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How much are we are doing to provoke God to anger with how we're acting as a nation?
Fred R. Coulter—September 11, 2021
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Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services!
Ignominy has hit America! The smallest group of men that have destroyed their ancestors in the past and have destroyed empires, has brought to the knees the American Empire.
It's amazing how all the events fit together, and for those of you who are new, let me mention to you a book you need to have. You will find that Christian Biblical Church of God has a lot, a lot, a lot of stuff! Through the years we have accumulated it. So, don't feel overwhelmed if there's a lot to catch up on. Just take it step-by-step and do it the best that you can.
Here's one book you need to get: America and Britain: Two Nations that Changed the World by Philip Neal. They have ruled the world for 500 years. When you get that, you will understand that the so-called 'lost' ten tribes are not lost. That's a myth by Judaism to try and claim all the promises of God for themselves. But there were 12 tribes, 13 counting the Levites.
We'll do a study later on, but you'll find a lot of it in this book, America and Britain. There were promises about us inheriting what we have inherited, and how now that their circumstances are that God is taking it away. We will examine some of those today.
A man ask me, 'Fred, what's going on? What's happening?' You look at the news; it's incredible! You watch what's happening; it's unbelievable! But it's happening! That's because we are the ten tribes of Israel, modern day! When you read a lot of things in the Old Testament concerning Israel and the things in the latter days, that applies to us. But most people don't know it!
Announcement:
We have sent out over 1,000 vaccine exemption packages. It's not just the letter, it's a package with a lot of information in it. Since then, there has been additional information that has come out. So, it is setup on the home page at truthofGod.org and it is Exemption Information #2. It's all in one downloadable click. You need to have that.
There are a lot of things happening, court cases going on. But more importantly, in this exemption packet #2, we have the legal cases that were decided by the Supreme Court—we have that number—that they cannot force you to take a vaccine. That will give you a whole lot that you can stand your ground on.
What Dictator Biden did the other day in demanding that everybody is going to get it; you need to know what's in it first!
Look at all of this that's going on and you wonder: What's happening? Why is it going this way? Let's look at some things that we need to understand about God.
Here's something you need to know and understand, because God has given us free moral agency, we have to choose. In choosing, He's not going to interfere with those choices. We will see a little later that you can either choose to do good, or choose to do evil, which is sin.
On a national level let's see what Jesus—Who was the Lord God of the Old Testament—tells us. God not only judges individuals, He judges nations.
Sidebar on 'crises': You hear that all the time in the news, crises this and that. That's the Greek word for judgment! Think about that!
Jer. 18—God told Jeremiah to go down the potter's house and He would teach him a lesson. Jeremiah saw what the potter did and he was making one piece of pottery and didn't like it, so he smashed it up and made into another one.
Jeremiah 18:5: "Then the Word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'O house of Israel…'" (vs 5-6)
Apply that to us today, and look around at what's happening everywhere in the nation. Think about this: the prophecy that we read some time ago in Lev. 26 about 'the enemy will get over us.' The smallest, worst enemy in the world—the Taliban and Afghans—have stood down and made the strongest military nation in the world surrender!
Talk about fulfilling prophecy! The very ones who took down the Twin Towers on this day (in 2001) are initiating their government in Afghanistan, and they will prove to be the worst bunch of men in government and terrorist that the world has ever seen!
I don't know if the Chinese are going to have to go in there and take them down. But that would be fifth empire that they've taken down if they're able to have a standoff with them. Think about it!
"'…can I not do with you even as this potter?' says the LORD. 'Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hands, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel'"(v 6).
- Isn't that amazing?
- Can you escape what you are?
You can modify a little bit here and there, but you are you! You can't escape that.
Furthermore, through the process of genes and chromosomes, everyone is individual and everyone is numbered according to God.
Verse 7—God says: "If at any time I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom…"
God judges all the nations of the world. He's active in them. Go through the book of Daniel and it talks about the major empires of the world down to our time and the return of Jesus Christ.
God has been involved in every one of them. He's involved in what's going on here, and we will see the reasons why it's going the way that it is and what has to be done IF there will be a short reprieve. Who knows? Notice what God says that He does:
"…and concerning a kingdom, to pluck it up and to pull it down, and to destroy it; if that nation, against whom I have spoken, will turn from their evil…" (vs 7-8). Think about all the sins we have in America!
