Are we experiencing the 'rod of His anger'?

Are the socio-religious and political developments of our present day an example of how God expressed His displeasure in ancient times? Would the Almight describe the things which are coming upon us as a "Rod of My Anger?"

Assyrian warriors

SOME YEARS AGO in a trans-Atlantic telephone conversation, a former surgeon in the USA who has, since his retirement, hosted a radio station called Radio Liberty, gave his view on the subject of men living a certain life-style with regard to relationships and sexual behaviour.
It was at the time when the scourge of HIV/AIDS first hit the headlines and from his observations, Dr. Stanley Monteith described two sub-sets within the the grouping which were most vulnerable to this modern-day malady.

One those sub-groups he described one set as being decent, hard-working, community-spirited; kind to grannies and animals; quiet in their demeanour and good neighbours;monogamous and faithful to their chosen life-partner.
The other sub-group comprised of individuals who seemed to the docter to be crass, aggressive, highly promiscuous, perhaps violent, crude, arrogant, pushy, in-your-face, loud and proud.

God gave them over....

The context of his analysis was to outline his view that he believed there is a point in human behaviour (aka rebellion) where God gives up on those who persistently reject his rules and authority over their lives. One of the main scriptural references which Dr. Monteith used to support his thesis was (and is) taken from Paul's letter to the Romans: the recurring refrain is 'God gave them over'.

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is for ever praised. Amen.
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
Furthermore, since they did not think it worth while to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. Rom 1.24-28

However while the above relates to aberrant sexual behaviours, we can see from our Bibles the principle has outworked itself in previous millennia and in other forms.

Sin is sin; and sin brings judgement

The nation of Israel was effectively a nation under God; chosen by Him and expected to align itself with His statutes. Yet early in the nation's history, the Almighty 'gave them over' as a response to their persistent clamouring for an earthly sovereign. While there were notable exceptions the general outcome brought disaster and the people fell into deep and various sin.

In the catalogue of woes listed by Amos we find the repeating accusation: '"Yet you have not returned to me", declares the Lord' (Amos 4:8ff). The eventual outcome from the ten northern tribes was the invasion and subsequent captivity of Israel by the Assyrians who, through the prophet Isaiah, God decribed as "the rod of my anger" (Is 10:5).

What we are seeing in North Africa at the moment could be a 21st century repetition of much earlier times, with the Coptic Christians in Egypt experiencing today the same apprehensions as their predecessor felt in the 7th century when nascent Islam swept along that Mediterranean coastline.

A modern invasion and captivity

We are witnessing the effects of a post-Christian society producing political policies and new legislation which are increasingly being employed to limit freedom of expression and public profession of the Christian faith.

Meanwhile militants from a different faith backround run amok in our streets carrying placards speying hate and calling for the death of British soldiers while police officers look on and take no action.

It is an interesting question which is sometimes asked: "Was God the ultimate instigator of the Holocaust?" (cf Job 1:8). Whatever the answer, we can safely say, in His omnipotence, that He allowed it. We can also say Hitler's demonic plan was substanially instrumental in fulfilling the recreation of the Jewish state and the nation of Israel as fore-ordained by God (Isa 11:11-12; Ezek 38:8; Zech 10:9-10).

Just as in an earlier age the ten northern tribes were overrun in 722BC by Tiglath-Pileser III, so were Judah and Benjamim taken captive into Babylon over a century later by Nebuchadnezzar II.

Now a modern-day Babylon in the form of the European Union is imposing its dictatorial will through crippling legislation upon those countries that are within its sway. The very vocal supporters of this godless empire have now all gone quiet, as to argue in favour of the burgeoning superstate would display a remarkable naivety in relation to the increasingly explicit agendas and political subterfuge which runs in the veins of this latter-day Frankenstein. The former anti-communist dissident Vladimir Bukovsky put it so well: 'I have lived in your future, and it didn't work.

Could it be – and in a paradoxical alliance of strange bedfellows — that the forces of secular humanism, political intrigue and radical Islam will today be what God would term: "the rod of My anger?"

Has God indeed given us, as a nation, over to the rod of His anger?

Biographical notes:
Dr. Stanley Monteith, a former orthopedic surgeon for 35 years, has for over 40 years traveled the world and researched extensively about the people and organizations who work to bring our nation, as well as the rest of the world, under the control of the international corporate elite.
His principal areas of expertise are the organizational, spiritual, and medical aspects of this phenomenon.
Dr. Monteith currently spends five hours daily on talk radio across the nation. He writes extensively, and lectures on geopolitics. He is the author of AIDS: The Unnecessary Epidemic and his most recent book Brotherhood of Darkness is in its 8th printing.

Vladimir Bukovsky is a notable former Soviet political dissenter, author and political activist. He was one of the first to expose the use of psychiatric imprisonment against political prisoners in the Soviet Union.He spent a total of twelve years in Soviet prisons, labor camps and in psikhushkas, forced-treatment psychiatric hospitals used by the government as special prisons.
Since 1976 Bukovsky has lived in Cambridge, England, focusing on neurophysiology and writing. He received a Masters Degree in Biology and has written several books and political essays.

A View from Here, 13/02/2011