Signs of Oppression

Joseph Herrin (10-13-2013)

Ecclesiastes 4:1-2
Again, I observed all the oppression that takes place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, with no one to comfort them. The oppressors have great power, and their victims are helpless.
[New Living Translation]

For some weeks I have been asking the Father to show me what is coming to the land that I might be able to share with His children about the specific things that will occur. In the past few days I have had some unusual experiences that struck me as being symbolic of the oppression that is coming. I shared these matters with Randy Simmons today and he confirmed that he has been experiencing similar things that left him with a sense of foreboding. I would like to relate these matters to you.

Friday I went to the Post Office on Jekyll Island in order to mail out a batch of Bible Study/Newsletters to men in prison. I have been sending out these newsletters since March of 2010. I have sent out thousands of these newsletters in the last few years, normally sending out a batch every week. When I first began sending them out I went to the local post office and asked the postal clerk how much it would cost to mail them. They require more than a standard first class postage stamp as they are slightly larger than a standard letter, and also weigh more than a standard letter. I was told that I would have to purchase the stamp for the next weight category, which at this time is a 66 cent stamp. This is what I have been doing for more than three years without any problems arising with the Post Office.

I continued sending out the newsletters even when I was traveling across the country speaking, as I print them out myself and I always have my computer and printer with me. I have dropped the newsletters off at more than a score of post offices across the country and have never had any of them returned by the Postal Service for inadequate postage or a failure to meet postal regulations. You can understand my surprise when the postal worker at the Jekyll Island Post Office (a small one person affair) exclaimed “Uh oh!” when I handed her a stack of newsletters to mail.

I asked the woman what the problem was. She said that the newsletters should be sealed at the top, rather than at the bottom. To understand what she was talking about I provide the following image of a folded and stamped newsletter.

Parables Bookshelf Newsletter

The words “Bible Study” at the bottom of the newsletter are printed on a wide, sticky-backed label that I fold over and use to hold the newsletter closed. The newsletter itself is folded in half, being printed on standard 8-1/2" x 11" sheets of paper. The newsletters range in size from 16-26 pages each. Since they are printed on both sides of the paper this is actually 8-13 sheets of paper.

The woman told me that because of the way mail is fed through their automated sorting equipment, it could get hung up due to the lower right corner being loose. I informed the postal worker that I had been mailing these out for years and had never had any complaint from the postal service, nor had any of the newsletters ever been returned. She acted surprised at this, and said she would call a supervisor on the phone to verify the mailing requirements. I listened to her describe the mail to the supervisor, and when she hung up she affirmed to me that what she had told me was correct. She mentioned that she might let me mail this batch, but that I would need to correct the problem. I reasoned that I could do so without too much difficulty, as it was simply a matter of altering the layout of the address page of each newsletter. It would be time consuming since there are a total of 88 different newsletters, but it was doable.

The postal worker then added that it was not permissible to use a staple on the mailing. I was quite amazed at this latest information. Remaining calm, however, I asked her how a person might keep multiple pages of paper together if they did not use a staple? She had no answer to my question, but added that a staple could be used on the inside sheets of paper, but not on the outside sheet. By this time I was forming a plan in my mind to drop all the newsletters in a box and mail them to my daughter Kristin so she could drop them off at the local post office which had been mailing them for me for the past two years without any complaint.

I asked the woman if she could provide me with the website address where I might find the postal mailing regulations. She looked it up and wrote the page information down for me. She then added that I could pay an additional 20 cents per piece of mail and they would be able to mail them. The surcharge was due to the mail not being able to go through their automated sorting machine. It would have to be sorted by hand.

Well, this sounded better, for at least I was being told that my mailings could be handled by the post office, it would just cost more to do so. Knowing that I would only be on Jekyll Island for 3 months, I reasoned that I could afford the additional postage. I told the woman I would be happy to purchase some 20 cent stamps, affix them to my newsletters, and then give them back to her. So she sold me 100 of them, which was more than I needed at the moment, but they would last me the next week as well.

As this encounter was occurring I had a witness from the Spirit of Christ to remain calm and polite to the woman, and to simply let things play themselves out. During this time I had an uncomfortable feeling that reminded me distinctly of the several times I have been in court before a judge. In each of those times I received a ruling from a civil servant that was hostile and resulted in personal loss and suffering. I thought it odd that this postal experience reminded me of those experiences, but upon reflection I could see why I felt this way. The government and its servants are frequently guided by rules and regulations that do not serve the public interest, and which are increasingly in conflict with the judgment of God. It does not surprise me that an anti-christ government should behave in ways that are antithetical to the principles of Yahweh’s kingdom. Nevertheless, it is disturbing to be confronted with new difficulties that arise from the rulers of this fallen world system. The experience can be described as “oppressive.”

