Will Fickle Israel Repent?

Fred R. Coulter—November 7, 2009

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Fickle Israel—have they repented enough for God to turn back His hand of correction? When I say Israel, I'm including all the twelve tribes of Israel, which include the Jews in Palestine; includes northwest Europe, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Let's see how God's people dealt with God, and God dealt with them. This is what needs to happen with the children of Israel. I remember going back to '9/11' when the terrorists hit the towers, the towers came down, all the trauma and destruction on that day, all the deaths and everything, everyone was, 'God bless America.' President Bush said, 'All of you go to your churches and your synagogues and pray.' Well, that lasted how long? And with that, if you say, 'God bless America,' and you run to your churches or you run to your synagogues, is that repentance? Probably not! But at least through the event of that terror attack, God got their attention for a while. The only problem was, they then resorted to their own devices to try and prevent terrorist attacks, rather than really understanding how they needed to repent so God would turn back the enemy.

Let's begin in Psalm 78:1: "Give ear, O My people, to My Law…" Did they return to the Law of God? Some of them returned to moral values! Now moral values is kind of a politically correct speak for those who believe in some of the commandments of God. But they didn't go back to the Law of God. Did they forsake their Sunday-keeping and come to Sabbath-keeping? No, they didn't have that kind of repentance. What kind of repentance will God expect from them and still deal with them? We can also throw in the mix concerning the Churches of God.

• What are the Churches of God doing?
• How are they preaching?
• What are they teaching?
• How do the people in the Church who are baptized members and have the Holy Spirit of God react toward God?
• Are they really warning the world the way they need to warn the world?
• Where are the Churches of God?

I think as Dolores has said quite a few times: There are some watchmen on the wall who are doing the watching, while the Church in many cases is sleeping. Those watchmen on the wall, if you listen to any of the talk shows‑‑I've heard them all, so I'd have to put:

• Michael Savage

He preaches out of the Bible more than any of them. He tells them that it is God that is causing the problems. So at least he's warning.

• Glenn Beck
• Rush Limbaugh
• Sean Hannity
• Mark Levin

They are up there warning the nation of what is happening and we are seeing the nation being stolen right out from underneath our noses with almost the lack of ability to do anything about it.

With the elections that took place in New Jersey and in Virginia, people are asking the question, 'Well, maybe the tide is turning. Maybe this is a start of a brand new movement.' So the response from the White House and Congress is, 'Hurry up and rush through the healthcare bill before anything else happens.' So there's a real fight and struggle going on politically and spiritually. But also remember this: You can't solve spiritual problems by political means. However, your politics have to be based upon the Truth of God in order for them to be effective.

For the country, I believe, God is holding the country, not only to His Word for those who claim to be following Him, but He's also holding the whole country responsible to follow the Constitution because they brought God into it. They said, 'The Creator has created all men equal and these are inalienable rights.' Those rights are actually based upon principles that are in the Bible.

So, for a political document, it does quite well and comes quite close to a lot of the things that are in the Bible, because a lot of the men of the founders of the country and those who subsequently followed, believed in God although they were Protestants in the main, and kept Sunday. Now remember, God even said of the prophets of Israel that were the prophets of Baal that if they had preached His Word to the people, He would have honored it.

When the country was first founded, they were preaching the Word and the Truth and things like that. Kids grew up and their education was reading the Bible. The Bible that they read most was the Geneva Version of the Bible. This is where they learned right from wrong, good from evil. They didn't have government schools that are secular, like they have today, where they brainwash the kids and twist and turn their brains so they don't know right from wrong or up from down.

Here God is talking about Israel and their proclivity to turn against Him and how He deals with them.

He did this, v 5: "For He established a testimony in Jacob… [that's all 12 tribes of Israel] …and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should teach them to their children."

• What happens when they don't teach them to their children? What happens when they kick the Bible out of school?
• What happens when they kick God out of school?
• What happens when they kick God out of their lives?

Then we come to the degenerate place that we have arrived today!

Verse 6: "So that the generation to come might know them, children which shall be born; and they shall arise and tell them to their children, so that they might set their hope in God…" (6-7).

