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What Will the Next President Face? (Part 2)In the days of biblical Israel a king had a unique type of adviser in his court to counsel him how to run the nation based on the Word of God. Samuel guided Saul. Nathan counseled David. The prophet Isaiah revealed God's will to Hezekiah. These men of God were independent of politics; they represented the Word of God to the king.by Darris McNeelyImagine a servant of God meeting the next president of the United States and giving him an analysis of the world and America from God's perspective, along with recommendations from the Bible about how God would expect the president to govern. Let's listen in again. Good morning again, Mr. President. It has been a busy week for you. I hope you have thought about what we covered last week. Especially the words of the prophet Daniel and his advice to a king that God sets the times and the seasons; He sets up world leaders and lets them be removed. He, the Great God, controls history and the events that shape the destinies of nations and peoples. I know there are many items demanding your time, but these are foundational principles that need to be understood as your administration moves forward. In fact, Mr. President, there is another "foundation stone" that you should consider. It is instruction from God to the rulers of His nation Israel. It concerns how kings could insure success and a peaceful reign. Deuteronomy 17:18-20 states: "Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel." God's Word, Mr. President, is the key to your success as a leader. Master its teachings and God will be with you. Ignore them and you run the risk of serious mistakes and problems ahead. Therein lies the key to wisdom and to understanding today's world events, as well as what lies ahead for all nations. You are taking office at a pivotal moment. The world is at a crossroads of history. Today let's discuss two critical matters. A change in EuropeEurope, Mr. President, is a deceptive mix of conflicting images. The European Union forms a trading bloc larger than that of the United States. Its sheer size in terms of economics, population and global involvement makes it a major player on the world stage. In its more than 50 years of existence, it has continually grown and changed to become the large economic and monetary union of today. Yet not all its members, notably Great Britain, use the euro as their currency. Twice in the last three years it has failed to ratify a comprehensive constitution meant to strengthen the political dimension of the union. The EU has no common foreign policy or military arm. The fact that each nation retains those unique elements is a key reason Europe is not the true superpower that America is or that Great Britain once was. Europe has an aging population, and Europeans are not replacing themselves. At the same time there is a growing Muslim presence in all the major nations. This is a threat to the stability of the region as the Western Christian culture clashes with the Islamic. Europe prides itself on its tolerant multicultural approach to world affairs. It sees itself as the home of the enlightenment values that form the basis for Western civilization. Yet the region that produced Bach, Beethoven and Mozart also produced two world wars in the 20th century, which cost the lives of tens of millions of people. Prejudice against ethnic religious and racial minorities still runs deep in Europe. An Austrian television commentator remarked after the recent American presidential election: "I would not want the Western world to be directed by a black man" ("Prejudice in Europe Is More Than Skin Deep," Financial Times, Nov. 17, 2008). He would not retract his comment when asked and added: "Blacks aren't as politically civilized." To be fair, this comment was met with a storm of criticism in Austria, but he did not lose his job. The article went on to say, "Too many Europeans still talk and act as though their task is to shore up Western civilization against barbarians." Europe was caught unprepared in the current global financial upheaval. The lack of economic unity was laid bare when EU nations went separate ways in dealing with the financial crisis. There was no coordinated plan to deal with failing banks and nations (Iceland) despite the efforts of the European Central Bank. It became apparent that Europe's vaunted economic unity has a long way to go to deal effectively with future crises. The EU was no more successful than America's Federal Reserve, Treasury and Congress were through the weeks of September and October. This does not mean the European experiment is over. Far from it. Look for the European nations to learn from this latest crisis and form a system that will bounce back from recession. It is likely that Europeans will learn they must rely on themselves and Asia, especially China and India, to insure continued prosperity and growth. Don't count Europe out as a power to reckon with in coming years. Bible prophecy, Mr. President, tells us a powerful political and economic system will emerge at the end of the age. It is called Babylon in Revelation 18, and it will involve the combined power of 10 rulers and 10 nations or groups of nations. These rulers will give their power and authority to a single leader who will provide global stability and prosperity. A crisis similar to the one now upon the world could trigger such a remarkable surrender of sovereignty. We know this system will be anchored in the historic seedbed of Europe, as the prophecies of both Daniel and Revelation clearly show. Both these prophecies indicate a union of church and state that waxes and wanes through history, coming together at the time of the end in one final effort to dominate the world, all in the name of peace, prosperity and good will. But the appearance of this system will have dramatic consequences for America and its historic ally, Great Britain. America will no longer be the world's leading economic and political power. The Bible prophesies a time of trouble for these two nations unlike any in previous history. They will suffer a collapse from which there will be no recovery. Mr. President, the country may not be at that point today. America is still standing strong, albeit weakened in many ways through the economic, political and military crises of recent years. You carry the hopes of many that a renewal of optimism and change is on the horizon. While many wish you every success, you must understand that the future of this nation rests on a different sort of revival that no one else is advising. This nation's future rests on a spiritual renewal based on the principles of the Bible. Let me trace some of its key elements. Blessings and cursesMr. President, this may be the