Just the day before I had stopped by a local convenience store on the island to look around. I saw several newspapers on display as I entered the store. I walked over to read the headlines. One story on a statewide newspaper for Georgia related how three politicians in the northern part of the state had introduced legislation to require all bicyclists to purchase license plates for their bikes. The legislation also included other restrictions, particularly relating to how group rides were to be conducted. Fortunately, a public meeting was held on the legislation and hundreds of Georgia citizens showed up to protest the proposed measures. The public was so overwhelmingly against the new laws that the three legislators dropped the matter.

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/23624775/house-bill-could-soon-require-license-plates-for-bicyles

This bill struck me as one more action of an overreaching government to control and restrict the freedom of movement of the population in America. America’s liberties are being cut-off one after another. Soon a person will not be able to go anywhere, or do anything, without being surveilled by the government, or getting their permission. Similar bills to license bicycles had previously been promoted in New York and in other parts of the country. I do not doubt that licensing bicycles will eventually become the law of the land.

On Friday evening, the same day that I had the encounter described above at the post office, I was checking out some links to news on the Internet and came across the following article.

Obamacare Fines to be Seized From Bank Accounts?
Man who attempted to sign up claims he was threatened with drivers license being revoked, federal tax lien on home

Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
October 2, 2013

A man who attempted to sign up for Obamacare online was told that a fine of over $4,000 dollars a year for refusing to take out mandatory health insurance could be taken directly from his bank account, and that his drivers license would be suspended and a federal tax lien placed against his home, according to an entry on the HealthCare.gov Facebook page.

If true, the implementation of Obamacare is going to be a whole lot more draconian than Americans have been led to believe.

Will Sheehan claims that when he tried to sign up for Obamacare and then register to opt out, he received an ominous warning. Sheehan’s full Facebook post reads;

    “I actually made it through this morning at 8:00 A.M. I have a preexisting condition (Type 1 Diabetes) and my income base was 45K-55K annually I chose tier 2 “Silver Plan” and my monthly premiums came out to $597.00 with $13,988 yearly deductible!!! There is NO POSSIBLE way that I can afford this so I “opt-out” and chose to continue along with no insurance.

    I received an email tonight at 5:00 P.M. informing me that my fine would be $4,037 and could be attached to my yearly income tax return. Then you make it to the “REPERCUSSIONS PORTION” for “non-payment” of yearly fine. First, your drivers license will be suspended until paid, and if you go 24 consecutive months with “Non-Payment” and you happen to be a home owner, you will have a federal tax lien placed on your home. You can agree to give your bank information so that they can easy “Automatically withdraw” your “penalties” weekly, bi-weekly or monthly! This by no means is “Free” or even “Affordable.”

Sheehan went on to point out that the site makes you input all your personal information before giving you an indication of the costs, meaning a database of the “uninsured” is being built. He added that he could not afford to pay the premium so would have to break the law and pay the fine, leaving him with no health care coverage.

The federal government has consistently denied that any fines pertaining to Obamacare non-compliance could be seized from bank accounts, despite reports last year that the IRS had hired 16,500 new agents to harass citizens who attempt to evade the new law.

“There’s no criminal sanctions for not paying this, and there’s no ability to levy a bank account or do seizures,” then-IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman said in April 2010.

In addition, Americans who refuse to pay for mandatory health insurance “shall not be subject to any criminal prosecution,” according to the law itself.

Section 1501(g)(2) of the Affordable Care Act also states that the IRS cannot “file notice of lien with respect to any property of a taxpayer by reason of any failure to pay the penalty imposed by this section.”

Either Sheehan’s claim that he received this notice is a lie, or the feds have been dishonest with the American people all along, and the revolt against Obamacare is about to take “don’t tread on me” to a whole new level.
[Source: http://www.infowars.com/obamacare-fines-to-be-seized-from-bank-accounts/]

I ask my readers to note that I did see the disclaimers and recognized the uncertainty in this article. The author, Paul Joseph Watson, acknowledges that Sheehan’s claim may be bogus. Nevertheless, I found the article disturbing, for I believe it does accurately reveal what we will eventually see occur under Obamacare. It is bad enough to have a lien placed against one’s tax return, which is what the current healthcare law calls for. Following is the schedule that has been published by the government as it is written into the Affordable Care Act.

