Weather Or Not

If you’re only listening to this podcast you’ll likely miss the play on words I did with the heading, but I used the word for atmospheric activity when I said weather or not on purpose. You may not know it but one author, Bill Koenig did the research and makes a pretty good case for God allowing storms or other natural disasters to hit nations that treat Israel harshly. I know there are some who are already tuning me out and getting their poison pens out to disparage this line of thinking, but stay with me a little longer before you call me and Mr. Koenig crazy Bible thumpers who are making things up to look like we know it better than others. The Bible does tell us that how we treat His chosen people will affect those nations. It goes both ways with blessings and curses depending on the actions. And I’ll give you a great deal of examples to make this point. But first let’s look at the verses themselves. First is this one:

The Lord’s vengeance will soon fall upon all Gentile nations. As you have done to Israel, so will it be done to you. Your acts will boomerang upon your heads.(Obad 1:15, TLB)

Then there is this one:

 In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
 I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land.(Joel 3:1-2: NIV)

And this one which I use a lot:

And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who [a]curses you I will [b]curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” (Gen 12:3, NASB1995)

Now let’s get to those examples.

Not Happy

This one’s an old one, but it really makes the point and it’s one you may not have ever heard before. September 1938 was a critical month in world history. All eyes were on Hitler and his move to take over the world. All the newspaper headlines were abuzz with the developing events in Europe as war seemed imminent. Hitler had already annexed Austria and was now looking to split up the Czech Republic. All the world looked to America and many reasoned that only the American president, Franklin D. Roosevelt had the stature and presence to reason with Hitler and stop his move to war. But Roosevelt did nothing more than call a summit where the German mad man was appeased and Czechoslovakia was dismantled. Nazi Germany was emboldened. After seeing that the world was not going to stop them, their plan to exterminate all Jews ramped up. It was open season on German Jews and America did nothing to stop them. God was watching and responded with remarkable preciseness. Then something happened off the coast of the United States.

The Great New England Hurricane Of 1938

While most of the country was hearing about Hitler, a massive storm was heading up the eastern coast. Meteorologists generally thought this category 3 storm was moving away from the coast and out to sea, but it didn’t and rammed into Long Island, NY with such force that seismographs all the way to Alaska felt it. With winds topping out at 186 miles per hour the hurricane devastated the New England area killing an estimated two billion trees and altering the coastline permanently. But the really telling part of this storm is the eye of the storm. The center of activity for this storm was an amazing fifty miles wide. And when it hit land where it struck was important to note. It hit Yaphand, Long Island where Camp Ziegfried was located. This was the center of the recent anti-Jewish movement in America and where there was even an Adolph Hitler Street named. The largest Nazi rally in the world apart from those in Germany was held there. And one of the deadliest hurricanes in our history went right at it. Coincidence? The headlines of all the newspapers had the Hitler appeasement and the hurricane side by side. You just needed to look at the events with the proper perspective to see the connection. Few people did, but in hindsight the events were connected. Turn your back on Israel and God will turn His back on you. You see Israel is the apple of his eye:

 For thus says the Lord of hosts: “He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you touches the [a]apple of His eye. (Zech 2:8, NKJV)

On September 21, 1938, the largest American Nazi rally occurred and a mere three weeks later the eye of the storm raced directly for that location and nailed it. Poke God in His eye and there will be consequences.

Going Faster Now

Trust me when I tell you I have a lot more examples, but I’ll get to more recent ones now. America and dividing Israel’s land is key here. God promised a portion of land to His people the Jews when they returned to their land and if anyone tries to take that land away, He will judge those who even propose it. The Madrid peace process in October 1991 really makes my point. President George H. W. Bush was riding high after our victory over Iraq in Operation Desert Storm. His popularity ratings were above 90% and his reelection was almost assured. Then he decided to begin a peace process for the Middle East. The heart of the plan involved Israel giving up its covenant land for peace with Egypt, Syria and the Palestinians. While President Bush was in Spain trying to force Israel to give up land for peace, a powerful storm developed off Nova Scotia catching the National Weather Bureau totally by surprise. It wasn’t an accident that President Bush's home in Kennebunkport, Maine was hit by it on the same day he attempted to touch the covenant land of Israel. But there’s more.

President Clinton

It also gets personal. On January 21, 1998, Prime Minister Netanyahu met with President Clinton to discuss giving up land. Netanyahu was close to losing his position in Israel and feared his government was in doubt. Shortly after he refused to do that it was the Clinton presidency that was shaken when the Lewinsky scandal broke that same day. The same day as President Clinton became the first president to visit Palestine he was officially impeached. Actually the vote was at the exact moment his plane landed. In fact, at every turn of his impeachment proceedings Clinton was pressuring Israel to not only give up land, but also to divide Jerusalem.

Hurricane Katrina

When Bush 43 pressured Israel to give up the Gaza Strip with an agreed timetable to withdraw from these settlements, a timetable set in April with great pressure from President Bush and Secretary of State Rice, was being enforced by Jewish soldiers starting on August 16 and ended on August 23. As the last settlements were emptied, a tropical depression formed over the Bahamas that would eventually become Hurricane Katrina, displacing thousands and becoming the worst natural disaster in US history. So as Israelis were forced to leave their homes Hurricane Katrina was doing the same thing to Americans. The similarities were too obvious to overlook.

The Cost Of Cursing Israel

Of the top ten natural disasters listed by FEMA, nine were related to America pressuring Israel to divide its covenant land. Of the 47 billion dollar disasters listed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 20 were linked to this same reason.

President Obama

On April 19, 2010, President Obama announced that the United States would no longer automatically stand with Israel against UN Security Council actions against them. On April 20, the Deep Water Horizon Oil Drilling rig exploded resulting in the worst environmental disaster in our history. On Thursday, May 19, 2011, President Obama made the statement that Israel should withdraw to the pre Six Day War borders. At 6:00pm on Sunday, May 22, 2011, Joplin, Missouri was practically destroyed by a tornado with many dead and missing. Lest we leave out the Republicans in this again, in August 2012 on the day Hurricane Isaac formed as a tropical storm, the Republican platform committee voted to add a “two-state” position pertaining to Israel for formal convention approval.

Now Trump

Koenig has sent his book Eye to Eye: Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel to every President including the current one. As we can see they don’t seem to be listening. Right now US President Donald Trump is pushing for a Middle East peace deal that would give control of the Gaza Strip to Arab nations and is unequivocally telling Israel they can’t annex Judea and Samaria. Both areas were promised to Israel by God and by doing so is once again guilty of dividing the land. So what is happening as he does this? Think Hurricanes Huberto and Imelda and then what is called the Fujiwhara Effect. In an article from the New York Post we read this:

Two tropical cyclones are barreling through the Atlantic on a potential collision course — and in the unlikely event that they clash, a freak weather event merging them into one monster storm could wreak havoc along the East Coast. Tropical Storm Humberto formed in the North Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday and is expected to become a major hurricane this weekend, while another system looming in the Caribbean may strengthen into Tropical Storm Imelda in the coming days, according to Fox Weather meteorologist Greg Diamond. But if these two storms get too close, they could trigger the rare phenomenon known as the Fujiwhara Effect. What happens next depends on each system’s size and strength — but in rare cases, they can smash together and create one giant superstorm, according to the National Weather Service.

If you are fascinated by the weather and a student of Bible prophecy this doesn’t look too good for the US. We can understand the times in relation to Israel and America simply by watching the weather. And as we do, we can continue to pray for the peace of Israel, a peace obtained without losing the land God promised them.