Civil Government: Power, Nations, and Constitutional Order: War in the Gates

Three Reasons For Our Destruction

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Civil Government

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2022-03-12

Synopsis: Pastor John Weaver examines Isaiah 24:5 to explain why America is experiencing societal decay and judgment. He argues that the nation has defiled itself by transgressing God's laws, changing His ordinances, and breaking the everlasting covenant. Drawing parallels between ancient Judah and modern America, he contends that rejecting God's rule leads to tyranny and destruction, and that only repentance and return to God's law can reverse the decline.

[John Weaver] In your Bibles, if you would please, to Isaiah 24 and verse 5 is going to be our text. We will come back and re-read some of this passage. But the title of the message is, Three Reasons for Our Destruction. Three Reasons for Our Destruction. I want you to look, if you would please, at verse 5, Isaiah 24. The Bible says,"...the earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant."

[John Weaver] It has been said that times change. In one sense of the word, that is a true statement, and in another sense of the word, it is not true. It is true that times change, but the reason times change is because people change. If you look back upon your childhood, your youth and early adulthood, you may ask yourself two questions. Number one, have times changed in my life? And then number two, have people changed in my lifetime?

[John Weaver] While it is true that there has never been a time in history that men were not sinners, except for the brief period in the Garden of Eden, it seems as if our depravity has become more and more open, aggressive, and without shame. I'm old enough to remember that in times past when people had sinned, they were ashamed and endeavored to hide their sin, but not anymore. It is now open, and not only is it open, Senators now brag concerning their sins and their rebellion and their wickedness, and they even count it as a badge of honor.

[John Weaver] Just let me show you. We're talking about people changing as well as times. But have you noticed how many libraries across this country are hosting drag queen story hours, which is unheard of as far as when I was growing up and most of you as well. What about all the parades where the sodomites are openly marching and chanting and carrying all kinds of banners? I mean, that had never ever happened in my lifetime. And today we also have people advertising even wife swapping clubs. They call themselves swingers.

[John Weaver] And of course, It seems nobody is ashamed of their sins, their rebellion or their wickedness. Let me give you a good illustration. And if you have not seen this, I will tell you, you really don't want to see it. It was sent to me and I did look at it and I read the article. I saw the pictures. I'm just reading part of the article. Listen to this.

[John Weaver] The Biden administration's latest Department of Energy hire is a queer activist who brags about his kink of leading other gay men who are pretending to be dogs around on leashes before having sex with them. Sam Brenton was recently hired by the Department of Energy as the spent fuel and waste disposition deputy. If you don't recognize Sam's name, perhaps you know them, not him. by their drag queen alter ego named Sister Radioactive. You can take comfort in Sister Radioactive's technical credential, and I'm reading it like it is.

[John Weaver] They has a master's degree from MIT, a dual master's degree in engineering systems and nuclear science and engineering. A Metro Weekly article contains some illuminating details about Brenton's lifestyle as a handler in the pup community. And yes, it's every bit as degenerate as you might think. And I added this. Yes, there were pictures of him, her or them, whatever case may be, he, she or it. They looked very, very degenerate. And certainly they were. And just stop and think that Biden hired this man.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to look in your Bibles, hold Isaiah 24, but turn, if you would, to the book of Jeremiah chapter 3, and let me just show you what I'm talking about. We're talking about how people have changed. God says in Jeremiah chapter 3, beginning in verses 8 and 9, I'm sorry, it's Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 3, Isaiah chapter 3, if you will look at verses 8 and 9, Note what God says concerning Judah and Jerusalem. He says, For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen, because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of His glory. Note He said their tongue and their doings, so it's their talk as well as their conduct. And then look at verse 9, The show of their countenance doth witness against them.

[John Weaver] In other words, even their looks demonstrates sin, wickedness, and degeneracy. The show of their countenance doth witness against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom. They hide it not. Woe unto their soul for they have rewarded evil unto themselves." So here's a people that were proud of their wickedness, and their countenance showed their wickedness, and he said they were not at all ashamed to hide it.

