Is God Talking to America?
By Rev. Robert P. Elkins
All Scripture verses are from the NIV Bible unless otherwise noted
Jeremiah 2:1-8
“1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: " 'I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert, through a land not sown. 3 Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest; all who devoured her were held guilty, and disaster overtook them,' " declares the LORD. 4 Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, all you clans of the house of Israel. 5 This is what the LORD says: "What fault did your fathers find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves. 6 They did not ask, 'Where is the LORD, who brought us up out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness, through a land of deserts and rifts, a land of drought and darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives?' 7 I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable. 8 The priests did not ask, 'Where is the LORD?' Those who deal with the law did not know me; the leaders rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal, following worthless idols.”
Chances are you have most likely seen where someone has tried to say to you “Look at this Scripture” and pointed out the set of verses I’m using and then followed up with “I’m sure this is talking about America”. And then chances are that they have tried to show you through Scriptures the line of progression for the masses that started in Israel and are running right to The United States of America. And for the most part I’m inclined to agree with them. By using various verses from the second chapter of the book of Jeremiah what I want to do is present to you in a new scenario how the prophecies of Jeremiah, with a little fine-tuning and the departure from standard syntax on my behalf, can be applied to America today. Is not the word of God a living word, applicable to all peoples of all times?
The Bible tells us that all mankind originated from two people, Adam and Eve, they in turn are then over all generations, responsible for all of the various nations of people we have today. And if we look at the various bands of people who have migrated from every corner of the earth, in particularly from the Middle Eastern regions, all of them coming to rest in this nation we call “The United States of America” it is not all that unthinkable to consider that there is a huge contingent of people here with roots that carry all the way back to the original tribes of the Old Testament nation of Israel. However this mass migration of humanity, although important beyond measure, is not relevant to this particular teaching which we are embarking on at this time so we won’t spend a lot of time pursuing this line of thought. What I am going to do is lay out some interesting facts and figures for you, I’ll then ask you the reader to look at what I have presented and at the same time requesting that the Holy Spirit will allow you to draw your own conclusions or analogies using your own logic and common sense. While we are looking at the diverse assortment of topics I’ll be presenting you I ask that you grant me license to remove the name Israel from the equation and apply God’s holy word as found in the Scriptures from the pen of Jeremiah directly to America and the peoples that reside here in this land. Then you be the judge as to whether you feel that the prophecies of Jeremiah when first written many eons ago, given by Divine inspiration of the Spirit, didn’t perchance have America in mind as well as Israel since America is now filled with descendents spawned from that nation of antiquity.
Jeremiah 2:2, “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: " 'I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert, through a land not sown.” Men and women who were seeking a place where they could practice their religious beliefs in complete freedom and free from the fear of persecution founded America. Needless to say I am not referring to Christopher Columbus or the boys in his entourage that were backed by Spanish monies. Chris and the crew were of a different motivation, one that was based on greed and a desire for gold and personal profit, religious freedom wasn’t found in any part of their mind set, religious freedom wasn’t even a factor to be considered. But the first actual settlers, those who came to the North Eastern coast of this continent came to seek out a place where they could worship their God as they so desired without the organized church of their motherland lording over them and orchestrating their every word and action. America, in it’s youth did indeed when it was a young bride, love its Lord and God and did follow the God that they loved through a desert of oppression as found in the motherland and landed here in a place not sown or cultivated. For all intent and purpose, the continent of North America was a virgin land to these early settlers. Although the American Indian was already here, they had hardly scratched the surface of the resources to be found in this land in which they lived. For the vast majority of American Indians living here they were content to live with the blessing of abundance that God had placed on the surface of the ground, ample food and water, easy accessibility to shelter without the need to build housing that required a foundation. With many of the Indians being nomadic in nature, following the migratory habits of animals and birds and moving in accordance to the weather patterns in the areas in which they lived. The American Indian wasn’t very much concerned with what lay beneath the surface of the land, oil, copper ore, coal, gold, silver and aluminum etc. they were content with the rich forests, roaming food animals and fresh water. The American Indian had to work for their subsidence and their life wasn’t a life of ease and leisure but they were content to use the land without reshaping it to meet their needs, they preferred to leave it as God had made it. There is much to be said for having that kind of wisdom and I am sure that if they knew what was about to happen to them due to the influx of new neighbors they would have revised their immigration laws drastically to stop the onslaught of new arrivals.
