Shoulder To Shoulder #1258 ---- "The Folly of Forgetting God -- Demise of a People: Part 1 -- Let the Record Speak"
Posted by: lifeunlimited <lifeunlimited@...>
SHOULDER TO SHOULDER is a weekly letter of encouragement Bob has written since 1997, covering many topics
selected to motivate people to be strong students of the Word and courageous witnesses of Jesus Christ.
It is a personal letter of encouragement to you, written solely to help "lift up hands that hang down".
"The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil,
but by those who watch them without doing anything." -- Albert Einstein
“There is a common, worldly kind of Christianity in this day,
which many have, and think they have -- a cheap Christianity
which offends nobody, and requires no sacrifice, which
costs nothing, -- and is worth nothing.” – J. C. Ryle
"Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica,
for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the
Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so." -- Dr. Luke (Acts 17:11)
Shoulder To Shoulder #1258
Title: "The Folly of Forgetting God -- Demise of a People: Part 1 -- Let the Record Speak"
My Dear Friend and Fellow Kingdom Seeker:
Today, for the first time in many months, I am writing from the hot and humid valley in which the metropolitan city of Phoenix, AZ, rests. I began the writing yesterday still up in the mountains of Greer, AZ, but that ministry has concluded for the season, and we are on the way to Yuma to prepare for our winter ministry at Chapel de Oro beginning November 7th. In the interim, we are in "The Valley" for three days to visit a couple former Greer Chapel members who are no longer able to participate because of deteriorating health. We will drive on to Yuma Thursday, although our trip is open ended with no deadline to meet. This stop was originally set to conduct the celebration of life service for my cousin, Sara, but sadly one of her sons contracted COVID, so the service has been postponed until the latter part of next month.
It has been a long time since I received as many positive comments about a particular "Shoulders" letter series as I did with the one I concluded last week. So, thank you for your strong encouragement. It truly did encourage me to continue writing. After all, I am nearing the conclusion of the 24th year of weekly writing. In light of what is happening in our country, I have been praying seriously about what to address next -- and I think I have settled on the topic -- "The Folly of Forgetting God -- Demise of a People".
We'll get to that after you first give consideration to some of the following links and quotes.
THIS 'N' THAT:
+ Biblical Accounts of Earthquake during King Uzziah's Reign Verified: For decades scholars have rejected the idea that there was a devastating earthquake during the reign of King Uzziah (of Isaiah's day). However, recent archaeological discoveries in Jerusalem prove the biblical record to be true ---- AGAIN!. Go to https://patternsofevidence.com/2021/09/03/evidence-of-biblical-earthquake-found-in-jerusalem/
+ A Voice Worth Hearing: -- One of America's greatest actors is also one of her most outspoken followers of Christ. Denzel Washington nailed it. Go to https://www.dailywire.com/news/denzel-washington-advises-crowd-at-christian-event-to-stay-on-your-knees-says-strength-and-leadership-are-part-of-gods-role-for-men?itm_source=parsely-api&utm_source=cnemail&utm_medium=email .
+ Another Archaeological Verification: -- Not that the Bible EVER needs to be authenticated by man, here is another recent discovery in Israel that validates the existence of the biblical character, Gideon. His alternative name, given to him by his father, was Jerrubaal. This is the name found on a piece of pottery about 45 miles southwest of Jerusalem. Check this very interesting report out at https://patternsofevidence.com/2021/09/24/inscription-provides-bible-archaeology-link/?utm_campaign=Thinker%20Update-3%2C100-yr-old%20Gideon%20Inscription%20in%20Israel%20Provides%20Bible%20-%20Archaeology%20Link%20%28S7LyZN%29&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Email%20List%20-%20All%20-%2090%20day%20engaged&_kx=Es6BOom38-pDLtwNu2YOYsfiLCC3pv6OK4wsYKHbKFU%3D.WEfJdA
+ Once Again Archaeology Parallels Biblical Account: Here's another fascinating report of archaeological research being in harmony with what the Bible said -- this time about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorah. Go to https://www.faithpot.com/sodom-and-gomorrah-proof/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=24/09/2021 .
