Tags: 9 Harbingers, Isaiah 9:8, Rabbi
Jonathan Cahn, The Harbinger, 911, Twin Towers, Ground Zero, Tower of Babel, The
Breach, The Terrorist, The Fallen Bricks, The Tower, The Gazit Stone - We will rebuild
with quarried stone, The Sycamore - The Sycamores have been cut down, The Erez
Tree - Buy we will plant cedars in their place, The Utterance, The Prophecy, The
Second Shaking, Assyrian Empire, Osama bin Laden, Global War on Terror, Department
of Homeland Security, God Bless America, St. Paul's Chapel, The Sycamore of
Ground Zero, George Washington, Freedom Tower, The Tree of Hope, John Edwards,
John Kerry, Tom Daschle, Great Recession, Barack Obama, share the wealth, Nimrod, Shmita,
Sabbatical Year, George W Bush, Patriot Act, Edward Kennedy, No Child Left Behind Act, The
Medicare Prescription Drug Act, Stock Market Crash 2001, Stock Market Crash 2008, Lehman
Brothers, Board of Brokers, Wall Street Butternut, Babylon
God bent over backwards to warn ancient Israel
of its impending doom if it did not repent. It did this through limited judgments, as
precursors to the final judgment that was to come.
First God divided the kingdom in half.
Thus Israel became a house divided consisting of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. But
the dividing of the kingdom was yet just a warning, a harbinger, a limited judgment. God
was shaking His people trying to get their attention and return them to the covenant.
Then as we find in Chapter 9 in Isaiah,
God used one of the severest of enemies of both Judah and Israel, the Assyrians, to strike
the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali in the northern kingdom. This was another one
of those limited judgments the Lord was using to turn the people away from their sin.
Did it work? The answer is
"no."
And so we see Israel's answer to God in
Isaiah 9:8 – and all the way through the end of chapter 9. The key part of this
scripture and the key to understanding this message today is found in Isaiah 9:8-12: “The
Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel.
“And all the people shall know,
even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and
stoutness of heart,
“The bricks are fallen down,
but we will build with hewn stones: the sycamores are cut down, but we will change them
into cedars.
“Therefore the LORD shall set up
the adversaries of Rezin (king of Syria) against him, and join his enemies
together;
“The Syrians before, and the
Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open
mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out
still.”
But there was no repentance. The
consequences of the children of Israel's rebellion against God were severe. First the Northern
Kingdom was overcome by the Assyrians. Later Judah fell as well, but this time to the
Babylonians.
* * *
What do these scriptures mean for us
today? The massive scale of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center made for startling
images and a new frightening, sober reality for America. But through this devastation
Rabbi Jonathan Cahn revealed an understanding of what this meant to America through Isaiah
9:10, and the uncanny parallel this attack had to events in 8th century Israel.
It is Rabbi Cahn's contention that, just
as we have seen in ancient Israel, before God judges a nation, He sends warning. Like with
Ancient Israel, the attacks of 9/11 were a warning, and also like Ancient Israel, if the
nation ignores God’s warning there will be dire consequences. The term harbinger
means “warning.” In his book, The Harbinger Rabbi Cahn told of the
supernatural connection between ancient Israel and America.
There are nine harbingers (warnings) of
what will happen after the first attack if the nation refuses to return to God. The
judgments are progressive, with periods of normalcy in-between, but continue if there is
no national repentance. The economic implosion and other national ills spring from this
event. Israel and America are the only two nations that God sovereignly planted as a light
to the nations. According the Rabbi Cahn, “Those who laid America’s foundations
saw it as a new Israel, an Israel of the New World. And as with ancient Israel, they saw
it as a covenant with God.” To whom much is given, much is required.
The tribes of Israel were struck by the
Assyrians as a warning from God. Instead of repenting of their sins, they boldly and
defiantly proclaimed in the pride and stoutness of heart: “The bricks have fallen,
but we will build with hewn stones: the sycamores are cut down, but we will plant cedars
in their place.” (Isa 9:10) They did not listen to the alarm, of turning back,
and humbling themselves in repentance. Rather they boasted of their resolve, that they
would rebuild stronger and better than before. They ignored the warning and rejected the
call to return to the Lord. In fact, they defied it. And their defiance led to the
nation’s total destruction years later.
