It is easy to say this adage is just a consequence of our human flaws, but there is actually a correlation between God's commandments and the ability [or inability] of man's obedience to follow them. The rules, so to speak, by which God intends man to live have not changed just because we have technology the ancient Israelites did not possess. We may have convinced ourselves that we are above those commandments, and no longer need to follow them, but any fool can take a look at the degradation of our society and culture, and know that something is dreadfully wrong. So, is there a Biblical correlation to the destruction of America that we see today? Let me see if I can show you one parallel story that might point the way to our understanding.
As I have said before, God's Word is multi-dimensional, and often I find the Holy Spirit directing me to connect the dots in Scripture. So, I'm going to start in Exodus 23, in order to lay the groundwork of how God's "spiritual mechanics" work in the lives of men; past, present, and future.
To begin, we need to understand that God always keeps His promises; and He never breaks them. In Exodus 23, God promises the Israelites conquest of the land of Canaan. "Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him". [NOTE: the angel is Jesus. And according to the website, wearehebrew, the name of God is Yahua, and the name of Jesus is Yahusha -- so we find that God's name is in Him, just as Scripture says].
God goes on to promise, "But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I blot them out, you shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces". Then comes the qualifier: "You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
Next, we jump to Joshua 9, and the conquest of Canaan and those pagan tribes. Notice that it is God who is going to execute the conquest of these Canaanites. And according to the rules of war for the cities inside the land of Canaan, (Deuteronomy 20:16b-18), Joshua and the Israelites were to destroy all the people in the land because they worshiped false gods and would teach the people of Israel to follow their gods. Incidentally, there was also a rule of war for the cities who were outside the land of Canaan, and lived "far away" ... they were to be offered peace, and allowed to live as slaves to the conquering Israelites. If they refused, they would be killed, just as the citizens of Jericho and Ai.
And here's where we see an interesting, yet all-too-familiar circumstance in Joshua, Chapter 9. The Canaanite tribes heard of the victories of the Israelites and amassed together to go up against them. Joshua and his army are approaching the city of Gibeon, and the inhabitants knew that if the Israelites obeyed God's rules of war, they were doomed to be killed, so they plotted to deceive Joshua by approaching him and telling him, “We have come from a distant country, so now make a covenant with us” (Joshua 9:3-6). Joshua was obedient to the commandments of the Lord to spare those cities who lived far away, and Scripture says, "Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore to them" (Joshua 9:15). But when he learned that the Gibeonites had deceived him and were actually their neighbors within the land of Canaan, he still honored the covenant with them, saying, “We have sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, and now we may not touch them. This we will do to them: let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath that we swore to them”.
Now, let's move on to the next dot we need to connect. We find King David in 2 Samuel 21 seeking to understand why there has been a three-year famine in the land. A famine that lasts one or two years might be contributed to punishment for sins of the people in the land, but when it lingered into the third year, David wisely sought the Lord's counsel to see if there was some spiritual authority that had been breached. And the answer from the Lord came to David: “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.”
Now, this must have sent a chill down the back of King David! He knew that in the days of Joshua -- some 400 years before David's time! -- Israel had sworn not to harm the Gibeonites. God expected Israel to keep its promise, even though the Gibeonites tricked Israel into making the agreement. Saul’s crime was not only in killing the Gibeonites but also in breaking this ancient and important oath. In his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah, Saul had sinned and brought calamity upon the nation.
So, what was the result of this disobedience and how was it to be resolved so that God would release Israel from the famine? David needed to make atonement for the wrongs done to the Gibeonites and for dishonoring the covenant between them and Joshua. To the Gibeonites credit, they understood that the brutality against them was past sin from a past leader. They didn't demand money, or land, or to go to war. But they did want justice! To satisfy the bloodguilt of Saul, the Gibeonites demanded that David give up seven sons of Saul to be hanged on a mountaintop. [I think it is possible that these sons/descendants of Saul might have partaken in the slaughter of the Gibeonites, although that is not specifically stated]. And it must be mentioned that David spared Jonathon's son Miphiboseth because of a covenant of friendship and peace he made with Jonathan that was to last through their descendants forever [1 Samuel 20]. David was wise enough not to fix a broken covenant by breaking another.
In the end, David directed that justice be done on behalf of the Gibeonites so that the Lord might release them from the famine, which had been brought upon the land because of a broken covenant. There are so many principles that are important for us to see in this ancient story, which spanned over 400 years. And these principles are just as valid for us today, in the United States of America, as it was for ancient Israel. We must discern that God expects us to keep our promises, oaths made in His Name, and the covenants we make. He expects the same from nations. God does not excuse us from our obligations to keep those promises because of the passage of time. And it is possible that God's discipline and correction may come a long time after the offense -- but it will come!
Furthermore, because of the importance God puts on honoring covenants and promises, we can be confident that He will honor those He makes with us. So, I think we have to ask ourselves if our nation has honored its promises and covenants with other nations as well as to us, its citizens. And I think we have to go all the way back to the founding of America, and examine where we have broken covenant -- especially with our God! Is it any wonder that our nation seems to be deteriorating before our eyes? That doesn't mean God hasn't [or won't] answer any of our prayers... I have certainly been blessed, as has our country. BUT there will come a time when He will deal with our [accumulated sin] -- that makes me shudder at the extent of it! -- and like Israel, He will discontinue answering our prayers until we deal with it and seek atonement and forgiveness.
Is that time upon us? Are we on the verge of seeing unanswered prayers which will devastate our nation beyond anything we have yet experienced? If that is where we're at, we can learn from King David, and do what He did ... seek God's counsel to address and fix the broken promises. We don't need to seek counsel from Congress, politicians, and sadly, from most of the Churches, who don't have the answer because they don't see the spiritual mechanics of their own sins, nor their complicity with making a 50l(c)(3) covenant with a body of people who have sinned against God and His principles. Simply stated: God is the answer to our problems! He always has been! But time is running out, and we need to set aside our personal and national pride, humble ourselves and pray; seek His Face, and turn from our wicked ways. If we are not willing to do that, we cannot and will not see Him hear us, or forgive us, or heal our land. The choice is ours, just as it was Joshua's and King David's. We can learn from them. We need to learn from their examples, or we can expect God to deal with our sins.
#makingcovenants; #breakingcovenants; #rightingwrongs; #consequencesofsin; #Exodus23; #Joshua9; #Deuteronomy20; #2Samuel21; #1Samuel20; #Gibeonitesrevenge; #KingDavid; #atonement; #seekingGod
Proverbs 3:5-7. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes, but fear the Lord and shun evil.