+ Excellent Website: -- I recently ran across another outstanding website pertaining to the Judeo-Christian values, origin, and issues of our nation. It has outstanding links to a great variety of sources you may find helpful. Check it out at http://www.free2pray.info/ .
+ Free Download on James: I have a longtime friend and former missionary colleague who has written a small devotional study "notebooklet" on the Epistle of James. He has made it available, so am passing the link on to you in case you are interested. Go to https://buckburch.blogspot.com/2021/09/james-evidence-of-faith.html?fbclid=IwAR0ScAbXFkXRKY_f4wzdGJ6ZtZhdUiriTaTIe5GdLkMWMIsm_SHmz8pBdqU and click on "Download".
QUOTES FOR THE WEEK:
> "We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." -- John Adams, signer of the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and second President of the U.S. (in a speech to the military in 1798).
> "[O]nly a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." -- Benjamin Franklin, signer of Declaration of Independence, U.S. Ambassador to France
> "I think it proper here not only to subscribe to the entire belief of the great and leading doctrines of the Christian religion, such as the Being of God, the universal defection and depravity of human nature, the divinity of the person and the completeness of the redemption purchased by the blessed Savior, the necessity of the operations of the Divine Spirit, of Divine Faith, accompanied with an habitual virtuous life, and the universality of the divine Providence, but also . . . that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom; that the way of life held up in the Christian system is calculated for the most complete happiness that can be enjoyed in this mortal state; that all occasions of vice and immorality is injurious either immediately or consequentially, even in this life; that as Almighty God hath not been pleased in the Holy Scriptures to prescribe any precise mode in which He is to be publicly worshiped, all contention about it generally arises from want of knowledge or want of virtue." -- Richard Stockton, in the will of Richard Stockton
> "It is impossible to govern the world without God and the Bible. Of all the dispositions and habits that lead to political prosperity, our religion and morality are the indispensable supporters. Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that our national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle." -- George Washington
> "But it is religion and morality alone, which can establish the principles upon which freedom can surely stand." -- John Adams, letter to Zabdiel Adams June 21, 1776
> "[T]he Christian religion, in its purity, is the basis, or rather the source of all genuine freedom in government. . . . and I am persuaded that no civil government of a republican form can exist and be durable in which the principles of that religion have not a controlling influence." -- Noah Webster, author of first American Speller and Webster's Unabridged Dictionary
> "[F]or avoiding the extremes of despotism or anarchy . . . the only ground of hope must be on the morals of the people. I believe that religion is the only solid base of morals and that morals are the only possible support of free governments. [T]herefore education should teach the precepts of religion and the duties of man towards God." -- Gouverneur Morris, writer and signer of the U.S. Constitution
HOW CAN WE EVER FORGET:
Probably like you, I have been thinking a great deal for the past several years about what appears to be the inevitable decline of the United States -- perhaps even our disappearance -- as we know the country today. I was curious to read what analysts and prognosticators might be thinking regarding our past, our present, and our future, so spent a few hours "googling" the topic. Several things came out of the search:
First, very few articles written in the past three or four years even popped up. It seemed like nobody recently cared to write, -- or nothing had changed. Most were written between 2005 and 2015. It was as if bloggers, writers, and news reporters had simply lost interest in discovering what was causing our national decline. They seemed to be more interested in casting blame or finding a solution than trying to learn what had caused the decline in the first place. It seemed that the assumption was that since we are still free, and since our economy is still good, there isn't a problem. Whatever decline there may be will be short-lived, and we'll get over it.
Second, almost all of the articles approached the matter from military, economic, political or global perspective -- as if our current situation was somehow tied to how strong or weak we were militarily, how the economy as faring, or the condition of our global influence and power. While it may be true that God really isn't dead, He seems to at least be irrelevant to most of those writers. He's out there somewhere in space, of course, but generally inattentive to our situations, and, even worse, He doesn't really seem to care. We're essentially on our own to rescue ourselves, fix our own problems, and use human means to stabilize ourselves and rebuild our nation. After all, we got ourselves into the mess, so it's our responsibility to get ourselves out.
