The Final Countdown Has Began Series (Four Parts)
“Nine Alarms That Have Went Unheard” 1 of 4 Based upon Jonathan Cahn’s book & messages: “The Harbinger”
February 12, 2012 Chester First Baptist Church, Chester, Illinois Dr. Mike Fogerson, Speaker
Introduction:
A Is it possible that an ancient Scripture holds a mystery that reveals America’s future? I believe the answer is “yes.”
1 I believe that the mystery lies behind everything from 9/11, to the War on Terror, to the crash of Wall Street and the global economy, to the Great Recession and more.
a I believe that the mystery has even been confirmed in the words & actions of our nations leaders, including the president of the United States.
b I believe it is possible that this mystery contains a prophetic word/message/warning to America from God . . . a word of warning of national judgement.
2 Over the next four weeks I will be teaching a series of messages entitled, “The Final Countdown Has Began.”
a We’ll start today with “Nine Alarms That Have Went Unheard”, which will set up the next two Sundays messages; “Holy Ground Zero” and “The Reasons Why The Dollar Died.”
b On March 4, I’ll conclude this series with what promises to be one of the most controversial messages I have preached in my ministry, “Things To Look For in 2012 and Beyond.”
aa Show video (w/o sound) : “http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLNtDqDpxzI&feature=related”
bb Read Revelation 6.7-8 during the video.
cc I believe the imminent return of the Lord’s Coming is nearer than it has ever been.
c On March 4, I will show you two unedited videos, that I and other students of bible prophecy believe, could actually be one of the major satanic players during the tribulation.
B The mystery is found in Isaiah 9.10.
1 The text describes a time in Ancient Israel’s history when that mighty nation, whose foundation had been set upon God, had distanced themselves from Him and the covenant that had been established between them and the Great I Am.
a In 731 B.C., Israel was in a state of deep apostasy.
aa They had grown complacent, then confused.
bb Gradually going from apathy, antipathy, then enmity—going against the God that they had once loved, worshiped, adored.
cc Eventually persecuting those who stayed with God and even forbidding the use of His name in public places.
b In 731/732 B.C., God lifted His hedge of protection that He had placed around Israel, allowing an attack from a foreign enemy.
aa The attack was brief, limited in scope, but something on this scale had not happened in Israel before.
bb Only the coasts of the land of Israel were touched (the heartland of Israel wasn’t touched) during these attacks and suddenly Israel lost its sense of security.
cc The attack was allowed in order to bring Israel back to God.
2 Instead of returning to God Israel became more defiant by declaring their intentions to rebuild & respond in defiance to the attack in Isaiah 9.10.
a “The bricks have fallen down, But we will rebuild with smooth stones; The sycamores have been cut down, But we will replace them cedars.”
b Israel beefed up their national security by building stronger, better walls, towers (LXX).
c For 10 years there were no more attacks in Israel from their foreign enemy but they were by no means out of danger.
aa God gave Israel a grace-period to return to Him and be restored or depart further from Him and know destruction. GOD WAS SPEAKING TO ISRAEL BUT THEY WERE NOT LISTENING!
bb In 721 B.C., God allows the same armies to attack again (Isa. 9.11-12) but this time the attacks have no limits and Israel falls.
C The birth of the United States of America prophetically mirrors that of Ancient Israel’s birth.
1 In 1607, the first permanent English colony was established at Jamestown, Virginia.
a The charter for Jamestown reads,
“We, greatly commending, and graciously accepting of, their Desires for the Furtherance of so noble a Work, which may, by the Providence of Almighty God, hereafter tend to the Glory of his Divine Majesty, in propagating of Christian Religion to such People, as yet live in Darkness and miserable Ignorance of the true Knowledge and Worship of God.”
b America was established to be a City on a Hill, a light to the nations, beacon of hope (much more on this next week).
2 America, like Ancient Israel, has wondered away from God, Word, Purpose, Precepts.
a Slowly and silently at first, then quickly and loudly rejecting God.
aa Taking up other gods/idols in His place.
bb Pride, power, money, greed, sexual perversions, . . . they are all gods/idols.
b On September 11, 2001, God lifted the hedge of protection on the most powerful, prosperous nation the world had ever known.
aa Nineteen men acting on the orders of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, armed with box cutters, operating under demonic power and 4 jumbo jets breached the most sophisticated and technologically advanced defense system in history, crippling our nation and sending her (and the world) into a tail spin that we still not came out of.
bb The hedge was lifted (Limited in scope, time, reach, intensity, heartland untouched)
3 Between the attack on Israel in 731/732 B.C. and her destruction in 721/720 B.C., there were 9 alarms sounded . . . but they didn’t listen.
a These same 9 alarms have reappeared/manifested themselves on American soil . . . all of them linked to Isaiah 9.10.
b If we do not respond to the alarms I believe that America will mirror the end game/destruction if we do not turn back to God.
c Let us identify these 9 alarms that have been sounding since September 11, 2001.
