By Pastor Hal Mayer
Clear and Present Danger! Martial Law Enacted [1]
Dear Friends,
Welcome to Keep the Faith Ministry. Thank you for joining us today.
Thank you for your prayers and support for Keep the Faith Ministry, and especially for our mission work in Australia at Highwood. Please go to our website and check out the pictures there. Our team at Highwood is all in place and working hard to make Highwood all that it can be. Please keep them in your prayers, and specifically that God will send us many guests who need to recover their health and who hunger to know our great and wonderful God. Also, please go to our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter. We keep you up to date as soon as we release any of our prophetic material.
I am so grateful that the angels are still holding back the winds of strife as the signs of the times intensify. But as prophecy unfolds, we can see that heaven is permitting them to let the winds go to some extent.
My message this month is quite unsettling because it involves a serious development that I knew was going to come sooner or later. This development is disturbing, and even downright chilling because it has been a feature of virtually every oppressive and totalitarian regime in history. But it is especially alarming because it was prophesied more than 125 years ago (1885). Bible prophecy even suggested it thousands of years ago when it said that the lamb like beast of Revelation 13:11 and 12 would “speak as a dragon,” and he would exercise “all the power of the first beast.” That power is rapidly being developed and now it is beginning to be deployed, and soon the United States will speak and act like a dragon. While it seems distant and even harmless, nevertheless, the principles involved in this very recent development go all the way back to the Middle Ages when the Vatican was the ruler of the empire.
But before we go any further, let us pray and ask our God for the guidance of His Holy Spirit to understand the signs of the times. Our Heavenly Father, we are living in sobering and awesome times. As we see the armies of evil marshalling their forces against God’s people, we are reminded of our eternal home and our destiny with Christ in the new earth. When we see how Christ protected His people in past ages from evil, we recognize that we can trust Him completely with our safety and security. But we need to understand the sobering realities of the events that shape our times. So send us Your Holy Spirit today and help us understand the seriousness of our circumstances and what we should do about them. In Jesus name, Amen.
Let us begin with a scripture text. This one is found in Isaiah 26:20, 21. “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.”
Friends, this is talking about when the judgments of God are poured out on the earth. After quoting this verse of scripture, God’s messenger for the last days, wrote, “When the protection of human laws shall be withdrawn from those who honor the law of God, there will be, in different lands, a simultaneous movement for their destruction. As the time appointed in the decree draws near, the people will conspire to root out the hated sect. It will be determined to strike in one night a decisive blow, which shall utterly silence the voice of dissent and reproof.” Great Controversy, page 635
So this counsel is a two-pronged warning to God’s people to start getting into the country and away from the cities so that they will have a place to go when human laws no longer protect them. But it also tells us that the attempt to destroy God’s people will come by a decree, or perhaps by an executive order. When the rule of law is overthrown in a country and a dictatorship arises, it is important to understand the steps that the nation takes. Today the United States is moving dramatically closer to such a time. Through the militarization of the nation, the essential freedoms that American’s have known and loved are gradually being removed, step by step, law by law.
This is a warning to bring your spiritual life into full compliance with heaven. Daniel is our example. Daniel lived in an oppressive dictatorship. Yet he maintained his faithfulness to God. He prayed three times a day and he took his faith very seriously. You and I are coming up to a time when our faith will mean more to us than any earthly possession, any earthly relationship, or any earthly advantage. You must develop that now. You can’t do it at the last minute. Christ is calling you by these unfolding signs of the times to get serious about who you are, and be certain that your destiny is sure.
Today, we are going to look closely at the dangerous legislation that was just recently passed by the U.S. Congress and was signed into law by the President of the United States. It is called the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, otherwise known as the Military Reauthorization Bill. The authors of this bill put provisions in it that would make the Vatican very pleased, and which would make your hair stand on end. Buried in the bill are some ominous provisions that solidify and enshrines in U.S. federal law things that would have been unthinkable just a few short years ago; things that were prominent features of the inquisition in the Middle Ages and features displayed during World War II. Now in the name of fighting the “War on Terror” U.S. Presidents have overthrown the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights. But the new law goes way beyond that. It actually establishes the principle of martial law without a formal declaration. At first the principles will seem harmless, but once the legal structure is in place, and the national infrastructure is developed and adjusted to accommodate the new legal environment, we shall see the tyranny described in Bible prophecy implemented in exactly the way the sacred scriptures says it will.
