What Is Wrong With Modern America? : Part 1

WHAT IS WRONG WITH MODERN AMERICA? : PART 1

Copyright 1994 - 2008 Endtime Prophecy Net

Last Updated : July 23, 2006

Tragedies And Victims?, God's Omnipotence, Divine Will And
Pre-Ordained Purposes, Hardness And Blindness Of Modern Men,
God's Conditional Blessings To Ancient Israelites, Wisdom In
Acknowledging God In Our Lives, New Testament Examples Of
Humility And Bowing To God's Will, Jesus - Our Prime Example
Murmuring And Contentment, Israel's Steep Fall Into Apostasy
Jewish Child Sacrifices, God's Continual Presence And Mighty
Works, Promised Land Defiled, Israel's Whoredom And Idolatry

Every now and then, one of my readers will write to me, and
ask me if I have heard of a certain fatal plane crash which
has claimed a number of lives, or of a powerful storm which
has struck a certain area of the world and left a great deal
of destruction in its path, or of some other event which has
filled the world press. In such cases, these incidents are
sometimes described by the writer as being tragedies, and
those people who have without warning lost their lives, as
poor souls or victims. From a worldly perspective, this is
the normal, natural and acceptable attitude to adopt when we
hear of such news; but is it really the correct one to take
for one who claims to be a Christian? While this revelation
may shock a few of my readers, I personally no longer view
such events as tragedies, or those people involved in them
as being victims or poor souls. Why is this?

Quite simply, as a long-time reader of God's Holy Word, I
have come to recognize that all things, both good and evil,
come from the Hand of God; and I realize that He is in total
and absolute control of His creation and the affairs of men.
In other words, I am fully convinced that nothing happens by
so-called accident, but that all things occur only by God's
Divine Will and Permission. As such, I can no longer view
such incidents as tragedies, but rather as a necessary part
of His Plan in some way, even if I do not understand them. I
am reminded of the following verses which confirm these
points, and which reveal the Omnipotence of El Shaddai; that
is, God Almighty:

"See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me:
I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is
there any that can deliver out of my hand."
Deuteronomy 32:39, KJV

"Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there
is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring
the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the
things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall
stand, and I will do all my pleasure:" Isaiah 46:9-10, KJV

"I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and
create evil: I the LORD do all these things."
Isaiah 45:7, KJV

"The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil
and the good." Proverbs 15:3, KJV

"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and
power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy
pleasure they are and were created." Revelation 4:11, KJV

Truly, our God is the all-powerful Lord of the Universe; and
He will indeed do all His pleasure; that is, whatsoever He
desires, regardless of what we mere humans may think, say or
do. As both King David and King Solomon tell us, God has His
appointed time for all of us; a time to be born, as well as
a time to die. All of the Lord's Divine Purposes are already
pre-established. They are all already written in His Books.
In fact, He told the Prophet Jeremiah the very same thing.
Consider the following sets of verses:

"For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in
my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and
wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul
knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when
I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest
parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet
being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were
written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet
there was none of them." Psalms 139:13-16, KJV

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every
purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to
die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is
planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break
down, and a time to build up;" Ecclesiastes 3:1-3, KJV

"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before
thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I
ordained thee a prophet unto the nations."
Jeremiah 1:5, KJV

Thus, in my mind, there are no victims, or poor souls, but
only those people whose lives are cut short by the Lord, for
whatever His pre-ordained reasons might be. It is not my
place, or yours, to question the ways of the Lord, but only
to accept them; for as the Prophet Isaiah, the Patriarch Job
and the Apostle Paul were also inspired to write:

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your
ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher
than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my
thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9, KJV

"Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said, Shall he that
contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth
God, let him answer it. Then Job answered the LORD, and
said, Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will
lay mine hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken; but I will
not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further. Then
answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and
declare thou unto me. Wilt thou also disannul my judgment?
wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?"
Job 40:1-8, KJV

"Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God?
Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast
thou made me thus?" Romans 9:20, KJV

It is only in this modern world of so-called civilized men,
where people have become so spiritually blind, so callous of
heart, and so alienated from God, that they not only do not
recognize the Power, Will and Purpose of God working in each
of their lives, but they are also so lacking in godly fear
and reverence, that they foolishly and quite arrogantly try
to challenge the Almighty, or deny His existence altogether.
As if this weren't already bad enough, due to their state of
rebellion and unbelief, they attempt to attribute the Lord's
Hand of Judgment to other causes; such as to meteorological
conditions which they have dubbed as El Nino and La Nina, or
to naturally-occurring tectonic plate movement, in order to
try to escape the conviction God is trying to place upon
their wicked and rebellious hearts. Again I am reminded of
the following verses of Scripture:

"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he
know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
1 Corinthians 2:14, KJV

"This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye
henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of
their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being
alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is
in them, because of the blindness of their heart:"
Ephesians 4:17-18, KJV

"But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them
which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of
Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."
2 Corinthians 4:3-4, KJV

In stark contrast to this modern anti-god attitude, the Holy
Scriptures reveal that the ancient Israelites were very much
aware of the Lord working in their lives, down to the most
personal level. Whether a woman became pregnant or not was
viewed as being the Will of God. Whether or not the rains
came and caused the crops to grow, was viewed as being the
Will of God. Whether they were victorious or defeated in
battle was likewise viewed as being the Will of God; and
they knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, that when things went
poorly for them, it was because they were displeasing the
Lord in some way. Consider the following words of the Lord
spoken through His Prophet, Moses:

"And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently
unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all
his commandments which I command thee this day, that the
LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the
earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and
overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the
LORD thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed
shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of
thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy
cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy
sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. Blessed
shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be
when thou goest out. The LORD shall cause thine enemies that
rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they
shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee
seven ways. The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in
thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand
unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy
God giveth thee. The LORD shall establish thee an holy
people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou
shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in
his ways. And all people of the earth shall see that thou
art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid
of thee. And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in
the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and
in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware
unto thy fathers to give thee. The LORD shall open unto thee
his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land
in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and
thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not
borrow. And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the
tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be
beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the
LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and
to do them: And thou shalt not go aside from any of the
words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or
to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. But it
shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice
of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments
and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all
these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:"
Deuteronomy 28:1-15, KJV

Thus we see that the Lord was very clear with the Israelites
regarding what He expected of them, if they wanted to remain
the object of His affection. To disobey Him in these matters
would result in dire consequences, as Moses then proceeded
to explain to them. It was because of their acknowledgment
of God working in their lives in order to fulfill His Divine
Purposes, that even hundreds of years later, after Joshua
and Caleb had died, and after the times of the Judges had
passed, and after King Saul had miserably failed the Lord,
that God found pleasure in King David and his son, King
Solomon, who both honoured the Lord in their lives, and who
were thus inspired to write such words of wisdom as the
following:

"Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee
the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD;
trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass."
Psalms 37:4-5, KJV

"...no good thing will he withhold from them that walk
uprightly." Psalms 84:11b, KJV

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good
understanding have all they that do his commandments: his
praise endureth for ever." Psalms 111:10, KJV

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto
thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him,
and he shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5-6, KJV

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the
knowledge of the holy is understanding."
Proverbs 9:10, KJV

We find this very same attitude of humbly acknowledging the
Lord in one's life, being revealed in the pages of the New
Testament by the first Jewish Christians. For example, the
writer James tells us that we must resist our pride, humble
ourselves before the Lord, and draw close to Him. He then
continues by adding that we should not be so haughty as to
make any long-term plans, without first considering the Will
of God in the matter. Like the Old Testament writers, James
also informs us that our stay upon this Earth is brief, and
is determined by the Lord Himself. Consider the following
verses:

"...Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth
grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to
God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye
sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be
afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned
to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in
the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up...Go to now,
ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a
city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get
gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For
what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a
little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to
say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is
evil." James 4:6b-10, 13-16, KJV

The Apostle Peter offers similar advice when he likewise
tells us that there is simply no place for pride in the life
of a true Christian. Not only must we yield ourselves to
God's Will in our lives, by allowing Him to mold and fashion
us as He sees fit; but we must also be willing to be humbled
before others as well:

"Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder.
Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed
with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace
to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty
hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:"
1 Peter 5:5-6, KJV

The Apostle Paul was likewise no stranger to the mighty Hand
of God which humbles the proudest of men. In fact, beginning
with his very own conversion on the road to Damascus in Acts
chapter nine, the Lord had to rip out his heart of pride,
and give him one of flesh. Whereas Paul had been fighting
against the Will of God before his powerful conversion, once
he was won over to the young Christian faith, not only did
he submit himself to the Lord's Mighty Hand, but he also
taught others how to do the same. Consider Paul's admonition
to the Roman brethren:

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And
be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good,
and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."
Romans 12:1-2, KJV

In his first Epistle, while briefly discussing the topic of
prayer, the Apostle John tells us that when we pray, we must
make certain that our prayers are in accordance with the
Will of God, in order to be answered:

"And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we
ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if
we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we
have the petitions that we desired of him."
1 John 5:14-15, KJV

