America - The Modern Day Judah

I was reading 2 Kings 24 - 25 this morning. The troops are destroying Judah, killing masses of people and taking the rest captive back to Babylon. Only a few are left to tend the land. Judah gets destroyed just as the prophets predicted.

Bottom-line, if God says it then it's going to happen! 2 Kings 24:3 spells it out clearly. "Surely these things happened to Judah according to the Lord's command, in order to remove them from his presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all he had done, including the shedding of innocent blood." Our Holy God cannot withstand sin in His presence. If He did, He would not be Holy.

The blood of 3500 innocent unborn babies are shed each and every day in this country as a result of abortion. How long until America is like Judah in God's eyes. I will add America to my prayer list today. It makes me think of 2 Chronicles 7:14 "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land".

Will we repent as a nation or will we be "thrust from His presence" (2 Kings 24:20) due to the Lord's anger.

God's Judgement on Jerusalem

I have been reading the book of Joshua in the Bible the last several days. What an incredible job that God gave Joshua to do. Jerusalem's impending doom and destruction was at hand. God basically told Joshua to phophecy to the people about the upcoming destruction. Yet, God also tells Joshua 'oh and by the way... they won't listen'. Wow, how is that for an encouraging word.

The bottom-line though is that Joshua is FAITHFUL to what God called him to do.

God judges the people of Jerusalem and they end up in captivity for 70 years after a 2 1/2 year siege on the city. Why? Because they have forsaken their first love. They have turned to idols for worship. The priests of the day told the church goers only what they wanted to hear. They included 'idol' worship even in the services. The people longed for debauchery, lust, greed and the like.

How might that compare to America today? What are we wanting to hear in a church service instead of the voice of God? Good music... the hymn played correctly? Words from the pulpit that underscore what we are doing and give credence to it? Or do we want to hear the WHOLE truth from the Word of God... the Bible?

What are we saying to others... are our ears itching to hear tidbits of tantalizing information about celebrities and friends, or do we want to hear God Himself?

What are our eyes longing for... more and more violence that we see on TV and in the movies? More and more bed-hopping and lust that is so common today? Or do we want to see Jesus face-to-face?

It is time to wake up and smell the coffee, folks. I envision that America is not long for this world in the path that we are presently on. We look A LOT like the citizens of Jerusalem in the days of Joshua. Will we as a nation wake up and REPENT (i.e. turn around)? Or will we continue down this path to destruction?

The day is near...