[John Weaver] Now it appears And to me, it's an amazing fact that those whom God leaves for destruction always glory in their wickedness. It was the Apostle Paul who said in the book of Philippians, chapter 3, verses 18 and 19, For many walk, whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, listen carefully, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and who glory in their shame, and who mind earthly things." Notice that they glory in their shame. It's a badge of honor to them. That is why in the book of Zephaniah, chapter 3 and verse 5, the Bible says that the unjust knoweth no shame.

[John Weaver] So let me just tell you, since we're talking about times and people, Principles do not change. God does not change. His Word does not change. His judgment does not change. And sinners do not change except by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. And they are brought to repentance and faith and obedience. And the only way that sinners change other than that is they continue to revel and glory more and more in their sins and in their disobedience.

[John Weaver] So here's a good question, because I want to answer it from the Bible. Why are we witnessing the destruction of our lives, our families, our society, our communities, and our nation on every hand? I remember when I was a boy, the disturbances, not just in our community, but even in our town and county, were rare and occasional. And they were counted as the exception and not the rule. And yet you look around today and you find that chaos, turmoil, riots, plunder, destruction, arson, and even murder are not the exception. They're now seemingly the rule.

[John Weaver] So you have to ask what has happened and why it has happened. And of course, the answer is given to us in Isaiah chapter 24.

[John Weaver] Now, in order to set up this message, In order to show you the reasons for our destruction, we have to consider some of the principles and truths that have been given to us in the Word of God. And before I give you those principles and those truths, I want you to observe something. The same thing happened in Judah and Jerusalem. And it happened for exactly the same reasons that I'm going to show you that is happening here in America today. So if you'll look back in your Bibles to the book of Isaiah chapter 1 at verses 7 and 8, and I want you to think about these verses in light of America, okay? Look at Isaiah 1, verse 7 and 8. God says to Judah and Jerusalem, your country is desolate.

[John Weaver] Your cities are burned with fire. Look at Minneapolis. Look at Detroit. Look at all these major cities. Look at Oregon. Look at Portland. Look at Seattle, Washington. He says, your country's desolate, your cities are burned with fire, your land, strangers devoured in your presence, and it is desolate, is overthrown by strangers. And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, just a small little area, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. In other words, you've got just very little breathing room, everything else around you, is besieged." Wow. Look, if you would, in Isaiah chapter 1 there, skipping down to verse 21, if you would, and reading through verse 24.

[John Weaver] Here again, I want you to think what America used to be, what it is now. Watch this. Here's what Judah and Jerusalem used to be and what it became. Isaiah 1, verse 24, the Bible says this,"...therefore saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the Mighty One." That's verse 24. Let's begin with verse 21. He says, how is the fateful city become a harlot? It was fateful, but now it's a harlot. It was full of judgment at one time.

[John Weaver] Righteousness lodged in it, but now murderers. He says, thy silvers become dross, thy wine mixed with water. Thy princes are rebellious. We could change that to congressmen. Let's do that and watch it. Thy congressmen are rebellious and companions of thieves. Everyone loveth gifts and followeth after rewards. They judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. Therefore, thus saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the mighty one of Israel, Ah, I will ease me in mine adversaries, I will avenge me of mine enemies."

[John Weaver] Now, Judah and Jerusalem had forsaken God and His law exactly as Samaria and the northern kingdom had earlier. Now Judah and Jerusalem stayed faithful a little longer than the Northern Kingdom did. The Northern Kingdom was destroyed in 722 BC, the Southern Kingdom in 586 and 587 BC. But the interesting thing is this, God refers both to the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom as sisters in whoredom in Ezekiel chapter 16. He refers to these countries as harlots, as adulterers, and as whores.

[John Weaver] Now why does He do that? And the answer is because they had forsaken Him for another. They had forsaken His law. They had turned their backs upon Him.

[John Weaver] Now, here's what I want you to do. I want you to think with me just for a moment. Most of us in here can do this. Let's think back at what America used to be 50 years ago. If you can't think back that long, think 10 or 20 years ago. You think what America used to be 50 years ago and you compare with what America is now.

[John Weaver] And when you stop and think about those things, it's enough literally to blow your minds because everything is totally, absolutely different and corrupt. Because America now has apostatized exactly the way Judah and Jerusalem has apostatized.

