"Men Have Forgotten God."

Alexander Solzehnitsyn

In The Harbinger, Jonathan Cahn parallels the disappointment God felt toward the rebellious nation of Israel and their eventual fall into judgment with God’s disappointment in America and its impending judgment.  Critics disapprove by saying you can’t take Bible verses that were specifically meant for God’s chosen people and apply them to other nations.  I don’t agree.  I think there are certain principles that apply to ALL nations as well as to Israel.

Do not certain principles apply to all individuals, not just a chosen few?  Specifically among them is the biblical teach that if one disobeys God there will be severe consequences.  If one worships another god there will come a severe judgment.  If a person ignores God or claims he doesn’t exist, in a very literal way, there will be hell to pay.

The Bible teaches that these certain principles that apply to all individuals also apply to all nations. This is expressed clearly in Psalm 9:17 “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”  If one rises early in the morning before the light of day and casts his gaze toward the eastern horizon he will see something that all men of all generations have seen for thousands of years.  He will see the sun rise.  That is really a misnomer, the sun doesn’t actually rise.  When we see the sun appear we can rest assured that the earth is still spinning on its axis.

Just as surely as that natural law plays itself out every 24 hours, there are certain spiritual laws that cannot be compromised or altered.  Among them is one very important to Americans:  A nation that forgets God cannot and will not escape the judgment of God.  We have pushed God aside. We have chosen to worship our own idols.  We are obsessed with our own position, possessions and pleasure.  Multitudes claim to be a part of the Christian family but only for their own expediency, not because they have actually made any sacrifices for or developed any relationship with Him.

We tend to think that nations rise and fall based on the type of governments they form and the value of the policies they adopt.  This is humanism:  giving man more credit than he deserves for the rise and fall of nations.  It is a sovereign God who determines life or death for the nations of the earth.  He explains in his word over and over again the reasons for the rise and fall of nations:  “Righteousness lifts up a nation, but sin is a shame to the people” (Prov. 14:34).  The same laws that apply to individuals apply to nations. “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18)  If pride comes before the fall of the individual, pride also precedes the fall of a nation.

When nations turn away from God, acting as if He does not exist, sinfulness festers within the soul of that nation like an abscess in a boil.  The nation become infected with political corruption, dishonesty, slander, public displays of sexual perversions, rape,  violent crimes, , theft, , adultery, abortion, pornography,  drunkenness, drug abuse, gluttony, graft, greed and gambling of all kinds. 

God’s anger is revealed as his hammer is applied to the pillars of society.  Economic woes surface as taxes increase and government borrows more and more money to pay for the public demand for entitlements.  Government always fails in its attempt to satisfy the needs of all the people because their resources are limited.  Our God “owns the cattle on a thousand hills” (Psalm 50:10).  He is unlimited in his ability to provide and care for his own.  He entitles his follows to a fountain of grace and mercy that can never run dry. 

The spring of blessing from which the church has drawn its life begins to dry up.  The family rambles toward wreckage.  Education crumbles under the strain of trying to maintain a justification for eliminating truth from its curriculum.  Entertainment mollifies the masses and the press prostitutes its integrity.  The pillars weaken as God seeks to remind us of our failure to acknowledge him.

May God have mercy on America!

My father had four sons.  I was the youngest of the pack.  There are many disadvantages to being the youngest.  I didn’t get away with much because by the time I made my appearance my father had a pretty good grip on how to do the father-thing.  But there is one outstanding advantage that I didn’t always take advantage of.  The youngest can always learn from the mistakes made by his older siblings. 

Why is America not learning from the mistakes made by older nations?  The Israel of the Old Testament lost its identity because they disobeyed God.  Judah was taken into captivity because of their rebellion against the Almighty.  In the modern age, Germany was defeated and destroyed because the German people chose to follow Hitler instead of Christ.  On Christmas Day in 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as president of the Soviet Union and a great nation fell without a shot being fired, one of the most amazing historical events of our time.  How could this happen? 

