Now, I want you to open your Bibles, if you would please, to the book of Jeremiah, chapter 14, and we're going to be reading verse 22. I want you to listen carefully to the title of the message, and I'm going to tell you I would really prefer that you listen very closely today. I'm going to be quoting a lot of scriptures. Please jot them down. You're not going to be able to turn to all of them, But I think the message is very applicable. So here's the title of the message. It's God's Sovereignty, Man's Instrumentality, and the Weather. You'll see in just a moment. In fact, I was asked a question this past week which led to this message, and I'm going to try to answer the question. So here it is, Jeremiah 14, verse 22. Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? Or can the heavens give showers? For now thou he, O Lord our God, therefore we wait upon thee, for thou hast made all these things. When you think of the title that I just gave you, it's a very strange title. Obviously, God is sovereign. But what in the world does man have to do with God's sovereignty? And what in the world does man's instrumentality have to do with the weather? So our text in Jeremiah 14 verse 22 makes it exceedingly clear that only God can give rain. And then he talks about the vanities. And he said, can any of the vanities of the Gentiles cause rain? The word vanities is used to refer to false idols. In fact, in Deuteronomy 32 in verse 21, God says concerning Israel, they have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked me to anger with their vanities. And so he's talking about their idols at that particular point. So the vanities, in Jeremiah chapter 14 in verse 22, happened to be the false idols, which Judah and Jerusalem had turned and leaving and forsaking God. So these false idols then were helpless and hopeless. Now I want you to note, the question is, are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? And I want you to think with me just for a moment about rain. Because once you read through the scripture, you are going to find that rain, especially in its due season, in its due time, is always accounted as the blessing of God. So here are just a few verses. Leviticus 26 in verse 4, God says, Then I will give you rain in the due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. Then Deuteronomy 11 in verse 11, He tells them, But the land Whether you go to possess it is a land of hills and valley and drinketh water of the rain of heaven. And then Deuteronomy 11, 14, he says that I will give you the rain of your land in its due season. the first rain and the latter rain that thou mayest gather in thy corn, thy wine, and thine oil. And then in Deuteronomy 28, where you have the blessings of God and the curses of God, he says in Deuteronomy 28 in verse 12, the Lord shall open to thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto the land in his season, and to bless all of the work of thine hand, and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow." So obviously this is a blessing of God. Now just the opposite is true because the withholding of the rain is considered the curse of God and also the judgment of God. So in Deuteronomy 28, in verse 24, when he's talking about the curses for disobedience, he says, the Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust. From heaven shall it come down upon thee until thou be destroyed. So if you can imagine rain being powder and dust, well, that's what he's saying. It's going to be an extreme drought. And then when you get to the book of Amos, chapter four, verses seven and eight, the withholding of the rain, is counted as God's judgment. God said, and also I've withholding the rain from you when there were yet three months to the harvest and I caused it to rain upon one city and caused it not to run rain upon another city. One piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered. So two or three cities wandered into one city to drink water, but they were not satisfied. Then he says, Yet you have not returned to me, saith the Lord. So here's the curse of God. Here's the judgment of God in withholding rain. Now, when we look at the question in Jeremiah chapter 14 verse 22, he asks, can any of the Gentiles, the vanities of the Gentiles, produce rain? Well, the question arose because when you look at Jeremiah chapter 14, the people were suffering in an extreme drought. So let's go back and look, if you would, at the first six verses, Jeremiah 14 verse 1. The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth. Judah mourneth and the gates thereof languish. They are blackened to the ground and the cry of Jerusalem is going up and their nobles have sent their little children or little ones to the waters. They came to the pits and found no water. They returned with their vessels empty. They were ashamed and confounded and covered their heads, because the ground is chapped, for there was no rain in the earth. The plowmen were ashamed. They covered their heads. Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no grass. And the wild asses did stand in the high places. They snuffed up the wind like dragons. Their eyes did fail, because there was no grass." So you're talking now about an extreme drought. Now, obviously, clearly, when he says, are there any among the bandages of the Gentiles that can cause rain, No false idol can cause rain, because obviously they're false. They're not real. They're simply false gods. But there's an interesting question in verse 22 as well. So he asks, not only are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can bring rain or cause rain, look at the next question. Or can the heavens give showers? And the answer is no. Rain may fall from the heavens, but the heavens are not the source of rain. The heavens cannot in and of themselves give rain. Why? Because rain comes by the decree of God. So if you look in your Bibles to the book of Job 28 and hold Jeremiah 14, In the book of Job chapter 28, beginning there with verse 26, Job 28, look, if you would at verse 26, Job 28, verse 26, when he made a decree for the rain and a way for the lightning of the thunder, Then did he see it and declare it. He prepared it, yea, and searched it out. Unto men, he said, verse 28, behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and it depart from evil is understanding. But note, if you would, in verse 26, when he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder. Now, John Gill, the Baptist expositor, said it like this, in his own wisdom, what he made and executed his decrees concerning rain, lightning, and thunder, he saw it in himself as it appeared in the hands or the work of his hands. And then he talks about how God brings all these things to pass in his divine providence. God is absolutely totally sovereign. So let me say this again. There is nothing above God. There is nothing beyond God. And there is nothing outside of God's control. If there were something outside of God's control, then God would not be God. And God certainly would not be sovereign. And so we have to understand this principle. Everything that comes to pass in time was ordained from eternity. That is why in Acts chapter 15 and verse 18, the Bible says, known unto God are all of his works from the beginning. So God knows the end from the beginning because God ordained everything which comes to pass. Now, before I get into the message today, I want to give you two passages to look at. One of them we're certainly going to come back to, but the first one is Romans 11. So if you'll find that passage, and then the second one is Psalm 76. So if you'll look at Romans chapter 11 first, and let's begin reading their verse 33 Romans 11 verse 33, And then we're going to go to Psalm 76. So Romans 11 verse 33, listen to this, all the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God. Now look at the next statement, how unsearchable or his judgments and his ways past finding out. Then the question, who hath known the mind of the Lord, who hath been his counselor, who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again, for off him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever, amen. Now, watch if you would, he says, oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God. So it's impossible then for anyone to fathom the wisdom or the ways of God. God is absolutely sovereign and God is absolutely unique. And then he said this in verse as well, verse 33 as well, how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out. So now we're talking about God's judgments in time and in history. So they are unsearchable in one sense of the word. Now here's the one thing that you and I can be absolutely sure of in Romans chapter 11 when he said, for off him and through him and to him are all things. So here it is off him that is originally and through him that is providentially and to him ultimately are all things. So God then has ordained everything originally. He will work it out in his providence. It will be through him and ultimately it will read down to his honor and his glory. Now I want you to look next if you would please at Psalm 76 and verse 10 Psalm 76 and verse 10 Psalm 76 verse 10 surely the wrath of man shall praise the Lord, and the remainder of wrath shall he restrain. So when he says, surely the wrath of man shall praise the Lord, that is referring to the fact that all rage, all wickedness, all anger, all rebellious actions ultimately are going to redound to God's honor and God's glory. That which will not redound to God's honor and God's glory, God will restrain. Literally, it says, surely the wrath of man shall keep the Sabbath unto the Lord. The rest he will restrain. So think about this. Since man has fallen, man is sinful, he's wicked, he's depraved. And consequently, fallen man fights against God, He fights against God's kingdom. He fights against God's law. He fights against God's rule, and he fights against God's people. But what God is telling us in Romans 11, also in Psalm 76, is that ultimately all of the rage, all of the wrath, all of the anger, and all of the wickedness of man is going to do nothing but accomplish that which God has ordained before the foundation of the world. So let me give you three principles very quickly. You need to understand these. I'm not gonna take time to show you all the verses, but the very first one is this. God is not the instigator of evil. God is not the instigator of evil. What does the book of James say? Let no man say when he's tempted, I'm tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted of evil, neither tempteth any man. God is not the instigator of evil. Secondly, God is not the infuser of evil. God does not infuse wickedness into anyone. He doesn't have to because man is already wicked in and of himself. So the first one is God is not the instigator of evil. The second one is God