That's where all of our hope needs to be. Just like in the sermon I gave recently Courage Under Fire. You have to have love of God, the faith of God, and the hope of God, so that in the face of the difficulties and disasters that we're facing today:

• you can keep your sanity
• you can keep your purpose
• you can keep your love
• you can understand what's going on
• you have the courage to realize that regardless or how difficult the circumstances get, God is there
• you also have the promises of Psa. 91
• you also have the promises that Jesus Christ will never leave you, ever forsake you, so you can boldly say, 'The Lord is my helper'

Let's look and see then how it applies to the nation who are the physical children of Israel, the modern descendants of the ten tribes of Israel.

Verse 7:"So that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments." That's why we have the Bible!

How would we know what God did with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or going clear back to Adam and Eve, on down to Noah, on down to Abraham, on down to Isaac and Jacob, and on down to the children of Israel, and on down to Moses and on down to the children going into the 'promised land,' etc. if we didn't have the Bible. So that's how we are to remember it and not forget His commandments.
Verse 8: "And might not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation…" That's quite a statement! Remember, when Moses: was up there for the forty days receiving the Law the commandments, statutes and ordinances of God, what did the children of Israel do down below the mountain? They immediately apostatized and they asked Aaron to make them gods, so he made a golden calf! While Moses was receiving the final instructions about the Sabbaths of God, they were having their Sunday-worship down below, which Aaron declared as a 'feast unto the Lord.' So, right from the beginning!

Why are people stubborn and rebellious? You can say they're carnal, that's true, but here's what God says:

"…a generation that did not set their heart aright… [not right with God] …and whose spirit was not faithful with God. The children of Ephraim, armed shooters of bows, turned back in the day of battle…. [because they went out to fight when God didn't tell them to fight] …They did not keep the covenant of God and refused to walk in His Law" (vs 8-10). You stop and think how this nation was born.

Verse 38: "…yea, many times He turned His anger away and did not stir up all His wrath."

The children of Israel are the people that God loves, and they do have a loving, kind and generous nature. They have done more to help the world than any other people in history, especially the British and the Americans. So, He looks at that; He understands that; He understands that they haven't been called to salvation. But nevertheless, carnally they are still His people. Let's hope that this is how He looks at it today. It would be nice if it would work out this way and there would be more time to do preaching and teaching and peace for the Church of God. But however it falls, we'll have to see how it comes.

Verse 39: "For He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes away and does not come again. How often did they provoke Him in the wilderness and grieve Him in the desert! And still again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel" (vs 39-41). How do we limit the Holy One of Israel?

• by not returning to Him
• by not believing in Him
• by not trusting in Him
• by not keeping His commandments

Verse 42: "They did not remember His hand, nor the day when He delivered them from the enemy."

They don't even teach about WWI and WWII hardly at all in the schools and they teach a perverted lesson concerning the Korean War and the Vietnam War. We actually won the war in Vietnam, but the press defeated the American public opinion. We had a weak-kneed President [Johnson] who couldn't end the war, and then Nixon came in and he finally ended it, but he ended it with not the honor it should have been. He ended it with a retreat that looked like defeat when they had already defeated the enemy.

It looks like we're going to see the same thing from a weak-kneed President [Obama] here that has no resolve, that we don't know who he is, what he is, what he believes, where he's going, how he's going to deal with things. Now we're stuck in Afghanistan and he may 'dibble' away and ensure defeat and cause the problems to increase.

Verse 56: "Yet, they tempted…" Him after all the things that He did, after driving out the nations, and so forth

"…and provoked the Most High God, and kept not His testimonies; but they turned back and dealt treacherously like their fathers…" (vs 56-57).

How did they do that? By changing the way of God into a high-breed paganism! That's exactly what has happened with Protestantism today and Catholicism even more.

"…they were turned aside like a deceiving bow, for they provoked Him to anger with their high places, and moved Him to jealousy with their carved images. When God heard, He was wroth and greatly abhorred Israel… [So what did He do?] …so that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent, which He placed among men, and delivered His strength into captivity…" (vs 57-61). He sent them off into captivity and that's something that we as a nation are facing.

"…and His glory into the enemy's hands. He also gave His people over to the sword, and vented His wrath upon His inheritance. The fire devoured their young men; and their maidens were not given in marriage. Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows were not able to make a lamentation. Then the LORD awakened like one out of sleep, like a mighty man recovering from wine. And He drove His enemies backward; He put them to perpetual reproach" (vs 61-66).

