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Author	: Bill Kochman
Publish	: May 6, 2025
Update	: May 6, 2025
Parts	: 02

Synopsis:




Continuing our discussion from part one, I'm also reminded of the story which is found in Genesis 18 and 19 where Abraham pleaded with God to not destroy those wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. As you may know, the Lord was very patient with Abraham as he bargained, trying to get the Lord to spare the cities if even the smallest number of righteous people could be found in them. Of course, tragically, such was not the case, and both cities were utterly destroyed.

As I mentioned in part one, the Scriptures inform us that the Lord sent prophet after prophet to warn the people of Israel to repent of their rebellion and apostasy. And yet they were so proud, rebellious, stiff-necked and hard-hearted that they absolutely refused to repent of their wickedness. From the Old Testament to the New Testament, and from Moses, to Jesus to the Apostle Paul, we find literally dozens of verses where they are described in this very same manner. While I could list all of them here, it would probably be too tedious for some of you to read. However, allow me to share at least some of them with you:

"And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a STIFFNECKED PEOPLE:"


"Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a STIFFNECKED PEOPLE: lest I consume thee in the way. And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments. For the LORD had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a STIFFNECKED PEOPLE: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee."


"And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a STIFFNECKED PEOPLE; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance."


"Understand therefore, that the LORD thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a STIFFNECKED PEOPLE . . . Furthermore the LORD spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a STIFFNECKED PEOPLE: Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven: and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they."


"Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and BE NO MORE STIFFNECKED."


"Now BE YE NOT STIFFNECKED, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you."


"O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but THEY HAVE REFUSED TO RECEIVE CORRECTION: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return."


"But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. But THEY HEARKENED NOT, NOR INCLINED THEIR EAR, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward. Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them: Yet THEY HEARKENED NOT UNTO ME, nor inclined their ear, but HARDENED THEIR NECK: they did worse than their fathers. Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but THEY WILL NOT HEARKEN TO THEE: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee. But thou shalt say unto them, This is A NATION THAT OBEYETH NOT THE VOICE OF THE LORD their God, NOR RECEIVETH CORRECTION: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth."


"Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil. And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them: Because THEY HAVE NOT HEARKENED TO MY WORDS, saith the LORD, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; BUT YE WOULD NOT HEAR, saith the LORD."


"And they came in, and possessed it; but THEY OBEYED NOT THY VOICE, NEITHER WALKED IN THY LAW; they have done nothing of all that thou commandedst them to do: therefore thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them . . . And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet THEY HAVE NOT HEARKENED TO RECEIVE INSTRUCTION."


"But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for THEY WILL NOT HEARKEN UNTO ME: for all the house of Israel are IMPUDENT AND HARDHEARTED."


"Thus saith the Lord GOD; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her. And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for THEY HAVE REFUSED MY JUDGMENTS AND MY STATUTES, THEY HAVE NOT WALKED IN THEM. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye multiplied more than the nations that are round about you, and HAVE NOT WALKED IN MY STATUTES, NEITHER HAVE KEPT MY JUDGMENTS, neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you; Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations. And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations."


"But THEY REFUSED TO HEARKEN, and PULLED AWAY THE SHOULDER, and STOPPED THEIR EARS, that they should not hear. Yea, THEY MADE THEIR HEARTS AS AN ADAMANT STONE, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts."


"But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and HARDENED THEIR NECKS, AND HEARKENED NOT TO THY COMMANDMENTS, AND REFUSED TO OBEY, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but HARDENED THEIR NECKS, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou ‭art‭ a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not . . . Nevertheless THEY WERE DISOBEDIENT, AND REBELLED AGAINST THEE, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.‭ Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest ‭them‭ from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies. But after they had rest, THEY DID EVIL AGAIN BEFORE THEE: therefore leftest thou them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet when they returned, and cried unto thee, thou heardest ‭them‭ from heaven; and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies; And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: YET THEY DEALT PROUDLY, AND HEARKENED NOT UNTO THY COMMANDMENTS, BUT SINNED AGAINST THY JUDGMENTS, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and WITHDREW THE SHOULDER, and HARDENED THEIR NECK, and WOULD NOT HEAR."


"YE STIFFNECKED AND UNCIRCUMCISED IN HEART AND EARS, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye."