"…I will repent of the evil that I thought to do to them" (v 8)
God can be persuaded upon repentance! But He's not going to assist us in our own endeavors to try and correct things our way!
Verse 9: "And if at any time I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build it and to plant it."
Is that what God is doing with China? There are mammoth prophecies in the book of Revelation that only the Far East and the hordes and billions there will be able to fulfill.
- Why is China rising, and we are going down? God's hand is in it!
- What would God do with an evil nation like them? Let the three fingers that point back to us and say:
- Why would God continue to bless us doing the things that we're doing and the way that we're doing them?
God will raise them up! He even says that if we don't repent, 'I'm going to raise up the worse of the heathen.'
Verse 9: "And if at any time I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build it and to plant it; if it does evil in My sight, that it not obey My voice, then I will repent of the good with which I said I would do them good" (vs 9-10).
Here's a warning in v 11! Isn't it interesting that fake Christianity says that we don't need to read the Old Testament, that all of that's been fulfilled. Well, that's the most stupid lie on the face of the earth!
Verse 11: "Now, therefore, speak to the men of Judah, and to the people of Jerusalem, saying, 'Thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am forming evil against you…"'"
Is everything going against us? There's a little hope with the Supreme Court upholding 'the heartbeat law'; that is no abortion if a heartbeat is detected. That may be a small step. But will there be enough to make a difference? Among other things!
"…and devising a plan against you. Return now, each one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good' (v 11). That's what God says!
- How do you make them good? By repenting!
- Repenting of what?
Turn on the television and they talk about repentance, but they never tell you what repentance is. It's breaking the laws and commandments of God! They will say, 'Oh, but Jesus did away with them.'
Really? If He did away with them, then the earth and heaven don't exist! That big lie is what has trapped so many people into thinking that if they do 'nicey-nice, clappy, clappy' of the hands and say a 'sweet' little prayer, that they're going direct to heaven.
I watched a preacher the other day who said that 'you're guaranteed to go to heaven,' Then two minutes later he says that Christ is returning. What's the need of going to heaven if He's returning?
Well, you're not going to heaven, and He IS returning.
Deut. 8—this is what God spoke concerning His instructions to the 12 tribes of Israel, just before they went into the 'promised land.'
Sidebar: America is part of the 'promised land.' They admit it in many different ways, and they acknowledge God in some ways.
Let's see what happens to people. Have you ever wondered: you see this nice, sweet little baby; Adolf Hitler was a nice, sweet little baby once. Stalin was a nice, sweet little baby once.
- How did they turn out so evil?
- What happens to a people?
- What happens to a nation?
Go back and look at when they started the colonies how fervent they were for God. They didn't have as much knowledge as we have today because God didn't reveal as much at time. But today we have the full revelation of God and more Bibles than ever before, so God is holding us accountable!
You might say that you don't have Bible; just go online at afaithfulversion.org and put it on your smart phone and start using it; we give it to you free!
Think of the Ten Commandments, and a lot of people profess to do the Ten Commandments, but at best they do nine. Then they break all the others otherwise.
Deuteronomy 8:1: "All the commandments which I command you this day shall you be diligent…"
- not just think about them
- not just have nice thoughts about them
- not just mention the name of God once in a while
And curse more than you mention the name of God!
"…be diligent to observe and to do that you may live…" (v 1).
To live is what everyone wants! They don't want to die. Then they go out and do something stupid and they die. Or they come close to dying and maybe they'll learn a lesson and say, 'I'll never do that again!' That's what God wants: don't do that again! A relationship with God!
Don't believe the 'god' of Protestantism and Catholicism, because they don't keep the commandments of God and they are the first step away from God!
"…and multiply and go in and possess the land, which the LORD swore to your fathers. And you shall remember all the way, which the LORD your God led you these forty years in the wilderness in order to humble you…" (vs 1-2).
God wants to know what is in your heart, because He's given you free moral agency. He wants to know:
- Are you going to choose His Way?
- Are you going to choose His Truth
- Are you going to choose to love Him?
- What is that you're going to do with your life?
- What are you going to do with your mind?
- What are you going to do with your body?
"…to prove you, to know what is in your heart…" (v 2). God knows all secrets!
God is going to judge the secrets of men! They can never be hidden, never be eliminated. So, if your thoughts are thoughts of evil, that's what's going to judge you. But if you repent and come to God, God will remove that from you.
But you have to repent truly! Not half-heartedly! And you have to keep the commandments of God, as Jesus said, 'If you love Me, keep My commandments, namely Mine.'
