Warnings From Jeremiah

As I read Jeremiah, I cannot help but see the parallels between the United States and Israel of old. Do not get me wrong; Israel is God’s nation. God gives promises to Israel that belong to no other country, but there are striking similarities in spiritual history.

God makes it clear that Jeremiah is a prophet “over the nations” (Jeremiah 1:10). By clarifying this prophet over the nations thing, God is telling us that what Jeremiah says applies to all nations, not only Israel. This week’s column focuses on Jeremiah chapter two, where God explains why He is mad at Israel. I will also point out why it is not an incredible leap to see why God is angry at America.

Unless otherwise noted, all references from here on are from Jeremiah 2.

Verse two talks of Israel’s love for God and how they went after God “in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.”

In Europe, Christians were persecuted and executed by governments and the church itself. Their love for God caused them to risk life and limb, traveling to the unknown to start a new life free from religious persecution. Like Israel, their love affair with God brought them to an unsown wilderness.

In verse six, God asks why Israel did not remember everything He had done for them. Why did Israel no longer give Him glory?

Think of what God has done for and through us as Americans.

In the Revolution, a bunch of farmers defeated the largest, most powerful army on earth. Less than a hundred years later, God has us suffer through one of the most bloody wars in the history of the world because of our sin of slavery (read Lincoln’s second inaugural address. He points out that every drop of blood from the whip would be paid for by drops of blood from the sword).

After God’s judgment of our civil war, one of the greatest spiritual revivals occurred. Missionaries and Evangelists from America spread the gospel across the world, saving millions. At the same time, God blessed our nation in other ways. More and more land became American land as our brave populus advanced westward. We became the bread basket of the world. Our livestock was the best-fed and most desired meat around the globe. The Industrial Revolution started as American ingenuity made everyone’s lives easier and more productive. Harvard and Yale were the educational envies of the world. In their origins, they were religious schools that trained preachers and teachers.

As the nation moved west, a town’s first public building often was a church, which also served as a school and town hall for public discussion. The only textbook in the early schools was often the King James Bible. The Bible can teach reading, math, and world history as we learn about ancient Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, first-century Europe, and Mesopotamia. The Bible was also used in schools to teach children about finances, including how to borrow and lend money, parenting, and other practical courses of study, which are entirely ignored by schools today.

God blessed the nation as the teaching of God and His Word continued in churches, homes, and schools. We rose from obscurity to the greatest country on earth.

Moving into the twentieth century, well, let’s face it. If it were not for the United States and the military might God gave us, much of the world would currently have swastikas on their flags. Also, Israel would never have been reborn.

Let’s move on.

Verse seven discusses many things mentioned above, like the plentiful land and large harvests. Then verse eight comes: “The priest said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.”

Israel had pushed God out of the secular (“they that handle the law”) and religion.

It is easy to see that God has been pushed out of the secular in America. The Bible and prayer were kicked out of schools over sixty years ago. Christmas trees are now holiday trees, and manger scenes are no longer allowed in town squares. Baal is mentioned in the verse. A significant part of Baal worship is the sacrifice of children. One needs to look no further than our nation’s love for abortion to see the parallel there.

How have we pushed God out of religion?

In verse thirteen, God explains that Israel had done two evils. They had forsaken Him and hewed out cisterns “that can hold no water.”

These two things go hand in hand. When a person forsakes God, over time, they will reject the principles God teaches, leaving them with a foundation that cannot hold water.

How have we forsaken God?

How often do you read the Bible? The Word is God (John 1:1-3). Can you claim someone as a close friend if you have not spoken to them in thirty years?

Even if you read the Bible often, do you do what it says? Jesus said in John 14:15, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” Yet Americans don’t want to be told that God disapproves of some of our actions and the things we tolerate.

When it comes to sin, people often quote Jesus, who said, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her” (John 8:7). Jesus used this statement to teach us not to have a judgmental attitude. However, people will use Jesus’ words here as a defense for their sin. In other words, you can’t judge me, so keep your mouth shut.

Let us look at what is happening in John 8. A woman caught in the act of adultery is brought to Jesus. Jesus responds to her accusers with the cast the first stone statement. Everyone leaves; only Jesus and the woman are left. The last thing Jesus says to her is, “Go, and sin no more” (John 8:11). We tend to like it when those who are judgemental are put in their place, but we don’t like it when God tells us to stop sinning.

Long story short, we have forsaken God by allowing any sin we desire to remain in our lives and never standing up to sin that is tolerated by the masses.

When God says something is evil, it is evil. When God says something is good, it is good. But America has done what Old Testament Israel did, “Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20).

Jeremiah wrote of impending judgment. Can we expect anything less?