2Ti 3:12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Messiah Yeshua will be persecuted.
2Ti 3:13 But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
2Ti 3:14 You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them,
2Ti 3:15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Messiah Yeshua.
2Ti 3:16 All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
2Ti 3:17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
For some time now I have been involved with an
ongoing discussion with various and sundry people in my life. This
discussion has been centered on the question of “America, is it a
Christian nation?”.
Now, I must tell you that the rest of this paper is
not for the faint of heart, so, get out now while you still have a
chance, or you risk possibly wanting to scream at me from within
cyberspace.
You see, my contention is that not only are we not
a Christian nation today, I don’t believe we ever were a “Christian
nation”. I plan on defending my point with the scripture and commonly well
known history. I write this paper because I am tired of the counterfeit
posing itself off as a substitute for real Biblical faith and truth.
This is not just a minor or peripheral issue. It is an issue that is
subtle and insidious.
Popular opinion has it that we are, or at least
were, “One nation under God”. The prevailing point is that our founding
fathers established this country on the premise that it was a “Christian
nation”. Now, I have no problem in accepting that the founding fathers
used certain Judeo Christian Biblical principles in our Declaration of
independence, Constitution, and Bylaws. I am sure that a goodly number
of these men who wrote our founding documents were God fearing men who
loved their Messiah. This can be seen in many of their personal
manuscripts. I will go so far as to say that I believe that
God has used this great nation in the past as a tool to be his hand, outstretched. We have in many ways been a tremendous blessing to the
World. But all that being said, it still does not mean we are a
“Christian nation”. Example: God used Cyrus to bring Israel back to its
land but we have no indication that Persia was ever a country that
believed in or served the God of Israel, qualifying them as a God fearing
nation.
2Ch 36:22 Now in the first year of
Cyrus king of Persia--in order to fulfill the word of the LORD by the
mouth of Jeremiah--the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of
Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,
2Ch 36:23 "Thus says Cyrus king of
Persia, 'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of
the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem,
which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may the
LORD his God be with him, and let him go up!'"
To presuppose that all of the above qualifies us
to be a “Christian nation” would mean that we are a theocracy. And
if we are a theocracy, then God must rule in all matters and affairs. If
this were a “Christian” nation then (Christ) Yeshua would be prominent.
If He is not prominent then we cheapen what it means to be a
“Christian” follower of Yeshua. People are Christians, not nations or
churches.
A Muslim nation defines itself as that because
the nation is ruled by Sharia law, not secular pluralistic law based
upon Koranic principles.
The problem I continue to have with this idea of
America as a “Christian” nation is that the only nation that I know of
that was called to be a theocracy in the Bible was Israel. Even Israel
couldn’t keep true to that calling. What vanity would ever make us think
that we are greater in our calling than Israel? Is the USA ever
mentioned once in the Bible either literally or typologically? Do we see
anywhere that God would substitute His People Israel for another? I see
quite the opposite.
Jer 31:35 Thus says the LORD, Who
gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the
stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar;
The LORD of hosts is His name:
Jer 31:36 "If this fixed order
departs From before Me," declares the LORD, "Then the offspring of
Israel also will cease From being a nation before Me forever."
Jer 31:37 Thus says the LORD, "If the
heavens above can be measured And the foundations of the earth searched
out below, Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel For
all that they have done," declares the LORD.
I
don’t see any where in the scripture that God made the same promise to
any other nation at any other time
period, past, present or future. I have heard more people in the past 2
years make the statement that
this is greatest nation on the face of the planet. Granted, we are a
great nation but to suppose that we
are the greatest nation that ever was or ever will be smacks of a
vanity that defies God Himself. Not only
will this nation cease to be in the future the scripture says that this
planet will also be made new.
Rev 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and
a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and
there is no longer any sea.
Rev 21:2 And I saw the holy city,
new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride
adorned for her husband.
I
find it rather curious that God is not willing to spare the planet but
He will spare America. To say that we
are the greatest nation is to tell God that He does not know what He is
doing and that His choice of Israel
was a mistake. This is called replacement theology. The Lord is not
going to set up His Millennium kingdom
in NY, Washington or Independence Mo. During the Millennium Kingdom we will not celebrate the
4th of July or Patriots day.
Zec 14:16 Then it will come about
that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem
will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and
to celebrate the Feast of Booths.
Israel
will be the place where God sets up His reign because He chose
Jerusalem above all the cities
of the world. After all it is the apple of His eye.
Zec 2:8 For thus says the LORD of
hosts, "After glory He has sent me against the nations which plunder
you, for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye.
Israel
won’t get it right until the Messiah comes to reign on this earth. What
makes us think that America
got it right thus qualifying it to be a “Christian nation”? If we look
at the checkered past of this Nation
and see what we (our government) have done all in the name of God and
manifest destiny it is enough
to make you sick.
Need
I point out that we killed and enslaved almost the entire indigenous
population of this country? We
burned witches at the stake during the Salem witch trials. Then we
dehumanized and made cattle slaves
out the African negro. Even after we set the slaves free we had Jim
Crow laws until the middle of the
20th century. This behavior should never have happened if America were truly a nation under the leadership of
the God of the scriptures and His Messiah.
