America in Scripture

Line By Line - Romans 10
post 148

Long has it been wondered, If America is so special because it is a Christian nation, and if it has been so influential to the world for God, then where is America in the scripture?

Continuing the thought of the previous post regarding the Jews missing the Grace offered by the Messiah they rejected, lets examine Romans chapter 10.

Paul the Apostle was called by Jesus himself, after He ascended into heaven. Acts 26:14
Paul’s calling was to be a minister to the Jews of the things Jesus the Christ would show him.
Acts 26:16 “But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee:”

Romans 10, is Paul’s narrative describing the details of what that mission actually covers, i.e. the error of the Jews understanding;

Romans 10:1 “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.”

These are the Jews, they are God’s people, if anybody knows God’s ways its them isn’t it? What do they need to be saved from?

Romans 10:2-4 “For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
For Christ is the end 5056 of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”

The word “end” here does not mean “cut off” as in DEAD, but “fulfilled”, the final stage, the fullness, maturity, the sum of it all, the actual goal of the process.

Strong's:
End 5056 telos; (Greek) from a prime root; tello (to set out for a definite point or goal); properly the point aimed at as a limit, i.e. (by implication) the conclusion of an act or state (termination [literally, figuratively or indefinitely], result [immediately, ultimate or prophetic], purpose)

Jesus the Christ is the actual goal of all the law the Jews were given.
This is what Paul was showing the Jews, and is here telling the Roman Believers (Christians), presumably so they would understand how to preach to the Jews!
Today that’s us, so lets understand the point Paul is making here;

Romans 10:5 “For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.”
In other words; If you practice the law, you have to actually embrace the law for it to be righteousness. This implies that without the heart’s desire to embrace the practices of the law, there is no righteousness in the acts.

Romans 10:6 “But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)"
In other words; In opposition to the righteousness of the law, righteousness of faith says; Don’t wonder who will get into heaven because of applying various degrees or forms of faith, like the law does its works. This diminishes the Sacrifice of Christ by elevating our supposed ability to attain through application of enough faith!
If you break one law but fulfill 602, (of 603) the question in the heart becomes; “Is my righteousness enough to make it into heaven?”
The righteousness that comes of faith does not think this way, because it does not come from what we do, i.e. works, but of faith.

Romans 10:7 “Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)"
The righteousness that comes of faith does not ask; Will I fail Christ and end up in hell? This works of the law kind of thinking would make the death of Christ worthless as if he never died!

Romans 10:8 “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;”
But what does the righteousness that comes of faith say? It says to the Jew; You almost get it! Your own words are correct, and you know in your heart it is about faith, and that is what we preach;

Romans 10:9 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
This is what the righteousness that comes of faith says, and this is also what the righteousness that comes of the law says too, because Jesus is the end of the law.
And as we understood in v.5 Moses taught that the law cannot produce righteousness if the heart is not committed to it, this is the meaning of faith and the meaning of the law.

Romans 10:10 “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
Now from our Gentile understanding of faith this makes sense, but we don’t understand how this makes sense to the Jewish law, or practices.
But the Jews do! They know these very words and concepts are a part of their law. This concept is summed up in the Jewish words of Moses we saw in verse 5; “The man which doeth those things shall live by them.” We might say; Put your money where your mouth is. Walk your talk.

Romans 10:11 “for the scripture (Tanakh) saith, Whosoever beleiveth on him shall not be ashamed.”
Psalm 119:6 “Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.”(Psalm 25:1-3, 31:17, 34:4-6, 37:19, 69:6)

The Jews know well the understanding that righteousness does not come from obeying the law, but from the heart of faith as they practice the law.

Romans 10:12 “For (because) there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: (Gentile) for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.”

This truth is known by both Jew and Christian, there is one God over all mankind.
And then Paul again uses the Tanakh to back this up;

Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
This is not just a Christian phrase; we first see this concept and promise in Genesis 4:26 “And to Seth, (son of Adam) to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.”
And the scriptural concept is also found in: (Genesis 12:8. 26:25, I Chronicles 16:8-15, Psalm 99:6, 105:1-8, 116:1-9, Isaiah 12:4-6, Lamentations 3:55-56)

* * *

So why am I going through all this with the title I have given to this post?
What does this have to do with America in scripture?
Stay with me.

Now we understand this concept of an idea that the Jewish faith is fully aware of, but the Jews somehow missed it anyway.
It is clear to the Jews, by their Holy Book, that anybody, Jew or Gentile, who calls on the name of the Lord, shall be saved.
Paul is showing them that Jesus is that Lord whom everyone must call on. But;

Romans 10:14-15 “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
And how shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”
This is an easy to follow progression of cause and effect. In order for them (the Jews) to believe on Jesus whom they don’t know, they need a preacher sent to them.

Romans 10:16 “But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?”
Making clear, that the preachers don’t all believe, even though it is a marvelous message. This doesn't really make sense unto you understand the context I will show in a moment.

Romans 10:17 “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
But the Jews have the word of God!
And so Paul begins a list of the ways the Jews have been preached to:

Romans 10:18 “But I say, Have they (the Jews) not heard? Yes verily, (for sure) their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.”
Who’s sound? The voice of the preachers whom God sent.
I showed in a previous post that the stars themselves are preachers sent by God.
Here we see another:

Romans 10:19 “But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.”

