America has greatly sinned against God through abortion, homosexuality, adultery, rampant pornography and fornication.
We have no fear of God, and America is rapidly becoming a pagan nation. Our only hope is to humble ourselves in fasting and prayer.
Nineveh was a great city. In fact, the Bible states that it was so vast it took three days just to tour it.
Historians say Nineveh had walls 100 feet high with watchtowers that stretched another 100 feet. The walls were so thick that chariots could race on top of them. Surrounding the city of about 120,000 people was a vast moat 150 feet wide and 60 feet deep. Nineveh was proud, strong and impregnable. And if any foreign army wanted to lay siege or attempted to surround and cut them off, they had enough supplies to hold out for at least 20 years.
But Nineveh was filled with sin.
I want to stop there a moment and point something out. I’m sure not all the people of Nineveh were sinning. There were children and probably plenty of common, decent, God-fearing people, but remember what happened in the battle of Ai? Joshua and the people of Israel had just defeated Jericho. Yet one man took the holy things that were devoted to God and hid them amongst his own belongings. When Joshua sought the Lord after that crushing blow from such a tiny city, God said, “Israel has sinned,” (Josh. 7:11).
Only one man took the devoted things, but he brought sin on the entire camp. He was stoned along with his wife and children.
Daniel’s fast and visitation from the angel is recorded in Daniel 10. Throughout chapter 9, Daniel cries out to the Lord on behalf of all Israel, saying over and over, “We have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and rebelled….we have sinned against you,” (vv. 5, 11). Daniel identified with the sin of his nation, though we see no sin that Daniel himself had committed.
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God sent Jonah to preach repentance to Nineveh. He proclaimed, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned,” (Jon. 3:4, NIV). It is very possible that the people of Nineveh had some understanding of how powerful the God of Israel was, because they were struck with fear at these words and believed them.
They declared a fast, and the king even issued a decree that no man or animal was to taste food or even water. Without any guarantee, he thought by humbling themselves in this manner, God may “relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish,” (v. 9, NIV).
God did turn from His anger and spare the city, but they again ceased to seek the Lord. About 100 years later, the prophet Nahum prophesied judgment on that city: “The Lord has given a command concerning you, [Nineveh]: ‘You will have no descendants to bear your name. I will destroy the carved images and cast idols that are in the temple of your gods. I will prepare your grave, for you are vile,'” (Nah. 1:14, NIV).
America has had its times and seasons. America is a faith-filled, God-fearing nation—pledging allegiance to our country with the words, “One nation, under God, indivisible …” We chose to imprint our coins and money with the words “In God We Trust,” in order to set ourselves apart as a nation that honored God with our finances and our lives.
Many a fiery evangelist has brought the message of repentance to our nation: Charles Finney, Dwight L. Moody, Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, Billy Sunday, William Booth, and, of course, Billy Graham, just to name a few.
Many waves of revival have swept our country. God is merciful to send many Jonahs to give us the opportunity to fast, pray and repent, but how long will He wait? When will a Nahum rise up and prophesy the swift judgment of an angry God on America?
We are living in important days and in important times.
Thankfully, churches across this country are coming to understand the importance of fasting and humbling ourselves before God.
We can humble ourselves and pray and seek His face and expect Him to hear from heaven and heal our land (2 Chron. 7:14). He heard Daniel on the very first day!
To learn more about the spiritual impact fasting has on your life, click here!
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