Now we can see that in the prophecies that are coming, and we can see a latter end-time fulfillment of this concerning Israel with the 144,000 in Rev. 7. The Tribulation is going to come, it accomplishes what God wants to do, and all of a sudden right there in the middle of the Tribulation total silence! Then God seals the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude. So, God is very merciful and kind in what He did in that.

Let's see how God dealt with them before He sent them off into captivity. God gave them chances after chances, after chances, after chances, if they would only repent. So here's the message from God to Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 22:1 "Thus says the LORD, 'Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak this word there. And say, "Hear the Word of the LORD, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you and your servants, and your people who enter in by these gates"'" (vs 1-2).

They were doing all kinds of sinful things. God was ready to cast them out of the land and send them into captivity, so He gives them another chance. I want you to see the parallel that maybe we are looking at in the United States today. There is also a conservative movement in the United Kingdom as well. As a matter of fact, they just voted in Germany to end the government healthcare, because it didn't work and it was too expensive. If the conservatives get in, in the U.K., that's exactly what they're going to do over there.

By the way, when the brethren were up at the Feast in Montana, there were some Canadians down there who had come down from Canada, and they learned first hand how bad the government healthcare in Canada is. Just as a little aside as we're going along here.

Here's what God says. God is giving them an opportunity. So are we looking at a similar thing here in America? Is God giving them an opportunity? Do the elections in Virginia and New Jersey signal that that's maybe what's going to happen? We don't know, we'll have to wait and see!

Verse 3: "Thus says the LORD, 'Execute judgment and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the oppressor's hand. And do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.'"

Innocent blood in America is abortion. Most of these people who are demanding a return to the moral values are against abortion. How much they can do to stop it, we don't know, but there's coming out more and more scientific evidence that from conception onward, that it is a human being. So we'll see, but in order for there to be any lasting turnaround in America, there has got to be an outlawing of abortion.

Just like with the thing with gay marriage. Every time they let the people vote, they vote against it. Government officials and legislators and representatives vote for it, because they're pressured by the gay lobby, but the people have enough common sense and enough belief in God that they know it's one man and one woman and that constitutes marriage. So, they'll have to stop that. He asked for:

• judgment
• righteousness
• to deliver the oppressed
• to do no wrong
• to do no violence
• to nor shed innocent blood

Verse 4: "For if you do this thing indeed, then there shall enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people" So, there's an opportunity. We don't know what fickle Israel is going to do, but they have an opportunity.

Verse 5: "'But if you will not hear these words, I swear by Myself,' says the LORD, 'that this house shall become a desolation.'" Then He gives the judgment for it.

Would God hear the prayers of the governmental officials, if they would pray? Let me give one example: A little over a year ago in the midst of a severe drought, where all of Georgia was down to about three weeks of water, the governor got up with whoever was there with him—and there were crowds of people to listen to him—and He prayed publicly and asked God to forgive them for their sins and send the rain. Fifteen months later all the reservoirs are full and overflowing.

• Did God answer that prayer? Yes!
• Was he converted? No!
• Did he recognize God, and his responsibility toward God, in those trying and desperate times knowing that the drought was caused by sin?

Out here in California they don't have anything that way. They have a godless legislature and a governor, who I don't think knows up from down, except that he played too many terminator movies and he needs to get re-educated.

Let's see how God dealt with His people and let's see if there are any parallels we can see from here out of the Scriptures as to what's going on in the nation today.

Jeremiah 25:l: "The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah. It was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; the word which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the people of Jerusalem, saying, 'From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even to this day, that is the twenty-third year, the Word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken to you, speaking again and again. But you have not hearkened. And the LORD has sent to you all His servants the prophets, again and again and sending them again and again; but you have not hearkened nor bowed down your ear to hear. They all said, "Turn again now, each one from his evil way…"'" (vs 1-5). That's what is the message from everyone of them.

"…and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD has given to you and to your fathers forever and ever…. [here's what they were to do]: …And do not go after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no harm" (vs 5-6). [That's the solution for America today.

Verse 7: "'Yet, you have not hearkened to Me,' says the LORD, 'so that you might provoke Me with the works of your hands, to your own hurt.' Therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Because you have not heard My words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,' says the LORD, 'and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant…'" (vs 7-9).

