                    [Times Square Church Pulpit Series]

                         The Monster Flood of '93

                            What Does It Mean?

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By David Wilkerson
August 23,1993
__________

          Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees, "Ye can
          discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the
          signs of the times?" (Matthew 16:3). Christ was saying
          these religious leaders could predict the weather --
          but they couldn't recognize the signs God sent to them!

          The same is true of many believers today. All around
          us, the Lord is pouring out His judgments on the land
          and yet most Christians do not discern them!

          The Bible tells us God never sends judgment on a nation
          until He first reveals His plans to His servants, the
          prophets. Indeed, God always raises up men to cry out,
          warn, and preach repentance to let people know what He
          is doing. But when there is no response to His
          warnings, God begins to judge that nation - by sending
          what are known as corrective judgments!

          The prophet Amos named five corrective judgments that
          fell upon Israel at various times (and, later, all at
          once). But Israel didn't acknowledge any of them! None
          brought repentance - none was discerned as a sign of
          God's displeasure.

          You can know that when all five of these judgments fall
          upon a nation, God is giving a final warning. Five
          times in Amos 4, God said, "Yet have ye not returned
          unto me, saith the Lord" (verses 6, 8-11). In other
          words, "Time after time, I brought these things upon
          you, warning you - and yet you would not return to Me!"

          I want to show you very clearly that America right now
          has fallen under five major corrective judgments from
          God! The Lord has sent these judgments all at the same
          time - in hopes that America will return to Him!

          Yet if a nation and its people still refuse to
          acknowledge God, He deems that nation unreachable - and
          He proceeds to what I call the "dread release." This is
          the point where no prophet or prayer can stop God's
          awful wrath!

          Ezekiel describes this terrifying "dread release" that
          happens when a nation goes too far:

          "Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by
          trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out my hand
          upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof,
          and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and
          beast from it Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and
          Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own
          souls by their righteousness... They shall deliver
          neither sons nor daughters; they only shall be
          delivered, but the land shall be desolate" (Ezekiel
          14:13-16).

          God was saying, "Even if Noah, Daniel or Job
          interceded, they wouldn't be able to stop My wrath.
          They would deliver only themselves - but not even their
          own families!"

          Right now, prayer groups all across America are asking
          God to send repentance and revival. They stand on the
          promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14: "If my people, which are
          called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray,
          and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then
          will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin,
          and will heal their land."

          This is indeed a wonderful promise - if only America
          would heed it! But not one nation since Nineveh has
          ever received God's corrective judgments as signs.
          Israel did not repent and seek God. Even under King
          Josiah, repentance was not genuine, and judgment was
          only slightly delayed. And neither is America showing
          the slightest evidence of turning back to God other
          than a small remnant:

          "Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that
          shall he brought forth... and ye shall know that I have
          not done without cause all that I have done in it,
          saith the Lord God" (Ezekiel 14:22-23). God said,
          "There always will be a remnant who read the signs and
          understand what's happening in the land. And they will
          know I have a reason for doing it all!"

          Let me show you the five corrective judgments that the
          prophet Amos said will precede God's dread release.
          They are at work in our nation right now as God's last,
          desperate attempts to plead with this people:

                      -------------------------------

                          1. Cleanness of Teeth -
                         Want of Bread! (Amos 4:6)

                      -------------------------------

          When Bill Clinton was still governor of Arkansas, he
          had a sign in his office that read: "It's the Economy,
          Stupid!" How prophetic that was! The phrase "cleanness
          of teeth" means "bare, empty." And "lack of bread"
          signifies unemployment, inability to provide. Both
          speak of poverty being "in all your cities"!

          In Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, God warned all
          nations that one of His first judgments on a society
          that turned from Him was unemployment and hard times:

          "When I have broken the staff of your bread" (Leviticus
          26:26). This means, "I will take from you your ability
          to make a living!"

          "You will lack all things" (see Deuteronomy 26:45).

          "Thou shalt not prosper in thy ways" (verse 29).

