PRODIGAL SUN
DECEMBER 2024
Let your light so shine before men that they
may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)
Our recent elections have given the right wing hope for righteous change,
but without a true understanding of our spiritual condition in God’s eyes,
all is in vain. In some ways this ‘victory’ only worsens America’s
situation, increasing the hatred between the two sides. I know an eighty
some year old woman who I truly believed was saved who hates Mr. Trump
vehemently. I can’t remember seeing a more expressed hatred from anyone
towards another. She either can’t or won’t tell me why, refusing to discuss
it at all.
The Word of God tells us there is nothing new under the sun, and such is
surely the case here. The Bible records all that is necessary for us to live
victorious lives, both on mountaintops and in our valley
experiences.
When Hezekiah was king in Judah he brought a measure of reform to the nation
which was negated by his son Manasseh, undoubtedly the most wicked. He was
followed by another wicked king, his son Amon, but whose reign was cut short
by his own servants killing him. Following him was Josiah, the final king
who did what was right in God’s eyes.
Josiah was eight when he began to reign but the Word tells us he walked
uprightly until the age of twenty-eight when the Book of the Law was found
and read to him. In the course of his duties he had sent his scribe to the
high priest with a command to repair the damages done to the House of the
Lord. Hilkiah, the high priest, informed Shaphan, the scribe, that he had
found the Book of the Law. Shaphan read the book before the king.
Immediately, Josiah recognized that the wrath of God had been aroused
against the nation because of their fathers disobedience to the Book of the
Law, which would be the Books of Moses, possibly even Psalms, and the
Prophets.
Picking up the scripture of Josiah’s response in 2 Kings 23:1-3 we read,
“Now the king sent them to gather all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to
him. 2. The king went up to the house of the Lord with all the men of Judah
and with him all the inhabitants of Jerusalem-the priests and the prophets,
and all the people both small and great. And he read in their hearing all
the words of the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the House of
the Lord. 3. Then the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the
Lord to follow the Lord and keep His commandments and His testimonies, and
His statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of
this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a
stand for the covenant.”
Reading on in the account of Josiah’s reform you’ll find him destroying all
the statues, images, and articles made for worshiping other gods. He killed
the priests for these worship centers and states he put away those who
consulted mediums and spiritists.
2 Kings 23:26 Nevertheless the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His
great wrath, with which His anger was aroused against Judah, because of all
the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. Child sacrifice and
sexual perversion within the sanctuary probably led the way. Josiah’s
wholehearted righteous stand earned a reprieve from the judgment looming on
the horizon.
We think that because judgment declared is not immediate that it is no
longer in effect, that God forgets, or turns a blind eye towards it. There
is an interesting definition that can be rendered out of ‘forbearance.’ It
is when a sentence/judgment is set aside for an indefinite period.
The existing Ninavites repented at the preaching of Jonah but the city was
still destroyed a hundred years later. Saul broke a covenant made with the
Gibeonites about seven hundred years before by Joshua but David was held
responsible for the atonement. National sins are not covered by the Cross.
Our founding fathers would not permit the celebration of Halloween in this
country or cross dressing between men and women. During the Irish Potato
Famine the immigrants to America brought halloween in. Homosexuals, wanting
to cross dress, used the holiday to ‘justify’ and ‘legalize ’their garments.
No matter how we view, or celebrate it, it is the greatest satanic holiday
of the year. These are just a few of the national sins we’ve yet to see the
final judgment for.
Because Josiah’s heart was right towards God he was promised, through a
prophetess, that he would not see the fulfillment of that judgment. It was
delayed for twenty-three years after Josiah’s death.
America, the land of bloodshed and perversion is twisting itself around
around it’s idols much as a python squeezing the life out of it’s prey. Many
have been the warnings from true prophetic voices, based on the Word of God,
to turn from it’s wickedness and embrace the ways of God, repenting of
personal and national sins. We must own up to our own responsibility in this
mocking of the Gospel of Jesus. National judgment is unavoidable, but with
true repentance and a transformation of heart from the world to God’s
Kingdom, personal salvation is but a breath away. As foretold in Isaiah
1:18-20 “Come now and let us reason together, says the Lord, Though your
sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red
like crimson, They shall be as wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, You
shall eat the good of the land; 20 But if you refuse and rebel, You shall be
devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Many are the prayers that have been offered up to restore this nation to
it’s Godly design, but I question our motives. Do we honestly care for a
nation to be centered around righteousness, or do we just want our little
houses with white picket fence, apple pie, and ball games? We have become
Captives of Comfort having little or no compassion for those spiritually
lost people we are surrounded with. We have been sent to declare freedom to
the captives, but can this be accomplished while we ourselves are under
bondage to this world’s system?
We may have been given a small window to consider our ways, and turn back to
true righteousness through the Gospel of Jesus. You must walk and talk with
Him, not just know, and even believe, that He is. John 6:66 references those
that wouldn’t pay the price to do The Walk with Him. They went back to
whatever hole they were wallowing in as pigs, eating their own vomit as dogs
do.
Will we get serious about doing what we are assigned to in His Kingdom?
kenhayesfleming@gmail.com
Kenneth H. Fleming
www.wbcis.com
502 Market Street
(814) 687-3707
Fallentimber, Pa. 16639