is not the infuser of evil. But the third one is this. God is the controller of evil. Nothing is outside of God's sovereign control. Now, please remember, when you read through the book of Job, especially the first several chapters, every time God gave Satan permission to attack Job, and he had to have God's permission, But every time God gave Satan permission to attack Job, there was a limitation put upon him. He said, hitherto you can go, but no farther. I mean, that's it. So God then is absolutely sovereign and he controls everything. So in light of God's sovereignty, here's the question that came to me. How could a good and loving God allow evil? Hang on. How could a good and loving God allow what you and I saw in hurricanes, Helene, Milton, and all of those others in times past? And the answer to that is this, God in his infinite wisdom and honor and glory is somehow ultimately going to receive more honor and more glory from everything that you and I would call evil. Let me show you. So let me ask you a question. Are you thankful for the salvation you have in Jesus Christ? Are you thankful for his sacrificial atonement? And you're going to say, yes. So I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Acts chapter two, and let me show you something. The sacrificial offering of Jesus Christ, the salvation of which you and I are thankful and grateful was accomplished through the hands of the wicked. God ordained it, but it was accomplished by the hands of the wicked. So if you look at Acts chapter two, notice if you would, verse 22, You men of Israel hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know. M, look at this. Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, God ordained it, watch this, you have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain, whom God had raised up, having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should behold of it. So God ordained it, but it was wicked men who crucified the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, God did not make the Jews wicked. God did not make the Romans wicked. They already were wicked. All he did was control their wickedness to work out in time and history that which he had ordained back in eternity. So the wicked men were the instruments of God to accomplish his purpose in the giving of his only begotten son, the Lord Jesus Christ, for our salvation. and redemption. Now, that brings me to this. There are two words that we need to understand theologically. Those two words are immediate and media. So when you and I hear the word immediate, I could say, Steve, pick up that book immediately. That simply means do it right now. However, That is not what the word means theologically. When we talk about the immediate work of God, we're talking about the fact that God does something in his sovereignty without and apart from the use of any means whatsoever. So we could say the creation of the universe was an immediate act of God. How can we say that? Because the Bible tells us that he spake the worlds into existence. He spoke and it was done. Read Psalm 33. That was an immediate work of God. Many of the miracles were the immediate work of God. However, when we talk about immediate work of God, it means that God works through means. And usually most of the miracles were done through means, although it was indeed the work of God. For instance, on one blind man, our Lord spit on the ground and made clay and anointed his eyes. You remember Naaman was healed from his leprosy. How? He had to go dip himself seven times in the Jordan River. That's the use of means. And you remember Elijah. was fed by the ravens. He drank brook of the water. The ravens brought him food, meat and bread, morning and evening. That's the use of means. So when we use the word immediately, theologically, we're talking about the instantaneous sovereign works of God without the use of means. But when we use the word immediate, we're talking about how God uses means. And that is usually how God works. For instance, Everyone has to work, basically, for their food and for the money that they receive. God doesn't just simply drop $100 bills out of heaven. I mean, no. But he blesses the work of our hands. He enables us to survive and to make money. So the point I'm going to say, we have to understand instrumentality. Now, what has all this got to do with the weather? We're talking about God's sovereignty. We're talking about man's instrumentality. Well, I want you to think if you would please of the recent hurricanes and ponder this question because it is asked of me, is it possible for the weather to be controlled and or manipulated by man? And the answer is yes. It is possible to the extent of God's sovereign allowance. Man is not going to be able to go any farther than God will allow him, just like Satan could go no further in attacking Joe. Man would be able to do instrumentally what God will allow sovereignly. Now, when I talk about this, don't just say, well, that's some kind of a harebrained thought. No, it was a legitimate question that was asked me. And don't try to tell me, well, that's a conspiracy theory. You know, do you know what the word conspiracy actually means? There are plenty of conspiracies. Think about this. The word conspiracy. Con is a preposition which means with, and spire means to breathe. A conspiracy is just people breathing together for a specific purpose or for a specific act. It's just