As It Was in Ancient Israel

Brethren, this sermon this morning is a very timely one because we see things happening in our great nation that have to be very disturbing to all of us. Our nation is in trouble. In just a very short time, we have seen crime to go on the increase. It was very bad before, now it's getting worse. Shootings up in Milwaukee, they had this three shootings on one weekend a couple of weekends ago, in Buffalo, 10 people were killed. And I think one injured there just a week and a day ago. The same weekend there was a shooting at a church, one person dead, four injured. I heard somewhere that there in this year, 2022, there had been over 200 mass shootings. By mass shootings, that's where more than one person is affected.

Almost every weekend in Chicago, there are many people killed and shot. We also hear about drug overdoses and fentanyl getting into the country. You know, there there would be no need for fentanyl to get in the country if there wasn't a lot of people in our country taking drugs. What if nobody was purchasing and using them? It's sad what is happening in the United States. There is money available and young people are turning to drugs and over 100,000 a year die from drug overdoses. Abortions, we've had a lot about that. Now marches pertaining to the Supreme Court's possibility of repealing Roe versus Wade. 63 million have have died since, have been aborted since 1973.

Cohabiting millions of people just live together unmarried. More and more and more. Millions and millions are doing that. Gay marriage is legal in all the states all around the country. And now transgender can... Isn't that a weird thing to even think about? Transgender. How do you do that? How did you turn a man into a woman? Can a man then go on and bear children? There was one congressperson, I believe, that said that a man could become pregnant. How would that happen? You know, that's ridiculous. It can't happen. And so transgender is becoming an issue in our country.

Illegal immigrants, flooding across the southern border. Inflation, food prices, and gasoline just going up, up, up, affecting all of us. Racial hatred on the increase. Critical race theory being taught to our children in schools. A nation... We are truly a nation divided. So I think it is very appropriate for us to just take a quick look at what is going on in our country, what the scriptures indicate is to happen in the years just ahead. And so we're going to get into today an example of a nation that went this way in the past. In fact, this are ancient ancestors who went this way.

And we'll see what happened to them. We'll learn from their example. So the title of this sermon is, As It Was in Ancient Israel. We're going to find that ancient Israel went this same way. I want us to begin just a little bit of background that God chose Israel to be his model nation. Let's turn to Exodus chapter 19. Exodus chapter 19. Israel was supposed to model the way of life, God's wonderful way of life, that brings happiness, peace, joy, success. If we want to be successful, if we want to be happy, we can't find it outside of God's law.

We find it within his law. And look at all the suffering today. Think of all the ones who have lost loved ones to all these murders that are going on in our country. Well, it's so sad what is happening, because we're going outside of the laws of God. In Exodus chapter 19 and verse 5, If you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to me above all people, for all the earth is mine.

By the way, these words were spoken about the time of Pentecost, about this time of the year, to the Israelites who had just come out of Egypt. You know, the Israelites were to be a special treasure above all people. In verse 6, you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. So the Israelites were to be an example of God's wonderful, beautiful way of life.

Well, as you know, God had called Israel out of slavery. They were a lowly slave people. They had been that way for quite a number of generations even, and then God brought them out. He brought them through the Red Sea. Here they were in this chapter. They were at Mount Sinai by this time, and God was going to bless them richly. They entered into a covenant with Almighty God that they would obey and do what God commanded. Eventually, Israel had those promises granted to them. They became a powerful superpower, and just thank God had given them the land at the very crossroads between Africa, Asia, and Europe right there in the Middle East.

Well, Israel became a superpower, and they had tremendous wealth and power, especially under what David made Israel the number one military power of that time. Nobody could mess with Israel. They became powerful, or just like the United States has been now for the last, what, 50 or maybe 100 years even.

Solomon. Israel was so wealthy that you read in 2 Chronicles chapter 1. You can find that later, that Solomon made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones. Can you imagine that? So much silver and gold. It was like stones. It was just everywhere. Well, two whole chapters God had instructed the Israelites, you obey my laws, you will be blessed. Blessed in the city, blessed in the country, blessed your produce. Everything that you do, you will be blessed. Your enemies will flee. But he told them that if they disobeyed, they would be cursed.

