Voice of the Kingfisher speaks out …from a different perspective
by Elinor Montgomery
July 27, 2013
Jeremiah looked upon the shining city on the hill; the name of the city was Jerusalem and what he saw was desolation. Jeremiah, the prophet, was a type of Jesus who would weep over the city six centuries later.
How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow is she, who was great among the nations! The princess among the provinces has become a slave! She weeps bitterly in the night, her tears are on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has none to comfort her. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies. Judah has gone into captivity, under affliction and hard servitude; she dwells among the nations, she finds no rest; all her persecutors overtake her in dire straits (Lamentations 1:1-3).
Now, nearly 2000 years later, the bride and prophetess of the true church, looks over Washington and Ottawa, the capitals of America, and what she sees causes her to weep. She is watching this land of liberty under God as its light goes out with the torch being lowered and the approaching Babylonians about to repeat history.
Her adversaries have become the master, her enemies prosper; for the Lord has afflicted her because of the multitude of her transgressions. Her children have gone into captivity before the enemy (Lamentations 1:5).
Is not Islam prospering in America while the Christians are being afflicted? Is it any wonder, when the church is sitting back in the pews in her Laodicean condition of tolerance for all things, along with an unwillingness to speak out in truth? Is there a child left, which has not been made captive to the music of the day and its messages of hate for the nation and hate for God, along with explicit messages of sexual immorality? The institutional church can be accused of no longer reflecting the glory of the daughters of Zion, which the early apostolic church displayed, now possessing only a skittish, powerless priesthood.
And from the daughter of Zion all her splendor has departed. Her princes have become like deer that find no pasture, that flee without strength before the pursuer (Lamentations 1:6).
In real time, Jeremiah, the prophet, describes the funeral of a city. You could describe it as a tear-stained portrait of the once-proud Jerusalem. In prophecy, is it not the tale of two cities? Was Washington not that proud capital, a shining city of light on the hill with the pure, white capitol building of government and the house of the President, the White House, all aglow in the white purity of God? Was Ottawa not a majestic picture in stone of the past and future coming together in the promise, which only stones can deliver as the foundation for God’s truth, with the capital buildings standing upon a high hill above the river flowing beneath? Desolation is waiting in the wings, with their glorious past becoming nothing but a sad memory for those of us old enough to remember.
In the days of her affliction and roaming, Jerusalem remembers all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old. When her people fell into the hand of the enemy, with no one to help her, the adversaries saw her and mocked at her downfall (Lamentations 1:7).
One can only remember the mockery of Ahmadinejad, as he stood in the United Nations building on American soil, ridiculing and denouncing America. One can only imagine the mockery of Putin after Obama signed away America’s right to arm and protect herself with weaponry, while Russia continued to manufacture her own weapons of mass destruction. One can only imagine the Muslim Brotherhood laughing its way all the way to the bank as America continues to fund and arm Egypt in its Islamic war against the West.
One can only imagine the ripple of laughter around the world as it watches the so-called great justice of America. In the face of scandals, lies and the complete unaccountability of government officials and that of the perpetrators of confessed crimes, the perpetrators are promoted by the President, instead of being fired and charged for their criminal activity. One can only imagine the ripple of laughter from the enemy when Americans died in Benghazi, with the government reaching a stalemate between President and Congress over the facts surrounding the debacle.
Concerning the issues of monumental economic concern for the common man and woman, the solution for the President seems to be found in his taking one more vacation, rather than facing the problem. As the prophet bemoaned Jerusalem’s situation, one can only imagine how the true church bemoans the multicultural nature of the liberal agendas in America, designed to push the nation over the cliff, while the church watches the destruction of what were once, two, great cities.
Jerusalem has sinned grievously, therefore she has become vile. All who honored her despise her because they have seen her nakedness; yes, she sighs and turns away. Her uncleanness is in her skirts; she did not consider her destiny; therefore her collapse was awesome; she had no comforter. “O Lord, behold my affliction, for the enemy has magnified himself!” The adversary has spread his hand over all her pleasant things; for she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary, those whom You commanded not to enter Your congregation. All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their valuables for food to restore life. “See, O Lord, and consider, for I am scorned (Lamentations 1:8-11).”
But, lo and behold, the prophet sees a light at the end of the tunnel for the hope of restoration. Has God really forgotten about the promise to Abraham for the blessing of all nations? Has He forgotten about a glorious rule to come on the throne of David, the rule we have not yet seen?
Yes, the crown has fallen from the head of the nation and even from the head of the spiritual nation. But the gates of hell will not prevail against the true apostolic church of Jesus Christ. There is but one answer; the entire, false, religious system of Christianity will fall away as the true church is revived from her tomb and restored like Lazarus by the sound of the voice of the King. And it will be the voice of the bride, His bride, the 144,000 witnesses, who shall declare it.
Remember, O Lord, what has come upon us; look, and behold our reproach! Our inheritance has been turned over to aliens, and our houses to foreigners. We have become orphans and waifs, our mothers are like widows. We pay for the water we drink, and our wood comes at a price. They pursue at our heels; we labor and have no rest. We have given our hand to the Egyptians and the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
Our fathers sinned and are no more, but we bear their iniquities. Servants rule over us; there is none to deliver us from their hand. We get our bread at the risk of our lives, because of the sword in the wilderness. Our skin is hot as an oven, because of the fever of famine.
They ravished the women in Zion, the maidens in the cities of Judah. Princes were hung up by their hands, and elders were not respected. Young men ground at the millstones; boys staggered under loads of wood. The elders have ceased gathering at the gate, and the young men from their music. The joy of our heart has ceased; our dance has turned into mourning.
The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned! Because of this our heart is faint; because of these things our eyes grow dim; because of Mount Zion which is desolate, with foxes walking about on it. You, O Lord, remain forever; Your throne from generation to generation. Why do You forget us forever, and forsake us for so long a time? Turn us back to You, O Lord, and we will be restored; renew our days as of old, unless You have utterly rejected us, and are very angry with us (Lamentations 5:1-22)!
The Lord will never turn His back on His true church, for He is a God of truth who never lies; there is no religion in Him. The New Jerusalem shall come down from heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband (see Revelation 21:2). She will be one, magnificent city of light on a shining hill, and together the bride and bridegroom shall rule for ever, and forevermore.
And so goes the tale of two cities, which will become but a memory, when the kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven.