(Excerpt from the soon to be released book Where is America in Bible Prophecy?)
By Dennis Edwards:
After King Josiah’s death, four more kings rule for a short period of time in Jerusalem. The last king of what we would call ancient Israel is Zedekiah, the King of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, set up. But,
He (Zedekiah) did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the Lord. And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the Lord God of Israel. Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen: and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place; but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, until there was no remedy.[1]
Therefore, God brought upon them the King of Babylon,
who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man nor maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.[2]
And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof. And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia.[3]
The destruction of Jerusalem occurred in 586 BC making the history of the Southern Kingdom, the Kingdom of Judah, from the time of Saul to be around 450 years. It is interesting to note that although the Babylonians had a pantheistic religion and used divination and astrology, they did not practice child sacrifice. The divided Kingdoms of Israel and Judah had adopted this practice from the Canaanites whom God had commanded them to destroy. They failed in their mission and in the end took on the ungodly practices of the Canaanites which led to their own destruction.[4]
The reason I went through this brief history of Israel of old is to show the comparison or similarity between ancient Israel and the modern nation, the United States of America. Because of a few righteous men (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob), God enters into relationship with Israel. Even so, her descendents are brought under bondage in an oppressive empire (Egypt), the world power of that day. They cry out to God for a deliverer and God sends them one (Moses). Through toil and suffering, he brings them forth into a new nation.
They must overcome the native people living in that land (Canaanites). But because of their obedience and righteousness, more than the nations around them, God blesses them and they become a rich and powerful nation (Israel under David and Solomon). But in their prosperity they forget God and in disobedience turn to their own understanding. God sends them warning after warning that they have gone astray, but generally they refuse to listen. Until one day sudden destruction comes upon them and their nation is destroyed. They, too, are carried away captive by their enemies.
Similar to the ancient Israelites, many of the founding fathers of the USA were religious peoples, like the Pilgrims, seeking religious freedom from the oppressive nations in Europe. Our founding fathers, too, must have cried out to God for deliverance as many were being persecuted, marginalized and even killed for their faith in their European homelands. But God makes a way of escape. Through much toil and suffering and danger, they cross the Atlantic Ocean, like the desert of Sinai, and God brings them forth into a new land.
They overcome the initial difficulties and God delivers them from the most powerful world power of their day (England). They prosper, becoming a new nation. As long as they obey God’s voice and keep his commandments, they are blessed. But in their prosperity, they forget their maker and begin to serve and cleave unto other God’s. They begin to do more outlandishly than even the nations that God destroyed before them.
In Ezekiel we read how the Lord would use Nebuchadnezzar to destroy Jerusalem. The Lord says,
Thus saith the Lord God; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her. And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye multiplied more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you; Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations. And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations. Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds. Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord God; Surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity.[5]
James Perloff, whom I mentioned in an earlier article, makes the same comparison between Israel of old and America in his book, The Shadows of Power:
Ancient Israel was founded as a land of God. It thrived and knew great power. But eventually it became engrossed with its material abundance, forgot the laws of God, grew weak, and was conquered, its people scattered abroad. Similarly, America was founded as a land of God, a Christian land. It became the freest and strongest nation on earth. But, like Biblical Israel, it too is losing sight of its religious roots, floundering in materialism. Will the United States also be conquered?[6]
Will America suffer the same short history as many nations before her? Daniel Webster, who lived from 1782 until 1852, the American orator and Secretary of State for three US Presidents warned,
If there is anything in my thoughts or style to commend, the credit is one to my parents for instilling in me an early love of the Scriptures. If we abide by the principles taught in the Bible, our country will go on prospering and to prosper, but if we and our posterity neglect its instruction and authority, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity.[7]
He also warned,
If religious books are not widely circulated among the masses in this country, I do not know what is going to become of us as a nation. If truth be not diffused, then error will be. If God and His Word are not known and received, the devil and his works will gain the ascendency. If the evangelical volume does not reach every hamlet, the pages of a corrupt and licentious literature will. If the power of the gospel is not felt throughout the length and breadth of this land, anarchy and misrule, degradation and misery, corruption and darkness will reign without mitigation or end.[8]
Like the Bible verses I have quoted earlier,
The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.[9] But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the Lord.[10]
Before ending this article, I want to digress to the words of Jeremiah the prophet, who lived during the last days before the destruction of Jerusalem. Jeremiah was called to his mission as “prophet of doom” in his youth. Because he exposes the sins of the nation, its priests and people, he is hated. If we listen to Jeremiah carefully, many of the Lord's pronouncements against the Kingdoms of Judah and Israel ring as warnings to America, a nation that knew God.
First of all, God calls Jeremiah, "a prophet unto the nations."[11]He is not just a prophet to Israel of old, but to all nations, especially those nations who had the knowledge of God, and forgot Him. He is a prophet to us today in the United States of America. We will look at just a few of his warnings and see how his judgments against ancient Israel can be applied to America. Here’s the first one.