This ancient prophecy forms the key to
the nine harbingers of judgment, which are given to a nation in danger of judgment. It is
Rabbi Cahn's contention that each of these harbingers or warnings have reappeared on
American soil. These harbingers focus around the destruction of the WorldTradeCenter. If
true, this would mark America as a nation in danger of judgment.
Can this be true? We have already
established that 911 was delivered to America from the hand of God on account of the
nation's failure to obey Him. Now let's see how the Rabbi Cahn's 9 harbingers fit into
this.
The First Harbinger: The Breach.
In 732 B.C., the hedge of protection was removed and Israel’s enemies invaded the
land and wreaked havoc. The calamity traumatized the Children of Israel but it took place
on a limited scale, as with 9/11. The warning in this harbinger is the removal of the
hedge. On September 11, 2001, America’s hedge of protection was removed. There was a
breach of America’s security and the TwinTowers fell. This was a sign that God has
lifted His protective hand.
The Second Harbinger: The Terrorist.
The Assyrians were terrorists who ravaged and decimated their conquered. It was their
intention to destroy those they overwhelmed. It was a dark shadow of Assyrian terror that
loomed over the kingdom of Israel. It was a danger against which the prophets had warned.
And when, years later, Israel’s final judgment came, the Assyrians would again be the
means through which it would happen. So, too, the attack on America was carried out by
terrorists. The Assyrians were a Semitic people, children of the Middle East. The
terrorists of 9/11 were of the same race. In fact, as already noted, the response of America
to 911 was to attack Iraq. Iraq once embodied the Assyrian Empire. Thus America in its War
on Terror was facing the very same enemy that sought to annihilate Israel.
The Third Harbinger: The Fallen
Bricks. The most visible signs of the attack on ancient Israel were the fallen
buildings and the ruin heaps of fallen bricks. Thus the third harbinger is the sign of the
fallen bricks of the fallen buildings. On Sept 11, 2001, Americans were confronted with
the same sign. As one looked around the aftermath of this destruction he witnessed the
fallen bricks of the fallen buildings of the wreckage of Ground Zero. In the face of this
overwhelming disaster, America was not turning back to God. When Congress stood as one to
sing God Bless America, Christians held on to the anticipation that America had
become aware of her sins and her need for God. But it was a short-lived spiritual revival
that never came. America remained a house divided against God Himself.
The Fourth Harbinger: The Tower. Israel
defiantly began rebuilding on the devastated ground, vowing to rebuild higher and
stronger. They believed that the strength of their new buildings would withstand future
attacks. So, too, in the wake of 9/11, American leaders vowed to rebuild at Ground Zero
higher and stronger. And now a new strong tower, called the FreedomTower, rises at Ground
Zero. In addition, America erected towers of strength though the War on Terror that came
in the form of military aggression and the Department of Homeland Security. Just like
Ancient Israel, rather than looking to God, the country put its trust in its own strength.
Thus FreedomTower was translated into freedom from God.
The Fifth Harbinger: The Gazit Stone.
We will rebuild with quarried stone- In order to make their building
stronger than ever before the Israelites carved out quarried stone from mountain rock and
brought it back to the ground of destruction where clay bricks once stood. Three years
after 9/11, a stone was quarried out of the mountain rock of New York. This massive stone
was brought back to Ground Zero. In ancient Israel this stone became a misplaced
embodiment of the nation’s confidence in its own power. So too the massive stone at
Ground Zero became the symbolic cornerstone of the rebuilding. Public ceremonies
accompanied the stone placement.
On the day the cornerstone was laid, New
York Governor, George Pataki assured the nation that the offering was an act of
disobedience: “Today, we the heirs of that revolutionary spirit of defiance, lay this
cornerstone.”
