Across America today we will go to the polls to elect new leaders. More than ever before in this country our Christian heritage is being put to the test. As in the days of the Old Testament prophets, judgement is happening. God is now judging America. The “curses of disobedience” (Deut. 28:38) were evident among the twelve tribes of Israel. Locusts, plagues, drought, and disease foreshadowed something yet to come: “Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord is coming, for it is at hand” (Joel 2:1).
The Day of the Lord is coming. The culmination and consummation of history in which God’s final judgement against His enemies and sin is pointing to the future – to the day when God would judge not only Israel, but all who have resisted His will.
There is hope and compassion found under the umbrella of God’s love and forgiveness. The prophet Joel reminds us what God’s heart is like, “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust.” (Joel 2:25-32) God desires to see America restored, but without repentance there can be no restoration. That is the goal of chastening (2 Cor. 7:9-10).
America must select leaders and influencers who hold to the biblical principles found in our Constitution. We must ask for forgiveness for the millions of lives taken out of the womb and on the streets of America through gang violence and domestic conflicts. God desires to hear our words that acknowledge our lack of support for Israel and His chosen people. Our obsession with materialism, pornography and immorality needs to be evaluated considering the Ten Commandments.
Contained in many books of the Old Testament are sections concerning God’s blessings and curses. The blessings would become effective if the subservient party would stay loyal to the great King while the curses would be expected to fall if they were disobedient (Deut. 27–28). In line with God’s covenant to David and Solomon, God promised that if His judgment (by drought, locusts, or a plague) should fall on the nation for their sin, they need only turn to the Lord in earnest humility and repentance and they would find forgiveness and restoration (vv. 13–15).
And so it is, my friends, God’s word reminds us that, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forg ive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chron. 7:14)
Let’s elect people who will guide us to repentance and restoration. Let’s hold them accountable to do so. God Bless America!
Personal Application:
- What does Acts 2:17-21 tell us about the pouring out of God’s Spirit as it relates to “the Day of
the Lord”? - Consider Joel’s words in Joel 3:18 as related God’s blessings:
“And it will come to pass in that day:
That the mountains shall drip with new wine,
The hills shall flow with milk,
And all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water;
A fountain shall flow from the house of the LORD
And water the Valley of Acacias.” - What could the blessings be for America if we truly repent and restore our relationship with the
Almighty?
Jim Grassi, D. Min.