          "The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and
          rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to
          do... because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby
          thou hast forsaken me" (verse 20).

          Think of the increase of wickedness in America - the
          rise in murder, rape, abortion, homosexual power. Now,
          think of the growing unemployment: Almost every day a
          major corporation lays off thousands of workers. Last
          year IBM said it would lay off 25,000 - but today that
          number is 150,000!

          When President Clinton took office, he promised a
          million new jobs. But since then we've lost more than
          1.5 million jobs. Japan and Germany have had almost
          zero unemployment. So why is America's unemployment
          skyrocketing?

          Beloved, it is not a Democratic or Republican problem -
          it is a sin problem! And no president or legislation
          can take care of it!

          I hear people saying, "America has had hard times in
          the past. We've had depressions before - in 1857, 1872,
          1931. Millions were unemployed during the Great
          Depression. Multitudes migrated to California looking
          for work. But that was seventy years ago - and America
          came back, The economy suffers many down cycles."

          No - the truth is, all those depressions were
          corrective judgments! In His mercy, God has given us
          one chance after another, trying to wake us up. But
          which corrective chastisement will be the last? Which
          depression will be so dreadful that our nation stumbles
          over the brink of collapse? Numerous economists and
          government leaders are warning this is now a very real
          possibility.

          Dear saint, do you discern God in all of this - or do
          you see it as merely part of an economic cycle? God is
          warning, "You're losing your prosperity-you're
          decaying. Wake up!" "Yet have ye not returned unto me,
          saith the Lord" (verse 6).

              -----------------------------------------------

                           2. Weather Upheavals -
                      Unexplainable Weather Changes!
                                (Amos 4:7)

              -----------------------------------------------

          "And also I have withholden the rain from you...and I
          caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to
          rain upon another city... one piece was rained upon,
          and the piece whereupon it rained not withered" (verse
          7).

          This verse comes straight out of today's headlines: Too
          much rain in one city - no rain in another. Floods in
          one area - drought nearby.

          As I write this message, America is experiencing what
          is being called the worst flood in our nation's
          history. In the Midwest, the Missouri River has
          overflowed into the Mississippi, destroying thousands
          of homes, shutting down entire towns and cities. The
          president surveyed all the flooded areas from his
          helicopter, and simply shook his head in amazement. The
          nation's most powerful man could only shrug his
          shoulders - because there was nothing he could do!

          Consider this news-magazine account:

          "The Great Flood of '93 is already one of the all-time
          monsters. It might go down as the worst of all in the
          U.S. by many measures: (the) area inundated (is) close
          to 17,000 square miles..., Property damage... estimates
          skyrocketed in little more than a week from $500
          million to as much as $8 billion, and the final tally
          might be higher still..., [As of this writing, it was
          estimated at $10 billion.]

          "As the Great Flood of '93 recedes, it is likely to
          leave in its wake a rash of health problems ranging
          from disease to chemical pollution. Thanks to at least
          18 breached sewage plants, microbes have penetrated
          nearly 800 miles of piping that keeps... Des Moines...
          residents supplied with drinking water; it will take a
          month to disinfect the system....

          "One Des Moines lady said she and many of her friends
          are angry at God for all the devastation. Thirty
          thousand people were displaced, some 10,000 farms
          swamped, more than 24,000 homes and businesses damaged
          or destroyed. Flood waters washed out every bridge over
          the Mississippi between Burlington, Iowa, and Alton,
          Illinois, a distance of about 250 miles. The vice
          president... said it was as if another Great Lake had
          been added to the map of the United States. People in
          Des Moines said, 'We are tired, worried, and we're
          trying simply to keep our sanity'" (Time, July 26.
          1993).

          A radio network reported that people are carrying
          plastic bottles and containers - anything they can use
          - to get drinking water from nearby towns. Beloved,
          this is Amos 4:8 being fulfilled literally! "So two or
          three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water;
          but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned
          unto me, saith the Lord."