Lest you think this is just a matter for United States citizens and residents to be concerned about, think again. Other western nations use U.S. law as a model for their own nations. In my opinion, though this law was imposed in the United States, this is one of those global prophetic milestones that sometimes arise, which affects everyone on the planet to a certain extent. Keep in mind Revelation 13:12 says that the United States is given all the power that the papacy wielded in the Middle Ages, and imposes worship laws on the whole earth, not just the United States. But of course, it would have to begin there first. Listen to it carefully. “And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.”
Verses 16 and 17 also inform us that the United States, causes “all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”
That’s pretty amazing! Here is predicted a police state on a global scale. There will be oppressive global measures that will be enacted against those who do not receive the mark of the beast, but who honor all the divine precepts of Jehovah, especially the worship law of heaven, the fourth commandment. Here is predicted the time when all of God’s people will come under overwhelming pressure for their faith, so much so that they would not be able to stand unless Jesus Himself and His holy angels stand by their sides. This affects all, not just American citizens. They will not be able to buy or sell, or live normally in society if they refuse to obey the global worship laws.
This is a major turning point in history, and it spells the doom of the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the personal liberties of its people. It puts the paving or the bitumen on the road to spiritual and temporal tyranny. But it also shows us that Jesus is coming soon and that this old world of sin and wickedness is about to come to an end. I personally believe that this event tells us that we are getting very, very close to the close of probation.
When I first realized what is at stake in this legislation as it was being fast-tracked through Congress, I was greatly sobered and alarmed. I am alarmed for God’s people. I am alarmed for you. I am alarmed for me and my family. My alarm is not fear and panic. But I am sobered. It reminds us that we had better consider our position with Jesus Christ. We will need the stability and immovability of God’s law in our hearts and lives. Only our Savior, Jesus Christ can give us the stamina we will need to see us through.
There are those who play down the significance of the new military authorization law in the United States. But this single event, when coupled together other recent events rises to a level that should catch our attention and alarm us all. For it involves our religious liberty. It is not that this is religious legislation. But it is preparing to provide the police state mechanism that will be necessary to enforce the global religion that is surely coming. It should also become very clear to us that what remains of our liberties is very tenuous indeed. Religious liberty is in the center of a circle. Surrounding it are all the other liberties, which protect it. As those liberties and God-given rights are removed one by one, the defense for religious liberty becomes weaker and weaker. As the protections of religious liberty are removed, it too eventually collapses.
I might also remind those of you who are U.S. citizens, that if you voted for President Obama, or if you voted for any member of U.S. Congress who voted for approval of this bill, you will be a partaker of the sins that may arise from this legislation. That is also true in other countries with their respective leaders. If you vote for them, you become a participant in what they do while they are in office.
That is pretty heavy stuff, but here is the statement about that from Fundamentals of Education, page 475. “The Lord would have His people bury political questions. On these themes silence is eloquence. Christ calls upon His followers to come into unity on the pure gospel principles which are plainly revealed in the word of God. We cannot with safety vote for political parties; for we do not know whom we are voting for. We cannot with safety take part in any political schemes. We cannot labor to please men who will use their influence to repress religious liberty, and to set in operation oppressive measures to lead or compel their fellow men to keep Sunday as the Sabbath. The first day of the week is not a day to be reverenced. It is a spurious sabbath, and the members of the Lord’s family cannot participate with the men who exalt this day, and violate the law of God by trampling upon His Sabbath. The people of God are not to vote to place such men in office; for when they do this, they are partakers with them of the sins which they commit while in office.”
So, remember that next time elections come around in your country or location. Did you notice that the author said that we cannot vote to elect men who will “set in operation oppressive measures?” That is pretty serious stuff. The new military law is setting in operation oppressive measures, thanks to the U.S. Congress and the U.S. President, just as the Bible predicted. Isn’t that amazing? The Bible actually tells us what is coming, long before it actually happens.
Listen to this superb counsel from a book called Historical Sketches, page 144 “I feel an intense desire that our brethren and sisters shall be correct representatives of Jesus. Do not pierce his wounds afresh, and put him to an open shame, by an inconsistent life. Become thoroughly acquainted with the reasons of our faith, and show by word and act that Christ is dwelling in your hearts by faith.” May God help you to walk with Jesus. If you do, you will be the light of the world, and in the time of trouble he will say, “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.”
