The Parable of the Hurricanes

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=168 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="129a11c3.png"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Welcome to the Heart4God Website!"><U><B><IMG SRC="4b55a500.png" border=0 width="90" height="80" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Writings of Joseph Herrin"><U><B>Writings by Date</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id212.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Writings of Joseph Herrin Organized "><U><B>Writings by Topic</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.heart4god.ws/Audio/index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.heart4god.ws/Audio/index.htm"><U><B>Audio Files</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id690.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Videos"><U><B>Videos</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id323.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Writings of Others"><U><B>Other Authors</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id324.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id339.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Questions and Answers"><U><B>Q&A</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id328.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Heart4God Email List"><U><B>Heart4God E-mail List</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com"><U><B>Parables Blog</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id306.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="File Downloads"><U><B><IMG SRC="2b264140.png" border=0 width="100" height="20" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <bR> <div> <B>The Parable of the Hurricanes</B></div> <div> <IMG SRC="c2827160.png" border=0 width="807" height="22" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Joseph Herrin (8-27-06) </div> <bR> <bR> <div> Luke 21:25-26 </div> <div> “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars and upon the earth, dismay among nations in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world...”</div> <bR> <div> Mark 4:11-12 </div> <div> And He was saying to them, "To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God; but those who are outside get everything in parables, in order that while seeing, they may see and not perceive; and while hearing, they may hear and not understand lest they return and be forgiven. "</div> <bR> <div> Jesus Christ, Yahshua the Messiah, stated to His disciples that His return to the Earth would be preceded by signs in Sun and Moon and stars and upon the Earth. I have written previously about some of the signs in the heavens that have occurred recently including Mars closest approach to the Earth since Adam was created. This occurred in August 2003. Mars is a harbinger of war and is accompanied by its two moons Phobos (Fear) and Deimos (Panic). The sign was given to indicate things coming upon the earth.</div> <bR> <div> Another sign occurred a few months later on October 28, 2003 as the third largest solar flare ever recorded erupted from sunspot 486, preceded by a coronal mass ejection that was aimed in the Earth’s direction. This sign from the “Sun of Righteousness” (Malachi 4:2) points to the fulfillment of Psalms 48:6,</div> <bR> <div> Psalms 48:6 </div> <div> Panic seized them there, anguish, as of a woman in childbirth.</div> <bR> <div> Even signs in the heavens are confirmed by two or more witnesses, and these two heavenly signs occurring close together speak of the wars, distresses, fear and panic that are coming upon the Earth. They also testify that the Lord’s return is drawing closer. Yahshua declared that the days before His return would be similar to a woman in labor, about to give birth. Even as her contractions grow closer together and more severe, so will those things coming upon the earth. Fear and panic will be the portion of multitudes, for most will not have found for themselves the Ark of the Lord, the safety and peace of His presence which is reserved for those who know His voice and walk in righteousness.</div> <bR> <div> Yahshua spoke of another event preceding His return, and this is described as “nations in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves.” Merriam Webster’s Online Dictionary defines the word perplexity in this way:</div> <bR> <div> perplexity: the state of being perplexed</div> <div> perplexed: unable to grasp something clearly or to think logically and decisively about something. </div> <bR> <div> Every sign has a message inherent in it. The signs stand as parables, a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. Although the parables are simple stories, the spiritual meaning is hidden from those whose minds are darkened by sin. Christ spoke all things to the multitudes in parables, but when He went aside with His disciples He explained to them all things. Those outside are given all things in parables that they might remain in darkness, “that while seeing they may not perceive.” Those outside are “perplexed” about the signs occurring upon the earth. Yet for those who walk in righteousness, this is not the case. Daniel prophesied the following concerning the last days before the return of Christ.