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NOTE: This article or series has not been updated recently. As such, it may possibly contain some outdated information, and/or ideas and beliefs which I no longer embrace, or which have changed to some degree.



"And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel. For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the passover in the second month. For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem. And the thing pleased the king and all the congregation. So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel at Jerusalem: for they had not done it of a long time in such sort as it was written. So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria. And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which trespassed against the LORD God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see. Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you. For if ye turn again unto the LORD, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him."


"Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities. And Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites after their courses, every man according to his service, the priests and Levites for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister, and to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of the tents of the LORD."


I pointed out earlier that ancient Israel's obedience to the Lord was extremely sporadic. As I mention in "The Fruits Of Disobedience", some of her kings were very obedient to the Lord, while others were not. It should not surprise us then that the good works begun by King Hezekiah did not endure. Thus, only a few generations later, we find a young and God-fearing King Josiah, at the age of sixteen, repeating the very same acts which had bee done by other obedient kings who had preceded him to the throne:

"Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years. And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left. For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images. And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them. And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about. And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem."


While I can cite other examples of the scattered obedient kings of Israel, the point I wish to stress here, is that these men knew that if they truly wanted to please the Lord, they had to obey the commandments which had first been given to Moses, by stopping the sacrifices to the pagan gods, and by tearing down the many altars which had been built in the high places in order to worship these demons. In short, to really please the Lord, they had to rid Israel of all of the false religions and the temples associated with them. These false religions were so rampant in Israel, that the Prophets Jeremiah and Hosea were inspired to write:

"Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these."


"For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof."


Let us take another look now at modern America. Whereas the Lord told the ancient Israelites to not marry the heathen, and to not have anything to do with their false gods and their false religions, is this what the leadership of modern America has done? Quite to the contrary. When foreigners come to American soil seeking political asylum or financial opportunity, they are pleasantly surprised to discover that they can also continue to worship the god, or gods of their choice. In fact, America is so, so friendly, that one can even be an antichrist atheist. It doesn't matter to Uncle Sam. All that matters to the American government, is that one will pledge his loyalty to America, that he will defend her if called to do so, and that he will contribute to America's wealth in some way. Anything else is considered a secondary issue, and this is wrong, wrong, wrong! It was her choice to follow the one true God which caused ancient Israel to prosper and receive the blessings of the Lord; and it was her choice to forsake Him and follow after other false gods and religions which brought down His wrath upon her time and time again!

Now let's be honest here. Can any of you really imagine any American president, signing into law a bill which will immediately outlaw all other religions and forms of worship which are contrary to our Christian faith? Can you imagine any American president signing any bill which will call for the complete destruction of all Jewish synagogues, Muslim mosques, Buddhist temples, etc., on American soil? Hardly; yet that is basically what King Hezekiah, King Josiah, and other good kings did in Israel. They did their best to purge the land of these false religions, because they feared the judgments of the Lord, more than they feared the opinions of the people who might oppose such an edict; and some people did oppose them, as we see in this verse concerning King Hezekiah's edict:

"So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh even unto Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them."


Sadly, just like the majority of the leadership of ancient Israel, most of America's leadership is too backslidden in their faith to ever dare attempt such a thing. Most of them are more interested in being politically-correct, and in maintaining their public image, than in standing up for the truth of God's Word. Keeping their jobs, and their high salaries, takes precedence to obeying God's Commandments in His Holy Book. To be accused of religious intolerance, or of being a religious extremist, would absolutely ruin their careers, so they prefer to tow the line of ecumenism and say that all religions are good; and that in America, we must simply learn to get along with each other, regardless of our religious differences.

Because of this compromise, besides the Jews, Muslims and Buddhists, we have many other false religionists like the Wiccans, the Satanists, and various belief systems which have crept into the USA from Asia, Africa, Latin America, etc., besides those which were already being practiced by the Native Americans, such as Shamanism. Not only that, but some of these religions now have their days of worship included on the American calendar, and some of their customs are being taught in the American Public School System.