God told Noah to enter into the ark, “Come thou and all thy house into the ark.” He was saying the same thing. Come, Noah, enter into thy chambers… Everyone knew where Noah was, but they could not get to him. Likewise, your character can be like an ark of safety if it is molded and controlled by Christ, and built on the solid timber of scripture. This is your mission right now; to get under the protection of Christ. When you have a heart that is like a fortress, Jesus will bid you come into His protection. The people may know where you are, but they will not be able to get to you.
Today we are living in the last moments of earthly time and we are on the brink of a huge crisis. I just wonder sometimes if world leaders understand something of what is coming. They keep doing things that indicate that they are forecasting big events. They are gearing up for war. They are restructuring laws and constitutions. They are working in concert to strip the middle class out of western society. They are working to consolidate the economy of the world under a few people. They are fortifying themselves with all the tools they think they need to deal with the crisis.
I keep thinking of this because there have been a number of events over the last few years since the interminable “war on terror” began, which have laid the foundation for what we are facing now.
For instance, one of the first things we noticed after the infamous terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 was that terrorist suspects and anyone associated with them would be prevented from buying and selling, and otherwise excluded from society. We pointed out that the U.S. government, and other governments working in concert with the United States began putting the structure in place, and getting people used to it so that it can be easily extended to those who fall outside of the global religious laws that are coming later.
Sermon: September 11 and the Demise of Religious Liberty [2]
All the way back in 2002, less than a year after the September 11 attacks, the Wall Street Journal reported on a comment by a “senior Bush administration official,” that: “there’s a different legal regime we’re developing” to deal with the war on terrorism. The Journal commented that the new regime would blend, “the once-separate realms of civilian law and the law of war.” This gives the government justification to do whatever it wants without regard to the Constitution. But more importantly, it provides the foundation for the final assault on God’s people, though most of those who are developing the new framework “know not what they do.”
And in 2004 it became known that the CIA was holding dozens of “enemy combatant” prisoners, as they were called, in “black op” sites or undisclosed locations where they were tortured and abused in a process known as extraordinary rendition. The torture was euphemistically called “enhanced interrogation.” This was even extended to U.S. citizens whom President Bush declared to be enemy combatants, and who were illegally and indefinitely detained by the military without trial, without due process and without access to their families and for that matter with anyone in the outside world.
Though President Barack Obama signed executive orders in 2009 to close these “black op” sites, these executive orders could be reversed at anytime in the future.
Obama Issues Directive to Shut Down Guantánamo [4]
Back in 2008 President Bush returned a brigade of soldiers from the Iraqi battlefront to train in the United States for handling domestic unrest. No doubt others will be trained as well and the program is likely to be expanded. This was in spite of the long-standing law called the Posse Comitatus Act, which was a law enacted after the U.S. Civil War in 1878. Its purpose was to prevent the U.S. Military from being used in the United States and its territories for military occupation of domestic territories and operations against its own citizens. But what else can these soldiers be trained for? Could they be trained to detain people who don’t fit the global religious plan? For now, it is all about terrorism and domestic unrest such as riots and protests, but what about the future?
Brigade homeland tours start Oct. 1 [5]
Wikipedia Article on Posse Comitatus Act [6]
In more recent times, President Obama authorized the killing of an American citizen without trial or due process. Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Islamic Imam and an American citizen was in Yemen allegedly plotting against the U.S. He was suspected of recruiting the “Christmas Bomber” who tried to blow up a plane over Detroit and two cargo planes in another incident. The CIA was tracking him. An armed, unmanned drone was used to blow up his car in which he and another American citizen were traveling.
Alwaki was executed without capture, due process or trial based on President Obama’s authorization, or executive order. He may have deserved to die, but this attack on an American citizen by the U.S. government itself was new legal territory and violates the U.S. Constitution in a most dramatic way. He was not killed accidentally, but deliberately and on purpose.
It is important to point out that a government who is able to deliberately and summarily kill its own citizens on suspicion of a crime, and whom it believes should die without a court trial, without a judge and without a jury, is one of the pillars of tyranny. The President, in the case of Alwaki, became the judge, jury and executioner all wrapped up in one.