But the early white settlers did arrive, God did have a plan in motion and things took shape as God directed. When the early settles arrived they had a major task laid before them, God didn’t just open the land and allow them to move in without backbreaking labor and unbelievable hardships to overcome. The early settlers didn’t come and find a Wal-Mart at the head waters of every stream, they came and worked tremendous hours in all kinds of weather and many of them faced death and died as a reward for their efforts before this land as a new nation was established. If you ever have the opportunity to read some of the accounts that have been preserved in regards to the hardships the new settlers faces by all means read them. These people faced hunger to a level that I’d dare to say most anyone reading this has never dreamed of. The settlers were driven by hunger to even boil their belts and shoes knowing that they were the products made from animal hides and that there had to be some kind of nourishment in them is consumed. And if the Holy Spirit had not stirred the hearts of the American Indian to step in and assist through donation and instruction I’d venture to say that the white man may not have made it through those first few years. And again I’m sure the Indians have questioned the wisdom of that act of kindness because it surely has came back to haunt them as the population of white men and women grew. They, the Indians, may not have known or realized what they were doing but the Almighty was in the background directing and motivating and they, the American Indians unbeknownst to them were following the leading of the Holy Spirit. The Almighty God was working out his plan for salvation for millions of future people by stirring the hearts of that little group that immigrated to America. God knew that he had a Gospel message that needed to be disseminated throughout the world and he was going to use the descendents of the American people, who are descendents of the Nation of Israel to do it. The nation of Old Testament Israel had been called upon by God to herald the message of salvation to the world and they rejected not only the message but the Messenger as well, but that wasn’t about to stop the plans of God, he already had a backup plan in the making.
Jeremiah 2:3.“Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest; all who devoured her were held guilty, and disaster overtook them,' " declares the LORD.” Not only was Israel looked upon as holy and set apart unto the Lord as his own to be blessed, but America as well due to the lineage of our people. God looked at Israel as the firstfruits of his harvest and that blessing can be applied to America too. You see friend, the first fruit of the harvest is the finest, the best, the top of the crop, the sweetest and the most abundant. Think about that for a moment, didn’t God bless America in just this way when America first became a sovereign nation? The people of America were shown God’s blessings on everything they lid their hands on. At one time America produced more than half of the worlds oil output, we dominated the world in production of coal, electricity, steel, iron, aluminum, copper and zinc. We out produced everyone in the manufacturing of automobiles, heavy equipment, clothing, lumber and electrical appliances. We were the leaders in banking, entertainment, education centers, research and medical advancement.
“All who devoured her were held guilty, and disaster overtook them,' " declares the LORD.” Without question no one would match or compete with our military machines, our Armies or Navy. Look at the military history of America prior to the 1960’s and you will see that any nation that dared to come against the U.S. of A. was defeated, Mexico, Germany, Japan and even our motherland Great Britain fell to the might of America. They were all “Held guilty and disaster overtook them”. Prior to the 1960’s and the era of open defiance of God, his rules for morality and what amounts to an attempt to have total rejection of God altogether, in regards to military might America was unbeatable, unstoppable and undeniably the most blessed and powerful nation in the history of the world. When the Americans defeated Great Britain for its independence Britain was the world’s powerhouse of military might, mostly because of their sea power. Britain controlled the worlds shipping lanes and held much of the land mass in their hands. Just a partial list of British controlled land mass was Japan, India, Africa and Australia. And yet this little upstart of a nation known as the U.S. of A. was able to defeat them and gain our independence. How was the fledgling nation of America able to accomplish this monumental achievement? We didn’t do it on our own that’s for sure. We did it with the intervention of God. Look at the accounts, read the events that transpired giving America the upper hand leading to victory of the then super power of the world. Many of America’s victories came about because we had leaders who were not afraid to be prayer warriors first and military warriors second. Our leaders prayed, the people prayed and God intervened in his control of the weather. Two examples are the battles of New York and New Orleans. Were it not for God’s intervention by manipulating the weather both battles could have been a loss and drastically changed the texture of the world, without God there would have been a totally different outcome. Make no mistake about it, the shield of God’s protection was over America, we were his anointed people, our nation was blessed, our borders were blessed, our people were blessed and why was this? Because we as a nation, because we as a people, were a God fearing nation. Do you doubt this statement? Did you know that every single state, without exception, including Alaska and Hawaii acknowledged God as Sovereign in the preamble of their State Constitution! Every single state, when they entered the union of The United States of America acknowledged in their official statement that the God who is the provider and protection of Israel is the same God that is the provider and protection of America too. And friend, that didn’t just happen, it wasn’t something that just kind of slipped in there un-noticed when no one was looking. Each of these documents contains a statement of faith if you will, when they acknowledged the very existence of God. For your convenience I’ll include a few of these opening statements and let you be the judge, was this a Christian nation or not?
· Arizona 1911, Preamble ... We, the people of the State of Arizona, grateful to Almighty God for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution...
· Georgia 1777, Preamble ... We, the people of Georgia, relying upon protection and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish this Constitution...
· Maine 1820, Preamble ... We the People of Maine acknowledging with grateful hearts the goodness of the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe in affording us an opportunity ... And imploring His aid and direction.
· North Carolina 1868, Preamble ... We the people of the State of North Carolina, grateful to Almighty God, the Sovereign Ruler of Nations, for our civil, political, and religious liberties, and acknowledging our dependence upon Him for the continuance of those
Each document, each Preamble to the state constitution was drafted by men and women who desired to 1) express a desire to acknowledge God and 2.) make a formal request of God’s his blessings on their state and offer thanks for that blessing.
By Rev. Robert P. Elkins
All Scripture verses are from the NIV Bible unless otherwise noted
Jeremiah 2:1-8
“1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: " 'I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert, through a land not sown. 3 Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest; all who devoured her were held guilty, and disaster overtook them,' " declares the LORD. 4 Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, all you clans of the house of Israel. 5 This is what the LORD says: "What fault did your fathers find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves. 6 They did not ask, 'Where is the LORD, who brought us up out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness, through a land of deserts and rifts, a land of drought and darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives?' 7 I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable. 8 The priests did not ask, 'Where is the LORD?' Those who deal with the law did not know me; the leaders rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal, following worthless idols.”
Chances are you have most likely seen where someone has tried to say to you “Look at this Scripture” and pointed out the set of verses I’m using and then followed up with “I’m sure this is talking about America”. And then chances are that they have tried to show you through Scriptures the line of progression for the masses that started in Israel and are running right to The United States of America. And for the most part I’m inclined to agree with them. By using various verses from the second chapter of the book of Jeremiah what I want to do is present to you in a new scenario how the prophecies of Jeremiah, with a little fine-tuning and the departure from standard syntax on my behalf, can be applied to America today. Is not the word of God a living word, applicable to all peoples of all times?
The Bible tells us that all mankind originated from two people, Adam and Eve, they in turn are then over all generations, responsible for all of the various nations of people we have today. And if we look at the various bands of people who have migrated from every corner of the earth, in particularly from the Middle Eastern regions, all of them coming to rest in this nation we call “The United States of America” it is not all that unthinkable to consider that there is a huge contingent of people here with roots that carry all the way back to the original tribes of the Old Testament nation of Israel. However this mass migration of humanity, although important beyond measure, is not relevant to this particular teaching which we are embarking on at this time so we won’t spend a lot of time pursuing this line of thought. What I am going to do is lay out some interesting facts and figures for you, I’ll then ask you the reader to look at what I have presented and at the same time requesting that the Holy Spirit will allow you to draw your own conclusions or analogies using your own logic and common sense. While we are looking at the diverse assortment of topics I’ll be presenting you I ask that you grant me license to remove the name Israel from the equation and apply God’s holy word as found in the Scriptures from the pen of Jeremiah directly to America and the peoples that reside here in this land. Then you be the judge as to whether you feel that the prophecies of Jeremiah when first written many eons ago, given by Divine inspiration of the Spirit, didn’t perchance have America in mind as well as Israel since America is now filled with descendents spawned from that nation of antiquity.
Jeremiah 2:2, “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: " 'I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert, through a land not sown.” Men and women who were seeking a place where they could practice their religious beliefs in complete freedom and free from the fear of persecution founded America. Needless to say I am not referring to Christopher Columbus or the boys in his entourage that were backed by Spanish monies. Chris and the crew were of a different motivation, one that was based on greed and a desire for gold and personal profit, religious freedom wasn’t found in any part of their mind set, religious freedom wasn’t even a factor to be considered. But the first actual settlers, those who came to the North Eastern coast of this continent came to seek out a place where they could worship their God as they so desired without the organized church of their motherland lording over them and orchestrating their every word and action. America, in it’s youth did indeed when it was a young bride, love its Lord and God and did follow the God that they loved through a desert of oppression as found in the motherland and landed here in a place not sown or cultivated. For all intent and purpose, the continent of North America was a virgin land to these early settlers. Although the American Indian was already here, they had hardly scratched the surface of the resources to be found in this land in which they lived. For the vast majority of American Indians living here they were content to live with the blessing of abundance that God had placed on the surface of the ground, ample food and water, easy accessibility to shelter without the need to build housing that required a foundation. With many of the Indians being nomadic in nature, following the migratory habits of animals and birds and moving in accordance to the weather patterns in the areas in which they lived. The American Indian wasn’t very much concerned with what lay beneath the surface of the land, oil, copper ore, coal, gold, silver and aluminum etc. they were content with the rich forests, roaming food animals and fresh water. The American Indian had to work for their subsidence and their life wasn’t a life of ease and leisure but they were content to use the land without reshaping it to meet their needs, they preferred to leave it as God had made it. There is much to be said for having that kind of wisdom and I am sure that if they knew what was about to happen to them due to the influx of new neighbors they would have revised their immigration laws drastically to stop the onslaught of new arrivals.
But the early white settlers did arrive, God did have a plan in motion and things took shape as God directed. When the early settles arrived they had a major task laid before them, God didn’t just open the land and allow them to move in without backbreaking labor and unbelievable hardships to overcome. The early settlers didn’t come and find a Wal-Mart at the head waters of every stream, they came and worked tremendous hours in all kinds of weather and many of them faced death and died as a reward for their efforts before this land as a new nation was established. If you ever have the opportunity to read some of the accounts that have been preserved in regards to the hardships the new settlers faces by all means read them. These people faced hunger to a level that I’d dare to say most anyone reading this has never dreamed of. The settlers were driven by hunger to even boil their belts and shoes knowing that they were the products made from animal hides and that there had to be some kind of nourishment in them is consumed. And if the Holy Spirit had not stirred the hearts of the American Indian to step in and assist through donation and instruction I’d venture to say that the white man may not have made it through those first few years. And again I’m sure the Indians have questioned the wisdom of that act of kindness because it surely has came back to haunt them as the population of white men and women grew. They, the Indians, may not have known or realized what they were doing but the Almighty was in the background directing and motivating and they, the American Indians unbeknownst to them were following the leading of the Holy Spirit. The Almighty God was working out his plan for salvation for millions of future people by stirring the hearts of that little group that immigrated to America. God knew that he had a Gospel message that needed to be disseminated throughout the world and he was going to use the descendents of the American people, who are descendents of the Nation of Israel to do it. The nation of Old Testament Israel had been called upon by God to herald the message of salvation to the world and they rejected not only the message but the Messenger as well, but that wasn’t about to stop the plans of God, he already had a backup plan in the making.