I want you to understand My servant. Was the king of Babylon an enemy of Judea and the Jews? Yes! But why was he the enemy? Because the people of Israel were sinning against God! Let's think about this in parallel. We look at all the terrorist things going on. Who has sent them? God did! I'll show you that in just a minute.

Because of our wickedness and we know better and we have the Word of God, the ancient family feud between Israel and Ishmael and Esau rages in absolute bitter hatred toward Israel on their part. They are following Allah and are essentially beyond that Godless, yet, they are not committing the sins that we are and to the degree that we are. In spite of the fact that they believe in killing the enemy; in spite of the fact that they believe in jihad, they are not killing the innocent in the womb. God says, 'All right, though you're an enemy of Mine, I'm going to use you as an enemy against My people to correct them, if they will listen. They won't listen to Me, maybe they'll listen when tragedy happens and like they've always done, when I kill them, they'll come back to Me.'

People will say, 'Oh, why would a God of love do that?' God is a God of love, but:

• Does He love your behavior?
• Does He love what you're doing?
• Does He love all the lies that are going on in Washington, D.C., and all of the state houses in the fifty states?
• Does He love all the lies that are going on?
• Does He love the abortions that are taking place?
• Does He love the murders and lying and cheating and stealing and bludgeoning and kidnapping?
• Of course not!

Therefore, God has to judge. Remember, not only is God love, but God is also judge. If you have laws and if you are God, and if you've given them—which He has—and the people don't obey them, then there must be judgment because of their sins.

A lot of these judgments come automatically when you sin which create problems and trouble and emotional and mental distress in your lives. If you repent to God, He will help you out of it. Now look at that on a vast scale concerning the whole nation. That's why we have the immigrants coming in here taking over the land. God prophesied strangers would rise up among us. That's why they're blinded and fickle-minded and have not addressed the issue of the borders, because they endorse abortion. So for every abortion, God sends an alien, legal or illegal. Like it is here:

"…Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant…" I don't think the Jews really appreciated that. 'You mean you're on the enemy's side? You mean you agree with the terrorists?' No, I don't agree with them, but I agree with God's punishment for your sins!

"…and will bring them against this land, and against its people, and against all these nations all around you. And I will completely destroy them, and make them a waste, and a hissing, and everlasting ruins" (v 9). Did that happen? Yes, it did! This is why evangelicals don't want you to read the Old Testament, because you may learn something about God and how He deals with nations and His people.

I'll show you that God indeed does send terror. Here's what God told Jeremiah to do:

Jeremiah 17:19 "Thus the LORD said to me, 'Go and stand in the gates of the children of the people, by which the kings of Judah come in, and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem.'" So Jeremiah had to go around to all the gates and repeat this message.

Verse 20: "And say to them, 'Hear the Word of the LORD, kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the people of Jerusalem who enter in by these gates! Thus says the LORD, "Take heed to yourselves, and carry no burden on the Sabbath Day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. Nor carry out a burden from your houses on the Sabbath Day, nor do any work, but keep the Sabbath Day Holy, as I commanded your fathers"'" (vs 19-22). Is the Sabbath important? Yes, indeed!

Verse 23: "But they did not obey, nor inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, so that they might not hear nor receive instruction."

Here's a chance for repentance. How many times does God offer repentance? Even though they flatter God with their lips and lie to Him with their hearts, He's still kind enough to forgive them and deal with them! We hope that's the case in what we see happening today.

Verse 24: "And it shall be, if you diligently hearken to Me,' says the LORD, 'to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath Day, but keep the Sabbath Day Holy, to do no work in it; then kings and rulers sitting on the throne of David shall enter into the gates of this city, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their rulers, the men of Judah, and the people of Jerusalem. And this city shall remain forever" (vs 24-25). That's something.

Verse 27:  "But ifyou will not hearken to me to keep the Sabbath Day Holy, and not to carry a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath Day; then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it will not be put out." So, there comes a time, once the hand of correction comes, there is no way to stop it.

• How many chances have been had?
• How many pleas have there been?
• A lot of them!

