Trusting in the Mercy of God

The pandemic has taken the world by surprise, and daily information about its cause and remedy has poured forth from every direction. Conflicting opinions abound, making it difficult to know what to believe. How can we know the truth?

Instead of looking to the world, let’s search for answers by refreshing ourselves in the only source of Truth–God’s Word. What can we learn about such a time as this? I guarantee you’ll find a delightful surprise that will lift your spirits with hope and joy.

It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;
To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning,
And Your faithfulness every night

Psalm 92:1-2 NKJV

The Lord God is so faithful. He promises to always care for us, to never leave nor forsake us. The Old Testament tells one story after another of God’s care for His children through perilous times. Let’s review a few of them.

Story #1: Noah and the Ark

The Lord shut up Noah’s righteous family for forty rain-filled days and nights while He destroyed all life on the earth with a flood. Do you think those six persons got a bit claustrophobic as they waited several additional months for the waters to recede? What joy when they could set foot on dry ground and free the animals who must have also wearied of their confinement. Afterward, God made an eternal covenant with Noah.

It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.

Genesis 9:14-15 NKJV

What a blessed ending to such a long trial! People around the world have been shut up at home for a month or more, making us all the more empathetic for Noah. Fortunately, like the ark, our pandemic has an ending in sight.

Story #2: Moses and the Passover

“Let my people go!” Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. Destination: the Promised Land.

But before Pharoah finally agreed to free the Jewish slaves, many plagues befell Egypt: blood, frogs, lice, flies, diseased animals, boils on man and beast, hail, locusts, darkness, and death of the firstborn of both men and animals. God purposely hardened Pharoah’s heart in order to reveal His power and glory to the stubborn, unbelieving king of Egypt.

Let’s keep in mind that not only were the Israelites present when God sent these plagues, but also God supernaturally protected them. As the Jews witnessed Egypt’s suffering, their camp was spared. Only the final plague demanded that the Israelites take action in order to be saved—the establishment of Passover–a Jewish feast celebrated to this day.

‘For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

Exodus 12:12-13 NKJV

Can’t we imagine the joy those captives experienced at their moment of freedom? After 430 years, God’s grace rescued them from slavery and set their feet on a path to the Promised Land. Likewise, God will supernaturally rescue us and set us on a path to freedom from this health crisis.

Story #3: Jonah and the Whale

Remember Jonah and the big fish? His disobedience to God’s command to go to Nineveh and preach repentance to the Ninevites had landed him in that dark, stinky jail cell. Shut up in the fish’s foul-smelling belly for three days and nights, Jonah repented and prayed mightily for deliverance.

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly. And he said: “I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction,
And He answered me.“Out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
And You heard my voice.
” (Read the rest of Chapter 2 HERE)

Jonah 2:1-2 NKJV

After Jonah vowed to be obedient to God’s command, the fish vomited him up onto dry land. Then God spoke again: “’Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you’” (Jonah 3:2 NKJV).

So, Jonah walked across that city–a three-days’ journey–and cried out that God was going to destroy Nineveh in forty days. The people, as well as the king, believed and heeded the warning. They donned sackcloth, proclaimed a fast, and earnestly repented of their sins.

Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.

Jonah 3:10 NKJV

Thus the people of Nineveh were rescued from certain destruction through citywide repentance centered on fasting and prayer. If this pandemic is the judgment of God for our rebellion against His Laws, can’t we also stay God’s hand through repentance, prayer, and fasting, just like Nineveh?

How does this apply to the current pandemic?

Calamities of all shapes and sizes have come to the earth in response to man’s disobedience and sin. But the Bible tells story after story of man’s repentance followed by God’s responses of forgiveness and deliverance.

By studying the character of God during distressing times, we find comfort and hope. We can rest assured that God will always protect and bring His children safely through all sorts of disasters. But do we have a role to play?

Let’s take action…

This Easter and Passover season, let’s repent, fast, and pray for God’s divine deliverance from the virus that has our world in its grasp. Just as the Israelites painted their doorposts with the blood of their Passover lamb, let’s plead the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God, over our homes and families for supernatural protection. We can trust the Lord to keep us safe and bring us into His Promised Land. (Click to read Ephesians 6:10-18.)