Extra-judicial killing is also one of the pillars of the time of trouble. Listen to this incredible statement found in Great Controversy, pages 615 and 616. ““As the Sabbath has become the special point of controversy throughout Christendom, and religious and secular authorities have combined to enforce the observance of the Sunday, the persistent refusal of a small minority to yield to the popular demand will make them objects of universal execration. It will be urged that the few who stand in opposition to an institution of the church and a law of the state ought not to be tolerated; that it is better for them to suffer than for whole nations to be thrown into confusion and lawlessness. The same argument many centuries ago was brought against Christ by the “rulers of the people.” “It is expedient for us,” said the wily Caiaphas, “that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.” John 11:50. This argument will appear conclusive; and a decree will finally be issued against those who hallow the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, denouncing them as deserving of the severest punishment and giving the people liberty, after a certain time, to put them to death.”
Please note that this is extra-judicial killing. It is authorized by decree, perhaps a presidential executive order, and it bypasses legal due process, a trial by jury and all the normal constitutional protections normally afforded. By the way, note also that this is not just going to happen in the United States. It is important to understand that the foundations being laid in the United States will be replicated throughout the world according to this prophecy.
Secret panel can put Americans on “kill list” [7]
Justifying the Killing of an American [8]
Secret U.S. Memo Made Legal Case to Kill a Citizen [9]
Now, on the heels of these things, in one of the most incredible and unconstitutional developments in American History, the U.S. Congress has authorized the President and the military to detain U.S. citizens even on U.S. soil without representation, without due process and without rights if they are suspected of any sort of terrorism or defined as a terrorist. They can even imprison them in the notorious compound prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
On Sabbath, December 31, 2011, New Year’s eve, when the rest of the people of the United States were celebrating the new year with wine and spirits, and who were hoping for a better 2012, President Obama signed into federal law a treacherous bill that essentially destroys the Bill of Rights in the U.S. Constitution. The legislation known as the National Defense Authorization Act enshrines indefinite detention without trial in U.S. law.
The draconian bill included several provisions that destroy constitutionally recognized rights of U.S. citizens in the name of fighting terrorism. It permits government-sponsored kidnapping, detention in secret prisons, and even the extra-judicial killing of U.S. citizens. All that has to be done is for the President or some relevant government official to redefine a citizen as a terrorist, (an enemy of the state) and they can be detained indefinitely without trial or due process. Presidential candidate Ron Paul even went so far as to say that the law begins the legal and official implementation of martial law in the United States.
Youtube Video: Ron Paul: Defense Bill Establishes Martial Law In America! [10]
Even the Romans in the apostle Paul’s day, cruel, unjust and ruthless as they were, recognized the Roman citizen’s right to appeal to Caesar. This law removes even that right from U.S. citizens.
In addition to the U.S. military’s global operations, the new U.S. law effectively gives them the authority to operate on U.S. soil in the pursuit of terrorists. It essentially revokes the more than 130 year old law called Posse Comitatus, passed in the aftermath of the civil war, which prevented military action on U.S. soil to deal with civil unrest. The harsh new law specifically permits the military to imprison suspected terrorists indefinitely without trial or due process. Note that the law permits the military to detain people merely on suspicion of being a terrorist, and it applies to citizens as well as foreigners. This is a dramatic unconstitutional move by Congress and the President. The definition of a terrorist in the bill is deliberately left vague, which is a serious problem. Normally, this term is defined in relatively narrow terms. However, as laws usually do, the definition expands over time to include others not originally intended, but who are universally villanized.
Furthermore, under this provision in the military reauthorization law, a suspect does not enjoy presumption of innocence, but presumption of guilt. The bill was debated in congress, passed overwhelmingly in the Senate and the House of Representatives, but very little was said about these dangerous provisions in the mainstream press.
The Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees a right to a speedy trial. But this law allows the U.S. military to lock up any citizen it believes to be a terrorist without the burden of proving its case to an independent judge. It can conduct this business as long as the “war on terror” continues. This law makes U.S. territory a new battleground in this never-ending war.
Senator John McCain, former Presidential candidate, and Senator Carl Levin who authored the senate version of the bill, slipped these ominous provisions into the bill on military reauthorization because it would have a very good chance of passing, whereas on their own, they would likely fail.