As I said, there are so many verses in the Bible which are similar to the above, where the Lord continually rebukes the Israelites for being so stubborn, spiritually deaf and blind. But, my friends, we have to ask ourselves. Is it possible that in her current arrogance, America has become the very same way? I think you already know my answer. So should it really come as any surprise to us if some day in the not-to-distant future, God also decides that He has had enough of our rebellion, and decides to rain down judgment upon us?

Sadly, there are certain misguided Christians who actually pray for God's judgments to fall on America. I sometimes encounter them on the social networks. Some of these very foolish people will even hope and pray that certain people will die, and then they gloat when they do die. These are individuals who claim to be Christians. I say "Shame on you all! You certainly don't represent the love of Christ!" In fact, as some of you may know, when certain of the disciples erroneously yielded to the same type of unloving attitude, Jesus sharply rebuked them, as we see by the following set of Bible verses:

"And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village."


Myself, I am NOT like that. And the reason why I am not like that, is because I have read deeply into the Scriptures, and so I understand exactly how harsh God's judgments can be once they begin to fall. It is not something that I would wish on anyone. If you don't understand what I am talking about, then I suggest that you begin by reading the Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah. He writes that not only did people's skin turn black due to malnutrition and starvation, but women even cooked their own children for food. Do you require Scriptural proof of this? Then please read the following Bible verses:

"Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine."


"Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street."


"The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them . . . The hands of THE PITIFUL WOMEN HAVE SODDEN THEIR OWN CHILDREN: THEY WERE THEIR MEAT in the destruction of the daughter of my people."


In case you are wondering, that word "sodden" in Lamentations 4:10 is derived from a Hebrew word which means to boil, cook, bake or roast. Can you imagine that kind of harsh judgment coming to America? Earlier, I mentioned how Abraham pleaded for the lives of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Well, you may be interested to know that the Lord told Jeremiah that He viewed the Jerusalemites as being as wicked as the people of those wicked cities, which is why they also received such terrible punishment. Consider the following two Bible verses:

"I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah."


"For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her."


Now while God is indeed very patient, very merciful, and willing to go the extra mile with us, at the same time, as the previous verses demonstrate, and as other Scriptures likewise inform us, eventually, a country reaches a certain tipping point where sin and rebellion have become so great, so repugnant, and such a stench in the Lord's nostrils, that God simply can no longer ignore them or tolerate them. Thus, His harsh judgments begin to fall. And when they do, you had better watch out! As I mentioned earlier, according to what the Apostle Peter wrote, when the Lord's divine judgments do begin to fall, they are first directed to God's own people. Let me share that verse with you one more time:

"For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?"


Sadly, as some of you will know, there are those Christians who absolutely refuse to accept this image of God. In their minds, God is only a God of love, and never a God of wrath and vengeance. That God of wrath business is just part of the Old Testament they claim. It no longer applies to us today they say. Well, my dear friends, I wonder how they explain all of the verses we find in the New Testament where John the Baptist, Jesus and the Apostles spoke about and wrote about the wrath to come. And mind you, a lot of this was written AFTER Jesus had died on the Cross and returned to Heaven. As an example, consider the following verses which can all be found in the New Testament alone:

"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:"


". . . he that cometh after me . . . will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."


". . . He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."


"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God . . . For our God is a consuming fire."


"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."


"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;"


"Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience."


"And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?"


"The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb . . . And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God."


"And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God . . . And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever."


"And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth . . . And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath."


"And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God."


"And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."


"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."


My friends, that is certainly a lot of divine wrath in the New Testament for a God who is supposedly no longer a God of wrath based on what some of these misguided Christians say. Furthermore, the Scriptures clearly indicate that God does NOT change, and His Word does NOT change either. For anyone who may doubt that this is so, again, please consider the following group of Bible verses:

"Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever."


"LAMED. For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven."


"The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations."


"For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed."


"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."


So to reiterate my point, God does NOT change, His Word does NOT change, and His methods do NOT change either. Just step seriously out of line from His Will for your life, and see what happens. You will surely find out! So I am sorry, but I personally do not believe in just some kind of lovey-dovey Jesus. As I have mentioned before, the Lord has two faces. He has the face of lion, and the face of a lamb. Which one we see, or which one a nation sees, depends a lot on how much we are obedient to His Will.

One important thing which we do need to remember though, is that when God is compelled to chastise us for some reason, He does so out of love, just as we do with our own children. The Lord's primary goal is simply to restore us to the path of righteousness. Consider the following sample verses:

"My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth."


"Open rebuke is better than secret love."


"And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons . . . Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed."


"Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.‭"


"In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer."