that simple. Now, there are many conspiracies. In fact, the word conspiracy is used nine times in the Bible. And usually, the conspiracy is either against God or against God's rule or against God's people. So let me give you two passages. The first one is Jeremiah 11 and verse 9. And the Lord said unto me, a conspiracy is found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They were conspiring against God. They were turning to idols. They were conspiring to thwart God if it was possible, which it is not, or to turn their back from His worship to worship their vanities. And then in Ezekiel chapter 22 and verse 25, God says, there is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof like a roaring lion ravening the prey, they have devoured souls, they have taken the treasure and precious things, and they have made her many widows in the midst thereof." So God said there's a conspiracy among the prophets. The prophets were conspiring together against God and against the people of God. So yes, there are plenty of conspiracies, and usually they are against God, His rule, or His people. Conspiracies employ instrumentality. So we have to understand this. There is a good instrumentality and there is a wicked instrumentality. So you remember how. God sent Moses. To Pharaoh with this message, thus said the Lord, let my people go that they may worship me or they may serve me. And what did God do? God gave Moses several signs. He could throw the rod down and it would become a serpent, you know. He could put his hand in his bosom and bring it out and be leprosy. He could put leper and he could put it back in and it would be totally healed. Guess what? Every sign that Moses gave to Pharaoh, Pharaoh's magicians accomplished. They did the same thing with the exception of bringing forth life. they could not bring forth life. But every other thing they copied, they did. So you had then a holy or a righteous instrumentality coming from God, and you had a wicked and ungodly instrumentality coming from man. So God does allow instrumentality. Now, I want you to look in your Bibles, if you would, to two passages. I want you to turn first of all to Joshua chapter 10, And then I want you to turn to James chapter five. So since we're talking about God's sovereignty, man's instrumentality and the weather, someone is going to tell me, well, you know, you cannot manipulate the weather. Well, that's not true because I'm going to show you two passages in the Bible where the weather was manipulated by man. So if you'll look in Joshua chapter 10, Joshua chapter 10, and let's begin reading there with verse 12. Joshua 10. Look, if you would, at verse 12. Look what the Bible says. Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel. And he said in the sight of Israel, Son, stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thou moon in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still and the moon stayed until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. It's not this written in the book of Jasher. So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven and hastened not to go down about a whole day. And there was no day like that before it or after it. that the Lord hearkened into the voice of a man and the Lord fought for Israel. So the sun was stayed and the moon was stayed. The Bible said almost for a whole day at the request of Joshua. Now you say, well, that's not manipulation. Yes, it is. But it was manipulation in reference to the prayer or request of Joshua. Then if you look in your Bibles to the book of James, chapter five, James, chapter five, And look, if you would please, at verses 17 and 18. James 5, verse 17. Elias, or Elijah, was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain. And it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. is weather being manipulated again by man, but by prayer. And so Elijah just prayed for a drought and God shut the heavens for three and a half years. Then he prayed again and God opened the heavens and gave forth rain. So here are the questions that we have to ask and then answer. First of all, is it possible to control or manipulate the weather? Secondly, is it possible for wicked men to control and manipulate the weather? And the answer to both of those questions would be yes, to the extent that the sovereignty of God allows it. Now, There's a verse in Psalm 115 and verse 16, I want you to either look at or listen carefully as I quote it. The Bible says the heaven, even the heavens are the Lord's, but the earth hath he given to the children of men. The heaven, even the heavens are the Lord's, but the earth hath he given to the children of men. Now, the Hebrew word for given is the word lathan, and it means to bestow, to grant, to give, to permit, and to entrust. So the earth, then, has been granted, or given, or entrusted to man, which means, then, that man can either use it or abuse it. A man could either save it or destroy it, in one sense of the word. So when we're talking about the manipulation of weather or control of weather, you have to always keep this in mind. It would always be only to the extent that the sovereignty of God allows it to be done. He allowed it in the time of Joshua. He allowed it in the time of Elijah. Now, I'm gonna give you some quotes. The first one is from Dane Wigington. This man is a PhD. He has a website. I would encourage you to go to the website. It's called geoengineeringwatch.org. He