A Biblical Warning for America

By Maria Kneas
The following is an extract of How to Prepare for Hard Times and Persecution.

If my people, which are called by my name, shall 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)

BUT if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them; then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and . . . will I cast out of my sight. (2 Chronicles 7: 19-20)

The Book of Judges shows a gradual process by which the Israelites (God’s chosen people) turned away from God in stages, to follow “other gods” (i.e., the gods of the Canaanites and other pagans).

These stages are not limited to the Israelites. They also apply to Christians, because we are also God’s people. Therefore, we should learn from what happened to the Israelites so we won’t have to go through the suffering they endured. Here are the stages:

Stage 1. Peace and Prosperity

God blessed His people with peace and prosperity because He loves them. All seemed to be going well for them. They were grateful, and they loved and served God.

Stage 2. Apathy and Compromise

After a while, the people took God’s gifts for granted, and they forgot Him. They served Him apathetically, or else they neglected Him altogether. They found reasons for no longer following God:

But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward. (Jeremiah 7:23-24)

The next chapter shows how this is happening here in America, and how it happened in Germany before Hitler came to power. There are a number of very troubling parallels.

Stage 3. Rebellion and Paganism

The people turned to other gods for strength and help. The Bible calls that spiritual prostitution. (We see this analogy very clearly in the book of Hosea, where God compares Israel to a faithless wife who leaves her husband and runs after other men.) The Bible says:

And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them. (Judges 2:17)

God warned them that because they turned away from Him, He would no longer protect them:

The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand. Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more. Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation. (Judges 10:12-14)

Stage 4. Famine, War, Plagues and Slavery

God allowed bad things to happen to His people. They went through great suffering (Jeremiah 6:19).

The Israelites were conquered by outsiders. However, people can also be conquered from within. Hitler was elected as president of Germany. Then he cleverly undermined the freedom of the people and became a full-fledged dictator. He did it incrementally, in stages, and managed to make each stage seem to be reasonable. By the time the people realized what was happening, it was too late.

Stage 5. Confession and Repentance

God showed the people the inadequacy of their own resources, and the fact that pagan gods would not take care of them. They discovered they needed God and needed to be right with Him. They finally repented and confessed their sins:

O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets . . . O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. (Daniel 9:8-10, 18-19)

Stage 6. God Hears, Saves, and Restores

God blesses His people with peace. He protects them and often prospers them—as long as they follow Him.

Where does the United States and the Western world fit in this cycle? Some Christians still believe the Bible and take God seriously and try to live biblically. Unfortunately, they are a minority.

Many people go to church for social or cultural reasons, rather than devotion to God. And many pastors preach a watered-down gospel because they want their listeners to feel good, so that their church will grow big and be successful in worldly terms.

Some pastors deny foundational Christian doctrines, and some bring New Age teachings and practices into their churches. This is described in A Time of Departing by Ray Yungen, and A “Wonderful” Deception by Warren B. Smith.

That is the second stage: apathy and compromise.

In America, humanism can serve as a bridge between biblical faith and paganism. First, people turn to men as their source of authority, rather than the Bible. Having done that, it is then easier for them to turn to pagan gods. Or, to put it another way, first they make a god out of man, and then they turn to more traditional pagan gods:

Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. (Jeremiah 17:5)

The New Age movement is another bridge between biblical faith and paganism. First, people get into New Age things. Then from there, they can get into overt paganism. (The New Age movement is pagan, but it is dressed up in modern vocabulary and imagery so it isn’t obvious.)

Pagan goddess worship has gotten into many mainline churches. In addition, it is being taught in public schools, universities, and nursing schools. It is also being promoted by Hollywood, the music industry, and the media. In addition, practical witchcraft is being taught in some public schools.

According to the Bible, pagan gods and goddesses are demons:

But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. (1 Corinthians 10:20)

Wiccan beliefs and practices are getting into mainline denominations. For example, two Methodist clergywomen participated in a croning ritual (a witchcraft initiation ritual). They both wrote articles praising their experience in Wellsprings, a journal for Methodist clergywomen. When contacted by Insight on the News, both women confirmed their participation in the croning ritual, and said that their bishop (a woman) had also participated. When the bishop was contacted, she said that she “witnessed many croning rituals.”1

That is the third stage: rebellion and paganism.

To get some idea of the degree to which paganism is taking over our society, look at how far we have fallen morally. Pagan morals are directly opposed to biblical morality. Our movies and TV and other entertainment often promote pagan values, and many Christians watch it.

The Canaanites had temple prostitutes, and they were men as well as women, and children as well as adults. As a result, when the Israelites turned to worshiping Canaanite gods, they became promiscuous, they practiced homosexuality, and they had sex with children. In addition, they also killed babies because some of the Canaanite gods (such as Molech) required they sacrifice their babies.

How far has America fallen into paganism? And what are the potential consequences, according to the cycle described in the book of Judges?
In 1950, most people were virgins when they got married. But now that has become rare because sex before marriage has become the norm.

I never even heard of homosexuality until the 1960s, when I befriended a girl in college who turned out to be bisexual. These days, some children are hearing about homosexuality in kindergarten in our public schools. And some school kids are being forced to act like homosexuals. For example, in one school, girls thirteen and fourteen years old were told by their teacher to ask other girls for a lesbian kiss.2

Today, children are becoming sexually active at incredibly young ages. For example, two five-year-old children in kindergarten had sex in their classroom’s bathroom.3 Kids in public schools are having sex in the hallways, on the stairs, and even in classrooms.4

You may think, “Well, at least we don’t sacrifice babies to pagan gods.” True, but we have killed over 55 million babies through abortion.5 In addition, a woman who is a pagan and a psychologist wrote a book titled The Sacrament of Abortion. She calls abortion “a sacred act,” a sacrifice to the goddess Artemis (also known as Diana).6 Are we really any different than those who sacrificed babies to pagan gods?