The penalty for failing to carry qualifying health insurance coverage varies with household size, income, and year. In general, the penalties for non-compliance will be assessed as follows:
For individuals (whichever is greater):

2014 $95 or 1% of income above tax filing threshold
2015 $325 or 2% of income above tax filing threshold
2016 $695 or 2.5% of income above tax filing threshold

For families (whichever is greater):

2014 $285 or 1% of income above tax filing threshold
2015 $975 or 2% of income above tax filing threshold
2016 $2085 or 2.5% of income above tax filing threshold
[Source: http://www.snopes.com/politics/medical/penalty.asp]

It is not coincidental that 2016 is another election year. The election will be held after taxes are due that year, but before the next President is sworn into office. Therefore, whatever draconian penalties are assessed in 2017 can be blamed on the outgoing President. I would not be surprised to find that everything mentioned in the Prison Planet article, and more, will be used as weapons to beat the American populace into submission.

As a son of God who was directed by the Father in 1999 to cancel the health insurance I carried on myself and my family, and without having any present expectation that Yahweh will tell me to enroll in the new federal healthcare program, it is sobering to consider what life would be like with the government assessing fines of thousands of dollars a year, seizing funds from my personal bank account, suspending my driver’s license, and seeking to generally make life as unbearable as possible.

Although I am not aware of these penalties being incorporated into the CURRENT Affordable Care Act, history has proven that the government does not remain static. Laws are constantly amended, altered, or replaced. New programs are sold to the public with lies and intentional deception. Once adopted, the true nature of the beast becomes evident. The trend is toward ever increasing taxes and more severe penalties. Bear in mind that when Franklin Delano Roosevelt began the Social Security program in 1936, he also sold the program to the public by telling them it would hold great benefit with very little cost to the average citizen.

Here's what the 1936 government pamphlet on Social Security said, "After the first 3 years - that is to say, beginning in 1940 - you will pay, and your employer will pay, 1.5 cents for each dollar you earn, up to $3,000 a year. . . beginning in 1943, you will pay 2 cents, and so will your employer, for every dollar you earn for the next 3 years. . . . And finally, beginning in 1949, twelve years from now, you and your employer will each pay 3 cents on each dollar you earn, up to $3,000 a year." Here's Congress's lying promise: "That is the most you will ever pay..."

The Social Security pamphlet of 1936 read, "Beginning November 24, 1936, the United States Government will set up a Social Security account for you. ... The checks will come to you as a right." (http://www.ssa.gov/history/ssb36.html). Americans were led to believe that Social Security was like a retirement account and that money placed in it was, in fact, their property. Shortly after the Social Security Act's passage, it was challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court, in Helvering v. Davis (1937). The court held that Social Security was not an insurance program, saying, "The proceeds of both employee and employer taxes are to be paid into the Treasury like any other internal revenue generally, and are not earmarked in any way." In a 1960 case, Flemming v. Nestor, the Supreme Court said, "To engraft upon Social Security system a concept of 'accrued property rights' would deprive it of the flexibility and boldness in adjustment to ever-changing conditions which it demands."
[Source: Walter E. Williams]

The statements above reveal that just as soon as the government gets a program passed, they begin to dramatically alter the conditions that they had publicly announced to the American public. As soon as the Social Security system became law, the conditions were changed. At times one branch of the government is used to enact the legislation, and another to perform the alterations, as in the case of the Supreme Court rulings aforementioned. How long do you think it will be before the following promises of the Affordable Care Act are altered? The Congressional Research Service’s report on the Penalty Provision of the Affordable Care Act (PPACA) states:

The Internal Revenue Code (IRC) limits the means the IRS may employ to collect the penalty established in the [PPACA]. First, the taxpayer is protected from either criminal prosecution or penalty for failure to pay the penalty. Second, the IRS is prohibited from either filing a notice of federal tax lien (NFTL) or levying any property in an effort to collect the penalty. There is no prohibition, however, on establishing a statutory lien against the taxpayer’s property. No additional limits are placed on the IRS using correspondence or phone calls, either through its own employees or through private collection agencies, in an effort to collect the amount owed. Additionally, no restriction was placed on the IRS's ability to use the refund offset as a means of collecting the amount due.

Those who are required to pay the penalty for failure to maintain minimum coverage but choose not to do so will be subject to increases in the amount owed due to interest and late payment penalties imposed on the penalty after it has been assessed by the IRS.