I Alarm One: The Breach
A In 732 B.C. Israel’s enemies invade the land and wreck havoc: traumatizing the nation.
1 The attack is brief, limited but is also a foreshadowing of something much greater/more severe that the nation would not recover.
a Has Israel been in God’s Will the attack never would have happened. (The walls would not have been breached, no kingdom/empire/power on earth could have touched Israel)
b Outside His will, once the hedge was removed the nation was in danger (National security or invincibility was an illusion).
2 After the attack on Israel they determined to build the walls that had been destroyed better, taller, stronger.
a Until Israel returned to God there was no wall strong enough to protect them.
b Israel missed there wake-up call & went back to life as normal (respite of peace, but only calm before the storm of greater judgement).
B America was the most powerful, blessed nation in the world all because it had enjoyed God’s favor & hedge of protection . . . but on 9/11 that hedge was removed and judgement came upon us as a nation.
1 Evil men planned & were behind 9/11 but to this point they had been restrained and when the hedge was lifted by God . . . these men/plans were allowed to occur.
a God can cause that which is evil to work for good (Rom. 8.28) and the good in this case is awaken a sleeping nation, to change its course, to save it from destruction. (Hard to hear)
aa When calamity came to Israel both righteous/unrighteous were touched; both perished because the judgement was upon the nation. Same w/ 9/11!
bb Not only evil people perished, but so did innocents.
b The tragedies of 9/11 were twofold: private (calamity & sorrow) & public (judgement).
aa The charge in the first realm is to bind up the broken, comfort, support, never forget the wounded.
bb The second realm is very different but just as real! Judgement, national judgement.
c Abraham Lincoln saw the Civil War (where hundreds of thousands perished) as the judgement of a righteous God–not on any one individual but on the nation as a whole.
aa And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment, inflicted upon us, for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole People? We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us! It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.
bb The senate adopted this resolution on 3/3/1863, Lincoln signed it 3/30/1863 & the nation prayed & fasted on April 30. (God allowed 732 B.C. to happen, Civil War, 9/11 . . . not the question. The question is the reason. Was there a redemptive purpose.)
2 On 9/11, people where asking “Where was God?” (We drove Him out of our schools, government, media, culture, town square, national life . . . then we have the audacity to ask, “Where is God?”)
a He was there! In every firefighter, EMT, hero. Healing the broken, comforting those who mourn. Saving many who would have perished had he not been there.
b Those who did perish . . . those who were with God in life are now with Him n eternity.
aa To them, 9/11 wasn’t a national calamity but a release into eternity. He was with them and is with them.
bb Hard, difficult . . . but it’s true.
3 Immediately after 9/11, there was a rush back to church that lasted about 3 weeks then life has went back to normal.
II Alarm Two: The Terrorists
A The nation that attacked Israel in 732 B.C. was Assyria (Is. 10.5).
1 God used a wicked & cruel people to awaken Israel from her spiritual malaise, rebellion.
a The Assyrians came from the mountains of Northern Mesopatina & lived in the shadows of greater, more powerful kingdoms/nations.
aa Around 1,000 B.C. they began to gain power, strength.
bb They began conquering surrounding lands (Babylon, Syria, Lebanon, Persia, Egypt).
b The Assyrians were militaristic (developed the moving tower, battering ram)
aa Also, perhaps one of the most brutal people that walked the face of the earth. Name was synonymous with TERROR!
bb Burned cities to the ground, mutilated their prisoners, flayed people alive and nailed their skins to the wall for public display, throw people off cliffs, cut the tongues out of the opposing armies soldiers.
2 They pioneered terrorism: The systemic application of terror, violence, & intimidation to achieve a specific end. (Terrorism is a science) and it is the Assyrians dark gift to the world.
a Anytime an act of terrorism is executed it is an echo from Assyria, the spiritual father of every terrorist.
b Nineviah (BTW, Capital of ancient Assyria), Aushwitz, Pearl Harbor, Caves of Afghanistan to Osama Bin Laden to 19 Al-Queda hijackers of 9/11 . . .it all goes back to Assyria.
aa Their language, which is now dead was Acadian, its sister language is Arabic: The language of the 9/11 hijackers.
bb As the tragedy of that days events unfolded the phrasing, pacing of the ancient Acadian language was being spoken by the attackers as they breached the walls.
B Shortly after Israel was attacked by Assyria she became engaged in war with that nation.
1 After 9/11, America entered a war with Afghanistan and Iraq. Why Iraq?
a In northern Iraq, near Mosul, our soldiers had a base.
b Just outside Mosul is a historical and ancient site. It is the ancient remains of a city called Nineveh, the capital city of Assyrian Empire. (No doubt American soldiers passed by or fought descendants of those who warred with Ancient Israel: walking on the same soil as ancient Assyrians.)
