I WAS STANDING BEHIND the bench and to the right.
“You returned,” said the prophet, without any movement of his head, but still maintaining his gaze into the distance. He couldn’t possibly have seen me, but he knew I was there. It was something I could never get used to…being with someone you felt could, at any given time, see through you. “Why?” he asked, still gazing toward the waters. “Why did you return?” “Because,” I replied, “you’re the only one who can give me the answer.”
“To what?” he asked.
“To the problem.”
“To what problem?”
“To the problem of you.” “I’m the only one who can answer the problem of me?” he said with a hint of playfulness in his voice. “I don’t know, Nouriel; it sounds like a paradox to me.”
“Am I wrong?” I asked.
“No,” he replied. “You’re not wrong.” I joined him on the bench. It was only then that he broke his gaze to look at me. “But are you ready?” he asked.
“For…?”
“The answer.”
“I hope so.” “Then let’s begin. You’re a journalist; did you bring a notepad or a recording device?”
“A recording device.”
“Good,” he said. “I thought you would have. Turn it on.”
“It’s a mystery,” said the prophet, “a kind of spiritual amnesia. When it began, they were still using God’s name, but with less and less meaning behind it. Then they started merging Him, confusing Him with the gods of the nations. And then they began turning against Him—subtly at first, then outright, then brazenly—driving Him out of their national life and bringing in idols to fill the void. The land became covered with idols and altars to foreign gods. They rejected their covenant, abandoned their standards, and exchanged the values they had always lived by for those they had never known—spirituality for sensuality, holiness for profanity, and righteousness for self-interest. They cut themselves off from the faith on which their nation had been established and became strangers to God. And as for their most innocent, their little children, they offered them up as sacrifices.”
“Literally?” I asked. “They literally killed their own children?”
“On the altars of Baal and Molech, their newfound gods. That’s how far they descended. Everything was now upside down. What they had once known as right, they now saw as outdated, intolerant, and immoral. And what they had once known as immoral, they now championed and celebrated as sacred. They had transformed themselves into the enemies of the God they had once worshiped and the faith they had once followed, until the very mention of His name was banned from their public squares.
Say what you will, but other than the reference to Baal and Molech, this entire excerpt, could be said about the United States... At least in my opinion... And for the reference to the gods having sacrificial children being given... Hey, that's not nearly as dreadful to consider as the horrendous loss of our young to human slavery to sexual deviants. Sold for the love of money by those who have no god...to those who have no god...
To me, it started when they took prayer out of schools, but again that's just my opinion.
And then it was explained that because of this ancient country's action, their hedge of protection that had been surrounding the country was taken...in 732 B.C... He went on to explain that it was necessary to refer to the past so that he could show how it was happening...again...
"Because unless you understand what happened then, you'll never understand what’s happening now.”
“Now? So it’s some kind of key?”
“A key for the appointed time, for the word to be given and for the message to go forth, but not for an ancient nation.”
“Then for what…for what nation?”
He was silent.
I asked him again, “Then for what nation?” It was only then that he voiced it.
“America,” he said. “Now for America.”
...“So it’s the appointed time for America? For a mystery to be revealed and a message to be given to America?”
“Yes.”
~~~
Now, I have to quickly say, this is almost like "I told you so," but it's really not. Recently I had a period of time that had once happened to me before... In the wink of an eye, I could not feel the presence of His Spirit... Fear and loss overcame me, as it had done before. But when it happened, I didn't remember that last time, I was just quite aware I was... alone...
Was this my own warning of what it is like when God's protective "hedge" is withdrawn? Perhaps... I can only tell you that I worked very hard until His Spirit returned and filled me. I know it is a difficult time for everybody, but for those that have already completely rejected faith of any kind... to those who capture and sell children for money to those who enslave them and worse... will this new message ever reach you?
Sorry, I was going to try to keep personal opinion out of this as much as possible... but, Hey, I live in America... Somebody's got to let the message be known...
GABixlerReviews
“You returned,” said the prophet, without any movement of his head, but still maintaining his gaze into the distance. He couldn’t possibly have seen me, but he knew I was there. It was something I could never get used to…being with someone you felt could, at any given time, see through you. “Why?” he asked, still gazing toward the waters. “Why did you return?” “Because,” I replied, “you’re the only one who can give me the answer.”
