5 Reasons the USA is in Serious Decline

The word of God tells us that the nation of Israel was disinherited because they turned away from God. Various sins were manifest in Israel including idolatry, sexual immorality, false prophets who promised peace, and so on. Regarding the USA, it happens to be the only other nation besides Israel (that we know of in modern times) to have its founding based on a covenant with the biblical God (the Mayflower Compact). Consequently, it is my opinion that the USA is held to a higher standard of accountability to God than the other nations of the world. The following are five practices that could cause our nation’s downfall: 1. Legalized rampant abortion Since abortion was legalized more than 40 years ago, more than 55 million babies have been put to death in the USA. The shedding of innocent blood is one of the seven things the Lord hates (read Proverbs 6:17)! Numbers 35:30-34 teaches us that when the blood of the innocent is shed the land is polluted until justice is meted out. Second Kings 21:14-16 shows that one of the main reasons the Lord drove Judah out of their land was because of the shedding of innocent blood practiced by their king, Manasseh. President Obama is the most pro-choice president in our nation’s history! 2. Rampant immorality Ever since the writings of cultural leaders like Dr. Alfred Kinsey in the early twentieth century, society gradually separated procreation (having children) from the act of sex. Thus the primary function of sexual intercourse is now believed to be for human pleasure. The acceptance of this view in culture brought down all sexual taboos because it separated sex from being responsible and having nuclear families, and opened and led to the acceptance and celebration of all forms of sexual expressions and alternate definitions of marriage and family. Truly, one of the great things our culture celebrates is self-expression and sexual freedom. Here is a quote from Kinsey: “The history of medicine proves that in so far as man seeks to know himself and face his whole nature, he has become free from bewildered fear, despondent shame, or arrant hypocrisy. As long as sex is dealt with in the current confusion of ignorance and sophistication, denial and indulgence, suppression and stimulation, punishment and exploitation, secrecy and display, it will be associated with a duplicity and indecency that lead neither to intellectual honesty nor human dignity.” Leviticus 18:25-28 teaches that God eventually disinherits people from the lands of those who practice what the Bible describes as sexual immorality (read the whole chapter for the context). This is my response for those who say we are not under the law anymore: this passage in Leviticus is dealing with systemic morality in which to frame a nation, not individual salvation. As a matter of fact, the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) are primarily moral laws that frame a nation, not merely individual ethical standards for personal holiness. There is no scripture in the New Testament that changes these corporate standards for nations. As a matter of fact, 1 Timothy 1:8-11 teaches that the moral laws of God apply also to unsaved secular peoples which Paul says is according the gospel he preached! The context here seems to indicate this passage is regarding systemic standards of righteousness for a nation rather than the method of salvation for individual sinners. 3. Celebration of violence God hates the shedding of innocent blood and also hates violence (Psalm 11:5). It is obvious the American culture has embraced a culture of violence. Based on the popularity of extremely violent movies, the glorification of the mafia and gang violence in media, and even some contact sports that involve many who intentionally attempt to injure and maim others (some who compete in the NFL, professional hockey, and the UFC, to name a few), the United States is a nation that celebrates violence done to other humans. Of course, in the case of self-defense and competitive sports there are sometimes things that happen to hurt others beyond the control of participants. It alarms me that in the waning moments of the Roman Empire the gladiatorial games became popular as a way to keep the people distracted with entertainment so they would not realize the sorry state of affairs within their empire. Sounds eerily similar to the USA today! Truly, the less biblically moral a nation is, the less respect there is for human rights and dignity. Hence, nations like this are in serious decline. 4. Disregard for the poor and needy The more self-indulgent a generation becomes the less they care about caring and empowering the poor and needy among them. Ezekiel 16:49-50 teaches that the sin of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (whom the Bible records God overthrew in Genesis 19) was that they not only committed abominations (read Genesis 19 for a description of the sexual immorality and self-indulgence they practiced, and Ezekiel 26:35-49 which shows the abominations of shedding the blood of their children, idolatry, violence and sexual immorality) but they did not share their bread with the poor. Hence, the more self-indulgent a people are, the more they live for pleasure and the less they care about the poor. For example, recent studies have clearly shown that social conservatives (which also include those who have values closer to biblical norms regarding morality) are far more generous in giving of their finances than social liberals. While many may be surprised at this finding, my answer is, duh! 5. Rampant idolatry The first of the Ten Commandments admonishes nations not to have any other gods besides the Lord (Exodus 20). The worshipping and prioritizing of anything more than Jehovah is perhaps the main reason for the disinheritance of Israel from her land! The entire Old Testament is filled with examples of idolatry and judgment too numerous to cite in this brief article. It seems obvious that the USA has several idols celebrated more in culture than the worship of the one true God: the idols of sex, money, and pride. For example, many young people interviewed today say their highest goal in life is to become a celebrity. Sixty years ago the highest goal of most young people was to serve their fellow neighbors and country, which is one reason why the World War II generation has been called the “Greatest Generation.” How far the culture of our nation has fallen from living a life of service as our highest goal! Nowadays, the “selfie” has appropriately become one of the primary symbols of the day in which we live! I John 2:15-17 teaches us that we cannot have both the love of the Father and entertain the lusts of the flesh, lusts of the eyes and the pride of life. Truly as a nation we have worshiped self-expression as our highest good—above obedience to the stated commandments of God and away from our Judeo/Christian heritage. I John 5:21 teach us to avoid the worship of idols .Our nation would do well to reverse its course before we bite and devour one another! After all, if we love God with all our hearts we would automatically love our neighbors as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40) since loving God equates to loving humans, because we are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). Turning back to God as a nation is the only hope we will have to remain a great nation and enjoy the blessings of God! Reprinted from JosephMattera.org.