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The Judgment of America
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The Judgment of America
Copyright © May 14, 2011 Douglas W. Jerving.
All Rights Reserved.
A friend at work asked me whether I thought we could turn this thing around, meaning the loss of our nation to the
forces of the wicked, atheists, homosexual, socialist/ communist, you name it; in other words, the religious and
political forces of statism.
I told him I was confident that the next election cycle would see the removal of many more Democrat and RINO
(Republican In Name Only) politicians, and that we would begin to see some of the worst aspects of Obama-care
and the debt crisis honestly addressed.
What my friend really wanted to know was whether he would see the day when America was once again a great nation.
His hope like most of us was for a nation that fears God and is feared by her enemies. I could only remind him that
it has taken a long time for us to get where we are today. The enemies of American freedom have weaved a very deep
web into our foundations. John Stormer’s small book, published in 1964, None Dare Call It Treason, documented the
infiltration of communism with its many faces into the deepest recesses of our government and major institutions.
There are many who say that the institutionalization of socialism with all it’s fellow-travelers (from sexual
promiscuity to atheism, to occultism, et al.) are evidences that the American Hope is over, and we as a nation are
in decline. Some have threatened America with judgment from God for her sins. There is a long history of this genre
of thought in American fundamentalism. From early Pentecostal preachers to modern day Charismatic prophets, we have
been told that we should expect the soon and horrible wrath of God.
In the early 1970’s Leonard Ravenhill decried “Sodom had no Bible. America has millions of them.” (Sodom Had No Bible,
Bethany House: 1971.) Luke 12:47-48 (KJV) says “But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall
be beaten with few [stripes]. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have
committed much, of him they will ask the more.” We Americans have been given much Biblical truth, and yet we fail to
act on it. For this we will certainly be judged. Ravenhill’s threat moves along the same lines as Jesus’ words against
ancient Judea that greater judgment comes upon those with greater knowledge of the truth (Luke 10:10-15; parallel,
Matt 11:20-24).
It is said that George Washington had a vision of three judgments by which the new nation would learn to serve God.
Those judgments would come after the continent was populated from sea to sea. However apocryphal the vision is, is
hard to say, but the vision is worth reading. (See
http://www.telusplanet.net/public/tsgibson/washington.htm accessed
May 14, 2011.)
Some of the items that I have had tucked away in my files for years, are now available to anyone with internet access.
These include the visions of the healing evangelist A. A. Allen, and the early Pentecostal preacher A. C. Valdez Sr.
A. A. Allen’s staggering Liberty falling into the Gulf of Mexico, is a horrific vision of judgment:
(http://www.telusplanet.net/public/tsgibson/aaallen.htm
accessed May 14, 2011).
A. C. Valdez’ prophetic vision in 1929 saw nuclear missiles three years before the atom was split and freeways
before they existed. His terrifying vision of the nuclear destruction of the West Coast was accompanied by the
promised sheltering of God’s elect from His wrath. (
http://members.iglide.net/jdurr/ProphecyNewsContent/Valdez.html
accessed May 14, 2011).
Three years before the burning of the twin towers in New York, Gaylene Womack prophesied that Muslim terrorist cells
hidden within our nation would bring about “great mass murders” of Americans. One of the reasons why this would take
place, she said, was because we have allowed them and their false gods into our nation.
(
http://www.telusplanet.net/public/tsgibson/muslimswomack.htm accessed May 14, 2011).
In David Wilkerson’s 1974 book The Vision he predicted an earthquake in Japan that would be followed by a far more
devastating quake in the USA. He said that the US quake would be the largest in recorded history, and would take
place in a completely unexpected place, and not in California.
(See
http://www.gentlewisdom.org.uk/2575/david-wilkerson-prophecy-earthquakes-in-japan-and-usa/ accessed May 14, 2011).
David Wilkerson was a much respected man of God by me and many others. Even before his recent passing, his prophesies
had taken on a larger than life status for a lot of Christians. The “Wilkerson quake” has become a holy grail for
prophesy-addicts. Some would-be/wanna-be prophets try to ride Wilkerson’s coat tails to fame by adding further
predictions to what he had to say. One wanna-be is convinced eastern Tennessee will be the location for the Wilkerson quake.
Others have predicted that California would fall into the sea. Christians as well as occultists (Theosophy, Edgar
Cayce, and many New Agers) have repeated this sawhorse since the great San Francisco quake in 1906. Fundamentalist
Christians probably were parroting the latter groups rather than the other way around. For instance, see the sensationalist
false prophesy of Maurice Sklar:
http://www.telusplanet.net/public/tsgibson/msklar.htm accessed May 14, 2011. (For more
on predictions about California and the West Coast see
http://www.unleavenedbreadministries.org/?page=dreamsvisions
accessed May 14, 2011.)
What should the faithful, god-fearing Christian believe? Is all of this true? Is some of it true? How much is a clear
Word from God and how much just nonsense from bandwagonneers speaking out of their own fancies?
Surely, before God does a thing on earth, He informs His people ahead of time so that they may intercede in prayer.
God showed Abraham what He would do to Sodom so that they did stand a prayer’s chance before hell befell them.
(Gen 18:17; cf., Amos 3:7). The prophet Rees Howells and his school of the prophets knew every move Hitler made before
he made it, prayed against it, and turned the tide of history (Norman Grubb, Rees Howells: Intercessor, CLC: 1952).
