich or poor, small or great—makes no difference.

Leviticus 26:14: "But if you will not hearken to Me and will not do all these commandments." What happens? People like to come along and say, 'God, I agree with this but not that.'

I get so many things through e-mail and I keep some of them. This is one I kept but I didn't bring it today: 'Various people's versions of their Ten Commandments,' as if they are God! Amazing!

Verse 15: "And if you shall despise My statutes… [also the Holy Days] …or if your soul hates My judgments… [contained in the judgments and all the book of Proverbs] …so that you will not do all My commandments, so that you break My covenant; I will also do this to you… [this is what happened to the nation] …I will even appoint over you terror…" (vs 15-16). What is the war we are fighting? The war on terror!

"…consumption, and burning fever, consuming the eyes and causing sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. And I will set My face against you, and you shall be slain before your enemies…." (vs 16-17)—instead of 5 chasing 100 and 100 chasing 10,000. Amazing!

"…They that hate you shall reign over you…. [that day is coming] …And you shall flee when none pursues you…. [because you're filled with fears since you don't have any faith in God] …And if you will not yet for all this hearken to Me…" (vs 17-18). God brings this in waves, in cycles:

• to give people an opportunity to understand
• to give people an opportunity to recover from the experience and traumas and tragedies that they have
• to personally evaluate their lives and what they need to do
• to get things squared around with God, whether in the letter of the Law, by quitting sinning

I'll tell you one thing you know for sure that that decadence week in New Orleans didn't happen. There was a reason why it didn't happen, because this would probably slated to be the worst, most debouched, heinous, Week of Decadence. To call it the Week of Decadence tells you how depraved the attitude is. On the other hand, let's take this Week of Decadence that they were to have down there in New Orleans, and let's apply this to the Word of God and how people react to the Word of God and people in the Church of God.

• Is your attitude decadent toward God?
• Do you treat God that way?

He's brought this on. Now it's going to subside for a while. How long we don't know. There are reports that there's another huge tropical storm that may develop. Where will it land? We don't know, but seven hurricanes have hit Florida and the Gulf Coast within one year! When will they wake up and listen to God? That's up to them to choose. If you won't do this, if you won't listen, then God says:

Verse 17: "And I will set My face against you…"

Let's look at one Church of God in Rev. 2. Let's understand that God does this to His Church in the same exact way. If the Church of God does not love God, obey Him and keep His commandments, but goes after the churches and doctrines of this world, God will do the same thing. Christ will! He's the Head of the Church. He's not going to put up with it.

Revelation 2:14: "But I have a few things against you because you have there those who hold the teaching of Balaam…"

Who was Balaam? He was the son of Beor [transcriber's correction]!He was the high priest of sun-worship in Pethor where the temple was on the river Euphrates, which is the same name of the headquarters of sun-worship today at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome!

"…who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication… [that is physically and spiritually both] …Moreover, you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent! For if you do not repent, I will come to you quickly, and will make war against them with the sword of My mouth" (vs 14-16).

This sounds just like Lev. 26. He says to repent! The whole purpose in all of these things is to repent:

Verse 16: "Repent! For if you do not repent, I will come to you quickly, and will make war against them with the sword of My mouth. The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches…." (vs 16-17).

I know there are probably some people that are kind of bristling up their back at what I'm saying when they hear this. Let your back bristle! If I read the Word of God and it causes you angst, then you have a problem with God, not with me. You may not like me personally, because I'm sure there are some people who don't, and say, 'There he goes again with hellfire and brimstone.' I tell you this, IF I don't:

• preach 'in due season'
• preach the Word of God
• give you the Truth of God the way it needs to be

then I'm going to have your blood on my soul and that isn't going to be!

I want you to do is to apply Lev. 26 to the various Churches of God that have gone astray from God.

Leviticus 26:17: "And I will set My face against you, and you shall be slain before your enemies…. [apply this to the Church and the nation as well] …They that hate you shall reign over you. And you shall flee when none pursues you. And ifyou will not yet for all this hearken to Me… [here comes the next wave]: …then I will punish you seven times more for your sins" (vs 17-18).

It is true that ever since you've been in the Church you've probably heard hellfire and brimstone, death and destruction that's coming at the end. That's the message that needs to be preached. God also offers relief, grace, mercy and help if you repent. If not, He's going to 'punish you seven times more for your sins.'

Verse 19: "And I will break the pride of your power…" I think I know how that's going to come. That's going to come financially because of the problems with disasters in America and it's going to come militarily because of finances, both.

I can just say this, that I think the way it's going to come, if we understand the Word of God properly: The United States is going to be brought down in stages just like Israel was with the various invasions by the Assyrians and just like Judah was by the various invasions of the Babylonians:

• brought down in stages, given a chance of repentance
• brought down again, given a chance of repentance

Right down to the very bottom!

• What's going to happen when the 'pride of our power' is broken?

and the United States—who is Israel today—physically, and is no longer the force to bring control and order to the world

• What are the nations of the world going to clamor for? They're going to clamor for a combined United Nations, one world government to bring stability to the world!

That's how I think it's going to come.

A lot of people who say that America is Babylon are totally wrong. Babylon the Great is going to be formed when Israel takes its first major fall. It happened in part after WWII when Britain had to give up her empire and the world monetary system was based on the pound sterling at that time. It was transferred over to the U.S. dollar with the agreement at Bretton Wood. There is going to come another international agreement concerning currency and the dollar is going to come down. That'll be the first wave to hit.