What utter nonsense and rebellion against the Lord's Word! Can you imagine if the Lord had told Moses to tell the children of Israel "Now, when you enter the land of Canaan, you are going to find a lot of heathen people who worship other gods besides Me. Now, you know that I am the only true God, but don't you worry about them, or do anything to harm them. Just learn to get along with them. Practice religious tolerance". Is that what the Lord told them? No! The Lord said:

". . . I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;"


As I have made clear, the Israelites were to have absolutely nothing to do with the heathen which inhabited the land of Canaan. They were suppose to destroy them and to drive them out! They were supposed to destroy their false temples and altars, and get rid of all of the idols of their false gods. They were not to marry the heathen, or to have any children by them. The Bible tells us that the only condition under which the ancient Israelites could intermingle with the heathen, was if the heathen were circumcised according to the covenant given to Abraham, and if they forsook their false gods, and adopted the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Consider these verses:

"And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant."


One Biblical account which is an excellent example of this, is the story of Ruth the Moabitess. Many of us are familiar with the fact, that after Naomi's husband and two sons died in the land of Moab, which is now a part of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Naomi entreated her two daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth, to return to their families, and to their gods. While Orpah did as she was told, Ruth clave to her mother-in-law, Naomi, and said:

". . . Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:"


As we know, Ruth later remarried, and became the wife of an Israelite named Boaz, who was the great grandfather of King David, and thus an ancestor of Jesus Himself. Another clear example is that of the story of Esther, who likewise married the heathen king of Persia, and thus saved her people from certain destruction. Please realize though, that these are exceptions to the general rule. The norm was for Israelites not to marry the heathen. Sadly, as I stated in part two, in modern-day America, we see the exact opposite happening; and America has become the melting pot of the world, in both a religious, and in an ethnic sense. As I explain in other articles, in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, we see that the people of Judah repented of their evilness, and put away their pagan wives and the children whom they had begotten by them, because their love for the Lord, and their desire to obey Him was much greater, as we see here:

"And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing. Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law. Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee: we also will be with thee: be of good courage, and do it. Then arose Ezra, and made the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they should do according to this word. And they sware . . . And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have transgressed, and have taken strange wives, to increase the trespass of Israel. Now therefore make confession unto the LORD God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives. Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice, As thou hast said, so must we do."


"In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab: And their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews' language, but according to the language of each people. And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves. Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin. Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this great evil, to transgress against our God in marrying strange wives?"


If some strong Christian leader, or Prophet, were to come along today, and if he were to tell American Christians to forsake their unbelieving mates and families, how many of them would be willing to do it? I would dare say very few. Such a messenger would be viewed as an absolute fool, and his message mocked, just as we saw earlier in the case of King Hezekiah.

With all of these verses, I have now provided you with a very clear picture of what the Lord expected of the ancient Israelites. They were supposed to utterly purge the land of Canaan of the heathen. The only exception seems to be if the heathen were willing to forsake their pagan gods, and adopt the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as their own. In like manner, the Israelites were supposed to totally destroy all of the altars and temples dedicated to the false gods. The Lord required of them that they remain both ethnically and spiritually pure in His sight. In both regards, they failed on a grand scale, even participating in child sacrifices. As I explain in other articles, such as the eight-part series, "Abortion: Slaughter Of The Innocent", the child sacrifices continue in America today; albeit in a more subtle form.

Just the other day, I was totally shocked to discover a website where it is claimed that a certain ex-minister performs what is referred to as an abortion ceremony. During this ceremony, the woman holds up a silver bowl which contains the remnants of her aborted fetus, while the ex-minister pronounces certain words over it, in which he asks God to bless the woman and her family, for their willingness to make the courageous decision to abort the baby. If this is indeed true, surely it epitomizes the twisted, perverted way in which some American Christians now view things. That a minister would backslide so far from his Christian faith, and do such a thing, almost defies belief; but as we saw in part two, this is precisely what happened in ancient Israel as well. They backslid so far from the Lord, they were so spiritually blind, that the Prophet Isaiah told them that their entire perception was upside-down. It was distorted. It was reversed. They were living under extremely strong delusion. The spiritual and political leadership were both deceived, and they worked together to deceive the people as well. They cried "Peace, peace!" while the true Prophets said war and destruction was coming because of their sins.