has so much information, it is absolutely astounding. So here's a quote that I want to give from Dane Wigington. Here's what he says. Global climate engineering programs. Now stop right there. Covert. That means hidden. Overt is something that's open, outward. Covert is that which is hidden, secret. So he says, covert global climate engineering programs are the single most environmentally destructive assault the human race has ever unleashed against nature and the entire web of life. The list of catastrophic environmental and human health consequences directly connected to the ongoing climate engineering insanity makes these programs mathematically the greatest and the most immediate threat we collectively face short of a nuclear cataclysm. Wow. Think of all the chemtrails. And you're wondering where in the world all the barium, aluminum, and all these other chemicals are coming from. I'm just simply pointing out the fact you need to go to geoengineeringwatch.org and listen or look at some of the information he has. Here's another quote. This one is from Eric Hecker. And you can listen to this interview. with Eric Hecker on redactednews.com. Eric Hecker is a whistleblower that used to work for Raytheon. He was also at the station in the South Pole. And here's just one simple sentence from this man. He said, and I quote, we can and do redirect hurricanes easily. We can indeed. Go to Redacted News, listen to the interview. If you're saying, this is crazy, this is harebrained, this is a conspiracy theory. Well, if it's a conspiracy theory, I want you to explain to me why, in 2009, the History Channel aired a documentary titled, Weather Warfare, and talked about controlling the weather, HAARP, and steering hurricanes. That was back in 2009. Years ago, I don't remember how long ago, probably in the 80s or 90s, I read a book titled Angels Do Not Play This Harp. But it was H-A-A-R-P, which stands for High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program, which is in Alaska, where they are bombarding the atmosphere with all kind of things. And here is a harp whistleblower. I want you to listen to what he said. I'm just quoting. A HAARP insider admits Hurricane Milton, just recent, Hurricane Milton is part of a weather warfare plot to collapse society. Multiple HAARP whistleblowers have sounded the alarm, warning that a wave of man-made extreme weather events is on the horizon. These events are expected to grow in both frequency and intensity, with the goal of causing widespread destruction, triggering economic collapse, and reducing the population in targeted areas designated as kill zones, all within a short period of time. According to The Globalist, the most convenient part of this carefully orchestrated plan is their built-in plausible deniability. Anyone who dares to point a finger will be branded a conspiracy theorist, labeled dangerous, and potentially sent to internment camps. But there's one problem for the elites. We have all the evidence we need. From governmental documents to undeniable proof, we can show that they're manipulating the weather, especially Hurricane Selina and Milton. The blood is on their hands. Jerry Smith has written his book on HAARP, and here is just one sentence from this. He said, at best, HAARP is science out of control. At worst, HAARP could be the most dangerous device ever created, a futuristic technology that is everything from super beam weapon to worldwide mind control device. Wow. Now, I have on my computer a copy of a patent application issued to Andrew Waksmanski of Chipley, Florida. I can give you the publication number. It was issued May the 8th, 2003. The contact address was for the Litman Law Offices out of Arlington, Virginia. And here's the patent title. The patent is for Hurricane and Tornado Control Device. Here's just a simple paragraph that describes the device. A method is disclosed for affecting the formation and or direction of low atmospheric weather system. Audio generators are positioned to project sound waves toward a peripheral area of a weather system. The sound waves are generated at a frequency to affect the formation of the weather system in a manner to disrupt, enhance, or direct the formation. The sound waves can be projected in a manner to cause the system to produce rain. Now, I don't know whether or not the patent was granted. It may not have been. But the point I'm trying to make is, It's just showing us how easily, on one sense of the word, weather could be manipulated. Now, another thing that you could check out, and it's all over the internet as well, is type in Operation Popeye. You know what Operation Popeye was? This took place from 1967 to 1972 when we were fighting in Vietnam. You see, those countries have what is known as the monsoon season. And so they were using all the technology they had to increase, enlarge, enhance, and extend the monsoon season in order to destroy more property and more people. It's interesting when you start reading some of this research on this. And by the way, I have two pages. And I stopped at two pages, but I have two pages of websites where all of this is explained and you can research one right after the other. But this stuff started back in the 1940s when they took dry ice and dropped it in clouds and produced snow. You can read about that, but here's Operation Popeye. Now, you can dismiss all of this as being absolutely insane and stupid and