(go to the next track)

Let's look at what God expects and how He will react and bless us. As we go through Lev. 26, look at the importance of what God brings out here. Leviticus 26:1 "You shall make no idols to yourselves…" Where are most of the idols that we have? In our mind; 'set up the idols in your heart' (Ezek. 14)] …and you shall not set up for yourselves graven images, or a standing pillar. And you shall not set up any image of stone in your land in order to bow down to it, for I am the LORD your God. You shall keep My Sabbaths…" (vs 1-2)—plural. That includes all the Holy Days.

"…and reverence My sanctuary…" (v 2). Today we don't have the temple, but we are allowed to go into the sanctuary of God through prayer. So, we reverence God, honor Him, and pray to Him.

"…I am the LORD. If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments and do them" (vs 2-3)—which He gave to them for their own good that they may live and prolong their days in the land.

Verse 4: "Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. And your threshing shall reach to the vintage, and the vintage shall reach to the sowing time. And you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land safely. And I will give peace in the land…" (vs 4-6).

• God is the One Who gives peace
• God is the One Who gives correction
• God is the One Who raises up the enemy against His own children of Israel when they do wrong for a prolonged period of time

"…and you shall lie down and none shall make you afraid. And I will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land; neither shall the sword go through your land" (v 6).

Notice how big of a standing army we will need if we obey God and do what we need to do as a nation:

Verse 7: "And you shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. And five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight…." (vs 7-8).

You don't need a big standing army. Today, the United States of America has the largest standing army, navy, and air force of any nation in the world.

• Has it brought us peace?
• Has it caused the terrorists to quit coming at us?
• Are we safe in the land?
• No!

"…And your enemies shall fall by the sword in front of you, for I will have respect to you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish My covenant with you. And you shall eat of the old provision, and clear away the old because of the new. And I will set My tabernacle among you. And My soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you …" (vs 8-12).

Just like it says in Deut. 6. What nation is there that has God so near to them as this nation? What nation has such great statutes and judgments as this nation, which is their wisdom?

Verse 12: "And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be My people. I am the LORD your God Who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt from being their bondmen. And I have broken the bonds of your yoke, and made you go upright" (vs 12-13). That's quite a deal!

I imagine if you laid this out to every citizen in America without the name of God in there, they would say, 'Yes, that sounds like a good deal.'

Verse 15: "And ifyou shall despise My statutes, and if your soul hates My judgments, so that you will not do all My commandments, so that you break My covenant; I will also do this to you… [What is the first sign of punishment?] …I will even appoint over you terror…" (vs 15-16).

Do we have a war on terror? It doesn't matter if they try and rename it something else, try and make it go away, like 'overseas-contingency conflict,' something like that; politically correct speech.

"…I will even appoint over you terror, consumption… [Do we have sickness and disease, consuming diseases? Yes!] …and burning fever, consuming the eyes and causing sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it" (v 16).

We'll see in Deut. 28 it's going to rot on the stem. Remember what we discussed some time back about all this alternate fuel and all the corn and I raised the question: What if there's a drought or too much rain? Guess what they've had this year: too much rain, so it's mildewing and rotting in the field. So we're not drilling to get oil out of the ground, which God created for us to use for the purpose of transportation and things like that. God made the oil. No, no, we have to be better than God. We have to take it out of the food that should go to the people and should go to the livestock. So, God says, 'All right, because of your sins, I'm going to send you all kinds of rain.' It's mildewing right in the field. Other places there's drought and it's stunted and won't grow. There we go!

Verse 17: "And I will set My face against you…" Instead of dwelling among you, now I'm going to set My face against you!

How much is God's face set against America at the present time? Is this political quasi-religious movement going to be enough to hold back the hand of God for a while? We don't know!. We hope so; we all wish so. We don't like to see death and destruction and evil going on.

Verse 17: "And I will set My face against you, and you shall be slain before your enemies. They that hate you shall reign over you…."

• Do you think that's being fulfilled right this minute in the United States?
• Is God dealing with us? Yes, indeed!

"…And you shall flee when none pursues you" (v 17).

What happens if we turn at this point and come back to God a bit? Maybe He'll ease off! Things won't be quite as bad, but:

Verse 18: "And if you will not yet, for all this, hearken to Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. And I will break the pride of your power…" (vs 18-19). What is the pride of our power? Two things:

• the U.S. dollar
• our military

The dollar goes totally in the tank; the military must come home because there is no money to support them. We will leave all areas where our bases are and we have many bases in many countries. Some countries more than one base. They'll all have to come home. Probably come home to jeers, some of them even killed.