In thinking of this man, I am also reminded of the words of the Apostle Paul, where he tells us that some people are so far from the Lord, and living under such strong delusion, that they are actually "past feeling". They are numb to the Voice of God which is trying to convict their evil hearts. Consider these shocking verses:

"This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness."


Sadly, it seems that with each passing year, America is also becoming more and more "past feeling". She is so drunk on her own pride and self-confidence, that she has become deaf to God's Voice crying out to her through His many scattered messengers. Not only that, but similar to ancient Israel, America has also prostituted herself with the pagan nations and peoples of the world; and they have raped her, in order that they might partake of her delicacies. Just like the mysterious Babylon the Great who is graphically described for us in the Book of Revelation, America has become a whore in God's sight, who boasts of her fornications with the merchants of the world. In her blindness, and her distorted way of viewing things, just like that haughty whore John describes for us, she says "I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow". Isn't this precisely what the false prophets were saying before Israel was invaded in the past? Consider John's description of Babylon the Great:

"How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow."


Not only is America being raped from abroad, but she is being raped from within as well. She has opened wide her doors, and her lovers have come in by the millions. In fact, they are now so multitudinous, that they have begun to take over the country. The Jews have such an extremely powerful lobby in Washington, D.C., that Israel has America wrapped around her finger. While the Muslims may not hold very much political power in America, nevertheless, Islam is still the fastest growing religion in America today, and Buddhism has also been embraced by many former Christians. To add to this scourge of spiritual diseases, the United States of America has foolishly passed certain laws which not only protect these religions, by making one guilty of a hate crime if he dares to say anything against them, but which also protect the rights of the gay and lesbian community as well.

As I explain in the four-part series "Homosexuality And Lesbianism: To The Point", as well as in the series "When Sin Is No Longer A Sin", these people have a very specific agenda which they have been aggressively pursuing for the past three decades. Today, to America's shame, we have gay and lesbian priests, priests who marry or bless gays and lesbians, so-called "civil unions" of homosexual couples in some states, and outright gay "marriages" in others, with all of New England scheduled to fall to their sinful agenda by 2012.

So you see, just like ancient Israel who was told to keep herself pure and undefiled, but who then turned around and disobeyed the Lord repeatedly, by committing spiritual whoredom with her enemies, current-day America has done the very same thing. She is literally sleeping with the enemy; not to mention men with men, and women with women. The question then, is how will it all end? If we follow the Biblical example, the answer can only be one. Each time Israel fell into apostasy, she was invaded by her foreign enemies as a chastisement from the Lord. In the case of the mysterious Babylon the Great, we are told that she will be utterly burned with fire by the Beast and the Ten Horns, or nations, who join with him, as we see here:

"And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast...And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire."


Following these examples, unless there is truly a great repentance all across America, the only thing which can possibly await her is severe judgment and destruction from the Lord. It is not simply because I say so, but because this is what God's Word seems to indicate. For the Lord to not chastise America, would make Him seem unrighteous to anyone who is familiar with His dealings in the Bible. For Him to punish ancient Israel because of her apostasy, and then ignore the many sins of modern America, who also calls herself by His Name, would certainly seem like a clear case of hypocrisy; thus, being the righteous God that He is, it seems to me that judgment on America is imminent.

