America’s Fork In The Road: Keeping or Cutting Covenant Series
(Based up Perry Stone & Bill Cloud’s book, America’s Controversy with God’s Covenant)
“America’s Ancient Covenant with the God of Israel”
March 15, 2015 Chester’s FBC, Chester, IL Dr. Mike Fogerson, Speaker
Introduction:
A We spent last Sunday morning learning what a covenant is and what being in one means.
1 It means to bind, cut, divide (the way Abraham cut/divide the animals on presumably an altar before God) the binding is the people of Israel to God.
a As long as Israel upheld their end of the covenant (Love God/Love Neighbor) God would protect them, bless them, make them awesome.
b If Israel stopped loving God (worshiped other gods) and their neighbor (stopped being a witness that drew them to God) then God would stop protecting, blessing, make an example of them through judgement.
aa When Israel kept covenant, they were blessed; failed to keep covenant they suffered.
bb Before they suffered/judged, God would send a warning/harbinger.
2 Today, I want to show you that America and the God of Israel are linked together (We are more than a nation under God, we are in covenant with Him, too).
a In 1620, when the Mayflower landed at Cape Cod, the passengers drafted a document called the Mayflower Compact (America’s first governmental document.)
aa “We whose names are underwritten, loyal subjects of our dread sovereign Lord, King James . . . have undertaken for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith and honor of our King and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do they these present solemnly and mutually, the presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid . . .”
bb In 1647, Governor of Plymouth, William Bradford penned Of Plymouth Plantation, describing his fellow colonist.
“Last and least, they cherished a great hope and inward zeal of laying the foundations, or at least making some ways toward it, for the propagation and advance of the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in the remote parts of the world, even though they should be but stepping stones to others in the performance of so great a work . . . Thus out of small beginnings greater things have been produced by His hand that made all things of nothing, and gives being to all things that are; . . . Let the glorious name of Jehovah have all the praise.”
b The pilgrims at Plymouth viewed themselves as being in a binding covenant with God and with one another.
aa They saw what they were doing/building as a part of the design by the Great Architect.
bb They saw what they were trying to build spiritually here just as important as building roads, schools, & fences.
3 A hundred years later, the Revolutionists (Washington, Revere, Hancock, Adams, and others) would build upon the colonists spiritual foundation.
a Their goal was to establish a nation like no other since the days of King David; rooted in the Law of God as given by Moses, God’s covenantal contract with Israel.
aa A study that accumulated over 15,000 quotes from newspapers, articles, books that were spoken by our Founding Fathers/Framers of our Dec. Of Independence/constitution: discovered 35% of these quotes were taken directly or inspirited by the Bible.
b Listen to our Founding Fathers:
aa George Washington (First Pres)
After sworn in “so help me God”
“It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.”
“It would be peculiarly improper to omit, in this first official act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect. No people can be bound to acknowledge the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States.”
*He then lead the senate/house, VP to St. Paul’s Chapel: dedication of America to YHWH.
aa John Adams (2nd Pres., Signer of DoI)
“Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only law Book, and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited! Every member would be obliged in conscience, to temperance, frugality, and industry; to justice, kindness, and charity towards his fellow men; and to piety, love, and reverence toward Almighty God . . .”
bb Thomas Jefferson (3rd Pres., Drafter/signer of DoI)
“God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God? Theat they are not be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever; That a revolution of the wheel of fortune, a change of situation, is among possible events; that it may become probable by Supernatural influence! The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in that event.”
B It can not be understated just how strong a link our Nation has with the Law of Moses, God covenantal contract with Israel.
1 160 years after our constitution was adopted, President Harry Truman would say,
a “Our fundamental basis of this nation’s laws was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings we get from Exodus Matthew, from Isaiah and Paul. I don’t think we emphasize that enough these days. If we don’t have a proper fundamental moral background, we will finally end up with a totalitarian government which does not believe in rights for anybody except the state.”
b The story is told of how just a few months before Truman left office he was brought to the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. Eddie Jacobson introduced Truman to the Jewish Theologians, “This is the man who helped create the State of Israel.” Truman retorted, “What do you mean, ‘helped to create’? I am Cyrus. I am Cyrus.”