I think we're very familiar with the two chapters, Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. The blessings and the curses chapters, if they would not obey, they would be destroyed. Let's do turn to Deuteronomy and read just a verse or two here.

Deuteronomy chapter 28, if they would just obey, they would be blessed richly. Blessing after blessing after blessing. In chapter 28 of Deuteronomy, in verse 1, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And you can go on down and read the great blessings that God would give to them. But look in verse 15, it shall come to pass if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today.

All these curses will come upon you and overtake you. Brother, aren't we seeing the curses today coming upon us and overtaking us? Anyone that loves our country, has any degree of patriotism, has to feel bad about what is happening in the United States. But it's not the fault of the leadership in Washington. It's Putin's fault. It's Trump's fault. It's somebody else's fault. Nobody is accepting the blame for what is going on.

And yet the blame goes right to the top leadership, our President and Congress. Well, disobedience will bring curses. Verse 16, cursed in the city, cursed in the country, cursed your basket, and cursed when you come. Verse 19, cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out. But did you know that God, in His great knowledge and wisdom, looked far ahead and foretold that Israel would not obey and be blessed. They would go the way of the curses. Let's pick it up in Deuteronomy 31 and verse 16. Deuteronomy 31 and verse 16, the Lord said to Moses, Behold, you will rest with your fathers. This was at the very end of Moses' life.

And this people will rise and play the harlot with the gods of the foreigners of the land, where they go to be among them, and they will forsake me and break my covenant which I have made with them. Then my anger shall be aroused against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured. And many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, Have not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us.

I will surely hide my face in that day, because of all the evil which they have done, in that they have turned to other gods. I'll tell you, this happened to ancient Israel. That's what we're going to look at in just a moment, and this is happening to modern-day Israel in the very same way. The title of this message, As It Was in Ancient Israel. We're going to see what it was like in ancient Israel in just a few minutes, but let's first of all also read verse 29 here. Did it run in the 31 and verse 29? I know that Moses was telling the Israelites, I know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you, and evil shall befall you when? In the latter days. This looks on far ahead even to our time today.

Evil will befall you in the latter days because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands. Brethren, we are seeing this to be fulfilled. This is a prophecy that Israel would become corrupt. Israel became corrupt in the Old Testament. God blessed them. David and Solomon were at the very pinnacle of the greatness of ancient Israel and Judah because they divided into two separate nations. God blessed them, though they became very rich. Some of those birthright blessings and promises were granted back at that time. Not the fullness, not all of the birthright promises were granted, but many of them were.

The Israelites became very corrupt in the Old Testament. And in our time, we are following in the steps of our ancestors. Let's turn over to Isaiah chapter 1. We're just going to read a few verses. You know, the interesting thing about the prophets, when you read the prophets, guess what?

There's a lot about prophecy, but I think there may be even more about history, the history of how Israel was corrupt, how they disobeyed God, and they brought upon them all the curses and evils of Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. They brought it upon themselves, just like today.

We're bringing so many things upon ourselves, all the suffering. You don't even know when you might be walking down the street here in Macon, Georgia, and somebody might just come by with a gun and shoot you. That happened and kill you, just for you walking down the street. You never know when you might go grocery shopping and somebody come in with a gun and begin shooting, and you might be affected by it. We don't know. So that's what the conditions in which we are living at this time are. It became that way in ancient Israel. Let's read a verse or two here in Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 2, verse 2, He's talking about the ancient Israelites.

