This is part 3 of a 4 part series. Click for the first or second post to read the whole article.
Foresight
Jeremiah is speaking from hindsight of the fall of Jerusalem. He is writing it so that his people, and us now, may have foresight. He laments over Jerusalem so that no man or woman may endure such hardships again.
In America, Jeremiah’s lamentations have gone largely unnoticed. We are as foolish and blind as Jerusalem. We speak of cities like New York and Washington D.C. with all the same language they described Jerusalem. Then, in a moment, it was all gone.
Can it happen here?
Nothing lasts forever. Nothing.
I don’t know what our time is. I don’t know what our fate is. I do know that America will not last forever, so it would be wise to consider the words of the One who sustains us through His providence.
Nations that pervert justice through bribes will not stand (Deuteronomy 16:19). Nations who shed innocent blood will not stand (Ezekiel 22:13). These commandments were to Israel, but they are true for all nations under the sun. The Lord has tarried with the United States for a long time since abortion became the norm and bribes began flowing freely in Washington.
But we are much smarter than those who came before us. Our bribery is seldom overt. Our murder is concealed by voices that cannot cry for help. Our injustice at the expense of those we never meet. Our wars only with those too powerless to resist.
As Jeremiah said of Jerusalem after it was too late, we too have foolishly not considered our future. Whether we face the fate of our nation, or just the fate of all those that breath, one day we will meet our maker. We would do well to consider that future meeting. Will we meet Him face to face, or will we be condemned immediately by the lack of our names in His book?
It is easy to forget our eternity in light of our present. The struggles, temptations, joys and successes of everyday life dull our senses that speak to something larger than life. Life has a way of lulling us to sleep long before sleep takes away life.
Jeremiah offers his lamentation that we may weep for our cities before we see them burned. He pleads with us to seek corporate repentance and forgiveness long before blood is shed. He cries out that sovereignty is but a lease that can be revoked in an instant.
America, will you weep for your sin or weep for your burning? To be sure, the Lord is gracious, and He will be gracious in both, but only one spares life, property, family and the happiness we feel so entitled to.
Now Is The Time
America, will we lament our sins and gain wisdom, or will we lament our fall and gain sorrow?
America, will we return to the Lord, or will we have Him return to us?
In 2003, the Lord showed me in a dream that when One World Trade Center was completed, in that hour God spoke, “That building will be a sign and seal of My judgment against America.” We are upon that hour. The building is almost complete. As in the days of Judah, judgment was made sure long before it was enacted. I do not know if God will carry out His judgment immediately or if He will tarry, but I do know that when the building is announced complete, our fate is sealed.
Lament with me now for our sin, before we lament our cities. Weep with me now for our abandonment of God before we weep because of His return.
The same will be for us today. God is slow to anger and abounding in love. He is filled with mercy, and even in the hour of our judgment we may still petition Him and He may relent. There is no judgment so established in the heart of God that the cries of earnest repentance of His people cannot acquit. Today, we have the honor to petition. Tomorrow, we may have the urgency to recant our ways.
I plead with you, America, lament now that which you will never miss before you weep for that which you may never regain.
Now that I have spent considerable time giving you the downer news, next time I’ll share the great hope we have.
I am a writer, author and purveyor of ink on paper. I also preach, teach and create Excel spreadsheets.