Many observers have compared the global financial crisis to a tsunami.

We've all heard stories about the powerful tsunami that hit Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and other areas surrounding the Indian Ocean in 2004. Hundreds of thousands of lives were lost, and the lives of the survivors were forever changed. Can you imagine thinking that everything is in order one moment, just to have a series of unexpected tidal waves hit the next, washing away life as you knew it?

One man who knew about tsunamis was on the beach in Sri Lanka that fateful morning of Dec. 26, 2004. He tells the tale of how the waves seemed calm enough, but as he watched, he could see the tide washing out further with each wave. More sea bottom was visible with each ensuing wave—much more than normal. It all looked innocent enough to the unknowing eye, but to those who know about tsunamis, this was an ominous sign of impending disaster.

He yelled for his family to run from the beach, climb and hang onto a nearby strong tree to save their lives. He was right. Within minutes, they would have been dead. Suddenly, the waves stopped receding and a towering wall of water raced toward shore, washing away unsuspecting life.

He and his children survived, because he watched. He knew the warning signs, and he took the necessary action to keep his family from certain death.

Financial tsunami

How does this relate to the current global financial turmoil?

Since the $700 billion "economic rescue" package was passed by the U.S. Congress, things haven't quite settled the way government leaders thought they would. But is there yet another "wave" coming that will knock us off our feet?

The Bible warns of a time at the end of this age when warning after warning will come to the modern-day descendants of the 12 tribes of Israel because they have turned from God. (For a careful biblical and historical analysis of where the key "lost" tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim are today, download or request our free booklet The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy .)

Time and again, though, these descendants of Israel fail to heed the warnings. They fail to see the danger that lies ahead when they ignore the initial waves that warn of impending doom.

Notice what God says to Israel through Moses in Leviticus 26:14-35. Describing what will happen "if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments," God says, "I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever, which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you shall reign over you" (verses 14, 16-17).

Far from merely ancient history, this has a direct bearing on the present day. God was telling the modern descendants of Israel that when things like that happen, they should consider them as "warning waves" from Him.

God does not want to bring harm on anyone, but He allows painful events to occur in order to warn us that we have wandered from Him and to impel us to turn back to Him. He is not willing that any perish, but desires that all repent and turn back to Him so He can richly bless them (2 Peter 3:9).

Apparently, end-time Israel does not pay attention to the first warning "wave" described in Leviticus. After God sees their failure to heed that warning, notice what He says: "And after all this [after the people failed to heed the first warning], if you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. I will break the pride of your power; I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze" (Leviticus 26:18-19, emphasis added throughout).

When the people don't pay attention to that "wave," God sends additional waves to warn them of what is coming. In verses 21 to 35, three more "waves" hit and the people still don't perceive the "tsunami" that is approaching. God allows disaster to strike. "I will lay your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries to desolation…I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it" (verses 31-32).

The initial waves of destruction have gone unheeded. Israel doesn't turn to God and suffers ultimate destruction.

Amos's warning

The prophet Amos, who wrote to a flourishing Israel in the eighth century B.C., also warned that God would send punishment if the nation did not turn from its wicked ways.

The Open Bible Commentary records this about the nation of Israel at the time of Amos: "Business was booming and boundaries were bulging. But below the surface, greed and injustice were festering. Hypocritical religious motions replaced true worship, creating a false sense of security and a growing callousness to God's disciplining hand. Famine, drought, plagues, death, destruction—nothing could force the people to their knees."

Through Amos, God warned Israel what would happen if they didn't turn from their ways and obey Him. Notice the five "warning waves" described in Amos 4:6-11. In addition to "waves" of hunger, drought in various cities, failed crops and war, a fifth wave is recorded in verse 11, where God says: "I overthrew some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning; yet you have not returned to Me."

When the ancient Israelites fell to the Assyrians in 721 B.C., they suffered the first four warning waves of destruction Amos describes. But they did not suffer the fifth wave. God did not send fire from heaven to devastate Israel then. But for modern-day Israel , fire and brimstone from heaven, perhaps in the form of weapons of mass destruction that can devastate cities and "lay them waste," could be a final dire element of God's impending punishment if Israel does not turn back to Him.

Disaster upon disaster

Since 2001, modern-day Israel—nations such as the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia—have experienced disaster upon disaster. The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon were a disaster unlike any before experienced by the United States. In 2006 Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. The United States has experienced an energy crisis and wars on two fronts that are draining the nation's spirit and coffers.

Those disasters have been capped by the current global financial crisis that has required the government to pour hundreds of billions of dollars into failing financial institutions. The financial crisis that has gripped Wall Street and Main Street has decimated retirement funds, threatened the capitalization of many corporations and is the greatest threat to the American economy since the Great Depression.

Many wonder how many disasters the United States can endure before it crumbles and falls. Every disaster costs vast amounts of money. How many more "waves" can we Americans endure before a final "tsunami" washes away our society? When and from where will the next "wave" hit?

How much will it really take to save the U.S. automotive industry? Will there be another war that will even further drain our human and financial resources? Will the next wave of option ARMs (adjustable rate mortgages) and other "creative" mortgages create the same financial havoc as they mature in the next few years? Will there be a wave that finally breaks the bank?

"Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel: Because you despise and spurn this [My] word and trust in cunning and oppression, in crookedness and perverseness, and rely on them, therefore this iniquity and guilt will be to you like a broken section of a high wall, bulging out and ready…to fall, whose crash will come suddenly and swiftly, in an instant" (Isaiah 30:12-13, Amplified Bible).

Watching and taking action

The man in Sri Lanka saved himself and his family because he saw and understood the waves that warned of the impending tsunami and was ready for what was coming, while others, seeing the same things, did not heed the warning waves. He took the right action to save his family's life, hanging on to a stable tree as the waves crashed in and washed so many others away.

If the United States wants to avoid the consequences that God prophesies, it, too, must heed the warnings and turn and cling to the true God, who is the only One who can save it from the results of its national sins.

"'Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,' says the Lord GOD. 'Therefore turn and live! '" (Ezekiel 18:30-32).

None of us can turn a nation around, but we can individually respond to God's warning. If enough individuals were to take that responsible action, collectively they would indeed make a difference. These booklets can help: Transforming Your Life: The Process of Conversion and The Road to Eternal Life. Allow us to whet your appetite: God's way isn't what most people expect. Prepare to be surprised. WNP