A taxpayer who chooses not to pay the required penalty may ultimately forfeit more than the amount of the penalty if that taxpayer is ever in the position of having an overpayment to the IRS for any reason, since the refund offset applies not only to overpayments shown on original tax returns, but also to any subsequent adjustments, for example an audit by the IRS that results in an overpayment. Further, as explained above, it is possible that the IRS could present its claim when property is being sold and collect both the original penalty amount along with accrued interest and applicable penalties.
[Source: http://www.snopes.com/politics/medical/penalty.asp]

I have long heard tragic stories where the “accrued interest and applicable penalties” the IRS has inflicted upon an individual far outweigh the original amount that they were accused of being delinquent in paying. The IRS already has the ability to attach a statutory lien against a person’s property for failing to pay penalties associated with the Affordable Care Act. When a person sells property, the IRS can demand to be paid from the proceeds before the taxpayer sees a dime. This is the law as it stands now. What it will eventually evolve into will certainly be far more sinister.

I went to bed Friday night thinking about what is coming to America, and I awoke with the same thoughts on my mind. Shortly after rising I turned on my computer and clicked on the Internet and was met with a message at the top of my browser stating that Internet access has been restricted on my computer. The message advised me to contact the system administrator for details. I re-booted my computer, and even tried another web browser, but continued to get the same message.

The thought occurred to me that the campground I am staying at, and whose Wi-Fi service I am using, might have some bandwidth limitations that I had exceeded as I had looked at some YouTube videos the prior evening. At the same time, I thought of how all of these experiences were following a common theme. The powers that be, whoever they are, were taking away my ability to function normally.

A brief talk with the campground manager saw my Internet access restored. Purchasing some additional postage allowed me to mail out the Bible Studies I had created for men in prison. Yet, what if the Holy Spirit were signifying that these sorts of oppressive actions are coming to Americans, especially those who will not embrace the New World Order (a.k.a. Satan’s kingdom), and who will not bow down and worship the beast (the world government and its leaders)?

Around noon Saturday I called Randy Simmons on the telephone and told him about these things. He had already encountered the rumor about Georgia requiring all bicyclists to purchase tags. The person who told him this news spoke emphatically, saying that the law had been passed, which in fact it had not. She also told Randy that the law required all bicycle owners to purchase insurance.

Randy further related to me some of the oppression he had been experiencing working with the homeless on the streets of Macon. The Macon police had begun to oppress the homeless in a great many ways. Some of their actions are understandable, but some of them are also very unreasonable. The police even began to harass local Christians who were taking food downtown to hand out free to the homeless. One Korean couple were harassed by the police when they were grilling hot dogs and hamburgers for the homeless once a week and distributing them free. The police forced them to discontinue doing so since they did not have a food vendor’s license.

This Korean couple had heard God tell them to go feed and minister to the homeless, so they returned the following week with a car full of McDonalds’ hamburgers, fries and drinks to give out to the homeless. The police also forbid them to do this, saying they were illegally distributing food. Unwilling to abandon the mission the Lord had given to them, this Korean woman who spoke English, and her husband who did not, began to pick up the homeless and drive them to McDonalds and buy the food for them there.

Randy has also had police begin to harass him. They have told him he could not park in certain areas, even though he was doing so legally, and had not exceeded the posted time limits. The police have come to the fountain in downtown Macon where Randy and Veronica frequently meet the homeless to sit and talk with them. He related to me how a large group of police had descended on them on more than one occasion. They put on gloves, and acted threateningly as if they might assault those who were gathered. They began to go through the bags of each person, ask for personal identification, and even examine the food the people were eating. They told everyone present to freeze in place and forbid them to go anywhere, though they had not been charged with any trespass or crime.

Randy related to me how he has felt the same thing I had sensed in my recent experiences, that there is great oppression looming, and it is not far off. There are moments already when there is a distinct impression that we are being viewed as an enemy of the state when we are doing nothing more than trying to minister the life and love of Christ to others. Having been twice thrown in jail, I recognize the possibility of such experiences becoming far more common among Christians in the days which we are entering. America’s once vaunted freedoms and liberty are being swiftly eroded. A police state is replacing what was once described as “the land of the free.”

As I was writing this post on Saturday evening, a story appeared on the news wire. It reported that due to a technical glitch, food stamp debit cards were not working in 17 states, affecting millions of government food assistance recipients. People were having to abandon their shopping carts full of food at the grocery stores because the computers were not allowing the stores to process their food stamp debit card transactions. Some customers were complaining that there children were going to have to go to bed hungry.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/food-stamp-debit-cards-working-states-20553954

Although these experiences may be temporal, and unrelated to government plans to exert complete control over the populace, they serve as telling examples of what could occur if the government should choose to shut down an individual’s ability to function in society. The Soviets under Stalin starved an entire region containing millions of people into submission. They sent in troops to Ukraine, confiscated all the grain and food, and blocked access for more to enter. (In the book Dragon Flood, I have shared how this was done with the full complicity of the American government and media.) The capability is already present to shut off an individual’s, or an entire nation’s, access to the Internet, their bank accounts, and any government programs or benefits, to have their driver’s license suspended or revoked, and to have liens or levies placed against their property.

