 [Click here to go to Times Square Church Pulpit Series multilingual site]

                God Has Already Begun to Desolate America!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Plain Text File + Related Bible Study + Home Page + Subscribe + Copyright
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

By David Wilkerson
March 23, 1992
__________

          "For I will lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of
          her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel
          shall be desolate.... Then shall they know that I am
          the Lord, when I have laid the land most desolate
          because of all their abominations which they have
          committed" (Ezekiel 33:28-29).

          This is a warning from the mouth of almighty God -- and
          its fulfillment is found throughout the Bible. God has
          made it perfectly clear: "If any nation corrupts itself
          and becomes hopelessly wicked, I will desolate that
          nation until they know I am God!"

          The meaning of the word "desolate" is awesome indeed.
          To desolate means to desert -- to render unfit for
          habitation, to strip of friends and hope, to forsake,
          abandon, ruin and devastate. And that is exactly what
          God [has] begun to do to America!

          Most people are tired of hearing about the decline of
          this country. The President has angrily denounced any
          more "gloom and doom" talk. And many Christians are
          saying, "I can't take any more depressing preaching. I
          need encouragement when I go to church.

          Yet this is the very type of attitude God's word warns
          against. All through the Old Testament, God's people
          closed their ears to prophetic warnings on the eve of
          destruction. As the hour of judgment approached, they
          hardened their hearts against all warnings -- and
          suddenly the desolation fell!

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

                  There Aren't Many People Left in America
                      Who Say "It Can't Happen Here!"

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

          Most Americans recognize something ominous is
          happening, something awesome and supernatural -- and
          that it is beyond any man's power to stop. A voice deep
          within the American soul is crying out, "We are no
          longer number one -- and we're going downhill fast. The
          American Dream has evaporated, and we face a dangerous
          future!"

          I'm not going to list all the signs of decay and
          desolation already at work in America. We see them all
          around us daily. In fact, we've seen so much we have
          become immune to it all.

          But I want to take you into God's Word, and show you
          how, beyond a shadow of a doubt, God ruins and
          desolates societies who have sinned against Him and
          rejected Him! And as you see what God did to nations
          that were less sinful than America, you will realize
          God cannot possibly hold back our desolation!

          You may say, "That's the Old Testament. It lacks the
          grace of the New Covenant. It's not relevant to our
          day."

          But nothing could be further from the truth! The
          Apostle Paul wrote, "Now all these things happened unto
          them for [examples]: and they are written for our
          admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come"
          (1 Corinthians 10:11). Paul was speaking in this very
          passage about the desolation of Israel!

          Peter said God desolated Sodom and Gomorrah as an
          example to all ungodly societies that would come
          thereafter:

          "And [God] turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah
          into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making
          them an [example] unto those that after should live
          ungodly" (2 Peter 2:6).

          Jude gives the same warning: "Even as Sodom and
          Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner,
          giving themselves over to fornication, and going after
          strange flesh [incest, homosexuality, lesbianism], are
          set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of
          eternal fire" (Jude 7).

          In Paul, Peter and Jude, God gives us three witnesses
          who confirm that His desolation of the nations in the
          Old Testament were meant to instruct and warn us who
          live in the end time. As God looked upon Sodom and
          Gomorrah, He said to the heavenly hosts: "I am going to
          desolate and destroy Sodom -- this society whose sin
          has reached into heaven -- so that every succeeding
          generation will have clear evidence of when to expect
          judgment! They will have an illustrated warning of what
          I'll do and when I'll do it -- whenever a generation
          shuts me out and flaunts its sin!"

          Let's consider some of the desolations "sent forth as
          examples":

          1. Leviticus 26. This warning clearly outlines how God
          would desolate those who reject Him and become wicked:

          "But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do
          all these commandments... but that ye break my
          covenant: I also will do this unto you; I will even
          appoint over you terror, consumption [tuberculosis],
          and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and
          cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in
          vain, for your enemies shall eat it. And I will set my
          face against you, and ye shall be slain before your
          enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and
          ye shall flee when none pursueth you. And if ye will
          not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will
          punish you seven times more for your sins.

          "And I will break the pride of your power; and I will
          make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass: and
          your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land
          shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees
          of the land yield their fruits" (Leviticus 26:14-20,
          31-33).

