11 / 16
The Amish Voice 11
decide to love each other and never
steal what is not ours.
If people really started leaving their
houses unlocked, do you think other
people would take advantage of this?
Fifty people in your neighborhood might
try to be honest and try to follow the
President’s advice, but all you need is
one crook to ruin it for everyone!
REMEMBER, WE ARE NOT IN
HEAVEN YET!
There is enough stealing that goes on
even when people lock their doors! Just
think how much stealing there would be
if people made it easy for thieves to break
in and steal! Should a country make it
easy for another country to invade and to
conquer?
It Pays To Be Prepared
In Nehemiah chapter 4, the children of
Israel were building the wall around the
city of Jerusalem. Why did they need a
wall? Was it for decoration? Was it to
keep young children from wandering
away? No,
the wall was for protection
and for defense
. The Jews knew that
they were surrounded by enemies and
they wanted to build a wall to protect
their city.
Their enemies did not want them to
succeed in building this wall. Was the
enemy planning to come and attack
(Nehemiah 4:11)? _________
What weapons did they have (Neh. 4:13)
________________________________
________________________________
Were they PREPARED to fight? ______
As it turned out, the Jews did not even
need to fight (see Neh. 4:15). The enemy
knew that they were PREPARED and
ready to fight and so they did not dare to
attack them! The Jews then went back to
work building the wall. Were they still
ready to fight (Neh. 4:16-18, 21)? ______
A long time ago, a similar situation took
place. In the days of Esther there were
people who were afraid that the entire
Jewish race would be destroyed, and they
had good reason for thinking this would
happen (see Esther 3:13). But if the
people had believed their Bibles, they
would have known that this was
impossible. God had promised that the
nation Israel would never cease from
being a nation (Jeremiah 31:35-37; 33:24
-26). If the Jewish race had been
destroyed, then God would have been a
liar!
The Coming Holocaust
The word "HOLOCAUST" means a
thorough (complete) destruction. It refers
especially to destruction by fire (to be
burnt whole, to be completely burned
up). Many people are afraid of a nuclear
holocaust. They fear that someday
nuclear weapons will be used and
mankind will be completely destroyed by
the nuclear fire and fallout.
There is a time of great destruction
coming upon planet earth and millions of
people will die, but this destruction will
not be caused by man. This will not be a
destruction caused by the Russians,
by Iraq, by China, or by any other
country. This will not be a destruction
caused by certain countries having a
nuclear war. This destruction will be
caused by GOD HIMSELF!
God is going to send great judgments and
plagues upon the earth during the
Tribulation Period. This will be a
DIVINE HOLOCAUST (caused by God)
as a result of man’s sinfulness. The
entire unsaved population of the world
will be removed from the earth by the
time God is finished with His work of
judgment.
The book of Revelation tells us about
these judgments and plagues that will
come upon the earth in the future. For
example, in Revelation 6:8 we are told
that the f_______________ part of the
earth will be killed. This is one fourth of
the world’s population!
In Revelation 9:15 we learn that the
t_______________ part of men will be
killed. This is mass destruction!
You can read about more of these plagues
in Revelation chapters 8 and 9. When the
Lord Jesus Christ returns at the end of the
Tribulation, there will be another great
destruction and slaughter of the enemies
of God (see Revelation 14:14-20; 19:11-
20).
In the days of Moses, God sent some
terrible plagues and judgments on the
land of Egypt. You can read about these
in the early chapters of the book of
Exodus. In the future, God will send
plagues and judgments not just on the
land of Egypt, but on the entire world.
Those who are caught up into heaven will
be kept from this terrible time of trouble
that will come upon all those who remain
on the earth (Revelation 3:10). What
happened to the land of Egypt long ago is
a miniature picture of what will happen to
the entire world in the Tribulation Period.
God’s holocaust is coming!
Man should not be feared. Russia or
China or some other country should not
be feared. The Bible indicates in Ezekiel
chapters 38-39 that God will take care of
that great power from the north (RUSSIA
and its allies). Satan is not the one we
should fear. The One that we should
really fear is GOD HIMSELF (see
Matthew 10:28). If we really want to
have PEACE, then we need to make sure
we have PEACE WITH ________
(Romans 5:1).
The most terrible war of all is when a
person is at war with God in his heart.
The worst and most destructive kind of
fighting is when a person fights against
God in his heart. The Bible clearly
teaches that an unsaved person is an
ENEMY of God (Romans 5:10). The
Lord Jesus died on the cross so that this
war could be over (Romans 5:6-10).
Those who believe on
Christ and those who
have received Christ as
their Savior have
peace with God
True/False Peace, continued