1. Verse 5, Don't we see that going on the same way today as back then?

2. Verse 5, Again again, you will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick. Aren't we sick in Washington, D.C., our top leadership? It is sad. The whole head is sick. The whole heart faints from the sole of the foot even to the head. We would say today from head to toe. There is no soundness in it but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. You know, back at that time, like today, there was a lot of money. We are considered a rich nation. That's why people are flooding to our country. They're trying to get a little piece of the riches of the birthright promises which have been granted. Back at that time, the Israelites also had great wealth. Let's read about that in chapter 2 and in verse 7. Verse 6 says, "'You have forsaken your people, the house of Jacob.' God is beginning to, it would appear, certainly forsake us today because of these evils that are beginning to come upon us. They are filled with Eastern ways, other than God's word and God's way. They are soothsayers like the Philistines. In verse 7, "'Their land is also full of silver and gold, and there's no end to their treasures.'" Oh, they had great wealth back in ancient Israel. "'Their land is full of horses, and there's no end of their chariots.'" Our chariots today are our automobiles, our vehicles. "'There's no end of their chariots.'" Ancient Israel had chari- horses and chariots everywhere. "'Their land is also full of idols. They worship the work of their own hands.' So do we today." Let's turn over to Hosea. We can't begin to read all this in Hosea. Like I mentioned, about half of it is about the evils that ancient Israel was committing, which we are also committing today. Let's go to Hosea in the minor prophets here, and we'll turn to chapter 4. Hosea.

Chapter 4, and we'll begin to read in verse 1. Hosea 4 in verse 1. "'Hear the word of the Lord.'" Hosea was writing around the same time as Hosea. "'Hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel.

For the Lord brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land.'" Brethren, God has a charge against us today, too. And it does appear that we are beginning to have His blessings and protection taken away from us. And when it is fully taken away from us, there will be a time of trouble like we have never seen before. We need a message like this today. We live in this nation. We need to be concerned about what is going on. I think we might be more lax than we should be in thinking about how close these events that are coming could begin to happen. Well, let's read on in verse 1. There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land. By swearing and lying, killing and stealing and committing adultery, they break all restraint. Don't we today? Anything goes.

Anything. And even full-term babies in some areas can be killed.

And others put a certain limit there. What is it? 14 weeks or 20 weeks? I can't remember.

But you know that little, there's still a little human being forming. And it is sad when you think about what is happening. Very, very sad. They break all restraint with bloodshed after bloodshed. And we see that in our cities now. Therefore, the land will mourn, and we are mourning, and everyone who dwells there will waste away with the beasts of the field, the birds of the air. Even the fish of the sea will be taken away. Let no man contend or reprove another. Don't correct anybody. For your people are like those who contend with the priest. Therefore, you shall stumble in the day. The prophet also shall stumble with you in the night, and I will destroy your mother. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for me. Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children. And that is verse 7. The more they increased, the more they sinned against me. Doesn't it seem that way in our country as well? The more we have increased and had more blessings and riches, the more we have sinned against God. And so, ancient Israel became very corrupt. This message again, as it was in ancient Israel. We're reading what it was like in ancient Israel. They became very corrupt. Blood shed. One verse in the scriptures, blood touches blood. So, every day there are murders that are going on in our country. There are dangerous areas of cities that you want to stay out of, but it's dangerous anywhere. Crime is happening anywhere. So, God, guess what? God eventually let the ten northern tribes go in the captivity to ancient Assyria. Let's read that in 2 Kings. It shows why God let that happen.

And brethren, God is going to allow something to happen similar in our time. A captivity, a correction is coming. We cannot go this way without eventually being corrected. God is not going to give us all this wealth and all these riches and then just allow us to sin and disobey His law and do all the wretched, miserable things that we now condone and accept. 2 Kings 17 in verse 7, And so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh. Yes, they disobeyed Almighty God. In verse 13, Yet the Lord testified against Israel, he was patient with Israel, and against Judah, by all of his prophets, namely every seer, saying, warning, turn from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes according to all the law which I command your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants to prophets. Brethren, I believe that the modern-day seers are us, the Church of God. We have a warning message we need to get out to our nation much more powerfully, and I pray that God will open the way for that to happen. We need to be put on the map, you might say, the Church of God with our warning message that we cannot go this way without a severe punishment that is prophesied in the Bible happening to us. And it's not going to be a popular message, and there will be persecution as a result of it. Get ready for that. And we'll be in that disinformation sector that is being talked about, that group that is telling falsehoods and not truth. And there will be persecution that results on the Church of God. God sent his seers to ancient Israel. They didn't listen to them, and they won't today. We don't believe either. Verse 14, they would not hear, they would not hear, but stiffen their necks like the necks of their fathers who did not believe in the Lord their God. And they rejected his statutes and his covenant that he had made with their fathers, and his testimony which he had testified against them. They followed idols, became idolaters, and went after the nations who were all around them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them that they should not do like them. Verse 16, they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, made for themselves a molded image. We have our modern-day molded images. Verse 22, the children of Israel walked in all the sands of Jeroboam. They did not depart until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight. As he had said to, by all of his servants the prophets, Israel was carried away from their own land to Assyria as it is this day. They went into captivity to Assyria.