[John Weaver] Now, let me lay a truth on you. It is impossible to have a life, a family, a church, a society, a communion, or a nation without law. Every individual, every society, every nation has to have law. So the question is not whether or not you will have a law, but whose law will you have? So the only choice that you have is you have the law of God and you have the law of man. We're either going to be ruled by God or we're going to be ruled by man. It will either be theism or humanism. It will either be the rule of God or the rule of man. It would be either the rule of men in general or the rule of man in particular when you talk about autonomy, which is self-law. And autonomy, or self-law, is humanistic as well, because, again, it will not even recognize any law above itself.

[John Weaver] Now, let me explain what I'm trying to get at. This past week, I heard a preacher say this. He was being interviewed by a radio host, and he said this, we're not interested in a theocracy. All we want is for God's people to be salt and light. Now, let me explain something. Here's the word theocracy. Theos is the Greek word for God. Kratos is the Greek word for power. A theocracy is nothing more than the rule of God by His power. Now, He said we don't want a theocracy. All we want is for Christians to be salt and light.

[John Weaver] May I ask you a question? How can Christians be salt and light without the power of God? And may I remind you that He said in John 15 in verse 5, Without Me you can do nothing. Absolutely nothing. Now, it is true that God rules by His power. I'm going to show you that from the Bible just a little bit. You may not like it. You may not delight in it. You may not want it. You may resist it, but you cannot stop it. God is God.

[John Weaver] And I don't know about you, but I had rather be ruled by a holy, righteous, loving, kind, merciful God than I had by a bunch of depraved, wicked, rebellious sinners who hate everything that is holy and right. Now, I want you to stop and think about this. Here's where we are. When you deny the rule of God, when you deny the rule of God by His power, the only thing left is the rule of man. You may have a plutocracy, which is a rule by the rich and the wealthy. Think about George Soros, Zuckerberg, Bezos, the billionaires who are in the tech movement and who hate God and hate America, who are calling the shots. That is a plutocracy. There are plutocrats. You can have a plutocracy, You can have an aristocracy where another elite rules and reigns. You can have a monarchy where you have just one king, one man in control. Or you can have an autocracy where people just do everything that they want to because they recognize themselves as law. So either one of these, whether you're talking about a plutocracy, an aristocracy, a monarchy, or an autocracy, all of these lead to totalitarianism, tyranny and despotism.

[John Weaver] That's all. You cannot have either of those without having tyranny.

[John Weaver] Now let me show you. If you will hold Isaiah 24, but look in your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 8. 1 Samuel chapter 8. It's in this passage that Israel is demanding a king when God Almighty was their king. So in 1 Samuel chapter 8, beginning there with verse 6, they have asked Samuel for a man, for a king. Watch this. But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord. And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people and all that they say unto thee. For they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

[John Weaver] According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. Now God said to Samuel, they've not rejected thee, but they rejected me, that I should not reign over them. If you will look very quickly in 1 Samuel chapter 12 and verse 12, here's an interesting thing. because Samuel repeats this truth. He said, And when you saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, you said unto me, Nay, but a king shall reign over us when the Lord your God was your king. So what they did in 1 Samuel chapter 8 is they traded God for a man. And that's exactly what we have done.

[John Weaver] Now the impact of this truth should be understood in the context of Biblical law. So I'm going to repeat something that I said earlier. I said that it is impossible to have a life, a family, a church, a society, a community, or a nation without law. So the question again is not whether or not you will have a law, but whose law will you have? Because we're either going to be ruled over and governed by God, or ruled over and governed by man.

[John Weaver] Now since you're in 1 Samuel, I want you to go back to 1 Samuel chapter 8, and I want you to see this because I've made this statement many times, but I want you to watch this. A king rules by his law. That is true with God. That is true by any king or by any person in power. It's just like when Donald Trump was president, he made a number of executive orders. When Joe Biden supposedly inaugurated as president. What did he do? He immediately canceled Trump's executive orders, issued executive orders of his own. I understand executive order is not law. I understand that. But what I'm saying is each one of these men are showing this is the direction that I want you to go. I want the nation to go.

[John Weaver] This is what we're going to do. So a king rules by his law.