Exactly how soon, or to what degree, or in what form, this judgment will come, I honestly do not know. As we have seen, in the case of Israel, it was usually by foreign invasion; and quite often, the Prophets would prophesy for many years before the judgment would actually occur. While I do not like to resort to too much speculation, I can tell you that within some conspiracy circles, it is strongly believed that the invisible powers which are the motivating force behind the New World Order, are planning to use the United Nations peacekeeping forces to invade America, as a result of some internal emergency. Is it possible that the current global financial crisis will continue to deteriorate to a point where chaos and anarchy will overcome America, as people become desperate for jobs, money, food, clothing, shelter and other daily necessities? Will such a social breakdown require the intervention of an outside force in order to restore the peace in America? I honestly do not know.

Another school of thought suggests that America is indeed Babylon the Great Whore mentioned in the Book of Revelation, and that some day in the future, the Beast and the Ten Horns will indeed rain nuclear fire down upon her. Even at this current time, the American Government and mass media have been very busy emphasizing the growing nuclear threat that is originating from such countries as North Korea, Iran, and other enemies of the United States. While in my view, the direct physical threat from such nations is currently very low, nevertheless, I am again reminded of the words of the Patriarch Job who said:

"For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me."


Regardless of how soon, or in what form this chastisement manifests itself, if we again look to the examples found in the Bible, we must remember that no matter what the Lord does, and no matter how harsh His judgment may be, it is still a Divine Token of His Love; because as King Solomon and the Apostle Paul wrote:

"Open rebuke is better than secret love."


"For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."


What we can also learn from the Scriptures, is that in most cases, the majority of the people simply do not take heed to the warnings that are given by the Lord's messengers. As we saw earlier in this series, in the case of ancient Israel, rather than accept the Lord's many warnings, and repent of their sins, the political and religious leadership tried to stop the message from being delivered; or else they tried to neutralize the effect it had on the people by vilifying the true Prophets of the Lord, by calling them liars, deceivers, false prophets, and traitors to their own country. In some cases, they used their own false prophets to contradict the words of God's true Prophets. Such was the case with the Lord's Prophets Micaiah, Jeremiah and Elijah. Most of the Lord's Prophets were persecuted and slain. While the Prophet Jeremiah seems to have escaped death, he was vilified like the rest of his contemporaries, and cast into prison on a number of occasions, as I discuss in other articles.

That being the case, depending upon who reads this article, I suspect that, as on other occasions, I will at the very least receive a few pieces of hate mail, in which I will be accused of being insane, or anti-American, or full of hate, or religiously intolerant, among other things. However, such messages do not move me. I simply read them and then trash them. As with other articles I have written on this topic, I will at least have the satisfaction of knowing that I have obeyed the Lord, and delivered my soul; for as the Lord told the Prophet Ezekiel:

"Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul."


Regardless of how the messenger and his message are received by the people and their leaders, the Bible tells us that it is utter foolishness to seek to harm the Lord's messengers. Not only that, but we are told that God always vindicates His Prophets, and the messages which they bear, when they come to pass. Consider these verses:

"Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm."


"And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them."


Just as all of the prophecies of the past have come to pass, it is also a sure thing that those remaining will come to pass as well in God's perfect time; and this may very well include the judgment of America. It is my prayer that if your heart is not right with the Lord, that you will soon take the necessary steps in order to remedy the situation. God is indeed very merciful and extremely long-suffering. As Peter tells us, it is not His desire for any to perish, but there must come a time when His judgments begin to fall. Are you ready for them? I truly hope so. If not, please take care of it today; and that begins with accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, if you have not already done so. Once you have done that, please place your utmost trust in Him, and remember this:

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation."


With these thoughts, I will bring this article to a close. It is my hope that you have found it informative, enlightening, and I pray that it has been a blessing in your life as well. If you have an account with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or with any other social network, I would really appreciate if you'd take the time to click or tap on the corresponding link that is found on this page. Thanks so much, and may God bless you abundantly!

For additional information and further study, you may want to refer to the list of reading resources below which were either mentioned in this article, or which contain topics which are related to this article. All of these articles are likewise located on the Bill's Bible Basics web server. To read these articles, simply click or tap on any link you see below.

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