Davis: Our Nation Could Use the Watchmen of the Old Testament

By Dr. George Davis/New Harvest Church

When the nation of Israel abandoned the Lord and embraced the immoral standards of her neighbors, it offended God. Nevertheless, God raised up men to warn her of impending judgment should they continue turning a death ear to his commandments.

He sent Jeremiah, who wept bitterly over a nation that lost all fear of the Lord (Jeremiah 2:19). Yet, the Lord pleaded with the kings, princes and priest. “If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto me, and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove (Jeremiah 4:1). Their response to God’s grace was forthwith and clear. “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you” (Jeremiah 44:16). “Therefore, judgment was inevitable” (Jeremiah 21:8-9).

He sent Ezekiel, the watchman, who stood up in the face of extraordinary opposition and repeatedly cried out to a nation in captivity to “respond to the Lord’s chastisement and repent” (Ezekiel 3:11). These watchmen remained faithful to their call despite aggressive rejection by their leaders and the people.

Like Israel, America is weakened not because her adversaries are superior but because she has forsaken the way of the Lord, completely. Though she claims to be founded upon Judeo-Christian principles, her laws reflect utter contempt and disregard for the law of God. For example, she claims to be a Christian nation, to “know God,” and to be “walking in the light” but she writes laws that seek to replace biblical marriage with same-sex marriage, laws that make the shedding of innocent blood (i.e. abortion) “a right,” and laws that legitimize and demand acceptance of the immoral practices the LGBT community seeks to impose on the nation. Scripture calls all of that a lie (1 John 1:6). She may think that her battle is against al-Qaida and ISIS, but in reality she is fighting against the Lord (Lamentations 2:5). She has made herself an “enemy of the Cross” (Philippians 3:18). When Israel did a similar thing in the Old Testament, “the Lord stirred up an adversary” against it (1 Kings 11:14). Can any nation that commits such egregious sin against the holy God escape judgment?

Today, where are pastors who “cry aloud, spare not,” who lift up their voices with a trumpet’s clarity, exposing the glaring sins of this nation (Isaiah 58:1)? Who is standing in the gap for this land before the Lord to sound the alarm (Ezekiel 22:30)? Has prestige, prosperity and power blinded them to the impending danger? Where are watchmen? They have forsaken the way of the Lord and placed their trust in the political machine. They are found standing in front of TV cameras advocating the political agendas of the likes of Athaliah, the wicked of Queen of Judah (2 Kings 11:3) and Nebuchadnezzar, the self-deifying boastful king of Babylon (Daniel 4:30). Have we forgotten “that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will?” (Daniel 4:32). Have we forgotten that godly repentance is the only solution to the nation’s sin problem?

Jesus clearly affirmed, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world” (John 18:36). His kingdom is not built upon the rudiments of this world but on the righteousness found only in Jesus Christ. While pastors ought to be contending for the faith, many are making friends with the world system, fighting for political advantage. Today, the Lord sends his pastors “before governors and kings” not to support their political agendas but “for a testimony against them” (Matthew 10:18). As it is written, “let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:7-8). Let us return to the Lord before we past the point of no return.