History Repeats Itself

History repeats itself. This isn’t merely an assertion made by historians. I think most of us will agree there is truth in that statement, based on our own experimentation. Nowhere is this more magnified than in the enduring Word of God. Let me show you what I mean before you take my word for it. For context regarding the passage below, understand that Israel was riddled with seventeen identifiable sins that resulted in her judgement from God.You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and defiled by your idols which you have made. Thus you have brought your day near and have come to your years; therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations and a mocking to all the lands. Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you, you of ill repute, full of turmoil. Behold, the rulers of Israel, each according to his power, have been in you for the purpose of shedding blood. They have treated father and mother lightly within you. The alien they have oppressed in your midst; the fatherless and the widow they have wronged in you.

You have despised My holy things and profaned My sabbaths. Slanderous men have been in you for the purpose of shedding blood, and in you they have eaten at the mountain shrines. In your midst they have committed acts of lewdness. In you they have uncovered their fathers’ nakedness; in you they have humbled her who was unclean in her menstrual impurity. One has committed abomination with his neighbor’s wife and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law. And another in you has humbled his sister, his father’s daughter. In you they have taken bribes to shed blood; you have taken interest and profits, and you have injured your neighbors for gain by oppression, and you have forgotten Me,” declares the Lord GOD.

Behold, then, I smite My hand at your dishonest gain which you have acquired and at the bloodshed which is among you. Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong in the days that I will deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken and will act.Ezekiel wrote these words to Israel at the behest of the Lord around the time of the Babylonian captivity of Israel in the fifth century BC. That’s over twenty-five hundred years ago! You might be saying, “So, what’s that got to do with anything?” If that’s your response, let me point something out to you…and concentrate. If you read the above passage and adjust for time/cultural changes, you cannot help but see parity with the sins that are prevalent our own country. Not convinced? Read Romans 1 also, for good measure.America is under divine judgement. Yet there’s no fire and brimstone from Heaven. So where’s this so-called “judgement”?

Judgement comes in all forms and administrations. In the case of America, I’d argue our judgement is our neighbors. That’s right, divine judgement is pouring out through an entire population of anti-christians, led by a whole new generation of antichrists - children, husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, leaders - some of whom are elected officials.Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.Jesus Christ and His apostles stood up for what many theologians call “divine institutions”. Those institutions are (from top down): nationalism, family, marriage, self. God has ordained these institutions for the sake of order and protection. Authority is delegated downwards.History has shown us that departure from God’s will for a nation (like the U.S.) begins with the smallest building block, self. Here’s what the Bible has to say about self.Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;
The rod of discipline will remove it far from him.Children are born defiant. God gave their parents the authority to restrain them. But what happens in a society that systematically undermines discipline? Children do not fear authority. What do these now-tainted children grow up and do? They get married. They become a cord of two.And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.Carrying this process up through the divine institutions, we now have the increased probability that two unchecked people get married. Since they agree in their ungodliness, their union becomes something unholier than it should. While the Bible clearly states that it is God’s will for the wife to submit to the husband, our contemporary societal norms state something very different. More and more husbands have relinquished authority to their wives (if the couple is even married…but that’s another perversion for another day, yet still an assault on the divine institution of marriage).Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them. What do married couples do? They have children. They teach their children their own increasingly perverted doctrines. Authority-orientation is an emaciated tradition held weakly, if at all, by the head of the household (at this juncture, it could be the man or the woman). Since the family organization is now flattened regarding authority, we might say that we now observe the “cord of three strands” (ala Ecclesiastes 4:12). The institution of family, which is meant to bring glory to God, has now been perverted into a union aligned against Him. Its very strength is founded on its evolution. It’s difficult to shake a family with God’s truth when all members are lockstep in their ungodliness.Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord.What does the above scripture even mean to a family that dismisses divinely ordained authority? It’s no wonder we see children being so disrespectful. If their parents don’t instill authority-orientation in their lives, why would the rest of society expect them to respect lesser authorities?To finish our logical course of reason, families comprise nations. If the families in our country are increasingly anti-christian, what are we to expect from the results of our public elections? Throughout human history, God has allowed man to pursue ruinous ends, but never without warning. For those of us in Christ Jesus, we must sit back, obey our “masters on earth”, and watch as our country’s path intersects with God’s judgement. We rightly view this as a good thing, for at this juncture, it appears nothing else will correct our country’s current vector except discipline.Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.

For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.God’s judgement on America is from within. She has been split in two by dysfunction. She no longer even loves herself. In fact, she is now consuming herself, her members her own cancer. “For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another” (Galatians 5:14-15). When she was young, she boasted a bright and prosperous future. But now, she’s played the harlot one too many times, raised too many idols, made too many sacrifices to false gods. And like the prostitute who’s given up her virtue, her own defiance has come back on her like an incubus, using her time and time again, until she is depleted and depressed, sitting back and watching herself waste away.Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.History repeats itself. America is part of a long line of countries that has turned against God. I, personally, am not fearful or anxious, for God has everything under control, and He promises to take care of His own children. America is still alive and kicking, so there’s always hope, and scripture tells us that with God all things are possible (Mark 10:27). How about you and I focus on spreading the good news about Jesus Christ and see what happens, OK? :)

Love in Christ,

Ed Collins