The Christ in Prophecy Journal

America in the Balance: Are We Past the Point of No Return? (Part 1 of 2)

America in the Balance

Imagine the President of the United States hosting a state dinner for a major foreign head of state. Gourmet food is served on the White House’s finest china as wine flows and military bands play. Suddenly, in the middle of the formalities and festivities, a man’s hand appears out of thin air and begins writing on the immaculate walls: “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.”

Would anyone be surprised if the president’s face grew pale as his thoughts alarmed him, and his hip joints went slack while his knees began knocking together? That was the description of Belshazzar’s reaction when God sent a hand to write on his palace wall in the middle of a great feast (Daniel 5). The king’s conjurers, Chaldeans, and diviners could not decipher the inscription or make known its interpretation, even when promised great wealth and authority. Then the prophet Daniel was summoned before the king.

Daniel declined the king’s gifts and rewards but agreed to read the inscription and make its interpretation known. He first offered a brief history lesson from the life of Nebuchadnezzar, demonstrating that “the Most High God grants sovereignty, grandeur, glory, and majesty” as He desires—and that He deposes those who are full of pride and arrogance.

The alarming message contained in the inscription was this: Belshazzar’s kingdom would come to an end because he had been “weighed on the scales and found wanting.” Indeed, his kingdom would be divided and given over to a dreaded foe. The prophecy’s fulfillment was not long in coming; Belshazzar was slain that same night and his kingdom was given over to Darius the Mede.

Surely that Couldn’t Happen Here

I became aware of politics when Ronald Reagan was ascending to the national spotlight. The disastrous Carter administration had left America feeling weaker and more confused than at any previous moment. Jimmy Carter’s personal claim to Christian faith did not translate into an inspiring vision. Proverbs 29:18 was demonstrated during his tenure: lacking vision, America became unrestrained, or as some translations indicate, the people ran amok.

President Reagan was not perfect. As Governor of California, he signed legislation allowing nofault divorce and abortion in certain cases. He came to regret the unintended consequences of both laws. They bore tragic fruit that haunts us still today. But Reagan had a deep and abiding faith—in God and in the ideals upon which America was founded. For a brief, shining moment, the Nation embraced the hope expressed in his 1984 campaign slogan: “Morning in America.”

Forty years after his presidency, the drift that began in the 60s and 70s has become a headlong rush into post-Christian paganism. Neither Reagan nor Carter—nor any other Republican or Democrat from the early 1980s—could have imagined our country so morally confused that our leaders now celebrate sexual deviancy and cannot even determine what a woman is.

And yet, against all reason, what would have been dismissed as a dystopian nightmare by former generations has become our reality. Our culture and many of our leaders clamor to be shed of the Lord God and His Anointed. Here. In America.

At the Precipice or Over the Edge?

During our 2024 Bible Conference, Pastor Terry Cooper offered an urgent message entitled, “Point of No Return.” Like David Reagan, he believes that America is either past the point of no return or teetering on the edge of a great precipice. His presentation was lauded by some and rejected by others. But no one can argue that our culture and society have not largely rejected God. In a very practical but tragic sense, millions (including most of our education and entertainment elites) reflect the foolish attitude of the kings of the earth in Psalm 2, “[taking] counsel together against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, ‘Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us’ “ (Psalm 2:2-3, NASB).

Are we past the point of no return? Or are we dangerously close to witnessing irrevocable harm to America? As important as that question is, I submit that we will not know until we have the advantage of hindsight, just as no Roman could anticipate the moment the Empire was doomed to fall. Unlike crossing the proverbial Rubicon, there is no geographical boundary to indicate when a line has been crossed to unavoidable disaster.

In a previous Lamplighter magazine, Bob Russell told of three men seeking to serve as the Pharoah’s charioteer. Asked how close they could get to a cliff while carrying the Pharoah, only one man was wise enough to respond that he would not risk the Pharoah’s life by getting close to the edge of a cliff in the first place. He got the job.

And yet, today, many who know the Word of God are blasé about the judgment we are risking. Some are even repulsed whenever someone like Terry Cooper sounds the alarm. They would rather have their ears tickled and hear assurances of “peace, peace” (Jeremiah 6:14). But the lessons of Scripture are clear: If God was willing to punish and reject Israel and Judah—His chosen people—for their idolatry and sin, why should we be any different?

Faithful to warn before pouring out judgment, God has been sending prophetic voices to America for generations. From Peter Marshall to Francis Shaeffer to Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, they have all sounded a consistent theme: America is abandoning its first love, casting itself adrift on a sea of moral confusion, and forgetting God.