2 The link between Ancient Israel and Modern America is found in Assyria, terrorists from Assyria.
III Alarm Three: The Bricks Have Fallen Down. (The bricks have fallen down . . . Is. 9.10)
A After Israel was attacked in 732 B.C. it assessed the damages and found that the bricks had fallen.
1 The bricks used in construction were made of sun dried bricks of mud that would have to be replaced often with . . . more sun dried bricks.
a The immediate image Ancient Israel saw after the Assyrians attacked would have been piles of bricks, ruble of fallen walls/buildings.
b The bricks were a sign of collapse of not only what did happen but what would happen; of a building, the collapse of a kingdom, and then of a civilization.
2 After the smoked of 9/11 cleared we are quick to remember the mammoth piles of ruins that were once the World Trade Center. (Piles of steel, concrete, glass and . . . bricks.)
B The WTC was symbol of America’s economic power, pride, majestic, towering . . . w/in hours it all came crashing down.
IV Alarm Four: The Tower (But we will rebuild with smooth stones . . . Is. 9.10)
A The Greek Translation of the O.T. (Septuagint) “ The bricks are fallen down, but come, let us hew stones, . . . and let us build for ourselves a tower.” Isaiah 9.10 LXX (Septuagint)
1 The leadership of Ancient Israel vows to rebuild bigger, better, higher, stronger. (Is. 9.10, TLB)
a The attack that was bring repentance, revival, restoration in relationship was meet with defiance.
b Instead of turning back to God they vow to come on stronger on their own!
2 They were going to use better materials, hewn stoned.
B After 9/11 the natural response is a call to rebuild but the words that came from our leaders is what is striking for they make the same vow as their counterparts in Ancient Israel did.
1 Mayor, Governor of New York, Senators Clinton & Shurmer all say “We will rebuild!”
a “Tomorrow New York is going to be here. And we're going to rebuild, and we're going to be stronger than we were before... I want the people of New York to be an example to the rest of the country, and the rest of the world, that terrorism can't stop us.” - Giuliani
b As a symbol of America's resolve, my administration will work with Congress, and these two leaders, to show the world that we will rebuild New York City. -Pres. Bush, 9/20/01
2 The words were followed with action.
a After the rubble of the Twin Towers was removed a sign was erected on the site, “A new icon will soon arise above the Lower Manhattan skyline . . . the Freedom Tower.”
b It is an icon of defiance! Senator John Kerry (9/12/01), “I believe one of the first things we should commit to –with federal help that underscores our nation’s purpose–is to rebuild the towers of the World Trade Center and show the world we are not afraid—WE ARE DEFIANT!.”
3 Donald Trump said this about the project: “ . . .we should have the World Trade Center bigger and better...What I want to see built is the World Trade center stronger and maybe a story taller.”
a Not about bigger, better, stronger as much as it is defience.
b To replace bricks with bricks is restoration, replacing bricks with hewn stone is defiance: To rebuild what was destroyed is restoration, to boast of rebuilding stronger/greater than before is defiance.
V Alarm Five: The Gazit Stone “ . . . But we will rebuild with smooth stones . . .” Hewn (KJV), Cut (NCT), Finished (NLT), Dressed (NIV)
A After the bricks had fallen in Ancient Israel they replaced them with a very particular type of stone: quarried. (Carved from a mountain, shaped, smoothed...called a Gazit Stone.)
1 These stones are not made out of clay but cut or quarried out of the mountains.
a Same kind of stone used to build the Temple (1 Kings 5.17) & the walls of Jerusalem.
b Very expensive (Stronger, better, bigger, etc.)
2 How does this tie into to 9/11 & Ground Zero?
B The first stone used in the construction of Freedom Tower was a hewn stone from New York granite and lowered in by a crane in a ceremony on July 4, 2004.
1 Gov. George Pataki said,
a “Today is indeed a momentous day. Today we take 20 tons of Adirondack granite – the bedrock of our state – and place it as the foundation, the bedrock of a new symbol of American strength and confidence. Today, we lay the cornerstone for a new symbol of this city and this country and our resolve in the face of terror. Today we build the Freedom Tower.”
b This block of quarried granite was the hewn or cut stone in rebuilding the nation.
2 He went on to say, “Today we the heirs of that revolutionary spirt of defiance, lay the cornerstone. . . “
a Some years later, that stone was removed because the building plans changed and it was in the way.
b They could have stayed home because whatever they tried to do that day would mean nothing. . . and there is the point.
VI Alarm Six: The Sycamore ( . . . The sycamores have been cut down . . .) Is. 9.10
A When the Assyrians came into Israel they didn’t just lay low the buildings, but also the land ...especially the sycamore tree.
