Israel - America - Isaiah & Judgement

Over the past week or so I have been reading Isaiah.
To be honest I am blown away at the similarities mentioned about Israel and then looking at modern day America.
I am not promoting some replacement theology idea or anything like that; but I do believe that when people or nations turn their backs on God, the laws of nature, God's Law, comes into play.
I am one who firmly believes that our nation was brought about by divine providence. King James, the very same king who put his name to the only Authorized version of the bible, also sent people to "the new world" to spread the Gospel and claim the land for God in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the basic tenants of the James Town Charter claiming America for His Glory.
We are not God's chosen people and in no way replace Israel, but I believe we have a special place in God's plan and because we have remained a Christian nation up until about 40 years ago, God has blessed us immensely.
Our nation has done more to further the gospel, protect the innocent, stood for what was right, and against what was wrong than any other nation. We have defended the weak, opposed tyranny and tyrants.
On July 4th 1776 we declared our freedom beginning with these words…
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
At the base of the Statue of Liberty it states,
"Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free"
We are a nation built upon the principals of God and His Word.
But somewhere on this journey, our great republic strayed and instead of being good, we have chosen the path of evil.
I look around at what is taking place here in the US as well as globally and I see man working towards his own demise through the pleasures of the world and of the flesh.
Instead of exporting the Gospel, we export pornography.
Instead of saving the innocent, we kill millions of our children through abortion.
Instead of standing for God, we work to eradicate His existence from our lives, our monuments and our schools.
Instead of the holy matrimony between husband and wife we have sodomites, pedophiles, hedonism, practitioners of bestiality and necrophilia, all becoming the norm.
Instead of caring for our fellow man, greed and selfishness are what has taken its place. The natural affection of man is gone, brutality is its replacement.
Many people ask is America in Bible Prophecy? I do not see her directly there, but recently I have been studying Isaiah 5 again and as I mentioned I have noticed some very interesting correlations in God judging Judah and where we are in America today.
Please, take the time to read this….

Isaiah 5:8  Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!

Isaiah 5:9  In mine ears said the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant.

Isaiah 5:10  Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of a homer shall yield an ephah.

Isaiah 5:11  Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!

Isaiah 5:12  And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.

Isaiah 5:13  Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.

Isaiah 5:14  Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.

Isaiah 5:15  And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:

Isaiah 5:16  But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.

Isaiah 5:17  Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.

Isaiah 5:18  Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:

Isaiah 5:19  That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!

Isaiah 5:20  Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Isaiah 5:21  Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

Isaiah 5:22  Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:

Isaiah 5:23  Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!

In this chapter God shows His people their sins as well as the judgment’s to be brought up them for their sins.
There Are Six Woes That God Proclaims
1. verses 8-10 – This is the first crime, the covetousness and financial greed which shall be punished by famine.
2. verses 11-12 – This is the second crime, living for rioting, reveling and drunkenness which shall be punished by captivity.
3. verses 18-19 –This is the third crime, ultimately defying God and His justice. They parade their sins around for all to see and also defy God to hurry up and hasten his work of judgment.
4. verse 20 –This is the fourth crime, calling evil good and good evil. We know the effects of this, it is prevalent today.
5.  verse 21 - This is the fifth crime specified. It refers to those who are inflated with a false opinion of their own knowledge, and who are, therefore, self-confident and vain.
6. verses 22-23 – Again drunkenness but also due to their drunkenness they pervert justice rewarding the wicked and punishing the righteous.
God has allowed us to prosper as shown in the parable of the vineyard found in Isaiah 5, and we have turned against Him and taken His blessings for granted.
We no longer serve Him and we have become a pagan nation worshiping mammon and a multitude of false gods.
Think about this for a moment. When we lived within God’s economy, business was done on a handshake and a man’s word was a man’s word. Today we live in mammon’s economy with all its clutter, confusion, trappings and ability to steal all with a stroke of a pen.
Today we need contracts that are 20+ pages long and what the big print giveth the small print taketh away.
Read what Isaiah says in Chapter 5, verse 8, this very issue is addressed.

Isaiah 5:8 Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!

Albert Barnes Notes on the Bible explain this verse the best.

Isaiah 5:8 - Woe unto them ... - The prophet now proceeds to “specify” some of the crimes to which he had referred in the parable of the vineyard, of which the Jews had been guilty. The first is “avarice.”

That join house to house - That seek to possess many houses; or perhaps that seek to live in large and magnificent palaces. A similar denunciation of this sin is recorded in Mic_2:2; Neh_5:1-8. This, together with what follows, was contrary to the law of Moses. He provided that when the children of Israel should enter the land of Canaan, the land should be equitably divided; and in order to prevent avarice, he ordained the “jubilee,” occurring once in fifty years, by which every man and every family should be restored to their former possession; Lev. 25. Perhaps there could have been no law so well framed to prevent the existence, and avoid the evils of covetousness. Yet, in defiance of the obvious requirements and spirit of that law, the people in the time of Isaiah had become generally covetous.

That lay field to field - That purchase one farm after another. The words ‘that lay,’ mean “to cause to approach;” that is, they “join” on one farm after another.

Till there be no place - Until they reach the “outer limit” of the land; until they possess all.

That they may be placed alone - That they may displace all others; that they may drive off from their lands all others, and take possession of them themselves.

In the midst of the earth - Or rather, in the midst of the “land.” They seek to obtain the whole of it, and to expel all the present owners. Never was there a more correct description of avarice. It is satisfied with no present possessions, and would be satisfied only if all the earth were in its possession. Nor would the covetous man be satisfied then. He would sit down and weep that there was nothing more which he could desire. How different this from that “contentment” which is produced by religion, and the love of the happiness of others!

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary states basically the same thing too.
Does this not describe corporate greed and the serving of mammon today?
But that is not all.
It seems that which gender one is having sex with is now more important in the halls of congress than the wholesomeness and protecting the family unit. We care more for this world and justify its shallow perspectives more than the things of God and His eternal perspective.
Do you know that there is an epidemic of teachers accused or convicted of having sex with their students? Hundreds of them, mostly female too (1).   Has this come to the forefront of national and international news in recent years? No.

Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Isaiah 5:23 Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!

I read many articles where so many of these child predators are just given a slap on the wrist. Where liberal judges reward the evils and yet lock up those who are righteous. A prime example of this is the 2 border guard agents who spent time in jail for doing their job and yet a drug smuggler is on the loose coming and going in and out of our country.
Sins of the flesh are being taken to a new high. At a past Sundance Film Festival not only did we have a movie where the main highlight was the raping of a 12 year old girl, OH YEA…but it was all in the name of “ART.”
But get this…
There was also a film called “Zoo” which primary focus was sex with animals.

Leviticus 18:23 Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion.

But that is not all. More and more television shows are portraying homosexuality in a very positive light. Showtime was touting their hot show “ The “L” Word” It is a show that glorifies and is about life as a lesbian (2).

Romans 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

Leviticus 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

But here in Isaiah 5:18 it talks about this very thing which the Lord deplores.

Isaiah 5:18 Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:

Here in the US, we not only openly revel in our homosexual sin, but we parade our sins to God shoving it in His face. I am reminded of a literal example of this, the Gay Pride Parades with the floats and people all reveling. Here is an abomination to God and proudly it is displayed and celebrated.
But, if you are in the world, of the world or even one toe in the world, much of this sounds fine to you, you are “tolerant” of these things and when the day is finally over, and one guesses it is all ok.
But what no one is addressing, with all these things taking place, no one is talking about what to do if the Lord tarries.

Luke 19:13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.

Very few are occupying. ...
Do you see this too? When did we stop living for God and His economy and allowed ourselves to enter mammon’s and flesh’s debauchery?
But you know what; the scary thing is how God corrects and judges these things.
In reading Isaiah and how God deals with a sinning nation, a nation that was dedicated to Him, His Glory and The Proclaiming of the Gospel, He has no choice but to judge the nation and chastise it in hopes that they will turn from their wicked ways and return to God.
For a while people have been saying that God will judge our nation and believing judgment is coming.
I am sorry, I do not believe this.
Why?
Because I believe Judgment is already here and has begun to take place.
What have we done as a nation?
The very same thing that Israel did, they stood in defiance against God, instead of humbling themselves and seeking forgiveness.
God Warns First, Hoping For Repentance, IF NOT…Then
In Isaiah we see God do the same thing over and over again. He warns, then hopes for repentance, He warns, then hopes for repentance.
Finally God has to act and what is the first thing He does in judgment?

Isaiah 5:5 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:

He lifts His hand / hedge of protection.
In doing this, it is His enemies that then come in and start to destroy.
I believe that God has lifted His hand of protection. I believe that we have been given a chance and we have ignored it.
Our hedge of protection has been breached and the enemies of God have come in.
When did this take place?
Think about it.
Never in our history have we been attacked, never has the enemy landed upon our soil, never has the enemy breached our walls.
Why?
Because we have always had His divine protection.
But that changed and now our hedge of protection has been breached.
When did that take place?
September11th, 2001.
On that date the hedge of protection around our nation was breached.
This is why I say that judgment is not coming, it is already here.
Learning From Isaiah
Over and over again we see in Isaiah how God judges the nation.

Isaiah 5:26 And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly:

Isaiah 5:27 None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:

Isaiah 5:28 Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hooves shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind:

Isaiah 5:29 Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it.

