No More Liberty

Joseph Herrin (04-06-2012)



West Liberty, KY Main Street Before Tornado




West Liberty, KY Main Street After Tornado

Psalms 119:67
Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word.

I would now recount a recent story that was in the news. I was made aware of it this morning when a sister in Christ sent me a link to a blog she had written about a recent ministry trip to help the people of West Liberty, Kentucky. On March 2nd a tornado passed right through the center of the town of some 3,500 people. It has been categorized as either an EF3 or EF4 tornado with winds between 150 and 165 miles per hour. The damage it inflicted was catastrophic. Homes and businesses were damaged, or in many cases totally destroyed. This sister wrote the following:

Unless you have personally visited a site that has been affected by a tornado as large as the one that struck West Liberty, you cannot be prepared for the devastation that meets your eyes. Places where homes once stood now bear only the foundations that bore them. The buildings that are standing have no windows, roofs are torn off, parts of the building are gone and are marked for demolition and/or for repair. Trees are knocked over like bowling pins in an alley. Trees that are standing have been visibly changed with splinters sticking out where leaves and branches used to be. The most notable thing, though, is the people and the haunted look in their eyes; at least the ones who have lost everything.
[Source: http://theincrediblegift.blogspot.com/2012/04/my-journey-into-serving-from-girlhood.html]

According to Wikipedia, the National Weather Service determined that the tornado was on the ground for 86 miles and left a swath of damage over a mile wide. Six people were killed by this tornado and at least 75 injured. West Liberty is the county seat for Morgan county. Significantly, both the old courthouse that had been built in 1907, and a new courthouse that was 60% complete, were determined to be a total loss. This detail speaks of Yahweh holding court and judging His people.

1 Peter 4:17-19
For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now "If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?" Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.




West Liberty United Methodist Church Before Tornado




West Liberty UMC After Tornado

This expression, “those who suffer according to the will of God” does not speak only of those who encounter persecution due to obedience in following Christ. It is also a reference to those who are chastened by God that they might learn to walk in holiness. In either case, we are exhorted to trust God to do what is best and needful toward us, for He is a faithful Creator.

I believe this tornado is a further sign of that judgment coming quickly to the Western world. The Western nations have long been regarded as offering the most freedoms and liberty to their citizens. The Liberty in these Western nations will be abruptly brought to an end, even as the town of West Liberty was suddenly, and calamitously, reduced to ruin.

The Father has been speaking of the misuse of liberty for many years. The World Trade Towers that were destroyed on September 11th, 2001 were located at the corner of Church Street and Liberty Street in Manhattan.




The church has misused her liberty and has pursued trade with the world. Yahweh must therefore judge His people. He will remove their liberty that they might learn to walk in righteousness. If they will not voluntarily abstain from a pursuit of the world and the things in it, He will induce them to do so.

I John 2:15-17
Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

Those things coming to the nations will be devastating in a natural sense. What could be worse than a loss of liberty? To have one’s freedom taken away is tragic. Yet, when that freedom has been used to pursue a course of sensuality, living to please the flesh, it is well and good that it be removed. Even then, it will be a remnant that turns to righteousness, holiness, and truth. For the sake of the remnant, Yahweh will do these things.

Isaiah 26:9
For when the earth experiences Your judgments the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

One interesting note that has come out of the tornado aftermath was recorded on a site I visited. The following was stated:

A temporary Courthouse is open for business. The Morgan County office of the Circuit Court Clerk is open for business and providing full services out of a temporary location at 155 University Drive in West Liberty. One of the most popular services provided so far has been replacing lost driver's licenses.

A loss of mobility is observed in these words. Many drivers lost their licenses in the storm. Yahweh will bring such circumstances to the world in coming days that His people will not run to and fro as they once did. They will not casually, with little consideration, run after those things that were so easily pursued in days of prosperity, ease and freedom. Yahweh will cause His sons and daughters to give heed to their ways, and to walk circumspectly in the midst of a wicked generation.

The liberty God’s people once possessed, and employed in a manner displeasing to Yahweh, will come to a sudden end. God’s people will no longer be able to run freely after the things of the world, or to pursue with ease the satisfying of the passions and desires of the soul. Yahweh will afflict them. That which He afflicts them with will slow them down and cause them to consider carefully their way. I will close this post with the same words that were used to open it.

Psalms 119:67
Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word.