Whether or not we find God answering our presidential prayers as we expect; regardless if we must continue to deal with delays in our quest for revival, God remains our ally. Indeed, even in the most terrible of times, He still commands, "Ask of Me, and I will give the nations for thine inheritance."
The Great Revolt
As though Jesus were reading a news summary of recent years, His prophecies of two thousand years ago clearly describe our times. He warned, "You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars...in various places there will be famines and earthquakes...many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many...because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold" (Matt 24:6- 7,11-12).
These prophecies, along with many others, compel us to discern accurately the profound times in which we find ourselves. Of all the prophetic words being fulfilled in our day, one prophecy in particular arises with immediate implications. It concerns the "apostasy." Paul warned, "Let no one in any way deceive you, for [the day of the Lord] will not come unless the apostasy comes first..." (2 Thess 2:3).
The apostasy has traditionally been perceived as the season when the "great falling away" from the faith occurs, which precedes the coming of the Antichrist. However, the concept of apostasy as merely "a falling away" is incomplete. The original Greek word for apostasy, "apostasia," when used in classical Greek literature, literally meant "a political revolt." From this we understand that the endtime apostasy is not just a time of increased moral compromise or empty religion, but more significantly a time of open defiance and warlike aggression. The apostasy is actually a political insurrection against the laws of God.
This interpretation of the apostasy is not an isolated view. The NIV, RSV, Today's English Version, Phillip's Translation and the New English Bible all render "apostasia" as "the rebellion." The Living Bible interprets the "apostasy" as the "great rebellion," while the Jerusalem Bible assigns a proper name: "The Great Revolt."
As we gaze in awe at the fulfillment of so many prophecies, let us carefully observe: Mankind has entered an era of open revolt and outright rebellion, an apostasy, against the moral standards of God. From God's Standards to No Standards
Today, we are witnessing a large-scale rebellion against godliness and moral values. Indeed, this brazen attitude has had a name for itself since the 1960s: the Sexual Revolution. And revolution is exactly what it is. Our traditional moral standards have not only been challenged, they have been replaced by a "non-standard" one that seeks to legitimize, and even promote, every sin from obscenity and perversion to homosexuality and witchcraft!
Those caught up in this mutiny against morality boldly defy the sway of God in our nation. They argue the only standard Americans have is the ideal of individual freedom. In their view, Freedom itself is the "god" ruling America and Self-Indulgence is the state religion. However, those who wrote our Constitution developed their sense of social values during "The Great Awakening," a forty year period of revival that, according to the Columbia Encyclopedia, greatly "influenced social and political thought." Indeed, the Great Awakening "led to the founding of a number of academies and colleges, notably Princeton, Brown, Rutgers, and Dartmouth" (6th edition).
Whether or not America's founding fathers were all practicing Christians, their concept of individual freedom emerged through the sociological birth canal of Christian ethics. By the time they penned the laws of this land, the moral legacy left by the Great Awakening was an invisible counselor guiding their sense of values. They knew that if liberty were divorced from morality, lawlessness would result.