The Sixth Harbinger: The Sycamore. The
Sycamores have been cut down- The attack on ancient Israel resulted in the
striking down of a sycamore tree, a biblical sign of national judgment. The fallen
sycamore is a sign of uprooting, a warning and, in ignoring the warning, it becomes a
prophecy of judgment. On 9/11, as the North Tower fell it sent debris and wreckage which
struck and uprooted a sycamore tree that was growing near St. Paul's Chapel. The tree was
made into a symbol and named The Sycamore of Ground Zero. Ironically, St. Paul's
Chapel, which once owned the land that the TwinTowers rose from, was the very location
that George Washington and the nation's first Congress worshipped after his inauguration.
It is where he prayed for the nation.
When the sycamore fell in ancient Israel
it prophesied the nation’s downfall and the end of its kingdom. What happens to America
depends on if the warning is heeded. The sycamore tree saved St. Paul's Chapel from
destruction. But will is save America?
The Seventh Harbinger: The Erez Tree.
Buy we will plant cedars in their place- In their defiance of God, the
Israelites replaced the fallen sycamore with a cedar tree. The cedar was stronger than the
sycamore. Thus it became a symbol of the nation’s arrogant hope that it would emerge
from the crisis stronger than before. The English name for this tree is “Cedar,”
but the Hebrew word is “Erez.” Erez stands not only for cedar but
for a conifer tree of the panacea family. In November of 2003, a tree was lowered at the
corner of Ground Zero into the soil where the fallen sycamore once stood. The tree was a
conifer, a panacea tree, the biblical Erez. A ceremony was held around the tree and it,
too, became a symbol – entitled The Tree of Hope. America had put it's faith
in a tree.
The Eight Harbinger: The Utterance.
The Eighth Harbinger was the public speaking of the ancient vow of defiance. For this
harbinger to manifest, the vow would have to be spoken in the nation’s capital by a
national leader, as it had been in ancient Israel. On Sept 11, 2004 every object mentioned
in the prophecy of Isa 9:10 came to pass. The public utterance of the prophecy had to take
place publicly, which happened on Sept 11, 2004 when VP candidate John Edwards, giving a
speech in the capital city, quoted this exact scripture word for word in Wash., DC. Thus
he declared, “The bricks have fallen, but we will build with hewn stones: the
sycamores are cut down, but we will plant cedars in their place.” Edwards no
doubt thought he was being profound in pronouncing this text in his speech. Instead,
without realizing it, he was joining Ancient Israel and America together. Without
realizing it, he was pronouncing judgment on America. It's probably best to know what a
scripture means before billowing it out for all America and God Himself to hear.
Repeatedly Scripture and commentaries
record defiance as the highest insult against the Most High God. Senator John Kerry's
statement before the United States Senate on Wednesday, September 12, 2001 clarifies the
heart behind John Edward's words. Therefore he declared: “. . . And 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 WorldTradeCenter and show
the world we are not afraid – we are defiant.”
The Ninth Harbinger: The Prophecy. The
Ninth Harbinger is the proclaiming of the ancient vow as prophecy, as a matter of public
record, and spoken before the words come true. On Sept 12, 2001, the day after 9/11, America
issued its official response to the attack. The one in charge of issuing the response was
Tom Daschle, Senate Majority Leader. As he closed his speech he made a declaration: “The
bricks have fallen, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycamores are cut down, but we
will plant cedars in their place.” From the halls of Congress he proclaimed the
ancient vow of defiance, word for word, to the entire world. By doing so he prophesied the
nation’s future course, all of which came to pass.
The Second Shaking–
According to Rabbi Cahn the mystery of the Harbinger continues – and lies behind
everything from the Global War on Terror, the Collapse of the American economy, the crash
of Wall Street, the Great Recession, and more.
Amazingly, events occurred through the
action of an unseen hand, and people acted unwittingly in the unfolding of this prophecy.
As a sign to the entire nation at Ground Zero, the ground of devastation became the ground
of restoration. The church at St. Paul's was saved for a reason. It survived as a
testimony to the nation that God was using these events to turn America back to Him. It is
incredible to think that it was at the site of Ground Zero in the miracle church, St Paul’s
Chapel, that this nation was dedicated to God by first president George Washington &
other leaders at his inauguration in 1789. The nation’s first government was formed
in New York City before DC was formed. God is calling the nation back to the very place
that it began. God is calling America back to Himself.