What about adults having sex with children? Well, some psychologists and academicians are trying to normalize pedophilia. Instead of protecting children from sexual predators, they want to be sensitive to the feelings and sexual orientation of pedophiles, which they have given a name that sounds nicer. They call them “minor-attracted persons.”7

Another indication (perhaps the biggest of all) of how pagan we have become is the fact that occultism is becoming mainstream. Witchcraft, sorcery, fortune telling, and consulting the dead (necromancy) are strictly forbidden in the Bible. But they have become commonplace. According to one study, three out of four teenagers have engaged in “psychic or witchcraft-related activity.” Many of them participated in séances, tried to cast a spell, or mixed a magic potion.8

In the Book of Judges, once the nation of Israel worshiped pagan gods and goddesses (which includes rejecting biblical morality in favor of pagan moral standards), then they were heading for judgment. The next thing that happened was famine, war, plagues, and slavery. Could those things happen in America and throughout the Western world?

In the alternative news, I read about the potential for another major war, perhaps even a world war. Food is already more expensive because unusual weather is hurting crops. In addition, bees are dying off, and they are needed to pollinate crops. Some people are afraid that the American dollar will lose its value, resulting is hyperinflation.

In the past, the mainstream media often told us about diseases that have people worried about the possibility of a pandemic (which we are now experiencing with COVID-19). In addition, one out of four teenaged girls in America has at least one sexually transmitted disease.9

You may ask, “What about slavery?” Well, if we wind up with a dictatorship, then we could have slave labor. The Nazis had slave labor in their concentration camps. The Russians, Chinese, and North Koreans have it in their labor camps today.

Modern America and Canada have not seen famine or plagues, and our shores have never been invaded (with the exception of Pearl Harbor). And I hope such things will never happen to us. However, we are not immune to them, and we need to be prepared, spiritually.

We have some good, solid Bible-believing Christians in North America. But there were also some faithful Israelites during the time of the Babylonian captivity. Daniel was a godly man, but he had to go into captivity along with his people. And so did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They suffered a lot because of the sins of their countrymen. The problem was that so much of Israel had abandoned God and turned away to pagan gods. The faithful ones like Daniel were small in number compared to those who went “whoring after other gods” (Judges 2:17).

Even if the people all around us turn away from God and biblical morality, we need to hold on to our integrity. We are doing it for God, not for men. That is part of being faithful to Him.

If our nation suffers because it has turned away from God, then we still need to be faithful to Him. Like Daniel. And like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

The most important thing is our relationship with God. If we love Him and trust Him, then He will make ALL things work out for our long-term, eternal good (Romans 8:28). We are never at the mercy of men or circumstances, because no matter what happens, God can bring good out of it.

Tragically, although God created people, and He loves them, multitudes have rejected Him. Something else is more important to them. Something else takes first place instead of God. (The Bible calls that idolatry.) Jesus told us:

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)

God has suffered so much unrequited love. That’s all the more reason for us to love Him. He created us so we could love Him. And He loved us first and gave us the ability to love Him back (1 John 4:19). So let’s love Him deeply, and faithfully, and consistently. And let’s do whatever we can to help others love Him.

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(photos from bigstockphoto.com; used with permission; design by Lighthouse Trails)

Endnotes:

1. Catherine Edwards, “Wicca Infiltrates the Churches—Wiccan Rituals Gaining Popularity in Christian Churches” (Insight on the News, December 6, 1999, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_45_15/ai_58050620).
2. Heather Clark, “Middle School Girls Forced to Ask Classmates for ‘Lesbian Kiss’ During Anti-Bullying Presentation” (Christian News Network, April 20, 2013, http://christiannews.net/2013/04/20/middle-school-girls-forced-to-ask-classmates-for-lesbian-kiss-during-anti-bullying-presentation).
3. “Two Kindergarten Five-Year-Olds Caught Having Sex in Bathroom” (Examiner, February 25, 2014, www.examiner.com/article/two-kindergarten-5-year-olds-caught-having sex-bathroom-teacher-may-be-fired).
4. Michael Snyder, “Sex and the Public Schools” (End of the American Dream, February 24, 2014, http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/sex-and-the-public-schools).
5. Alyssa Farah, “Abortion’s Toll of 55 Million Called ‘Genocide,’” (WorldNetDaily, January 21, 2014. www.wnd.com/2014/01/abortions-toll-of-55-million-called-genocide).
6. Dr. Ginette Paris discusses her book The Sacrament of Abortion on her website. She is a psychologist, a therapist, and a professor at the Pacifica Institute in Santa Barbara, California. She is also a pagan. Her website includes sections on “pagan meditations” and “pagan grace”: www.ginetteparis.com/psychologyofabortion/readexcerptonabortion.html.
7. Jerome R. Corsi, “Pedophilia the Next ‘Sexual-Rights’ Revolution? Academia, Psychologists Expanding LGBT Argument to ‘Minor-Attracted Persons’” (WorldNetDaily, January 2, 2014, www.wnd.com/2014/01/pedophilia-the-next-sexual-rights-revolution).
8. “New Research Explores Teenage Views and Behavior Regarding the Supernatural” (January 23, 200, www.barna.org/barna-update/article/5-barna-update/164-new-research-explores-teenage-views-and-behavior-regarding-the-supernatural).
9. Michael Snyder, “Sex and the Public Schools” (End of the American Dream, February 24, 2014, http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/sex-and-the-public-schools).