"…to know what is in your heart whether you would keep His commandments or not" (v 2).
Here's why everybody has a little trouble, some to a greater degree than others:
Verse 3: "And He humbled you and allowed you to hunger, and then He fed you with manna, which you did not know, neither did your fathers know it, so that He might make you know…"
Here's the key, and remember that Jesus quoted this when He was tempted by Satan the devil (Matt. 4:4. Luke 4:4).
"…that man… [every man, woman, child, young and old] …does not live by bread alone…"—(v 3)—by any kind of food you have! You have to live by food, and it's important, but:
- Who created the food for you?
- Who made everything possible?
- God did!
"…but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD does man live" (v 3).
I want you to think about that! I just need to say this to those who say that in the New Testament things are changed. Some things were. All the sacrificial laws, that's true, because Jesus is the Sacrifice!
But all the commandments of God were raised to a higher level, a spiritual level. Not just the outward actions of keeping certain commandments, but the inward thoughts of your mind whether you will keep them, think on them and do them!
So, it's a higher level. Don't let anyone cheat you, lie to you and tell you that you don't need to be concerned about it.
Verse 4: "Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. And you shall consider in your heart… [think; not just emotion] …that as a man chastens his son… [for good so that he will do what is right] …so the LORD your God chastens you. And you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God to walk in His ways and to fear Him" (vs 4-6).
That's what God wants! That is full explanation of man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God! Then God says to consider all the good things I'm going to give you.
Verse 7: "For the LORD your God brings you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley and vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey, a land in which you shall eat bread without scarceness…." (vs 7-9). That's where we are today!
- What happens when you have all of this goodness?
- What happens when you give your children everything that they want?
- What happens when you give into every little pouting demand?
They become spoiled brats! They end up hating you! They go out and leave home and destroy their lives. That's why this has to be applied in every single generation!
In v 10 God gives a warning, and this is the start of all of the evil! There have been good times when people have been relatively law-abiding and everything like that. There have been other times that there has been a lot of sin: the 'Roaring Twenties' and the late 1960s, and now in our time again.
Whenever these cycles of evil come along, then the whole population suffers, and that's where we are today. But here's what God says, because He shows where it starts.
Verse 10: "When you have eaten and are full…"
That's why you bless the food that you eat, because you acknowledge that it all comes from God! When you know it all comes from God, you're grateful and thankful for it. Then you think about all of the good things that God has made everywhere in the world, not only for food, but also for making things, getting iron, brass, tin out of the ground. Coal and oil, trees and all of these beautiful things, because God gave the earth to man to have dominion over it, and take care of it.
You have all of these good things. When you have everything that you want right at your fingertips, and we have it today, don't we?
- you can sit in your house and have job and never walk out of your house
- you can buy everything you need online, never go to the store to buy a thing
- you can have all delivered in heaps to you
Isn't that something? Yes! You've done it. Even my old-codger mind has learned how do a little bit of online buying thanks to the help of Jonathan. But think about it!
"…then you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land, which He has given you. Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God…" (vs 10-11).
That's what happens. Kids grow up and get these stupid, idiot professors in college or high school and they tell them that there is no God, but evolution! That's nonsense! Go take a good look at yourself in the mirror and look at that eyeball that is staring back the image of yourself to your brain and ask yourself: How do those eyeballs work? God made it!
"…by not keeping His commandments, and His judgments, and His statutes, which I command you today" (v 11).
How many of you remember that? Oh we've got Thanksgiving coming up in November! A few people will be thankful to God. But everybody else is interested in parades and football.
Verse 12: "Lest… [here's the Achilles' Heel that comes along]: …when you have eaten and are full…"
- Isn't that true?
- When was the last time you were hungry and couldn't get any food?
With the exception of those who are homeless and on the streets, hardly anybody!
"…and have built goodly houses and lived in them" (v 12).
Think about it? Do you ever do a flyover of America and the cities, and you look down and you see all of these houses; mile after mile of houses, roads, lights, cars, trucks and people. Then you get closer to the city and the buildings start getting taller and taller. When you get to the big cities like New York City and some of the cities in the Far East and they build the huge, tremendous skyscrapers. You look at that and think that's something.
Well, you ought to lift your eyes up just a little higher at night and look at the universe and remember Who made that. That's far more important.
Verse 13: "And when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied."