Verse 19: "And I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heaven like iron and your earth like bronze." That's a perfect description of California today.

Verse 20: "And your strength shall be spent in vain…" All the money you spend, requires more money to be spent. Where did it go? We don't know! Like the silly thing, 'Well, we're going to cut $500-billion out of Medicare and we're going to get rid of waste and fraud.' Why don't you get rid of waste and fraud and see how much you really save? You could look at it in many different ways, take the same thing there.

"…for your land shall not yield its increase, neither shall the trees of the field yield their fruits" (v 20). That's the second phase!

Now here's the third phase, v 21: "And if you walk contrary to Me and will not hearken to Me, I will bring seven times more plagues on you according to your sins. I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall bereave you…." (vs 21-22).

What are some of the beasts? Bears, wolves, mountain lions, neighborhood dogs gone wild! In Florida: great lizards, komodo dragons, alligators, crocodiles, pythons. They said the population of pythons has exploded, and you can't even let your children go out and play in the yard on a nice day, because you may find it in the stomach of a python. 'Oh, but we can't kill them because we have to protect the animals!'

Dolores heard that and said, 'You ought to get all your guns and go and shoot them.' Why was there such an explosion? We just read it here:

Verse 22: "I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall bereave you. And I will destroy your livestock, and make you few. And your highways shall be deserted."
Have you driven on a freeway lately? Every time I drive I notice there's about half the number of cars there used to be. There are times when I'm driving up the highway and I can look ahead at least a half mile before I see a car in front of me, and look in my rear view mirror at least a half mile before I can see a car behind me. We all used to be crowded together going down the highway.

Verse 23: "And if after these things you will not be reformed by Me, but will still walk contrary to Me, then I will walk contrary to you and will punish you seven times more for your sins. And I will bring a sword on you that shall execute the vengeance of the covenant. And when you are gathered inside your cities, I will send the plague among you. And you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy" (vs 23-25).

We're getting pretty close to that right now. That could happen any day in any of the southern cities along the Mexican border.

Verse 26:  "When I have broken the staff of your bread…" There can be a food shortage here in just almost instantly. All you have to do is have some well-placed terrorists:

• blow up major highways
• blow up major railways
• blow up major electrical output centers

and you will have nothing in the supermarkets! You may be lucky if you run down there first and are able to buy things before the riots ensue and you can get some things and get it home before someone steals it from you. But then you will have to guard it, because someone will come in and take it from you and lop off your head so they can eat.

There's an electrical magnet field bomb {EMP}, which if they explode it over a city will knock out everything electrical. Stop and think: What would we do if we had no electricity? Everything we do today is based upon electricity. Now it might be instructive.

Dolores has a good supply of candles and other supplies just in case, and a good supply of matches to light the candles. In our house, as long as there's natural gas, we have a fireplace we can just light it with natural gas. If not, we can just put the wood in there and get it going and we have in the kitchen, in the family room, we have a 1903 Beaver stove, which we might get one we can cook which we can cook on a little better. It looks nice back there, but can it really cook? No! It can a little bit; it'll warm things up. We've cooked a little bit on it in the past.

So think about—just sit down one day and walk through your house and say, 'I wonder what I would do if I didn't have any electricity for three weeks?' That brings up a problem. How would the water get to your house, because the electrical pumps to pump it up into the big tanks won't be working. When those big tanks empty out, how are you going to get water? So these things can come—BAM!--suddenly upon you. When you're in the cities, it's going to be mean and terrible.

Verse 25: "…And you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy."

Now let's look at Deut. 28. I'll let you read the rest of Lev. 26. You know there's a quirk in human nature that is almost impossible to calculate, because everyone expects that since God is love, regardless of our behavior we've got to have everything that we need and that God should bless us even in spite of our sins. What they do, they selectively read the Bible and they read things like the first part of Deut. 28, where God says here's what He would do. But again, notice the if clause.

Deuteronomy 28:1: "And it shall come to pass… [God guarantees it will happen] …ifyou shall hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD your God…"

You can summarize the whole Bible this way—five words: Obey the voice of God!