The nation in Isaiah 5 was judged by an enemy; an enemy with purpose, drive and motivation. An enemy who does not seek sleep, is not weary, and always ready for the attack. Their weapons are at their side and at they are ready to be used at a moment's notice.
Here is the interesting part. In the case of Israel it was Assyria. Today we know much of this land to be modern day Iraq.  Do you know that today we are effected by one of Assyria's greatest invention?
Do you know that it is the Assyrians who are given the credit for inventing terrorism?
Assyrians were one of the most warlike people in history, lovers of the violence of the war and hunt. Amongst the people of the ancient Middle East, they were famous for their cruelty. At the peak of its power, Assyria stretched from Egypt to Persian Gulf. Their aggressiveness was partially attributed to their location: Assyria was in northern Mesopotamia, north of Babylon. As no natural bounders like shores or mountains were found there, they were vulnerable to attacks from any direction. This required the presence of a strong and mobile army. (3)
Who in today's modern world maintains such a hate that they would not sleep, have high motivation and just waiting for the attack?
I believe that the same enemies that were part of divine providence then, have risen again today. They are the very ancestors of the enemies of Israel, the worshipers of Baal / Moloch / Ashur. He is the war god, cruel with the enemies and merciful with his believers.
What is interesting is that his symbol was that of a disk or ornament as identified by strong's…

H7720

sah-har-one'

From the same as H5469; a round pendant for the neck: - ornament like the moon.

H5469

Sahar

sah'-har

From an unused root meaning to be round; roundness: - round.

Today these enemies still worship the same god, his name is Helel Ben Sahar, literally meaning crescent moon / Morning Star. הילל בן־שׁחר
This is the very same name we find in scripture, in fact in Isaiah. But in English we call him Lucifer.

Isaiah 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

Who attacked and breached our hedge of protection? The ancestors of the enemies of Israel, the worshipers of the enemy named Helel Ben Sahar.
We have the final words from the black box found at the wreckage of flight 93, the flight that did not hit its target.
What were those final words? They were a declaration - a war cry. The words were " Allahu Akbar."

Allahu Akbar (Arabic: الله أكبر) is a phrase, called Takbir in Arabic, meaning "God is greater" or "God is [the] greatest" (4)

What is this god's symbol?
The crescent moon / morning star.
Due to the fact that we are a nation who have turned her back upon God, His divine hedge of protection has been breached by the very same enemies that attacked ancient Israel. The terrorist ancestors mentioned in Isaiah, the ones who invented terrorism the worshipers of the enemy of Jehovah God.
Do you see it?
But That is Not All
9-11 was a warning and I believe a major call to repentance.
But what has our nation done?
Instead of repenting, we have stood with our heels dug in.
Instead of being humble, we have become proud.
Instead of turning to Him, we have stood in defiance of Him.
Out of 9-11 we have said that we will rebuild, become stronger, stand in defiance against the terrorists.
But more than that, we stand in defiance against God Himself because we have rejected His warning.
That warning was the breach in the hedge of protection.
And something that people have also forgotten, the breach is still there.
What should we have done?
The proper course should have been to humble ourselves, seek His face and sought out forgiveness.
If we would have done that, God would have healed our land as promised in 2 Chronicles 7:14

2 Chronicles 7:14 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.

But we haven't done that.
Judgment isn't coming, it is already here. Most of the nation missed it or did not get the warning.
3000+ people died, one of our great cities was crippled, our nation wept and was brought to her knees for a season.
But we have stood again in defiance against God and the enemies of God. Our pride has gotten the best of us.
In reading Isaiah God used the same enemies to not only wreak havoc the first time, but when He pulled the hedge of protection completely; it exposed all of the nation of Israel to attacks, destruction, economic downfall and eventually bound and enslaved to the enemies who brought the destruction.
I am not a prophet. I am a watchman, a student of bible prophecy as well as a student of history.
Isaiah is one of the greatest prophetic books and historical books of the bible and I believe that what happened to Israel is coming to pass again here in America.
Why?
Because we are a nation founded upon God, His Word, dedicated and ordained to sharing the hope of His Son to all the world. We have stopped Occupying Till He Returns. We have forgotten to " always be ready to share the hope that is within us." (1 peter 3:15)
Judgment is not coming, it is here and to be honest I fear what is to come in the next phase of His chastisement.
What do I believe is coming?
That is another article based upon Isaiah in light of ancient Israel and America today.
More to come …


By Ray Gano






Endnotes
1 - http://www.wnd.com/2006/09/38108/
2 - http://www.sho.com/site/lword/home.do
3 - http://news.softpedia.com/news/Assyrians-the-Lords-of-the-Massacres-77262.shtml
4 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allahu_Akbar_%28disambiguation%29