But this would not be America's course
of action. Therefore, when the Barack Obama addressed a joint session of Congress with his
State of the Union Address, January 2009, he merely reasserted America's defiance. Thus he
insisted: “But while our economy weakens and our confidence shaken; though we are
living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want every American to know this: We
will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than
before.”
Shmita
Obama was referencing the Great
Recession, whose decimations can ultimately be traced right back to the disaster that
occurred at Ground Zero. There are biblical parallels that help explain exactly how God is
speaking to the nation through the frightening economic upheavals that have occurred ever
since that fateful day.
Duet 15 tells us “At the end of
every seven years you shall grant a remission of debt. This is the manner of remission:
every creditor shall release what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of
his neighbor and his brother, because the LORD’S remission has been proclaimed."
According to the Wikipedia: "This sabbath
year, in Hebrew is called shmita (Hebrew: ??????,
literally "release"), also called the Sabbatical Year, is the seventh
year of the seven-year agricultural cycle mandated by the Torah for the Land of Israel,
and still observed in contemporary Judaism.
"During Shmita, the land is left to
lie fallow and all agricultural activity (including plowing, planting, pruning and
harvesting) is forbidden by Torah law. Other cultivation techniques (such as watering,
fertilizing, weeding, spraying, trimming and mowing) may be performed as a preventative
measure only, not to improve the growth of trees or plants. Additionally, any fruits which
grow of their own accord are deemed hefker (ownerless) and may be picked by anyone.
A variety of laws also apply to the sale, consumption and disposal of Shmita produce. A
second aspect of Shmita concerns debts and loans. When the Shmita year ends, personal
debts which are due during that year are considered nullified and forgiven. The Book
of Leviticus promises bountiful harvests to those who observe the shmita and makes
observance a test of religious faith."
Stock Market Crash after 911
After the destruction of the TwinTowers
the stock market remained closed until September 17. It would turn out to be the longest
that the market would remain closed since 1933 and the Great Depression. During its first
day of trading after the attacks, the market lost over 680 points, the single biggest one
day drop in the exchange's history. While the drop only accounted for a little over 7
percent, it was still considered a major event. By the end of that first week when the
markets were back open, the Dow Jones had lost over 1360 points or 14 percent of its
value. It would go down as the worst week in market history. The total money losses during
that time were estimated to be around 1.2 trillion.
As a result of this crash a recession
that George W Bush inherited was deepened even as debts bankruptcies abounded. In
accordance to the ancient Hebrew principle of Shimta, a multitude of debts were forgiven
were forgiven. It is interesting that the sock market drop was 7; the exact number of
years required for the observance of Shmita.
Stock Market Crash 2008
Then, exactly 7 years later, the exact
number of years required in the ancient Shmita, a huge bankruptcy occurred that drove America
into the Great Recession. Untold bankruptcies came out of this recession that was the
worst since the Great Depression.
Therefore, it was on Sept 15, 2008 that
Lehman Brothers folded and the Stock Market Crashed. According to the Wikipedia: "On September
15, 2008, the firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection following the massive exodus
of most of its clients, drastic losses in its stock, and devaluation of its assets by
credit rating agencies. Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy filing is the largest bankruptcy in
U.S. history, and is thought to have played a major role in the
unfolding of the late-2000s global financial crisis.
". . . On September 11, 2001,
Lehman occupied three floors of OneWorldTradeCenter where one of its employees was
killed in the terrorist attacks of that day. . . The bank recovered quickly and rebuilt
its presence." But in light of America's failure to turn to God after 911, the fate
of Lehman Brothers would be a different story.
"And then, on September 29, 2008,
came the biggest Stock Market crash in US history. Again this crash was filled with the
number 7 and thus dubbed as the Dow Jones Stock Market 777 Point 7% Crash.
"According to CNN: "Stocks
skidded Monday, with the Dow slumping nearly 778 points, in the biggest single-day point
loss ever, after the House rejected the government's $700 billion bank bailout plan.
"The Dow Jones industrial average
(INDU) lost 777.68, surpassing the 684.81 loss on Sept. 17, 2001 - the first trading day
after the September 11 attacks. However the 7% decline does not rank among the top 10
percentage declines.