          Doesn't this sound like what is happening in wicked
          America? God is saying, "You refuse to obey Me and are
          hostile toward Me -- so I will break down your pride! I
          will strip the nation and make it vulnerable. Your
          enemies will take over your resources. I will desert
          you, and your cities and land will become desolate.
          You'll be lonely, solitary, fearful and wretched!"

          2. Isaiah 1. Listen to this warning:

          "Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a
          seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they
          have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One
          of Israel unto anger... Why should ye be stricken any
          more? Ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is
          sick, and the whole heart faint...

          "Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with
          fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence,
          and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers" (Isaiah
          1:4-7).

          How close does America come to Isaiah's description of
          a society desolated by God? "A sinful nation... laden
          with iniquity... corrupt children... forsaking the
          Lord... provoking His anger... the land devoured right
          before the eyes... a nation being overthrown from its
          high standing."

          Isaiah clearly was talking about the desolation of
          Israel because of that nation's sins. But this prophecy
          also describes America to the letter!

          Japan, Korea and European nations are all devouring our
          landmarks, swallowing up our properties and businesses.
          The Japanese sit by and mock our workers and
          industries, knowing we are helpless to react.

          Yet God really wanted something else for America -- and
          for a time we had it. Here is God's promise to any
          nation that hears His voice and obeys Him:

          "The Lord shall command [His] blessing upon thee... He
          shall bless thee in the land... The Lord shall make
          thee plenteous in goods... The Lord shall open unto
          thee His good treasure... and to bless all the work of
          thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and
          thou shalt not borrow. And the Lord shall make thee the
          head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above [all]"
          (Deuteronomy 28:8, 11-18).

          Up to ten years ago, America was the world's banker,
          lending to other countries. But in the last five years,
          we have become the world's number-one debtor nation. We
          have become slaves to our lenders!

          America once had all the blessings God promised --
          because at one time God was truly honored here.
          Presidents and Congresses once acknowledged God. As
          recently as thirty years ago, legislators prayed during
          their sessions, and their colleagues were seen weeping.
          But no more! Now we have driven God out of our
          government and schools.

          Look at what Moses said would happen when God is
          rejected -- and see if this has not come to pass in
          America:

          "If you will not obey Him, confusion and rebuke will
          fall upon all you set your hand to do. Sickness will
          cleave to you. The Lord will smite you with
          consumption. Your nation will become panic-stricken.
          Another nation will eat up your wealth, and your
          children will bring you grief.
          "The stranger living in your midst will be lifted up,
          and you shall be brought very low. He shall lend to
          you; he will be the head and you will become the tail.
          Tremendous, unheard-of plagues and diseases will come
          upon you. And the Lord who wanted to rejoice in
          blessing you instead will turn on you. He will rejoice
          in desolating your land and bringing you to nothing!"
          (see Deuteronomy 28:15-68).

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

                       The Soviet Union Is An Example
                   of Ancient Babylon, A Godless People

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

          In the past two years we have seen God do an
          unprecedented thing: He has totally desolated the
          Soviet Union! The most feared, godless country in the
          world has fallen into total disintegration. And Isaiah
          had foretold what God would do to such nations as an
          example:

          "Therefore hear now this... thou that dwellest
          carelessly, that say in thine heart, I am, and none
          else beside me... Thou has trusted in thine
          wickedness... Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou
          shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief
          shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it
          off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly,
          which thou shalt not know" (Isaiah 47:8-11).

          I ask you -- didn't the downfall of the Soviet Union
          come suddenly? Isn't it true that no one could explain
          how it happened; that no one could stop the sudden
          collapse?

          GOD BROUGHT DOWN THE SOVIET UNION AS A MODERN-DAY,
          FINAL EXAMPLE TO GET THE WORLD'S ATTENTION --
          ESPECIALLY AMERICA'S! He was saying to us:

          "You do not heed or consider the examples of history;
          they have made no impact on you. So I am going to take
          the world's most godless and powerful nation -- a
          country that said there is no God, that brought fear to
          the whole earth -- and I will desolate and ruin it
          before your eyes!"

