America and the Book of Judges

George Santayana is credited with having said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” This seems to ring true with a quote stated several times in the book of Judges: “Everyone did what was right in their own eyes.”

For the Israelites, such a philosophy did not bode well. Over and over, the Israelites forgot about God. Time and again, they did what was right in their own eyes. They constantly rebelled, and when they did, God ‘burned with anger against Israel’ (Judges 3:8) and handed them over to their enemies. Though He was angry, His enduring love never left, and it was often because of His love that He was so harsh. God gave them judges to rescue them, and it would work for a while, but after things got cozy, and after a judge died, the people went back to their sins (Judges 2:18).

We, at the dawn of the 21^st century, seem to be experiencing the same thing firsthand. We have been a nation blessed, founded on Christianity, and though not perfect, our nation has had a centuries-long heritage of abiding by the Christian faith. But as the second half of the 20^th century turned into a new millennium, it became easier to see how our current generations have strayed from our forefathers.

We are now at a point in history where the millennium generation’s (aka postmodernist) philosophy is ‘everyone go ahead and do what is right in your own eyes.’ They do not want God, and unlike those in Israel who ‘prostituted themselves to other gods,’ our nation’s increasing ‘religion’ is atheism, religious apathy or agnosticism. It is no wonder why we see—and will continue to see—a decrease in God’s provision. We have rejected the hand that has held this nation together, though many don’t see it or believe it.