We who live in the west would do well to consider the words of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the great writer and historian of Russian society.  When attempting to answer the question as to why a horrible revolution took place in his country that killed 60 million people, Solzhenitsyn said, “More than half a century ago, while I was still a child, I recall hearing a number of older people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: Men have forgotten God; that's why all this has happened.” 

The truth is never complicated, it is always so simple.  We could fill libraries with the books men have written about the causes of WWI, WWII, The Cold War and the present unrest in the Middle East.  Don’t bother spending too much time perusing through those sources.  The answer is simple:  Men have forgotten God.

Dark clouds are gathering on the horizon of America’s future.  Those clouds indicate the judgment of God upon a nation that has disobeyed, a nation that has abandoned the intent of its founding fathers.  We have become softened and weakened by our wealth and abundance.  We have chosen to place our trust in other things rather than in God.  He has allowed us to do this just as he allowed a multitude of nations that preceded us to do the same.  What are the consequences of forgetting God?   I believe the answer is found in Psalm 106:15 “And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.” 

It is not too late to return to the temple.  Let us repent of our sin of self-sufficiency.  Let us seek forgiveness for our callousness and forgetfulness and let us sincerely and desperately seek to restore what we once had; the blessings and approving smile of God upon us.

Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.

Is God Warning America?

What is the secret of America’s great success?  America’s freedom and prosperity didn’t happen by chance.   We are a nation blessed by God.  We have been blessed beyond any nation in history but now we have forgotten God.  Psalm 9:17 "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God."  We continue to fill the cup of God’s wrath with our corruption.  God is saddened when a man seems content to live in the filth of his own corruption.  A man should tremble at the wrath he stirs in the heart of God when he attempts to destroy the hearts of others, especially the young and innocent, with his corruption.  As a nation we have awakened the wrath of God by exporting our corruption to other nations.  We use to export steel, textiles and technology.  Now we export pornography, abortion and homosexual rights.

We have banned the Bible, prayer and the Ten Commandments from our schools and institutions.  We have banned the very mention of God’s name.  Do we expect God to slump his shoulders and walk away?  What is God’s reaction to America’s rejection of him?  Because he is the same yesterday, today and forever and he never changes, we can learn how God will react to America today by looking historically at how he reacted to countries of the past that committed such sins. 

What do Israel and America have in common?  They are the only two nations in history that were founded upon God from their very inception.  America was called to be a light to the nations just as ancient Israel was.  God’s plan for countries that he has chosen to be light and salt is that if we continue to follow him we will be blessed but if we turn our backs on him and forget him we shall be removed. 

Dr. Luke recorded these words of Jesus; “…to whom much is given, of him shall much be required."  (Luke 12:48)  We were established on the foundations of the very word of God and he blessed us for our efforts, for our obedience.  We became the wealthiest, most powerful nation on earth.  We were blessed with resources, we were blessed with ingenuity and innovations and a standard of living that other nations could only dream of. 

Israel experienced similar blessings over 2500 years ago.  Israel was chosen of God to be that “city upon a hill”, that nation that would be the flag ship for all other nations, pointing them toward God.  But Israel was influenced by the pagan practices of neighboring nations.  They lost their hunger for God and they began to yearn for frivolous things that would temporarily satisfy the lusts of their hearts.  They began to live for the moment rather than for eternity.

God allowed Israel to suffer an attack from Assyria from the north.  This was a wakeup call.  But rather than respond to this warning from the Almighty, Israel continued in her waywardness.  When God spoke against the sons of Jacob and his judgment fell on Israel they said, “The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with dressed stone; the fig trees have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars.” (Isaiah 9:10) 

God removed the umbrella of protection from Israel.  He meant this attack form Assyria to be a warning.  It was a wake-up call.  He was pleading with his chosen:  “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)  But they were a rebellious people, they had “eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear.” (Ezekiel 12:2)

The attack of the Assyrians didn’t move them to repent, rather, it revealed their arrogance.  “We will replace the damaged bricks with dressed stone.  We will replace the fallen sycamores with tall and noble cedars,” they said.  The first stage of judgment was completed and it resulted in no conversion.  Therefore, God will try again to awaken the hardened, sleeping hearts of the Israelites.  What is more serious than to lift one’s fist to the face of God and refuse his call to repentance?  God could not ignore this blatant rebellion.