If you are not prepared for some of these things to happen, you better start getting prepared because it's going to happen. It's not that preachers love to preach hellfire and brimstone to make you scared to death. It is that God gives these things so that we will listen, we will heed, we will repent to Him and then:

• God says that He'll watch over us
• God says He'll protect us
• God says He'll see us through even the most miserable and trying times, though they may be frightening to experience

"…and I will make your heaven like iron and your earth like bronze" (v 19). It says in Deut. 28: 'blasting and mildew,' along with it.

• Do we have the same thing today—'blasting and mildew' with the hurricanes? Absolutely!
• Do we have drought and heat and destroying of crops? Yes!

In Arizona they had torrential, monsoon rains, floods everywhere. That ceased and then they had a huge dust storm that swept over Phoenix and Scottsdale! God will not be mocked! We need to understand. That's the whole lesson here.

Verse 20: "And your strength shall be spent in vain…"

• How about all the relief dollars?
• How about all the tax dollars?
• How about all the aid?
• Is that not our strength and the strength of our military being spent in vain?

It sounds like a good and wonderful thing that we'll take the fight to the enemy, the terrorists, but you're falling right into the trap that God has set, which is this: Unless you repent, five of them will chase a hundred of you. A hundred of them will chase ten thousand of you. To rely on military power and not rely on God—Who can make that military power work—is futile.

"…for your land shall not yield its increase…" (v 20). They say that here is the way out of the oil crisis. We'll plant every acre we can in corn and we'll have ethanol. So, God sends a drought, no corn. Or, He'll send a hurricane, like it happened with hurricane Dennis. Someone told me that all of the corn was ten days from being harvested and it was all knocked flat to the ground. Go make your ethanol! You can't out smart God!

"… neither shall the trees of the field yield their fruits. And if you walk contrary to Me and will not hearken to Me, I will bring seven times more plagues on you according to your sins. I will also send wild beasts among you… [cougars, lions, crocodiles, alligators, snakes] …which shall bereave you. And I will destroy your livestock, and make you few. And your highways shall be deserted" (vs 20-22). Take away the gasoline, will our highways be desolate?

The truth is, we're only one breath away from death. The truth is that unless we love and honor God, keep His commandments and keep our covenant with us, God is going to judge us!

• if we do yield to God
• if we do change
• if we do repent

I can go through and show you other Scriptures: Deut. 8. What's another sin that people have? They forget God Who made them wealthy and say that by their own power they got these things!

In the Church you have people who say, 'I don't believe in tithing.' One day you're going to have to answer to God. It's just that simple. If you get mad at me for preaching the Truth about tithes and offerings, go ahead. Get mad at me all you want, but God is going to make you waste your tithes and offerings that you refuse to give Him, which is His, and spend it on problems with:

• health
• financial problems
• debt
• things to consume it from you because you refuse to obey God

You think about America that has had the blessing of the Word of God and has been used mightily to bring the Word of God to the world, howbeit not perfectly. God says of Israel that 'you have robbed Me!' That applies to the nation and it applies to the Church. Just as the nation has robbed God, and now has to borrow from all of their enemies, so likewise, some of the Churches of God also have to borrow from the banks of this world and pay interest in their vain attempt to try and preach 'a gospel.' which they think is what God wants, when it really isn't what God wants them to do. Their day is coming!

The whole truth is this: The day of judgment is always at hand! That's not to warn you and frighten you, but that's to help you come to repentance.

Let's see the end result of all of this, v 40: "But if they shall confess their iniquities…" What is God interested in, in all of this? Is He interested in death, doom and destruction? No! That's a result of sin. What does He want out of it? Repentance!

"…and the iniquities of their fathers with their own iniquities which they sinned against Me, and that they have walked contrary to Me, so that I, in turn, have walked contrary to them and have brought them into the land of their enemies, and if their uncircumcised hearts are then humbled…" (vs 40-41). Think of the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude back there in Rev. 7.

"…and they accept the punishment for their iniquity, then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and also My covenant with Isaac; and also My covenant with Abraham I will remember. And I will remember the land" (vs 40-42). Then God says that He will bring them back and will be merciful to them. That's what God wants out of all this.

Every time there's a disaster, it is a judgment from God! However you want to lay it out—one way or the other.

• What does God want out of the judgment?
• Is it for you to be all consumed in fear of death and destruction? No!

• What He wants is repentance!
• What He wants is for you to glorify His name!
• What He wants is for you to acknowledge your sins and acknowledge Him as God!

and:

• He will bless you
• He will relieve the distress
• He will relieve the problems that are upon you
• He will give you rest

You will have peace of mind in the midst of terrible calamity around you because God is with you!

All Scripture from The Holy Bible In Its Original Order, A Faithful Version

Scriptural References:

• Psalms 105:1-10
• Jeremiah 18:6-12
• Jeremiah 5:19-31
• Jeremiah 23:1-3, 9-14
• Isaiah 28:14-15
• Leviticus 25:55
• Leviticus 26:1-13
• 2-Corinthians 6:14-18
• Leviticus 26:14-17
• Revelation 2:14-17
• Leviticus 26:17-22, 40-42

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Exodus 19
• Genesis 12; 15; 22; 25; 49
• Deuteronomy 33
• Psalm 91
• Matthew 24
• Deuteronomy 28; 8
• Revelation 7

Also referenced:

• Article: San Jose Mercury News
• Sermon: Spirit of God, Spirit of Man, Seven Spirits of God #s 1-2

FRC:nfs
Transcribed:12-26-16
Proofed: bo—12-29-16