Third, not one single article addressed the issues of morality, ethics, or religion. There was no mention of ethics, morality, character, or religious condition -- irregardless of the fact that those factors were actually at the heart of our founders' thinking when our nation was formed. Fox News' Tucker Carlson focused on that issue on his program Monday night,reporting that in 1995 72% of Americans considered themselves to be Christian in their religious beliefs, but by 2015 that figure had dropped to 65% and has dropped even lower today.
Carlson pointed out that all polls indicate that ALL religions -- AND even Atheism -- had significantly declined in support. It's not just Christianity. Our country is becoming more and more secularized by the day, and you can see the evidence in almost every headline, both local and national. As Americans turn away from religion as their support, they do something else ---- they begin to make other things their gods. They begin to turn to education, to science, to the government as their saviors. This has been particularly evident regarding the COVID pandemic.
The people don't just turn to other religions, but instead they turn other things into a religion. The trend is probably something you and I have believed for a very long time -- and yet, even knowing this is exactly what the Bible predicts, it is still seriously alarming.
Next, -- and this was particularly intriguing -- though not really surprising. There was an overwhelming presumption that our national success, failure, and security depended on the condition and function of our centralized government, rather than on the moral condition of the people. It seemed that every writer failed to address the root issue, and instead settled for symptoms instead of causes. Apparently they had not done much reading of the founding fathers' writings and speeches.
Time after time, I saw articles dealing with our decline from the perspective of economic instability or military unpreparedness -- or deteriorating global influence. And, of course, there were some who blamed it on education, poverty, or racial tensions. Everything but the root cause -- moral and spiritual collapse. But, my overriding impression was surprise that there were so few articles even written in the past four or five years. I really expected just the opposite to be the case, particularly since so many in the media are so dedicated to a secularized large government that takes care of everybody.
Finally, I was not surprised in the least, though, that not one single article that I could find even remotely addressed the issue of moral, ethical, and religious factors and how they may or may not have contributed to our deterioration. That, of course, IS the root issue. Our founders knew that, the Black Robe Regiment knew that, and most past generations have known that. Particularly since the 1960's our "intelligent" people have come to "know better".
You and I also know the real truth, -- if we have taken time to seriously examine the history of America's founding. God's hand prints are all over every page of our national existence, at least up to the middle of the Twentieth Century. We have been looking at that for the previous thirteen letters.
So, why are we now in this current state of debasement, moral decay, putrid corruption, racial conflict, and frightened confusion? Of course, you and I know the answer -- because we've read the Bible, and believe it to be true.
Several weeks ago while writing this most recent series just concluded, I kept asking myself, "How on earth, in light of how our nation was founded and how God has blessed and prospered us, can we now turn our backs on Him!!!" The question has haunted me sufficiently for me to research scripture to try to find the answer. The answer is, of course, pretty simple -- however, there is more to it than just a simple answer.
I remembered that Israel was also guilty -- repeatedly so -- of turning away from God. In fact, the Prophet Jeremiah records God as having told the tiny nation that not only had they forsaken the fountain of His living water, but they also had dug for themselves cisterns -- broken cisterns, that don't, can't, and will never hold water.
It sounds like America to me.
So, what happens to a people that causes them to turn away from God? And more importantly, what happens to a people when they DO turn away from Him? It never happens spontaneously or without reason. It is seldom a sudden thing. Almost always it is a slow and steady decline.
Using my E-Sword Bible study software, I started dong some word searches. In the process I found and examined more than 50 different scriptural occasions where something referred to Israel having turned away from God. I found an intriguing pattern that was evident in them all. It all started when . . .
1. They Flaunted God. Then, . . .
2. They Forgot God. And ultimately, . . .
3. They forsook God.
That pattern sometimes begins in a rather flippant way in which they begin to take Him for granted, presume upon Him, flaunt Him, and assume that He will continue to bless. It came, then, to the point that in their hearts God ended up "out of sight, out of mind." They just began to forget about Him, living life under His blessings, but unaware of His presence. Eventually, they simply forsook Him entirely.