When God smites he means to humble us and turn us back to him.  When the reaction is pride instead of humility we are setting ourselves up for a greater smiting.  Matthew Henry says of this verse:  (Isaiah 9:10) “The people turn not to Him who smites them, therefore he continues to smite: for when God judges, he will overcome; and the proudest, stoutest sinner shall either bend or break.” 

Messianic Rabbi Jonathon Cahn identifies 8 harbingers in this verse. (The Harbinger, Jonathon Cahn)  A harbinger is anything that foreshadows a future event.  Cahn makes a convincing comparison between God’s treatment of Israel and God’s treatment of America. 

The first harbinger was “the bricks have fallen.”  This bricks were weak, sun dried and easy to destroy.  There was damage but it was limited.

The second harbinger; “but we will rebuild.”  God is encouraging repentance but they are defying this and choose instead to display their arrogance.  They will apply human effort to undo the judgment of God.

The third harbinger:  “we will rebuild stronger.”  “If you destroy our bricks we will replace them with strong and ornate stone.  If you destroy our sycamore trees, trees of little value, we will replant great cedars.  We will make what you destroyed greater than it was before,” they said.

The fourth harbinger:  “the hewn stone”.  “The bricks have been destroyed but we will rebuild with hewn stone.”  The weak bricks made of clay will be replaced by stone hewn and cut from the mountain.  They shook their fist in the face of God and said, “You destroyed us in our weakness, we will come back stronger than ever.”

The fifth harbinger:  The spirit of defiance.  God recognizes this attitude and he is trying to purge them of this sin.

The sixth harbinger:  “The sycamore has been cut down.”  This tree was a type of fig mulberry tree.  They were common, they were weak.  The Assyrians cut them down when they attacked.

The seventh harbinger:  The strong Cedar tree.  “We will replace the weak sycamore with the strong cedar.  You sent the Assyrians to attack us.  You thought it would weaken us and turn us to repentance.  Instead, the weak will be made strong and we will do this by our own effort with no help from God.”

The eight harbinger:  The leaders of the nation say that they will rebuild.  “We will be stronger yet.”  They failed to humble themselves in the eyes of God and because of their arrogant reaction, “his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.” (Isaiah 9:21)

Cahn compares this first judgment of God on the Israelites with America’s 9/11 experience.  What was 9/11?  It cast our country into shock.  Seven years later our economy came crashing down.  Was this God sending a warning across the bow? 

The Rabbi draws our attention to the next chapter in Isaiah:  “Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath!”  (Isaiah10:5)  God is using the Assyrians to warn the Israelis of judgment yet to come.  He then says that after he is finished with this ‘rod’ he will “…punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes.”  (Isaiah 10:12)

As God allowed the Assyrians to wake up the Israelis, has he not allowed the terrorist of 9/11 to wake up America?  Are we going to humble ourselves and repent or are we going to be arrogant and ignore his judgment?

The Harbinger, Jonathon Cahn

The Harbinger, Issues in Education, Bob and Geri Boyd

Matthew Henry’s Commentary – Isaiah Chapter 9

Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.

The Danger of Defying God: Is God Judging America?

‘Woe’ is a little three letter word filled with meaning and emotion. It means to ‘curse’ or to ‘damn’. It is the assignment of justice. The emotion behind the word may be anger, but it is also used with much sorrow. Think of those who were watching as the twin towers fell on 9/11. Their gasps and cries expressed shock and dismay. They were overwhelmed with sorrow at the loss of life within the towers as they crumbled to earth. Sorrow was finally followed by anger toward a cowardly enemy. This is the emotion Isaiah feels as he repeats this little word several times in chapter 5.

1. Greed for Material Things. “WOE to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land. The Lord Almighty has declared in my hearing: ‘Surely the great houses will become desolate, the fine mansions left without occupants.” (Isa. 5:8-9) God is declaring a judgment on the Jewish people because materialism had become their idol. They worshiped things rather than the Creator.