[John Weaver] Now when you get in 1 Samuel chapter 8, they have rejected God as their king, and they have chosen a man. So look down, if you would, please, beginning there with verse 10. 1 Samuel 8, verse 10. And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that ask of him a king. And he said, watch, you want to know what kind of king you're going to have? Here it is. And he said, this will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you.

[John Weaver] He will take your sons and appoint them for himself, for his chariots to be his horsemen, and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands and captains over fifties. set them to ear His ground, and to reap His harvest, and to make His instruments of war, and instruments of His chariots. And He will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And He will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive yards, even the best of them, and give them to His service. And He will take the tenth of your seeds, and of your vineyards, and give to His officers, and to His servants. And He will take the your men's servants, and your maid's servants, and your goodly's young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. And he will take the tenth of your sheep, and you shall be his servants.

[John Weaver] And you shall cry out in that day, because of your king, which you shall have chosen you, and the LORD will not hear you in that day. Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel, and they said, Nay, that we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out before us and fight our battles." In other words, we don't want the responsibility of defending ourselves. We don't want the responsibility of confronting evil and wickedness. We don't want the responsibility of ruling our lives. We want somebody else to do it. I want you to notice the word take. I want you to notice how many times he's going to take a 10th of this and a 10th of that and a 10th of this. Wouldn't it be wonderful day if our government only took a 10th?

[John Weaver] But now you have to work until July. Before you can ever begin working for yourself because the first six months of the year is given basically to all kinds of taxes. So let me just put this in perspective and show you why I'm bringing this up. What do you think concerning the Great Reset and the New World Order? Obviously, those are not Christian reform movements. When you get to the Great Reset and the New World Order, it is nothing but a diabolical totalitarian grab for money, power, and control.

[John Weaver] It is humanism, communism, and Satanism plain and simple. Carol sent me a quote earlier in the week. I want to read that quote. It's from Alexander Truchtenberg, and it's from the book, America's Betrayal, American Betrayal. Listen to this. When we get ready to take the United States, we will not take it under the label of Communism. We will not take it under the label of Socialism. Those labels are unpleasant to the American people.

[John Weaver] They have been smeared too much. We will take the United States under the labels we have made very lovable. We will take it under liberalism and progressivism, under democracy, but take it we will. So that ought to tell you something about liberalism. That should tell you something about progressivism. That should tell you something about democracy. Those are key words for Marxism. Those are key words for communism. You say, but we have a democracy.

[John Weaver] No, no, no, no, no. We have a Republic. The Republic has been destroyed and turned into a democracy. And by the way, the word democracy just simply means mob power or mob rule is what it amounts to. So the rule of God or the rule of man is the only choice that we have. And the rule of man is God's judgment against us for rejecting the rule of His law. Now, it should be obvious as you read through the book of Isaiah that God's judgment is upon those who follow the rule of man. Let me just bring you up to speed to where we are in Isaiah chapter 24. In the book of Isaiah, Isaiah is pronouncing God's judgment upon the nations. In Isaiah chapter 15, he pronounces God's judgment against Moab. In Isaiah 16, he pronounces God's judgment against Damascus. In chapter 17, he pronounces God's judgment against Egypt. In chapter 18, he pronounces God's judgment against Ethiopia. In chapters 19 and 20, he again speaks of his judgments against Egypt and Ethiopia and assures them that the Assyrian will take care of them.

[John Weaver] In Isaiah chapter 21, his judgments are against the desert of the sea, including Seir and Edom. In Isaiah 22, his judgment is against Judah and Jerusalem. In Isaiah 23, His judgment is against Tyre. And Isaiah 24, where we are, his judgment is against the whole land. It's not just these individual countries. It is now the whole land. So I want you to see this. Look, if you would, in Isaiah 24, beginning with verse one. Look what God says, behold, the Lord make it the earth empty and make it waste and turn it upside down.

[John Weaver] and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof." So here's judgment wiping the board clean. Watch in verse 2. And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest, as with the servant, so with the master, as with the maid, so with her mistress, as with the buyer, so with the seller, as with the lender, so with the borrower, as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.

[John Weaver] The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled, for the LORD hath spoken the word." Wow.

