Isaiah 15:1. "An oracle concerning Moab. Because Ar is laid waste in a night, Moab is undone; because Kir is laid waste in a night Moab is undone."

It can happen in a night. In the blink of an eye, we can be laid waste. This world and everything in it exist at all times under the protection of our Father. The forces of evil are constantly, tirelessly, relentlessly trying to get past that protection and get to us. God, of course, is much stronger than they are, so His "force field" of protection holds as long as we stay within it, trusting and following Him, and helping Him maintain it with our good works and moral judgments. But when a nation or people pass the tipping point of evil and are no longer helping to maintain the field, sometimes even actively trying to destroy it, it weakens. Could God maintain it anyway? Of course, but then we would not be participators in His Creation, but just wayward observers. So when a nation goes bad, God allows some of the evil to get through the protection its people have failed to maintain. These are chastisements, and they can get very dire indeed. Whole cities can be laid waste in a night, as Ar and Kir were.

The fall of these cities in one night was clear sign to the rest of Moab that its chastisements had arrived, Moab would be undone. Events like these are the signs of our times that we must pay attention to. We haven't yet had a major city laid to waste in a night in this country, but that has happened elsewhere. We have had several areas destroyed by tornadoes, fires, storms, and the like, and there has been plenty of death and destruction over the last few years, some from natural causes, and much by the hand of man. It is well past time for us to read the signs of our times.

As a nation, we may already be undone, but remember that before the men of destruction were allowed to rampage through Jerusalem, a man dressed in linen was to precede them, marking the foreheads of those who had lamented her sinfulness. These were not to be slaughtered with the others. (Ezekiel 9:1-6) Revelation echoes this, with an angel calling out to the angels at the four corners of the earth "Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads." (Revelation 7:3).

So even if and when our nation is undone, God will still protect, in His way, His faithful ones. It will not be a day at the beach, we all suffer when our nation or people suffers. But God will have His faithful ones marked. He will not let true death touch them, and death in this world is inevitable anyway.