It’s not that the military is anxious to have this authority. In fact, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta opposed the provisions on detention. So did CIA Director and former Commander of the United States Central Command of the U.S. Military, General David Petraeus, who is usually respected by congressional members in both the Democratic and Republican parties. Most other security officials also opposed the bill including the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and FBI Director Robert Mueller, and even the attorney General Eric Holder. Yet Congress did not remove the provisions and passed the law anyway. Even President Obama objected to the detention provisions in the law, but signed it anyway.
National Defense Authorization Act: White House Renews Veto Threat After Senate Vote [11]
“The paradigm of the war on terror has advanced so far in people’s minds that this [law] appear[s] more normal than it actually is,” said Tom Malinowski of Human Rights Watch. “It establishes precisely the kind of system that the United States has consistently urged other countries not to adopt.” He pointed out that the United States is urging Egypt, for example, “to scrap its emergency law and military courts.”
Military given go-ahead to detain US terrorist suspects without trial [12]
In this respect, the law is both inconsistent and weakens the argument against military detentions around the world, though recent Presidents of the United States have held U.S. citizens in custody without warrant, due process, or trial in the past. And there are many in the U.S. Congress who believes that the military ought to be able to do these things again, and now they have been successful in codifying it in federal law. Proponents of the law use fear to argue that the extraordinary measures are necessary for both American citizens, even on U.S. soil as well as foreigners anywhere, because, they claim, terrorism suspects were entirely different to regular criminals. Proponents also argue that this law merely codifies what has actually been happening. In other words, they are saying that because it has been done illegally in the past successfully, they are justified in legalizing it and making it official. That only means that they can then escalate the use of these unconstitutional practices in the rising police state in America.
So, if you are the head of a government, you can do something illegal, perhaps several times, and so long as it is done to someone that is sufficiently painted in the public eye as an enemy of the people and the state, eventually it will be encoded in the laws of the land.
Listen to the statement of one of the U.S. Senators. “We’re facing an enemy, not a common criminal organisation,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, “who will do anything and everything possible to destroy our way of life… “When you join al-Qaida you haven’t joined the mafia, you haven’t joined a gang. You’ve joined people who are bent on our destruction and who are a military threat.” Graham said. “And when you say, ‘I want my lawyer,’ they tell them, ‘Shut up. You don’t get a lawyer.’”
“Other senators supported the new powers on the grounds that al-Qaida was fighting a war inside the U.S. and that its followers should be treated as combatants, not civilians with constitutional protections.”
Senator Rand Paul, son of Representative and Presidential Candidate Ron Paul, said in arguments against the proposed legislation, “detaining citizens without a court trial is not American,” and that if the law passes “the terrorists have won.”
“It puts every single American citizen at risk,” he said. “Really, what security does this indefinite detention of Americans give us? The first and flawed premise, both here and in the badly named Patriot Act, is that our pre-9/11 police powers were insufficient to stop terrorism. This is simply not borne out by the facts.”
Senator Dianne Feinstein said, “Congress is essentially authorizing the indefinite imprisonment of American citizens, without charge… We are not a nation that locks up its citizens without charge,” she said.
Obama Under Fire by all Sides for Lifting Veto Threat on Terror Bill [13]
In actual substance, any American labeled as a “suspected terrorist,” whether he is or not, can be arrested and placed under military detention.
In 2009, the department of homeland security issued a shocking report that linked “people with pro-life, anti-illegal immigration views, teachers of end-time prophecies, and veterans of war with ‘right-wing extremist’ groups.” Right wing extremists can easily be classed as one form of terrorist or another.
The secret report on Rightwing Extremism was meant for police and other law enforcement organizations, but was leaked to the public. It broadly defined enemies of the state. It was circulated through conservative blogs and media and eventually created such a stir among veterans and some others that a public apology by Janet Napolitano the Director of Homeland Security was believed to be necessary.
One wonders how long it will be before teachers of end-time prophecies, Sabbath keepers and others will be redefined as “right-wing extremists or potential terrorists and detained in secret prisons both in the U.S. and outside.
The report also mentions those who oppose the President’s policies or intentions as potential extremists. Perhaps the first amendment right to political speech may suffer also, though Napolitano denied this.
In a written statement Napolitano said the agency is on “the lookout for criminal and terrorist activity but we do not — nor will we ever — monitor ideology or political beliefs.” Note that she did not include religious beliefs in her statement. Nor should such a statement be taken at face value. Governments have a history of doing the very things they say they won’t do.