crazy, but dismiss it if you will, but it's hard to dismiss this article that was written in 1996, weather as a force multiplier owning the weather in 2025. This was written for the Air Force. And it was written by, I've got their names here, Lieutenant Colonels, Colonels, Majors. The paper was presented in 1996. So I want you to listen just to a few paragraphs. Here's the first one. In 2025, the aerospace forces can own the weather by capitalizing on emerging technologies and focusing developments on those technologies to warfighting applications. Such a capability offers the warfighter tools to shape the battle space in ways never before possible. It provides opportunities to impact operations across the full spectrum of conflict, and it's pertinent to all possible futures. The purpose of this paper is to outline a strategy for the use of future weather modification system to achieve military objectives rather than to provide a detailed technical roadmap. Now, I'm going to skip down. Here's a larger paragraph. Nanotechnology, I wonder where we've heard that term before. Hmm, COVID I think, mRNA injections. Nanotechnology also offers possibilities for creating simulated weather. A cloud or several clouds of microscopic computer particles, all communicating with each other and with a larger control system, could provide tremendous capability. Interconnected, atmospherically buoyant, and having navigation capability in three dimensions, such clouds could be designed to have a wide range of properties. They might exclusively block optical sensors, or could adjust to become impermeable to other surveillance methods. They could also provide an atmospheric electrical potential difference, which might not exist to achieve precisely aimed and timed lightning strikes. Even if power levels achieved were insufficient to be an effective strike weapon, the potential for psychological operations in many situations could be fantastic. advantage of using simulated weather to achieve a desired effect is that, unlike other approaches, it makes what are otherwise the results of deliberate actions appear to be the consequences of natural weather phenomena. In addition, it is potentially relatively inexpensive to do so. According to Jay Storrs Hall, a scientist at Rutgers University, conducting research on nanotechnology, production costs of these 34 nanoparticles could be about the same price as a pound of potatoes. This, of course, discounts research and development costs, which will be primarily borne by the private sector and be considered a sunk cost by 2025 or probably earlier. Now I've got one more quote from this paper. Weather modification, according to the United States Air Force document AF 2025 final report, offers the warfighter a wide range of possible options to defeat or coerce an adversary. Capabilities, it says, extend to the triggering of floods, hurricanes, droughts, and earthquakes. That's their force. Now, let me ask the question. Would God allow wicked men to destroy a people? Would God allow wicked men to destroy his own people? who sinned against him, rebelled against him, and violated his covenant and refused to worship him. Wow. And the answer is yes. The Bible says, and asks this question in Amos chapter three and verse six, shall the trumpet be blown in the city and the people not be afraid? And shall there be evil in a city and the Lord hath not done it? Nothing happens by accident in a world that is ruled by God. Someone says, but oh, what about all these innocent people? There's no such thing. When you stop and think about this, everybody is a sinner. Everybody deserves justice and judgment. Thankfully, not all get judgment and justice. Some do get grace and mercy. But when you're thinking about this on a huge scale, like a hurricane, think about it on the same singular scale. Here's a man that gets shot in the head by a murderer. Here's someone who gets beat to death by a Venezuelan gang. You say he was innocent. I know what you mean by that. He did not deserve to be beaten like that, but yet, in one sense, the word he did because he was a sinner, and that's just part of the wages of sin. Everybody's got to die somehow. I'm just pointing out the fact, you know, when our sins, which are many, and our backslidings, which are multiple, and our violations of his law are numerous, it's amazing that any of us are alive. Now, listen to me. God used the wicked in time past to chastise and judge his people. What do you think happened to Judah and Jerusalem in 586 BC? God sent the Babylonians and wiped them off the face of the mountain. What do you think happened in 722 BC to Israel when the Assyrians came? Let me show you. Turn in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Isaiah chapter 10. Look at this. Isaiah chapter 10, and let's begin reading there with verse five. I want you to see what God says about the Assyrians. Isaiah 10, verse 5, look at this. Isaiah 10, verse 5, God says, O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. Now look at this, God says, The rod in their hand is mine. The staff in their hand is mine. Watch verse six. I, that is God, will send him against a hypocritical nation, against the people of my wrath, where I give him a charge to take the spoil and to take the prey and to tread them down like mire of the streets. How be it? He meaneth not so. Neither does his heart think so, but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations, not