James F. Gauss
January 13, 2021
Excerpted, in part, from Revelation 18 and the Fate of America
In an address before the Attorney General’s Conference on Law Enforcement Problems on February 15, 1950, Truman stated that, “The fundamental basis of this nation’s law was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teaching we get from Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiah and St. Paul. I don’t think we emphasize that enough these days. If we don’t have the proper fundamental moral background, we will finally end up with a totalitarian government which does not believe in the right for anybody except the state” (author’s emphasis).
When the kingdoms of Israel and Judah fell, it was not so much God’s desired judgment against them as it was the outcome of their own rebellion against God and their refusal to follow His statutes and repent of their sinfulness. God gave the leaders and people of Israel and Judah multiple opportunities to repent and turn back to Him, but they rejected Him.
Josiah, the great grandson of Hezekiah, was the last godly king to reign in Judah. Like King Hezekiah, he loved the Lord his God. Despite the wickedness and disobedience of his father (Amon) and grandfather (Manasseh) before him, Josiah was determined to lead Judah back to God. He restored the Temple and the true worship of God and “made a covenant before the Lord, to follow the Lord and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand for the covenant” (2 Kings 23:3). He ruled from 640-609 B.C.
Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.
President Ronald Reagan, 1981-1989
However, after a succession of evil kings, including his own son, Jehoahaz, 23 years after Josiah’s death, Judah fell. Did Judah fall because of God’s judgment against her or because of falling victim to the consequences of her own sin and falling away from God? The prophet Jeremiah when reminding Israel of their past or possibly their future spoke these words from God: “‘Have you not brought this on yourself, in that you have forsaken the Lord our God when He led you in the way? . . . Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backslidings will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing that you have forsaken the Lord your God, and the fear of Me is not in you,’ says the Lord God of hosts” (Jeremiah 2:17, 19; author’s emphasis).
Not paying attention to God’s messengers and disobeying God’s commandments or call upon a people carries grave consequences as Jeremiah and other prophets of God warned. Jeremiah, known as the “weeping prophet” because he mourned over what he saw coming for the Jews, became a thorn in the side of the leaders and the people. He repeatedly gave them notice of their impending judgment. “But this people has a defiant and rebellious heart; they have revolted and departed”, he prophesied. “They do not say in their heart, ‘Let us now fear the Lord our God, Who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season. He reserves for us the appointed weeks of the harvest.’ Your iniquities have turned these things away, and your sins have withheld good from you” (Jeremiah 5:23-25; author’s emphasis).
The prophet Isaiah, over one hundred years before Jeremiah, prophesied against Judah’s blatant sinfulness; parading their iniquities before all to see. “The look on their countenance witnesses against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought evil upon themselves” (Isaiah 3:9, author’s emphasis). Isaiah told the people that because of their wickedness and displaying their sin openly with pride, that all their leaders would be destroyed (Isaiah 3:2-3) and that the “People will oppress each other—man against man, neighbor against neighbor. Young people will insult their elders, and vulgar people will sneer at the honorable” (vs. 5, NLT).
If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.
President Ronald Reagan
America has become like the sinful kingdoms of Israel and Judah during the age of the prophets. America not only has turned away from God—the God of its forefathers—but it flaunts its iniquities with abandon and refuses to repent and turn from its wicked ways. Like the Jews of the days of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and other prophets of warning, America and Americans have become prideful and arrogant. They not only ignore God, but they defiantly reject Him and His biblical law.
King David, the Psalmist, when he was reflecting on the evil that men do, wrote:
Sin whispers to the wicked, deep within their hearts. They have no fear of God at all. In their blind conceit, they cannot see how wicked they really are. Everything they say is crooked and deceitful. They refuse to act wisely or do good. They lie awake at night, hatching sinful plots. Their actions are never good. They make no attempt to turn from evil. (Psalm 36:1-4; NLT)
The United States of America is not only at that place but has been there for some time with its evil and prideful leaders leading the charge, including within the church of those who profess to know God and His statutes.
Over 230 years ago, George Washington, after leading the fledgling country in a brutal war of independence, understood that America would remain great only if it lived and governed under the auspices and guidelines of Almighty God. In his first inaugural address on April 30, 1789, Washington penned that, “The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained” (author’s emphasis).
No people can be truly happy, though under the greatest enjoyments of civil liberties, if abridged of the Freedom of their Conscience as to their Religious Profession and Worship.
William Penn, Pennsylvania Charter of Liberties, 1701.
Final thoughts. I often reflect on Biblical and Christian history. Did God allow the innocent among the Jews and Christians to suffer at the hands of the evil doers? One must conclude: Yes. Are Christians today, all over the world suffering from evil? Yes. The argument in the U.S. has always been that Christians in the U.S. and the country of America are God’s favorites and He would not allow us to suffer persecution. Well, just look at the history of Israel, God’s “Chosen people” and we can readily see that they paid a heavy price many times for their disobedience and turning away from God. Oh, but we are Christians and redeemed by the blood of Christ and will be “raptured” before it all comes down. Maybe, but I don’t think so. The Church in America and most Christians left God a long time ago and are only token representations of His Word and calling. If God allows persecution to pass over Christians in America, He would have a lot of explaining to do to the millions of faithful Christians now and in world history who have succumbed to the evil and barbaric oppressors of them and their families. Sorry, but in this case, America and American Christians are not exceptional. We are just saved by grace and the precious blood of Jesus like all our brothers and sisters in the Lord worldwide.
Pray for America, the Church and God’s mercy. We need a great Awakening in America; a fervent and heart-felt repentance in the Body of Christ and a true returning to God before we see revival. And it starts with us (you and me). We are not waiting on God to act on our behalf, He is waiting for us to act and return to Him.
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