". . . Stocks tumbled ahead of the
vote and the selling accelerated on fears that Congress would not be able come up with a
fix for nearly frozen credit markets. The frozen markets mean banks are hoarding cash,
making it difficult for businesses and individuals to get much-needed loans.
"'The stock market was definitely
taken by surprise,' said Drew Kanaly, chairman and CEO of Kanaly Trust Company, referring
to the House vote. 'If you watched the news stream over the weekend, it seemed like it was
a done deal. But the money is being held hostage to the political process.'
"Stocks had fallen from the get-go
Monday morning. In addition to expectations for the bailout, there was also news that
troubled Wachovia had to sell its banking assets to Citigroup. A number of European banks
also collapsed.
"But the possibility that the House
won't pass the bailout plan caused stock losses to accelerate.
"'It's a huge disappointment,' said
Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank.
"Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve and
other central banks around the world announced steps Monday to make billions available to
troubled banks."
"This crisis is clearly deeper than
anybody had imagined only a short time ago," Peter Stein, an associate editor at The
Wall Street Journal in Asia, told CNN.
* * *
Indeed, the Crash was worse than anyone
expected as the Great Recession took everyone by surprise. It was a Crash of biblical
proportions. Both the crash of 2001 and the crash of 2008, that created a multitude of
bankruptcies and forgiveness of debt, occurred on the exact year that Israelis were
symbolically celebrating the Shimta. Indeed, the two economic catastrophes occurred in the
very years that God had ordained the Shmita to occur among the Ancient Israelis.
Precursor of NY Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange stands just
blocks away from Ground zero. The Stock Exchange was originally called the Board of
Brokers which started in 1792 to 1865. According to the New York Times, "The Original
Meeting (was) at the Foot of the Wall Street Butternut." Therefore we see the economy
of America born under a butternut tree was born on Wall Street right by Ground Zero. And
what kind of tree was the butternut? You guessed it. The butternut tree was a sycamore.
A New Tower of Babel
It is interesting that it was the TwinTowers
that the Muslim terrorists decided to attack, because since the tower of Babel where man
made a humanistic tribute to himself, tower building has been the norm when it comes to
the pride of man. The talk of "We will rebuild" the tower after 911 was
reminiscent of ancient Babel.
"And the whole earth was of one
language and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed east, that they found a
plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they
said one to another, Come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick
for stone, and slime had they for mortar.
And they said, Come, let us build
us a city, and a tower, whose top [may reach] unto heaven, and let us make us a name; lest
we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
And Jehovah came down to see the city
and the tower, which the children of men builded. And Jehovah said, Behold, they are one
people, and they have all one language; and this is what they begin to do: and now nothing
will be withholden from them, which they purpose to do. Come, let us go down, and there
confound their language, that they may not understand one another`s speech. So Jehovah
scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off
building the city.
Therefore was the name of it called Babel;
because Jehovah did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did
Jehovah scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. (Gen 11:1-9)
God confused the languages after men
built that defiant tower. But man continued to rebel against God and persisted in building
towers. The ancient Babylonians called them ziggurats. Thus practice of tower building is
a part of all pagan faiths. You can see these towers as the pyramids in Egypt and South
America, pagan Monasteries built on high mountains and the high places as denoted in the
scriptures.
In addition, empire building from the
beginning was a humanistic/pagan attempt to deify men and bring the scattered people of
the world back together under the authority of a tyrant. Nimrod was the first of these
apostate rebels. Of these were the isles of the nations divided in their lands, every
one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations. . . And Cush
begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before
Jehovah: wherefore it is said, Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before Jehovah. And the
beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and
Calneh, in the land of Shinar. Out of that land he went forth
into Assyria, and builded Nineveh, and Rehoboth-ir, and Calah,
and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (the same is the great
city). And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, and Pathrusim, and
Casluhim (whence went forth the Philistines), and Caphtorim. (Gen 10:5; 8-14)
Nimrod was a hunter of men. In defiance
to God's work at Babel he built mighty cities with towers erected to human pride. As
depicted in pagan writings, he and his wife Semiramis were deified as gods and worshipped.
