25 May 2014
Dear Phyllis,
The biggest news in Thailand today is marshal law. There have been a lot of bumpy political demonstrations in Bangkok and the military stepped in to stop the fighting by taking control of the government. That is not uncommon. There was a military coup eight years ago when they threw out prime minister Taksin. But then the military stepped down shortly after that by having new elections. The military really conducts itself quite well as being the caretaker of the government, but they have a real bucket of worms on their hands this time.
The county is divided into two waring camps designated by the color of shirts they wear. The two sides are the Red shirts and the Yellow shirts. The problem is that the Red shirts always win the election. The majority of the country is Red shirt, but there is a very noisy opposition party that wants the Red shirts out. The Yellow shirts are loyal to the king and the army is more or less on their side. Taksin was the leader of the Red shirts and the military overthrew him. Soon after the military had new elections the Red shirts won again, and were back in power. The Yellow shirts have been quite violent in their protests, and the army closed down the Red shirt government again.
The stupid US State Dept. has condemned this coup, and threatened to cut off all aid to Thailand until the military steps aside and free elections are allowed. The Thai military usually conduct themselves quite well and they are probably the most level headed force in Thailand. The problem is if they hold elections again, the Red shirts will win, and you have a revolving door of demonstration, coups, and elections. Seemingly there is no solution this time. Democracy in Thailand looks extremely difficult at this point. The military probably did the right thing is stepping in to prevent a really bloody civil war. With marshal law everything is quiet, but you can't run a country on marshal law.
My planner broke down last week. I had to get it fixed, and they had to order a new part from Bangkok. The repair shop said I could have my planner back by Saturday, but then marshal law came into effect, and they couldn't ship things from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. They hope they can get the part and have my planner fixed by Wednesday. That is really rough when commercial transportation is halted. Even 7-11s close at 10:00 PM. I can't imagine what farmers whole-sale markets are doing that run in the middle of the night. Night life must be at a halt. No bar is open after 10:00 PM. There must be a lot of really unhappy campers among the tourists. Friends have written us concerned about our situation here. Really, life is perfectly normal in Chiang Mai. Apart from the news and transportation we would never guess that there is a problem in Thailand. I haven't seen a soldier or any indication that there is anything unusual.
If the military can't pull a rabbit out of the hat this time, and things continue tight, it could get really noisy in Thailand. The vast majority of the country will not stand for closing down life by marshal law. If there was a major protest of country vs army I don't know who would win. Another problem is that the army is made up of a lot of soldiers who would be Red shirt. These men are not going to fight against the party that they believe in.
Another major problem lurking on the horizon is the king. I have never heard of a country that is so outwardly devoted to the king. There are huge pictures of the king in every village. Nearly all Thais have pictures of the king hanging in their houses. There is no law, but it is frowned on if you don't have a picture of the king in your house. The picture of the king is on all money and postal stamps. When I first came to Thailand, I bought a stamp in the post office and licked it. My friend warned, “Please don't ever do that again. We don't lick pictures of the king.” There is a dish of water for wetting stamps. The king is genuinely popular. I have heard very little criticism of him. (Of course it would be dangerous to speak against him.) But even so most people sincerely admire him. Basically he seems like a good man who has the best interest of the country in mind.
But the king is well up in his 80s now, and is nearly a vegetable. He is hovering near death. His death is inevitable. That will probably happen soon. The problem is that his son is a bum. He is a poor depraved man and very unpopular. If he is honored like his father, it will be at gun point. Many people say that the end of this dynasty is at hand. If that happens it will be a wild game to see what follows.
Up until now Thailand has been a very stable country, and one of the best places on earth to live. It may be that the cart will go upside down here soon.
My good friend Will Schubert was a 30 year missionary to China and lived under Mao for three years. Will said he prayed through for China twice and the Lord gave him the promise, “I will overturn overturn overturn until He comes whose right it is, and I will give it to Him” (Ez. 21:27). That certainly is true concerning China. The Lord has overturned it several times. Mao would turn over in his grave if he saw capitalistic China today. And the Christianity that he thought to exterminate is rapidly becoming a major voice in China. But that principal is also applicable to virtually all countries. That is what we are seeing in Thailand today. One government gets settled and runs for a few years and then gets overturned.