          Americans now sit incredulous, seeing on their
          televisions and in their newspapers pictures of hungry
          Soviets lined up for bread. The New York Times recently
          ran a picture of Russian women making bread, telling
          how it is "measured out" to stores. Beloved, that is
          taken word for word from Leviticus 26:26! "And when I
          have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall
          bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you
          your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not
          be satisfied."

          God is saying to America and the world, "I'm giving you
          one last warning! Take a look at what I've done to
          Russia in two years. Their leaders are confused,
          incompetent. I have emptied the stores. And I did this
          overnight to a nation that rejected me. Repent, or I
          will do the same to you! Come back to Me and humble
          yourself -- or I will desolate your land!"

          Bread lines in America? fifty percent unemployment? A
          government in chaos? Anarchy and fear on all sides --
          in America? Yes! Just read the headlines and you'll see
          it is happening right now!

          God has sworn to desolate any nation that will not heed
          His warnings: If ye will not hear these words, I swear
          by Myself, saith the Lord, that this house shall become
          a desolation" (Jeremiah 22:5).

          There is overwhelming biblical proof that any national
          decline -- whether social, religious, or economic --
          points to God at work, judging sin and hatred toward
          Him:

          "And be not ye like your fathers, and like your
          brethren, which trespassed against the Lord god of
          their fathers, who therefore gave them up to
          desolation, as ye see" (2 Chronicles 30:7). Why did God
          give them up? Because of their sin!

          "Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee,
          in making thee desolate because of thy sins" (Micah
          6:13).

          "The great day of the Lord is near... a day of trouble
          and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day
          of darkness and gloominess... And I will bring distress
          upon men... because they have sinned against the Lord"
          (Zephaniah 1:14-17).

          Scripture makes it clear why God topples nations and
          societies: He does it because of their sin!

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

                        God Has An Ultimate Purpose
                          Behind His Desolations

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

          In desolating our economy and institutions, God seeks
          to accomplish one thing: One way or another, He is
          going to be recognized as Lord and God -- through
          either repentance or desolation! America may not repent
          -- this country may still try to push God out of our
          society -- but all will know He is Lord!

          "Then shall they know that I am the Lord, when I have
          laid the land most desolate, because of all their
          abominations which they have committed." (Ezekiel
          33:28-29)

          "I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they
          caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the
          womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that
          they might know that I am the Lord" (Ezekiel 20:26).

          God is saying to us: "I blessed you for years, so that
          My goodness would lead you to repentance. Yet still you
          wouldn't honor Me. Proud America has driven Me out --
          she does not recognize My Lordship. But she will!"

          "I will remove her from her lofty place and lay her in
          the dust. A dark, ominous day is coming when ACT-UP
          homosexuals, atheists, New Agers, the Supreme Court,
          abortionists, those who have mocked Me -- all will know
          I am God!"

          Beloved, I am not saying all these will acknowledge God
          -- but they will know He is behind everything that is
          happening to bring our country down!

          You see, desolation is coming because America has said,
          "We do not need God!" But God is going to show us
          differently, as He did the Soviet Union -- and we're
          going to know He is Lord!

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

                    God Desolates Nations in Two Ways:
              The Way of the Lion -- and the Way of the Moth!

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

          God came against Sodom like an angry lion. There was no
          warning -- no Noah preaching for 120 years, no Jonah
          crying, "Repent!" The angels came one night -- and
          destruction came suddenly the next morning!

          Now, like a lion pouncing angrily on his prey, God has
          struck the Soviet Union without warning. "The lion hath
          roared, who will not fear?" (Amos 3:8)

          "Therefore I will be unto them as a lion... I will be
          thy king: where is any other that may save thee?"
          (Hosea 13:7,10).

          Yet God is showing mercy to America; He isn't pouncing
          suddenly like a lion. Instead He is desolating us as a
          moth:

          "Because he willingly walked after [away from] the
          commandment... Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a
          moth, and to the house of Judah as rotteness" (Hosea
          5:11-12). In other words, God has sent a slow rot!

          "When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity,
          thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth"
          (Psalm 39:11). Like a moth, the Lord consumes
          everything that is precious to a man. And America is
          now under an invasion of God's destroying moths! They
          are eating away all our revered institutions: the
          family, our school system, our economic base, our
          judicial system. A slow rot is consuming us -- and the
          fabric of our nation has become moth-eaten!