That's where we are. But a lot of what we have that's silver and gold is not silver and gold, it's paper! If there is not a reasonable returning to God, by a good number of people, we're going to see the dollar collapse. There will be no way to stop it, because we have $30-trillion in debt as a nation. That's beyond even our imagination!
Here's what happens when you have all of this, when you have everything; you become:
- arrogant
- wretched
- self-centered
- self-assured
You just plow your life through time and do whatever you want to!
Verse 14: "Then you become haughty of heart… [I just described that] …and you forget the LORD your God Who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage."
It starts right there. Forget God, the next generation forgets Him even more, next generation forgets even more, next generation there is no God, there's evolution. The final generation: we're gods!
That's what they're practicing in Silicon Valley right here in California! 'We're gods, we can control everything. We can control people.' That's how it is.
Now, here's a lesson for us. We all have choices. Everyday we have choices. Everything we do is a choice whether small or large. But the main important thing is:
- What is our choice toward God?
- Do we love God?
- Do we keep His commandments?
- Do we pray to Him?
- Do we study His Word?
- Do we live by every Word of God?
Those are choices we have! How we make them and how we do them is important, because God knows! Here's what God says to every man, woman and child; let's understand this.
Not only is God judging those people who are the children of Israel; He's judging the whole world! Let's talk about that for a minute:
Every man, woman and child is being judged by God whether they do well or whether they don't do well. IF they've been given the Bible and the commandments of God:
- Have they been taught it?
- Have you parents taught your children?
If you don't teach them, they're going to run off and get in trouble! Everybody knows that. But God judges everyone by their behavior and thoughts. The judgment is automatic, He doesn't have to come down and say:
- you're guilty
- you're not guilty
- you're partially guilty
- you're pretty good
- you're excellent
He does not do that! It's automatic because all the Laws of God function like the law of gravity.
When you break the Laws of God there's a penalty that comes upon you automatically, just like you would fall down on the ground. If you tripped and fell on the ground you've gone against the law of gravity and you've hurt yourself, sometimes major/sometimes minor.
That's for everybody in the world, whether they know God or not. That functions all the time. It never changes. So, the truth of the matter is, even though people don't believe in God and say that there's no God and hate God, the fact is they can't get away from God!
God made and created you, and in Him you live, move and have your being!Everything about what you do comes from God whether anyone acknowledges Him or not. You're thinking, seeing, hearing, eating, you whole bodily digestive things and everything going on, God made that! Whether you can walk, talk, stand, sit, run; all of those God made!
So, when we read this let's understand the choices that are involved.
Deuteronomy 30:15: "Behold, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil."
That's how you start out, you're born. How your mom and dad take care of you and treat you and all of that makes a lot of difference. Then you grow up and become an adult and say, 'I'm going to go out on my own and do my own thing.' Really? Sometimes you'll be successful, sometimes you won't! Those are all choices that God has given!
Verse 15: "Behold, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil."
- that's why you have to be careful of certain things
- that's why you ought not do certain things
Verse 16: "In that I command you this day to love the LORD your God…"
That's the first thing that God wants! God is not going to give His love unconditionally to sinners. You have to repent! IF you repent, you're not going to be living in sin! Jesus said that the greatest commandments is to love God with all your heart, mind, soul and being! To love God, that's the first and most important thing that there is.
- IF you love God you'll keep His commandments
- IF you love God and keep His commandments, you will understand the Word of God!
IF you don't do that, you won't understand it! You won't realize that your own mind has a blinding shield toward God's way, because it happens automatic! God doesn't have to come down and do anything. You just won't understand, because you don't love God and obey Him!
"…to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments so that you may live and multiply…." (v 16).
You want to have a great life? The greatest life you can get is with God's blessing! That's not necessarily going out and making a lot of money in the world. Some of the richest people in the world worship Satan the devil.
"…And the LORD your God shall bless you in the land where you go to possess it" (v 16).
Does not everyone want blessings from God? This tells you how to do it! Those who come along and say that the New Testament does away with it are doing away with the blessings of God. He doesn't do away with it, God is the same yesterday, today and forever.
But notice that He gives warning, and also He gives time! He gives you time when you do something that isn't right so you can think about the results of what you have done in hopes that you may repent!
Verse 17: "But if your heart turn away… [tie in Deut. 8] …so that you will not hear…"
'Oh, don't bother me with this God stuff!' That's how some people express it! The way that they have treated Christ and the 'religions' that they have brought up in 'Christianity' you can understand why some people feel that way, because most of it is wrong and stupid. That's just the way that it is!
