Choose This Day
How a Society Drifts Away from the Lord
By Tim Moore
“Has a nation changed gods though they were not gods? But My people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this; and be horribly afraid, be very devastated,” declares Yahweh. “For My people have done two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” (Jeremiah 2:11-13)
The Children of Israel were led into the Promised Land by Joshua, son of Nun. Along with Caleb, he had urged the people to follow the Lord in seizing the Promised Land (Numbers 14:6-9). When he succeeded Moses as leader of the Hebrews, he had the great responsibility to lead them into battle against a series of fortified cities and superior foes. Joshua’s vision was clear and his faithfulness was unwavering.
All the men of age who had rejected the faithful testimony of Joshua and Caleb and forsaken the LORD with their grumbling perished in the wilderness. Only Caleb and Joshua had the privilege of entering the Promised Land (Numbers 14:20-32).
A Generation of Mighty Men
Joshua ascended to leadership at a crucial moment in Israel’s history. Moses had dishonored the Lord at the waters of Meribah (contention) and was not allowed to enter the Land. During their 40 years of wandering, the people had eaten manna and their clothes had not worn out, but they were not trained in military tactics. And yet, they were about to enter Canaan and come against foes the faithless spies had accurately described: men of great size that made the men of Israel seem like grasshoppers in comparison (Numbers 13:32-33).
That is why Moses and the Lord repeatedly urged Joshua to be “strong and courageous” (Deuteronomy 31:23, Joshua 1: 6, 7, 9, and 18). It seems so obvious in hindsight that Joshua’s assignment would be successful. But from his perspective, the challenges would have been daunting. It should remind us that God regularly requires us to exercise tough faith—walking where He is leading and trusting Him when all seems hopeless. Consider the proof God offered Moses to validate his impossible task: “this shall be the sign for you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain” (Exodus 3:12). Do what I have commanded and you will know that it is I who have commanded.
Thankfully, Joshua faithfully led the people into Canaan. With the Captain of the host of the LORD going before them, Joshua and his great generals eliminated superior foes and took possession of the Promised Land. Tragically, Joshua records that tares were allowed to remain among the Hebrew wheat—Canaanites whose idolatry and wickedness would be a thorn in Israel’s side throughout their long history (and down through the ages even to today). But Joshua also wrote, “So the LORD gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and live in it… Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass” (Joshua 21:43-45).
In his last recorded address to the people of Israel, Joshua posed a rhetorical question: “If it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve: whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.” His own answer of determined resolve has inspired the faithful for over 3,000 years. “But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15, ESV).
Inspired by Joshua’s determined resolve, the people affirmed three times, “We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God. We will serve the Lord. We will serve the LORD our God and we will obey His voice” (Joshua 24:18, 21, and 24, NASB).
Bold words.
There Arose Another Generation
According to tradition, Samuel recorded the book of Judges. Here is how he describes the descent into idolatry that marked the period of the judges: “there arose another generation after (the generation who entered the Promised Land) who did not know the LORD, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel. Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals” (Judges 2:10-11).
How does a society drift away from a repeated declaration that it will serve the LORD and obey His voice?
- By failing to pass that heartfelt commitment on to another generation.
- By slowly morphing into the ideology of those whose very presence represent a subtle and beguiling temptation to wander away from God.
- By prioritizing unfettered license over ordered liberty.
- By failing to live out our professed testimony and neglecting to teach our children well.
In other words, one decision at a time, one day at a time, one generation at a time.
In remarkably short order, the Children of Israel had traded their birthright of blessing as God’s chosen people for a bowl of pagan porridge. They had devolved into a nation of pagan idol-worshipers given over to individual autonomy. The entire period of the judges is summed up in the closing verse of the book: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).
We Want to Be Like Everyone Else
Following the spiritual dissipation recorded in Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, Samuel records that the Israelites clamored for a king so that they could “be like everyone else.” God gave them a king, but just two generations after David, the kingdom was divided. Succeeding kings were more often bad than good. By Elijah’s day, evil King Ahab and his infamous Queen Jezebel were ruling over the northern kingdom.
We tend to dismiss the northern kingdom of Israel because it was eliminated by the Chaldeans and because Jesus’ lineage flowed through the kingdom of Judah. But the ten tribes that made up the northern kingdom were also descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They are also promised an end-time role when evangelists from all twelve tribes proclaim the Gospel during the Tribulation.
