He that covereth his sins shall not
prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. Proverbs
28:13
Nebuchadnezzar was God’s judgment
upon the Middles East in 587-570 B.C. Cities and villages were broken down, the
soldiers and young men were killed in battle, women and children were brutally
treated with no recourse, and when all was said and done the nation of Israel
was virtually nonexistent for 70 years having been carried away to Babylonian
captivity.
For some 40 years the prophet
Jeremiah had warned that the judgment would soon fall; brutal, bloody,
heartbreaking judgment from God. Jeremiah specifically prophesied God’s
judgment on His people, and it happened just as God revealed it to him.
God’s people were being judged for
false religion, violence in the streets, and a type of slave labor, among other
things. The priests, the people, and the king were almost all complicit in one way
or another.
There are people who believe America
deserves judgment, especially in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd,
Breonna Taylor, and others. And, with all that is happening in the land these
days some might wonder if what is boiling over is the judgment of God. They
might even be cheering on the judgment, like the preacher some years ago who
became famous for saying “Not God bless America, but…” Well you remember.
So compare our country. There is
violence in the streets perpetuated in some cases by bad cops, by street
criminals, by rioters (some of them rumored to be paid to destroy). In a most glaring
event a one year old Brooklyn, New York boy shot to death by street thugs (a one
year old sitting in the yard with his family), buildings are burning, monuments
(admittedly some distasteful and deserving of removal) toppled by mobs,
graffiti covers every city, looting and free booting abounds, local stores are
destroyed, an attempt to change the economic system of the most prosperous
nation in history is blatant, and attacks on religion, especially Christianity
are perpetual. An attitude of “fear one another” rather than the Christian
adage “love one another” is a melancholy on our society. It sounds like the
Middle Eastern nations who faced God’s judgment carried out by Nebuchadnezzar.
For those rejoicing at this upheaval,
and doing all they can to foment it, they are forgetting that in judgment on a
nation everyone suffers. Black, white, people of every race and religion suffer
when the nation suffers. Old men die, children cry, brutality and destruction reign
and rain. Violent streets are bloodied streets and everyone is in danger. Food
and medical care become precious, and sometimes unavailable to ordinary people.
Cities become rubble, even the rich and powerful fall into the crater of desolation. And…
sometimes a nation under the judgment of God never returns to its former
greatness.
Woe to America, to the entire nation,
if she continues to self-destruct this land of gleaming
alabaster cities and amber waves of grain.
I think there is still hope for U.S.
When Jeremiah declared the judgment of God it was a definite prophecy, and
there was nothing they could do to stop it from happening. It was a matter of
God’s timing, possibly it could be delayed, but nothing would hold back the
terror forever. The judgment we are facing is not the fulfillment of a specific
prophecy about America, so I think that judgment can be stayed. Our nation can
be saved from herself for now.
America needs to repent. Repent means
to turn and go in a different direction.
For a start, bad police need to
become good police. Looters and rioters must become peaceful protesters. Those
acting without legal sanction should seek it. Our People need to behave
lawfully so we can all be safe. Parties on all sides of our political squabbles
need to work together to give opportunity to every person in our society.
Christianity, and all religions, should be free to peacefully share their
understandings of life and faith, and, we should all embrace life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness for ourselves and our neighbors. Those seeking to destroy our civilization need to
commit to turning it around, not burning it down. There is more, of course, but
we need to start somewhere.
Lord have mercy on America, so she
can remain the land of liberty and peace for all of her people, please!