          Yet while floods ravage the Midwest, the East and South
          are being plagued with drought. One newspaper reported:

          "Farmers in the Southeast have lost an estimated $500
          million in corn, tobacco, soybeans, vegetables, fruit
          and hay in a crippling drought.... In western South
          Carolina, just three percent of normal rain-fall has
          fallen this summer.... Georgia's Agriculture
          Commissioner said, 'There's hurting in the South, and
          damage is increasing day by day. It's a disaster...."

          "(Farmers) are watching helplessly as nature - in the
          form of drought and excessive heat - takes their crops.
          'The intense heat is just baking them in the fields,'
          said a South Carolina Farm Bureau expert....

          "Upper New England, too, is suffering unusual dry
          conditions, spark fires and farm problems. Farmers in
          drought areas have said, 'We'd like to have a little of
          their rain here, and give them a little of our sun'"
          (USA Today, July 19, 1993).

          God has drawn a line - and you can almost see it on the
          map! He's saying, "I'll let it rain over here, But
          twenty miles away there will be total drought!" One
          radio report said: "A farmer near the flood area
          complained that half of his farm is under flood, and
          the other half is in drought. There has been no rain in
          that area, (only) flood." This is Amos 4:7 being
          fulfilled! "One piece was rained upon, and the piece
          whereupon it rained not withered."

          A few years ago I prophesied that drastic weather
          changes would come upon America as God's judgment. A
          well-known TV evangelist (who since has fallen) took
          great offense at what I said. He bellowed, "God is not
          behind such disasters. God is love - He would not drive
          people out of their homes and cause such widespread
          trouble. No - it's just nature having a convulsion!"

          This preacher didn't know his Bible! Scripture says
          clearly: "And also I have withholden the rain from
          you... and I caused it to rain upon one city, and
          caused it not to rain upon another city" (Amos 4:7).
          Who caused it? God did! And this is by His own
          testimony!

          What about the droughts, you ask? "The Lord shall make
          the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven it
          shall come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed"
          (Deuteronomy 28:24).

          God has always used drastic weather changes as His rod
          of correction against a sinful society. He destroyed
          Noah's generation with flooding rains. He rained a
          grievous hail as judgment on Pharaoh and Egypt. He sent
          thunder and rain to show His displeasure over Israel's
          appointing a king. He held back the rain during Ahab's
          rule, as judgment for idolatry. And Ezekiel prophesied
          that at Armageddon God will judge His enemies by
          sending "upon the many people...an overflowing rain"
          (Ezekiel 38:22).

          Where are the men and women of God today who will stand
          up and say, "God is speaking to us - this is His
          judgment for our national sins!" I ask you - as you see
          all these things happening, do you discern the times?
          "Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord"
          (verse 8).

                      -------------------------------

                          3. Blasting and Mildew!
                                (Amos 4:9).

                      -------------------------------

          "I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your
          gardens and your vineyards... increased the palmerworm
          devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith
          the Lord" (verse 9).

          "Blasting" here speaks of blight, decay - a destructive
          fungus caused by a parasite. And "gardens" has the
          connotation of pleasure gardens and recreational parks.
          This corrective judgment can be seen in the scores of
          civic, state and federal parks that have been shut down
          for lack of funds. They are turning into horrible,
          overgrown jungles!

          "When... your vineyards... increased, the palmerworm
          devoured them." God also has sent blight, decay and
          failure to our national productivity. America's
          once-fruitful farmland now is a pitiful sight to
          behold, Farmers can't make a living anymore - many are
          going out of business. Old, abandoned farmhouses sit
          decaying.

          Our manufacturing base is nearly gone as well. America
          hardly produces anything anymore. Check the names of
          all your appliances - Sony, Panasonic, Sanyo. Where
          were they made? All overseas! All we have left in
          America is a service economy!

          "Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord"
          (verse 9). 4. A Destroying Plague! (Amos 4:10).

          "I have sent among you the pestilence [plague] after
          the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain...yet
          have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord" (verse
          10).