It's very sad. God had blessed them so richly, and so around 720 BC ancient Israel, the 10 tribes, went into captivity. Brother in captivity is horrible to imagine becoming a people that are being taken captive, some of them being put to death. It's a horrible thing to think about.

God says it's going to happen to us.

You know, we still have the two tribes, Judah remaining. We don't have time to read all the prophecies in Jeremiah. God sent Jeremiah and other prophets in the time of Judah just before their captivity. What were conditions like in Judah? Very similar to what we just read about Israel, the 10 northern tribes. Let's turn to Jeremiah chapter 5 and just catch a few verses here about what it was like in Judah. Jeremiah chapter 5 and verse 1. Jeremiah chapter 5 and verse 1. Run to and fro through the straits of Jerusalem.

See now and know and seek in their open places. If you can find a man, if there is anyone who executes judgment, who seeks the truth, and I will pardon her. Though they say, as the Lord lives, they swear falsely. A little show of religion all right here and there, but it's a false confession of religion. Verse 3. O Lord, are not your eyes on the truth. You have stricken them, but they have not grieved. You've consumed them. And I think there are some corrections that God has allowed. We can see it in many different areas, and we're not turning it. We're changing our ways. You've consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than rock. They have refused to return, and that's where we are today. We are refusing.

Other verses show that there's no feeling of shame, and God said, obey my voice, and what happened? They stiffened their neck. That seems to be where we are today. They even claimed to follow God and His law, but did not. So, ancient Judah went in the captivity to Babylon around 600 BC. God had warned them. They refused to heed that warning and to amend their ways. Brother, bring this forward to America and Britain today. We've become very rich, but we have become very corrupt.

There was a statesman, maybe a philosopher, named Alexis de Tocqueville from France, who came to visit the United States back in the 1800s even. He toured around and he said, America is great.

Already our nation was beginning to be great back in the 1800s. He said, America is great, because America is good. So, he observed something about the American nation. America is great, because America is good. But he went on to say, if America ceases to be good, then she will cease to be great. Good observation. And that's happened. America is ceasing to be good, and we are ceasing to be great. As it was in ancient Israel. That's the title of the message. Like ancient Israel, we are turning to the same evil, the same corruption. We don't want prayers in the Bible, thus long since not done in schools. I remember prayers and reading of the Bible when I went to school. Not anymore. We want to justify abortion, living together unmarried, gay marriage, and now other odd things like transgender. A person can choose which gender he wants to be. Ridiculous!

I guess what we better do, I say this with tongue-in-cheek, we better, at the time when somebody is born now, and they have gender, just put down not yet determined. To be determined by the individual when he gets to be a certain age. Whatever age that is. Isn't that ridiculous? We want to call evil good and good evil. We're not the same country. We're going down fast. Our leadership in Washington is taking us down very fast. It may be that God will rescue us. It may be we'll have to see what happens in November in the election then. We'll have to see what happens in 24.

God may rescue us, or he may allow this to continue.

You know, God does have a controversy with modern-day Israel. Of course, he has a controversy with other nations, too. I think he has a controversy with Putin and the Russians, don't you?

And with North Korea and China and Iran. God has a controversy with all the nations, really.

But he's going to deal with America and Britain first. Isn't it amazing? America and Britain have been the ones to carry the Bible and its message to the world, to promote human rights, to spread Christian values and principles as best we understood them, to bring personal freedom instead of tyranny and oppression. So that's rather odd, isn't it? The United States of America and Great Britain have done a lot of promoting of biblical values and principles. Why? Why should we be the ones who champion the Hebrew and Christian Bible to the world? Well, we understand why, because we actually descend from ancient Israel. We are the descendants of Joseph. We have been given the birthright blessings. We know where the riches come from, why our nations are so rich.

