All kinds of money is spent on visiting ruins of past civilizations and learning all about what life was like for the people of that time and what they did, who or what they worshipped, etc. Consider for a moment, past civilizations and the ruins that we walk through all have one thing in common. They all failed to follow the One True God and were judged by God which is the reason for their present state. We can glamorize this past all we want, but this is the plain truth. The Roman Forum in Italy is filled with remnants of temples to false gods and buildings of leaders who were godless. The Parthenon in Greece is no different. How about the godless societies of Machu Picchu and those others scattered throughout Mexico to South America which were completely based on the worship of false gods. The structures are interesting, but what useful information are we trying to glean as we walk through these sites? They all failed and were rightly judged by a perfect God.

Different among all of them is Israel. While every other past civilization began godless and were judged for their godlessness, Israel started as the people of God, but chose to not continue to follow Him. The ruins in Israel, including the Western Wall reveals what is left of the rightful judgment against His people who abandoned Him and missed their Messiah. When visiting the area in Dan in Israel, I visited the ruins of one of the “high places” where pagan worship was practiced in Israel. We read in Micah 1:6-7, “Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the field, Places for planting a vineyard; I will pour down her stones into the valley, And I will uncover her foundations. All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, And all her pay as a harlot shall be burned with the fire; All her idols I will lay desolate, For she gathered it from the pay of a harlot, And they shall return to the pay of a harlot.” We look at these ruins and could wonder why? We read in Micah 3:1-2, “...Hear now, O heads of Jacob, And you rulers of the house of Israel: Is it not for you to know justice? You who hate good and love evil; Who strip the skin from My people, And the flesh from their bones;”. Micah goes on in 3:5 to say, “Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets Who make my people stray; Who chant “Peace”...”. He concludes this section in 3:11-12, “Her heads judge for a bribe, her priests teach for pay, And her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the Lord, and say, “Is not the Lord among us? No harm can come upon us.” Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins, And the mountain of the temple Like the bare hills of the forest.” The people were led astray by bad and dishonest shepherds.

How can we read portions of Scripture like this and not see what has happened in our nation. Like Israel we were founded by those who loved and revered God. Our founding documents reveal this. But our God honoring roots have been stolen away by those who have done an excellent job of rewriting history. Those brave men and women who crossed the ocean on the Mayflower have been relegated to hateful and paranoid witch hunters. Those strong leaders who helped our nation arise in 1776 who were deeply rooted in a love for God which is evidenced in their documents have been diminished to nothing more than hateful and racist slaveowners. Yes, our nation is in trouble. People continue to run after the next Republican or Democrat, people are going to churches that do not preach the true gospel message, replaced by a prosperity gospel or a “relevant” message for our times. Unless we want our nation to simply be one more pile of ruins, representing another nation that either never knew or strayed from following the One True God, there is only one hope. That hope is revival. This revival can only take place by getting back to the only Book which has the message and the truth concerning the past, present, and future. May God lay it on our hearts to follow our God with an undivided heart and with the boldness and conviction to announce a message which is currently very unpopular.