So, Forgetting God comes because they flaunted Him. Tragically, forgetting Him is inevitably not the end result in itself. There is always a precursor to forgetting God, and there is also inevitably a consequence to doing so. The precursor is to Flaunt Him; the consequence is to Forsake Him.
My "inquiring mind" drew me to my Bible software to search out the topic more thoroughly. I discovered that there is a general pattern.
It's really pretty simple: ----
We have forgotten God -- and are on the verge of forsaking Him.
When you take God out of a civil society's equation, you take out the singular most important ingredient. And, when He is missing, nothing has lasting answers, and you cannot make sense of what is left of life and its challenges. To try to figure out and happily live life without God is like trying to solve an algebraic equation of X,Y, and Z with X being absent. There is no primary reference point from which to begin.
In studying the story of Israel in the Bible, I found an ominous pattern in their walk with God. Even though they were His chosen people through whom the world would prosper and be blessed, through whom His Holy Word would be written and preserved, and through whom His Son, the Savior of mankind, would become incarnate, they still constantly strayed away from Him -- even to the point of forsaking Him.
In fact, there are thirty-one (31) specific occasions where the Bible says they either forgot or forsook God, God Himself declared it so eighteen times! More than half of those scriptures quote God's own words about Israel's sin. The remaining thirteen times the declaration is made by one of God's prophets speaking in His behalf.
Now, like the priests described by the prophet Malachi, they would ask, "Wherein have we [done this]???!!!" In similar fashion, we today might repeat their ridiculous and incredulous denial -- "Wherein have we forgotten You???!!! Wherein have we forsaken You???!!!"
HOW HAVE WE FORSAKEN GOD:
Obviously, I cannot take time to examine each of those thirty-one references to Israel having forgotten or forsaken God, but as I studied each one on my own, I began to pick up on three things ---- 1) how they forsook God, 2) What the consequences were, and 3) How God responded. I'll list each reference at the end so you can do your own study, but let me summarize each of those three points, starting with how they forsook God.
I know I am in danger of "beating a good horse to death", but I want to list many of those scriptures in order to make the point. Each of them deserves careful scrutiny, but I will have to leave that to you. Just take time to read these scriptures. Even as I read through them again, I am sobered by the indignant judgment of the phrase -- they forgot God -- they forsook God. What a tragic declaration against God's chosen people. Let these verses sink in deeply into your spirit.
Deut_28:20 "The LORD will send upon you curses, confusion, and rebuke, in all you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me.
Jdg_10:13 "Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer deliver you.
1Sa_8:8 "Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day—in that they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also.
1Ki_11:33 because they have forsaken Me, and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the sons of Ammon; and they have not walked in My ways, doing what is right in My sight and observing My statutes and My ordinances, as his father David did.
2Ki_22:17 "Because they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods that they might provoke Me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore My wrath burns against this place, and it shall not be quenched."'
2Ch_12:5 Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the princes of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and he said to them, "Thus says the LORD, 'You have forsaken Me, so I also have forsaken you to Shishak.'"
2Ch_34:25 "Because they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore My wrath will be poured out on this place and it shall not be quenched."'
Psa_44:20 If we had forgotten the name of our God Or extended our hands to a strange god,
Isa_17:10 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation And have not remembered the rock of your refuge. Therefore you plant delightful plants And set them with vine slips of a strange god.
Isa_51:13 That you have forgotten the LORD your Maker, Who stretched out the heavens And laid the foundations of the earth, That you fear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor, As he makes ready to destroy? But where is the fury of the oppressor?
Jer_2:32 "Can a virgin forget her ornaments, Or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me Days without number.
Jer_3:21 A voice is heard on the bare heights, The weeping and the supplications of the sons of Israel; Because they have perverted their way, They have forgotten the LORD their God.
Jer_13:25 "This is your lot, the portion measured to you From Me," declares the LORD, "Because you have forgotten Me And trusted in falsehood.
Jer_18:15 'For My people have forgotten Me, They burn incense to worthless gods And they have stumbled from their ways, From the ancient paths, To walk in bypaths, Not on a highway,
Eze_22:12 "In you they have taken bribes to shed blood; you have taken interest and profits, and you have injured your neighbors for gain by oppression, and you have forgotten Me," declares the Lord GOD.
