Jeremiah 11:1 through 12:17 covers what is considered to be the fourth sermon of Jeremiah, the prophet of God.
In verse 11:5 the Lord speaks of the promise to Judah's fathers to provide for them "a land flowing with milk and honey." The promise was conditional, however, upon the Israelites obeying God. The Lord longed to bless His people with such a land, but they continued to walk in such disobedience that He had no choice but to infer upon them, not the promised blessings of His Word, but rather the promised curses for their disobedience. He is reminding them of the promises, both of life or of death, that He spoke to the Israelites...promises that can be found in several places in Deuteronomy.
For example, Deuteronomy 28:1-14 lists the blessings that will follow obedience to the Lord, while Deuteronomy 28:15-68 lists the curses that will come through disobedience to the Lord.
Read Deuteronomy 28 in full when you can, and let me know if any of it reminds you of our nation. I can't help but see America in it, and I can't help but tremble at what is to come if our nation does not repent of its prideful neglect and ingratitude towards God and all that HE blessed us with as a new nation; blessings that continue today, yet will soon, I fear, come to a quick and devastating end in this Shemitah year.
The word "covenant" is used often in Deuteronomy and even several times here in Jeremiah 11. I believe that we believers in Christ think that we can "excuse" ourselves from the penalty of the curses because the "covenant" of which the Lord speaks here is one of the Old Testament, not the New Testament covenant of forgiveness in Christ. But why, then, would our nation be at "risk" at all if we have not covenanted with God and broken Hi covenant just as Israel and then Judah did?
The truth is that our nation has covenanted with God, as a nation. This covenant was proclaimed by our leaders, those who represent our nation, and just as a bad leader can cause bad things to happen to the nation of which he is a leader, so also can godly leaders covenant with God on behalf of the nation that they represent to cause blessings to fall on that nation.
So, when, you might ask, did we covenant with God as a nation?
Well it wasn't in 1776, the date that we consider the birth of our nation. It was actually on April 30, 1789, the date that the nation's first president, George Washington, was inaugurated.
Just as King Solomon stood at the dedication of the temple, and proclaimed that the blessings of God would fall on the nation of Israel with their disobedience to God, and also, prophetically, that the curses of God would fall on the nation if they should go away from God, so too, our nation's first inaugurated President proclaimed similar blessings or curses on our nation, dependent entirely upon our acknowledgment of and gratitude towards God (blessings), and that any nation foolish enough to turn away from God should expect His protection and blessings to cease (curses).
The President's inaugural address was heralded on April 23, 1789, a few day prior to his speech, by The New York Daily Advisor with these words:
"On the morning of the day on which our illustrious President will be invested with his office, the bells will ring at nine o'clock, when the people may go up to the house of God and in a solemn manner commit the new government, with its important train of consequences, to the holy protection and blessing of the Most High. An early hour is prudently fixed for this peculiar act of devotion and is designed wholly for prayer." [See posting on July 22, 2010 at this site: http://davidbartonwallbuilders.typepad.com/blog/ ]
In the first ever presidential address, hear our first inaugurated President's words concerning Almighty God:
"Such being the impressions under which I have, in obedience to the public summons, repaired to the present station, it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success the functions allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the Great Author of every public and private good, I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own, nor those of my fellow- citizens at large less than either. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency; and in the important revolution just accomplished in the system of their united government the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities from which the event has resulted can not be compared with the means by which most governments have been established without some return of pious gratitude, along with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seem to presage. These reflections, arising out of the present crisis, have forced themselves too strongly on my mind to be suppressed. You will join with me, I trust, in thinking that there are none under the influence of which the proceedings of a new and free government can more auspiciously commence....since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained..."
[ See the entire address at: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/wash1.asp ]
Now, follow with me just a bit further.
When Israel as a nation was judged, the symbol of that nation's government or leaders, the symbol of the commitment of the national leaders to God, i.e., the temple, was the first thing to be destroyed, then the people were carried off. It is as though the judgment began at the national place of dedication or commitment or covenant to God; such covenant being proclaimed on behalf of the nation by the nation's leaders.
So, if George Washington proclaimed America, in a sense, to be a nation that acknowledges God, at a place in which he was surrounded by representatives of the newly established government (including senate, congress, etc.), then, if judgment were to fall we might expect that judgment to fall first on that national symbol of commitment of the nation to God.