[John Weaver] Now, you need to ask yourself this question. Why were these countries and why was this land judged so strenuously? What did they do to order such judgment and to merit such judgment and destruction. By the way, I was talking about theocracy a little bit earlier, and the word means God's power, God's rule by His power. Do you realize that God's judgment is a demonstration of His rule by His power?

[John Weaver] In the book of Romans, chapter 1, verses 18 through 20, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness, because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has showed it unto them. The invisible things of the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse." When you read from Isaiah 15 to chapter 24, That is God's power. That is God ruling. God is either going to rule in salvation or is going to rule in condemnation.

[John Weaver] Let me show you this. I want you to turn in your Bibles to Isaiah 40, if you would. Isaiah 40. And look, if you would, at verse 10. Then we'll go to Isaiah 63. But look at Isaiah 40 in verse 10. Look what the Bible says. Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand and his arm shall rule for him because his reward is with him and his work before him. Now, wait a minute. Look at that again. Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand and his arm shall rule for him. And the Hebrew word for rule means to reign to exercise dominion and to rule.

[John Weaver] So here's what he's saying. Behold, the Lord God will come with a strong hand and His arm will exercise dominion. His arm will control. His arm will rule for Him. His reward is with Him. So it's either going to be in grace or in condemnation. If you look in verse 11, Here is grace. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead those that are with young. Yes. Now, if you look in your Bibles, Isaiah chapter 63 and verse 5, you'll see both mentioned together. Isaiah 63 and verse 5. Note, if you would, Isaiah 63, note verse 5, And I looked, and there was none to help, and I wondered that there was none to uphold. Look what God says, Therefore mine own arm brought salvation to me, and my fury it upheld me. And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth.

[John Weaver] Note if you would, His arm either bring salvation or condemnation. And when you look back in Isaiah 24 and verse 2, no one escaped. Because He said, As it is with the people, so with the priest. As it is with the servant, so with the master. As it is with the maid, so with the mistress. As it is with the buyer, so with the seller. As it is with the lender, so with the borrower.

[John Weaver] As with the taker of usury, so is the giver of usury. No one escaped.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to look at verse 5. This is the text I want to get to. Look at it. He says, The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances, broken the everlasting covenant.

[John Weaver] Now, here are two points that we need to consider in verse 5. First, there is a declaration. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof. And secondly, there's an explanation, that is, an explanation for the judgment that he's just mentioned in verses 1 through 4, and that is because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. So let's consider, first of all, a declaration in verse 5. He says, the earth also was defiled under the inhabitants thereof. Notice, the earth is defiled under the inhabitants thereof.

[John Weaver] The defilement is nothing less than sin, transgression, iniquity, and lawlessness. Everything was defiled. A fallen man can only do one thing and do it well, and that is he can defile and pollute and corrupt and destroy. And that's exactly what God is saying.

[John Weaver] Now, since we're talking about defilement and pollution, I want you to hold Isaiah 24, but I want you to turn back in your Bibles to the book of Leviticus chapter 18. Leviticus 18, and let's begin reading there with verse 24. Leviticus 18, verse 24, and we'll read through verse 27. Leviticus 18, notice if you would please verse 24. Look what God says. He's talking now to His people. And He says, Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things, which I will mention, that is the preceding verses in this chapter. Defile not yourselves in any of these things, for in all these the nations are defiled, which I cast out before you. So it's because of these things God cast out all the other nations. And then he says this, And the land is defiled, therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it. And the land itself vomited out her inhabitants. In other words, the people were so wicked, so vile, so corrupt, the land could not even stand them. And so God tells His people, You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, neither any of your own nation nor any stranger that sojourneth among you.

[John Weaver] For all these abominations have the men of the land done which were before you, and the land is defiled. Now watch verse 28, that the land spew not you out also when you defile it, as it spewed out the nations that were before you. Note if you would, note if you would, He says, I'm warning you because the land will spew you out if you get these abominations. Why? Because they defile you and they defile the land. Well, what are some of those abominations?