          I want to speak to you straightforwardly about AIDS: It
          is quickly becoming the worst plague in the history of
          mankind. No one can comprehend how widespread AIDS will
          be in five or ten years, or how many people it will
          wipe [out].

          Yet one of the saddest aspects of this plague is that
          the world and the church refuse to recognize AIDS for
          what it is - a curse from God! Many ministers say,
          "AIDS is not a curse. God cannot be behind it, because
          many innocent people are dying from it,"

          Please do not misunderstand: I don't believe AIDS is a
          curse on homosexuals or on drug addicts. But it is a
          judgment of God upon wicked, godless societies! If you
          or someone you know is HIV-positive, it doesn't mean
          God has cursed you. No, it means only that you have
          come under a blanket curse that has fallen upon our
          nation and the world as a result of sin. AIDS is a
          destroying plague that is sweeping over all of mankind!

          You might say, as many have, "Brother Wilkerson, what
          kind of God do you serve, if you can say He is behind
          AIDS?"

          Let me show you from the Scriptures the kind of God I
          serve. Here is what the Lord says He desires:

          "Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to
          these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the Lord
          thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy
          which he sware unto thy fathers: and he will love thee,
          and bless thee, and multiply thee... Thou shalt be
          blessed above all people: there shall not be male or
          female barren among you, or among your cattle. And the
          Lord will take away from thee all sickness, and will
          put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou
          knowest, upon thee" (Deuteronomy 7:12-15).

          This is what God wants for our nation! He desires to
          take away all sickness, all disease. He says, "If
          you'll simply obey Me - if you'll just repent and walk
          in My counsel - I will prosper you. I will heal your
          unemployment, I will heal your sicknesses and diseases,
          I will bless you!"

          But God also warned what would happen if we turned from
          His commandments:

          "If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this
          law that are written in this book... then the Lord will
          make thy plagues... of long continuance, and sore
          sicknesses.... Also every sickness and every plague.
          which is not written in the book of this law. Them will
          the Lord bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed. And
          ye shall be left few in number... because thou wouldest
          not obey the voice of the Lord thy God" (Deuteronomy
          28:58-62). Read it carefully: "Every plague will the
          Lord bring upon thee!"

          God warned, "I won't bring just these plagues. I'll
          also bring others, diseases not yet seen by mankind,
          until you are destroyed by them - because you did not
          obey Me!"

          How many millions have to die before we'll discern AIDS
          as God's judgment? How long will it take before leaders
          and churches wake up? Research will not end AIDS -
          because it's a sin problem! Our cure will come only
          through repentance - through people turning from wicked
          life-styles. Nothing else will stop it! Even with a
          medical miracle, AIDS would break out in an even worse
          form. "Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the
          Lord" (verse 10).

                  ---------------------------------------

                          5. Selective Calamities,
                           Tempered With Mercy!
                                (Amos 4:11)

                  ---------------------------------------

          "I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom
          and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of
          the burning" (verse 11). God was saying, in other
          words, "I came suddenly and devastated certain parts of
          your nation, But before it could destroy you
          completely, I pulled you out of the fire!"

          Think about how various regions of our nation have been
          visited with sudden calamities in recent years:

          Last year. most weather bureaus were too late in
          reporting the violent hurricane that came suddenly upon
          Florida. It wiped out whole towns, causing billions of
          dollars in damage. There was much death and
          devastation.

          The destructive earthquake in San Francisco crumbled
          buildings, leveled houses, caved in roads and bridges.
          People were killed, the entire city shaken.

          Tornadoes have swept through the South and Southwest,
          leaving wide trails of destruction.

          In each of these disasters and others, God plucked us
          out of judgment at the last moment. Thousands more
          people could have been killed in the Midwest's floods.
          Hundreds could have died in the World Trade Center's
          bombing. But we're like a brand that God has pulled out
          of the fire!