Now, don't go thinking that means Washington D.C. in any form or shape, because the government of our country was not established in Washington D.C. The proclamation by our first inauguarated President was not spoken in Washington, D.C. In fact, to my knowledge, George Washington never set foot inside Washington D.C.
The New York Daily Advisor clearly stated that the inaugural speech was to be given by the President, surrounded by the government representatives of senate, congress, etc., in the "house of God." This particular newspaper reported it, because the establishment of our government, and the location of the church of this first inaugural address, was none other than New York City, the capitol of our nation at that time. [See David Burton Wallbuilder's blog again.]
The church was St. Paul's Chapel which still exists within a block or two of Wall Street.
And the large section of land that, at that time (according to the author of The Harbinger),was owned exclusively by St. Paul's Chapel, was later divided and sold to become the plot of land upon which the Twin Towers were built.
Ground that is now known as "Ground Zero."
Do you think that was just a very bad coincidence? That the land upon which our nation covenanted with God to be guided by Him, was, 212 years later, the same land that was attacked on 9/11 by America's enemies...who just happen to be descendants of ancient Assyria?
Or could that have been the beginning of judgment on a nation who, for all intents and purposes, has excluded the Almighty God it once gratefully acknowledged; the God to whom it now turns its collective backs?
Could it be also that God's Word which we declare to be "living" was recorded for our benefit, and the benefit of every nation ever to exist, in order that we might know what to expect, fully and completely, when we turn as a nation against God?
[If you need further convincing, read Jonathan Cahn's book The Harbinger. It was in his book that I found this information for the first time a couple of years ago; information which I verified at the websites shown in this blog, although there are many additional websites that confirm this information as well.]
In verse 11:5 the Lord speaks of the promise to Judah's fathers to provide for them "a land flowing with milk and honey." The promise was conditional, however, upon the Israelites obeying God. The Lord longed to bless His people with such a land, but they continued to walk in such disobedience that He had no choice but to infer upon them, not the promised blessings of His Word, but rather the promised curses for their disobedience. He is reminding them of the promises, both of life or of death, that He spoke to the Israelites...promises that can be found in several places in Deuteronomy.
For example, Deuteronomy 28:1-14 lists the blessings that will follow obedience to the Lord, while Deuteronomy 28:15-68 lists the curses that will come through disobedience to the Lord.
Read Deuteronomy 28 in full when you can, and let me know if any of it reminds you of our nation. I can't help but see America in it, and I can't help but tremble at what is to come if our nation does not repent of its prideful neglect and ingratitude towards God and all that HE blessed us with as a new nation; blessings that continue today, yet will soon, I fear, come to a quick and devastating end in this Shemitah year.
The word "covenant" is used often in Deuteronomy and even several times here in Jeremiah 11. I believe that we believers in Christ think that we can "excuse" ourselves from the penalty of the curses because the "covenant" of which the Lord speaks here is one of the Old Testament, not the New Testament covenant of forgiveness in Christ. But why, then, would our nation be at "risk" at all if we have not covenanted with God and broken Hi covenant just as Israel and then Judah did?
The truth is that our nation has covenanted with God, as a nation. This covenant was proclaimed by our leaders, those who represent our nation, and just as a bad leader can cause bad things to happen to the nation of which he is a leader, so also can godly leaders covenant with God on behalf of the nation that they represent to cause blessings to fall on that nation.
So, when, you might ask, did we covenant with God as a nation?
Well it wasn't in 1776, the date that we consider the birth of our nation. It was actually on April 30, 1789, the date that the nation's first president, George Washington, was inaugurated.
Just as King Solomon stood at the dedication of the temple, and proclaimed that the blessings of God would fall on the nation of Israel with their disobedience to God, and also, prophetically, that the curses of God would fall on the nation if they should go away from God, so too, our nation's first inaugurated President proclaimed similar blessings or curses on our nation, dependent entirely upon our acknowledgment of and gratitude towards God (blessings), and that any nation foolish enough to turn away from God should expect His protection and blessings to cease (curses).
