Regimes Are Gloating
Christian publishers are reporting Bible sales are on the rise as more people during the COVID-19 pandemic are turning to God's Word for comfort, 04-08-2020.
NY Times April 25, 2020
Business is booming for psychics, mediums and astrologers during the coronavirus pandemic, as uncertain and scared Americans seek answers. Chris Medina, a Los Angeles psychic, said he has seen a 20 to 30% growth in business since the pandemic struck. Medina, who charges $150 for 30-minute sessions and does 6 readings a day, adds that the majority of his clients are women who “want guidance on what is going on and where the world is heading.”
Jerusalem Post WORLD NEWS
Iran, Russia, China, Turkey celebrate 'collapse' of US
The goal of these countries during the current US crisis is to use it to their advantage to achieve gains.
Authoritarian regimes throughout the world are gloating over and celebrating the chaos unfolding in the United States. This past Monday, Iran’s media pushed stories that highlighted the “collapse,” while quoting Russian sources portraying that the US is falling about as its world order comes crashing down.
The US became the world’s most powerful country, a global superpower, after the Soviet Union fell apart in 1989.
However, Russia, China, Iran and Turkey have all awaited the period when the world would become multi-polar again. They have sought to work more closely together, and they have sat frequently at global forums that the US does not attend.
To coordinate efforts against the US, these countries all have state media that is well funded, and numerous Chinese media outlets. The policies of these countries are to slowly undermine the US and wait for moments of US weakness to push their agendas. The leadership in Turkey and Iran sought to capitalize on the riots in the US, claiming that America is part of an “unjust order” in the world. Iran’s former president made similar comments about the declining US
“order.” This is a reference to the concept of the “axis of resistance” in Iran, and the defeat of US “arrogance.”
Ever since the Islamic Revolution in Iran of 1979, there has been a call for a third way between the US and Soviet Union in the 1980s that would bring about the defeat of Western systems and the rise of political Islam rooted in Tehran.
Turkey and Iran coordinate in efforts against Israel and both support Hamas. They broadly work together against other US partners, such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt.
Now the protests in the US and the COVID-19 crisis have made Washington appear to be declining. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the US was now having to deal with its police misconduct and said the US compared unfavorably with Russia. “Thank God things that happen in America do not happen in [Russia],” he said, according to Russia’s TASS media.
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Aleksey Pushkov, a senator in Russia’s parliament and an expert on foreign policy, argued on Twitter that the US is crumbling. He said that US withdrawals from Afghanistan and Syria were because Turkey ordered the US to leave. It was an example of American decline. He also tweeted that the US is crumbling due to COVID-19 and the inability of the US to help Europe or its allies at the peak of the pandemic. He said America has been on a “hysterical” tirade against China and now faces an internal schism and racial rebellion.
Iran was pleased with Pushkov’s words. Iran’s IRGC said it was stronger than ever and that it was resisting the dictatorial, terrorist United States.
Turkey has mobilized all its state media propaganda resources against the US. Iran headlines are directed at bashing the US as part of a state-controlled effort. It has an opinion piece on its homepage about US corporations “looting” black communities, designed to make it appear that it is US businesses looting people, as opposed to protesters doing the looting. Turkey supports the protests – just like China, Iran and Russia. It highlights police brutality in the US but it never critiques police brutality in Turkey.
The goal of Turkey, Iran, China and Russia during the current US crisis is to use it to their advantage to get gains. During the crisis Turkey has been flooding Libya and Syrian
mercenaries with weapons. China has pushed against India in a border dispute. Iran is sending tankers to Venezuela. Russia has sent warplanes to Libya and Syria.
All these countries want to leverage the economic crisis of the pandemic to their advantage.
Turkey is designing a new fighter jet that Russia’s media heralds as a possible replacement for the F-16.
Russia is pushing its defense systems.
Turkey wants to work with Iran, Malaysia and Pakistan to improve economic relations and expand its role in the Mediterranean.
Egypt, Greece, Cyprus, and France as seeking to counter Turkey’s growing role in the Mediterranean.
Globally, US allies are concerned that the chaos in the US, where the US military is now being deployed, could represent a decline of US ability to concentrate abroad.
That will mean all those that have been waiting for the US to reduce its footprint will be running to fill the vacuum.