Jeremiah 2:3.“Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest; all who devoured her were held guilty, and disaster overtook them,' " declares the LORD.” Not only was Israel looked upon as holy and set apart unto the Lord as his own to be blessed, but America as well due to the lineage of our people. God looked at Israel as the firstfruits of his harvest and that blessing can be applied to America too. You see friend, the first fruit of the harvest is the finest, the best, the top of the crop, the sweetest and the most abundant. Think about that for a moment, didn’t God bless America in just this way when America first became a sovereign nation? The people of America were shown God’s blessings on everything they lid their hands on. At one time America produced more than half of the worlds oil output, we dominated the world in production of coal, electricity, steel, iron, aluminum, copper and zinc. We out produced everyone in the manufacturing of automobiles, heavy equipment, clothing, lumber and electrical appliances. We were the leaders in banking, entertainment, education centers, research and medical advancement.
“All who devoured her were held guilty, and disaster overtook them,' " declares the LORD.” Without question no one would match or compete with our military machines, our Armies or Navy. Look at the military history of America prior to the 1960’s and you will see that any nation that dared to come against the U.S. of A. was defeated, Mexico, Germany, Japan and even our motherland Great Britain fell to the might of America. They were all “Held guilty and disaster overtook them”. Prior to the 1960’s and the era of open defiance of God, his rules for morality and what amounts to an attempt to have total rejection of God altogether, in regards to military might America was unbeatable, unstoppable and undeniably the most blessed and powerful nation in the history of the world. When the Americans defeated Great Britain for its independence Britain was the world’s powerhouse of military might, mostly because of their sea power. Britain controlled the worlds shipping lanes and held much of the land mass in their hands. Just a partial list of British controlled land mass was Japan, India, Africa and Australia. And yet this little upstart of a nation known as the U.S. of A. was able to defeat them and gain our independence. How was the fledgling nation of America able to accomplish this monumental achievement? We didn’t do it on our own that’s for sure. We did it with the intervention of God. Look at the accounts, read the events that transpired giving America the upper hand leading to victory of the then super power of the world. Many of America’s victories came about because we had leaders who were not afraid to be prayer warriors first and military warriors second. Our leaders prayed, the people prayed and God intervened in his control of the weather. Two examples are the battles of New York and New Orleans. Were it not for God’s intervention by manipulating the weather both battles could have been a loss and drastically changed the texture of the world, without God there would have been a totally different outcome. Make no mistake about it, the shield of God’s protection was over America, we were his anointed people, our nation was blessed, our borders were blessed, our people were blessed and why was this? Because we as a nation, because we as a people, were a God fearing nation. Do you doubt this statement? Did you know that every single state, without exception, including Alaska and Hawaii acknowledged God as Sovereign in the preamble of their State Constitution! Every single state, when they entered the union of The United States of America acknowledged in their official statement that the God who is the provider and protection of Israel is the same God that is the provider and protection of America too. And friend, that didn’t just happen, it wasn’t something that just kind of slipped in there un-noticed when no one was looking. Each of these documents contains a statement of faith if you will, when they acknowledged the very existence of God. For your convenience I’ll include a few of these opening statements and let you be the judge, was this a Christian nation or not?
· Arizona 1911, Preamble ... We, the people of the State of Arizona, grateful to Almighty God for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution...
· Georgia 1777, Preamble ... We, the people of Georgia, relying upon protection and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish this Constitution...
· Maine 1820, Preamble ... We the People of Maine acknowledging with grateful hearts the goodness of the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe in affording us an opportunity ... And imploring His aid and direction.
· North Carolina 1868, Preamble ... We the people of the State of North Carolina, grateful to Almighty God, the Sovereign Ruler of Nations, for our civil, political, and religious liberties, and acknowledging our dependence upon Him for the continuance of those
Each document, each Preamble to the state constitution was drafted by men and women who desired to 1) express a desire to acknowledge God and 2.) make a formal request of God’s his blessings on their state and offer thanks for that blessing.