This shouldn't surprise us. Every sign in the Book is staring at us that we are in the end times, and Jesus is setting the stage for the last act. And we know clearly what that act is. There has always been turmoil in the world. Since the days of Able and Cain there has been fighting. It is in the DNA of humanity for people to strive to be in charge. There is nothing new about this, but with the advent of the electronic age and the information revolution this has given steroids to humanity to exacerbate that problem. It is not surprising that we are seeing the pot boiling so fiercely. The problem is not just Thailand, but world wide. Fortunately we see that the scrip for all this is written in heaven and settled in eternity past. I read in Daniel 11:29 last week “at the appointed time”. That is when various event will take place. We know that the Lord has given to the devil his time to be in charge. But it is very short. It will start right on time and end precisely when his time runs out. This morning I read Daniel 7 and wondered if that isn't the most wonderful chapter in the Bible. Five hundred years before John, the Lord showed Daniel exactly the same thing He showed John. And it is our awesome privilege to live in that time.
In Daniel 7 we see the genesis of everything is when the four winds blow upon the sea and four beast come up. This is exactly the same thing that John saw in Rev. 13. In Rev. 17:15 we see that “the waters you saw are the people , the multitudes, the nations and the tongues”. Or in other words, the sea is very clearly humanity. In Dan. 2:42,44; 7:24, and Rev. 17:12 all three passages tell us that the “ten” (toes, horns) are ten kings. It is interesting that the four beast mentioned in Daniel and Revelation are identical – the lion, bear, and leopard. But then both passages describes the man called the beast emerging. This is the principal name given to the anti-Christ. Both passages tell us that he is going to wage war against the saints and prevail (Dan. 7:21, 25: Rev. 13:7). But the passages in Dan. 7:27, and Rev. 19 show us very clearly that the final act will be with Jesus on top and the saints ruling with Him.
The devil has got to make his appearance, and be in charge of the whole earth. There must be intense universal persecution. Before any tsunami there is always a great recession of the ocean. If the ocean suddenly begins to seriously recede, and the beach goes out several hundred meters, look out, for there is a major tsunami on its way. That is what is going to happen just before Armageddon. But it will only last for three and a half years.
Where the rapture fits in here is a heated debate. I suppose I am more or less of an a-rapturist. I have always been a strong pre-tribulationist, but now I am not so sure. The great hope of the pre-trib folks is that they will dodge the bullet and be exempt from tribulation. I am not so sure. One thing I am not, is a post-trib advocate, in that I see the imminent return of Christ at any time, and my hope is not the advent of the anti-Christ. The post-trib believers say Jesus can't come back until the devil makes his appearance (2 Thes, 2:3). There is too much in scripture supporting the imminent return of Christ to subscribe to that position. I will leave the rapture up to Christ, but I do believe it is going to get very noisy around here very soon.
I can't see a way in the world that America will be exempt from the judgment of God. I wonder if there has ever been a nation that has sinned against greater light and moved further from its Christian moorings, since the days of Manasa in Israel. We have moved from the cultural position where, it was highly unpolitical to say anything against the Bible, to the place where the Bible is virtually banned, and you can almost wind up in jail for speaking against sexual perversion. The only reason I know why fire hasn't come down from heaven to burn up America, is because there are still ten righteous people living there (Gen.18:25-32). But I will be surprised if those “ten righteous” don't get severely tried to clean the church (1Pet. 4:17). The 1st century church certainly didn't get exempt from persecution, and I do not see where this generation is more likely to get a pass.
On two other totally different subjects; Paul was just here telling what is going on at his house. He said yesterday they were having worship time at 3:00 in the afternoon. I thought that was unusual, but his kids were having a big time worshiping the Lord Saturday afternoon. Then at 5:00 they went to church and had three more hours worshiping Jesus. At 9:00 he and Marisa came home worn out. Marisa is fighting cancer and naturally wanted to get some rest. Paul was exhausted, and said good night. But not the kids. They wanted to worship the Lord. He said an hour later the six of them were sitting in the living room reading the Bible around one verse at a time and then praying. He said they all were in tears crying,” Oh, thank You Jesus, Thank You Jesus” He said it was like they had just seen a resurrection, but they were thanking the Lord for the most minor things, and their hearts were bursting with joy. I have never heard anything like that in any place. They are just like teenagers in love with a boy friend and won't go home. But they love Jesus and won't quit.
The other thing is, that I would like to say a good word for my wife. A year ago I shared how things had gone below the line of acceptability, and I had to tell her to leave. Since she has come back she is a vastly different person. I told you how she wanted to have a Gospel Coffee shop in front of our house, and as a result our neighbors came to church that morning. The next day she said, “I must go to Supapons and lead Mr. Supapon to the Lord. An hour later she came home reporting that he had accepted Christ. I am impressed. She is just unorthodox enough to be used of the Lord where others won't do it. Pammy is a soul winner like I have seldom seen. She is always pressing me to get the Gospel out more and win more souls for Jesus.
These are the days. Jesus is on His way. Let's make sure our lamps are well trimmed and shining at 1,000 candle power. There is much more to say, but I must close for now, with much love in Christ.
bill
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