"…but shall be drawn away and worship other gods and serve them" (v 17). You might say that you don't worship other gods!
- Do you worship yourself?
- Do you worship your mind?
- Do you worship other people?
All of those are your gods!
Verse 18: "I denounce to you this day that you shall surely perish… [Isn't that what we're look at here in America today?] …you shall not prolong your days on the land where you pass over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you…" (vs 18-19).
- Heaven and earth are still here, aren't they?
- Are these words true? Yes, God cannot lie!
- Will these things happen? Yes, they will, because God makes them happen!
He set in motion the laws to make them happen!
"…that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, so that both you and your seed may live, that you may love the LORD your God…" (vs 19-20).
It starts out with loving God, going through all of life experiences down through these other verses, and it ends up with loving God!
"…and may obey His voice, and may cleave to Him; for He is your life…" (v 20). Think about that for a minute! You live because of God!
"…and the length of your days, so that you may dwell in the land, which the LORD swore to your fathers—to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob—to give it to them" (v 20).
That's why too many people out there doing their own thing, choosing the wrong way, misrepresenting God and we wonder why all of these calamities come upon us. They're automatic!
If you don't want them to get worse, you better listen to what I'm telling you. Not because I'm telling you, but because it's the Word of God! God is the One Who spoke these things.
(break@43:08)
We've been analyzing the problems and difficulties of modern-day Israel. They're very similar to the ones we find in ancient Israel. The reason is because we're the same people, descendants and the same God! Because we are the same people, regardless of the number of generations removed, the inclinations of what we do is the same are our forefathers.
Let's look a little bit more here in the book of Jeremiah, and see that there might be a chance a reprieve if enough people turn from their evil and do what is right! If that occurs, how long will the reprieve last? Look at it this way:How quickly did it change from Trump to Biden? In seven months we're already forty-degrees down the slide! So, we will see!
Jeremiah 1:1: "The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests…"
Hilkiah was a very righteous priest, and the priest city that he was born in was Anathoth, and his message was so strong during his 40 years as prophesying against Judah and Israel that his own family in Anathoth wanted him killed. That tells you a lot!
"…Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, to whom the Word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon… [we will see what proceeded Josiah and what happened] …king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign" (vs 1-2).
Then it goes on into the time of captivity! After Josiah died, then Jeremiah wrote the book of Lamentations, because he knew the judgment of God was final.
Let's see what happened during the time when Jeremiah began preaching. He came after Manasseh did what he did. He came after a period of really terrible evil.
2-Chronicles 33:1: "Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign…"
How much did he know? Not very much! Think about what he had to have around him in order to function as king: counselors and instruction in what to do as being king!
"…and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem."
- Aren't you glad you won't have to live 55-years under Biden?
- How bad did it get?
Let's see that he was one of the worst kings of Israel and Judah.
Verse 2: "But he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel, for he built again the high places, which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served them. And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, 'In Jerusalem shall My name be forever'" (vs 2-4).
Verse 5: "And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD…. [right in the temple area] …And he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom. He also observed times… [all the pagan holidays, same ones we have today] …and used enchantments, and used witchcraft… [instead of going to God, he went to the demons] …and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD to provoke Him to anger" (vs 5-6).
How much are we are doing to provoke God to anger with how we're acting as a nation? Think about:
- all the drugs
- all the adultery
- all the perversion
- all the false education
- the entertainment industry
- the music industry
Think of all those things that are now controlled by Satan! Some of them for as long as Manasseh was king—55 years!
Look at the things have taken place. It's gotten so evil in some areas that you can't even try to do something legally to change the evil. The judges are evil, the legislators are evil, and some governors are evil. Certainly Washington, D.C., is filled with all kinds of evil people. So, there are a lot of parallels here.
Verse 7: "And he set a carved image, the idol, which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, 'In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever.'"
- Doesn't that sound like a lot of what's going on today?
- Hatred to God?
- Going right where God should be!
- Placing themselves right there against God?
Think about it! Same thing! Remember this: When God says something, it's true, it will happen, it will be! So, He says that He's going to put His name there.
Verse 8: "'Nor will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land, which I have set apart for your fathers—if only… [here's the condition] …they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.'"