</div> <bR> <div> Daniel 12:10 </div> <div> Many will be purged, purified and refined; but the wicked will act wickedly, and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand.</div> <bR> <div> In this late hour many signs are being given upon the earth. The sea and the waves are roaring loudly the message of God. Few, however, perceive the message. They remain in perplexity. Following is the parable of the 2005 hurricane season as it relates to America.</div> <bR> <div> America has a wicked city by the name of New Orleans. The city is renowned for its tolerance of sexual sin, of open acts of immorality performed in her streets. This city arrogantly boasts about her sinful excesses and invites America and the world to come and participate in her debauched festivals. The murder rate of New Orleans is ten times the national average. For decades many perverse customs have been carried out during the annual Mardi Gras celebration. Women publicly bare their breasts and resort to other immoral behavior, performing “favors” for any strange man who will give them a string of beads. This in turn gave rise to the production and distribution of the sexually impure “Girl’s Gone Wild” videos that are now distributed around the world.</div> <bR> <div> Yet New Orleans has even worse things to flaunt in the face of God. In 1972 a group of friends held the first “Southern Decadence” event with 40-50 friends. This homosexual event has grown to an attendance of 120,000 homosexuals who gather from across America and the world. The events are so perverse, and the public behavior so immoral, that in 2004 a local pastor sent a video of homosexual acts being performed on city streets to Mayor Nagin and the city council of New Orleans. The response revealed that the politicians of New Orleans care more for the estimated $100 million that is generated through this event, than for pleasing a holy God who has declared homosexuality to be unnatural behavior.</div> <bR> <div> Romans 1:24-28 </div> <div> Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper...</div> <bR> <div> The Mayor of New Orleans issued a proclamation welcoming all revelers to Southern Decadence 2005. The word decadence bears the following meaning:</div> <bR> <div> decadence: characterized by moral decline</div> <bR> <div> The world was invited by the Mayor of New Orleans to experience all the immorality that his city could serve up. It was all done in the name of tolerance and diversity, yet what fallen man tolerates in his pursuit of pleasure, without any restraint or bonds, God declares to be an abomination.</div> <bR> <div> Leviticus 18:22-23 </div> <div> You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.</div> <bR> <div> Southern Decadence 2005 was scheduled to begin Labor Day week-end. Hurricane Katrina struck the area just a few days before the celebration, breaching the city’s levees and inundating the city with flood waters. The name Katrina means “pure.” An additional symbol of this parable is that The National Hurricane Center states that Katrina made final landfall at the mouth of the Pearl River.</div> <bR> <div> Pearls stand for purity throughout Scripture. The Lord admonished His disciples to not cast their pearls before swine, creating a contrast between that which is pure and valuable and that which is unclean and despised. The Holy City Jerusalem, which John saw coming down from heaven, is described as having twelve gates, each one made of a single pearl. Only that which is righteous can enter the city. The gates of pearl symbolize the purity required to enter in.</div> <bR> <div> Revelation 21:21-27 </div> <div> And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl... and nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it...</div> <bR> <div> No one who practices abomination shall enter the holy city, and homosexuality is declared by Yahweh to be an abomination. Was it meaningless coincidence that a Hurricane whose name means “pure” made landfall at the mouth of the Pearl River and wrought havoc on a city that was about to host a morally decadent festival? God’s parables are not difficult, but their meaning is hidden to those who are outside the Kingdom of God.</div> <bR> <div> The parable of the hurricanes continues and a second witness bearing an astonishingly similar message is seen in the next hurricane to strike the vicinity of New Orleans. Just as New Orleans was getting a handle on its flooded neighborhoods, having hastily repaired the levees, Hurricane Rita struck, breaching the levees a second time and flooding the city again.