first time you have heard this. Listen carefully and consider. I am going to take you through a brief study of a biblical passage that states the source of our national blessings and reveals the cause for what is now occurring. Take that copy of the Bible on which you swore your oath of office and open it to Leviticus 26. In the opening verses you see that God states two inviolable commandments. First, do not make idols and bow down to them. Idols distort the true God and cause the worshipper to be blind, deaf and dumb, just as the graven image, to true spiritual values and principles. Idolatry is alive and well in our materialistic society, for it involves any pursuit that keeps people from seeing God and His teachings in the clear light of day. Second, God says, "You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary: I am the LORD" (verse 2). God has ordained holy times for mankind to come and worship Him. These have long been neglected and ignored by humanity, but they are unchangeable laws that still have spiritual force in the universe. On these two laws turn much of the remainder of this chapter. They form the heart of how we come to love and obey the God who says He blesses the obedient and removes the blessings for disobedience. Verse 3 is critical. God introduces what follows with, "If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments..." Blessing is conditional upon obedience. If His people obey His laws, God promises every conceivable blessing for which a nation could hope. Look at the following verses, which offer detailed promises for obedience. "I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. Your threshing shall last till the time of vintage, and the vintage shall last till the time of sowing; you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. "I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none will make you afraid; I will rid the land of evil beasts, and the sword will not go through your land. You will chase your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you. Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; your enemies shall fall by the sword before you. For I will look on you favorably and make you fruitful, multiply you and confirm My covenant with you" (verses 4-9). God's great desire, "to walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people" (verse 12), has not changed. He wants to dwell within a godly people who reflect the shining light of His way, not human tradition. But there is a flip side to this agreement. As the promised blessings were conditional on their obedience, so also, the curses follow disobedience. Prophecy at work in historyGod went on to say, "If you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments, and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break my covenant, I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues you" (verses 14-17). The ancient nation of Israel, to which this prophecy was first directed, received the blessings in part in the Promised Land provided by God. They started with good intentions, but history shows they quickly fell into a pattern of behavior that did not allow God to give them the benefits He wanted them to have. Despite the repeated warnings from God and His prophets and the multiple deliverances from potential disaster, the behavior of the people of Israel and Judah hardened in disobedience to these fundamental laws. God eventually had to remove them from the Promised Land. Ten tribes of the 12-tribed nation of Israel were "lost" to history, only to reappear in modern times as America, Great Britain and several other modern peoples. A little-understood part of this story shows that God withheld the full promises of this and other prophecies until recent centuries. Verse 18 foretells that because of their sin: "I will punish you seven times more for your sins." That happened to Israel and then to Judah. Yet because God had promised national blessings to Abraham's descendents, He revisited the people of Israel in modern times with great blessings. That is why America and Great Britain have stood tall and strong for more than 200 years. But the prophecy does not end here. Twice more in this chapter God says, "If you walk contrary to Me, and are not willing to obey Me, I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins" (verse 21). Again in verse 28 God says, "I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins." The original language indicates an increase in intensity of problems until such time that God will bring total destruction. This prophecy shows that because of moral decay there will be a time when God's protective presence and blessing will be removed from the cities and land Americans so dearly love. If the nation ignores the final warning, the idols will be broken and God will enforce a "Sabbath rest" upon the land. See verses 29-39. God will use the power of this "Babylon" I described earlier to inflict this punishment upon the nation. Do not lightly dismiss this warning based on what you currently see on the world scene. Even modern history, between World Wars I and II, shows us how quickly world powers can rise and fall. You, Mr. President, have an opportunity to listen to the wisdom in this ancient prophecy. It is directly applicable to your administration today. There is time and opportunity to try to turn the nation around and chart a direct course back to the God of the Bible who stands behind these awesome prophecies. This God today can hold off the darkening storms that hover over the nation. He is shielding America from its enemies and those who would directly attack its citizens with unspeakable destruction. While the country trusts in its military and intelligence capability to keep the walls secure, this passage we have read actually shows us the true source of the nation's blessing and security. God is America's refuge and its source of blessing. It is time this nation humbles itself in a deep and heartfelt repentance, unlike any this nation has ever seen. Sir, we need a great awakening of historic proportions. You stand in a moment of opportunity. You can listen to this warning or ignore it. The choice is yours. We'll continue this in my next appointment. Later that evening in the private quarters of the first family, the president steps onto the Truman Balcony off the south side of the White House. Beyond the south lawn on the Mall stands the Washington Monument lit in all its subtle glory. "How much more will this man of God tell me in our private talks?" he wonders. "Is this man mad or are his stories the edges of approaching history?" Below, the cars on the street move quickly on through the night. In Washington , the events of one day pass silently into the next.
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