They didn't do it! What happens? Just like today, when evil becomes structured into the system it multiplies! It multiplies! Remember that they had 'Gay Pride Month'—whatever it is—and guess what, right here in Hollister they had a little 'gay' parade downtown. I saw that on television and thought, clear down here in little ole Hollister! It's everywhere!
Verse 9: "But Manasseh led astray Judah and the people of Jerusalem, and caused them to do worse than the nations whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel."
God always gives warning! Jeremiah was one of the prophets after Manasseh, but who was before Jeremiah? Isaiah! There were other prophets along the way.
Verse 10: "And the LORD spoke to Manasseh and to His people, but they would not listen. Wherefore, the LORD brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains and carried him to Babylon" (vs 10-11).
They took King Manasseh off to Babylon because Assyria controlled it at that time. What was going to change Manasseh's mind. This gives you an answer to the question: Why do we have so many trials! To see if we'll turn to God! That's what happened with Manasseh!
Verse 12: "And when he was in affliction, he sought the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers."
That's an astonishing thing! Even someone steeped in evil can come to repentance! Repentance is a choice! So, he did.
Verse 13: "And he prayed to Him, and He was entreated of him and heard his prayer, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom."
He was brought back as a vassal king. That's the only time you hear in the Bible that conquering empire and the king or emperor of Assyria, in this case, would take the king whom he captured and threw in the dungeon to bring him back and put him on his throne.
That shows a beginning of a reprieve. If there's going to be any reprieve in America, there's going to have to be something like that concerning all the abortions. The first shots have been fired by the Supreme Court as I mentioned in upholding the 'heartbeat law.' Now the battle really begins!
- Do the people really mean it?
- Do they really want to quite killing children?
We'll soon know!
"…Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God" (v 13).
Notice what he did! He started cleaning up the mess that he made.
Verse 14: "And after this he built a wall outside the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entrance of the Fish Gate, and went around Ophel and raised it to a very great height. And he put army commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah. And he took away the strange gods…" (vs 14-15).
There's got to be repentance to get rid of all these things that are idols and gods that people have. Ezekiel talks to the elders of Israel when they came to talk to him that they had idols in their mind. Today, that's what's going to have to happen: clean out all of the garbage that's in the heart and mind.
"…and the idol out of the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mountain of the house of the LORD and in Jerusalem, and threw them out of the city" (v 15).
What does this tell us? When there is repentance, there must be action! That's what's going to have to happen on an individual level, on a community level, on a state level and on a national level. There's going to have to be a degree of repentance and getting rid of all the things that are grievous abominations before God. The major one is abortion!
Then for all those who call themselves Christians, they're going to have to stop and examine all the Ten Commandments and realize they better quit worshipping on Sunday and keep the Sabbath. That's up to them, and they all know better. They all know. So, we'll see!
Verse 16: "And he repaired the altar of the LORD and sacrificed upon it peace offerings and thank offerings. And he commanded Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel. But the people still sacrificed in the high places, but only to the LORD their God" (vs 16-17).
That shows that there was partial repentance, but they acknowledged God. A lot of people who may acknowledge God, but not repent really the way that they should. But because of the sincere repentance of others, they will come along the coattails if there is to be a reprieve, which we will look at here in just a little bit.
Verse 18: "And the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the LORD God of Israel, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel."
There was a short of king called Amon, but that didn't last long. But there was another righteous king.
So, if there's going to be any change in America, the people in America better show their repentance by voting for those:
- who believe in what is right
- who acknowledge that abortion is sin against God
- who acknowledge the God of the Bible as the God Who gave us this land that we have
Hopefully, that leader/leaders would have enough gumption to help people come to God in real repentance and change from the evil. So, we have an example of this, and it's King Josiah. He was actually prophesied of. He was just a little child when he was made king.
2-Chronicles 34:1: "Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years." He died at the age of 39!
In every one of these cases we see the good and the evil, and the difference in between.
Verse 2: "And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and did not turn aside to the right nor to the left. For in the eighth year of his reign… [when he's 16-years-old] …while he was still young, he began to seek after the God of David his father…." (vs 2-3).
That's what the people of the land have to do; instead of having God as a 'hip-pocket rabbit foot' that you can reach down and take out of your pocket and shake it and get good luck, you've got to seek the true God! You seek Him through:
- His Word
- prayer
- loving Him
- obeying Him
This is what Josiah was doing!
"…And in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places…" (v 3). He was 20-years-old at this point!