When a so-called prophet brings forth a revelation and it comes to pass, we have reason to consent to its validity and
are held responsible if we do not obey. (Deut 18:18-19). But if the predictive word fails, it is a false prophecy and
we should not be afraid of him or her. (Deut 18:20-22). If the word he brings forth promotes other gods or humanistic
philosophies, it is to be rejected. (Deut 13:1-5; 1 Kings 22:22-23). If it encourages us to complacency and unethical
standards, it is not God’s word. (1 Sam 18:10; 19:24; 2 Sam 12:1-12; 2 Chron 12:5; 15:8; 19:2; 25:16; 33:9; Prov 29:18).
If it does not line up with the message of all God’s prophets before him or her and to the Bible revelation, it is to be
disregarded as unfaithful to revealed truth and unacceptable. (2 Chron 18:9-34; Jer 14:13-14; 23:21; 23:30-33; 25:4;
25:13; 26:5-19; 28:1-17).
The OT prophets clearly believed Yahweh was the Judge of all the earth. “His judgments are in all the earth” (1 Chron
16:14; Ps 105:7), witnessed by all nations (New Testament: Rev 15:7). They showed Him as judge not merely of Israel and
Judah, but of all the nations around them, particularly for their actions as they affected His chosen people. Amos, who
dared not even call himself a prophet, declared judgment on all the nations that dealt severely with God’s covenant people
(which we shall see).
God’s judgments are not only concerned with how the nations dealt with the nation of Israel. Daniel shows God’s
sovereignty over all the nations; that He acts in history, and that history is actually the outworking of His plans for
the nations. Daniel shows a succession of kingdoms, each one fiercer and more wicked than its predecessor. Ultimately,
all those kingdoms are assimilated by the Kingdom of the Son of Man (Dan 7:13 and 14).
The prophet Amos declared judgments on the nations often by incorporating a “three and four” pattern of transgression
lists. “For three transgressions of Judah, and for four” (Amos 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 13; 2:1, 4, 6). The three and four
transgression pattern tends to follow how those nations dealt with God’s elect people, and the communities where they
lived. Even Israel and Judea dealt faithlessly with God’s people, wherever they abode, persecuting and harassing them,
and so they were condemned.
Amos implies that national judgment takes place after a point in its sinfulness, measured by God that has no return.
Thus the ancient Canaanite inhabitants had not yet filled up the measure of wrath in Abraham’s day, but had by Joshua’s
time. (Gen 15:13-16).The idea of filling up the cup of wrath until it over flows is found throughout the Bible. This is
similar to the idea of burning refuse until the stench of it comes up into the nostrils of God. (Amos 5:21; Isa 1:13).
Wickedness is only allowed to continue for a season, and God will judge when the measure of wickedness arrives fully.
Is there a “three and four transgression” pattern used by God in determining the sins of all the nations? Can we find
one that fits America? Would the application of such patterns be merely arbitrary, or is there validity in examining
America’s transgressions for evidence of its ‘three and four” transgressions? It is easy to enumerate lists of sins,
less easy to know which ones might best be incorporated into God’s most important list. We may as well leave such things
to Him. One person might say idolatry, adultery, pride and fullness of bread. Another might say atheism, humanism,
relativism, and statism. God knows. He is the Judge of all the earth, not us.
Is America’s judgment certain? It is as certain as is the judgment of God on all the nations. Does God have a particular
vendetta or a lawsuit against America, as He did with ancient Israel? That presumes more about God’s plan for this nation
than we can say. It assumes that America has a theocratic status similar to ancient Israel, one that is above all other
nations. Certainly, much of our American heritage is founded in the Covenant based theology of the Puritans. But the idea
that we are somehow special or superior in God’s plan for the nations is rather self-serving.
Perhaps it is more accurate as Americans and as Christians that we ask who it is in America that is being judged. There is
nothing in the New Testament signaling God’s judgment of any particular nation as opposed to other nations. All of Western
history has been concerned with the rule of God over the nations since Christ. This theme is carried over from the Old
Testament and applies to all nations.
The New Testament lays the stress on the judgment of the household of God, the Ekklesia, the Church. It is the Church that
God deals with first, and the nations secondarily where ever God’s people reside. As in Amos, the nations are judged on the
basis of their relations to the people of God within them. The nation falls under the same judgment that the Assembly of
God’s people fall. It may be that we gravitate toward prophetic pronouncements of our nations because it moves the
uncomfortable spotlight off of ourselves.
It is better that we recall the promises of 2 Chron 7:14: “If My people who are called by my name will humble themselves
and pray and seek my face, then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land.” However near or far
judgment is for our nation, God promises that if we will obey Him from our hearts then He will avert judgment from our land.
Judgment is inevitable for America in the same way that it is inevitable for all nations. But judgment may be held back for
a season if a nation returns to Him with all their heart. But that first means the return of God’s people to Him.
The price of freedom, it has been said, is eternal vigilance. In the parable of the ten virgins (Matt 25:1-13), the five
wise virgins sought out extra oil to trim their lamps, preparing themselves for a late call to the wedding festivities.
The foolish virgins slept, and when the call went forth, were unprepared. It is time for Americans, many of whom have now
awakened, to fill their lamps with oil, and to stay awake. The infiltration of our land by wicked forces took place while
we slept. It will only be stopped by an awakened people who are guarding against the designs of the enemy against their
nation, their churches, their families, and themselves.
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Doug Jerving is the publisher of the NewEdisonGazette.com. You may contact him at
dje@newedisongazette.com.
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