The Correction of the Lord:
A word to the people of America
(Part Two of a two part prophetic word)
(Be sure to read Part One)
So what is the solution to this judgment that is coming?
Amos 5:4-5
4 For thus says the Lord to the house of (America): “Seek Me and live; 5 But do not seek Bethel, Nor enter Gilgal, Nor pass over to Beersheba; For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, And Bethel shall come to nothing.
The first thing we need to do is seek God. Then, and only then, we shall live. Next, the Lord tells us not to seek Bethel, nor enter Gilgal, nor pass over to Beersheba. What was the significance of Bethel, Gilgal, and Beersheba? All three of these cities were very special religious places to the Israelites. All three cities were places where the Israelites went to observe the feasts of the LORD. Bethel was the place where God told Abraham to go and settle. It was the place where Jacob had his dream of the ladder to heaven. Gilgal was where the Israelites first stayed when they came into the Promised Land. They set up an altar to the LORD there. They were circumcised in Gilgal to renew their covenant after coming into the Promised Land. It was also the place where they ate the food of the Promised Land for the first time. The Israelites also celebrated the first Passover in the Promised Land in Gilgal. Beersheba was the place that was known to the Israelites that “God was with them”. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were all told in Beersheba that God was this them. Abraham’s account is in Genesis 21:22-24 and Isaac’s is in Genesis 26:23-24, and Jacob’s is in Genesis 46:1-4
So what happened to make God use them in this passage and tell us not to seek them? The answer lies in what became of those cities.
Bethel became known for its Idolatry
1 Kings 12:27-29
27 If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah.” 28 Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!” 29 And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.
Bethel was originally the place where God told Abraham to set up an alter to Him but it later became a place of idolatry. Idolatry has filled America. We idolize our homes, our families, our cars, our jobs, our TV. God is bringing judgment on every idol we hold in our hearts. That is why He has hit the housing and job market so hard. As long as we have our idols, why would we need God? Bethel also represents a lack of seeking the Lord. The people of Israel stopped seeking the Lord and turned to their idols. They stopped making the effort to go to Jerusalem. Today in America you can see her people not taking the time to seek God. It seems as though many do not want to go the extra mile to be with Him, whether it is not going to church, not praying, or not reading His Word. We need a deep hunger for God to return to this land.
Gilgal represents disobedience.
1 Samuel 15:21-23
21 But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.” 22 So Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.”
Gilgal was the place where King Saul disobeyed the LORD and did not kill the king of the Amaleks. Gilgal represents disobedience to the Lord and lack of fear of the LORD. It represents the self-pleasing spirit. The people were more concerned with their own feasting and well being than they were about keeping God’s word. America, you have become fat and puffed up on your own plans and feasting. The Lord is about to remove your dinner plate and take away your chair!
Beersheba represents complacency.
When God met with Jacob in Beersheba, Jacob made the statement that “Surely God is in this place”. This meant the God was with Him. If God is with us we have nothing to worry about and everything is going to be OK. It is a place of peace and prosperity. However, many church leaders have been, and still are, preaching the message of peace and prosperity, when in fact the judgments of the LORD are coming. Therefore Beersheba has come to represent complacency and blindness. We would rather preach a message of blessings and prosperity than we would to preach a message of repentance that might confront the people. We have become complacent in our passion for the Lord. We have sold out to man instead of fearing God.
These three cities represent the state of the church in America. We have become a nation of idolatry, disobedience, and complacency. We are spiritual blind and we need to wake up.
The Day of the LORD?
Amos 5:16-20
16 Therefore the Lord God of hosts, the Lord, says this: “There shall be wailing in all streets, And they shall say in all the highways, ‘Alas! Alas!’ They shall call the farmer to mourning, And skillful lamenters to wailing. 17 In all vineyards there shall be wailing, For I will pass through you,” Says the Lord. 18 Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! For what good is the day of the Lord to you? It will be darkness, and not light. 19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion, And a bear met him! Or as though he went into the house, Leaned his hand on the wall, And a serpent bit him! 20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light? Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?
Many people have been praying for the “Day of the LORD” to come. Many have been praying for the LORD to return and rid this world of evil. Do we realize that the day the LORD Jesus sets up His throne and removes evil will be a day of our judgment? Many on that day will be surprised as He holds us accountable for His Word and how we followed it.(Refer to Revelation chapter 20) Instead of just praying for the Lord to return, start praying the He would show you your sins so you could REPENT and be ready for when He does return.
Now here is our open door of hope. It can be found in Amos 5:4.
Amos 5:4
4 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: “Seek Me and live;
We must seek the Lord and find life. When we seek the Lord it is not just reciting a simple prayer of salvation and them thinking we are saved. The fact is that there are many people sitting in churches all across this land, that if the Lord returned today, they would find themselves in hell. Hell is a very real place and our only way out it to call on the name of Jesus, repent of our sins, and live a life of daily repentance and seeking the Lord. It is about going through deliverance, changing our ways, and living a life of holiness. Let me ask you something. How many reading this are still smoking? Or maybe still drinking alcohol? I have heard many people say “Oh, it’s just a little wine with dinner. It’s no big deal.” Let your eyes be opened by this next statement. Jesus never drank alcohol! But many of you will say, my Bible says He drank wine. Well, that’s true; your Bible does say that. But how many of you have done the research on that word? When you take that word back to the Greek meaning you will find that there are two meanings for the word “wine”; one meaning fermented wine and one meaning unfermented wine. God tells us in His Word to stay away from alcohol and those who partake, so why would Jesus, God in the flesh, go against His own Word. He wouldn’t. Maybe sometime later I will post an impartation on wine in the Bible.
Our next open doorway of hope is found in Jeremiah 6:16.
Jeremiah 6:16
16 Thus says the Lord: “Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
When the Word tells us to “Stand in the ways and see and ask for the old paths”, this is getting back to the Word of God. We need to leave the rituals of religion and seek the LORD in His Word. God is a god of mercy, but He is also a god of righteousness. To know God’s righteousness we need to seek His Word and study it and put it into practice in our life. If we return to the LORD and follow His ways we will find rest for our souls, even in the midst of the judgment that is coming to this nation. Do not say in your heart that you “will not walk in it.”
If you are reading this then the Lord has called you and you now have the responsibility to seek Him out. Let this word open your eyes to what is happening in your own life, and in this country. My prayer is that Holy Spirit is bringing conviction upon your heart and you will turn from any sin in your life. I also pray that Holy Spirit will begin to reveal those dark areas in your heart where there is still sin and iniquity hidden that you may not know is there.
Be blessed in the name of Jesus, the Jewish Messiah who came to set the world free and has town down the wall of separation between Jew and Gentile.
© 2011 Scott Wood - No distribution beyond personal use without permission
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