Can I ask you Rob, in view of the collapse as well as in connection with gathering, will you recommend people outside US to come? I know this is an individual matter ofcourse. When the collapse happen to US, it will collapse all the economies worldwide and this might make it impossible to move then. Though it is very difficult to immigrate to US at the moment, I am sure God will provide a way for this to happen if it should be done. What do you think?
A:
There are two promised lands, and South Africa is not one of them.
Of the two, Israel would be a very bad place to be until after God fulfills his work to prepare it for the servant he declared he would send to bring the descendants of Abraham to it. That has not happened. You don't want to be there when it does.
The other promised land is currently called the United States of America, and anyone who knows this ought to strongly prefer it to Israel for many reasons.
That being said, the question is would I recommend for people to come? My answer is actually the same for any question about where to move: It depends on the choices they have and the cost and benefit of each.
One thing we need to get away from is the idea that all people have the same choices and the same cost/benefit, and that all people will have the option to (or would benefit as much from) "go to Zion." We all need to be good soldiers of Christ. In battle, it is frequently the case that one or more soldiers must be sacrificed in order to win. Anyone who has played chess knows this. I would rather be a pawn in the hand of the Lord than a king outside of his will. This desire need not be altruistic--the most self-interested person would also, if honest, share it. The Lord knows so much better than we do what will give us greater eternal joy, and his purpose is to lead us to the greatest joy that each individual is equipped to obtain. We need to obey the Lord's specific orders to us in order to serve him in the way he ordains, because that is what will lead us to the greatest joy. Sometimes, our role as a good soldier is to lay down our lives by using our bodies as bridges over razor wire. Sometimes, it is to abdicate better temporal situations in order to go into the dungeons to free the captives. Sometimes, it is to go to a place that is less glamorous than we would like, and sometimes it is to stay in a place that is less glamorous than we would like. In all things, we must obtain the will of the Lord, and do whatever he says. As with all things, exploring both sides of an issue is necessary for honesty, but also opens the door to dishonesty. As we evaluate options, we must be very careful to avoid the dishonest tendency to boost the side of the argument that is convenient to us beyond what the truth supports.
When it comes to the many blessings that are coveted by people--finding a perfect spouse, having perfect children, having a perfect body, living in the perfect place: Why are we so confident that we know what will lead to the greatest joy? Do we not believe that Jesus knows better than us? Perfection is only possible in Christ, and "perfect in Christ" means that we submitted perfectly to his will as far as we know it, not that we seek what we think is better than what he ordains.
As we contemplate particular circumstances, we have to grapple with the fact that some people are in circumstances where it would be better for them to remain where they are. For instance, some people are caregivers to parents who cannot move, for whatever reason. Some people are old enough that where they live doesn't matter too much. These kinds of facts are often ignored because our modern culture does not acknowledge the reality of aging nor value the responsibility of children to care for their aging parents. Rather than see the role of an aging person as someone "out to pasture," as it applies to the topic of building God's kingdom, we ought to recognize how God can make any perceived weakness into a strength. There is a scene in "Terminator 2" where the young father who inadvertently designed the AI chips that would lead to global thermonuclear war guides the Terminator and John Connor back to his lab to destroy his work before the catastrophe can occur. In the process of the demolition, he is fatally wounded. The actor does a terrific job expressing his realization that his mission has now changed: he will stay and detonate the explosives they had set while under active fire from the police, realizing that is the greatest contribution he can make in his terminal arc. To his last breath, he does the work assigned to him, using his fatal wounds as an advantage rather than a weakness. This is the attitude we should adopt as we wrestle with what some might assume are limiting constraints in health, wealth, time, or any other means.
On a practical note, the relocation of any number of people will require places where they can live and work. This presents many challenges given the present limits of faith. There are solutions to these problems, but they require levels of sacrifice and selflessness that I have not yet seen in my fellow living humans: in what those who have are willing to give, and in what those who don't have would be willing to be grateful for. I fear that a great deal of suffering must occur before anyone is willing to act in the roles God would have them perform as it pertains to gathering. The test for this is how well each person does in orienting their personal lives to Christ, and then how they carry out similar sacrifices in their families. Until people reach this threshold, gathering offers them no benefit that they would be willing to receive, and would merely result in greater suffering, particularly on the part of those people they gather to.
Finally, we must remember that the promises of a promised land are not to the land. They are to a person who has obtained and lived the law(s) that result in the promise(s). If you do not have promises from God and you do not know a person who does, or you have not learned and lived the law pertaining to that kingdom, there is no point in gathering to another place beyond whatever temporal reasons you have for doing so.
On this note, South Africa is--as you know--an extremely dangerous place. If there is another place that offers a better situation, considering all your particulars, you should move.