Hope for America
By Bruce Cannon
Mitchell County
Jeremiah 8:20 “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.”
Jeremiah was a prophet whose ministry was to the nation of Judah. His ministry began around 626BC and concluded after 587BC. At the beginning of his ministry as a prophet, he saw the nation turning away from God. Judah was acting like the nations around them. They were worshipping other gods, sacrificing their children, and so forth. He knew the Lord would not put up with that kind of behavior from His own people. And so he preached, prayed, and wept before God for the sins of his people.
The unthinkable began to happen in 605BC as God allowed Babylon to come into Judah and take many of its citizens captive. It happened again in 597BC and yet again in 587BC. The third time, Babylon came into Judah their soldiers tore down the temple Solomon built, damaged the walls, and took more of the Jews into captivity.
This takes me to the verse above. Jeremiah was marking time in Babylon. Year after year was passing and the people were still not being “saved”. Judgment from God had fallen upon the Jews and there seemed to be no end in sight. Thus Jeremiah marks time by harvests and summer. He laments “and we are not saved.”
This is so eerily reminiscent of what is happening in America. I know no one has hauled us off to another nation into captivity, but we are in captivity. We are losing freedoms! We are seeing a lessening of people openly, faithfully worshipping our Lord. Evil is taking such a stronghold in the U.S. and we see it so clearly.
Judah’s hope in Jeremiah’s day was for someone to set them free from Babylon’s grasp and allow them to go back to Judah. It would happen after the Medes and Persians defeated the Babylonians. Finally, after a long period, they returned. They returned to find the destruction of the Temple. But, at least, they were able finally to go home.
What is the hope for America? The Lord! A return to Him! Our hope is not in the upcoming presidential election, gubernatorial races, or senate. It’s in the Lord. If only America would return to Him in brokenness, humility, and repentance, He would work on our behalf. He would move mightily in our midst.
The thing that was absent in Judah’s captivity was repentance. They did not en masse beg for forgiveness or help from Him.
Bear Creek Baptist Church is participating in a nationwide prayer event on September 26th known as “The Return”. It is being promoted by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Franklin Graham, Ann Graham, and many, many more. It is strategically timed to take place 40 days before our presidential election….an election that perhaps will be the most important one in American history!
Will you participate? You can find out more information by going to this website: www.thereturn.org.
If the only hope for America is the Lord, we must take part, along with millions of other believers in the U.S. and around the world, in this effort. We must claim Scriptures such as 2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
Join us in prayer for this very important occasion. Thank You!
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Reverend Bruce Cannon currently serves as the Senior Pastor of Bear Creek Baptist Church in Bakersville. Formerly he served as Director of Missions for the Bladen Baptist Association and he has served on the General Board of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina.
You can read more Good News from Pastor Cannon HERE.
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