Jeremiah 2:5 “This is what the LORD says: "What fault did your fathers find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves.” I could give you countless examples of how the Founding Fathers of this once great nation, the political leaders, the military leaders and the common man and woman in general followed the religious principles and beliefs of the early settlers of America, those who came here to avoid religious persecution. One does not have to look very far to see the impact a faith-based population had upon the early United States of America. If one looks at the literature of that era there are many references to what is found in the Bible. The Holy Bible was the cornerstone of every aspect of their very existence. Scripture verses adorn the architecture of the day; the Scriptures were carved into stone, painted on wood, cast into metal, the Scriptures was that important to the people. Every government office building had a Scripture reference placed in it or on it someplace, and always in a place of prominence, not carefully hidden away so as not to offend anyone, they wanted it seen! The Ten Commandments are on the Supreme Court Building, where they are now ignored and disgraced by the Justices that now sit on the dais. The Liberty Bell is embossed with a passage from Leviticus XXV “And proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof”. (KJV). Our currency proclaims “In God We Trust”, our legal system although now appears to be a ridicule of Scripture, was based on biblical principle as was our entire system of education. All early grade books used the Bible or Bible based books as the main key for reading instruction. A was for Adam, B was for baptism, C was for Christ, D was for David, that’s how they trained their children to read and the children memorized Scripture passages, that’s what they did then. Did you know that most of our great universities were founded by Christians to be used as Christian centers for education primarily for the education of pastors and missionaries? Including Yale and Princeton where God isn’t even allowed access any longer. Our great universities were founded to be centers of advanced religious education to further the advancement of evangelism and the development of apologetics for their students. It is to our disgrace that these once centers of religious education are now the center of the cause for destruction of religion and faith in the One True Holy God. This should be a heartrending and disturbing thought to everyone we reads this teaching. But rather than filling numerous pages with examples of God being given his rightful place in the many venues of antiquity I’ll present to you one of the most poignant examples of just how far we have fallen from our position as a nation of faith in just a few short generations. The following was taken from public record of a proclamation that was proposed by President Abraham Lincoln in acknowledgement of a request for a national day of prayer and fasting made by Senator James Harlan. The Senate resolution requesting the president to proclaim a day for "National Prayer and Humiliation" was introduced by Senator James Harlan on March 2, and adopted on March 3, 1863. I’ll allow the wording presented by President Lincoln to speak for its self.
Proclamation for a National Day of Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer
President Abraham Lincoln
WHEREAS, The Senate of the United States; devoutly recognizing the Supreme authority and just government of Almighty God in all the affairs of men and nations, has, by a resolution, requested the President to designate and set apart a day for National prayer and humiliation.
And Whereas, it is the duty of nations, as well as of men, to owe their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.
And, insomuch as we know that, by His Divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole People. We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown.
But we have forgotten God.
We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!
It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.
Now, therefore, in compliance with the request, and fully concurring in the views of the Senate, I do, by this my proclamation, designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th day of April, 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting, and prayer. And I do hereby request all the People to abstain, on that day, from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite, at their several places of public worship and their respective homes, in keeping the day holy to the Lord, and devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion.
All this being done, in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope, authorized by the Divine teachings, that the united cry of the Nation will be heard on high, and answered with blessings, no less the pardon of our national sins, and the restoration of our now divided and suffering Country, to its former happy condition of unity and peace.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington, this thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty seventh.
Abraham Lincoln,President
William H Seward,Secretary of State
Mind you that this was submitted by President Lincoln on the 2nd of March and adopted on the 3rd of March in 1863. It took one day to present the bill and one day to vote it into practice. Can you imagine something like this happening now, today in America? Were any sitting president to propose a bill like this they would be ridiculed out of office and the proposal would bounce around in the senate and the courts for twenty years. Were a sitting president to present a bill such as this today to a Congress and Senate now filled with professional politicians who no longer know or care what the will of the people is, who have total disregard for their constituents, and in particular if those constituents carry a Bible, if they believe by faith that what their Bible says is the very word of God and by doing so acknowledge the presence of a living God who is absolute in all things. Were this bill to be proposed today, it and the presenter would be condemned to a life of insult and misery. In today’s political machine of silver tongued shysters the will of the people who believe in morality and honesty, as found in God’s word; is on a regular basis cast aside so that our “Leaders” can cater to the will of the sinful minority who twist and manipulate the Law of the Land and our Constitution. And by doing so they are leading the entire nation down a path of destruction and culminating with God’s wrath.
"What fault did your fathers find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves.” We as a people, we as a nation, no longer stand in awe of the Almighty God, our leaders for the most part take a even stronger stance and stand in utter defiance of God and show no fear nor respect to God while catering to the will and whims of the sinful minority ignoring the desires of the majority. It is a sad state of affairs to realize that the majority of the legal Americans in this nation still accept and believe in the person and presence of Almighty God. It is a sad state of affairs to realize that the majority of our legal population in America still believes in prayer and does so often, calling upon God for his assistance, his protection and the return of his blessings upon us. The majority of our legal population realizes that this nation became great because of the intervention of God in every aspect of our very fabric. Our military became powerful through God’s intervention, God not only allowed, but also assisted us in developing military superiority because his hand of protection was upon us. And now as we remove God from our society it is quite evident that as he graciously leaves he is taking his blessing of protection and covering shield with him as he exits. For years we were living under the shield of protection that was placed over us by the prayers of past generations of humble leaders and a holy population of believers. As the prayers of this past generation of leaders and believers were recorded in the heavens like so many deposits in a Holy Banking Account they gained interest and had sustained us through the turmoil’s that we faced. But now not only has our account run dry, we are overdrawn and God is adding up the late charges and tabulating interest and penalties. We can see it in every corner of this nation. Smaller under-armed peoples laugh at our military, our monetary system is failing, sin and perversion are rampant and our people are loving every minute of it as disaster crawls under the door and is wrapping it’s fingers around our legs and is pulling us down to the valley of despair while we sit idly by, blind and ignorant.
