America, Have You Learned Yet?*

     Every strong nation that has fallen in history has fallen because of its wrongdoing. Matthew 25 tells the parable of the ten virgins, all asleep, with five being wise and five, foolish. The meaning of "foolish" as used here in the Greek, means, "foolish, impious, godless, dull, stupid, blockhead."

     In continuing messages based upon the new book, The Late, Great United States**, the first letter written by Dr. Stevenson to a president was to President-elect William Clinton. The letter carried a warning which is even more urgent today. Included in that letter was what God required of us as written by the prophet Micah: "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? The LORD's voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it...Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights? For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins." (Mic. 6:8-13, excerpt).

     In the verses above, lies, and the love of money which is the root of all evil, will corrupt the individual and the nation. God hates lies because He is truth. God calls us to walk with Him doing justice, loving mercy and having humility.

    The last words of King David, the sweet psalmist of Israel, related how the Spirit of God spoke by him: "The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain." (2 Sam. 23:1-4, see also Prov. 29:2 and 4). 

     David, on his death bed, spoke a word of the LORD to him, a warning to rulers and kings: they must rule over men justly, as Micah wrote above.

     Moses, the prophet and lawgiver of God, also wrote about mercy and justice. The people of God, the nation of God, must not raise false reports or false matters against another, nor slay the innocent and righteous, nor follow a multitude into doing evil, nor receive a gift that will blind the wise and pervert the words of the righteous, nor oppress a stranger. They must follow what is altogether just "that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee." (Ex. 23:1-9 and Deut. 16:19-20).

     Reports have come out that even our Supreme Court judges have received expensive gifts from wealthy men. Can we truly say that we have been altogether just here in the United States of America, either for the poor or the stranger in our land? Unjust acts will cut a nation from its land, the land given to the nation by God alone. It is God who determines the boundaries of a nation, not man, and it is God who says that all men come from one blood. (see Acts 17:26).

     The Book of Wisdom, Proverbs, speaking of those who have wisdom rather than fools who do not, says this: "Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people." (Prov. 14:33-34). 

     Sin is a reproach, yet we have become a nation that has legalized sin and has rejected those who have called sin what it is - sin. Only righteousness, and not the ideas nor accomplishments of men, can exalt a nation. The Book of Proverbs also says: "He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy." (Prov. 29:1). This nation has hardened its neck against the truth. Could this bring an end to our nation? The LORD has a remedy before it gets to that point: "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." (2 Chron. 7:14). This call from the LORD to a healing and restoring repentance is not given to the unbelievers of the land, but to God's own people, who have His name, The Church.

     Are we wise or foolish? God's wisdom is freely given to us. What will we do with it?

     There are six things that God has said that He hates and those plus a seventh are even an abomination to Him. Two of those things are similar: a lying tongue and a false witness that speaks lies. The others are: a proud look, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that creates wicked imaginations, feet that run swiftly to mischief (meaning evil, wickedness, trouble, hurt, affliction, harm, pain, unkindness) and a person who sows discord among brethren. (see Prov. 6:16-19).

     We as a nation, and as Christians, have shed much innocent blood, not only through abortion, but against people of different races and cultures that were hated and killed through no fault of their own, such as Native Americans andAfrican slaves. Lies prevail over the land because the people prefer lies to the truth.

     Paul warned in Romans that God's wrath will break out against all ungodliness. Even as men chose the lie over the truth, unrighteousness instead of the righteousness of God, and the worship of the creation instead of the Creator, God allowed their minds to become reprobate. Their minds became full of vile affections, unrighteousness, fornication, covetousness, maliciousness, backbiting, haters of God, proud, unmerciful and more, taking pleasure not only in their own wickedness but in leading others to do the same. (Rom. 1:18-32, excerpt).

     All have sinned and come short of the glory of God, but the Lord Jesus gave Himself for our sin, if we will accept His sacrifice. God does not leave us without hope if we will have the wisdom to walk in it. As we also saw above from 2 Chronicles, God does not leave us without an opportunity to repent and turn back to Him, if we will be wise enough to be guided to it by Him.

     There is a point, however, when the LORD tells even His prophets to stop praying for a people or nation. This happened to Jeremiah, who had earnestly warned his nation, Judah, to turn away from wickedness and turn back to God or be defeated by a threatening foreign enemy. The LORD said to Jeremiah: "Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee...But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward...But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth." (see Jer. 7:16- 28, excerpt).

     We pray that we never have to say that truth has died in this nation of America, or that this nation refused to receive correction from God. However, there is an urgent warning to be issued of the dangers awaiting if this nation continues foolishly (see meaning above) to turn away from God and His blessings.

     Past presidents publicly told this nation to abide and depend upon God. President Lincoln said: 

"Whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord..." 

President George Washington prayed:

"Almighty GOD; we make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt keep the United States in Thy holy protection, that thou wilt incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government; and entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and for their fellow citizens of the United States of America at large. And finally that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility and pacific temper of mind which were the characteristics of The Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without whose example in these things we can never hope to be a happy nation. Grant our supplication, we beseech thee, through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen."

     These are precious words and prayers, which we are seldom taught, that these two respected leaders of the United States prayed over this nation for repentance and blessing. They called upon God and prayed in the name of Jesus Christ with sincerity and boldness.

     The Church is called to do and to be the same for the sake of our nation.

*Based upon Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson, Jr.'s 5/31/26 message to the church. If you would like to hear the complete message, you can find it on the Facebook page of Kenneth E. Stevenson Jr. Dr. Stevenson's video messages are also found on You Tube at the Kenneth Stevenson channel. To contact or support this ministry, or to request prayer, you can write to PO Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705. To find out more about the Shroud of Turin, which is evidence of Christ's suffering, death, and resurrection, and to receive a free e-book now available in several languages, go to http://www.theshroudofturin.org/freebook. Also the book NAZAH: White Linen and the Blood of Sprinkling, written by Dr. Stevenson, is available on Amazon.

** The Late Great United States, written by Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson, will be published and released soon.