And I brought you unto a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.[12]
In my Bible, the word "defiled" is footnoted as meaning "ruined." In a little less than four hundred years since the first Pilgrims arrived in New England in 1620, we have managed to ruin "a plentiful country" and its goodness. We have also ruined many countries around the world where our international corporations have helped to pollute and or destroy the natural habitat of those countries. I am not going to go into a lengthy documentation of this fact, but I am sure you are not unaware of the growing "Green" movement worldwide. We could mention nuclear arms and nuclear energy plants as part of the defiling of the land. We could mention Monsanto’s pesticides and herbicides used in farming which have entered into the water system. The topic of pollution could be a long draw out article, but that is not my object here, but just to draw similarities between ancient Israel and America today. The truth is that God's pronouncements against Israel apply to us today here in America.
Let's continue from Jeremiah:
The priest said not, Where is the Lord? and they that handled the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.[13]
Where are the men of God admonishing us to get back to God? Where are the men of God telling us we are going down to wrong path? We do not want to hear it, but as Paul said, and I have mentioned in an earlier chapter:
For the time will come when they shall not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.[14]
Remember the definition from Wikipedia: “Itching ears is a term used in the Bible to describe individuals who seeks out messages and doctrines that condones their own lifestyle, as opposed to adhering to the teachings of the apostles.”[15]
You see Paul taught the whole counsel of God, not just the part that was easy to digest. But he warned that after his departing grievous or savage wolves would enter in as false pastors not sparing or having mercy on the flock, and would speak perverse things, contrary to sound doctrine, drawing away disciples after them.[16]
But today, we want to hear a politically correct gospel that does not offend anyone. We do not want the whole counsel of God. It’s too difficult to defend and may give us persecution or cause us condemnation by others. Like Angelina Jolie, we want to talk about the power of forgiveness without talking about He who has the power to forgive us our sins, without talking about He who gives us power to forgive and to overcome. We want the gift, without the giver. We want to talk about love, without talking about the source of that love, Jesus Christ.
When I as a youth in the early 1970’s had my epiphany experience and a supernatural love flooded into my being, I knew that love was the answer. But my first question was, where does this love come from? Was this what Jesus was all about? I began my search for the source of that all empowering love, a love that changed me from a introspective, depressive, pessimistic youth into a happy, outgoing, optimistic youth. Because at that time I had rejected Catholicism and Protestantism, I searched into other “isms.” But I did not find the answer in Eric Fromm’s love psychology, nor in the “Be Here Now” of transcendental meditation, nor in Siddhartha’s “Eight-fold Path,” nor in yoga, organic foods, or Judaism. I found some truths in each one, but not the truth.
It was not until November 7th, 1971 when the two hitch-hikers I picked up coming out of Columbus, Ohio led me in the sinner’s prayer and I accepted Jesus as my savior and asked him into my heart that I finally found the source of love, Jesus Christ. That same day I prayed that the Holy Spirit would lead and guide into all truth. It was at that point where I began to read and study the Bible, especially the words of Jesus in the Gospels. I fell in love with Jesus and hungrily devoured and absorbed his word. I was as a new born babe desiring the sincere milk of the word as Peter so aptly phrased.[17] It was that prayer and constant study of God’s word and applying it to my life which has led me to the conclusions I am presenting to you today.
If you are interested in the subject of God’s warnings to ancient Israel, read and study the book of Jeremiah in the Bible and apply its condemnation to America, a nation that knew God and was blessed because of it.
America, as well as every other nation that forgets God, is and shall continue to suffer the consequences of rejecting the truths found in God’s word. We as a nation and as a world are headed for destruction because of the hardening of our hearts to the Biblical truths.
And you? Will you turn back to God with all your heart, mind and soul? Or will you continue wandering in no-man’s land on the eve of destruction. Jesus is only a prayer away. Call upon him. He will not disappoint you, but will lead you in the way, the truth and the life. He’s promised to, if you seek him with all your heart. He says, “Call upon me and I will answer you.”[18] “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” [19]
Footnotes:
[1] 2Chronicles 36:12-16
[2] 2Chronicles 36:18
[3] 2Chronicles 36:19-20
[4] http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10937-moloch-molech
[5]Ezekiel 5:5-11(Read verses 1-5 also.)
[6]James Perloff, The Shadows of Power, Western Islands Publishers, Appleton, Wisconsin, 1988, p. 221
[7]http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/31180.Daniel_Webster
[8] Ibid
[9] Psalm 9:17
[10] Jeremiah 12:17
[11]Jeremiah 1:5
[12] Jeremiah 2:7
[13] Jeremiah 2:8
[14] 2Timothy 2:3,4
[15] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itching_ears
[16] Acts 20:27-30
[17] 1Peter 2:2
[18] Jeremiah 33:3
[19] Jeremiah 29:13
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