As the first emperor of the Assyrian Empire he bought the people who had been scattered by
God under his royal helm and none could stand against him. It was his goal to bring the
entire world under his governance.
Throughout the world we see men of like
nature bringing people together in cities to rule over them. Throughout the world we see
high towers built in these cities for the sake of human pride. All of this empire building
remains as the efforts of modern Babylonians caught in the act of rebelling against the
Most High.
And so, we see that that the rebuilding
of a tower at Ground Zero was an act of the defiance of Babylon. Additionally, the one
world efforts of the government of the United States was the same act of empire building
that entranced the ancient civilizations from the Assyrians to the Romans.
It can be said that God indeed was
warning America of impending judgment lest she repent. Yet modern Babylon did not turn
from her sins. She chose instead to remain a house divided. Religious apostasy was in her
midst. Sin and depravity in the name of rebellion lay in the hearts of Americans. Judgment
was on the horizon. Economic collapse was on the horizon. An oppressive Babylonian
government under the helm of a tyrant was waiting in the wings. It was the world brought
to us by William Jefferson Clinton.
President Bush did much to pave the way
towards the reign of totalitarian judgment that was to come. First of all, in response to
911 he set up the Department of Homeland Security to not only protect America from the
threat from without, but the threat from within. According to Wikipedia, "The United
States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is a cabinet department of the United States
federal government, created in response to the September 11 attacks, and with the primary
responsibilities of protecting the United States of America and U.S. Territories
(including Protectorates) from and responding to terrorist attacks, man-made accidents,
and natural disasters. Where the Department of Defense is charged with military actions
abroad, the Department of Homeland Security works in the civilian sphere to protect the
United States within, at, and outside its borders."
In other words, in the name of peace and
security, the arm of the Federal government was now to be used for the purpose of
controlling American citizens. And so, we entered the era of overly-aggressive searches of
grandma when she tried to get on an airplane. Obviously airline safety could have easily
been taken care by "profiling" Muslims, but suspiciously the administration
chose to impose their intrusive searches on every American. It was the intention of the
Bush Administration to advance the myth that Muslims are our friends, and just a few of
them want to harm us. And so, because the true historical enemy was not properly
identified, all America had to suffer and wonder.
Then President Bush accomplished what
President Clinton failed to do. He ramrodded the very tough Patriot Act through Congress
and signed it on October 26, 2001. The purpose of this invasive anti terrorist bill was to
enable the surveillance of Americans as never before. The Patriot Act would give the
government unprecedented abilities regarding wiretaps and subpoenas. And it was to be used
on Americans. So already in the Bush administration we saw the judgment of God begin to
jell in America through the loss of personal freedom and privacy.
Then President Bush showed his
socialists, big government stripes when he got together with Edward Kennedy. Again
accomplishing what President Clinton failed to do with his Goals 2000 program Bush got the
No Child Left Behind Act passed. It was co-authored by Edward Kennedy. This was a huge
step towards nationalized education. According to the Wikipedia, "NCLB is a
reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which included Title I, the
government's flagship aid program for disadvantaged students. NCLB supports standards-based
education reform based on the premise that setting high standards and establishing
measurable goals can improve individual outcomes in education. The Act requires states to
develop assessments in basic skills. States must give these assessments to all students at
select grade levels in order to receive federal school funding. The Act does not assert a
national achievement standard; standards are set by each individual state." But
because the law opened the door to standards-based education reform, no doubt national
standards would eventually evolve out of this huge expansion of the powers of Washington's
Department of Education.
Then President Bush once again got
together with Edward Kennedy to produce a massive expansion of Medicare. "The
Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (also called the Medicare
Modernization Act or MMA)," according to Wikipedia, "is a federal law of the United
States, enacted in 2003. It produced the largest overhaul of Medicare in the public health
program's 38-year history.
"The MMA was signed by President
George W. Bush on December 8, 2003, after passing in Congress by a close margin.
"Its most touted change is the
introduction of an entitlement benefit for prescription drugs, through tax breaks and
subsidies."