". . . for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."


"All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out."


My friends, any Christian who is truly wide awake cannot deny that the American Christian Church is in trouble, and in very serious need of a good wallop from the Lord. Many of us know why this is so. Sadly, instead of converting the world as it is supposed to do, the Church has been converted by the world instead. As a result, we see rampant worldliness and the vile commercialization of our faith. We also see gay and lesbian priests, ministers and pastors who both celebrate and bless same-sex relationships. Our churches are filled with secular rock music, carnality and fleshliness, jealousies and envies, dictatorial, power-hungry preachers, false teachers and false prophets, strange manifestations which are anything but godly and more. Clearly, few churches today resemble the Church of the First Century. So as Peter wrote, if we barely survive, "what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?"

I realize that I have been rather blunt in this article. Yet at the same time, I have never been one who compromises the truth. I tell it like it is, come what may, even if it turns some of my fellow Christians against me. But I do hope that you realize that everything which I've stated here is firmly established in and supported by the Scriptures. As such, we cannot just shut our eyes and pretend that these things are not happening in America, because they most certainly are.

Let me add that I honestly don't know when or in what form the Lord's judgments will fall upon this nation. But as I pointed out earlier, given the current state of this country, I am convinced that it is indeed inevitable at some point in time, the reason being that the nation as a whole only grows worse in its rebellion by the year, and refuses to repent. As I note in "Don't Ever Underestimate Our Spiritual Enemy", we need to remember that divine judgment delayed does not equate to judgment postponed. Perhaps the Lord is simply giving us a little bit more time to come to our senses and repent before it is too late.

Let me mention again that I do not wish for judgment upon the USA, and I most certainly do not desire it, because it will affect us all to one degree or another. While I currently do not foresee any serious degree of nationwide repentance on the horizon, as individual Christians and Christian families, one thing we can do is to make sure that we are pleasing God in our daily lives, by living as righteously as we possibly can, by striving to remain obedient to His Word, and also by faithfully doing whatever it is He has called each of us to do in this life.

If you live in the continental USA, then it is also advisable to be as physically prepared as possible for any potential calamities which may strike your particular region. In fact, it may interest you to know that over twenty-five years ago, I wrote an article which may be helpful to you in preparing for such calamities. Called "Y2K Preparation: Survival Items List", it is a long list of items which you can purchase at a regular supermarket, such as canned goods, etc. The list is not based on expensive freeze-dried goods which cost you an arm and a leg, particularly if you have a large family. You will find a link for the article at the end of this same article. As we read in the Book of Proverbs:

"A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished."


With these thoughts, I will bring this article to a close. It is my hope that you've found it informative and enlightening, and I pray that it has been a blessing in your life as well. If you have an account with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or with any other social network, I would really appreciate if you'd take the time to click or tap on the corresponding link that is found on this page. Thanks so much, and may God bless you abundantly!

For additional information and further study, you may want to refer to the list of reading resources below which were either mentioned in this article, or which contain topics which are related to this article. All of these articles are likewise located on the BBB Bible web server. To read these articles, simply click or tap on any link you see below.

Age of Accountability and Parental and Divine Discipline
Are You Flexible?
Backsliding, Divine Chastisement and the Divine Agreement
Beholding the Evil and the Good
Churchianity Or Christianity: Which Do You Practice?
Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah: A Warning to Modern Society
Don't Ever Underestimate Our Spiritual Enemy
Facebook False Prophets and Misguided Teachers
Future of Same-Sex Marriage
Gargoyles: Satan Loves Church Buildings!
God's Golden Teeth, Or Satan's Delusion?"
Have You Been Slain In The Spirit?"
Humility in Our Understanding of God's Word
It Is Time to Wake Up!
Lies and Deceptions of the Roman Catholic Church
Love, Mercy, Forgiveness and Chastisement
Modern False Prophets And Worldly Ecumenism
My Evolving Theology
Oh Israel, Why Will Ye Die?
Please Stop Misinterpreting the Scriptures
Queen James Bible: Blasphemous Abomination Exposed!
Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth
Rise of the False Church
The Fruits of Disobedience
The Gay and Lesbian Agenda: To the Point!
The Office of Prophets and Teachers
The Overhauling of Straight America
Understanding the Bible in Context
What is Wrong with Modern America?
When Sin is No Longer a Sin
Where Are The First Century Churches?
Y2K Preparation: Survival Items List
You've Got It Wrong: Submit and Live!

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