There are parallels between ancient Israel and modern America that cannot be ignored. We have become a very materialistic society. The accumulation of wealth has become our idol. We willingly sacrifice our families and our health at the altar of materialism.

Our houses have become desolate. Millions of homeowners have been foreclosed on in the last several years despite President Obama’s $75 billion plan to save homes. Our community (Columbus, Georgia) has many “fine mansions left without occupants.”

Because of their disobedience and betrayal God brought famine into the land.

2. Lust for Drunken Pleasure. “WOE to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine.” (Isa. 5:11) God punished a society that had decided to replace worship of God with a lust for pleasure. We run after alcoholic beverages and various drugs to help relieve the pain and boredom in our lives. We pursue our own desires and have “no regard for the deeds of the Lord, no respect for the work of his hands.” (Isa. 5:12) These are cheap substitutes for the true Healer.

“There is a balm in Gilead
To make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead
To heal the broken soul.” (African-American Spiritual)

The true God is patient and longsuffering but he cannot tolerate such disrespect indefinitely. So, God removed the restraints upon the Babylonians and they came into the land of Israel and carried them off into exile. “Therefore my people will go into exile for lack of understanding; their men of rank will die of hunger and their masses will be parched with thirst.” (Isa. 5:13)

It is not hard to imagine thirst and lack of water in this part of the country. Florida, Alabama and Georgia have been raging a water war for over 20 years. Lake Lanier is a huge lake north of Atlanta that serves the city and those inhabitants that live south along the Chattahoochee River. There are approximately 5 million people who draw from the lake before its waters reach my area. It is very difficult to determine how to divvy the water fairly. Complicating the matter is the fact that Georgia has suffered drought conditions over the last several years. Few Americans have ever felt real thirst and hunger and they feel very comfortable that these elements will always be available in abundance.

Has American society outdone all others in its ability and willingness to seek pleasure and ignore God? If God released the Babylonians upon the Jews because of their defiance will God not also release judgments upon Americans if we don’t repent and turn back to God? There is no ‘teacher’s pet’ in this formula. God’s justice will not allow him to judge sin in one culture and ignore it in another.

3. Sin of Defiance. “WOE to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes.” (Isa. 5:18) A cart rope was made of unbelievably strong material. Its purpose was to attach a loaded cart to a beast of burden. The people of Israel were like mules pulling a cartload of iniquity behind them. They loved their sin and expended a great amount of effort to drag it about wherever they went.

They said, “Let God hurry, let him hasten his work so we may see it. Let it approach, let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come, so we may know it.” (Isa. 5:19) These people were defiant in their disobedience. They shook their fists in the face of God and challenged him to bring the judgment he promised. They said, “This is our sin. We love it more than we love you. What will you do about it?”

They were behaving as the Roman soldiers did when they spit upon Jesus and mocked him as he dragged his cross to Golgotha. “The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” (Luke 23:36-37) No good can ever come from mocking God. “It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them” (Deuteronomy 32:35)

Our God, provoked to anger, is terrible in his wrath!

God forgive us for our arrogance. We sing, “God Bless America” and then assume that he will regardless of our own actions. We no longer hide our sinfulness and we have no shame for our evil ways.

Recently, a 56 year old man, scantily dressed in women’s underwear, boarded a passenger jet from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to Phoenix, Arizona. When he arrived in Phoenix he was escorted away. It was astonishing that this man would pull such a stunt but the attitude he revealed was beyond belief. He had no shame. He was not hiding his face from the cameras. He was proud to have his picture made and wanted all to see.
We have become “haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning”. (Romans 1:30) We foolishly shake our fist in the face of God. We dare him to prove himself by reacting to our challenge.

Christians must sound a warning as Isaiah did, “They have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel. Therefore the Lord’s anger burns against his people.” (Isa. 5:25-26)

It sounds dark and hopeless but it is not. There is a solution to the dilemma in which we find ourselves. “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)


Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.

What More Could He Have Done?

Isaiah tells the story of a man who planted a vineyard (Chapter 5) He chose some very fertile land in which to plant. Israel and the Jordan River Valley is home to some of the most productive land in the world. He worked extremely hard to build his vineyard.

