America, Israel, and Tisha B'Av*

Tisha B'Av, or the Ninth of Av, is a date on which Israel, or the Jewish people, repeatedly suffered great tragedies and the judgment of God throughout history. Both temples in Jerusalem were destroyed on Tisha B'Av, for example. This date is observed by the Jewish people with fasting, prayer, and repentance. In history, there have been only two nations on earth which were established on the foundation of the true and living God: Israel and America. Both nations at the present time are going through a crisis. How will these two nations deal with the crises they face? Are we able to see America in these verses from the Book of Proverbs? "He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn...The king by judgment establisheth the land: but he that receiveth gifts overthroweth it." Prov. 29:1-2, 4). America does not want to hear what God is saying, and has hardened its neck against it. Some or our Supreme Court judges are being investigated for accepting luxurious gifts from people who later bring cases before them. The prophet Jeremiah wrote the Word of the LORD concerning the iniquities of Israel that would lead to destruction, but the people preferred to hear a more pleasant and assuring word from false prophets to whom the LORD did not speak. Because of this, the people could not be delivered from their iniquities, and therefore would not be saved from destruction: "But this people hath a revolting and rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone. Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God...Your iniquities have turned away these things (former rain, latter rain, and harvest), and your sins hath withholden good things from you.. From among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men....their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich...they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause...of the fatherless...of the needy. Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?...The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof? (Jer. 5:23-31). Christ also spoke of how He hated the Nicolaitans - those who ruled over the people spiritually for their own advantage (Rev. 2:6, 14-15). The LORD said again to Jeremiah: "When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence." (Jer. 14:12). The false prophets, Jeremiah wrote, "...walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and as the inhabitants thereof of Gomorrah...Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you...they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD...a whirlwind of the LORD has gone forth in fury...it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked....in the latter days, ye shall consider it perfectly...Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith...and cause my people to err by their lies and by their lightness...they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD." (Jer. 23:14-32, excerpt). When Jeremiah spoke of the latter days, above, it was spoken to us, the Church! Many today are listening to the same kind of false prophets. Prophets who prophesy, not what the Lord is saying, but what pleases the people to hear. Again, Jeremiah wrote the Word of the LORD regarding how the prophets who prophesy falsely prevent the people from being delivered: "Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment." (Lam. 2:14). I have brought forth in my messages 2 Chron. 7:14 many times: "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." However, the chapter and verses that come before this valuable verse of repentance and mercy are also very important. King Solomon dedicated the new temple that had been completed according to the plans and instructions that David , his father, had left him. Solomon was overcome with an interceding prayer on behalf of the people of God should they fall into sin, and the purpose of this temple of the LORD's presence: "Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall make towards this place: hear thou from thy dwelling place, even from heaven; and when thou hearest, forgive...When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee: yet if they pray towards this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them; Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou hast taught them the good way...and send rain upon thy land. If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, or mildew, or locusts, or caterpillars; if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be: Then what prayer or what supplication soever shall be made of any man, or of all thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house: Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according to all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:) that they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers." (2 Chron. 6:14-31, excerpt). Although Solomon had constructed a temple covered in gold, and every precious thing as a House of God, he prayed with the wisdom and knowledge that the purpose of this house was as a place to receive His people's repentance before God, and for them to receive in return God's forgiveness and miraculous restoration. Solomon even made sure to include in his prayer to God the foreigner, the stranger, who would travel to this place, the temple, in order to seek the forgiveness and restoration of God (v. 32-33). Solomon even included in his prayer that in the event that God's people would find themselves taken in captivity to another land, that God would hear them when they prayed from the land of their captivity: "...We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly;' If they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity...and pray toward their land...and toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name: Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee. Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place." (v.36-40). As the Church of believers in Christ, WE are the temple of God, of His Spirit. The purpose of the Temple of God has not changed since Solomon's prayer. It is still the place where repentance for sins, the cry of our heart, is heard by God, and where His forgiveness, mercy and restoration are then sent forth for the people and the land. Today, instead of prayer, we see in Israel, crowds protesting in the streets against political policies, and calling for a political solution. We have seen America, and even the Church, doing the same - relying upon political solutions to spiritual wickedness that requires instead our repentance and God's forgiveness. Paul wrote to Timothy that in the last days, which we are now seeing, perilous times shall come, and we will see the wickedness of men grow worse and worse: "...lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away...evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them...the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." (2 Tim. 3:1-17, exerpt). As a nation founded upon the belief in Almighty God, many of our greatest leaders have made comments tying our nation's success and survival as a free republic to our continued reliance, not upon ourselves, but upon God. Here are a few examples. George Washington: "It is impossible to account for the creation of the universe without the agency of a Supreme Being. It is impossible to reason without arriving at a Supreme Being." And: "Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness." From Abraham Lincoln: "But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own." And: "In regard to this Great Book (referring to the Bible), I have but to say, it is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Savior gave to the world was communicated through this book." From Ronald Reagan: "... Without God, there is a coarsening of the society. And without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure. If we ever forget that we’re one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.” And: "Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face." From its beginning, America called upon God, and placed itself in His hands as we faced enormous challenges and responsibilities as a nation. Do we think that a just God will not judge America as we have denied Him and chosen wickedness instead of His righteousness? If Israel could not escape the judgments and tragedies of Tisha B'Av, can America escape? However, the Church remains silent as our nation, following after wickedness, continues on its path to destruction. We need salvation. Is the LORD, from His dwelling place in heaven, and from His dwelling place within us, hearing prayers of repentance from His people who are called by His name? *Based upon the 7/30/23 message of Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson to the Church. To hear the full message, look for Dr. Stevenson's Facebook page. You can contact this ministry at PO Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705. God bless you.