Before posting this an e-mail came in from Kathy Furman in Arizona. She shared some thoughts on the EBT (Food Voucher) payment system being down, not realizing that I was writing on this subject. Her remarks are very affirming. Randy and Kathy Furman regularly set up at swap meets as a way of earning some income, as well as being able to witness to people about Christ. The swap meets are basically large flea markets. This morning she wrote me the following:

When we finished selling yesterday, we stopped by the store to pick up some groceries.  We noticed a sign on the door that said they would not be able to accept EBT transactions.  This was at the 99cent Only Store.  We like to stop there because they have excellent prices on food items and surprisingly good fresh produce.  It crossed my mind that either their system was down or perhaps they had not met some restriction that allowed them to accept the food stamp card.  When we got home we saw on the internet that the food stamp system was down in 17 states.  People were not able to buy food.

That should be a real eye-opener to a lot of people.  It doesn't take much to loose their food buying privileges when they trust in the government system.  This time they say it was a glitch, but it is easy to see how the debit or credit system can be completely shut down without any warning.

It is such a blessing that Yahweh has taught us to rely on Him...

Last week we went to the swap meet to sell and every spot was taken.  That is very unusual.  We see it as a sign of the times.  People are having a difficult time making ends meet.  A lot of them are out of work and trying to survive by selling whatever they can.  There were a lot of sellers but not nearly enough buyers to go around.
[End Excerpt]

The economic situation in America is perilous. The nation’s wealth is being gathered up by large multi-national corporations who are reporting record profits. At the same time, the general population is finding employment increasing difficult to procure. When it is found it is increasingly a part-time, low-wage, job. This trend will greatly accelerate under Obamacare as employers cut workers’ hours to avoid having to pay medical benefits.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2013/09/11/with-eye-on-obamacare-companies-move-to-cut-workers-hours/

I believe the Father is warning His sons and daughters to prepare themselves for those things they will have to endure in coming days. What will you do when you cannot get your money out of the bank, your debit or credit cards will not work, your government benefits are suspended, your Internet access is cut-off, your driver’s license revoked, and you are considered an enemy of the state?

The Bible does foretell of just such experiences occurring.

Revelation 13:16-17
And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand, or on their forehead, and he provides that no one should be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.

None of these things are occurring apart from the knowledge of Yahweh. The oppression that is coming to America and the nations is intended for the purification of the church. Yahweh has had a forerunning group of sons and daughters who have been living on the fringes of society for years. They have heeded the call to come out of Babylon. They have survived without regular emplyment, without health insurance, without government benefits. They have yielded their lives to go where Yahweh instructs them, and to do whatever He requires them to do. In return, they have relied on the faithfulness of Yahweh to care for them. He has said:

Matthew 6:25-33
“For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, as to what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his life's span? And why are you anxious about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these. But if God so arrays the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more do so for you, O men of little faith? Do not be anxious then, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'With what shall we clothe ourselves?' For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.”

Will these promises of God still stand when the beast government shuts Christians off from participating in this present world system of commerce, communication, and transportation? Yahweh will certainly continue to remain faithful! Perhaps the question more necessary to consider is, “Will you have the faith to trust your life, and that of your family, to His care?” Are you exercising faith now? Are you daily growing in your trust and obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit?

For your encouragement, I will end this post with the following Psalm.

Psalms 46
For the choir director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah, set to Alamoth. A Song.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; Though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy dwelling places of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered; He raised His voice, the earth melted. Yahweh of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.
Come, behold the works of Yahweh,Who has wrought desolations in the earth. He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariots with fire. "Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." Yahweh of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.

May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.

P.S. If you are a new reader, please be apprised that I am NOT advocating that Christians engage in any form of political activism whose goal is resisting the plans of evil men in positions of political power. Yahweh has given America into the hands of men who are skilled in deception and destruction as a judgment for her many sins. Christians are in this world, but not citizens of it. They are aliens and strangers whose kingdom and home is with God. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal (ballots and bullets), but are spiritual. The information shared in this post is intended to apprise the people of God of what is coming upon the world with the hope that they will seek the Father’s counsel to know how to have themselves and their families in readiness both spiritually and physically. 


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Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
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