[John Weaver] If you will take the time when you get home, to read Leviticus 18, 1 through 23, you'll find he talks about defiling sins such as adultery, fornication, incest, bestiality, sodomy, idolatry, and a host of other unclean and defiling sins. So this would be defilement in the personal arena, or in the personal area.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Numbers chapter 35, because we're still talking about defilement and pollution. He said the earth is defiled under the inhabitants thereof. Look at Numbers chapter 35, beginning there with verse 30. He says, Whosoever killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses. But one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die. So there has to be at least two witnesses for a person to be put to death. Watch verse 31,"...Moreover, you shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer which is guilty of death, but he shall be surely put to death."

[John Weaver] Now note if you would, God demands the execution of a murderer. He says there's to be no satisfaction. What does that mean? It means he doesn't get a lifetime sentence in jail. He is to be executed.

[John Weaver] Now watch verse 32, And you shall take no satisfaction for him that has fled to the city of his refuge, that he should come again to dwell in the land until the death of the high priest. So if a man killed another man accidentally, without malice of forethought, without deliberation, without purpose, if it was what you and I would call a truly accidental death, The man would then flee to the city of refuge and he had to stay there until the death of the high priest. That meant he could not come home. He could not go back to his place. He had to stay in his city of refuge. Now, if the high priest lived there, lived a year, he could go home after the high priest died. If the high priest lived 20 years, he had to stay in that city 20 years. He said, you should take no satisfaction. Now watch verse 33. Here's what he's saying. So you shall not pollute the land where you are. Now watch carefully for blood. It defileth the land.

[John Weaver] And the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it. Defile not therefore the land which you shall inhabit wherein I dwell. For I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel. So God says blood defiles the land.

[John Weaver] Now I want you to stop and think with me just for a moment. What God is saying is this, when you have a murderer and that murderer is duly convicted, he is to be executed. He is to be put to death. If you do not execute the murderer, then the land is defiled. Hmm. Now, let me just tell you what this principle is. I can sum it up very easily. If the murderer dies. Society lives. If the murderer lives, society dies.

[John Weaver] It's what it amounts to. You just stop and think about all the murderers who have been let out of prison that committed more murders. Society dies when the murderer is not executed. Now, I want you to think about this with me. If a failure to execute murderers defiles and pollutes the land, and God says the blood cannot be cleansed except by the blood of him that shed it, if God says not putting a murderer to death defiles the land, how much more defilement is there when you murder and execute innocent individuals, helpless individuals

[John Weaver] like 60 million babies since 1973. Hmm. I want to show you, I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Jeremiah chapter seven. We're going to look at a number of passages. Because we're talking about defilement, and we're talking about pollution. In Jeremiah chapter 7, beginning there with verse 30. Jeremiah 7, watch verse 30. Jeremiah 7, verse 30. We'll read through verse 34. He says, For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the Lord.

[John Weaver] They have set their abominations the house, which is called by my name, to pollute it. They have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart."

[John Weaver] Now let me just stop there for a moment. Notice the valley of the son of Hinnom is also called Tophet. The word Tophet means to roll like a drum. Why? because when they were offering their babies and sacrifice to Moloch, Moloch was a big brass statue with his arms out like this in his mouth open. In the bottom of this statue, a roaring fire was built since he was normally made out of brass. That meant the brass heated up and turned red and the baby that was going to be sacrificed was placed in his hand And then roll down his arms into his belly to be consumed. And of course, when you put a baby on those hot red burning arms, he screamed. And so they roll the drums to cover the screams of the child who's being sacrificed.

[John Weaver] I don't know if you've ever watched any of the sonograms. Of a baby being aborted. You better have a hard heart and a good stomach to watch it, because it will disturb you and tear you to pieces if you're normal, I can assure you. But this is what he's talking about. But go back to it. He said, he said, watch it in verse 32. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that shall be no more called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter.

[John Weaver] shall bury in Topheth till there be no place. And the carcasses of this people, that is those who are doing all this murdering, shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth, and none shall fray them away." No one is going to take their bodies away, they'll lie there and rot. Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, and the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, for the land shall be desolate.