Already, Russia and Iran are running toward Afghanistan, and Turkey and Russia are focused up Libya. The race is on, the scramble to grab up properties. From eastern Libya to Afghanistan to Asia and Africa, everywhere the US may appear weak, the adversaries are preparing. The big four – China, Russia, Turkey and Iran – are poised to exploit the US world order amid the chaos.
Hebrews 11:3
"By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible."
Isaiah 45:12
“It is I who made the earth, and created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with My hands And I ordained all their host."
Job 9:8
"Who alone stretches out the heavens And tramples down the waves of the sea."
Psalm 8:3
"When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained"
Isaiah 48:13
“Surely My hand founded the earth, And My right hand spread out the heavens; When I call to them, they stand together."
Colossians 1:16-17
"For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."
Job 12:10
"In whose hand is the life of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?"
Job 34:14-15
“If He should determine to do so, If He should gather to Himself His spirit and His breath,
All flesh would perish together, And man would return to dust."
Isaiah 42:5
"Thus says God the LORD,
Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread out the earth and its offspring,
Who gives breath to the people on it
And spirit to those who walk in it"
Hebrews 1:2-3
"in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power."
Psalm 46:2-3
"Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change
And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;
Though its waters roar and foam,
Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah."
What does the Bible say about anarchy/anarchism?
Anarchy is usually considered to be the chaos that erupts at the lack of governmental authority in a society. However, anarchism—the theory that society is improved when people freely rule themselves apart from all laws—is touted as a worthy ideal by those who reject the
necessity of governing authorities. When prevailing authorities have been overruled or removed, usually by force, anarchy results as every person becomes his or her own authority.
We see examples of anarchy during riots, when police have been fought back and the crowd
becomes a looting, destroying entity. While it may seem ideal for a society to operate
without oversight, the reality is not so pretty because the heart of man is “evil continually”
(Genesis 6:5; cf. Romans 3:10; Jeremiah 17:9).
Since the Garden of Eden, mankind has loved the idea of self-rule (Genesis 3:1–7). In fact, the
motivation behind most sin is the insistence upon being one’s own god. We don’t want anyone else, including our Creator, to tell us what to do. We imagine that the throwing off of all restraints equals freedom and that, if left alone, we and our neighbors could peacefully
coexist without enforcement of laws and standards. But this utopian dream has never proved
true. Every society that has tried anarchism has ended in anarchy and disorder. Sinful man
has come to believe that our need for governing authority is a flaw that needs correcting. Yet
the Bible presents a different story.
God instituted law from the beginning of history (Genesis 2:16–17). Laws are merely boundaries that keep us safe and ensure human interactions are fair and honest. But
boundaries must have consequences for violating them, or they are merely suggestions.
Without consequences, opinions become the basis for rules, and we know that everyone has a different opinion. It is difficult enough for a group of friends to decide where to eat dinner.
Far more difficult is the building of a civilization based upon varied opinions. From one
person’s viewpoint, it is right to love our neighbors; from another’s, it is right to eat them. So
whose viewpoint wins? The battle between opposing views can lead to anarchy.
Romans 13:1–7 tells us that God designed government, and one of its primary functions is to
avoid anarchy. Along with that divine authority comes the power to enforce the decided
boundaries. There were a few times in biblical history when anarchy was the order of the
day, and “every man did what was right in his own eyes” (Deuteronomy 12:8; Judges
17:6; 21:25). It never ended well. First came blatant idolatry, followed quickly by further
lawlessness and the demolition of society. God had to rescue Israel from itself by sending a
series of judges to keep the peace; later, He sent a succession of kings. When anarchy rules in a culture, that culture is easy prey for a more organized enemy to overthrow it.
God’s plan is not for us to live in anarchy or pursue anarchism. Though we may chafe at
unjust laws and unwise lawmakers, we can still thank God for whatever system of government
protects our freedoms and our lives. We are to do our best to live peacefully under that
system (1 Timothy 2:2), pay our taxes (Matthew 22:21), get as involved in our local
governments as we feel led to do, and pray for those in authority over us (1 Timothy 2:1–3).
We should obey our authorities in all things, unless they require us to directly disobey God. (Acts 5:29) Only then is civil disobedience in line with God's Word.