God remains supremely patient and merciful, but for our own long-term good even His patience has limits. When will America's point of no return arrive? When will the dreaded tipping point occur? Let's look at what God has done in the past.

In Noah's time, the Creator gave people 120 years to repent of their utter wickedness (Genesis 6:3, 5-7). Noah was "a preacher of righteousness" (2 Peter 2:5), and so he must have warned his contemporaries of the calamity to come. Even the progress in building the great ark itself should have served as a stark warning. But with the exception of Noah and his family, that entire generation took no heed and perished in the waters of the great Flood.

Jonah was sent to the Assyrian capital city of Nineveh to warn its inhabitants that it would be overthrown in 40 days because of their sins (Jonah 3:2-4). Remarkably, however, the people repented, so God mercifully relented and spared the city. He expressed His merciful concern to Jonah for the welfare of its more than 120,000 inhabitants (Jonah 4:11).

Our Creator repeatedly sent His prophets to both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah long before eventually sending both nations into national captivity. Jesus Christ warned His own first-century generation of the Roman sacking of Jerusalem that would come in an initial form some 40 years later (Luke 21:20; 23:27-31).

How much time does America have? God remains very patient and merciful even when He sees a whole nation going terribly wrong. Ideally, He wants national repentance (see 2 Peter 3:9). He offers this promise: "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Although God's mercy endures forever, it sometimes takes a different track. The time can come when it is simply too late.

Late in the history of the kingdom of Judah, our Creator instructed Jeremiah not to pray for the nation's people (Jeremiah 7:16; 11:14). He told him that it would be "for their good" (Jeremiah 14:11). Only a devastating invasion and national captivity would wake them up to see their sins. They had crossed the line. God's mercy had reached its limits, and He decided to act before they grew even more corrupt and degenerate.

What, then, if America fails to repent and suffers the inevitable devastating consequences? If you're an American, where does that leave you?

Recall that God blessed and miraculously protected the prophet Daniel and his three friends right in the midst of Judah's captivity in Babylon. If you really repent, forsaking your breaking of God's commandments and turning to God with your whole heart, He will look after you as well (Luke 21:34-36).

That means fighting against human nature, for we are great procrastinators. We put off until tomorrow even the most basic of our spiritual necessities. But God clearly warns us: "Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon" (Isaiah 55:6-7).

To understand much more, download or request our free booklets The Ten Commandments and Are We Living in the Time of the End?