• What is number five? The number of grace!
• Does God give you grace?
• When does God give you grace? When you obey!
• Aren't we going to read things that are grace here? Yes!

"…to observe and to do all His commandments, which I command you today, the LORD your God will set you on high above all nations of the earth" (v 1).

• Has that happened to us?
• Have we been set high, the greatest nation in the world?
• Was the United Kingdom, the British Empire, set on high before us?
• Yes, indeed!

According to the blessings of God that He promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Now notice in addition to that, v 2: "And all these blessings shall come upon you… [they will naturally flow from God] …and overtake you if you will obey the voice of the LORD your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your livestock, the increase of your cattle, and the flocks of your sheep. Blessed shall be your basket and your store. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out" (vs 2-6).

Couldn't happen any better, and yet, what did the children of Israel do? Well, the Jews have their traditions and they block off all the commandments of God, and reject the commandments of God with their tradition. They also, most of them, reject the New Testament and Jesus Christ.

What do the Catholics do? They say, 'We could preach the Gospel without the Bible.' So they have a religion in name only, and it's all pagan otherwise. They claim it's Christian, but it's not.

So what do you have with the Protestants? They follow along and their still anchored to Rome with Sunday-keeping and all the occult holidays that initiated out of Rome. Is that diligently hearkening unto God? No! No! No! No! But they expect that all these blessings will come upon them. They expect—because they think they are good and righteous people when they're not—that God should send all these blessings. It may for a while, but then things will change.

Verse 7: "The LORD shall cause your enemies that rise up against you to be stricken before your face. They shall come out against you one way, and flee before you seven ways. The LORD shall command the blessing upon you in your storehouses, and all that you set your hand to…. [no one's going to fail, everyone's going to have plenty] …And He shall bless you in the land. which the LORD your God gives you…. [That's where we are today, but what are we doing in the land?] …The LORD shall establish you a Holy people to Himself, as He has sworn to you, if you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways" (vs 7-9).

That's something! Fantastic promises as a nation! And so what do we do in the midst of all of our sins today? We flatter God and say, 'Oh, we're God's people. We're the greatest nation that has ever been. This is the most blessed nation that has ever been.' And really don't look at the sins that are going on.

But here's what happens to us, v 10: "And all the people of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you."

Like one ambassador admitted to one of the government officials shortly after WWII, 'Your government is unique.' And he said, 'Why do you suppose that is?' He says, 'Because you have God in your Constitution and you fear God as a people and you have God's blessing, and coming from another country where we do not have that, we see that it comes from God and we want to follow that way.' Today what do they do? They hate us, they despise us, etc.! Now notice what God says He will do. Again, just like Lev.26.

Verse 11: "And the LORD shall make you abound in goods…" Are we abounding in goods? You have so many things in your house that you don't know what to do with them.

"…in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land, which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. The LORD shall open to you His good treasure, the heaven to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. And you shall loan to many nations, and you shall not borrow" (vs 11-12).

Where are we today? We owe the whole world, and we have borrowed ourselves nearly into oblivion! And the current administration (Obama), to paraphrase some, 'The inmates of the insane asylum are running Washington, D.C.' They are borrowing and spending like there is no tomorrow.

Verse 13: "And the LORD shall make you the head, and not the tail. And you shall be always above, and you shall not be beneath, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, to observe and to do them. And you shall not go aside from any of the words, which I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them" (vs 13-14).

Let's look at the other side of the coin. You can see that we are right in the position of being transited from one state of blessings from God to the other state of cursings from God. Now those who love God and obey His voice and keep His commandments, God says even in troubled times say to the righteous, 'It will be well with them.'

Verse 15: "And it shall come to pass… [Just like we read, 'Oh, we want the blessings, but oh, oh, we don't want this.'] …if you will not hearken to the voice of the LORD your God to observe and to do all His commandments and His statutes, which I command you today, all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you." Because God set before us life and death, good and evil, and He commands us to choose life! If we choose evil, we choose death. Here's how it comes:

Verse 16: "Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. Cursed shall be your basket and your store. Cursed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your land, the increase of your livestock, and the flocks of your sheep. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out" (vs 16-19).

Now let me tell you there are a lot of people feeling the heavy hand of the curses in their lives—correct?