a few. Now, what is God saying? God said, I'm sending these Assyrians to accomplish my purpose. The Assyrians did not attack Israel with the thought that we're just doing God's will. God sent us. No, no, no. The only reason the Assyrians came against Israel is they wanted to loot and kill and murder and rape and spoil. That's why. It was not in their heart to obey God. It was in their heart to destroy. But God said, I sent them. I sent them. Do you realize that God used the Romans to destroy Jerusalem in 17 AD? Read Josephus, there's probably a million people killed during the siege of Jerusalem. Now, to answer this question, would wicked men, would wicked rulers destroy their own people? Hang on. How about Joseph Stalin? Here's a quote. In February 1989, Two years before the fall of the Soviet Union, a research paper written by a Gregorian historian, published in the weekly tabloid this article, and he estimated that the death toll directly attributable to Stalin's rule amounted to some 20 million lives on top of the 20 million Soviet troops and civilians who perished in the Second World War for a total of 40 million. And Stalin starved 20 million Ukrainians to death. Purposely, deliberately. How about this with Nelson Dome? It is probably fair to say, then, that Mayo was responsible for about 1.5 million deaths during the Cultural Revolution, another million for the other campaigns, and between 35 million and 45 million for the Great Leap Famine, taking a middle number for the famine, 40 million. That's 42.5 million deaths under Mayo Zidane. don't leave out Pol Pot. Lasting for four years between 1975 and 1979, the Cambodian genocide was an explosion of mass violence and saw between 1.5 and 3 million people killed at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, a communist political group. The Khmer Rouge had taken power in the country following the Cambodian Civil War. During their brutal four-year rule, the Khmer Rouge was responsible for the deaths of nearly a quarter of the Cambodians, one-fourth of the population. Think, if you would, about what is known as the DEUs, direct energy weapons, which were used in Hawaii. That's why only those houses with the blue roofs were spared. The same weapons were used in California. The same weapons have been used here to start all these atrocious fires. I'm just simply pointing out the fact, why in the world would rulers like this, or political leaders, why would they destroy their own people? Why would they destroy their own land? And the answer is for greater control and for greater profit. I hope you've been reading the fact that the area in North Carolina that was hit so desperately and wickedly by the hurricane has the greatest deposits of lithium in quartz. And reports, whether they're true or not, I don't know. I've read them. I've heard them. that the feds have gone in are bulldozing houses and buildings and cities, covering up corpses, not even identifying, not even trying, and claiming the land, which would be theft. They're stealing private property, if that is true. I'm just simply pointing out the fact, yes, if lithium and quartz are there to the extent that they say, I can understand that. Weather is nature. and nature can be a weapon. Then I thought about this earlier. You know what God used to drive the Amorites out of the land of Canaan? Come on, hornets, that's nature. God used hornets to chase them out of the land. There's a little childish song I never, I've always enjoyed it. It said God did not make them go. Oh, no, God did not make him go. He just made them willing to go. And I got news for you. You're willing to go of a whole bunch of hornets are after you. That is for sure. Now, I want you to understand. Whether it's nature, nature can be a weapon, especially in the hands of wicked men. And if you don't believe that. Think of all the covid vaccinations and the people that are died from those. I just shared with Alice yesterday, I read it where a five year old child who was normal as the day is long, all of a sudden developed autism after he had 18 vaccines in one day. And I thought to myself, who in their right mind could be so absolutely stupid as to give a child 18 vaccines in one day? And now the child is autistic. Wow. Do you realize that governments do indeed murder their own people? In fact, if you will study history, government happens to be the greatest murderer of people in history. Now I want to show you another passage. I want you to turn in your Bibles. If you would, I'm going to try to tie this together, but I want you to turn to the book of Job chapter 37, Job chapter 37 and look at it. If you would be getting there with verse nine, Job 37 verse nine. Look at this. Job 37 verse nine. Out of the south cometh a whirlwind, and the cold out of the north. By the breath of God frost is given, and the breath of the waters is straightened. Also by watering he wearieth the thick cloud, he scattereth his bright cloud. Look at this, and it is turned round about by his counsels, that they may do whatsoever he commanded them upon the face of the world in the earth. He causeth it to come, that is the weather, foul or good. He causeth it to come, whether for correction or for his land or for mercy. Why does God cause either immediately or immediately? First of all, for correction, it is his rod. It is his chastisement. It is his judgment upon a disobedient people. The second reason for his land, and that land does not just simply refer to what you and I would call Israel or Palestine. His land is the world. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world, and they dwell therein. So sometimes it causes to come for the good of the world or the good of his land. Read how he will send showers and rain into the desert and into the wilderness. Wow. And then, of course, he says also it could come from mercy. And may I remind you that rain in due season is a mercy, wind in due season is a mercy, heat in due season is a mercy, and coolness in due season is a mercy as well. So God can do anything in Job chapter 37 that he speaks about either immediately or immediately. God may do it sovereignly, straightforwardly, or God may allow man through technology to do it as well. Now, God has always used wicked men to judge countries, nations. And God may use wicked men to judge America. God may use wicked men to judge any nation. And he may, Allow us to destroy ourselves with technology. That's up to him. Let me make some applications. The first one is this. You remember when David had sinned against God and numbered the people? And Gad the prophet came to him and said, thus saith the Lord, I want you to choose one of these three things that I may do unto you. You can have a certain time of famine, you can be chased by your enemies three months, or you can have a pestilence for a brief period of time. And David replied to Ged and said this, I'm in a great strait. Let us fall now into the hand of the Lord, for his mercies are great, and let us not fall into the hand of man. God, even in his judgments, is merciful. Man is not. The Bible tells you in Proverbs chapter 12 and verse 10, a righteous man regarded the life of his beast, but even the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. Even the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. fallen man is cruel even when he is merciful. He is not concerned about God. He is not concerned about God's creation. He's not concerned about God's creatures. He's not concerned about Christians. He's only concerned about himself and what he wants and what he desires. So let me put it to you like this. Here's what you and I should be learning. Whether or not Hurricanes Helene or Melton were manipulated and controlled. We should understand this pivotal truth, and we must learn that government does not care about us. And when you stop and think about these dear people, in South Carolina, in North Carolina, in Tennessee, who lost everything. Their homes, their possessions, their automobiles, they lost everything. And our government is so stupid as to insult them by offering them 750 bucks. The Bible says in Psalm 118, it's the middle verse of the Bible, it's better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It's better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. What this should teach us is that we must learn to trust in the Lord and become self-sufficient or we don't need them. In fact, I saw a video where two sheriffs were being interviewed And here's what they said. I'm quoting FEMA, stay out of our counties. We don't need you. We'll take care of ourselves. Thank you. I'm just simply pointing out the fact, folks, hey, we should learn something from this. God may have sent it in his sovereignty or God may have used wicked men immediately. It's strange to me I really just hit the Southland, and especially those who were conservative and Christian. Isn't that amazing? Here's the second thing. Hosea 13 in verse 9, God said to Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself. You know what God often does? He lets us do what we want to do. And what we end up doing is destroying ourselves. And God can allow us to destroy our own, our own land, our own nation. He can allow us to destroy our lives with technology because we are doing this contrary to him in violation of his law. And God will allow us to destroy ourselves. The next thing you and I better learn to do is to pray those imprecatory prayers that we found in the Bible. Pray against the wicked. Pray that God will bring them down. Name them. The Bible says one of one that I quote every day where God says, Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but established out the just. I want the wickedness of the wicked to come to an end. I want the just to be established. You have to remember this, folks. Man can only go as far as the sovereignty of God will allow him to go. How far that will be, I do not know. But I do know this. The wrath of man shall praise the Lord, and the remainder of wrath shall he restrain. God is going to allow man to do that which he will do, which will ultimately work out God's eternal decree and bring him greater glory and greater praise, and it's going to always be for our good whether we understand it or not. God is sovereign. God does use instrumentality, and we're responsible for our actions and for our conduct. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee. We thank you for your word. We thank you for your truth. We ask, Lord, that you would indeed Speak to us and teach us, and Lord, help us, Lord. Help us, Lord, to be independent, self-sufficient. Help us, Lord, not to look to man, to government, but, Lord, help us to depend upon Thee, and then, depending upon Thee, help each other do that which is right. Give us, Lord, Your grace and Your mercy, we pray in Christ's name. Amen.