</div> <bR> <div> The name Rita means “pearl.” (See: <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000BF" FACE="Georgia" ><U>www.behindthename.com</U></FONT> ) Rita made landfall on September 24, 2005. One Louisiana resident bemoaned, “What Katrina spared, Rita has taken.” Similar to the two signs in the heavens that both testified the same message, these two hurricanes were twin witnesses declaring that God demands purity from the nation, and will not leave the guilty unpunished.</div> <bR> <div> In addition to canceling homosexual events, these hurricanes completely destroyed the casino industry that had been developed in recent years along the gulf coast, especially in Mississippi. The cities of Gulfport and Biloxi, which had plunged headlong into a marriage with the gambling industry, were devastated. </div> <div> Hurricane Rita was the most intense tropical cyclone ever witnessed in the Gulf of Mexico. This parallels the heart of Jesus Christ, Yahshua the Messiah, as He was incensed upon viewing the merchants and money-changers that had set up tables in the Temple. God created man to be the temple in which He dwells. Man was created to be a house of prayer, but the temple of God has instead become a den of thieves. The merchants and money-changers have taken up residence in the hearts of men. Mississippi is in the heart of the region referred to as “the Bible Belt,” yet she has given herself to an unrighteous alliance with the casino industry, welcoming these dens of thieves along her coast. The intensity of Rita mirrors the intensity of Christ when He declared, “Zeal for My Father’s house has consumed Me.” The Messiah overturned the tables of the money-changers even as the casinos were turned on their sides by these “acts of God.”</div> <bR> <div> The signs of the 2005 Hurricane season continued with Hurricane Wilma. In the 1990's Cancun Mexico began hosting an annual homosexual festival called The Mayan Riviera Gay Fall Fiesta. It was scheduled for November 3-7, 2005. Additionally, Key West, Florida had scheduled the 27th annual Fantasy Fest “Freaks, Geeks and Goddesses” to be held October 21-30. This is another perverse revelry where anything goes. Adultery, fornication, homosexuality, cross dressing, drunkenness, orgies, and other ungodly acts are the highlights of ten days of carousing.</div> <bR> <div> The National Hurricane Center has this to say about Hurricane Wilma:</div> <bR> <div> “Wilma formed and became an extremely intense hurricane over the northwestern Caribbean Sea. It had the all-time lowest central pressure for an Atlantic basin hurricane, and it devastated the northeastern Yucatan Peninsula. Wilma also inflicted extensive damage over southern Florida.”</div> <bR> <div> Hurricane Wilma struck the Yucatan Peninsula, devastating Cancun on October 21st. It then headed for Southern Florida which it struck on October 24th. Hurricane Wilma was responsible for canceling both The Mayan Riviera Gay Fall Festival and Key West’s Fantasy Fest. Many Americans associate the name Wilma with a character from the cartoon “The Flintstones.” This T.V. show ran for many years, and the show ended with the song lyrics, “We’re gonna have a gay ole time,” followed by Fred Flintstone loudly shouting, “Wilma!”</div> <bR> <div> The storms of 2005 were the most calamitous on record in terms of intensity, damage, and material cost. The nations have been in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves. Yet the meaning of these acts of God need not leave one in perplexity. Where are the prophets of God? Where is understanding proclaimed? The prophets of prosperity continue to tickle the ears of a church in spiritual slumber. Where are those who will courageously proclaim that the disasters falling upon this nation in ever greater frequency and intensity are due to sin that is embraced and openly boasted about? God is in Earnest about the sins of America, and the first hurricane of 2006 continues the signs and the parable that has been written large for all to see.</div> <bR> <div> New Orleans, like Key West and Cancun, has not repented of its sinful revelries. Nor have they acknowledged a divine presence in these acts of God. Southern Decadence 2006 is scheduled to begin Labor Day weekend. The city’s mayor has once again sent forth his proclamation welcoming all revelers. </div> <div> As I write this, the first hurricane of the 2006 season has just formed. Hurricane Ernesto is forecast to enter the Gulf of Mexico in a few days. Ernesto is the Spanish form of the English name Ernest. The name means “Earnest.” Earnest is defined in this way:</div> <bR> <div> Earnest: (adj.) Intensely serious. </div> <div> Earnest: (noun) Pledge. A token of things to come.</div> <bR> <div> Let those with eyes to see, understand what the Spirit is speaking.</div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>