What people is he talking about? And how are the Jews provoked to jealousy by them? And here we are finally at the title topic.

All the previous has to be understood in order to understand what message these preachers are preaching, before we can conclude who the preachers are! Like the stars in heaven, I suggest this preaching is not so much words but example. The message is the Gospel of grace through faith in Jesus Christ as opposed to the law.

Now what people that “are no people” have preached the gospel of grace to all the world? The only significant nation on the planet that is known for having no nationality is America. We are “the melting pot” of all nations.
Further, America is the nation that has established her entire being on the gospel of Grace of Jesus Christ, as I diligently showed in the first half of my entire blog.

So how did America provoke Israel to jealousy?
Because as Israel suffered greatly, while following her laws laboriously for many years with no observable aid from God, they saw America seem to have a cloak of divine protection from the beginning, while she played free of religious bondage.
America quickly grew to become the world’s most wealthy nation, most independent nation, most powerful nation, most influential, most peaceful, the safest, all without the burden of religious labor or laws.

We have cried; “We do nothing and God loves us!” While the Jews cry; “What more can we do? But God does not hear!”
The Jews know we follow the same God. We got the source of our faith from them. But America became the world leader to whom the Jews had to appeal to for the right to become a nation. And although America has sided with Israel time and again, it has usually been with arms length casualness.

So while Israel is seriously concerned for her very life, America sits fat and happy and must be approached carefully on “a good day” to get her blessing. It is not hard to see how this could provoke Israel to jealousy.
But what might be missed is; Why?
God intends Israel to become envious or jealous of God's blessing on America. God wants Israel to grasp the concept of Grace through faith.
She can grasp that concept through observation which provokes her.

In these last years America has played the indiscretional part, yet she seems to be avoiding punishment. The blessings and protections just keep coming in. Ignorantly we assume it has something to do with our greatness! And Israel watches, perhaps now in anger of the undeserved blessings of God, while she continues to suffer.
Our blessing is not about righteousness that comes by obeying the law, it is about righteousness that comes by faith. In other words, justification is not gained by effort, it is given by proximity to God through faith, but our proximity through faith is critical.

America started off well, and as described in verse 15, Her feet that spread the gospel of peace was seen by the world as beautiful. But over time she has become indeed foolish in her neglect of God and disdain his desires, yet she has remained blessed through the habit of traditions of the Christian faith in her unconscious mind as it were.

This kind of explains why churches are packed on Christmas and Easter, even though the regular attendance has steadily declined. Until recently we have a foundation that we have always known where it is even when we wander from it. We have long gone to church on Sunday, and to the bar on Monday. And still God has blessed America.
Perhaps less now than before, but in comparison to Israel? Wow.

I believe the next verse explains the miracle of America’s foundation and success.

Romans 10:20 “But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest (known) unto them that asked not after me.”
When wondering about how our founders were so wise in the documents and intents upon which this nation was founded, It is hard to explain the superhuman wisdom.
It is my belief that God had a purpose for America, and these founders were faithful men whom God chose to use to establish that fulfillment.
In this way, God was found of America when she had no idea she was looking for what she got, and what we became revealed God in our midst!
This was not due to super faithfulness on our part, just as verse 16 said;
“But they have not all obeyed the gospel.”

Now that America has officially turned her back on her God by the abandonment of our Divinely inspired Constitutional foundation, and the foundation of our faith in Jesus the Christ, and have allowed our national leader to proclaim to the world; “whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation…”
Now that we have made official the lawful murder of our unborn children, the super protection of the abomination of homosexuality, the warm but careful embrace of the Muslim haters of our God, and the purposed removal of all indications we were ever a Christian nation, I cannot see that America can continue doing the job for which God created her; That is, the preaching of the Gospel of Christ to the world and especially to the Jews.

As long as America was willing to be known through the world as a Christian nation, God was willing to put up with a lot of error.
But what reason does God have now that we have officially removed him?

As with all things, when you are through with a product, you toss the remaining garbage into the trash.
“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” Matthew 5:13

Is God finished with the purpose for which he created this nation?
That is entirely up to us.
But as we fully ignore the abandonment of our purpose while we diligently focus on our economic problems, I don't see a good outcome.

* * *
And so my blog has come to a full circle.
I have shown the birth of America, and the source of her greatness.
I have shown her decline through forgetfulness of that source.
Now I have shown the purpose for which she was created,
Which she can no longer fulfill.

And so, America has been cast out, and is now just waiting to be trodden upon by those who would pass by.
I propose that where we once were a nation that experienced “right will always prevail”,
We no longer possess that divine protection.
We are now on a level playing field with the rest of the world’s nations.
Whatever successes we are able to manage, will be in our own strength from now on.
Of course since we have assumed our successes have always been in our own strength, we will not be able to see it for a while.
But what we will be able to see is the sudden failures at our efforts that used to be blessed successes.

This post was about America in the scriptures, but the question must be asked;
Why has Israel suffered so, with no apparent help from her God?
and so the last verse in this chapter:

Romans 10:21 “But to Israel he said, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.”
Their own stubbornness has caused their own suffering. God has been calling for a very long time.

“I say then, Hath God cast away his people? (Israel) God forbid….” Romans 11:1a
But this great story of Israel’s future is another chapter for another time.