Of course, as I point out in the series 'So You Really Think
You Are So Humble?', we all know that the greatest example
of humility and submission to God's Will, was that of Jesus
Christ Himself. Consider the Lord's own words, and what Paul
later said of Him as well:

"...My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to
finish his work." John 4:34b, KJV

"For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but
the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will
which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I
should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the
last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that
every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may
have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last
day." John 6:38-40, KJV

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be
equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took
upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness
of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled
himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and
given him a name which is above every name: That at the name
of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and
things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the
glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:5-11, KJV

From all of the previous Scriptural evidence, it becomes
clear then, that unlike many people in our modern society,
who deny God's existence, or who ignore His Will and Power
working in their lives, both the ancient Israelites, as well
as the New Testament Christians, fully acknowledged the Lord
in every sphere of their existence. Whether their lives were
blessed with abundance and protection due to their obedience
in keeping His commandments, or cursed with drought, famine
and invasion when they failed to do the same, they accepted
it as coming directly from the Hand of God. They didn't try
to attribute their abundance to their own hard work or human
wisdom, or their suffering to natural causes such as quirks
in the weather, or to a stronger enemy. They knew full well
that all of these things were ordered by the Lord; at least
at first.

Sadly, as I point out in the in-depth series 'The Fruits Of
Disobedience', even before King David sat upon the throne,
the Israelites had already begun to fall away from the Lord
during the period of the Judges. In fact, if one studies the
Scriptures very closely, he will plainly see that from the
moment that the Lord delivered the descendants of Jacob from
harsh Egyptian bondage, they began to complain; and their
murmuring became so severe, that the Lord finally grew weary
of it, and caused them to wonder in the desert for forty
years, until the older generation of rebellious, grumbling,
faithless souls had all died, save for Joshua and Caleb. In
speaking of these events, the Apostle Paul was inspired to
write:

"Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were
destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened
unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our
admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come."
1 Corinthians 10:10-11, KJV

In other words, Paul is telling us that if we are wise, we
will learn from their mistakes and not do the same thing. In
his Epistle to the Church at Philippi, Paul offers us some
additional words of wisdom when he writes:

"Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in
whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."
Philippians 4:11, KJV

Despite this forty-year purge by the Lord, as I mentioned a
moment ago, the times of the Judges were a mixture of the
Lord's blessings and curses, depending upon the Israelites'
obedience to His Word. While King David made some serious
mistakes during his reign, which resulted in his wonderful
prayers of repentance, it was during the latter years of his
son's reign, that Israel fell into a state of deep apostasy;
beginning with King Solomon himself. This resulted in the
Divided Kingdom, and the many internal wars, and external
invasions, which occurred during the hundreds of years that
followed. It was during this period of the Prophets, that
the increasingly backslidden state of Israel was exposed by
way of the writings of such Prophets as Isaiah, Jeremiah and
Hosea. Consider these examples:

"Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of
evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken
the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto
anger, they are gone away backward. Why should ye be
stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole
head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of
the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but
wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not
been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with
ointment." Isaiah 1:4-6, KJV

"Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near
me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but
have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward
me is taught by the precept of men: Therefore, behold, I
will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even
a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise
men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men
shall be hid. Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their
counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and
they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? Surely your
turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the
potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it,
He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that
framed it, He had no understanding?" Isaiah 29:13-16, KJV

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately
wicked: who can know it?" Jeremiah 17:9, KJV

"The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by
their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will
ye do in the end thereof?" Jeremiah 5:31, KJV

"And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten
images of their silver, and idols according to their own
understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say
of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.
Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the
early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven
with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of
the chimney. Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of
Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no
saviour beside me." Hosea 13:2-4, KJV

So as you can see, when the Israelite leadership and people
backslid, whether it was Israel in the north, or else Judah
in the south, they backslid all the way. They still offered
God their vain lip service, they still pretended to worship
the one true God, but their hearts had departed from Him.
They withdrew themselves so far from the Lord, that the
Prophet Isaiah tells us that they basically said 'He doesn't
see us; He doesn't know what we are doing; and we aren't
even sure if He is the God who really made us'. The Bible
tells us that the people of Judah became so utterly devoted
to their worship of the pagan gods, that contrary to the
very specific warnings that they had received from Moses
hundreds of years before, not only did they build altars to
them, but they also sacrificed their very own children upon
the same. Consider the following shocking verses which
expose the degree of their apostasy, beginning with the
warnings from Moses:

"And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the
fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy
God: I am the LORD." Leviticus 18:21, KJV

"There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his
son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth
divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a
witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits,
or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things
are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these
abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from
before thee." Deuteronomy 18:10-12, KJV

