THE THREE GREAT MISTAKES OF AMERICA
When our forefathers came to this country on the Mayflower so long ago, they came because of their many personal reasons, but they were predominately Christians. This country, when it became independent of Britain, was founded by Christian forefathers who created a very sound constitution and founded a very good government, and much if not all of the legislation that the people were ruled by was based on the bible! However, despite all their careful work to lay the foundation of a nation great and long lasting, I ponder the idea that they made a number of mistakes that have proven very hurtful to this country, and in man's entire history on this planet, no civilization, not one nation, has ever been perfect in eliminating all three of these mistakes from their foundation. Let's look at the first to be considered.
God's own people saw all that God did for them, and knew of this God-given strategy for nation building from their own leaders, Moses and Joshua, and still they made the same mistake all nations before and after them have made; they allowed nonChristian people to live amongst them. In Deut. 7:1-4 it is written, "When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following Me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly." Now consider how our country is faring today, and see if you can see the flaw we have in our governance, that we have allowed other religions to come to our country, and how they have affected us the same way that the Israelites were affected. Did not the perverseness, corruption, and sinfulness of the people of other religions cause the downfall of the Israelites, and didn't they pay the consequence of being conquered by other nations, because they failed to obey God? We've actually allowed the ungodly to put God out of our schools, and they have been working to oust Him from our public property in the form of crosses and Ten Commandment displays! Oh, how do we wrest the power from the ungodly who work to offend Him and rouse Him to wrath? Let's look at another mistake, shall we?
Exod. 18:19-21 has it, "Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God: And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do. Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness;...". We as a nation have also not recognized this precept in the way we elect people to lead our nation, not from the lowly councilperson to the presidency. We seem to elect people for good looks, false promises, and without checking their backgrounds or past indiscretions instead of electing them based on at a minimum of at least proclaimed Christian values and beliefs! This nation has suffered many consequences as a result of unwise choices of the leaders of our country. Look at Dan. 7:25; "And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." As the antiChrist shall seek to change times and laws, don't some politicians try to do that already? There is one more mistake that I feel our nation has made over the many years, and it is probably the greatest mistake of all.
While we are young, we are able to accomplish much with our strength. We are able to learn quickly with a youthful mind. We are able to bring in an income to support ourselves and our family, if God is willing to bless us with a job. We are able to raise children, if God is willing to bless us with them. But once we become stricken with age, once we must depend on the retirement funds we (hopefully) were wise enough to put away because we can no longer work, once we are finished with the job of raising children, we can no longer sow, and we must reap of our actions when we were young. If we voted wrong, politicians may change laws or take our retirement away, or worse, may allow our nation to become weak enough to be beaten and lose its sovereignty. If we failed to raise our children properly, we may suffer their behavior as a result of how we reared them. This has become very evident over the decades; people have not raised their children correctly, and our nation continues to suffer more and more as a result. Let's look at this passage in Deut. 4:1-10; "Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you. But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day. Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons; specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children." I tell you, many parents through the lifetime of our nation since it was created have not followed the wise instruction of this part of the Old Testament. Our nation is faster and faster going to its destruction in corruption, perversity, and godlessness. What number of real Christians as are left see this and are troubled, but God rewards action! Let us pray to our God for His help, and let us reprove our children with the bible. Let us lead the distraught and weary and influence them to believe His word, and allow God to reward appropriately those who refuse to hear and even mock Scripture. But let us preach, teach, and pray with love for those who need it, as Jesus wanted done then, and even now.
