Psalm 124
let Israel say—
when men attacked us,
3when their anger flared against us,
they would have swallowed us alive;
4the flood would have engulfed us,
the torrent would have swept over us,
5the raging waters
would have swept us away.
6Praise be to the LORD,
who has not let us be torn by their teeth.
7We have escaped like a bird
out of the fowler’s snare;
the snare has been broken,
and we have escaped.
8Our help is in the name of the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
+++++++
Long before the Hebrews entered into the promise land they made a
covenant with God. The first five books of the Bible tell the story of their journey,
the laws God gave them and what happened along the way. They were reminded several
times that if they exercised obedience to the statutes that they were given they
would be rewarded with prosperity as a people and a nation. They were also
warned of the consequences if they chose to break the law.
And as they say “history repeats itself”. The Nations of Israel
and Judah chose to do as they pleased. Their worship of false gods, adulterous
behaviors, the sacrifice of their own children and disrespect of the Sabbaths
God gave them was just some of what led them to ruin and 70 years of captivity.
The Lord would speak to the people through prophets, when the King
would inquire of the Lord. For example he would ask the prophet if he should go
to war with a particular nation and the prophet would then tell the King the
Lords answer. Often He would answer them saying “go I will deliver them into
your hands”. But he could not deliver
them when they had broken the covenant by marrying foreign women. God told them
they would lose the battle and have to pay tribute to their enemies. After a
few years of this the people would repent from their sin and ask the Lord to
help them. His loving nature looked upon them with compassion and He would deliver
them. However the Lords patience must give way to judgment if His people
continue to disregard His leading.
If you have read the text from the Mayflower Compact, you can see
that the original colonist in the United States made a covenant with the Lord. (I
have posted a copy of it below). Because of this covenant and their willingness
to follow the teachings of Jesus, the United States of America became a
sovereign nation. It is because of this covenant that our nation prospered, we
were a nation under God indivisible with Liberty and Justice for all. The
covenant was further solidified with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution
of the United States of America. These documents represent a people who were
dedicated to having a nation that would follow the teachings of the Bible. The
very foundation of law is based upon the Ten Commandments. Our nation grew and
became an empire, but as it grew and prospered the people and the leaders
forgot and made efforts to keep the Lord out of schools and in government and
became hardened to their own sin.
The Lord has been patient with our nation but He has done things
to try and get our attention. The civil war killed over 1 million people, more
than all of the other wars of our nation combined and it was the direct result
of instituting slavery, a practice which the constitution does not support at
all. You can call it what you want, but it was punishment for a great sin. The
Lord after this prospered our nation and we became great and powerful; almost
equal to the stature of Rome.
Rome eventually because of their greed and wanton sexual sin
disappeared. We like Rome and Israel are on the verge of disappearing. We are a
nation that has lost it way and has turned its back on the Lord. We have broken
the covenant established by the pilgrims and as a result we could end up in
civil war and find this once great nation divided.
Each day you see the media and the government, marginalizing the teachings of
Christ and those that follow Jesus. They claim separation of church and state,
and yet government ways are forced upon the church more and more. The government and
the media want free speech as long as it suits them, but if you speak out in a
public place about the Lord, we are told to be quiet.
The Lord God of all things will not play second fiddle to a government or a
people that seeks to exclude him out of all facets of society. He is angry with
us and our nation and will exact his punishment. Quoting David Wilkerson "…this is not recession or depression, but it is judgment."
In all of this the voice the Lord calls out to us and tells us to lean not upon
our own understanding but to lean upon him. He calls us to trust him and to
serve him, not to sell out to a society that is full of itself and boasts about
its sin, and refuses to repent. He pleads for us to come away and be separate
and a Holy people. None of us are perfect or without sin. We all need
Jesus to cover our sin and this is why he went to the cross and rose from the
dead; to deliver us from the bondage of sin and death. Today as you read this,
examine your life and then ask the Lord to examine your life. Then ask him to
cover you with his blood.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT
the Maker of heaven and earth.