Concerning teachers of end-time prophecies the report says; “Antigovernment conspiracy theories and “end times” prophecies could motivate extremist individuals and groups to stockpile food, ammunition, and weapons. These teachings also have been linked with the radicalization of domestic extremist individuals and groups in the past, such as violent Christian Identity organizations and extremist members of the militia movement.”
Now with the provisions in the new military law, the day may be nearer than we think in which those who teach what the Bible says about the end times will be characterized as terrorists, or at least extremists, even though they do not advocate violence. Those who teach end-time prophecies must be very careful to make it clear that violent acts are not appropriate. Also, it would be important to stress that it is love, not hate which is the motivation for revealing the truth of Bible prophecy concerning the religious and civil organizations involved in Bible prophecy.
Incidentally, Jesus never advocated interference in political matters of earthly governments. Here is a statement along this line from Desire of Ages, page 509; “The government under which Jesus lived was corrupt and oppressive; on every hand were crying abuses, —extortion, intolerance, and grinding cruelty. Yet the Saviour attempted no civil reforms. He attacked no national abuses, nor condemned the national enemies. He did not interfere with the authority or administration of those in power. He who was our example kept aloof from earthly governments. Not because He was indifferent to the woes of men, but because the remedy did not lie in merely human and external measures. To be efficient, the cure must reach men individually, and must regenerate the heart.”
Gov’t views opponents of abortion, illegal immigration as possible threats [14]
Federal agency warns of radicals on right [15]
Law Center challenges basis of DHS report on right-wing extremist threat [16]
Napolitano Apologizes for Offending Veterans After DHS Eyes Them for ‘Rightwing Extremism’ [17]
Homeland security chief apologizes to veterans groups [18]
DHS Report [19]
The DHS Extremism Report has been withdrawn from the DHS website. [20]
A purged report which softens, but does not eliminate the concerns in PDF format can be read here [21]
Napolitano stands by controversial report [22]
When President Obama signed the legislation on New Year’s Eve, he issued a signing statement in which he admitted that these powers were now his but that he will not use them.
He wrote, “I have signed this bill despite having serious reservations with certain provisions that regulate the detention, interrogation, and prosecution of suspected terrorists… “Moreover, I want to clarify that my Administration will not authorize the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens. Indeed, I believe that doing so would break with our most important traditions and values as a Nation. My Administration will interpret section 1021 in a manner that ensures that any detention it authorizes complies with the Constitution, the laws of war, and all other applicable law.”
While this is a very nice sounding signing statement, and which puts most people to rest, it has no force of law whatsoever on the military, the government, or on the President himself, and it will not prevent the implementation of the new law. Moreover, though President Obama professes at least a shallow loyalty to the “most important traditions and values” of the citizens of the United States, and should he waive all military detentions throughout the rest of his presidency, this will not change the fact that the next president or any future president can use these new provisions without restriction. A future president could detain U.S. citizens in great numbers.
When nations are under severe stress; when their legal system is perceived to be in jeopardy, they naturally resort to repressive measures to remain viable. Severe stress is coming, my friends. The Bible predicts it. Therefore, even the most extreme and broad definitions of the new law are likely to be used in the future. At least that is what Bible prophecy clearly suggests.
Let me show you how hollow this statement really is. He also said in the signing statement, “I have signed this bill on the understanding that section 1022 provides the executive branch… with the full and unencumbered ability to waive any military custody requirement, including the option of waiving appropriate categories of cases when doing so is in the national security interests of the United States.”
Let us understand what he said. Instead of being protected by the constitution of the United States from warrantless seizure, indefinite detention and other legal abuses, the president now understands that these constitutional rights are granted by the government and that he can waive the power of the government if he wants to, and by that waiver the citizen can be granted his constitutional rights. This is the opposite of what the U.S. Constitution is and has been for more than 200 years. Personal liberties used to be understood as being inalienable. You cannot take them away. But now the new law revokes these personal liberties.
What do the U.S. government leaders see coming in the future that most Americans don’t see? Do they understand prophecy? I don’t think so. Do they read horoscopes and other mystic prognostications? Perhaps. Could they be planning to create circumstances where they can impose further dictatorial programs? While we cannot judge motives that we cannot see, we know that history repeats itself. After all, governments have the same DNA that they have always had.
It doesn’t take too many brain cells to figure out where all this is headed. Think about history for just a few moments.
