Job 8:5-15 King James Version (KJV)
5 If thou wouldest seek unto God betimes, and make thy supplication to the Almighty;6 If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.7 Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.8 For enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers:9 (For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:)10 Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart?11 Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water?12 Whilst it is yet in his greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb.13 So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite’s hope shall perish:14 Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider’s web.15 He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.
Job is the oldest book in the Bible and thereby contains some of the oldest advice. Bildad unjustly directed this to Job thinking he had sinned greatly and caused the trouble that had come upon him. Even though this counsel didn’t apply to Job, America—you and I—stand in need of it.
What kind of action can we take? The country is in trouble. It’s threatening our lives to the core of what our nation means. If we don’t follow the advice of God’s Word and re-affirm our part of “one nation under God” we will see the consequences of turning away. We’re taught there is an action to be taken. Time is growing short for taking it; the souls of many depend on it. It’s the only action that will turn America around. Unless we turn around, America won’t either.
What is the advice and where do we get it? We can’t look to politicians. We have so many “x-perts” trying to tell us what to do. The world has been turned upside down by the devil. In order to turn back to God have to follow certain precepts. There is one door to heaven, not four or five. When people try to get God’s blessing any other way, it won’t happen. Instead of being progressive, we need to be regressive. Prepare ourselves to the search of our forefathers. Instead of throwing off the old identity and trampling the old Constitution, we need to stick with it. Instead of adopting new flags and new Bill of Rights we need to search backward. Look at our forefathers and to the God they served. Then go back farther because they referenced ancient documents—the Word of God. It was their courage against the tyranny of England. This cluster of 13 colonies in a land 90% wilderness went back to God. They went back to the words of Isaiah, Jeremiah, David, and Jesus Christ. They faced a wicked king in England who wanted to destroy any worship of God. He wanted a state religion that would take Christianity into a form of politics. With their own honor, their fortunes, and their blood, and armed with the Word of God and their faith in it, they defeated the king and became independent.
Our documents are stained with the blood of those first soldiers as well as those from the World Wars, Korea, Viet Nam and all the others. The lives of men and women who died should not be in vain. The only way to get America back is to be the people our forefathers meant for us to be and the Christians God means for us to be. We can’t go back in time, but we can go back to the ways that worked, a way of living holy before the Lord. By doing so, we find the answer and save our nation. We not only turn back to our forefathers’ ways but to the ways of God.
We are frail. We are but as yesterday. Verses 9-10 say (For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:) Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart? Nowadays people are “empowered” and think they don’t need God. They don’t need rules. That’s crazy and many are swallowing the nonsense. Without the power of God, what power do we have? We are but yesterday. How powerful and tough we are. In reality we’re only a breath from leaving this world. None of us is above loss, death, and the realities of life. We think we know so much and don’t need God while many cling to Buddha and Hindu and other religions to the point we’ve become a hodgepodge of iniquity. The only thing that stayed God’s hand on Sodom was the prayer of one man—Abraham. It may be that Christian people are saving America now. It’s time to return to God and Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son.
The only empowerment we have comes from Almighty God. How fleeting life is. How little we know. If you and I die today, in a week we’ll be buried. People will forget us and go on in no time. We think death won’t happen to us, but we’re a heartbeat away from being a yesterday. We must go back to the God of our forefathers. If we don’t, so are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite’s hope shall perish: Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider’s web. If you are trusting in anyone or anything else besides God it will slip from your fingers and be gone.
Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to a friend in 1803 that stated “my views…are a result of a life of inquiry and reflection, and very different from the anti-Christian system imputed to me by those who know nothing of my opinions. To the corruptions of Christianity I am indeed opposed, but not the genuine precepts of Jesus himself. I am a Christian in the only sense in which he wished anyone to be, sincerely attached to his doctrines in preference to all others….” We need that kind of statement. America needs it. It should not be just a statement; it should be our being. The only way is to prepare ourselves to the search of our forefathers.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 