1 The uprooting of the sycamore tree is a biblical symbol of judgement
a The bricks falling in Israel was foreshadowing of the nations collapse: The sycamore being cut down is a foreshadowing of the uprooting of kingdom.
b The sycamore tree commonly grows in the Mid East and Africa, Hebrew shakam.
aa Also known as a fig mulberry . . . how do we sycamore from fig mulberry.
bb Greek word for fig is sukos and mulberry is moros. Sukamoros or “Sycamore”
c The Mid Eastern sycamore doesn’t grow in the North East United States but a variety of that tree does, called the English sycamore.
2 The Assyrians would have been interested cutting down the sycamore, but the terrorists of 9/11 didn’t care about cutting down trees. . . but they did.
B On 9/11 more than 2 billion pounds of steel came crashing to the ground (Registered on the Richter Scale).
1 When the North Tower fell, a steel beam was hurled through the sky and struck down a Sycamore tree on a little plot of land at the border of Ground Zero.
a This sycamore tree became a focal point of interest in the days after 9/11.
aa Police, firefighters and volunteers would go this tree to pray and find hope.
bb Became known as the Sycamore of Ground Zero and within it’s uprooted root system was . . . a brick.
b It was not a Fig Mulberry, but an English Sycamore; the alarm is translated into the context of the nation which it appears and the people it is directed to.
2 If a tree falls and no one hears it, does it make a sound.
a For those who do hear it, it calls them to repentance, warning, and a call to redemption.
b For those who do not hear it, it is the sound of judgement.
VII Alarm Seven: The Erez Tree “ The sycamores have been cut down, But we will replace them with cedars.” Is. 9.10.
A Israel doesn’t replace the sycamore with a sycamore, but a cedar (defiance)
1 The sycamore is a knotty, spongy, not particulary strong tree.
a Kinda of the clay bricks of trees.
aa The sycamore is a common tree, grew crocked on the lower lands, got about 50 ft. tall.
bb Cedar is an exotic tree, grew tall & straight (100 ft. plus) in the mountains. DEFIANCE!
b Ceder is an English world: the original word is “Erez.”
aa It’s an evergreen (cones, leaves are needle-like)
bb The Erez Tree a coniferous tree (conifer tree), AKA pinacea tree.
cc Not all coniferous evergreen is necessarily an evergreen; The Erez is a pinacea (cedar, spruce, the pine, fir) and a pinacea tree would replace the sycamore.
2 The Erez becomes a symbol of a nations defience.
a In the spot the sycamore was uprooted an Erez (pinacea/confifer evergreen) would be planted.
b It was supposed to send a message of national hope, strength, confidence, resurgence . . . actually a message of defiance.
B After 9/11, the sycamore was removed from the place it fell (even the roots system) and another tree was planted in that exact same spot.
1 In November 2003, a tree was planted in the sycamores spot; an evergreen (Erez tree)
a Just as bricks had been replaced with quarried stones, the sycamore is replaced with a cedar (a sister tree of the cedar of Lebanon.)
b The evergreen was lowered by a crane, with great ceremony, exalting the human experience.
aa “The Tree of Hope is planted in the very spot where a sixty-year-old sycamore stood the morning of September 11, 2001. . . This Ground Zero Tree of Hope will be a sign of the indomitable nature of human hope . . . “
bb Sign of the indomitable . . . .meaning unconquerable.
2 The Ground Zero Tree of Hope was a sign, but not of the hope it proclaimed. (Sign of the nation’s defiant rejection of God’s call to return, repentance, renewal.)
a America was following the ancient footsteps of Ancient Israel.
b It is an omen, warning for the future.
Conclusion:
A Next Sunday, I will be revealing the last two alarms. (Very different than the first 7 because they deal with the entire prophecy as a whole)
1 They will be Alarm 8: The Utterance and Alarm 9: The Prophecy.
Notice to Sermon Central Users:
My name is Mike Fogerson, and I pastor a Southern Baptist Church in Chester, Illinois. I have been a long-time user of Sermon Central and truly appreciate its content and contributors. Some of the best sermons I’ve ever preached have been reworked material from this website. As you use the material from my sermon bank, understand that it is work that has been done from not just myself, but from hundreds of other pastors as well. If you see part of your message, or a bunch of your message with my name on it and this upsets you, please email me and I will quickly respond and cite you as the main source. My intent is not to claim someone’s work as my own. I am disclaiming up front that I use the resources from Sermon Central and appreciate the tool. I simply want all those who use my work to know that some of these messages were inspired by the Holy Spirit working through other pastors. Because I do use the messages of other pastors I waive all claims of originality or origin of creativity for the messages posted under my messages. I pray God blesses your preaching ministry for the glory of His Kingdom.
Respectfully,
Mike Fogerson