Eze_23:35 "Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, bear now the punishment of your lewdness and your harlotries.'"
Eze_22:12 "In you they have taken bribes to shed blood; you have taken interest and profits, and you have injured your neighbors for gain by oppression, and you have forgotten Me," declares the Lord GOD.
Eze_23:35 "Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, bear now the punishment of your lewdness and your harlotries.'"
Hos_4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.
Jer_1:16 "I will pronounce My judgments on them concerning all their wickedness, whereby they have forsaken Me and have offered sacrifices to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands.
Jer_2:13 "For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters, To hew for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns That can hold no water.
Jer_5:7 "Why should I pardon you? Your sons have forsaken Me And sworn by those who are not gods. When I had fed them to the full, They committed adultery And trooped to the harlot's house.
Jer_5:19 "It shall come about when they say, 'Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?' then you shall say to them, 'As you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.'
Deu_29:25 "Then men will say, 'Because they forsook the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.
Deu_32:15 "But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—You are grown fat, thick, and sleek—Then he forsook God who made him, And scorned the Rock of his salvation.
Jdg_2:12 and they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them; thus they provoked the LORD to anger.
1Ki_9:9 "And they will say, 'Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and adopted other gods and worshiped them and served them, therefore the LORD has brought all this adversity on them.'"
2Ki_17:16 They forsook all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal.
2Ki_21:22 So he forsook the LORD, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the LORD.
2Ch_7:22 "And they will say, 'Because they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers who brought them from the land of Egypt, and they adopted other gods and worshiped them and served them; therefore He has brought all this adversity on them.'"
Now -- consider this. There seems to have been three general ways in which Israel turn her back on her God. Take time to go back to those verses and identify thosethat relate to these three areas:
1. Through their "Evil deeds" = "bad demoralizing, marring, disfiguring, immoral acts."
1) Deut 28:20 -- ". . . on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me.
2) I Sam 8:8 --
3) I Kings 11:33 --
Not only did the Children of Israel become lax in their disciplines concerning morality, but they also actually engaged in evil and sinful activities. It wasn't just that they neglected God's order of living, but they embraced the values and activities of the world. The Apostle Paul described that in some detail by indicating that they not only practiced such things, but they also reveled in doing so, and urged others to join them in the practice.
If you were to look at America today, would you detect any particular evil deeds -- things that are demoralizing, that stain and mar our character, that are immoral, evil, and wrong?
In all probability. No, definitely and absolutely.
Next, note that Israel forgot and forsook God . . .
2. By following after other gods and practicing "Idolatry" -- "serve other gods", "go after other gods" ---- WHICH GODS???
I Kings 11:33 -- "...have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the sons of Ammon;
II Kings 22:17 -- "....have burned incense to other gods..."
It was not just that Israel followed after other gods, but most particularly three specific gods. Israel was surrounded by nations and tribes that were pagan to the core, but these three people groups and these specific gods are of significance.
> Sidonians -- The Sidonians were the inhabitants of ancient Sidon, a seaport on the Mediterranean Sea in modern Lebanon. You will recall that Sidon was an influential, wealthy Phoenician city when the kings of Israel and Judah ruled during the Iron Age. Of particular interest is that Sidon was the hometown of Jezebel. It is one of the cities that Jesus specifically condemned. The supreme goddess of the Sidonians was Ashtoreth, the moon goddess of many people groups in Bible lands. She was worshiped because of her representation of nature and also the moon. She wasrequently associated with the name of Baal, the sun-god, their chief male deity. This led the Israelites to worship nature on the one hand, and rely on "the stars" or celestial bodies for instruction on how to live, and particularly how to carry out their agricultural activities. Thus, they depended on the land and celestial activity rather than on the God Who had led their ancestors out of Egypt and into the land of promise.
