By: Steve Wilmot
Edgerton, Ohio
America commemorated its 250th birthday earlier this month. Celebrations ranged from pride and patriotism to indifference to downright hate and loathing.
The latter groups focused on the alleged sins of America past and present and called for the destruction of everything that’s made this country great.
There was another nation specially blessed and favored by God from the start. Like America, God and his Word formed the foundation for its laws, morality, and equal respect for all.
That nation was ancient Israel.
The Old Testament book of Jeremiah pinpoints many parallels between Israel then and America now.
-Both rejected God — “They have turned their backs to me” (2.27).
-Neither acknowledged their sins — “You have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to blush with shame” (3.3).
-Both turned to other gods — “Your children have forsaken me and sworn by gods that are not gods” (5.7).
-Both had spiritual leaders who preached lies for personal gain, deceiving people into accepting immorality — “A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy lies, my priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way” (5.30-31).
-Both discarded God’s Word as the standard for life, behavior, ethics, and morality — “They have forsaken my law… they have not obeyed me or followed my law. Instead they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts” (9.13-14).
-They claim to be a Christian nation — “You [the Lord God] are always on their lips but far from their hearts” (12.2).
For these faults and failures, God sentenced Israel to captivity. They existed in survival mode, scraping together whatever they could find.
Ripped from their homes and country, they lived as exiles for 70 years under cruel dictators who made their lives miserable. Those who survived execution and starvation, that is.
God didn’t take Israel’s plight casually. He didn’t whisk them off to foreign lands after their first offense. He gave them decades, even centuries, to repent and return to him, but they didn’t. They gave God no other option than judgment for their sins and rebellion.
If God was this way with his chosen people, what makes us think he will be any different with America?
Like Israel, we started well. America began as a Christian nation. Our Founders penned many biblical statements into the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. They proclaimed we were “one nation under God.”
But over time, America drifted from God and grew increasingly rebellious against him and his written word. They stubbornly refused to turn the ship around and return to him.
Look at America 250 years after its founding. It hardly reflects the biblical convictions of those who established this nation. Scan the list above again. That’s how far we’ve fallen from our beginnings.
Now homosexuality, abortion, and all sorts of immorality are widely accepted. Sex change surgery for elementary-age children, boys “identifying” as girls and competing in their sports are considered normal. Socialism is on the rise.
How much more will God take before he’s had enough and sentences America to collapse like he did ancient Israel?
Jeremiah reveals God’s offer. “Now reform your ways and your actions and obey the Lord your God. Then the Lord will relent and not bring the disaster he has pronounced against you” (Jeremiah 26.13).
Most Israelis ignored God’s proposal. As a result, the king of Babylon came and removed the freedoms, prosperity, safety, and blessings they had enjoyed as a nation for centuries.
God extends the same offer to America — to you and me, the people of this great nation. Reform our ways and actions; obey the Lord.
If we do, God will spare America from certain destruction. If we do not, America is destined for disaster.
It’s up to us.
———————–
Steve Wilmot is a former Edgerton, Ohio area pastor who now seeks “to still bear fruit in old age” through writing. He is the author of seven books designed to assist believers to make steady progress on their spiritual journey.