- got rid of all the idols
- got rid of all the false practices
"…and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images. And they broke down the altars of Baalim in his presence. And he cut down the images, which were on high above them, and the groves. And the carved images and the molten images he also broke in pieces, and made dust from them, and scattered it upon the graves of the ones who had sacrificed to them" (vs 3-4)
Quite a thing that he did! All the cleanup, even some of those left over from the 10 northern tribes, which weren't taken away.
Verse 8: "And in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God."
Think about this: here's the temple and here's the House of the Lord. Where was the Law to be kept? In the Ark of the Covenant! In the sides of the Ark! To show you how bad it was, and how pagan they had become, right there in the House of God they went in to clean out the temple. Can you imagine that?
After all he had done up to that point, they finally got around to do it. What happened? They found the Book of the Law! Think about that! It was so bad that the Book of the Law was buried somewhere back under all the garbage and stuff in the Holy Sanctuary of God and he found the Book of the Law.
Verse 14: "And when they were bringing out the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD written by the hand of Moses. And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, 'I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD.' And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan. And Shaphan carried the book to the king and brought the king word back again, saying, 'All that was given into the hands of your servants, they are doing. And they have gathered together the money that was found in the house of the LORD, and delivered it into the hands of the overseers and to the hands of the workmen'" (vs 14-17).
Verse 18: "And Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, 'Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.' And Shaphan read it before the king."
This is why it's important to read the Word of God. It's going to help you do what God wants you to do. IF there's going to be:
- a reprieve in your life
- a reprieve in your community
- a reprieve in the nation
It's got to be that something like this has to happen! Why? Because we have more Bibles than any other nation in the world! Those responsible for teaching it must themselves first repent and start preaching the Truth so that the people will know!
- the people don't know anything about God
- the people don't know anything about His commandments
Verse 17: "And they have gathered together the money that was found in the house of the LORD, and delivered it into the hands of the overseers and to the hands of the workmen. And Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, 'Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.' And Shaphan read it before the king. And it came to pass…" (vs 17-19).
This is what it has to be; this is repentance. This is why we have the Word of God. That's why we have recorded the sins that people have done so that we can learn that if we're going come away from the same sins that they have been doing, we've got to repent. Notice how Josiah reacted:
"…when the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes."
That is an act of utter repudiation of what currently is, beginning with yourself and the first step in repentance. I don't recommend that you put on your best suit and repent and tear off all the buttons. But I do recommend that you come to God on your knees and repent of your sins.
Even in the Churches of God, we are not exempt from problems and difficulties that come along.
Verse 20: "And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying, 'Go inquire of the LORD for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book…'" (vs 20-21).
What did he do? He went to a prophetess! Jeremiah was still living. I'm sure that somewhere in all of this mix that Jeremiah was involved.
"'…that has been found, for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us because our fathers have not kept the Word of the LORD to do according to all that is written in this book" (v 21). That's a good place to start in praying!
Verse 22: "And Hilkiah, and those of the king, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, the keeper of the robes. (And she lived in Jerusalem in the second quarter.) And they spoke to her about this."
Here's another example. Sometimes it gets so bad that only righteous women can see what's going on. So, they asked her and God inspired her.
Verse 23: "And she answered them, 'Thus says the LORD God of Israel, "Tell the man who sent you to me, 'Thus says the LORD: "Behold, I will bring evil upon this place…"'" (vs 23-24).
So, it's going to come! Here's a perfect example of a reprieve, and it's temporary.
"…and upon its people, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah… [they probably read all the curse of Deut. 28] …because they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods, so that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. And My wrath shall be poured out upon this place and shall not be quenched" (vs 24-25).
It's going to come! But here's the reprieve, because of King Josiah.
Verse 26: "And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, so shall you say to him, 'Thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning the words you have heard, "Because your heart was tender… [not hard] …and you humbled yourself before your God when you heard His words against this place and against its people, and humbled yourself before Me, and tore your clothes and wept before Me, I have even heard you also," says the LORD'" (vs 26-27).
Look at what repentance of one man can do. God even says that if you can find even one man who will do justice and what is right, I will pardon! So, God is more than fair! God is more than just! Upon repentance, God will grant a reprieve! It has to be at every level and facet of American life! But it's not going to stop the final collapse. It will only delay it! That delay, all of us in the Churches of God have got to understand, if it comes, we better really be about preaching the Gospel and warning message, because that gives us a space of time to preach and teach!