“To what?” he asked.
“To the problem.”
“To what problem?”
“To the problem of you.” “I’m the only one who can answer the problem of me?” he said with a hint of playfulness in his voice. “I don’t know, Nouriel; it sounds like a paradox to me.”
“Am I wrong?” I asked.
“No,” he replied. “You’re not wrong.” I joined him on the bench. It was only then that he broke his gaze to look at me. “But are you ready?” he asked.
“For…?”
“The answer.”
“I hope so.” “Then let’s begin. You’re a journalist; did you bring a notepad or a recording device?”
“A recording device.”
“Good,” he said. “I thought you would have. Turn it on.”
~~~
I realized something last week that I should have been immediately aware of...but just got too enthusiastic in sharing... Anyway, I realized that ultimately I could be in violation of copyright, so I'm thinking of options right now... My guess is that I will need to stop at about the same part of the book that I would have for my reviews... which is the early part of the story... more on that later...
This last week, I read a story that is based upon an apparently popular TV program. In it, the writers picked out a variety of issues to merge with a much older story. One of the selections was the Book of Revelation with particular emphasis on the Four Horsemen... It's interesting, isn't it, that no matter what religion, if any, you may follow, the fear of the end of the world is always used for "scary" tales of horror.
Many years ago when I was young and first read about the end times, I decided, in faith, that I would "be taken" before that happened... Now, as I grow old and have seen what has happened in our world, it is not so clear any more. So many stories use this as a basis upon which to write thrillers, horror books, and movies...
And yet, I can still get excited about the "possibility" just as I did when I heard the author talking on Television... This book has not taken a portion of one book and thrown it into another them... It is straight forward, based upon specific documentation... 'Nuf said about that.
The prophet started off by talking about a similar situation happening in an ancient country long ago... We all know that country, don't we?
Nouriel quickly asked why they would have turned away... Ahhh, but is that really a question he had not already thought about? Maybe. Many, many in the United States, have been asking that for many years... His response was quite specific, but not unexpected:
“Literally?” I asked. “They literally killed their own children?”
“On the altars of Baal and Molech, their newfound gods. That’s how far they descended. Everything was now upside down. What they had once known as right, they now saw as outdated, intolerant, and immoral. And what they had once known as immoral, they now championed and celebrated as sacred. They had transformed themselves into the enemies of the God they had once worshiped and the faith they had once followed, until the very mention of His name was banned from their public squares.
~~~
Say what you will, but other than the reference to Baal and Molech, this entire excerpt, could be said about the United States... At least in my opinion... And for the reference to the gods having sacrificial children being given... Hey, that's not nearly as dreadful to consider as the horrendous loss of our young to human slavery to sexual deviants. Sold for the love of money by those who have no god...to those who have no god...
To me, it started when they took prayer out of schools, but again that's just my opinion.
And then it was explained that because of this ancient country's action, their hedge of protection that had been surrounding the country was taken...in 732 B.C... He went on to explain that it was necessary to refer to the past so that he could show how it was happening...again...
"Because unless you understand what happened then, you'll never understand what’s happening now.”
“Now? So it’s some kind of key?”
“A key for the appointed time, for the word to be given and for the message to go forth, but not for an ancient nation.”
“Then for what…for what nation?”
He was silent.
I asked him again, “Then for what nation?” It was only then that he voiced it.
“America,” he said. “Now for America.”
...“So it’s the appointed time for America? For a mystery to be revealed and a message to be given to America?”
“Yes.”
~~~
Now, I have to quickly say, this is almost like "I told you so," but it's really not. Recently I had a period of time that had once happened to me before... In the wink of an eye, I could not feel the presence of His Spirit... Fear and loss overcame me, as it had done before. But when it happened, I didn't remember that last time, I was just quite aware I was... alone...
Was this my own warning of what it is like when God's protective "hedge" is withdrawn? Perhaps... I can only tell you that I worked very hard until His Spirit returned and filled me. I know it is a difficult time for everybody, but for those that have already completely rejected faith of any kind... to those who capture and sell children for money to those who enslave them and worse... will this new message ever reach you?
Sorry, I was going to try to keep personal opinion out of this as much as possible... but, Hey, I live in America... Somebody's got to let the message be known...
GABixlerReviews
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