Brother Paul
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Member # 7959
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It has been said in times past, that a nation’s politics are often a reflection of the heart of a nation. It is a macrocosm made up of the many microcosms referred to collectively as ‘the people’. When the individuals become tolerant and even apathetic toward the corruption both in themselves, and in those around them, eventually corrupt people in places of power become more brave, and no longer hide their corruption, but display it outwardly, and with an almost arrogant confidence that they are sure they will get by with it. Of course, it works the other way as well, corrupt people in positions of power pass down, and often breed corruption from above, which in turn becomes infused into or onto the masses by example, persuasion, and in some cases, even by force. Of course, we must also not deny that sometimes simply immoral or even evil leadership is imposed treacherously by deceitfulness, or by outward invasion, without even the slightest knowledge or consent on the part of most of the people, until it is tragically too late! Sadly human history has demonstrated that sometimes it is indeed with their knowledge and consent.
In any case, good fruit does not grow from weed and thistles. Thus, eventually, as our national and general moral fiber erodes from sin, and civil rebellion towards the social order grows, we develop reprobate minds. We sometimes even glory in our shame, and our appetites become the only god with which we have to do. We end up worshipping the creature more than the Creator. Then, without a sufficient number of people keeping up the input of energy, effort, and information, necessary to maintain the order, chaos inevitably ensues. Finally, when there are forces at work striving overtly or covertly to dismantle and negate that which maintains order, it is even worse. Such is the growing state of affairs in our own nation, the United States of America, as we speak! We have extremists on the right and the left trying to impose their agendas in irreverent disregard for God or the people, with a huddle of more moderate individuals unable to really get passed what they are in office to represent.
In the story of God’s interaction with mankind, since the beginning, God has almost continuously blessed. We however, often get blinded by the long periods of apparent peace and prosperity, and soon forget that it is God who gave the increase, and protected us from invasion and tyranny at the hand of the adversary all those years. When we forget about, or consciously rebel, against our gracious Creator, or propose to be left to our own devises, God usually does not give up right away, but actually strives with mankind for a long time, continuing to bless and protect, providing warnings of our coming demise, hoping that we will repent from our pernicious ways. Hoping we will put seeking the Kingdom (His sovereign Lordship), and His righteousness (as opposed to our own), as first and foremost, He will continue to add all these things to us…living space, clothes, and food, and other blessings as well. But please notice the If/then qualification in this promise! It is not an unconditional promise based purely from His heart, but because God knows what is best, it is being explained to also show us that as we rebel and walk the other way after the lust and wisdom of men that these temporal comforts we place such importance on will slowly diminish. Why? Because it is the order of natural things to tend toward disorder. Now eventually, if we insist upon going our own way apart from the Lord's help, eventually the LORD God will lift His graceful hand of protection, and soon, with no restraint on His part, the tyrannical and greedy come forth freely to eat-up the rest of us in their insatiability, much like ravenous wolves. But when this time comes, do we humans realize the folly of our own way, and then turn and seek His remedy, thankful for what He had always done for us, in contrition over our error? Do we return to love and appreciate His mercy and His grace? No! I am afraid that the history of nations clearly demonstrates otherwise. For when we are left to our own devises, there by our own choice, we begin to fight the pain and anguish, and instead of seeking the Lord’s help we become angry with God, blaming Him for the natural consequence of our stubborn rebellious choices! For after all, loving God, is declared by Y’shua, to be obeying His commandments, and this eventually is viewed as an outmoded or unjust imposition on our lifestyles! But Christ came to offer the gift of the remission of sins while we are yet sinners…and it’s free in exchange for our faith.
The Scripture shows us that after an elongated period of longsuffering to-usward, that God always announces through His servants among the people, that He is done striving, and that it is time to straighten up, or else! He gave us free will, and will rarely violate that, save to protect or deliver the faithful. Eventually, if we persist in our self-lordship, and idolatry, He will have to let us go our own way, and lift His protection, either for a time, to teach us the lesson we have been begging to learn, and believe me, that should make us repent and seek Him, or else He will annihilate any one or all of us from our earthly existence for the sake of His Name, or for the benefit of others, just like a host body will turn up an immune system to eliminate an unnecessary, or life threatening cancer.
