"Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night . . ." Isaiah 21:11b-12a.

The watchman in Bible times was perhaps one of the most important people of the community. Ancient cities were built like fortresses with protective walls around them.

Strategically positioned on the wall were watchtowers. From this vantage point the designated watchman guarded the city. He could detect the movement of enemy troops outside the wall and immediately notice any disturbance inside the city gates.

No thief or intruder could cause any harm without drawing the attention of the watchman. No break-in or robbery could occur without his notice. But the main duty of the watchman was to guard against enemy attack. His function was to sound the alarm and rouse the city when danger was near. No one could afford to ignore the warnings of the watchman.

His voice was the early warning system to prepare the people for imminent attack.

Repeatedly, throughout the Word of God, the Lord illustrates His Church as an ancient biblical city with walls, gates, and watchtowers. The prophet Isaiah said "Thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise." (Isa. 60:18) The Psalmist wrote, "Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces." (Ps. 122:7)

We are invited to "walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following." (Ps. 48:12)

Even Jesus compared His church to a "city set on a hill, that cannot be hid." (Matt. 5:14) The church is a spiritual city with foundations, walls, and watchtowers.

The Lord said to the prophet Ezekiel: "Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me." (Ezekiel 3:17)

He said to the prophet Isaiah, "Go set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth."

"Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?"

How much of the night is over? How long until the coming day?

These are relevent questions to God’s people who are awaiting the promised return of the Lord. There is an innate awareness among the spiritual people of God that time is running out.

No one with a vital relationship with Jesus can face the issues and events of our day without a feeling of urgency. The escalating wickedness of our time makes us feel more than ever that this world is not our home, and that the time of our departure is at hand.

Even the secular analysts are predicting a sudden change as moral decay spreads anarchy and lawlessness across the globe.

We have arrived at the last of the last days. These are the best of times for the church as the Lord pours His Spirit out on all flesh. But it is the worst of times for the world as the nations of the earth slip into an unprecedented time of turmoil that the Bible calls Tribulation.

There will be wars and rumors of wars, pestilence, false messiahs, and earthquakes in unprecedented numbers.

Earthquakes have become so common that only the most severe are reported by news organizations.

Just a few days ago, a wide area of Japan was shaken by a powerful offshore earthquake that measured 7.2 on the Richter scale. Skyscrapers in Tokyo reeled on their foundations from a tremor that was 300 kilometers in the ocean.

It is one of many that have rocked the globe in the past year.

Today more than one million minor quakes occur every year. Approximately 100,000 earthquakes are strong enough to be felt. Approximately 1,000 quakes cause some degree of physical damage annually.

We are moving into the time foretold in Isa. 24:19: "The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again."

The coming seven years of Tribulation does not begin with the upheaveal of nature or the decline in morality or the departure from the truth by various denominations.

It begins with a covenant that guarantees Israel’s security. The Apostle Paul warned in I Thess. 5:1, "But of the times and the seasons brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a women with child and they shall not escape."

The prophet Daniel foretells of a coming world ruler that will make a covenant of peace with Israel.

That will be the event that begins the countdown of the last seven years of this age.

Israel is so important to the church because we can gauge the lateness of this hour by events that are happening in that unhappy land.

Israel is being forced into a peace process which is dismantling its land. Just a few weeks ago, 20,000 settlers from 25 communities were evacuated from their homes in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Israeli Prime Minister Sharon admitted that evacuating Jewish settlers from their homes was painful, but necessary, to obtain the "bright future" that is coming.

Since 1991, Israel has been forced into a peace process that demanded she surrender land in exchange for peace. Over the last 12 years, Israel has in effect given up almost all of its hard won land in exchange for nothing that remotely resembles peace.

Despite Israel’s withdrawal, Palestinian leaders have made no effort to disarm or dismantle existing terror groups. One of the most violent of the terror groups is Hamas. Hamas is currently in a massive arms buildup.

It is preparing for more strikes on Israel once the withdrawal is complete.

Israel has been repeatedly forced to withdraw from land that it has a Biblical right to possess. It has gotten nothing in return. There has been no recognition of Israel’s right to exist, just more promises to do so in the future.

Such a formula is a disaster for Israel and for the nations that dare to force Israel to divide its land. The prophet Joel speaks of a curse that is brought on the nations that are guilty of dividing Israel in Joel 3:1-2. Zechariah speaks of Jerusalem as a "burdensome stone" and a "cup of poison" to all who tamper with its territorial integrity.

The warning to the nations is: "All that burden themselves with it shall be cut into pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it."

On Oct. 30, 1991, the first President Bush summoned Israel and the Arab nations to a peace conference in Madrid, Spain. He said to Israel that "territorial compromise is essential for peace." On the same day a powerful storm called "the Perfect Storm" travelled for a 1,000 miles in an eastward to westward direction to hit the United States.

It was exactly opposite from the U.S. weather pattern. On Oct. 31, the storm smashed into New England. The ocean waves were over 100 feet high, the highest ever recorded. It ran from the East Coast to the Carolinas, doing millions of dollars in damage. President Bush’s own home in Kennebunkport, Maine, was damaged.