The expense incurred to support this
huge expansion of the federal government would be high. According to the Washington Post,
on 2-9-09 "The White House released budget figures yesterday indicating that the new
Medicare prescription drug benefit will cost more than $1.2 trillion in the coming decade,
a much higher price tag than President Bush suggested when he narrowly won passage of the
law in late 2003."
Again and again the Republican congress
caved in to the will of President Bush to pass these intrusive laws that expanded the size
of government in unprecedented way and were in direct opposition to their platform. And
so, during the Bush Administration the Senate earned the reputation for caving into
everything the president wanted. Even the democratic Senate could not push against his
iron will. Following are a few examples:
In a May 25, 2007 article written by Pat
Buchanan entitled Why Congress Caved to Bush it was detailed, "The antiwar
Democrats are crying betrayal – and justifiably so.
"For a Democratic Congress is now
voting to fully fund the war in Iraq, as demanded by President Bush, and without any
timetable for a U.S. troop withdrawal. Bush got his $100 billion, then magnanimously
agreed to let Democrats keep the $20 billion in pork they stuffed into the bill – to
soothe the pain of their sellout of the party base."
According to Shakesville on August 4,
2007, "The Senate bowed to White House pressure last night and passed a
Republican plan for overhauling the federal government's terrorist surveillance laws,
approving changes that would temporarily give U.S. spy agencies expanded power to
eavesdrop on foreign suspects without a court order."
In June 20, 2008 in the article Congress
Caves -- Telecom Companies Will Get Immunity For Role in Bush's Illegal Wiretapping
Program, it was reported, "After months of wrangling, Democratic and Republican
leaders in Congress struck a deal on Thursday to overhaul the rules on the government's
wiretapping powers and provide what amounts to legal immunity to the phone companies that
took part in President Bush's warrantless eavesdropping program after the Sept. 11
attacks."
According to Campaign for Liberty on 2-8-11;
"Under George W. Bush congressional Republicans became far too subservient to the
president. With President Barack Obama in office, the GOP has an opportunity to return to
the historic role of an opposition which actually opposes. Republicans seem set to take on
the administration over spending. They need to stand up for civil liberties as well. The
Constitution demands no less."
Yet it was obvious, just like in ancient
Rome, that our modern Augustus had managed to make the US Senate impotent in the face of
his big authoritative government demands. Thus Senators voted for the very programs that
their platforms had come against. Legislators who stood for the abolition of the
Department of Education voted to expand it as never before. Legislators who stood against
entitlements voted for one of the largest expansions of entitlement in the nation's
history. Legislators who were opposed to the Government's intrusiveness in individual
lives voted to assure that Washington would become even more intrusive.
* * *
As I sit here in 2012 reflecting on the
aftermath of the events detailed in the book I am awestruck by the world that I now live
in that is a direct result of these dreadful years in American history.
I see a world where the government has
become so large that it controls just about everything in my life now. It seeks to tell me
what to eat and what kind of light to illuminate my house with. It is a government gone
bankrupt, so far in dept that there is little hope for prosperity in the future. I see gas
prices that have soared as height as $5 per gallon. I see major retail corporations such
as Borders and Mervyns go bankrupt even as small business are falling like flies. I see
friends and relatives who have lost their jobs, homes and retirement savings who are too
old to start over again. What are they going to do?
I see in Barack Obama a Communist
"share the wealth" President of the United States who refused to salute the flag
or wear a flag pin. His wife Michelle even admitted that she was not proud of America
until it recognized her husband, a black man. As reported by Fox News on 2-19-08,
"Speaking in Milwaukee, Wis., on Monday, she said, 'People in this country are ready
for change and hungry for a different kind of politics and.. . . for the first time in my
adult life I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a
comeback.'”
Even though Hillary Clinton was the
presumptive Democrat nominee, Obama, a relative unknown, knocked her right out of the race
and ended the Clintons' reign as the head of the Democrat Party. Obama then played the
race card and cheated, using voter fraud through Acorn, in order to get elected to the
presidency.
It was the financial disaster of 2008
that paved the way for Obama's ascension to the presidency. Before that happened, it
looked like his Republican adversary, John McCain, just might win. But then came the September
15, 2008 fall of Lehman Brothers. It was in the wake of this that the September 29 (777
7%) loss occurred in the Stock Market occurred. It was the largest stock market drop in
American history. Obama rode the wave of America's fear on the back of "hope"
and "change" to gain the presidency. And what did hope and change do for America?