[John Weaver] Turn right over, if you would please, to Jeremiah chapter 32. Jeremiah 32, and look, if you would please, beginning there with verse 30. Jeremiah 32 and verse 30. Watch carefully. Jeremiah 32 and verse 30. For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth. For the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the LORD. For this city hath been to me as a provocation in mine anger, and of my fury from the day that they built it, even unto this day, that I should remove it from before my face. Because all the evil of the children of Israel, and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they and their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, now watch, and they have turned unto me the back, and not the face."

[John Weaver] Now just stop there just for a moment. This is where we are in our land where we've turned our backs upon God. So if Gary is talking to me and really trying to convey a point to me, and I just turn my back to him and walk off. Would he consider that an insult? He should, because it would be. What in the world do you think it would be like to turn your back on a holy, righteous God who has spoken and you refuse to hear his word?

[John Weaver] This is what he's saying. Now watch. He's in verse 33, and they have turned unto me the back and not the face. Though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction. But they set their abomination in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it. And they built the high places of Baal, which were in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

[John Weaver] And now, therefore, thus saith the Lord God of Israel concerning this city, where, if you say, it shall be delivered in the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword and by the famine and by the pestilence." Yes, he said, I'm going to destroy it.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to turn back in your Bibles because I want you to see this in detail. Look, if you would, in 2nd Kings chapter 21. In 2nd Kings chapter 21, you have the truth about Manasseh. King Manasseh, was the most wicked, vile king in the southern kingdom. Ahab was the most wicked, vile king in the northern kingdom. So here's Manasseh. Watch verse 10, 2 Kings 21, And the LORD spake by service to the prophets, saying, Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, hath done wickedly, now watch, above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wiped the dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.

[John Weaver] and I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies, and they shall become prey and a spoil to their enemies, because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger since the day of their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even to this day. Moreover, watch, Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, Beside his sin, wherewith he made Judah to sin, and doing that which was evil in the sight of the Lord." So here's a king that shed all kind of innocent blood, and it's not just adults.

[John Weaver] It was children that were being sacrificed. If you will turn to 2 Kings chapter 24, 2 Kings chapter 24, and I want you to watch this. Watch this carefully. Let's begin reading with verse 1. In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up and Joachim became his servant three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldees, bands of the Syrians, bands of the Moabites, bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it according to the word of the Lord which he spake by his servants the prophets." Now watch Surely at the commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah to reprove them out of his sight, to remove them out of his sight for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did, and also for the innocent blood that he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the Lord would not pardon. Wow.

[John Weaver] I don't know if he reached 60 million or not, but he surely did a good job of it. You know what the Bible says in Jeremiah chapter 2 and verse 34? Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents. I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these saith the Lord. God said I didn't have to search. It was there. In Jeremiah 19 and verse 4, because they have forsaken me, and have strained this place, and burned incense to other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocence."

[John Weaver] So the point I'm trying to make is very simple. Just like Judah and Jerusalem defiled and polluted and corrupted their land, which God judged, so here in America, We also have defiled and polluted and corrupted this land. We have sinned and we rebelled against God's lawful authority.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to go back to Isaiah 25 and look at verse 4, because very quickly, I want to cover this last point. Watch this. In verse 5, here is the declaration, the earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof. here is an explanation why it's defiled, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. So here's the good question. How did our land, our society, our nation, our government become so corrupt, so polluted, and so defiled?

[John Weaver] Well, three reasons are given to us here. We have transgressed God's law. We've changed the ordinance, and we've broken the everlasting covenant. Actually, there are three Hebrew words here that will reveal exactly where we are today, I believe. The first one is the word Torah. Of course, it is there in the plural. If you will look in verse 5, he says, because they have transgressed the laws, that is, we have gone over, above, and beyond what God has said. We have basically denied God's law. One of the applications of God's law, a proper application, is that of restraint. For instance, when God says, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not murder, well, what is the penalty for murdering? The penalty for murder is death. Well, if the murderers were executed, That would certainly be a deterrent to anyone. And so the law has an application of restraint. And what happens when you cast off restraint, when you cast off the punishment?

[John Weaver] Then, therefore, you have more and more violence and more and more wickedness. That's why the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 8, verse 11 says, because because the work, let's say, because execution is not Because the penalty is not executed speedily against the sons of men, their hearts in them are fully set to do evil. So the quicker one is executed, obviously the more impact it's going to make.