> Moabites -- These were descendants of Moab, one of the two sons Lot had through incestuous relationships with his eldest daughter following the destruction of Sodom and Gomorah. They inhabited the southeastern area of the Dead Sea. Through Lot, Abraham's nephew, they were distant relatives to the Children of Israel. Their primary god was Chemosh, a god of war, destruction, and violence. The Israelites who followed after him resorted to violence and war to accomplish their purposes. It is of significance that Moab was born from an incestuous relationship, so at the core of worshiping Chemosh was the spirit of immorality and abuse.
> Ammonites -- Like Moab, Ammon was also a son of incestuous relationship between Lot and his youngest daughter. They were a nomadic people who lived in the territory of modern-day Jordan, and the name of the capital city today is Amman. They were a pagan people who worshiped the gods Milcom and Molech. God commanded the Israelites not to marry these pagans, because intermarriage would lead the Israelites to worship false gods. Some scholars say that Milcom and Molech are the same god. One of the major features of this national god of the Ammonites was the sacrifice of babies on the white-hot arms of the iron statue of the god.
You can make the connections as to why God abhorred the fact that His people had followed after other gods -- all the gods of pagans. Try to imagine what it might be like for a nation born from principles found n God's Word straying off to worship gods that focused on war, materialism, nature worship, killing babies, sexual perversion, and the like.
Oh . . . . I forgot. We already know.
3. Through "Disobedience to God's Ways"
I Kings 11:33 -- "...they have not walked in My ways, doing what is right in My sight and observing My statutes and My ordinances,..."
Not only did Israel practice every imaginable form of evil activity and follow after false gods, but they were blatantly disobedient to to the standards of life that God had spelled out in His Commandments.
Have you ever considered how many ways in which America has violated God's blueprint for life? ---- things like discipline, like educating children, like conducting business, etc? When our founders created the Constitution and established laws, their primary model was the one found in the Bible.
WHAT GOD THINKS AND WILL DO WHEN A NATION FORSAKES HIM:
Go back to those verses and look at the consequences of forsaking God. I won't even take time to list them all. But consider this -- when Israel turned away from God, He placed curses on them, sent catastrophic natural disasters, a loss of order and a spirit of confusion, attacks from her enemies, plagues, famines, and captivity. And, sadly, there are times when God just left them there -- sometimes for decades.
Perhaps most terrifying of all is the fact that there are times when God pours out His wrath upon a people. No one is immune from that.
1. Deu_28:20 "The LORD will send upon you curses, confusion, and rebuke, in all you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly,
2. Judges 10:13 -- "I will no longer deliver you."
3. II Kings 22:`17 -- "...therefore My wrath burns against this place, and it shall not be quenched."'
Go ahead and examine other scriptures.
FINALLY:
So, what does this have to do with America? Does God expect the same from us as He did Israel? Will He act upon our sin in the same way He did with Israel?
I do not have a good answer for the second and third question, but I think the answer to the first is pretty clear. I think it has much to do with us. As a nation founded upon Judeo-Christian principles found in God's Word, we are as guilty of our own evil deeds as Israel. We are as guilty of following after false gods as Israel. We are as guilty of disobeying God's standards and his order of civil life as Israel.
We can slough those offenses against God if we choose. Or, we can acknowledge our sins, repent, and turn back to Him.
Or, we can remain the same and take our chances.
There is great folly in forgetting God -- and in forsaking Him. There is also a great consequence to doing so.
In coming letters I want to address some of the areas in which we desperately need to return to Him.
In the meantime, let me urge you to spend some time considering how we have offended Him, why we have done it, how some of our struggles, attacks, riots, crime sprees, racial unrest, and political corruption all may be God's way of trying to get our attention.
Maybe it's time to turn back to Him.
If we don't, . . . . what then?
In His Bond, By His Grace, and for His Kingdom,
Bob Tolliver -- Romans 1:11
Life Unlimited Ministries
LUMglobal
[email protected]
Copyright September, 2021
"A fire kept burning on the hearthstone of my heart, and I took up the burden of the day with fresh courage and hope." -- Charles F. McKoy
"If Jesus had preached the same message that many ministers preach today, He would never have been crucified." -- Leonard Ravenhill
"The time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the Church will have clowns entertaining the goats." -- Charles H. Spurgeon
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