By the time Ahab employed 450 prophets of Baal, the people of the northern kingdom had truly arrived: they were like everyone else. They worshipped the false gods of the pagans living around and among them. They sought prosperity and blessing in all the wrong places. They even sacrificed their children in a horrific ritual of fire to placate the bloodlust of their false gods. In short, they had exchanged the true God for false gods and their glory for that which did not profit. They had hewn for themselves broken cisterns that held no water.
Choose—The LORD God or Baal
It is in this context that Elijah came to Mount Carmel. Seeing him approach, King Ahab cried out, “Is this you, you troubler of Israel?” (1 Kings 18:17). The drought Elijah had prophesied had indeed troubled Israel. In that agricultural society, drought quickly led to severe famine. Despite the fervent prayers lifted to Baal, no rain had fallen in the land for three years. No water for the broken cisterns.
With the people of Israel gathered on Mount Carmel, Elijah came near to them and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him” (1 Kings 18:20).
The contrast between the two choices offered could not be starker. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had delivered the forebears of the Israelites standing before Elijah from bondage in Egypt. He had pointedly passed over their firstborn sons while striking down the firstborn of every Egyptian. And He had brought them into a land of milk and honey. Baal had not given them rain or bounty; instead he demanded that they sacrifice their own children. This was a choice that demands an obvious answer.
And yet, Scripture records that “the people did not answer him a word” (1 Kings 18:21). They stood silent.
Their silence foreshadowed the response of the false god, Baal. He never uttered a word, even as his prophets cried out all day long and cut themselves and carried on.
Then Elijah called the people back to himself, prepared a sacrifice to the true and living God, and lifted up a God-honoring prayer. Only when God had demonstrated His mighty power by raining down fire to consume the sacrifice did the people fall on their faces and say, “The LORD, He is God; the LORD, He is God” (1 Kings 18:39).
How Did We Get Here?
Scholars differ on the exact timing of Joshua’s conquest of the Promised Land. But within a few hundred years, the northern kingdom of Israel was spiritually calcified. How do you go from a generation that emphatically declares, “We will serve the LORD,” to a generation that is silent when asked who they will serve? One generation at a time.
The Children of Israel were commanded to teach the words of God to their children “when they sat in their house and when they walked by the way and when they lay down and raised up.” The core truth they were to teach is contained in Deuteronomy 6:4-5: “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” Heeding these words and obeying His commandments would confer ongoing blessings. But Moses also warned that those blessings would turn into curses if the people abandoned God and turned their back on Him.
Christians in America look back and wonder, “How did we get here?!” How did we go from ordered liberty and unparallelled prosperity to the godless, sin-reveling culture we witness today? In hindsight, our downfall seems to have happened suddenly. But in fact it was subtle and slow; it happened one generation at a time.
A Sad Cycle
Anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear recognizes that America is being torn apart at the seams. The rise in godlessness and paganism is evident in the violence and lawlessness infecting every facet of society. It is plain to see in the hate-filled protests rocking American college campuses as supposedly educated elites celebrate terrorism while denouncing our own nation.
Certainly, there are testimonies of God’s grace impacting individual lives through the power of the Gospel, but America is on a trajectory toward destruction. God shed His grace on this land and blessed us with unprecedented prosperity. As we’ve strayed, He has raised up prophetic voices to call America to repent and return to Him. But our culture has doubled down on its rebellion. Our own leaders now celebrate and give hearty approval to those who practice wickedness (Romans 1:28-32).
Some see this merely as a natural social cycle. According to the Strauss-Howe Generational Theory, human societies operate in a cyclical pattern. This is not to be confused with the circular perception of time espoused by Eastern religions. The repetition of vigor, followed by ease, followed by weakness, and followed by peril has been summarized as:
“Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And weak men create hard times.” – G. Michael Hopf
Christians who have a thorough understanding of the Word of God understand the tragic cycle of rebellion and sin that Israel and Judah fell into throughout the Old Testament. Resolved to honor God and obey His commandments, the Children of Israel soon wandered back into idolatry and wickedness. When prophets warned them to repent, they only returned to God when their own waywardness caused sufficient pain. Having come to their senses, they began the pattern all over again, until the Lord’s patience was exhausted and He poured out judgment.