“He dug it all around and removed its stones.” (v. 2) Wheel barrow after wheel barrow of rocks had to be removed. He worked for days to extract all the stones. There is a old saying that when God was spreading rocks about the earth in accidently spilled a great number in the area we call Israel. The owner of the vineyard had to hire a crew to remove all the rocks. He cut terraces in the land and used the rocks to fortify them.

“He then planted the choicest vine.” (v.2) He dug deep into his pockets and bought a very expensive, top-of-the-line vine stock. It was a vine known to produce the very best grape.

“He built a tower in the middle of it.” His vineyard was nearly complete and it covered many fertile acres. He was the envy of his neighbors. The tower was a two-tier affair. A watchman stood guard at the top of the tower to guard against thieves and wild animals and the bottom of the tower was used to store tools and implements to work in the vineyard.

“He then hewed out a wine vat.”(v.2)Tremendous effort was required to build this vineyard. The owner was very pleased with his finished product. He was anticipating filling his vat with bushels of grapes and dropping the rock on them to crush from them juices that would make the best wine in the area. He had risked a lot of money. He had contributed a great amount of time and effort and now it was time to sit back and enjoy the fruits of his labor.

“He looked for it to yield grapes.” (v.2) But a tragic thing happened, instead, “it yielded wild grapes.” The fruit of this vine was weak. It produced tasteless berries that would provide a worthless wine. The owner was disappointed but also perplexed: “What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it?” he asked.

Isaiah’s song is tragic. It is the story of the country he loved so much. God chose the most fertile land in the world and gave it for the people he had chosen. He removed the rocks, the pagan peoples who were intent on destroying his people. He built a watch tower to protect his people from invaders. He did everything that could possibly have been done to plant a people who would produce spiritual fruit and glorify him.

What does a farmer do with a fruitless vineyard that produces worthless berries? He curses his vineyard. He vacates the watchtower. He removes the hedge about it and ceases to prune the branches and hoe the rows. Briars and thorns eventually overtake it. It is trampled by wild animals and vagrants. Finally, the rains cease and the vineyard is wasted and produces nothing of any value.
This vineyard (Israel) was planted at the crossroads of the world to bear witness of the glory of God. Their failure was miserable and they were worthy to be judged of God. So, famine overtook the land and God rose up an enemy (Babylon) to take them into exile. Their homes were emptied, their streets quiet and lonely.

This prophecy was for the people of Israel but I can’t help but see parallels for my own country. Several hundred years ago our forefathers came here (America) with intentions of building a society that would grant them freedom to worship as they pleased and in which they could bring glory to the God they loved. God honored the desire of their hearts by leading them to a very fertile land with abundant resources. They had been afforded a great opportunity to become that “city upon a hill” which would be a light to show the way to a darkened world. The blessings God showered upon the American people were phenomenal.

But, America, much like Israel, began a slow descent into disobedience and unbelief. What started as a slow, gradual process is now a very slippery slope. Like a water slide at Six Flags, we are plummeting into rebellion and defiance against the God who blessed us.

The briars and thorns are now overtaking the vineyard. The judgment of God rests upon America. Our economic system is in shambles, our politicians habitually lie to us, our citizens are addicted to pleasure and leisure, our families are fragmented, our judicial system is filled with weak-minded judges who are far more interested in promoting personal agendas rather than uphold foundational laws.

I think Jesus was weeping when he looked down upon the city of Jerusalem and said, “"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” (Luke 13:34) He foresaw the judgment that would come upon the city forty years hence.

O America, America. You despise the prophets sent to you and you ignore the message of truth. I think God must shed tears as he looks upon a once godly nation. “My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law.” (Psalm 119:136)

Isaiah gives the reason the vineyard was cursed in verse 24. “They have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel.” Many Americans have a twisted perception of God. They correctly see him as a caring Father whose love is longsuffering and patient and his mercy is incomprehensible. Many believe this perception gives them license to reject the laws of God. But his love for his children will not cause him to compromise his perfect justice. If God is not just God he is not God at all. His sorrow will finally turn to anger and his justice will be fearful and terrible.

He is now asking us, “What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it?”
Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.