Recently I’ve talked with more than one person who believes that it’s essentially too late to restore faith in God in America and that it’s a given that our citizenry will never return to being “one nation under God”. This because her sin has been too great, especially abortion, and we are already under God’s judgment and America will soon be dismantled.
Indeed one friend sent me a text asking me to reflect on Deuteronomy 11 which details similar circumstances with Israel and how the people lost their favor with God due to their dark sins and He lifted his hand from them and allowed suffering and destruction to overcome them. He states he can find no sign of America in End Times biblical prophecy and so it is . . .
I sent my friend a response and asked him to read Judges 6-8. These are chapters that also deal with a time of great sin by the Jewish people, and they were suffering mightily because God’s blessing had been removed. Judges 6:1-5 “Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count the men and their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it.”
So as a last resort Israel finally came to the point of crying out to the Lord; (it was about time, it only took seven years!) Now In the past when Israel cried out to the Lord, God had always raised up a judge to deliver them . . . but not this time! This time He sent them a prophet to convict them of their sins and their need to repent.
They were at a point where they’d forgotten God to the extent that it wasn’t so much a case of the Lord not being number one in their lives anymore; it was a case of the Lord not being allowed to play ANY part in their lives at all!
Sound familiar? Isn’t that where America is heading?
The angel of the LORD, (Jesus) came and sat down under the oak where a man named Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”
“But sir,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian.”
The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
The LORD answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.”
Hmmm . . . Like so many of us, Gideon doubted his abilities to succeed. He’d suffered so many defeats and failures in life that even now he put God to the test – (not once but an incredulous three times). First Gideon prepared a meal for the angel. The angel touched the meat and unleavened bread with his staff, and the rock they were sitting on spewed fire, consuming the offering. Then Gideon put out a fleece, a piece of sheep skin with the wool still attached, asking God to cover the fleece with dew overnight, but leave the ground around it dry. God did so. Finally, Gideon asked God to dampen the ground overnight with dew but leave the fleece dry. God did that as well.
Finally he believed!
Gideon initially gathered what he thought he needed to wage a war, a huge army from the surrounding tribes, but God reduced their number to only 300. He did this in order that everyone would know with certainty that any victory was from the Lord, and not from the army’s might or Gideon’s leadership. (Do you feel outnumbered by the atheists, gays and lesbians, abortion rights groups, ACLU, and progressives? He who has ears – listen to the Spirit!)
That night, Gideon gave each man a trumpet and a torch concealed inside a pottery jar. At his signal, they blew their trumpets, broke the jars to reveal the torches, and shouted: “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!” (Judges 7:20) God caused the enemy to panic and turn on each other. Then Gideon called out reinforcements and they pursued the raiders, destroying the remainder of them.
So even though Gideon was slow to believe, once he became convinced, (and his faith in God was strengthened), he followed the Lord’s instructions to the letter and through God won the tremendous victory.
God can accomplish great things through us if we forget our weaknesses and follow his guidance. There was peace in Israel for forty years during the life of Gideon. When the people wanted to make Gideon their king, he refused, but took gold from them and made an ephod, a sacred vestment, probably to commemorate the victory. Unfortunately, the people promptly worshipped it as an idol.
Sigh . . .
As soon as Gideon died of old age, the Israelites once again turned to worship the false god Baal and ignored the family of Gideon. Maybe America will suffer the same fate, but it is worth all of our efforts even if we were to only lead one person into God’s light and out of the darkness of hell for eternity.
Some will not join our cause to restore faith in America, but make no mistake about it others will find their faith and rise to distinguish themselves in battle. Though we may be made fewer in numbers because of pessimism, disinterest, divisiveness, and resignation to defeat; we that remain will gain in purity, and can fully expect an increased blessing from the Lord.
God chooses to employ those who are not only well affected by, but zealously affected by a good thing. Our mission is a good thing! We need brave leaders who will arise and convict America of her sins, (abortion, homosexuality, hatred, pornography, atheism, the “if it feels good, do it” mantra); we need unswerving leaders of faith like Gideon; we need the Lord to lead us into battle and demonstrate his awesome power.
If we can convince our nation to allow the Lord to be number one in our lives, America can be saved, (at least for a season; yes she will no doubt return to her idols like the Israelites did, but at least we can delay God’s judgment and live in peace during our time) . . .
One might note that all of this applies to our everyday lives too. Make God number one in your life today and don’t get overwhelmed by the small stuff and remember that it’s all small stuff . . .
As an update on my father, our family returned home last night. Dad is back in his room at assisted living and has entered hospice. He’s resting comfortably, is in good spirits, and has peace with his decision to forego the 2 operations that he needs in order to possibly prolong his life. His internal bleeding has stopped for the time being, and he is not in imminent danger until and unless it resumes. The doctors estimate that if he starts bleeding again, he will likely survive 2-4 days.
He has fought the good fight, kept the faith, and awaits his celebration with Jesus with eager anticipation. I say bravo to this faithful servant of God!
Judges 8:23
But Gideon told them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you.”
January 27, 2014 – Click here to listen