Parallels between Israel and America
In the book of Judges we find an account of the failure of the children of Israel to maintain the high
spiritual standards laid down by Moses and Joshua. They not only failed to conquer the land of Canaanas God
had challenged them to do, but they also descended into idolatry and sinful practices of the Canaanites moral
degeneration.
God availed Himself to teach Israel through this period of time, "That His rest" was fully available and
provided for by Himself, but must be entered into by an obedient people.
In Judges 2:1-2, "Then the angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, And said: "I led you up
from Egypt and brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and I said, 'I will never break My
Covenant with you. And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their
altars.' but you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? (NKJV).
This book of Judges records the history of the nation of Israel for 305 years after the death of Joshua. It
was during this time Israel declined, back slid, and got away from God. Reading this section of Judges we will
see many parallels between Israel's failure and Americas failures.
The house of Israel was established by God Himself, and God gave Himself to them. He also gave them
the law, the 10 commandments and the covenant. He also gave them Canaan, the best land of the earth at that
time. Adding that up we find God the father, gave them the Lord, the Law, and the Land. God only asked them
for three thing in return. That they would love Him, obey Him, and serve Him. So what did Israel do? They
denied what the Lord told them to do! They defied the law, and they defiled the land. So, God had to judge them.
This parallel with America is obvious and alarming. No nation during our life time has ever had an Anglo Saxon,
Judao- Christian beginning like the U.S.A.
We like those early Israelites, have been given the Lord, Jesus the Christ, the Law, and a fruitful land.
But now America is denying GOD, defiling GOD, and we are seeing our California farm lands drying up and
our Mid West grain lands flooded. Our rain in do season is over.
God has said in the blessings and cursing chapter Lev 26:18-20, "And after all this, if you do not obey
Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. I will break the pride of your power; I will make your
heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not
yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit" (NKJV).
Our daily news tells us our Lord and God is slowly but steadily being expelled from every public venue.
It started in the public schools, and has spread to public places, like our States Court Houses, and our saying "The
pledge of allegiance," and on and on to the point where today we are fighting battles about what we can even say
in Church!
It is no longer just about the separation of church and state, but rather the separation of America from the
God who founded her and has so blessed her! Example, not long ago a high school football team and its
cheerleaders came under fire. The players and cheerleaders were all in agreement, they all wanted the team to
enter the field, bursting through a large paper banner with an inspirational Bible verse on it. It was not school
sanctioned, and no one involved had any problem with it. But guess who did have a problem? The ACLU! "The
American Communist..." civil liberties union. We could call them the anti Christian liberals union. Actually, I
don't know why they aren't called the u.u.u. union, for they are un-American, un-Civil, and un-Libertarian! The
A.C.L.U. has been used by Satan as a tool for many years, to tear apart this great land of America
The supreme court says, it is against the law to display the 10 Commandments in a public place, even
though their building in D.C. displays them! Their reasoning is that if you display them people might ponder
them and if so, they might obey them, and that would be a violation of the separation of church and state!
We are doing just what Israel did during the days of Judges. It is now the official position of our
government that the 10 commandments are dangerous! We surly don't want kids in school to see, 'you shall not
kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal or bear false witness— lie,' because if they did they might
obeyed them !
America, once called an Anglo Saxon, Judao-Christian nation is now going in a foolish direction, and
contrary to basic common sense. We do not force our beliefs on anyone, but we have allowed Satan's world to
chip away at our core of morality. Like Israel in the past, Israel is again denying the Lord, and defying His laws,
statutes and government, and America is polluting its God given authority.
We are doing this to ourselves in many ways, but perhaps the number "1" way is found in the spilled
blood of millions of aborted babies. God is taking away His glory from the house of Israel while they are doing
such things. He is in the process of removing Himself from all the good old U.S. of A.
We need a national day on our knees, praying for God's kingdom to come! Praying for a moral and
spiritual repentance. I don't know what it's going take. If 9/11 was not enough, what will be enough?
In this book of Judges there is recorded, God raising up 13 men to deliver Israel from backsliding, in order to
bring about national restoration.
Studying these 13 men we find, when a family becomes rich there are 3 stages which seem to always
occur: The first generation— generates the fortune. The second generation - speculates their fortune, The third
generation squanders the fortune and it is gone through a series of compromises and foolish decisions.
That is exactly how it works with a nation. There is a generation that generates the freedom, then a
generation that adventures the fortune away, and finally, a generation that wastes what's left, until its completely
gone, and freedom is found no more. Some people that don't believe this, need to study the book of Judges and
those nations that have forgotten God in history.
Lets refresh ourselves with some of Israelites history, when they entered into this promised land under
General Joshua. Israel was given by God, victory after victory, walls came tumbling down, and kings were
subdued. They won victories they never could have apart from having the power of God on their side.
And that's just how it was with America. Go back to our first war, the Revolutionary War. Britain had
more men, more money, and better machinery. It was truly a David and Goliath scenario, but God was on
Americas side and we won!
