The United States has been blessed beyond measure. For almost 250 years, our country has become a land of opportunity and freedom. Many people flock to our shores and borders seeking a better life. Generations have experienced health, wealth, and happiness.
According to God’s Word, nations that flourish eventually fall. What starts out as blessings from God often become shrouded by a cloud. Living in the land of milk and honey often quiets our faith in God. This quieting of one’s soul towards God is becoming more and more apparent as time moves forward in the United States. Comfortable living makes for a forgetfulness in God. People become self-reliant, and self-reliance turns into greed.
In the book of Isaiah, you would think that Isaiah lived in the United States today. In Isaiah 3, God gave him a vision about Jerusalem and Judah. Let me describe what God revealed to Isaiah and decide for yourself if he describes the USA.
Judah was a land that had every provision to aid in abundant living. People became dependent on what the country offered them. There was plenty of food, water, armies, judges, churches, even fortune-tellers and skilled craftsman.
God disapproved of this idol worship and He wanted people to wake up!
God allowed those in government positions to act like boys, even toddlers. Immaturity became prevalent. People oppressed each other. There was division between everyone. There was no more respect for elders and vulgarity became a common way to speak to others. You even see absurd thinking in verses 6-7; also read James 4:4 and Titus 2:11-12.
God says that countries like Jerusalem and Judah will stumble and fall if “they speak out against the Lord and refuse to obey Him.”8 A land that provokes God to His face by blatant, disobedient living are doomed, see verse 9. Many think, “God, I am going to do what I want and how I want to live.”
But those who follow God and His ways, those who choose godliness, all will be well for them. They will enjoy the rich reward that have earned, see verse 10!
God goes on to describe the cloud that loomed over Jerusalem and Judah. Those who are in government positions have become childish. They are leaders that mislead, sending people down the wrong road. An example in verse 14 is how those in charge, both in government and the church, have stolen from the poor. Oppressing others is not a way of the Lord.
How can you see the similarities between Jerusalem and Judah and the United States? There was a cloud of sin that hung over God’s territory. There is a cloud of sin hanging over our country as well.
Verses 16-26 speaks of God’s warning to those who choose the ways of the world over His ways. To those who walk around with their heads held high in self-focus and self-promotion, the Lord will strip it all away. “Shame will replace your beauty.”24
With God, it matters how you live. Once a nation has sunshine beaming down on them, it doesn’t take long for them to lose their focus. This vision loss causes for a cloud to hang overhead. If not dealt with by a revival in people’s hearts, God will come and remove a nation. The USA is getting cloudier and cloudier and repentance and brokenness must happen to save our country.
Carol J German 