Friend, the Scriptures are talking to us. "What fault did your fathers find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves.” The nation of America was founded on Christian principles, a Christian value system of morality, honesty, industry, faith, prayer and integrity. And while we operated under these Christian aspects we prospered and were blessed. America appeared to have the “Midis Touch”, everything we laid our hand to turned to gold. And now God is asking the same question that he proposed to Israel thousands of years ago. "What fault did your fathers find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves.” The people of America have abandoned their history and no longer seek to have any recollection of it. We have forgotten what it was like before there was an “America” to call our homeland. Our children now study the history of strange lands, the lands their ancestors came from prior to migrating to America and in the process we now ignore the history of our own land. This didn’t just happen by chance, it is a plan put in place by Satan, its a distraction that blinds us to the reason behind our prosperity and blessings, the ones that are now vanishing like the morning mist. By keeping us focused on the lands and history of our heathenized relatives and by opening our centers of education to the study of strange and foreign gods and idols while restricting the study of the True God we have lost the knowledge and desire to study the source of our blessings, that being of course God Almighty. The people of America have forgotten where we came from and what our founders prayed into being by building up our Heavenly Bank Account of Blessings before in our infinite wisdom, we decided to remove God from our society.
Jeremiah 2:7 “I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable.” Was not America the most productive and fertile farmland in the world? Within the borders of our nation we produced enough food products to feed our entire nation at prices the common working person could afford while at the same time selling the surplus to others around the world and in the process the generation of millions of dollars in profit. And we still had enough to be benevolent and feed millions of other people of less fortune. Today, with our account overdrawn in God’s Bank of Blessings food is at a all time high in price and the majority of what we consume comes from outside of our borders, even our milk is imported now because we have driven the small farmer out of business. Granted we now have a huge population but our population is not the source of our problem, our population has not outgrown our landmass of fertile acreage. The majority of this country is still undeveloped open land. It’s not that we can’t produce enough food to meet our needs and do so at a fair price that all can afford while still making a profit, it’s that we won’t! In the area that I live in it was once mostly small dairy farms with patches of cows in every field. Dozens of farms dotted the region. Ninety-five percent of the small dairy farms are now gone, there is only a small hand full left. The land is still there of course, but what was once productive farms meeting the need of feeding the people is now a multitude of sub-divisions filled with huge homes and any open land now comes with posted signs and putting greens, golf courses are more in vogue than grazing land. Where once the land fed our people with food, it now feeds our pride and caters to our egos. Where once we worked the land to provide for ourselves we now build gigantic homes we can’t afford to hold the toys we don’t really need and have turned the rest of the land into strip malls, while our vegetables come from South America, our milk from Australia, our beef from Argentina and we continue to close down our sources of production becoming more and more dependent upon the “World Market” to provide for us. At some point the “World Market” is going to tell us: “Now, you who were once so proud, you can pay our price or go without because you no longer grow anything for yourself.” And the once great leader that the U.S. of A. was will become the hostage and the flea will rule the dog! When this happens we will sit in our huge palaces, the ones we can’t afford, we will sit in the cold empty rooms while our personal tank size vehicles sit in the driveway because we don’t drill our own oil and the “World Market” of oil producers hold us hostage, all because of greed. How can this be? To start with because they hate us with their motive for hate based on political motives, and the second reason is because of their religious belief that cries for world dominance and the complete annihilation of Christianity and Judaism. Our cupboards will be empty, our children will be hungry, our pride and greed will have overtaken us and all we will be able to do is cry “O Lord, how did this happen?” But the Lord has already provided the answer.
Jeremiah 2:8 “The priests did not ask, 'Where is the LORD?' Those who deal with the law did not know me; the leaders rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal, following worthless idols.” Many of the religious leaders of modern America are afraid to preach a message on sin and its consequences. They are afraid to say that sin is sin, that good is good and evil is evil and that souls will be lost and go to hell if we don’t return to God, repent of our sins and seek his forgiveness. They are afraid that they might offend someone, they might hurt someone’s feelings and they are trying to protect the bottom line, they don’t want the offering plate to come back empty. The pastors in America need to know that the people in America today don’t want to hear a sermon that may cause conviction to spring up in their life, they want a nice easy sermon, they want a “Feel Good” sermon so that when they leave the church they feel good about themselves, and not have to think about the consequences of their soft Christianity. Pastors today need a refresher course in proclaiming the full word of God, the good, the bad and the ugly. They need to tell the people that all of God’s word is “Good”. They need to point out what is “Bad” and condemn it and they need to tell the people the ugly truth that there are consequences for sinful behavior, were it not so all of the Bible would be lie. Pastors need to re-read James 3:1 “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” They need to revisit 2nd Timothy 1:7 “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” And 2nd Timothy 2:15 “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” And finally Galatians 1:10 “Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” It’s not about pleasing the people; it’s not about making them feel all warm and cuddly, it’s about saving their soul from eternal damnation! First teach them the path to salvation and get them on the right road to heaven, you can make friends with them later, we are running out of time, the clock is ticking away the chances for opportunity. Stand up for Christ first and go to their house for dinner later. Friend, there are ministers standing in the pulpit today that don’t know what the word of God says about sin or are afraid to tell their congregation if they do know. Worse yet, there are ministers standing in the pulpit that don’t even believe in God! For many ministers it’s an occupation, it’s a vocation but they have no fire in their spirit, they have no burning drive that tells them to seize the opportunity now before we are all standing in that place of judgment. It’s not about a paycheck and meeting the monthly bills, it’s about salvation of the soul, and it’s about getting a person saved in the power of the risen King, Christ Jesus.