Verse 20: "The LORD shall send on you cursing, vexation… [which is frustration] …and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do until you are destroyed, and until you perish quickly, 'because of the wickedness of your doings by which you have forsaken Me.'" (vs 16-20). So, the judgment of God will come!

Verse 43: "The stranger dwelling among you…" How many [illegal] immigrants do we have? Fifty million! Think of this in Europe. Some of them have up to 20% of the population of Muslim countries. Some of them into the third generation and they speak in Britain impeccable British English. Yet, out of the third generation have come what? Terrorists!

"…the stranger dwelling among you shall get up above you very high, and you shall come down very low…. [a process] …He shall loan to you and you shall not loan to him…." (vs 43-44). This started to be fulfilled in 1982. Up to 1982 we were the world's largest creditor nation. Today we are the world's largest debtor nation.

"…He shall be the head, and you shall be the tail. And all these curses shall come on you, and shall pursue you and overtake you, until you are destroyed because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God to keep His commandments and His statutes, which He commanded you. And they shall be on you for a sign and for a wonder, and on your seed forever" (vs 44-46).

In other words, through every repeated cycle of apostasy and leaving God, these things would happen. If you don't believe that, read the books of Judges, 1st & 2nd Samuel, 1st & 2nd Kings, 1st & 2nd Chronicles and the Prophets. Here's the reason:

"Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart for the abundance of all things, therefore, you shall serve your enemies, which the LORD shall send against you in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in the want of all things. And he shall put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you. The LORD shall bring a nation against you from afar…" (vs 47-49).

Doesn't tell you where, but you think about the nations that are against us now. I can think of several. The one that may be the most ominous is China. They may not send their military armies, but if we default on our loans, they're going to come and repossess, because they hold the original deed of trust.

Will fickle Israel repent enough for God to hold back His heavy hand of correction? Time will tell! Everyone is very hopeful that because of these elections recently, and going against the insane policies of the current government in Washington, D.C., that there may be hope for the people. There may be hope that we're not going to be sold down the river totally. I hope so! I don't want to see it happen! In reading these things, I don't read these things to gloat, I read these things to warn, just like God says we are to warn. I commend all brave talk-show hosts who God is definitely using to warn this nation on many things at a level they can understand; and hope that it has enough impact that God will look down and say, 'Well, they're really turning from a lot of their evil and their sins. These people really want to stop abortion. All right, I'll give them a chance to see what they do. I'll hold back My hand and wait and see what they do. If they do well, I will prosper them. If they don't do well, I will have to continue correction.'

Now remember we have the example, during the days of Jeremiah, of Josiah. Amidst after all the evil of 55-years of Manasseh, Josiah the grandson of Manasseh, came to the throne and he turned to God. Because of his repentance and what he did to lead the people of Judah back to God, God said, 'All right. I'm not going to bring any of these curses and any of this war until after you die.' Unfortunately, after that he only reigned 12 more years, because when it came time for war, God told him don't go to war against the Egyptians. The Egyptians said, 'Don't come to war against me. Our beef is not with you, don't come.' But Josiah's vanity got the best of him and he just had to go fight. So, he disguised himself as one of the regular troops, rather than being in the king's chariot, and he went out into the battle and an arrow came in under his armor and killed him. That's when Jeremiah gave the book of Lamentations, because he knew that all of the destruction and plagues would come upon the Jews and Judea after the reign of Josiah!

So what will it be like? What will the parallels be here for America and Great Britain and Australia, New Zealand, and Canada and northwestern Europe? God always honors repentance! God always honors change, so my prayer is that they will do sufficient enough that God will hold back His heavy hand of correction for their sake, and for our sake, and that we can reach out and do the things we need to do as well as all the other Churches of God to warn the world the best that we can.

So, will fickle Israel repent enough to turn back the correction of God? We'll have to wait and see.

Scriptural References:

• Psalm 78:1, 5-10, 38-42, 56-66
• Jeremiah 22:1-5
• Jeremiah 25:1-9
• Jeremiah 17:19-25, 27
• Leviticus 26:1-26, 25
• Deuteronomy 28:1-20, 43-49

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Psalm 91
• Revelation 7
• Ezekiel 14
• Deuteronomy 6

Also referenced: Sermon: Courage Under Fire

FRC:lp
Transcribed: 11-26-09
Formatted: bo—2/18/18