In the following verses, we see how much the Lord's warnings
meant to them hundreds of years later after they had already
occupied the land of Canaan, and after they had had time to
co-mingle with the idol-worshipping heathen for a while:

"And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass
through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and
sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to
provoke him to anger." 2 Kings 17:17, KJV

"And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the
valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their
daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I
commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they
should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin."
Jeremiah 32:35, KJV

What a truly sad, sad story of rebellion and disobedience.
Here was a people who had been highly favoured by the Lord.
He had delivered them from harsh slavery in Egypt. Their
ancestors had seen the might works which the Lord had done
there in order to accomplish so great a deliverance. They
had watched as the Egyptians were consumed by all of the
plagues while they were left untouched. They had witnessed
firsthand the dividing of the Red Sea and the destruction of
Pharaoh's army. They had heard the Voice of God thunder from
Mount Horeb like a mighty trumpet. They had seen Moses' face
glow after his mountaintop encounters with the Lord. They
had eaten quail and Manna in the desert during those forty
years. They had witnessed the Lord descending upon the
Tabernacle in a cloudy pillar in order to speak with Moses
face to face. They had seen Moses draw water from the rock,
and turn bitter waters sweet. They had followed the cloudy
pillar and the pillar of fire on their way to Canaan. They
had beholden the parting of the Jordan River by Joshua as
they entered the Promised Land. They had all watched as the
walls of Jericho fell before them, and as one enemy after
another was crushed by their advancing army, led by such
heroic figures as Gideon.

During those formative years of their development as a
nation, God was with them, just as He had said He would be
if they would only obey Him. They were ever-conscious of His
presence through the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant.
More than any other people living upon the face of the Earth
at that time, the Israelites had every reason to believe in
the eternal invisible God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In
describing God's wonderful blessing of entering the Promised
Land, and how the Israelites then foolishly defiled it, the
Prophet Jeremiah wrote:

"Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found
in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after
vanity, and are become vain? Neither said they, Where is the
LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led
us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of
pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death,
through a land that no man passed through, and where no man
dwelt? And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat
the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye
entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an
abomination." Jeremiah 2:5-7, KJV

As the Prophet Ezekiel graphically informs us, the children
of Israel had fallen from symbolically being the Lord's
highly-favoured spiritual bride, to becoming an unfaithful,
adulterous woman, a whore, and a murderous mother of her own
children, due to her voluntary defilement by the heathen in
her midst, and the pagan gods which they served:

"But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the
harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy
fornications on every one that passed by; his it was. And of
thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places
with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the
like things shall not come, neither shall it be so. Thou
hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver,
which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men,
and didst commit whoredom with them, And tookest thy
broidered garments, and coveredst them: and thou hast set
mine oil and mine incense before them. My meat also which I
gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed
thee, thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savour:
and thus it was, saith the Lord GOD. Moreover thou hast
taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto
me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured.
Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter, That thou hast
slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass
through the fire for them? And in all thine abominations and
thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy
youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast polluted in
thy blood. And it came to pass after all thy wickedness,
(woe, woe unto thee! saith the Lord GOD;) That thou hast
also built unto thee an eminent place, and hast made thee an
high place in every street. Thou hast built thy high place
at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be
abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed
by, and multiplied thy whoredoms. Thou hast also committed
fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, great of
flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to
anger. Behold, therefore I have stretched out my hand over
thee, and have diminished thine ordinary food, and delivered
thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of
the Philistines, which are ashamed of thy lewd way. Thou
hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou
wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them,
and yet couldest not be satisfied. Thou hast moreover
multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto
Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith. How weak
is thine heart, saith the Lord GOD, seeing thou doest all
these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman; In
that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every
way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast
not been as an harlot, in that thou scornest hire; But as a
wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers
instead of her husband!" Ezekiel 16:15-32, KJV

As we continue this series in part two, we will further
examine the waywardness of ancient Israel, and then bring to
light some startling parallels to modern-day America. This
will include a look at such topics as the guilt of the Jews,
Hosea marries a whore, Israel's loss of her fear of the
Lord, the sin of trusting in ourselves, the evil fruit of
self-confidence, the Lord's warnings to the Israelites, the
temptations of personal strength and goodness, King David's
foolish census, Israel's fall into apostasy, self-imposed
delusion and intentional deception, the Jew's upside-down
distorted view, the blood of the Lord's Prophets, God sends
delusion, Israel and Judah invaded, and King Hezekiah's call
to repentance. I trust that you will join me.

Go To Part Two . . .