          Noah's society didn't have a deep recession as a
          warning. They didn't have a stock-market plunge of 500
          points to get their attention. But if that generation
          had seen all their businesses crumbling and AIDS
          destroying thousands of lives, perhaps they would have
          said, "Could Noah be right? Are all these signs of a
          coming desolation?"

          America may see a temporary come-back in its economy.
          But that will not kill the moth! You can see hole after
          hole it has eaten. It doesn't matter if the stock
          market jumps to 5,000 points, or if our industries and
          growth all bounce back. Because the moth is still there
          -- wreaking havoc and destruction!

          The AIDS moth will still be devouring lives. The
          education moth will keep eating a destructive path
          through our schools. The homosexuality moth will grow
          in power, eating away our moral fabric. The financial
          moth will keep our banking system and manufacturing
          base crumbling. The moth of sin will cause evil men to
          wax worse and worse. And the crumbling will continue
          behind a facade of prosperity that hides it all!

          Beloved, the worst judgment God could pour out on
          America right now is another wave of prosperity! It
          would be like closing the lid on our coffin. People
          would say, "We got out of that one -- we can get out of
          anything! We didn't need God. We sent Him away, and
          still we prospered. Where is the judgment of God?"

          We will become like the people of Noah's day, who would
          not repent because prosperity continued right up to the
          end: "And [they] knew not until the flood came, and
          took them all away" (Matthew 24:39).

          Ezekiel 33 shows us what is just ahead for America:

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

          God's Watchmen Will Soon Cry Out Their Final Warnings!

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

          God is about to silence His watchmen! They will no
          longer cry out warnings. Instead, they will merely
          stand and weep like Jeremiah and Ezekiel. You see,
          there will be no need to prophesy anymore -- because
          the enemy will already be at the gate!

          The word God's watchmen have preached will already be
          fulfilled -- and the blood of the people will no longer
          be on their hands:

          "Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and
          taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him
          away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard
          the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning... But
          he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul" (Ezekiel
          33:4-5).

          God gives His people warnings to deliver them! Yet
          already, in the last two years, I have seen a dramatic
          silencing of the watchmen. At one time there was book
          after book, cry after prophetic cry. But now so little
          is being said -- because God finally has decided,
          "There is nothing left to say!"

          When the moth-eaten fabric of our society finally
          begins to tear, then we will know the desolation is
          upon us. And it will not end until God is finished with
          us! No one will be able to say, "We didn't know -- why
          didn't you warn us?" Because Scripture says their blood
          will be on their own head!

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

            All So-Called "Safe Havens" Are Going to Collapse!

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

          When God desolates a nation, He seeks out the wicked in
          hiding: the hoarders, the walled-in, the well-prepared
          -- all those seeking to outlast the judgment. No amount
          of wealth will see them through the collapse that is
          inevitable. Because the Lord says He will find them --
          and they shall not escape! "Surely they that are in the
          wastes shall fall by the sword, and him that is in the
          open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured,
          and they that be in the forts and in the caves shall
          die of the pestilence" (Ezekiel 33:27).

          Multitudes of Americans are now saying, "I just want to
          have enough to make it through." I know of one
          economist who sold everything -- and built a hide-away
          in the hills of Mexico to ride out the coming storm!

          But God sends a clear word to those who would try to
          escape: "There is no safe hiding place! Go to your
          hideaways -- the germs and pestilence will find you
          there!"

          "Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take
          them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I
          bring them down: and though they hide themselves in the
          top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence;
          and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of
          the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he
          shall bite them" (Amos 9:2-3)

          If you truly want to know how it all ends when God
          desolates a nation -- which is where America is headed
          without total, corporate national repentance -- then
          study Lamentations. This prophetic book describes the
          conditions that exist when the desolation is at full
          blast. It explains the desolation of Jerusalem, Judah
          -- and America:

          "She weeps now, sore in the night. Her enemies prosper.
          The Lord afflicts her for the multitude of her
          transgressions. She cannot believe her end has come --
          her strength is gone. The Lord has become her enemy!
          Her laws have failed. Her enemies now hiss against her.
          Young men lie in her streets. It is only the Lord's
          mercies she is not consumed...
          "Fear has come upon her. Pitiful women fill their own
          children. Her children are meat for destruction; she
          has polluted herself with blood. Her streets are
          unsafe. She is utterly rejected by the Lord, but does
          not know her end is come" (see Lamentations 1-2).