2 Our history with The God of Israel/Ancient Israel run very deep.
a Jamestown was founded on May 14, 1607, Modern Israel May 14, 1948.
aa Salem, Massachusetts (1628), Jerusalem, (Seen as promised land)
bb The early colonists based their laws upon the 10 Commandments; Hebrew was studied/taught.
cc April 19, 1775, first shots of the Revolution where fired in Concord, Massachusetts during the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Think Passover)
b Passover was first observed by the Hebrews on the eve of their independence from Pharaoh & the most powerful nation of their time.
aa Jefferson/Franklin suggested the seal of the U.S. be the children of Israel crossing the Red Sea, “Rebellion to Tyrants Is Obedience to God.”
bb It was rejected, but it proves our founding fathers identifying with ancient Israel.
c No other nation on earth can lay as strong claim to such the connection to the Israel of the Bible than the US.
aa Our birth through blood, acknowledging God as our God.
bb His Word is the final Word, Seeking His blessing.
cc Both nations dedicated to the Lord to be His People.
C Would God hold us accountable for what the Puritans believed/declared 400 years ago, Constitutions framers believed/declared 240 years ago? Does it still matter to God? Consequences?
1 In the OT, Hannah was having fertility issues & asked God for a child, promised to dedicate the child to Him.
1 Samuel 1:11 (NASB) 11 She made a vow and said, "O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head."
a Was the child (Samuel) obligated to keep the vow even though he hadn’t made it/cut covenant with God?
b Yes, God did expect Samuel to keep the vow his momma made.
2 Judges 13:2-5 (NASB) 2 There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had borne no children. 3 Then the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, "Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son. 4 "Now therefore, be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. 5 "For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines."
The Lord told Samson’s mom that her child would be a Nazirite and God expected Samson to fulfill it.
a To think America’s covenant with God made 400/200 years ago is no longer good is ignorance of the highest order.
b Over the years countless Americans have testified to God’s Goodness/grace over us as a nation.
aa We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government; upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God. -James Madison.
bb The reason we have enjoyed peace, prosperity, power, blessing isn’t because we’re smarter/work harder . . . but rather because of God’s grace.
cc We have enjoyed blessing because of the forgotten covenant our founding fathers made with an Almighty God.
c We may have forgotten the covenant . . . He has not!
3 When God’s Spirit/Presence is removed, it opens a door for another spirit/presence to come into the house/fill the void..
Matthew 12:43-45 (NASB) 43 "Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. 44 "Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came'; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. 45 "Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation."
a
b
Conclusion:
A When Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated, America was on the brink of breaking apart. (Volatile/dangerous times; so dangerous he had to be snuck into DC under heavy guard/unannounced).
1 His luggage had arrived (including his Bible) so a clerk of the Supreme Court went got a Bible as Lincoln took the oath of office on March 4, 1861, it would become known as the “Lincoln Bible.”
a The Bible was in possession of the Lincoln family until 1928, then donated to the Library of Congress.
aa When the Bible was examined it was found to be marked in two places (Hosea 4/Deut. 31)
Hosea 4:1, 3, 6,18 (NASB) 1 Listen to the word of the LORD, O sons of Israel, For the LORD has a case against the inhabitants of the land, Because there is no faithfulness or kindness Or knowledge of God in the land. . . 3 Therefore the land mourns, And everyone who lives in it languishes Along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky, And also the fish of the sea disappear. . . 6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. . . 18 Their liquor gone, They play the harlot continually; Their rulers dearly love shame.
bb Deut. 31.17-18 (NASB) 17 "Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will come upon them; so that they will say in that day, 'Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have come upon us?' 18 "But I will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil which they will do, for they will turn to other gods.
cc Both passages speak to God’s people playing the harlot/foraking Him, His Word. . . result is He will hide His face from them . . . allowing for destruction/desolation.
b It bears noting that it was the “Lincoln Bible” that Barack Obama chose to place his hand upon when he took his oath of office at his 2009 & 2013 inaugurations.
2 In 1788, after the ratification of the Constitution, Washington wrote to his deputy, Benjamin Lincoln:
a “No country upon the earth ever had it more in its power to attain these blessings . . . Much to be regretted indeed would it be, were we to neglect the means and depart from the road which Providence has pointed us to , so plainly; I cannot believe it will ever come to pass. The Great Governor of the Universe has led us too long and too far . . . to forsake us in the midst of it . . . We may, now and then, get bewildered; but I hope and trust that there is good sense and virtue enough left to recover the right path.”
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Respectfully,
Mike Fogerson