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!
For my soul trusts in You;
And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge,
Until these calamities have passed by.

Psalm 57:1 NKJV

How are you trusting in the mercy of God during these present trials?

Dear Father God, we look to You in these times of pestilence and distress. We repent of our sins and ask You to forgive us and heal our nations from this virus. May we turn to You for protection and comfort. We plead the blood of the Lamb over us and our loved ones. Hide us under Your wings until this pestilence passes by. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.

©KarenJurgens All rights reserved

Signs in the Skies: Solar Eclipse 2017

Signs in the Skies: Solar Eclipse 2017 by Karen Jurgens

Part Two

The Solar Eclipse of August 21, 2017

In the previous post, we discussed that lunar eclipses indicate God’s judgment on Israel. In the prophetic sense, solar eclipses also wield judgment, except these aim at Gentile nations. August 21st hosted the first total solar eclipse to cross the entire width of the United States in 99 years. The last time this happened, the date was 1918 during World War I, a time when 675,000 Americans died in a flu pandemic.

Nothing unusual happened for two days following the eclipse. On the third day, Hurricane Harvey (meaning Battle-ready) hit Houston, followed on its heels by Irma (meaning Goddess of War), striking Florida. Corpus Christi (Meaning Body of Christ) was Harvey’s Bulls-eye, and that town was evacuated before the storm hit. Never before have two Category 4 hurricanes struck the US back-to-back. These storms set first-time records of never-before-seen destruction.

Signs in the Skies: Solar Eclipse 2017 by Karen Jurgens

Sounds like that would have been enough, but the natural disasters continued to roll on. Among them, Hurricane Maria was the second storm to bend Puerto Rico to its knees, and its effects have been described as apocalyptic, setting this island back for decades. Pictures show total devastation, much like the after-effects of a bomb.

That’s not all. Recently at least two strong earthquakes have torn apart Mexico, killing over three hundred people to date. The first registered 7.1 and the second 6.1 on the Richter Scale and have destroyed most the central region of that country, including Mexico City. Devastation, death, and suffering have racked up to epic proportions.

Signs in the Skies: Solar Eclipse 2017 by Karen Jurgens

What is this judgment about?

If you agree that God judges rebellion, then let me skim the surface of what has been happening in the United States. Former administrations have legalized laws through our Supreme Court that directly violate God’s laws, such as the shedding of innocent blood (abortion) and legalizing marriage between partners of the same sex. Drug use is rampant, and laws are ignored or defiantly challenged. Americans have watched in horror in real-time on their screens as violent protesters burned, looted, and killed, with  few or no arrests. A war on the American flag has recently exploded. Our government reportedly has become a cesspool of nothing but lies and corruption.

Signs in the Skies: Solar Eclipse 2017 by Karen Jurgens

Years ago, the Lord showed me scriptures from the Old Testament book of Micah that have held deep meaning. Since they describe the end-times, I feel they may pinpoint how many of us may feel today in our growing anti-Christian culture:

Woe is me! For I am
Like the fruit pickers, like the grape gatherers.
There is not a cluster of grapes to eat,
Or a first-ripe fig which I crave.
The godly person has perished from the land,
And there is no upright person among men.
All of them lie in wait for bloodshed;
Each of them hunts the other with a net.
Concerning evil, both hands do it well.
The prince asks, also the judge, for a bribe,
And a great man speaks the desire of his soul;
So they weave it together.
The best of them is like a briar,
The most upright like a thorn hedge ~ Micah 7: 1-4

Today’s depth of rebellion and lawlessness is stunning by any measure, as justice is perverted, favoring the guilty instead of the innocent.

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived ~ I Corinthians 6:9, NASB.

What is God’s condition of forgiveness and national restoration?

If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land ~ II Chronicles 7: 13-14, NASB.