Patrick Henry gave the speech which sparked a revolution in 1775. He said, "is life so dear, or peace so
sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains or slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course
others may take but as for me; "give me liberty or give me death!" It was 'game on! And we won that war,
George Washington, who became our first president and when he took office, he placed his hand on the
Holy Bible. When he finished taking the oath he kissed the Bible. His first official act was to lead the entire
Congress in a 2 hour worship session. I wonder what the ACLU would have said about that.
In one of Washington's inaugural addresses he said, "No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore
the invisible hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States. Every step by
which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some
token of providential agency." In plain English he said, "It is God who got us thus far, and we had better not
forget it!
Our founding fathers made it abundantly clear that this land was founded on God and the Bible. The Bible
was the first and only book to be used in public schools for years. Succeeding generations in America began to
squander this blessing away. Remember Judges 2:1- 2 God said, look at all I have done for you. I delivered you
from slavery, fed you with manna, guided you and guarded you into the promised land. Now look at you ... why
have You done this?! Verse 7 tells us, Joshua's generation saw first hand the great works of God. "So the people
served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the
Great works of the Lord which He had done for Israel" (Judges 2:7 NKJV). Verse 10 relates a different story,
"When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not
know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel." What a sad verse! This means that the Joshua
generation failed to pass their values on to their children.
This has happened in America since 1960, and look where we are at today. Our children do not
understand our moral foundations and the spiritual principles upon which this nation was founded.
Our sojourner president is trying to rewrite history and remove God from our land. Deut 28:43, identify
this stranger for us. The saddest verse in this book of Judges, is the last verse ...Judges 21:25, "In those days there
was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes." They became a people with no
absolutes, no standards to live by.
Is that not the nation you and I live in today? Judges parallels with America is eye opening? Barna
research shows that 67% of Americans say there is no such thing as absolute truth. They say that right and wrong
is not clear. What is wrong for you, is not necessarily wrong for me. If that doesn't scare you, consider that they
did the same survey in some Evangelical Churches and they found among Sunday morning attendees 52% said
the same thing!
Imagine, God's called saying, "there's no black and white, or, right and wrong!" Judges 2, tells us how
Israel got to this same point. It was thru a series of compromises. Judges 2: 2, God had told them to drive the
enemy out of the land, and further, not to have anything to do with them. Read again Judges 2: 2, "And you shall
make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.' but you have not obeyed My
voice. Why have you done this?”
They were to separate themselves from idiolatry just as we are supposed to do today. Notice why Israel
feared the Canaanites. We read their reasoning in Judges 1:19, "So the Lord was with Judah. And they drove out
the mountaineers, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland, [where the Canaanities lived ]
because they had chariots of iron." They were afraid, even while knowing they could have trusted in God and
won, but they were afraid to try, they said, these people are impregnable. We cannot conquer them, therefore we
might as well learn to accommodate them, surrender to them, and learn to live with them.
While watching our voted in leaders in Washington D.C., it looks like there are some Canaanites that the
house of Israel is fearing in America today. Many of our leaders want to surrender in the war on terror, they say
we are losing and we might as well quit trying to win. They say we need to sit down and negotiate with the
terrorists, and stop trying to police, [protect ] the world. In so doing we invite them to come to us.
Recognizing another war is coming, many politicians today are calling for an end to the war on drugs.
They say that we have lost, so we should surrender and legalize it. If we legalize it we can control it, they say.
Yeah right! Just like we have full control over killings, right? Trying to control drugs by legalizing them Is like
trying to control a fire with gasoline.
Today we hear many parents surrendering in the area of sexual promiscuity. They throw up their hands
and say, "Well, you're not gonna be good, so just be careful, here, wear some protection. Now what message does
that send to a young person?
We are putting ambulances at the bottom of the cliff when we are supposed to be putting fences at the
edge of the cliff! It's time we get back to confronting our culture with the truth of God and His full word. Its time
for parents to tell their young people, God wants you to be pure and chaste. He wants you to be a virgin when
you get married, not be passed around like a bottle of gatorade in a football huddle!
Too many have become afraid of the confrontation, and way too sensitive about how we might offend
someone who has gone too far. The question is whom shall I offend? Man, or God? The truth is offensive, to the
worldly, but not to God's called. "Why?"
The Apostle John reminds us, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John
8 :32). Thinking of another thought, this nation has become so politically correct about homosexuality that it has
become wrong to say anything about it.
Some people personally say they are against it, but should leave it as a personal decision. That's the
answer in our society today in spite of what God says. And in spite of what always happens to a society when
they go that route. Man give them more than just equal status, but exalted status! Special status and that
makes the rest of us be a discriminated status!
Now in the United States of America is something else that is new. We are trying, something never before
considered in America, mixing Socialism, Communism and Islamism. We are ignoring the plight of other
countries who have tried it, we are beginning to slide down a dead end, one way, no u-turn street that leads from
capitalism upon which we were founded to socialism, and communism and mixing in Islamism.
