When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee. Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day: Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint; Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end; And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God.(Deuteronomy 8:10-20)
In America, we have forgotten from whence we came. We no longer read the Declaration of Independence and understand the import of its words. No, they are the words of a fairy tale to us, without much meaning at all. The phrases and sentences carry no weight, though they should, as the words declare the heart and intent of a people who understood from whence all blessings flow.
“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, . . .”
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
“We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, . . .”
“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”
The words are plain, and the meaning clear. For the first time in a very long time, a people appealed to the LORD God of Heaven and earth for their liberty. Make us a free nation.
Like the first generation to enter the land of Canaan, early America appreciated what the LORD had done for them. For a time they were the wonder of the world. When France tried to emulate the American revolution, absent the LORD, their revolution failed to produce the same blessings. It should have been a lesson for future generations.
However it wasn’t, and like the children of Israel, a people arose that knew not the LORD:
And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. (Judges 2:10-12)
And so, like Israel, we too have provoked the LORD to anger.
Now, I know that there are those who say that we have nothing in common with ancient Israel, and what applied then, does not apply today. However, there could not be a greater error made than to assume this to be the case. The following passages of Scripture, which were first preached to Israel in the Wilderness, applied to those nations Israel was about to dispossess by the commandment of God. The message given to Israel was to inform them that they were not possessing the land due to their goodness, but due to the utter wickedness of the Amorites, which the LORD detailed.
When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God. For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do. (Deuteronomy 18:9-14)
Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion. Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you: And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants. Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you: (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;) That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you. (Leviticus 18:22-28)
The listing of sins is far more extensive than this. It is simply that these are the most egregious of the things done by the nations in the land of Canaan. However, if you have read the above passages, which of these has America not done? Which of these has America not condoned under the guise of “personal liberty?” It is sad, for the Founders of this nation would blanch at the thought of the government condoning any of the above listed sins. It is not that they didn’t occur in this country during the time of the Founders, they did. However, these things were condemned and frowned upon, and the practitioners of such driven out. The Founders would have never conceived of condoning the killing of an innocent unborn child simply because the mother and/or father find the child to be “inconvenient” to their lifestyle. Thus, we added yet another abomination to the long list of things the LORD will not pardon.
Yes, this last one — abortion, is particularly egregious to the LORD God. When we allow the killing of the innocent for the convenience of the guilty, we justify the wicked and condemn the just. The Lord Jesus Christ made it very plain that little children hold a special place in the sight of God:
Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 18:10)
It was this particular sin, the killing of their children, that finally provoked the LORD God to remove Israel out of His sight and send them into captivity for 70 years.
In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him. And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets. Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon. (II Kings 24:1-4)
Now, if the LORD did that to His chosen people, what do you think He is going to do to us? After all, its not like we don’t have all history to review and see the consequences for condoning wickedness as a nation.
America, you have forgotten the LORD that formed you.
Wow, that’s a fantastic piece of writing, sir! How truthful and yet forgotten by many! I would love to post it to my site, but only with your permission, of course!