Some voices criticize the idea that a loving God would ever punish an entire nation for its sins. However, undeniable historical proof exists that God punished Israel for turning their hearts away from Him. Our nation, founded on the Bible and belief in God, must also answer for its harlotry. God is patient to withhold judgment, as He doesn’t wish anyone to perish, but at some point, the sand in the hourglass empties. God will not be mocked by allowing a sinful people who belong to Him to continue indefinitely in their rebellion.

Signs in the Skies: Solar Eclipse 2017 by Karen Jurgens

Punishment falls–not to harm us, but to turn us back to Him, His truths and His salvation.

LORD, I have heard the report about You and I fear. O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years, In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy ~ Habakkuk 3:2, NASB.

Perhaps the sand emptied out of our hourglass on August 21st? We have had two major warnings. Will we listen? Will we, the church, repent?

Signs in the Skies: Solar Eclipse 2017 by Karen Jurgens

Yes, there is hope. In His judgment, God remembers mercy.

Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord ~ Acts 3:19, NASB.

‘FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES, AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE’ ~ Hebrews 8:12, NASB.

What’s next? A post that explores the recent September 23rd sign and what it may mean for the future of the Church…

Signs in the Sky: The Blood Moons

Signs in the Skies Part One: The Blood Moons by Karen Jurgens

 Part One

Lunar and solar eclipses, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, asteroids and astral signs that have not happened in 7,000 years and won’t ever appear again … no wonder we’re trying to make sense of it all. Especially the Revelation 12 sign of Virgo and Jupiter—what in the world does all this mean?

God uses signs to send us hints and puzzle pieces about the future—just enough to keep us guessing but not enough to completely see the big picture. As a life-long prophecy student of the Word, I would like to share some of my thoughts about these signs in the heavens. I’m dividing the information into three shorter posts, with each one concentrating on one aspect of the signs in the sky.

To preface, let me first say that I don’t pretend to know the future, and I certainly don’t believe in setting dates for the Rapture. No one knows the day or the hour except God alone. My opinion is based solely on the Word and the factual events happening in our times.

To set the stage, let’s begin with a recent phenomenon that took place in 2014-2015.

The Four Blood Moons Tetrad

According to Bible scholars, the appearance of blood moons on Jewish feast days during Shemittah years is significant because they’re God’s signs of judgment on Israel. This phenomenon on these special days has occurred just four times in history, with the last one appearing just a few years ago. Each total lunar eclipse fell on alternating Jewish feast days–Passover and Sukkot–over the course of two years.

Here’s an outline of the dates and their significance to Israel:

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus

1492-1493: Christopher Columbus, a Jew, was sent by King Ferdinand of Spain to find a land where the Jews in that country could be exiled, following their legal expulsion. God led Columbus to discover America, which later became their new homeland.

1949-50: Just prior to this tetrad, Israel became a nation on May 14, 1948. God fulfilled His Word that Israel’s dry bones would again spring to life and live again.

He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” Again He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.’ Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.'” ~ Ezekiel 37: 3-6, NASB.

1967-68: Israel’s Six-Day War resulted in the victory of reclaiming the holy city of Jerusalem on June 11, 1967. For more details, click HERE.

2014-2015: The last group of blood moons appeared, shown on the chart below. But so far nothing significant has happened.

blood moons

My opinion: God has blessed Israel with precious gifts of real estate during each of these Blood Moon cycles: first, a safe haven in the US where the Jews have sojourned up to the present; second, their own state of Israel in 1948; and third, the capital city Jerusalem in 1967. But there is still one piece of real estate missing.

What have they not yet possessed?

The Temple Mount, where they will build their third and final temple. I fully believe this is the meaning of the the recent lunar eclipses. We have yet to see this happen and wonder how it will occur. Whether by war or by God’s hand through a natural disaster of some kind, it’s God’s move.

www.shemitah-blood-moons.net

The red heifer, necessary for temple ritual, has miraculously made an appearance again after 2000 years. Notice how this one was born with a number 7 on its forehead. For more information, click HERE.

What’s next? Part Two, where we will explore the recent solar eclipse and its possible meaning.