The fact that his so-called economic recovery programs caused an unfathomable debt
demonstrated that "change" meant he was bent on the destruction of the economy
and the end of the American Dream.
Don Wigton
is a graduate of the prestigious music department at CSULB where he studied under Frank
Pooler, lyricist of Merry Christmas Darling, and sang in Pooler’s world renown
University Choir alongside Karen and Richard Carpenter. During this time Don was also the
lead composer of the band, Clovis Putney, that won the celebrated Hollywood Battle of the
Bands. After giving his life to God, Don began attending Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa to
study under some of the most prominent early Maranatha! musicians. Subsequently he toured
the Western United States with Jedidiah in association with Myrrh Records.
Eventually
Don served as a pastor at Calvary Chapel Bakersfield to witness thousands of salvations
through that ministry. As the music/concert director, Don worked for seven years with most
major Christian artist of that time while producing evangelical concerts attended by
thousands of young people seeking after God. Don’s Calvary Chapel Praise Choir
released the album Let All Who Hath Breath Praise the Lord on the Maranatha! label.
The next
years of Don’s life were spent as the praise leader of FirstBaptistChurch in Bakersfield
during a time of unprecedented church renewal. Don teamed with the leadership to
successfully meld the old with the new through a period of tremendous church growth.
During this exciting time, Don’s praise team, Selah, produced the CD Stop and
Think About It.
Today Don is
the leading force behind Wigtune Company. This
webbased project located at www.praisesong.net has provided several million downloads of
Don’s music and hymn arrangements to tens of thousands of Christian organizations
throughout the world. More music can be found at Don's Southern
Cross Band website at www.socrossband.com.
The book Holy
Wars represents Don’s most recent effort to bless the church with biblical
instruction and direction in praise and worship. This heartfelt volume is an offering not
only to God’s people, but also to God Himself.
An Incredible revival is occuring
in Northern India and Nepal. CLICK
HERE to find out more!
More Wigtune Blogs
This second of five books looks into a pivotal moment in American
history that corrupted her soul. It was a time when the United States was coming off an
era of prosperity created by the sound economic policies, patriotism and faith of Ronald
Reagan. However, during the '90s a president without scruples took the reigns of a house
united and tore it asunder. As a result we live in a divided America
on the brink of judgment.
Click Here to
purchase the E-book edition for only 99 cents!
We pray that these materials have provided
all of you with untold blessings!
"I might not be a religious
man myself but I know good music when I hear it, and this is very good! . . . I don’t think that I have ever given such high
ratings to so many songs before. But the fact is that they are well deserved
because the music is amazing. Simply wonderful religious ballads and they
really get to your heart. . .everytime." Fredrik Cole: Trax In Space
was formed as a service to the body of Christ to encourage scriptural
worship. To accomplish this goal Wigtune Company offers free contemporary Christian praise
and worship music, contemporary Christian rock and hymn mp3 and chart material along with
a free on-line worship study book for personal devotions, Bible study groups, Sunday
schools, pastors, music ministers and ministry training. In order to bridge the gap
between the old and the new the worship study book gives solid theological and
historical support to the use of traditional Christian hymn-singing in conjunction with
praise chorus singing.
Click on one of the links below for praise and worship, praise
tabs, worship chords, praise chorus mp3, hymn stories, pro tools studio, worship leader
materials to enter into the area of the Wigtune site that interests you !
was formed as a service to the body of Christ to encourage scriptural
worship. To accomplish this goal Wigtune Company offers free contemporary Christian praise
and worship music, contemporary Christian rock and hymn mp3 and chart material along with
a free on-line worship study book for personal devotions, Bible study groups, Sunday
schools, pastors, music ministers and ministry training. In order to bridge the gap
between the old and the new the worship study book gives solid theological and
historical support to the use of traditional Christian hymn-singing in conjunction with
praise chorus singing. 
Vision Statement 
Wigtune Story 
Check out this powerful Southern Cross song! 