For many years, Lamb & Lion Ministries has warned that America is following the same pattern. But today, something seems very different. Whereas there was a deep reservoir of Christian character to our society in the past, our biblical foundations are being repudiated and rejected wholesale throughout the formerly Christian West. The speed and severity of that willful overthrow of our own heritage is shocking, even to those who have advocated for it. Clearly, other, malevolent ideologies are rushing in to fill the ensuing vacuum.
Richard Dawkins was recently interviewed by the London Broadcasting Company. This famous and militant atheist is “slightly horrified” to see foreign religions supplanting the traditions even he was comfortable with as a “cultural Christian” (as he now describes himself). Dawkin’s belated horror aside, Europe’s rejection of Christianity is now essentially complete.
America is rushing to catch up. Pastor Jack Hibbs (of Calvary Chapel in Chino Hills, CA) caused a furor among some members of Congress when he dared to pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Christian symbols are being removed from the public square in an accelerating manner. In these last days, whole denominations are “holding to a form of godliness” while rejecting the power of God (2 Timothy 3:1-5). Paul’s warning to Timothy even speaks of those who are “always learning and never able to come to the full knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7).
Is There Any Hope?
We are often asked: Is there any hope for America? Or, more pointedly, do we think America will experience another great revival?
Frankly, other than the provision for Israel, we do not believe Scripture indicates that a nation that has known the Lord and willfully abandoned Him will be revived. Like a plant, once the root is withered and dried up, the visible plant is fit only for the fire. But that does not mean that we should cease praying for our nation, serving as salt and light wherever the Lord places us, and trusting that even in wrath God remembers mercy.
The tender mercies of God are evident all around us even now. His Holy Spirit is at work and the Light of Christ shines through the deepening gloom. There will continue to be outbreaks of revival in localized settings, just as we documented at Asbury University last year. Another example is Ninevah Christian Church where our friend Terry Cooper is the pastor. Following their second of two large pilgrimages to Israel, the Holy Spirit is working mightily there in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. For the past year, they have averaged ten baptisms each Sunday!
Ninevah is a great name for a church. It points back to the greatest revival ever recorded. Biblical Nineveh is a worthy example for our land as well. The king of Nineveh issued a proclamation for every living creature to express humility before the LORD. Although judgment had been declared, he reasoned, “Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish” (Jonah 3:9, NASB).
When it comes to nations, God’s Word tells us that all the Gentile nations will rebel against Him and align against a reestablished Israel. They will all be judged by Him for their rebellion and embrace of wickedness. His Word also tells us that judgment awaits individuals as well. But the finality of that prophecy offers a brilliant ray of inherent hope.
What is Your Hope?
Yes, all of us will face the wrath of God—unless we have accepted the Good News of salvation. For those who embrace the Gospel, God’s wrath has already been poured out on Jesus Christ.
The message for those who have already trusted in Jesus and look forward to His return and reign is: be ready, keep the faith, do the work God has given you.
If you have allowed your faith in Christ to grow complacent and find yourself drifting away from the Rock of your salvation, “Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die” (Revelation 3:2). Return to your first love and allow Him to rekindle your passion to serve Him in such a time as this (Revelation 2:4 and 3:15-18).
The warning to any who do not yet know Jesus as Savior and Lord is: do not wait! The wrath of God abides on you (John 3:36). While there is still time—this day—flee from that wrath to come and into the loving arms of our Savior. Call upon Him now and be saved.
For all of us who are eagerly awaiting the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, let’s keep pressing toward the goal—reaching forward to what lies ahead (Philippians 3:13-14).
Plant a Tree
How do you do that? The same way Joshua did: one day at a time. If you do that, choosing wisely from decision to decision and modeling Christ-centeredness in your life, you will give your children and grandchildren a solid foundation to build their faith on.
An old Jewish proverb says, “If you think the world is going to end tomorrow, plant a tree.” Wise words. And while literal trees are worth planting, the proverb takes on deeper meaning if you realize that it is not merely speaking of actual trees. While the Lord tarries, we have the privilege of pouring into tender young fruit-bearers—watering, pruning, fertilizing, and encouraging them.
If you choose to do that—today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and each day the Lord gives you—when the Son of Man comes He will still find faith on the earth (Luke 18:8). May it be so in my house.
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