Ancient Israel and America
This Bible study is a comparison between America and ancient Israel, it's taken from allegories and shadows found within the scriptures. There are always types and shadows of past events which will be repeated in the future. Here are but a few examples of this. Nimrod in the beginning was a type of Antichrist with a one world government under him, as there will be another Antichrist who will rule over the whole world in the end. The ancient world was flooded and destroyed because of excessive sin, even as the earth will destroyed by fire in the future because of sin abounding everywhere. A lamb without blemish was sacrificed for the sins of Israel, just as Jesus was the perfect lamb of God who died for the sins of the world. Noah's ark had only one door, as Jesus is the only doorway to God. There is no new thing under the sun. We will now read from the weeping prophet's writings (Jeremiah who's called that because he wrote the book of Lamentations, weeping for the destruction of Israel because of her great sinfulness by the hand of a wicked northern nation).
"Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken. Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them. Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it. To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me. Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them; the neighbour and his friend shall perish. Thus saith the LORD, Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth. They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roared like the sea; and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion. We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail. Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side. O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us." (Jeremiah 6:16-26)
The Lord God called for a return to the original or good ways of Israel. Whenever they went astray, God warned them by messengers to hear and obey Him. Since Israel failed to take heed to the word of the Lord, and so all of her religious ways could not deliver her a northbound destruction, under the hand of an evil nation. True repentance was not to be found in her, therefore she was suddenly destroyed.
"Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these. For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour; If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever. Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them. Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers. Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee. But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyed not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receives correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth. Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the LORD hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath. For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the LORD: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it. And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place. And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away. Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate." (Jeremiah 7:3-10; 25-34)
Whenever we hear the words "Thus saith the Lord," whatever prophesied by Him will certainly come to pass, no matter how unlikely it may seem to be. Again Israel was told to amend or repent of her ways here. Repentance is defined as remorsefully turning from sin and dedicating oneself to the amendment or betterment of one's life. And to turn back to God. To amend is seen as the act of changing for the better; or to put right. America was once a nation that was primarily a Christian one, she called herself the light of the world. Even as Israel held the temple of the Lord (being a God fearing nation or lighthouse to the world), she called upon that fact to deny the divine judgment that was to come upon her for backsliding away from God. America like the Israel of old, is using oppressive labor means (via the Chinese people, illegals immigrants, and others) whether directly or indirectly for economic gain, committing abortions (over 50 million of them), and is the pornographic capital of the world. We walk in the same sins as they did. Israel once worshipped Baal (a Babylonian triad of false gods) and had many idols. The United States in like manner contains many false religions, abounds with diverse lusts, and abounds with various abominations. Few will deny that this correlation is unfair, and far fewer will hearken unto this message.
In conclusion, the nation of Israel suffered great destruction because of her unwillingness to depart from sin and instead serve the living God. Though she was warned by God many times, yet the greatness of her sins forced His judgment upon that nation. Her land was left desolate, and her people died becoming meat (road kill) for the birds of the air. This all occurred because she killed the innocent ones, robbed others, and committed adultery (to look unlawfully with lust upon another is considered adultery by God). Adultery can also be considered walking away from God (or your spouse) for another thing or person (He called Himself the groom, and we His church are called to be His bride). America is following the same exact fearful path to destruction today as Israel did in the past. God will have to bring upon her the same judgments and afflictions that He did upon Israel (the original vine, remember Christians were grafted into her place through Christ). For if does not, then God will have to apologise to ancient Israel for not being a just judge. That will never ever transpire. Like as Israel failed to heed the warning, so will America fail to heed the whole council of God to her detriment and destruction. One thing that history teaches us is that mankind always fails to learn from it's past, and is therefore condemned to repeat it. The cause and effect syndrome. Sin has always caused suffering, from Eden to Armageddon, or from start to finish. It's effects are terrible. The only answer for it can only be found in God. The nations that proclaim to know Him but act ungodly will suffer much more than other ones that know Him not - since God is no respector of persons, and to whom much is given, much is expected from them. Ultimately all the nations of the world will be shaken up, and anything unlike God will be removed; all except those who are upon the solid rock of Jesus Christ.
Related Articles:
-
On August 3, 1979, Howard Pittman, a Baptist minister for 35 years, died while on the operating... Read Full Story » -
There are five great provisions of the blood of Jesus revealed to us all by the word of God: 1... Read Full Story » -
Christian History Proves that early Christians believed in one God and his name one (Zech 14:9... Read Full Story »