Most people today don’t realize that historically, these same practices were part of the inquisition in the Middle Ages in which the Catholic Church controlled the people through fear and suspicion. The inquisition could detain suspected religious heretics as long as they wanted. There was a presumption of guilt. They could interrogate them with “enhanced interrogation” techniques. They could practice “extraordinary rendition.” There was no “due process.” There was no trial by a jury of peers. The Catholic Church flourishes in a dictatorship. It always has.
In more recent times, this kind of law was very much a part of the Nazi regime. Between World War I and World War II, Germany was in serious economic trouble. The depression had caused very hard times to the German people. The currency collapsed, and the people panicked.
In February of 1933, a fire destroyed the Reichstag, or the Parliament building of the German Weimar Republic. The cause of the fire was never established. The fire was blamed on the “communist terrorists.” And since the people feared communism, it was easy to use this event as an excuse by President and Field Marshall Paul von Hindenburg to issue a decree which withdrew the rights of the German citizens and imposed military government which paved the way for Adolf Hitler to establish the Nazi regime.
The first article of the decree suspended civil liberties under the pretext of “protecting” democracy, it said, “Thus, restrictions on personal liberty, on the right of free expression of opinion, including freedom of the press, on the right of association and assembly, and violations of the privacy of postal, telegraphic, and telephonic communications, and warrants for house-searches, orders for confiscations, as well as restrictions on property rights are permissible beyond the legal limits otherwise prescribed.”
This decree which removed or nullified constitutional principles of Germany was followed by an enabling act, which allowed the Nazi government of Chancellor Adolf Hitler to invoke de facto dictatorial powers. These two decrees enabled the Nazi regime to rule by decree or executive order, rather than by the rule of law developed through the legislative process. This essentially overthrew the 1919 Weimar Constitution. Then in 1934 upon the death of Hindenburg, Hitler abolished the office of President and combined its functions with the office of Chancellor. Hitler became known as the Führer or leader and guide. Now with all the power in his hands, he became a dictator whom the Germans looked to as the one to save Germany from utter disaster. This led to World War II.
Wikipedia Article on Reichstag Fire Decree [23]
Wikipedia Article on Enabling Act of 1933 [24]
Wikipedia Article on Adolf Hitler [25]
The Führer and his famous SS troops began kidnapping and detaining people at night without warning, and then many of the detainees simply disappeared. Either they were surreptitiously murdered, or sent to concentration camps. This is known as “forced disappearance.” In the end six million Jews and other “enemies of the state” were liquidated in concentration death camps. It all started on the excuse that the emergency of the times required extraordinary measures.
Wikipedia Article on Forced disappearance [26]
But the U.S. military authorization law goes way beyond martial law and military detention of American citizens suspected of terrorism. The parallels of the new U.S. military law to the decree of Paul von Hindenburg don’t end with indefinite detentions or killing of U.S. citizens deemed to be harmful to the state. The Nazi regime limited free speech, particularly against those who opposed the government. The new U.S. law now gives the U.S. military new authority to control the internet in the interests of the United States, which also has the potential to limit free speech, particularly in a time of crisis. Again, I have known that the U.S. government has wanted to do this for quite some time, and now it has finally been enacted. The Pentagon now has authority to take down or block any website that it claims jeopardizes national security. This would include any website which the pentagon or the government claims is counter to its purposes or questions its wisdom.
House-Senate Conference Report [27]
Back in July of 2011 the Department of Defense set out its plan for cyberspace making the internet part of its “operational domain.” Now it is enshrined in U.S. Federal law through the Military Authorization law. Pentagon censors will now be able to apply a so-called “kill switch” to selectively shut down domestic web content on the basis of suspicion or accusation, and the owners of an offending site will not have a mechanism to defend themselves. They will not be able to appeal and ask the government to provide proof.
This means that “the United States reserves the right, under the laws of armed conflict, to respond to serious cyber attacks with a proportional and justified military response at the time and place of our choosing,” said Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn at a speech announcing the new strategy.
Pentagon to treat cyberspace as “operational domain” [28]
Pentagon declares the Internet a war domain [29]
Kucinich on Defense Authorization Act: It “Authorizes Permanent Warfare Anywhere In the World.” [30]
Joint Vision 2020 Emphasizes Full-spectrum Dominance [31]
The United States Department of Defense wants “full spectrum dominance.” “This bill authorizes permanent warfare anywhere in the world,” said Congressman Dennis Kucinich. “It gives the president unchecked power to pursue war. It diminishes the role of this Congress,” he said. Jesus also told us that in the last days, there will be wars and rumors of war, so this should be no surprise.