We are becoming a nation with no wealth, no freedom, and no real reason to work for anything any more!
We are at the tail end of the speculation generation, and we are treading in water we never been in before! And
its ugly!
There were Canaanites that Israel feared. .. and Canaanites that they favored. They said in Judges, look,
we can use these people. "And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanite's under tribute,
but did not completely drive them out" (Judges 1: 28 NKJV). So we find they made slaves of them, in spite of
the fact that God said not to have anything to do with them. Israel pondered, sure they are wicked, but there's
some good that can come out of them. Again not obeying God's orders.
What about America today? With its legalized gambling, or playing the lottery, that was designed to help
pay for school supplies and such things. Look at the tax we gain from something that many consider trying to
get something for nothing! We could build roads, bridges and schools, and generate a lot more tax dollars!
It is sad to watch our government being turned into a pimp? Think about it. A pimp puts women on street to lure
in men, in order that he, the pimp, might profit from their vice! Our government now encourages its citizens to
participate in vices so they can profit. They say, look at the revenue we can generate!
Today, look at the taxes generated from selling legalized marijuana! Some states are raking in the millions
of tax dollars! Another sin tax!! It's time we stop saying, look at what we can gain, and start asking, what might
we lose by doing this?!
America and our government is turning more and more to borrowing, and borrowing not just from banks,
but from the world's nations, especially China, who now owns us. We're borrowing from our children and future
generations, who will never be able to pay it back But hey, that's their problem! Right!
Many may disagree with me on this, that's fine, but if you do, you are further illustrating just how far we
have come from our founding generation! Just like ancient Israel, we are favoring the world's ways.
For the first time ever we have a president [who thinks he is president of the world], who apologizes for us, about
calling ourselves a Judao- Christian nation! He is a world citizen [United Nations citizen]. He is not an American
citizen.
Back to the Canaanites, who Israel feared. Judges 1:32 we read, “The Asherites dwelt among the
Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out.” Why? Because these people they felt
were not that bad. They may worship different gods, but they are good neighbors. When continuing to read on
you will find that Israel learned of their wicked ways and entered into their idolatry, including the abortion like
sacrificing of their children to Molech. We are as guilty today as they were about murdering children in our
abortion clinics. Now we hear the abortion clinics are taking aborted babies and cutting their skulls open to sell
their brains! How much crueller can a person get?
Another abomination we hear over and over, "is" there's nothing wrong with being gay. What they do is
their business. God says they are an abomination and will be our downfall as a society. Gay marriage has now
been legalized by the Supreme Court of the United States.
If we tolerate it we are begging for God's judgment. He has done it before, and He'll do it again! Does
Sodom and Gomorrah come to mind. There it was the last sin God would put up with. God loves homosexuals
and so should we. But He does not approve of their sin! We love them, not by accepting their sin, But by
confronting it with the truth, love the sinner but hate the sin! The antidote which is their only hope and ours as
well!
The last verse in Judges tell us, “There was no king in Israel, every man did what was right in his own
eyes.” The parallels back in the book of Judges are no different than today when we consider them. Judges 2:
and verse 3, we find Israel being rebuked because of their disobedience. “Therefore I also said, I will not drive
them out before you; But they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a Snare to you.”
Thinking of thorns and snares can anyone say, "Illegal immigration?" Moslem ideology, terrorism
Verse 4, “So it was, when the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people
lifted up their voices and wept.” They wept because God was saying, “I now lift my hand of protection off of
you."
On 9/11 terrorists turned planes into missiles. The next day many religious leaders were saying, “we'd
better realize that God is removing His protective hand from this nation.” This 9-11 attention grabber opened
up many eyes temporally to see our national sins of lying, abortion, and homosexuality.
The liberal press absolutely tried to crucify any negative thought like that God is now using our current
administration to give us what we have been asking for. Change, but we are finding out it is not "change we can
believe in." It’s clear thorns and snares are larking every where in America!
Being called and studying the book of Judges, we realize that Judges describes the house of Israel's
downfall. America was thought of as militarily the world leader but today it's militarily weak and economically
its a disaster. And left with a leader who leads from behind, that's where we are today.
Some say arrogantly, "would a loving God allow that?" YES. If we ask for it! By not obeying God's
commandments and laws. There is often a question ask after a school shooting, where is our Lord ? Why is this
allowed to happen?
America expelled God in 1962! When they threw out the Bible and prayer and said, God, you are not
welcome! Now that we are in a new generation. Could this be the final generation in America? It seems we are
just one generation away from losing our country. Is there any hope? “Yes” Where there's God, there is still
hope! Notice Judges 2: verse 16, “Nevertheless, the Lord raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand
of those who plundered them.” God would always rather forgive than to judge!
But if we insist on, not obeying God, we should be afraid. After what all God has done for America, how
can we turn our back on Him! As we see things today, we need to pray for national repentance! ☜
James Russell