[OBW]

Principles are always true. Principles are like saying that God is righteous and that he always demands righteousness. God demands our worship and is enraged when we turn to other gods.

But a specific prophecy concerning a return to God, or of what will happen when they fail to do so is not a principle. It is a specific action consistent with a principle. This whole line of reasoning is based upon confusing a specific action that is consistent with a principle with being the principle itself.

Note that from the time the children of Israel entered the land of Canaan, until the exile to Babylon, they failed over and over. And each time they fell into a different kind of problem with the nations around them. And each time, when they finally began to cry out to God, he rescued them. But the last time, when they went to Babylon, it was 70 years. No amount of crying and begging would change it.

Today, there is no equivalent of Israel in the world. The US is not it. Neither any other country. I am not denying that God still has dealings with the Jews and therefore with modern-day Israel. But the US is not the Christian equivalent of Israel. When we as Christians fail, we have to deal with God. It is not a national thing. It is a Christian thing which is both personal and corporate. But the corporate is the church, not the nation. Any parallel between promises of blessing in the OT and anything in this era would be relative to the church, not to the nation.

I've watched a favorite aunt get thoroughly engulfed in this kind of thinking. Even reading the book written by Cahn. And the result is the creation of a somewhat bitter person who is so concerned about politics rather than Christ. I am not suggesting that she has abandoned faith. Far from it. But her spiritual energies have become depleted on worrying about every theory about the evils of government and the "liberals." It is more important to rant about how corporate influence is running aspects of government and seek out various forms of anti-Christs than to be a positive testimony through our lives of love and service to/for our neighbor.