A Fall From Greatness
Based on a January, 1964 “Revelator” Article
Winston Churchill once said, “the further you can see into the past, the clearer the vision of the future.” If this is so, and I believe it is, then why do we consistently fail to benefit from the lessons of history, lessons that for centuries have been recorded by some of the greatest scholars? One such scholar was famed historian, Edward Gibbon, who dedicated many years of his life to a study of the causes and effects of social changes. Based on this research, he wrote his great classic “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.” In it, he recorded the five primary causes for the fall of that empire. As you read each of these causes, think about your own particular Israel nation! If you are as old as many of us, we can look back thirty, forty, fifty, sixty or more years. Sadly, when we do, we understand the reasons why our nations are falling from greatness.
- The rapid increase of divorce and the undermining of the sanctity of the home.
- The spiraling rise of taxes and extravagant spending.
- The mounting craze for pleasure and the brutalization of sports.
- The building of gigantic armaments and the failure to realize that the real enemy lay within the gates of the empire in the moral decay of its people.
- The decay of religion and the fading of faith into a mere form, leaving the people without any guide.
If you think about it, we stack up only too well against the old Roman Empire; perhaps we’ve left them a long way behind. Here in North America, it has been said that nearly one out of every two marriages ends in divorce. Everyone who pays taxes, including the newly designed user fees that are growing leaps and bounds, realizes what a tax bite is coming out of our wages. In some Israel nations, it has been estimated the tax bite is nearly 60%. Imagine how much more money would be in our pockets if God’s Law was in effect.
I’m sure we left the Romans far behind years ago in the arena of extravagant spending. Of course, we have the advertising programs of all the lenders to partially thank as they have enticed us to enjoy today what is so painful paying off tomorrow. And those escalating taxes have been greatly brought about by extravagance of governments who have tried to be all things to all people.
Sports and sports heroes and Hollywood actors and actresses have become the new gods for many in a society wrapped up in pleasure. Alcohol and drugs are becoming more and more involved in the fabric of our society and when many of these new gods embraced them, so did masses of our brethren. We haven’t reached the point where we have thrown people to the lions yet but there is a morbid curiosity for dangerous sports.
We have developed such armaments of mass destruction that the whole world could erupt at any time. Where once we Israel nations used our power for defensive purposes, we have now taken on an aggressive role and it doesn’t fit God’s people. The great false prophet, the media, whips up an image of whatever it wants us to embrace and the majority of us do. Talk about sheep. By the same token, our morals are in the basement and one has to wonder who is orchestrating the decline. I suppose the thinking is that an immoral society will more readily accept the pangs of bondage.
It goes without saying that Christian values have declined and nothing drives this home more than a look back over the past fifty years. Rock bands have entered the church and programs have been tailored to fill the pews, regardless of what it takes. Christ’s good name has been denigrated in movies, books and television and seemingly, there are not enough staunch Christians left to demand retractions and apologies. Instead, they seem more interested in seeing who can be most liberal in their views and dote on love and unity. Preaching has become a business and a job and no one wants to upset the apple cart, even to the point that more and more are teaching that Christ is not Divine.
When you look at the wonderful blessings bestowed upon America, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and other lands, one cannot help but think of Deuteronomy 8: 7-14, particularly, “For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks …….A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees….A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack anything in it….And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied; and all that thy hast is multiplied; Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God…” The Lord God Almighty gave His Israel people bountiful lands, we prospered under His guidance and for a long time we honoured our God and at least attempted to follow His wonderful Law. Now He has been kicked out of our schools, courts and public places; His Laws have mostly been discarded; and He is freely mocked in so many quarters. As I said in a previous article, our Christian nations and citizens are in debt to our necks, our morals are in the basement; our will to be great has been neutralized; most of our leaders appear to be puppets to a world system; we’re being overrun by non-Christians; our beliefs are being watered down to accommodate the views and religions of these strangers; millions of our babies are being killed through abortion; sexual perversion has been legitimized; drug abuse is running at a rampant pace throughout our entire society; a growing unchecked violence threatens the nations; our police and armed forces are being weakened; our churches are being corrupted; our world is being polluted through greed; and the terrible evils of high unemployment, inflation and food problems are devastating the individual. We are reaping the curses of Deuteronomy 28.. We have forgotten our God. We have fallen from greatness.