It
seems that more and more of the “churches” in America now are not even
“Christian”. We have Mormons,
Moonies, Jehova witnesses, Christian Science, Unitarians, Methodists, Presbyterians and Anglicans who
now find it acceptable to ordain homosexuals. Need I mention more?
How
about the Way International
who refuse to except the Diety of Yeshua. Where do we draw the
standard, in a title? Or do
we hold people up to the standard of the word of God in word and deed? The
burden of proof is on the proponents of this ideology. If we are a
“Christian nation” how do we define
that? What does it mean to be a “Christian Nation”? What
is the standard that we use to define the
statement?
Does a Christian nation kill 5o million unborn children
since 1972, then call it "the termination of
a fetus", to justify the act? Does that same said Christian Nation put
its constitution above the word of God
in order to validate it’s murderous behavior?
The scriptures alone are
inspired by God not the constitution. As
I said above, there are many groups that call themselves “Christian”
and others would deny their claim
when they compare their doctrines to the scripture. For example, who in
the world of Christendom would
consider the Unification Church (Moonies) to be true believers in
Yeshua? They believe that Sun Yun
Moon from Korea is the second coming. Does their mere declaration alone
give them the right to be a
legitimate Biblical believer? I would say, only if their claims that Sun
Yun Moon are correct. Hitler himself
wrote in Mein Kamph that he was doing God’s work. We Know what that
came to.
You
see, the problem is that when this country was founded it was founded as
a pluralistic nation. A place
where all men could worship according to the dictates of their own
conscience. Now, I have no problem
with that . The problem I have is calling this a “Christian Nation”
based upon the premise of that
pluralism. We are also a very religious nation. But that still does not
qualify us to a Christian nation. Every
one has their own interpretation of how they want to live out their
faith in the god of their choice. Many of our founding fathers were true believers, there
were also many who were deists. They
believed in a god but it was not the god of the scriptures.
The
State of Rhode Island was founded as an experiment in pluralism. Maryland was
founded as a safe place for Catholics.
What about the rest of those who call themselves Christians? Do we
define ourselves as the Catholic
or Protestant brand of “Christian” nation? After all, they
are both exclusive in their claims concerning
the revelation they have received by God to their group. Each believes
that they are exclusively
right. Mormons believe that after they die, if a male has done all the
right things he may someday
become a god of his own planet. Is this how we define our Biblical
faith? What happens if a Mormon
becomes president someday? It is very possible. Do we now adhere the
Mormon definition of faith
as applied to our nation?
We
have made the faith of Yeshua so homogenized that we are all able to
meet at the altar of generalism,
bring with us all of our differences and agree to disagree and find
common ground. Again, I agree
that this is ok for a pluralistic society but not for a “Christian”
nation. It continues to be that when Israel
is replaced, you can change the revelation to include anyone and
anything. The American brand of Christianity
is just another form of replacement theology. God set a standard. He
used and continues to use
Israel to be the standard bearer even in their disobedience.
The
claims of Yeshua are exclusive. The claims of the
American “Christian" system are not. They are at best, a cheap substitute for the truth of the Gospel. Another attempt of
Satan to confuse the believers and
keep them from preaching the truth to a lost and dying world. If you
want to be a good American then
be the best one you can. I support that. I pay my taxes even though
they are not fair. I even went to
a Tea Party rally. But don't confuse that with the preaching of the
Gospel or serving the God of the scriptures.
Just because our American currency says "in God we trust", it does not
mean that this God that they
trust in is the God of the Bible.
So
we must conclude that the burden of proof is upon this country to prove
it’s Christianity. Any people who
call on Yeshua as their Lord and Savior and deny Israel of its rightful
place are truly mislabeled to say
the least. Let us as believers not be deceived by any one person,
system, philosophy or political agenda.
I end this little paper as I began.
2Ti 3:12 Indeed, all who desire to
live godly in Messiah Yeshua will be persecuted.
2Ti 3:13 But evil men and
impostors will proceed from bad
to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
2Ti 3:14 You, however, continue in
the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom
you have learned them,
2Ti 3:15 and that from childhood you
have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the
wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Messiah Yeshua.
2Ti 3:16 All scripture is inspired
by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for
training in righteousness;
2Ti 3:17 so that the man of God may
be adequate, equipped for every good work.
Let’s
not be deceived by a faulty substitute system that could end up being a
tool for the anti Messiah in the
end.
1Ti 4:1 But the Spirit explicitly
says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying
attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,
2Ti 3:1 But realize this, that in
the last days difficult times will come.
2Ti 3:2 For men will be lovers of
self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to
parents, ungrateful, unholy,
2Ti 3:3 unloving, irreconcilable,
malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
2Ti 3:4 treacherous, reckless,
conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
2Ti 3:5 holding to a form of
godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.
The
power of the Gospel is in the exclusive nature of the death burial and
resurrection of Yeshua, not the
substitute American republic/democracy. God is not a republican nor a
democrat. God doesn’t bless America
just because we sing it in a song. His guidelines are very clear.
Prov
14:34 righteousness exalts a nation; but sin is a reproach to any
people.
Shalom
uvracha b’Yeshua Sar Shalom. the Prince of peace.
Rabbi
Henry