The University of Missouri and the Problems Promised in Prophecy

Nov10by Bro. Jeff Haney

” . . . For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom . . .” – Matthew 24:7

The world has not changed for the better over the last 20 centuries.  If the Lord’s timing is different than what many people think, it will not change for the better over the next 20 centuries.  Society is, and will be, all that the Bible tells us that it is, and will be, and one of the things that the Lord Jesus told us in “bright red ink on bright white paper” is that prior to His return, that rising racial turmoil will be a hallmark of a hell bound society.  He did not give it to us as a spiritual virtue either, He gave it to us as a sign and symptom of the season before He comes again.

I remember as a younger man reading the great Olivet Discourse with eagerness to see if I could see what no one  could see, or had seen in over 2000 years.  It never happened.  What did happen was that when I came to verse 7 I would wonder if the Lord was just repeating Himself for effect when He spoke of “nation – nation – kingdom – kingdom.”  Most people think of a “nation” and a “kingdom” as the same thing; but in fact they are not.

When we look behind the king’s English we find that the word for nation is the word “ethnos” in which we get our word, “ethnic” from.  According to Dr. Strong the root and concept of this word is “race”.  Now that being said, Jesus told us that “race would rise up against race” and that kingdom or country would rise up against country.  This is not a flowering promise for people to embrace, it is a thorn for us to be aware of, and understand what it means.  It means that things are happening (as always) just as Jesus said they would.

This prophecy is a pre-revelation of the sin in society as the world keeps on turning.  And the bad news is it is going to get worse . . . before it gets better.

After reading through the happenings of the Missouri campus and listening to the talking heads the only thing I see and hear is a plethora of people who are totally confused about what to do, and have no idea about how to get a handle on it.

The fact is that every white man, and black man, and green, red, and blue man for that matter is depraved from the substance of their soul.  The Biblical terminology is our “sin nature” – every man, woman, boy and girl has it.  In the context of the Missouri problem, (whether we are talking about Ferguson, or the U of M) the depravity of man, and the spiritual ignorance of the lost has mixed together for a confusing chaos the Lord is not the author of.

There is no doubt that black people have suffered, and do suffer from the abuse of somewhite people. Only a fool denies that fact.

Neither is there any doubt that some black people are so saturated with an “entitlement” spirit and “victimhood” attitude that they think it’s morally wrong to be white.

Don’t misunderstand – there are “entitlement minded white people” as well as “abusive black people”but those are the predominant generalizations that exist in society right now.

One protester that I read of made the statement, “this is 2015, we should be past this.”  I hope I don’t sound condescending when I say this, but what makes us think “2015” has anything to do with it.  The Bible says there is nothing new under the sun.  They could very well have said “It’s 1860 we should be past this.”  They could have said, “It’s 1950 we should be past this.”  Societies and civilizations do not “advance” with the passage of time, they digress.  Admittedly, in many places the fellowship and friendship between the white man and the black man is much better in our generation than it was in the previous, at least on a social level.   On many levels however what we are seeing in Missouri is not just about “black and white” it is about “conservative and liberal.”

The events that led to the conflict were purely a racial in nature.  Some of the things that have come about since the President and other officials have stepped down, have divided people not necessarily along the racial divide, but along the conservative/liberal divide.

At the end of the day, things are happening as Jesus said they would.  It is a tragedy, but it is the truth.  There is only one thing that will change it, and the world does not want to hear it, or accept it.  It is Jesus.  When Jesus enters the heart of  a man, the man changes.  If the man doesn’t change, then Jesus didn’t come in.  Jesus does not just come in to the heart of white men.  Nor does He just change the hearts of black men.  Jesus changes the hearts of lost men.  Until the hearts are changed, the minds will never be convinced.

The problems in Missouri are unredeemed hearts, unBiblical thinking, and uninterested people.  A good solid dose of repentance of sin, and faith in Jesus Christ is the only thing that will change anything, and therefore the only change worth making.