I recently saw one of the “Super Preachers” on the Larry King television show. This man has a church of thousands and a mega television ministry and he and his wife were on the television show to promote his latest book. The host, Mr. King, during his interview of the “Minister” asked him point blank, “When you preach to the people in your church and those watching on the television do you tell then that a person can not enter heaven unless they acknowledge Jesus Christ is Lord and God and that it is through Jesus and Jesus only that salvation comes?” The Television preacher responded by saying “Larry, that’s a personal choice between the person and God. When I preach I want the people to leave the church feeling good, I preach messages that make the people feel good when they go home, I want them to feel happy, that’s what they come to hear.” This “Preacher” had the perfect opportunity to present the Gospel message to a huge audience on a nationally syndicated television show and he couldn’t do it, he was more interested in the sale of his book and the bulge in his wallet. You had this picture perfect man with his picture perfect wife nodding in agreement, both of them smiling knowing that his answer just increased the sale of the book and they were content with that. He could have saved his wallet and his reputation as a real minister of the Gospel if he had just told the truth and said, “Larry, it isn’t me that says that, it’s what the Bible says and if that offends you then you will have to talk to him about it because God is the author.” Our sweet Lord did this all the time when confronted by someone about his authority. Jesus repeatedly said, “As it is written” what he was saying is that it wasn’t me who said it but my Father. And no one could complain about that. Friend, I’m not saying that any of us have to try and carry the weight of the world on our back; we can leave that up to God. But God does expect us to tell his truth when opportunity knocks, and more so if you are a minister.
“Those who deal with the law did not know me; the leaders rebelled against me.” We have already touched upon the next point before so it will present no problem to build a little more on a foundation that has already been laid. I am again going to address our political leaders. Those in public office, in particular the Senate, Congress and the courts system, judicial and enforcement, pay heed to these words, you need a wake up call from the Lord. Our political leaders are the ones that write our laws, and our court system is there to administer justice and mandate that there is enforcement of the law as the watchdog of the police agencies. And the Scriptures address this segment of people. 2nd Chronicles 19:5-7 “He appointed judges in the land, in each of the fortified cities of Judah. He told them, "Consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for man but for the LORD, who is with you whenever you give a verdict. Now let the fear of the LORD be upon you. Judge carefully, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.” Is there anyone besides me that is not amazed at how far we have moved from the ten laws God originally gave us to have rule and order over our lives? God gave Moses the Ten Commandments; mind you that was ten simple rules of conduct. By the time Jesus came to the earth the religious leaders had expanded that to 1300 laws and rules and they made it so complicated that no one would live without breaking one of them at some point during the day. And now today, we can fill an entire library with the legal books we have, and that is just the state laws, it doesn’t take into account the federal laws. On a daily basis we see judges releasing criminals due to some legal technicality like the police finding fifty pounds of crack cocaine in the poor fellow’s car but their warrant only covered looking for the stolen dog. Criminals are released before the police can process the paper work, and repeat offenders have found that our courts and jails have revolving doors on them going in and out so fast that you can hardly stand in the wind the door makes as it spins and you can hardly keep a count of them as they flash in and out of the system. The rights of the criminal are far more important than the rights of the victim and if you seek out the reason for this it will lead you right to the Supreme Court. I won’t try to list case and circumstance but stretch your memory and try to think about something for a moment. When was the last time you can recall hearing of the Supreme Court in Washington rendering a case in agreement with biblical principle? Abortion, no it wasn’t there, public prayer, prayer in school, prayer at a sporting event, displaying Christian symbols, or the rights of the Christian superceding over the rights of the Anti-Christian, you can’t think of one case or situation can you? Don’t feel bad, I can’t think of any either. When we go before the highest court in the land we are pretty much assured that we are going before a court that is bound and determined to rule against Christian principle and in favor of anything that restricts the Christian’s rights. Misuse of the law and misinterpretation of the Constitution is a common practice today. We hear so much about the separation of church and state as found in the 1st Amendment but I’ve got to tell you friend, I don’t see it! I may be just a simple country preacher and not very learned in understanding of the laws but I can read. I’ve read the Constitution and I’ve read the Amendments to that Constitution and it doesn’t say a thing about God being removed from the government. What it does say in the 1st Amendment is “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. The people who put their name to that beautiful document never said or expected anyone to try to remove God from government, what the Constituting says is that the government isn’t going to tell you what church you go to, but they sure expected you to be going to church! This wonderful document has been so violated and dragged through the mud by the anti-god people that the common man or woman should vomit when thinking about it. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion” congress cannot establish what religious belief you are to follow. “Or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” once you select your church or belief base the Supreme Court can’t tell you to stop practicing your belief. That my friend is what this Constitution says about our religious rights! If you want to put up a cross, that’s your right, “Or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. If you want to have a Christmas tree with a manger under it placed ANYPLACE that’s your right! “Or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” no one has the right; no one has the authority, under our law, under our Constitutional right to tell us otherwise.