+++++++
Long before the Hebrews entered into the promise land they made a
covenant with God. The first five books of the Bible tell the story of their journey,
the laws God gave them and what happened along the way. They were reminded several
times that if they exercised obedience to the statutes that they were given they
would be rewarded with prosperity as a people and a nation. They were also
warned of the consequences if they chose to break the law.
And as they say “history repeats itself”. The Nations of Israel
and Judah chose to do as they pleased. Their worship of false gods, adulterous
behaviors, the sacrifice of their own children and disrespect of the Sabbaths
God gave them was just some of what led them to ruin and 70 years of captivity.
The Lord would speak to the people through prophets, when the King
would inquire of the Lord. For example he would ask the prophet if he should go
to war with a particular nation and the prophet would then tell the King the
Lords answer. Often He would answer them saying “go I will deliver them into
your hands”. But he could not deliver
them when they had broken the covenant by marrying foreign women. God told them
they would lose the battle and have to pay tribute to their enemies. After a
few years of this the people would repent from their sin and ask the Lord to
help them. His loving nature looked upon them with compassion and He would deliver
them. However the Lords patience must give way to judgment if His people
continue to disregard His leading.
If you have read the text from the Mayflower Compact, you can see
that the original colonist in the United States made a covenant with the Lord. (I
have posted a copy of it below). Because of this covenant and their willingness
to follow the teachings of Jesus, the United States of America became a
sovereign nation. It is because of this covenant that our nation prospered, we
were a nation under God indivisible with Liberty and Justice for all. The
covenant was further solidified with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution
of the United States of America. These documents represent a people who were
dedicated to having a nation that would follow the teachings of the Bible. The
very foundation of law is based upon the Ten Commandments. Our nation grew and
became an empire, but as it grew and prospered the people and the leaders
forgot and made efforts to keep the Lord out of schools and in government and
became hardened to their own sin.
The Lord has been patient with our nation but He has done things
to try and get our attention. The civil war killed over 1 million people, more
than all of the other wars of our nation combined and it was the direct result
of instituting slavery, a practice which the constitution does not support at
all. You can call it what you want, but it was punishment for a great sin. The
Lord after this prospered our nation and we became great and powerful; almost
equal to the stature of Rome.
Rome eventually because of their greed and wanton sexual sin
disappeared. We like Rome and Israel are on the verge of disappearing. We are a
nation that has lost it way and has turned its back on the Lord. We have broken
the covenant established by the pilgrims and as a result we could end up in
civil war and find this once great nation divided.
Each day you see the media and the government, marginalizing the teachings of
Christ and those that follow Jesus. They claim separation of church and state,
and yet government ways are forced upon the church more and more. The government and
the media want free speech as long as it suits them, but if you speak out in a
public place about the Lord, we are told to be quiet.
The Lord God of all things will not play second fiddle to a government or a
people that seeks to exclude him out of all facets of society. He is angry with
us and our nation and will exact his punishment. Quoting David Wilkerson "…this is not recession or depression, but it is judgment."
In all of this the voice the Lord calls out to us and tells us to lean not upon
our own understanding but to lean upon him. He calls us to trust him and to
serve him, not to sell out to a society that is full of itself and boasts about
its sin, and refuses to repent. He pleads for us to come away and be separate
and a Holy people. None of us are perfect or without sin. We all need
Jesus to cover our sin and this is why he went to the cross and rose from the
dead; to deliver us from the bondage of sin and death. Today as you read this,
examine your life and then ask the Lord to examine your life. Then ask him to
cover you with his blood.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT
In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are under-written, the
loyal subjects of our dread sovereign Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of
Great Britain, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, etc. Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the
Christian faith, and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first
colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and
mutually, in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine our
selves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and
preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to
enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts,
constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and
convenient for the general good of the Colony, unto which we promise all due
submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our
names at Cape Cod, the eleventh of November [New Style, November 21], in the
year of the reign of our sovereign lord, King James, of England, France, and
Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Dom. 1620.