          Indeed, every such calamity has been tempered with His
          mercy. You see, God is saying to us, "You've seen My
          power and might - I even have destroyed some of you.
          But each time I plucked you out of the fire! I didn't
          want to go any farther - because I was hoping you'd get
          the message!"

          Each disaster was a call for repentance - because God
          still hopes for a people who will turn back to Him!
          "Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord"
          (verse 11).

                      -------------------------------

                    Finally, God Warns of a Mysterious,
                       Unnamed Judgment to Be Sent!
                                (Amos 4:12)

                      -------------------------------

          "Therefore thus Will I do unto thee, O Israel: and
          because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy
          God, O Israel" (verse 12).

          I prefer the Septuagint's translation of this verse:
          "Prepare to call upon thy God," God is saying, in
          essence, "Up to now, you have closed your eyes to these
          calamities, You have neither understood, nor discerned,
          nor heeded. Now I must send upon you such powerful
          judgment that you will be forced to call on Me!"

          I do not know what this great, unnamed judgment will
          be. But the Bible gives us a clue: It is nearly always
          connected with fire. And, indeed, fiery destruction has
          come to every empire that has reproached the Lord!

          Sodom burned. Rome burned. And Peter said, "The earth
          (is)... kept in store, reserved unto fire against the
          day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men" (2 Peter
          3:7).

          Beloved, a great fire is coming. But I believe many
          lesser fires are coming soon, as warnings of the final
          holocaust!

          For several years I have warned of riots sweeping
          across America: a thousand fires in New York City,
          fires burning in every major city. I still believe the
          worst riots are ahead of us - and a major race war is
          coming that will produce these fires.

          In mid July, the FBI broke up a ring of skinheads who
          had plotted to set off a race war in Los Angeles. They
          had planned to burn down the oldest black church in Los
          Angeles, murder Rodney King and prominent civil rights
          leaders, and fire-bomb both black and white
          neighborhoods.

          God is warning us: We are going to be judged by fire!
          Six years ago, I warned of fires burning out of control
          in Middle Eastern oil fields. After Desert Storm, over
          600 oil wells were burning out of control, set aflame
          by the Iraqis. When American cities are burning out of
          control, will this nation repent? No! "Yet have ye not
          returned unto me, saith the Lord."

                      -------------------------------

                         What Has All of This to Do
                             With You and Me?

                      -------------------------------

          "Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved,
          what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy
          conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting
          unto the coming of the day of God" (2 Peter 3:11,12).

          These corrective judgments on America are all signs
          that the end is near. I ask you - in the past year of
          calamities, have you become stronger in your walk with
          Jesus? Are you more awake, growing closer to the Lord?
          Does your heart long for Him more than it did a year
          ago?

          This is no time to be asleep - no time to quit longing
          for His coming. And the Lord has told me to sound the
          warning!

          Perhaps your soul is bogged down in your business, your
          marriage, in gaining financial security. You no longer
          have time for the Lord - you don't seek His face, Your
          heart has grown cold.

          Beloved, all these signs that God is sending are not
          His wrath - they are His mercy! He is saying to the
          apathetic, "Wake up! Because if you don't, you're going
          to sleep your way into hell!"

          What will it be like to stand before the judgment seat
          of Christ and face His holiness? He has said, "Prepare
          to call upon your God!" Are you calling upon Him in
          consistent prayer?

          If you are a Christian and yet don't understand or
          discern the times, pray: "God, give me an
          understanding." He is wanting to open your eyes to the
          times!

          But if you do understand all He is saying, then you are
          a part of His knowing, growing remnant. You will
          faithfully warn your brothers and sisters to wake up
          and listen as He speaks. And you won't be asleep when
          midnight comes, Instead, you'll be ready to face all
          that comes - with confidence in Jesus!

          A final word: WHERE ARE THE MINISTERS WHO OUGHT TO BE
          SHOWING THE PEOPLE THAT THESE CALAMITIES ARE GOD'S
          JUDGMENT UPON AMERICA'S SINS? God - send us more
          fearless, prophetic voices!

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