Oh friends, don’t forget that every principle of the U.S. Constitution will be repudiated, according to prophecy. We are rapidly moving toward the close of human probation. We see the preparations being made for the final crisis. Here is the statement. “By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. That’s from the Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, and page 451.
There are those who think that anyone who draws a connection between these events and the final crisis for God’s people is a lunatic. But the Bible cannot err. Revelation 13 tells us that everyone will be forced to make a choice to serve God or serve Satan. There is coming a worship crisis in which each soul will have to decide if they are going to obey God or obey man. All the powers of the earth are being marshaled for the final conflict. Policies and laws are being made against terrorists, a legitimate target. People get used to these laws. Then they can be later turned against God’s people. Technology and systems are being developed to control and restrict movements. Militaries, governments, businesses and economies are all being organized and trained on the enemy and prepared for the final assault. Churches are being co-opted through the ecumenical movement to work against those few who actually honor all of the divine precepts in the Ten Commandments, especially the worship commandment.
The globalization of the politics and economy of the world is leading to the globalization of rebellion to the law of God. It will be so complete that “all the world wonders after the beast,” and “all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him.” Revelation 13:3, 8
The wrath of God will eventually be poured out against those who reject his pleadings. There will be pestilence and plagues, fire and famine, earthquakes and disasters, destruction on every hand. But God’s people who faithfully follow His truth and live by His law, though hated by men, will be protected by God.
In the last days, Jesus says to His faithful ones, like He said to Noah; “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.” Isaiah 26:20, 21
Friend, a time of trouble such as never was is soon to break upon the earth with overwhelming surprise on its inhabitants. There will be bloodshed, strife and commotion. There will be war, famine and distress on every hand. How are you going to navigate through that time? Are you preparing your chamber? Is your heart and character right with God? Are your sins forgiven and have you turned from them? Do you hate sin so much that yours have been cast in the depths of the sea? The only way that can happen is if you turn from them and never do them again.
Don’t forget that the Lord loves you and is working to make sure you are saved if you give Him your heart and life. You don’t have to be vulnerable to the coming chaos. If you are in Christ, there is a wonderful promise for you. It is from Psalm 121:5. “The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.”
You see, the Lord is going to stand by you in the time of trouble. When the issues in this world become so very intense that the people of God are threatened with extinction that is when God’s arm is strong to save them and keep them from the enemy. Don’t you want the promise to apply to you? I do. God’s promises are as certain as His prophecies. You can rely on them as much as you rely on the prophecies. He will not fail you. He will never fail even one of His faithful children.
So, today, while you are still free; while you still have time; while you still have probationary time, make all things right with God. Make sure you are hid with God in Christ. There is no hope in this world. There is no hope in money. There is no hope in human governments. There is no hope is earthly systems.
Most people just bury themselves in an endless round of mind-numbing diversions and amusements to keep from having to face the reality of the times in which we live and the future time of great trouble. They divert their minds by entertainment and sports. But these only benumb their spiritual senses. Indulgence of appetite only breaks down their resistance to sin. Any cherished idol prevents the Holy Spirit from giving them complete victory in their lives and providing them with a pure and holy atmosphere. I hope you are not one of them, but that you are turning your life over to Jesus every day.
Let us pray and ask God for an experience with Christ that will mature us and prepare us. Our Father in heaven, we see the ominous writing on the wall. You are telling us that we are near the end through the signs of the times. The new U.S. military authorization to detain citizens is one more prophetic signpost because it is being developed so that it can be eventually aimed at God’s people. We pray for your presence in our hearts. We ask for Your Holy Spirit to fortify us for the coming time of trouble so that we can stand faithfully for Jesus Christ like the three Hebrews on the plain of Dura. We plead for Your power so that we may have total victory in our lives. Take our loyalty and make it invincible. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Further Links:
Wikipedia Article on National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 [32]
The Bill as Passed by Congress [33]
President Obama NDAA Signing Statement Transcript [34]
On National Defense Authorization Act, Obama pulls veto threat [35]
The Military Can Now Arrest Citizens Without Trial? Oh, We Call That Tuesday. [36]