Face Like The Sun

2012 has been an interesting year for me. On new years day, someone who works in the ministry passed away. He was only 21 years old (Not drug or alcohol related…he just didn’t wake up on January 1, 2012). Since then, our church has experienced an influx of death. Memorials went from one a month to 2-3 a week. I often work these memorials, and it’s been emotionally draining. I often cry even though I never knew the people. A recent conversation with a local coroner revealed that they have had to turn people away from the sudden influx of deaths in our community. And today, as we held our “national day of prayer” event (praying for the 7 hills of influence as if our church has somehow gone Dominionist), I could only wonder what is on the horizon for America and the so called Church. I could only wonder, if these people who are going home, are the lucky ones.

Will God judge America? I can’t say for sure. But I do know that some people do believe God will judge America and that it’s going to be severe. But I don’t want to get into the different claims of prophetic visions or revelations people have had concerning this possible reality. I certainly feel the spirit of death in the air and it’s been coming on very strong this year. I consoled my Bible for guidance and insight. As I did, I found myself in the book of Lamentations. Here’s how verses 1-2 read;

How lonely sits the city
That was full of people!
How like a widow is she,
Who was great among the nations!
The princess among the provinces
Has become a slave!

She weeps bitterly in the night,
Her tears are on her cheeks;
Among all her lovers
She has none to comfort her.
All her friends have dealt treacherously with her.
They have become her enemies.

~Lamentations 1:1-2

This book was written by Jeremiah as he wept in bitterness over the destruction of Jerusalem, a city he so desperately tried to save. I am going to depart from proper hermeneutics and apply these verses in a much more subjective way, and so call me guilty for doing so, but I couldn’t help but relate our own country and church to the words in this book.

As I read verse one, I could only imagine a desolate land with a torn American flag blowing solemnly in the wind with an abandoned church building in the distance. A land that was once “full of people” and who was “great among the nations” now finding herself as “a slave.”

Think of all the conspiracies that so many of us have uncovered over the last decade; the poison we are fed through our food, the chemicals we find in our water, the financial ruin instituted by a debt based economy, poison being sprayed all over our skies, the corruption in our churches, our governments, our leadership! And the people…well we just go along right with it don’t we? We care more about the next ball game, or the next episode of Two and Half Goons. We have become slaves of the mind. And before we know it, the nation and the church holding steadfast to the world might be in ruins.

Verse two talks of how all of the nations Jerusalem once trusted had become her enemies. And isn’t this true with America in many ways? The boundaries of what it means to protect the homeland, and what it means to conquer have been blurred heavily, at least in a public perspective. The globalist agenda is to create a single government, but it cannot do so without destroying the sovereign nations, of which America is perhaps the most free. This cannot happen by brute force, but only by the willful ignorance of the people. And of course this ignorance is fabricated and instigated subtly, anonymously, and slyly. And as we stand on the verge of World War III, I believe it’s only natural to feel the pressure of feeling like WE, America are turning her back on Israel.

Her adversaries have become the master,
Her enemies prosper;
For the LORD has afflicted her transgressions,
Her children have gone into captivity before the enemy.

And from the daughter of Zion
All her splendor has departed.
Her princes have become like deer
That find no pasture.
That flee without strength
Before the pursuer

In the days of her affliction and roaming,
Jerusalem remembers all her pleasant things
That she had in the days of old.
When her people fell into the hand of the enemy,
With no one to help her,
The adversaries saw her
And mocked at her downfall.

Lamentations 1:5-7

This is showing how the judgments on Jerusalem were brought about because of the multitude of her transgressions. But as I read these verses, I again see how it relates to our society today. We have become a society obsessed with death, lust, hate, anger, mindlessness, narcissism, arrogance, pride, money, fame, status, perception…and what is sad and true is that I am not free from these transgressions. We all fail in some of these areas, and we understand that. But we also know that we have a God full of grace. Nevertheless, it doesn’t change the reality that this country is on a steady decline. But it wouldn’t be as bad if we knew we had trust in our leaders and in our sacred places of worship. But the more I am a part of the institution of church, the more I see that the transgressions do not cease. There are no boundaries to sin. There are no limits when it comes to capacity to turn away from God.

It makes me wonder when this country, “fell into the hands of the enemy.” I for one believe it was always under the control of the enemy, but that with the providence of God and the many faithful members of the body in years past, this country flourished and were allowed to enjoy the fruits of peace that I am so grateful to be born into. But the devil is persistent and knows his time is short. And so now some of us have began to realize that we are being ruthlessly pulled into the pit of darkness, clawing against the edge of destruction, hopelessly crying out for the greater population to wake up from the hypnotic slumber. All the while, the fallen one and his angels watch as they mock us.

Jerusalem has sinned gravely,
Therefore she has become vile.
All who honored her despise her
Because they have seen her nakedness;
Yes, she sighs and turns away.

Her uncleanness is in her skirts;
She did not consider her destiny;
Therefore her collapse was awesome;
She had no comforter.
“O LORD, behold my affliction,
For the enemy is exalted!”

Lamentations 1:8-10

In these passages, it is clear that the message is not to blame God, but to blame ourselves. The blame for the destruction of Jerusalem was placed on herself for her calamities. Much in the same way, we here in America cannot blame God when we fall.

The language is so powerful in describing the lament of Jeremiah. But again, I get that strange feeling when I read them because I know that America and the church have “sinned gravely…(and) become vile.” And isn’t it interesting that the nation that people from all around the world once adored and saw as “the land of opportunity” and “the land of the free” is now despised because they have “seen her nakedness”?

And if the Illuminists and esoterics get their wish, then America might very well produce the false prophet or the Antichrist, in which case, we certainly did not “consider (our) destiny.” And it’s blatantly obvious that our nation has been so corrupted that we have fallen to a place where we truly have “exalted the enemy.”

Again, I realize the subjective nature of this post, but I felt it was necessary to vent out my own lamentation about the state of our country and our church. Please don’t get me wrong, I love this nation, I love the church, I love the people who are part of this country and the world. But I sense a deep pain in the depth of my soul for my fellow brothers and sisters on this planet. And if I am feeling this pain, I can’t even imagine the depths of sorrow God feels for His creation.

But this deep despair is not the final destination. It doesn’t end this way. In fact far from it. Perhaps God’s will being done is the destruction of our nation, and of our church. Perhaps it is the only way to truly serve justice in a fallen world and gather to Him all who are reconciled by the Cross and the blood of the Lamb. Maybe this pain is necessary in order to realize paradise.

I am going to continue my thoughts going through the Book of Lamentations in the future. Please let me know if this rant made any sense or if I should just can it. I felt like I was going on a limb by posting it, but I would love some feedback.