The President's inaugural address was heralded on April 23, 1789, a few day prior to his speech, by The New York Daily Advisor with these words:
"On the morning of the day on which our illustrious President will be invested with his office, the bells will ring at nine o'clock, when the people may go up to the house of God and in a solemn manner commit the new government, with its important train of consequences, to the holy protection and blessing of the Most High. An early hour is prudently fixed for this peculiar act of devotion and is designed wholly for prayer." [See posting on July 22, 2010 at this site: http://davidbartonwallbuilders.typepad.com/blog/ ]
In the first ever presidential address, hear our first inaugurated President's words concerning Almighty God:
"Such being the impressions under which I have, in obedience to the public summons, repaired to the present station, it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success the functions allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the Great Author of every public and private good, I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own, nor those of my fellow- citizens at large less than either. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency; and in the important revolution just accomplished in the system of their united government the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities from which the event has resulted can not be compared with the means by which most governments have been established without some return of pious gratitude, along with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seem to presage. These reflections, arising out of the present crisis, have forced themselves too strongly on my mind to be suppressed. You will join with me, I trust, in thinking that there are none under the influence of which the proceedings of a new and free government can more auspiciously commence....since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained..."
[ See the entire address at: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/wash1.asp ]
Now, follow with me just a bit further.
When Israel as a nation was judged, the symbol of that nation's government or leaders, the symbol of the commitment of the national leaders to God, i.e., the temple, was the first thing to be destroyed, then the people were carried off. It is as though the judgment began at the national place of dedication or commitment or covenant to God; such covenant being proclaimed on behalf of the nation by the nation's leaders.
So, if George Washington proclaimed America, in a sense, to be a nation that acknowledges God, at a place in which he was surrounded by representatives of the newly established government (including senate, congress, etc.), then, if judgment were to fall we might expect that judgment to fall first on that national symbol of commitment of the nation to God.
Now, don't go thinking that means Washington D.C. in any form or shape, because the government of our country was not established in Washington D.C. The proclamation by our first inauguarated President was not spoken in Washington, D.C. In fact, to my knowledge, George Washington never set foot inside Washington D.C.
The New York Daily Advisor clearly stated that the inaugural speech was to be given by the President, surrounded by the government representatives of senate, congress, etc., in the "house of God." This particular newspaper reported it, because the establishment of our government, and the location of the church of this first inaugural address, was none other than New York City, the capitol of our nation at that time. [See David Burton Wallbuilder's blog again.]
The church was St. Paul's Chapel which still exists within a block or two of Wall Street.
And the large section of land that, at that time (according to the author of The Harbinger),was owned exclusively by St. Paul's Chapel, was later divided and sold to become the plot of land upon which the Twin Towers were built.
Ground that is now known as "Ground Zero."
Do you think that was just a very bad coincidence? That the land upon which our nation covenanted with God to be guided by Him, was, 212 years later, the same land that was attacked on 9/11 by America's enemies...who just happen to be descendants of ancient Assyria?
Or could that have been the beginning of judgment on a nation who, for all intents and purposes, has excluded the Almighty God it once gratefully acknowledged; the God to whom it now turns its collective backs?
Could it be also that God's Word which we declare to be "living" was recorded for our benefit, and the benefit of every nation ever to exist, in order that we might know what to expect, fully and completely, when we turn as a nation against God?
[If you need further convincing, read Jonathan Cahn's book The Harbinger. It was in his book that I found this information for the first time a couple of years ago; information which I verified at the websites shown in this blog, although there are many additional websites that confirm this information as well.]
2 comments:
I have not read the Harbinger, but have heard the author speak on Dr. Dobson's show. One other interesting thing I heard about George Washington, something you might not know. He would fine his soldiers if they spoke profanity (see below). I think President Washington was a man of character and deep spiritual beliefs.
I am not sure if God's blessing has been removed from America, but if She continues on this path of ungodliness I can only believe the that will happen. GW
Washington's Order Against Profanity
The General is sorry to be informed that the foolish and wicked practice of
profane cursing and swearing, a vice hitherto little known in our American Army is
growing into fashion. He hopes that the officers will, by example as well as
influence, endeavor to check it and that both they and the men will reflect that we
can little hope of the blessing of Heaven on our army if we insult it by our impiety
and folly. Added to this it is a vice so mean and low without any temptation that
every man of sense and character detests and despises it.
(Signed,) George Washington
Neither do I believe that God's blessings have been removed from our nation...not yet. And as long as we have freedom to do so, believers in Jesus Christ in America will continue to pray for revival, for a spirit of repentance to fall on our nation, beginning with our leaders. But I do believe we have been given strong warnings, a taste of greater judgment to come if repentance does not come soon. Even the quote that you provided from George Washington is but another indicator of how far we have fallen from piety here in America. How long will the Lord tarry? The answer to that question is what should have us on our knees praying for those lost who do not yet know Him. Thanks, GW, for your contribution to this study! I appreciate it!
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