Wyoming advances doomsday bill

This news excerpt is from the Wyoming Star-Tribune. It is not a spoof.

Wyoming House advances doomsday bill
"CHEYENNE — State representatives on Friday advanced legislation to launch a study into what Wyoming should do in the event of a complete economic or political collapse in the United States. House Bill 85 passed on first reading by a voice vote. It would create a state-run government continuity task force, which would study and prepare Wyoming for potential catastrophes, from disruptions in food and energy supplies to a complete meltdown of the federal government. The task force would look at the feasibility of Wyoming issuing its own alternative currency, if needed. And House members approved an amendment Friday by state Rep. Kermit Brown, R-Laramie, to have the task force also examine conditions under which Wyoming would need to implement its own military draft, raise a standing army, and acquire strike aircraft and an aircraft carrier. The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. David Miller, R-Riverton, has said he doesn’t anticipate any major crises hitting America anytime soon. But with the national debt exceeding $15 trillion and protest movements growing around the country, Miller said Wyoming — which has a comparatively good economy and sound state finances — needs to make sure it’s protected should any unexpected emergency hit the U.S. Several House members spoke in favor of the legislation, saying there was no harm in preparing for the worst."

More at link

This reminds me of Daniel 5:1-5. Here is a portion:

"Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine in the presence of the thousand. While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave the command to bring the gold and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple which had been in Jerusalem, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple of the house of God which had been in Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone. In the same hour the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king’s countenance changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his hips were loosened and his knees knocked against each other."

I like John MacArthur's sermon title for this scripture, "Divine Graffiti: The End of an Empire'

If you look at the verses immediately prior to when the King's "loins were loosed" (KJV) you will see the several egregious sins that the King was engaged in. He desecrated the Temple artifacts. He was having a drunken orgy. He was worshiping idols, and not just worshiping idols but worshiping them with the Temple artifacts. It is a mini-abomination of desolation. God intervened. The Babylonian Empire fell.

The chapter of Daniel 5 is a good look at what causes the end of an empire. When does God's patience and longsuffering run out? As Pastor MacArthur describes the cycle, "civilization follows the very same pattern. It rises to its heights. At its height, it is filled with pride. In the midst of its pride, and self-indulgence, and materialism it begins to descend into degeneration, and debauchery, and evil. And as it descends, it comes closer and closer to its destruction."

America is following that cycle. It is obvious that America is sliding fast downhill to the dung heap of former empires, former great kingdoms. In Matthew 5:14, Jesus tells his listeners, "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden." As the Puritans came to America and founded our nation, John Winthrop said on board the Arbella in 1630--

"For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world." Winthrop closes with this:

"But if our hearts shall turn away, so that we will not obey, but shall be seduced, and worship other Gods, our pleasure and profits, and serve them; it is propounded unto us this day, we shall surely perish out of the good land whither we pass over this vast sea to possess it. Therefore let us choose life, that we and our seed may live, by obeying His voice and cleaving to Him, for He is our life and our prosperity."

These words are so true! They are mirrored in Belshazzar's actions, his squandering of the gifts and opportunities God had offered. King Belshazzar's heart had turned away from God, was seduced, sought pleasure and profits, and he perished out of the good land. It is the same with America, and with any nation that follows this trajectory.

Back to Wyoming. By now in 2012, who doesn't see the writing on the wall? Hollywood certainly does. Every other movie that emerges from the movie city is an ode to evil and doomsday. The hearts of Christians all around the world certainly see the writing on the wall, knowing God's heart and His justice. Even the lost are also seeing the writing on the wall, as the legislators in Wyoming demonstrate. Though the article quotes "University of Wyoming political science professor Jim King said the potential for a complete unraveling of the U.S. government and economy is “astronomically remote” in the foreseeable future" we know different. Even the lost do. Belshazzar didn't know what the writing said at first, but he certainly understood its general meaning! His bowels loosed, his face went pale and his mind went blank. Initially he didn't have to know what the writing said to spiritually understand that it meant something very, very bad was about to happen.

When does God end His patience and then turn to justice? "In Psalm 19:7, it says, "The wicked shall be turned to hell and all the nations that forget God." The doom of a nation is spelled when it forgets God," preached MacArthur.

When a nation not only forgets God, but mocks God, tests God, and desecrates God, they have sealed their own doom. Will a "Doomsday Bill" stave off the effects of what is coming? Babylon thought itself impregnable. It was a huge city, 15 miles square. Its walls were 87 feet thick. It had trained soldiers upon the towers to look out. The city had the Euphrates running through it so there was a fresh water supply. They thought they had made all the preparations necessary. If they had a legislature they would have passed a 'doomsday bill.' They were "prepped."

But Cyrus and the Medes/Persians were encamped outside. The King was having this drunken orgiastic God-mocking festival in the midst of armies surrounding the city, but all Cyrus had to do was dam the river and as the water levels fell, the scouts advanced into the city, killed the guards, and threw the gates open. Done.

Remember, the best preparation, the ONLY preparation, for the future is to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior. If you confess your sins to Him in repentance, acknowledging Him as the risen and living God whose substitutionary death on the cross and accepting God's wrath for sin, made it possible for us to know Him as friend and not an enemy, you are prepared! Relying on a Doomsday Bill isn't going to cut it.

When the nation falls it falls fast. Though Babylon's slide was long and slow the end came quickly. The empire fell that very night. America's slide has been long and slow. Those who know God and even those who do not know God understand the writing on the wall has appeared. We don't know what will be the precipitating event to cause God to say His cup of wrath is full, but we do know one thing. No amount of preparing, no amount of doomsday bills, no amount of blue-ribbon task forces will withstand God's anger at a nation whose light has gone out.

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