But unlike the ancient city of Ninevah, that exhibited penitence from the king to the lowliest citizen, America has thumbed its nose at God. We have sown the wind and are just beginning to reap the whirlwind (Hosea 8:7).

If My People, Who Are Called by My Name

Whenever I sound this warning, I’ll hear from dear, committed Christians who will cite to me the promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If My people, who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will listen from heaven, I will forgive their sins and I will heal their land.”

I have participated in many “National Day of Prayer” ceremonies where that verse was read as an ironclad promise to 21st Century Christians. But the Word of God offers us clarity through the context of that ancient text. The LORD appeared to Solomon following his dedication of the temple and declared that He had “chosen this place for Myself as a place of sacrifice” (2 Chronicles 7: 12). His promise to hear His people followed the pronouncement of various calamities that would ensue if they strayed from Him in their pride and wickedness.

The Shekinah glory of the Lord had already filled the temple in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 7:1). And God’s specific promise was directed at His chosen people, Israel. But even God’s patience has limits. Later, the Lord would proclaim judgment upon Israel through His prophet Ezekiel:

Now the end is upon you, and I will send My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways and put all your abominations upon you. For My eye will have no pity on you, nor will I spare you, but I will put your ways upon you, and your abominations will be among you; then you will know that I am Yahweh! (Ezekiel 7:3-4).

In the following chapters, Ezekiel describes the tragic vision of the glory of God leaving the temple, departing Jerusalem, and rising from the Mount of Olives (Ezekiel 9:1-4; 10:4-5, 18-19; 11:22-24).

Yet, even as God was preparing to destroy the city, He commanded an angel to mark those who were anguished over the abominations taking place in the midst of the city (Ezekiel 9:4). God always preserves a remnant for Himself.

In recent months, I’ve cited Elijah’s great contest with the prophets of Baal. Elijah prophesied 275 years prior to Ezekiel—calling out Ahab, the evil king of the northern kingdom. Ahab had embraced the pagan gods of his wife, Jezebel, and led the people into wanton sin and wickedness. God sent Elijah to confront the king and declare a drought upon the Land for a period of years—a devastating blow to an agrarian society. The aftermath of that account reveals the providence of God in the midst of discipline.

Following the demonstration of God’s power on Mount Carmel, Elijah fled to Beersheba, fearing Jezebel’s threat on his life. He bemoaned the apparent futility of his zeal for the Lord, complaining, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts… And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away” (1 Kings 19:10-14).

God’s response conveys a truism that continues to this day. He told Elijah to keep on serving Him faithfully and to anoint Elisha to succeed him as prophet. And God declared that there were “7,000 in Israel” who had not bent their knees to Baal. In other words, God preserved a faithful remnant, even amidst the wickedness infecting the Land.

But there is another critical lesson here. Those 7,000 who had not bent their knees to Baal were undoubtedly praying to the Lord for forgiveness and relief. As His people, they remained humble before Him. God had noted and, in the language of Ezekiel 9:4, marked them. Still, drought and devastation were visited upon the land because of the wickedness of the overwhelming majority and the evil perpetrated by their king.

We Will Not Die

Wherever you live in 2024, consider the clear implications of God’s Word on our contemporary situation. Will the God who held His own chosen nation accountable for their flagrant wickedness turn a blind eye to those who wantonly rebel against Him today? Are nations and peoples who have been exposed to His goodness and grace held to a higher standard if they turn away from Him?

Jesus’ words to Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum indicate that “it will be more tolerable” for cities like Tyre and Sidon and Sodom on the day of judgment (Matthew 11:20-24). The clear implication is that, just like my parents when I was a child, God expects more from those who “know better.”

And yet, we recoil at the idea that our own nation would be held accountable—especially when others seem even more wicked in our eyes. That was Habakkuk’s response when God declared that He would raise up the Chaldeans to punish wayward Judah. Shocked, Habakkuk rationalized, “We will not die” (1:12). But God’s decision was locked in. As with all the prophecies He has revealed, He affirmed, “the vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay” (Habakkuk 2:3, NASB).

What About US?

What about us—the United States (or any nation that is straying from God)? Have I built the case from Scripture that we are past the point of no return? No, only God knows where that line is and whether we have crossed it.

But all of us who have not bent the knee to the modern Baals manifesting throughout our land have to take our cue from the Word of God. To that end, let’s speak frankly about our reality, our responsibility, our resolve, and our hope in Part 2.

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Tim Moore

Colonel Tim Moore serves as the Director and Senior Evangelist of Lamb & Lion Ministries. He leads pilgrimages to Israel and is the host of the television program Christ in Prophecy.

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