I guess I’ve taken this as far as I should for now, not as far as I could go because I love this subject, but as far as I should and for now it’s time to bring this teaching to an end with a few closing statements. Is God talking to America? We all know he is and we all know he is upset over what he sees when he looks at America. God so blessed America with all of the best of everything, the land, the water, and the greatest multi cultural diversity of people on the face of the planet to develop it into the greatest nation on the face of the planet. And as a way of saying thanks we have handed God his hat so to speak and told him to leave and in the process saying to him “Thanks for the blessings but you are not welcome here any more. You can leave now, but don’t forget to leave your blessing behind after you are gone”. And that isn’t the way God works. God is God and we are not, even for a nation as great and powerful as America is, we don’t have the right or the authority to tell God anything other than “Thank you Lord, forgive us Lord and `Welcome to our house’, stay as long as you want because there will always be a place for you in this land”.
Is God leaving America? I think he is and he’s taking his suitcase of blessings with him. He isn’t just taking an overnight bag because he intends on coming back in the morning, he’s taking everything, there is a Heavenly U-Haul truck out there being loaded up. Heavenly protection, it’s being loaded in the truck, stability in our economy, industry and commerce, it’s being loaded in the truck, good jobs and bosses that are paying a fair and just wage, it’s in the truck, good weather, regular cycles of rain and sun, protection from hurricanes and tornados, protection against drought and wild fires, it’s all in the truck. Honest politicians, judges that know the Scriptures as the highest order of law and render decisions as the Constitution directs and intended, that’s already on the truck too. The truck hasn’t completely pulled away from the curb but the motor is running and the transmission is in gear, all God has to do is take his holy foot off the brake and he’s gone!
Is there anything we can do to stop God’s departure? Of course there is. If you have ever read any of the Old Testament you may have noticed that there is always a common thread that runs through each of God’s times of anger with his people when they walk away for him. God never completely shuts the door; he always leaves it open just a crack so he can look in on us to see what is happening. God is like any loving father who disciplined his child, he may send that child to its room but he peaks in just to make sure the child is all right because that child is entitled to and has all of the fathers love. If we as a nation repent of our pride and sinful behavior, if we as a nation turn away from the idolatry and the wicked paths we are now running down God will not leave. If we as a nation will return to the place from whence we came, to that place the Founding Fathers first gave us, a nation of Bible believing, God fearing, God loving people and ask for forgiveness he will return, remember, the door wasn’t completely closed, the truck hasn’t left the curb yet. God hasn’t turned his back on us just because we have turned our back on him, his flames of love for us hasn’t been completely extinguished even if we have drown our fire for him in a flood of sin. But that return to God has to be more that just a few people, it has to be a national event, something that the people do regardless of the leadership we are under. Our leadership is a major part of the problem but it’s not the full problem because each of us had to accept a fair share of the responsibility for what we have become. America has one hundred senators, four hundred and thirty-five congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices for a total of 545 people in all that are making the vast majority of the mistakes that is costing us our relationship with our Creator and robbing us of our blessings, but there are three hundred million of us in this country that are allowing that small number of poor leaders to destroy us. If three hundred million people start to pray, start to repent of our national sin and start to ask forgiveness of God the very gates of Hell will shake right off their foundations and Satan will have to relocate his corporate headquarters to another location because this regional office will be closed and off limits to him. If three hundred million people all start to look at just what our elected officials are doing and remind them that we do have the right to vote, we do have the right to demand what we must to save this nation and that is demand that our leaders return to the biblical principles that put this nation together in the first place. And if they aren’t willing to do that then we can vote them out of office and let the government retrain them to work in a fast food restaurant because their job has been outsourced to Christian leaders that love their Lord and love their country and don’t want to see it destroyed any longer from within. But for this to happen it is going to take all of us to get involved in what is happening in our government and in our churches. We can no longer sit in the corner and point fingers at the other guy, we have to step up to the plate and swing the bat for our self. Each of us has the option, get involved and take a stand for Jesus or sit back and allow the country to fall to pieces. We can rock the boat or watch it sink, the choice is up to us. Each of us may be only one person, but there are three hundred million “One Persons” out there and that my friend is a lot of prayer power. We can either say to God “Goodbye, it was nice knowing you” or we can once again hear the words “In God We Trust” ring out across the nation as they did so long ago. I think America is worth the effort, and I think you know what my stand is, but now I have to ask you, “What are you willing to do”? Are you will to be a part of the solution or are you content in being a part of the problem, quiet Christians is what got us here to begin with, why don’t we all make a little noise for a change and take our country back.
Grace & peace