On August 1992, the Madrid Peace Conference moved to Washington DC.

More pressure was applied on Israel to give away land. Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem were all labelled occupied territories.

On August 23, 1992, Hurricane Andrew smashed into south Florida.

It was the worst natural disaster to hit the country. Over 180,000 people were left homeless in Florida and another 25,000 in Louisiana.

When the Hurricane came ashore, the National Weather Service described it as a 25 to 30 mile wide tornado with winds that exceeded 175 miles per hour.

Hurricane Andrew hit the same day that the Madrid Peace Conference met in Washington D.C. to pressure Israel into giving up land.

On Sept. 1, 1993, an agreement called the Oslo Accords were reached between Israel and the Palestinians in Norway. It was suppose to be a diplomatic breakthrough. It set a time table that was suppose to bring peace to Israel and land for a Palestinian state by the year 2000.

But the accords failed. Instead of peace for Israel, she got a low level war from the Palestinians. The U.S. endorsed the accords, and on the same day, Hurricane Emily hit North Carolina. It was the third hurricane to hit the US on the very day of a key event of the peace process that demanded Israel give away its land.

On Jan. 16, 1994, President Clinton met with Syria’s president.

The president stated that "Israel must make concessions that will be politically unpopular with many Israelis." Less than 24 hours after the president made those statements, California was rocked with a powerful 6.9 earthquake.

From March to April 1997, Chairman Arafat of the PLO met with Clinton in Washington. The issue was over Israel building apartment complexes in East Jerusalem.

The President sided with Arafat and rebuked Israel. On the very day that Arafat landed in America, powerful tornados devasted huge sections of the nation. The storms stalled over Ohio, causing tremendous flooding.

Tornados destroyed Arkadelphia, Arkansas, flooded Falmouth, Kentucky, and did over $1 billion in damages.

In Jan. 1998, Israel’s Prime Minister was summoned to the White House and pressured into giving up more land. A few hours after the meeting, the Clinton sex scandal became national news.

Later, the House of Representatives voted to impeach the president on the very day that he was with Arafat in Israel.

At another meeting in Washington, countries were summoned for the purpose of raising money for Arafat in Nov. 1998. Forty two nations pledged a total of $3 billion to the Palestinians.

As the president was meeting with Arafat, the stock market crashed. It fell 216 points.

In May 1999, the day of the historic tornado in Oklahoma City, and fifty other tornados that hit Oklahoma and Kansas, was the day that Pres. Clinton sent a letter to Arafat encouraging him in his pursuit of a Palestinian state.

On Aug. 9, 2001, President Bush condemned a terrorist attack in Israel that killed 19 Jews and wounded over 100. After condemning the attack, the President then demanded that Israel abide by the Madrid Conference, the Mitchel Plan, and UN Resolutions 242 and 338. All these resolutions are based on the principle of land for peace.

Exactly 32 days later, Muslim terrorists attacked America. More Americans died on Sept. 11, than died on the attack on Pearl Harbor. Damages were set at $40 billion. The U.S. economy was dealt a severe blow. The week after the attack was one of the worst ever for the stock market.

While the US endorsed Israeli pullout was happening in Gaza, Wisconsin was struck by 18 tornados, and now Hurricane Katrina has virtually destroyed the Gulf Coast. New Orleans has become a dead city of contaminated water, flooded streets, floating bodies, and anarchy as armed gangs roam the city looting pillaging, and vandalizing.

The mayor of New Orleans said, "There will be total evacuation of the city. We have to. The city will not be functional for two or three months." Mayor Ron Nagin said people will not be allowed back into their homes for at least a month or two.

85 percent of New Orleans is under water, 95 percent of Gulfport, Mississippi was destroyed. Biloxi, Mississippi was virtually wiped off the map. 1.5 million people are without power, and the death toll continues to rise.

It is no coincidence that as Israel is being forced to give away a large portion of its hard won land, a large portion of the United States is now a Third World country, with no electricity, no clean water, and little food.

The Word of God said in Obadiah 1:15, "For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen; as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee; thy reward shall return upon thine own head."

The parallel between America and Israel cannot be ignored. At the same time the Israeli government was destablized in late 2000, so was America with the unprecedented election that brought the decision to the Supreme Court.

Almost a year to the day that intense terrorism began against Israel, America was attacked by the same type of terrorists.

Jerusalem, the captial of Israel, was under terrorist attack and Washington D.C., was also under attack by terrorists.

Israel was in a low grade war with Muslims. America also entered a low grade war with Muslims.

Americans had come under the same fears that Israelis live under.

Israel’s economy suffered because of terrorism, and the American economy came under the same pressure.

The tourist industry collapsed in Israel because of terrorism. The tourism industry in America collapsed after the terrorist attacks of September 11.

Centuries ago, the Lord established a promise with Abraham concerning his descendants: ". . . And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee"

We must pray that our government will understand that Israel is more than a nation. It is a nation with a divine destiny and God will not tolerate any country’s policy that interferes with His plan.

These events proclaim that the Coming of the Lord is near even at the door.