Musing – Was the spiritual decline of the USA foreseen by Moses & Hosea?

Hebraic Musing – Was the spiritual decline of the USA foreseen by Moses & Hosea?

An interesting question after celebrating Thanksgiving – Can blessings become a curse?

We Americans have enjoyed unprecedented prosperity, just as the Israelites did after entering the Promised Land. But even before entering, Moses predicted that …  When you have eaten and are satisfied…  you will (not might) … forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees. Why? Because … then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God…

Then Moses said words that sounded strangely familiar to something I heard a presidential candidate say recently. Moses said … You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.”  I had heard someone say recently that the government made us wealthy.  UhOh! We serve a jealous God.

Then Moses, inspired by God, used the ‘if’ word in Deut. 8:19-20  “If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.  Like the nations the LORD destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the LORD your God”.

And after Israel enjoyed God-given prosperity, they became proud and predictably went into decline. Hosea had to remind them with words from the Lord … when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me.

While we go through the switch from a day of Thanksgiving to celebrating prosperity by counting Shopping Days till Christmas, it seems to me that prosperity has become the ‘reason for the season’.

Has our nation forgotten that our blessings and prosperity were conditional? Have we ignored His conditions for the sake of our own convenience?

Point to ponder

How can we as a nation begin to not forget the LORD your God
 and begin to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees?

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                                 November 27, 2012

The Biblical excerpts quoted above are from -

Hosea 13:5–6  I cared for you in the desert, in the land of burning heat. When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me. NIV

Deut.8:10-17  When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.  Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down,  and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied,  then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.  He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock.  He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you.  You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” NIV