          Already you see signs of such calamity in America. A
          few weeks ago I stood and watched a hungry homeless man
          as he tore open garbage bags, scraping moldy food into
          a jar -- food only dogs would eat! God whispered to me,
          "David, the beggars are a sign, as I spoke to you.
          America is being warned. The day is coming when even
          the wealthiest will dig through garbage."

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

               Yet God's Message to His Children Is Entirely
                                Different!

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

          Here is what the Spirit says to the righteous:

          1. We need not fear when the desolations come:

          "Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the
          desolation or the wicked, when it cometh. For the Lord
          shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from
          being taken" (Proverbs 3:25-26).

          Dear saint, this is your antidote for fear! The Bible
          says men's hearts will fail them as they see all the
          desolations falling. And indeed, there will be
          incredible fear all around. But beloved, learn this
          well: The same power of God that desolates the wicked
          preserves the righteous!

          You will see the warnings of Leviticus 26 and
          Deuteronomy 28 fulfilled to the letter before your
          eyes. Yet you will be able to say to your soul, "If God
          fulfills His promises of judgment so faithfully, how
          much more can I trust Him to be faithful in preserving
          His promises to me?"

          With each new bad-news crisis, you can look up and
          rejoice: "The power behind these desolations is my God
          at work! He is keeping His Word to the whole world --
          and He will keep it to me!"

          2. Christ alone will be the only secure hiding place!

          Jesus Himself is going to gather up His body of
          believers, embrace them and pull them into His own
          habitation, saying, "I'm going to hide you while the
          storm is brewing!"

          "And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind,
          and a covert from the tempest" (Isaiah 32:2). Christ
          the Lord is the only hiding place! You don't need
          anything else -- no nest egg, no underground shelter --
          because in Jesus you are as safe as you're going to
          get!

          "Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from
          trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of
          deliverance" (Psalm 32:7).

          "For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his
          pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide
          me; he shall set me up upon a rock" (Psalm 27:5).

          There is no need to fear, no need to be distressed.
          Because when total desolation falls, your God will hide
          you in Himself! Hallelujah!

                 ------------------------------------------
 Plain Text File + Related Bible Study + Home Page + Subscribe + Copyright
                 ------------------------------------------

         Times Square Church Information | New Reader Information

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

COPYRIGHT/REPRODUCTION LIMITATIONS:

This data file is the sole property of World Challenge. It may not be
altered or edited in any way. It may be reproduced only in its entirety for
circulation as "freeware," without charge. All reproductions of this data
file must contain the copyright notice [i.e., "Copyright  1999 by World
Challenge"]. This data file may not be used without the permission World
Challenge for resale or the enhancement of any other product sold. This
includes all of its content with the exception of a few brief quotations.
Please give the following source credit: Copyright  1999 by World
Challenge, Lindale Texas.

This material is solely for personal use and is not to be posted publicly
on other web pages. The Lorain County Free-Net Chapel holds exclusive
rights from World Challenge, Inc. to publicly post these messsages on its
web page. You are free to download, copy, print and distribute this
material, so long as you do not post it on a different Internet site. You
may, however, link this site to reference these messages.

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

                       This web site is a service of
                          The Missing Link, Inc.
       Linking Troubled Youth and Adults with Life-Changing Programs
                       Web Site - http://misslink.org
               Chapel Site - http://misslink.org/chapel2.html
  Home of David Wilkerson's Times Square Church Pulpit Series Multilingual
                                  Web Site
                      http://www.tscpulpitseries.org

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

           Copyright  1999 - The Lorain County Free-Net Chapel
                        North Central Ohio, U.S.A.

                                TOP OF PAGE

           Our webmaster welcomes your comments and suggestions.
               This page was last updated February 26, 1999.

  Why Revival Tarries/ "Help!"/ What's Here/ Sponsor/ Statement of Faith/
   Bible Study/ Around the Piano/ Bulletin Board/ Library/ Pulpit Series