We need to look at it that way. We don't know how it's going to work out. We don't know if there will be that repentance. But enacting this law and the Supreme Court upholding this law—the 'heartbeat law'—that's the first positive step.
We'll have to see what else happens. Here in California we have coming up a recall election. They have lost hundreds of thousands of people moving out of the state. Because they're so stupid here in California, they destroy everything, all of the politicians and the governor is the worst one possible. Couldn't be any worse! Kind of like Manasseh! Worse! Will he repent like Manasseh? Probably not!
We'll see! God is giving the people of California choice. You want more sin and evil? orDo you want to get things straightened up for a while? If there's time, that means that those of us who are preaching the Gospel, teaching the Gospel, those of you who are listening, those of you who are new, you better come to real repentance and be baptized so that you can enter into the Kingdom of God when Christ returns.
That's important for all of us who have been in the Church a long time. We have the same goal! So, we've got to keep all of that in mind. Let's see what happened:
Verse 28: "…And they brought the king word again. And the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem" (vs 28-29).
If we get a President that's close to what God wants, and he gets all the advisors and counselors and acknowledges God and tells them that 'we have to do right for the people,' God would accept that! But if we get a President who is going to continue like Biden, forget it! The enemy is going to come in and we will become servants in our own land. Biden is fitting perfectly to a 'T' everything that the Chinese Communist Party wants done to America.
They don't want to destroy us, because they need our food to feed their 1.4 billion people. How's that for a daily breakfast menu? Think about how much food that requires!
Here's what the king did; Verse 29: "And the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah, and the people of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people from the great to the small. And he read in their ears all the words of the Book of the Covenant that was found in the house of the LORD" (vs 29-30).
They're going to have to come back to the Word of God! They're going to have to come back to the honest intent of what the Constitution was. If they don't do that, prepare for the worst, because it will come. Just like God has it written down here, it will come!
Verse 31: "And the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the LORD to walk after the LORD and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant, which are written in this book."
The king had more power than a president. So, it has to get down to an individual basis of the people themselves, the Churches themselves, the ministers themselves. All of the Sunday-keeping ministers better quit deceiving themselves that Sunday is the day. It's not! Never has been! Never will be!
You're living a lie and you're teaching people to live a lie! IF you want a reprieve THEN it's going to have to be that you start converting from Sunday to Sabbath and have your parishioners come on the Sabbath Day and study the Word of God! That would be a good start!
Verse 32: "And he caused all who were found in Jerusalem and in Benjamin, and the people of Jerusalem, to stand to it according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the territories that belonged to the children of Israel. And he made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the LORD their God. All his days they did not depart from following the LORD, the God of their fathers" (vs 32-33).
Then, unfortunately, after they had a great Passover, a great return, greatest festival ever in Jerusalem—not even from the days of Solomon. Then there was a battle with the Egyptians and the king wanted to go out and fight.
Josiah was putting on all his armor and gear, ready to go get his chariot and go out to fight. He was told, 'Don't go out there; don't go fight.' I want to fight! 'Don't go fight.'
The king wouldn't listen, so caution: don't get lifted up in your vanity after you've been blessed by God, because you're going to pay a terrible price!
That's what happened with Josiah! He said that he would dress like a soldier and no one will recognize him. Well, you can't go against the Word of God! So, he went out to fight and took an arrow and died!
Then Jeremiah gave his lamentations, because he knew what was going to take place. All of this is recorded in history in different terminology. But it verifies what is said here, that it happened, because it did! Today, IF there's going to be a reprieve:
- we've got to return to God
- we've got to return to His Word
- we've got to make things right
- we've got to quit killing the children
- we've got to quit killing the babies
- we've got to quit the Sunday-worship
- we've got to quite holiday-keeping
That's going to be hard! Think about how hard it was for Josiah to get rid of all the Christmas trees, and all of that! That's what he had to get rid of! Think about it! That's where we are!
Scriptural References:
- Jeremiah 18:5-11
- Deuteronomy 8:1-4
- Deuteronomy 30:15-20
- Jeremiah 1:1-2
- 2 Chronicles 33:1-18
- 2 Chronicles 34:1-4, 8, 14-33)
Scripture referenced, not quoted:
- Leviticus 26
- Matthew 4:4
- Luke 4:4
- Deuteronomy 28
Also referenced: Book:
America and Britain: Two Nations that Changed the World by Philip Neal
FRC:bo
Transcribed: 9/15/21
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