America and Britain then have championed liberty, freedom, human rights, equality, the values and principles from the Bible as no other nations down through history.

But now we're departing from the message that we have actually taken out to the world, and we no longer demonstrate or illustrate the teachings of the Bible and the morals of the Scriptures. And so a time of punishment is coming. We're following exactly in the footsteps of ancient Israel, as it was in the days of ancient Israel. And so at the time of the end, many prophecies reveal that God will punish modern-day Israel. We don't have time to read them. You can read them in our booklet, United States and Britain. The last chapter has a good title to it, and that is From Punishment to Destiny. It shows a punishment that the Bible prophecies indicate is coming because we're following in the footsteps of ancient Israel. But then it shows a restoration after repentance, a restoration, and at last Israel will be that model nation.

So we understand that we have that hope. And so God has a great purpose, and He's not changed His mind. And Israel is yet going to be that model nation God's going to see to it. And so for a thousand years, Israel will at last be the model nation that God intended. So that gives us hope. All that's happening today, I look out and I notice in God's hands all that is happening. He is in ultimate control. So don't worry about all that's going on. Jesus said, not your heart be troubled. We don't need to be troubled. We don't need to be afraid.

But we didn't need to be aware and know what is happening. And the truth is, modern-day Israel is going down, down into a prophecy, biblical prophecy time of punishment. But after that, there will be a time of restoration. Israel will at last be that shining beacon and city on a hill.

It's going to be wonderful. Okay, I'm going to end the sermon in just about five more minutes.

What should we be doing? I believe this message is a very relevant one to what we see happening in world news today. Very, very relevant indeed. Keep an eye on our nation. It's becoming more corrupt. It is becoming more like ancient Israel all the time. What should we do? Number one, and it's in our current issue of Beyond Today magazine, Walk with God. I know we all want to, but more closely than ever, walk with God. In Genesis 6, Noah lived in similar evil times as us before the flood. And it says, Noah walked with God. And to walk with God, when you go walking, I know sometimes in my neighborhood I see people walking, and they're usually walking together.

If there are two people, they're walking together. Now and then you'll see, obviously, a couple. And here's the man about, maybe, 10 steps behind his wife. He's going along, and she's back there. Well, it's not a very good way to walk. When you walk with someone, you want to walk with them and talk and communicate. So, walk with God right beside him. Draw near to him. Scripture's promise, if we draw near to God, he will draw near to us. But guess who has to draw near first, according to that Scripture? We. We draw near to God. He promises to walk near to us.

So, walk with God like Noah did in the evil times in which he lived. Number two, Ezekiel chapter nine, and we won't even turn to the verse. Ezekiel chapter nine says that we should sigh and cry for all the abominations that are going on. Do you sigh and cry? I know my wife and I do. You don't want to listen to news all the time, but you do want to stay abreast of what is going on. And when you do, you're going to sigh and cry, just as it says in Ezekiel chapter nine.

Number three, it talks about the tribes of Israel have heard a warning message. We believe we do have an aspect of that Ezekiel warning, the watchman that sounds like a warning. So, we have a warning message. It's also a very, very hopeful message full of hope as well. So, help to preach the warning message and the message of hope to the world. Help with your tithes and offerings, and also help with your prayers. Pray that God will open doors. I believe a stronger message does need to go out at some point to modern-day Joseph, Ephraim, and Manasseh. So, number three, help to preach that warning message through your tithes and offerings and your prayers.

And number four, which Mr. Kubik expanded on in his sermon last week, pray more fervently, thy kingdom come, that Jesus Christ will return as World King, and that our nation will finally be the righteous nation that God intended a model nation to the world. Let's turn to Philippians chapter 2, final scripture. What can we do? We can do what Philippians 2 and let's begin in verse 12. Philippians 2 and verse 12, therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. We can be busy doing that. For it is God who works in you both to will and do his good pleasure. Do all things without murmuring and disputing. We don't want to get into that type of frame of mind. In verse 15, that you may become, and here's the key verse, that you may become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation which is all around us, among whom you shine as lights in the world. Yes, we can let our light shine. We can come out and be separate from a crooked and perverse generation all around us and shine as lights in the world.