Today, we are living in a time of such warning here in America, as well as in the world in general. God is growing weary of striving with a rebellious humanity. The U.S.A., as a nation, even though greatly blessed, has even amidst professed belief, all but rejected the Lordship of God, and denies the prescient historicity of His word, and soon, if we do not get back on track, in our general population, as well as in our leadership, a swift and a mighty retribution for our national sin will come upon us (See Hosea 4 for the reasons why God rejected Israel). Perhaps an invasion from without, perhaps a curse on the land itself wherein nothing will grow, and our farms will turn into dust in a matter of weeks or months, perhaps plagues of pestilence, or even hideous new unheard of diseases, or else an unending series of floods, earthquakes, angry destructive storms or what have you. But nonetheless be warned my people, hear the trumpet blast of warning as it blows here in America, it is here just as it was in the days of Noah before the flood, just as it was in Sodom and Gomorah just prior to their fiery judgment. Conditions are similar here to just as it was before God lifted His protecting hand over the ancient Israelites because of their continuous unrepentant rebellion, and a lack of appreciation and consideration for the things of God and each other. Because of their rebellious self-lordship and idolatry, the Lord said enough and lifted His protective hand for just a season, and the fierce Assyrian and Babylonian hordes rushed in and took them captive. What kind of time am I referring to? It was a time of great political corruption and unrest. Revelry, gross idolatry, drunkenness, promiscuity, robbery, mass murder, torture, beatings, child abuse, nakedness, starvation, rape, and so on, had become commonplace. Consequently, the once great and blessed nation of Israel was utterly destroyed, and most of it's surviving inhabitants were carried away to the ends of the earth. Many of the ten Northern Tribes were sown in among the Gentile nations wherein they ended up never to return!
The Nation and it’s peoples thought they were good, in many respects just as here in America. However they had been led down the primrose path of delusion by their corrupted leadership, special interests, factions, and surely there were even secular and religious social prophets. Many here in America see this as a cause of America’s current degenerating condition, and are struggling vainly for socialist and humanistic answers to these issues. There is sore delusion here as there was there, for deep in the recesses of the individual’s heart is the regretful agreement with the House of Israel of old, that they just don’t want any person, or any God, tellin’m what ta’doo! They are tired of there always being a right way, and a wrong way! It can be heard on the lips of millions of mouths…“I want freedom to do as I please, where I please, with whomever I please, whenever I please”, and so on! Is that about it? The secular leadership insisting we follow their style of alleged political correctness declaring, “How dare anybody impose their standards on me! Who does this god or his people think they are? Where is this god anyway, things have continued just as ever, I see no promise of His coming, so why should I believe that He is? Why haven’t I heard His voice?“ The problem with this licentious approach to freedom is that everyone goes their own way, because according to them all ways are supposed to be equal and okay! Yet, if that’s true, then open the prisons and psychiatric hospitals, for who are you to judge them? Aren’t they just living by their own self-imposed standards? Who are you to cramp their style?
Now if this were just another Nation, I would not say this, but because we have adopted “in God we trust“ as our national motto, and declared ourselves to be “one nation under God“, formed (according to the Mayflower Compact), for the propagation of the Faith, and to establish a land where anyone could practice their religion free of persecution, with bold professions of the providential hand of God in our nation’s opening declarations, replete with references to the Creator, etc….yes, because of this, He shall deal with us. But He has not rejected us yet! We fortunately are apparently still in the time of longsuffering. That means it is still not too late. There is still time! But we have rejected Him, even knowledge of Him and His word, and turned our backs on the well of our prosperity, our shield and buckler, and now, lest we turn with words and rend our hearts, there will be a price to be paid. I fear a day of trouble is in store for this nation, and it is beckoning you from the doorstep! Well let us take a short walk down the corridors of prophecies of time past, for I see a startling amount of similarity between the conditions and warnings preceding God’s wrathful judgment in pre-exilic Israel, and those of modern America. Let’s summarize what the prophets Isaiah, Amos, Hosea, and Micah were saying of the sociological sentiment, values, and conditions in Israel, just before the wrath and judgment fell in their times, and then think about it in terms of modern America!
Posts: 235 | From: Cambridge, MA | Registered: Dec 2009
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