Dear beloved: In the ninth chapter of Nehemiah the sons of Israel again came together to pray and fast for God to intervene in the situation they were in. Neh.9:1 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the sons of Israel assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, and with dirt upon them. v2 And the descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. v3 While they stood in their place, they read from the book of the law and the Lord their God for a fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God. So you can see they earnestly sought the Lord with all their heart, and for hours they read from God's word and worshiped Him, all the while fasting and praying for releif. What was the situation that had brought so much grief and oppression into their lives? In verse 36 they summarize their situation; Behold, we are slaves today, And as to the land which Thou didst give to our fathers to eat of its fruit and its bounty, Behold, we are slaves on it. v37 And its abundant produce is for the kings Whom thou has set over us because of our sins; They also rule over our bodies And over our cattle as they please, So we are in great distress.
Beloved, we are in the same situation here in our land of America. We are slowly but surely being enslaved by the enemy by our own sin; we are losing the bounty of our land and the stage is set for our bodies also to be given over to captivity. Ezekiel 7:19 They shall fling their silver into the streets, and their gold shall become an abhorrent thing; their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. They cannot satisfy their appetite, nor can they fill their stomachs, for their iniquity has become an occasion for stumbling. v21 And I shall give it (the beauty of His ornaments) into the hands of foreigners as plunder and to the wicked of the earth as spoil, and they will profane it. v22 And I shall turn My face from them, and they will profane My secret place; then robbers will enter and profane it. And so we see that just as in the day when Ezekiel cried out to the children of Israel to amend their ways, so too we here in America need to amend our ways. The robbers are ready to enter, and they will not show any mercy, in fact, we are handing our treasures and our abundance over to them without a fight.
Verse 27 in Ezekiel 7 gives the summary of all that the Lord will do to allow the enemy to come into the land. v27 "The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with horror, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. According to their conduct I shall deal with them, and by their judgments I shall judge them. And they will know that I am the Lord." Beloved, let us cry out to the Lord. As we repair the breach, and build up the age old foundations, let us fast and mourn and cry out for mercy. Maybe the Lord will relent and turn away the calamity He has in mind for us. It is the least we can do for our children and grandchildren.
God bless you this day, in Christ, Jim
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