A Wind from the East

There is a torrid wind about to blow in upon the West. The Arabs call this wind the Sirocco. Hot and gusty, laden with sand and dust, it occurs most frequently in May and October. It is the punishing "wind of the wilderness" that knocked down the house that killed Job's sons (Job 1:19), sank the ships of Tarshish (Ps. 48:7), and metaphorically drove the northern kingdom of God's people out of the land in judgment (Isaiah 27:8; Hosea 13:15).

It is no doubt the wind James was referring to when he said, "For the sun rises with a scorching wind, and withers the grass; and the flower falls off, and the beauty of the appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away" (James 1:11).

In Israel, it is the winnowing wind that helps the farmers separate the chaff from the wheat.

I believe the Lord is going to use this east wind to judge our self-indulgent Western world. And also to purify His people by separating us from all that is not based on the Word of God, namely our religious traditions that carry no weight in His Kingdom.

The wind is Islam.

I received this insight when asked to speak recently at a Philadelphia synagogue about the threat of the growing worldwide jihadist movement before a small crowd of Christians and Jews. The Lord told me to tell His people not to fear, that He would deliver them, if we would just trust in Him completely. That this coming invasion is what was prophesied in the Book of Joel. It is the army of locusts whose "appearance is like the appearance of horses...that will make the sun and the moon grow dark" (Joel 2:4,10). If you recall, it was the east wind that brought the locusts to Egypt in the eighth plague (Exodus 10:13). And this same east wind of judgment is headed our way.

This invasion, which introduces the Day of the Lord, will be so frightening that there will never be, nor has there ever been, a time like it. But just when it looks like nothing can withstand the onslaught of this army, the Lord will intervene and deliver His people: "I will remove the northern army far from you. I will drive it into a parched and desolate land, and its vanguard into the eastern sea and its rear guard into the western sea" (Joel 2:20).

"And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered; For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who will escape, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls" (Joel 2:32).

P.S. After posting this blog, I received this confirming e-mail from a believer who ministers in Israel:
"Wow bro! Right on target with the East Wind blog I just read from your site! I do not know if you know this but last week we had the most strange (even for local Israelis') a scorching East wind blow in that choked out the sky with dust and sand from the Eastern deserts....it was wild and tormenting!