[John Weaver] That is why in days gone by, hangings used to be public because anyone can see them and everyone would know this is going to be the result if I commit murder as well. So the Bible says in 1 John 3 and verse 4, whosoever committed sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law. So God is telling us very clearly that when we transgress His law, we're going to be facing a penalty. We're going to be facing a punishment.

[John Weaver] Now, I want to give you three, three paragraphs, and these three paragraphs are quotes from John Calvin, because he's going to tie this together, because If I continue, it'll be another hour, but I want you to listen to this. Here's what he said. Here he's talking about Isaiah. Here Isaiah peculiarly holds up to shame the revolt of this nation because it was baser and less excusable than all the transgressions of those that had never been taught in the school of God.

[John Weaver] The word Torah is applied to the law because it denotes instruction, but here plural number, Torah, it denotes all the instruction that is contained in the law. But as the law contains both commandments and promises, he adds two parts for the purpose of explanation. So I'm going to stop there just for a moment. The word Torah usually refers at least to the first five books of the Bible which is written by Moses. Sometimes it is applied to the entire Old Testament. You will read in the New Testament where our Lord Himself spoke about the Law and the Prophets. That was just a division. It would include not just the major and minor prophets, but it would also include the poetical books as also the historical books. They would just be labeled under the Law and the Prophets. But the word Torah itself means instruction. It means authoritative instruction.

[John Weaver] So here's what God is saying. They have transgressed the commandments. That is, they have transgressed the laws. They have transgressed this authoritative instruction that I've given them. They have not listened. They've disobeyed. They're lawless. They're wicked. They're wrong. Now, let me continue. He says they have changed the ordinance. The Hebrew word choke means an ordinance, and on account, some think that it denotes ceremonies and others that it denotes morals. We may render it commandments. And I understand it to mean not only ceremonies, but everything that belongs to a rule of a holy life. Now, he said we may render it commandments.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to look at this. He said they've transgressed the laws. They've changed the ordinance. They've changed the commandments. Look back in your Bibles very quickly to Psalm 94. Psalm 94. And look, if you would please, first of all, at verse 20. Psalm 94 and verse 20. Who can change the ordinance? Who can change the commandments? Only those who are in positions of authority and power. So look at verse 20 of Psalm 94. Here's the question.

[John Weaver] Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law? So look at it again. Shall the throne, so the throne is speaking of government, speaking of power. Now it's called the throne of iniquity. That is, it is a wicked civil government. So watch the question. Shall a wicked civil government have fellowship with thee, when that wicked civil government frameth mischief by a law? Mischief in the Bible is another word for sin.

[John Weaver] In other words, it goes actually like this. shall a wicked civil government have fellowship with thee, which make sin legal." So it's legal to be a sodomite in America. It's legal to murder, as long as you do it before the baby is born. It's legal to be a thief, as long as you're a politician. The laws have been changed. The ordinance has been changed. The commandments have been changed. No longer is adultery considered a sin or a crime. Now it's just considered an affair.

[John Weaver] But I want you to look at this. Look at verse 21. Let's read verse 20. Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee which frameth mischief by law? They, who is the they? It's the throne. It's the power. It's the government. They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous and condemn the innocent blood. In other words, They've changed the ordinance. Instead of them punishing the sinner, they're punishing the righteous. They're punishing the godly. So they've changed the ordinance. Here's the third one. They've broken the everlasting covenant. The third term employed by him is Bereth, by which he means a covenant and contract.

[John Weaver] This word is limited to those contracts by which the Lord, who adopted His people, promised that He would be their God. He therefore charges them with ingratitude, because when the Lord revealed Himself by all these methods, and gave proofs of His love, they were disobedient and rebellious, transgressed the laws, and broke the holy covenant." I hope you're beginning to see a truth, and that is that God does rule. He is a theocracy.

[John Weaver] He rules by His power. And His rule is manifested. His power is manifested either in grace and mercy, which leads us to repentance and faith and obedience, or it is expressed and manifested in wrath and anger, which brings us into judgment and destruction.

[John Weaver] Now, in Jeremiah chapter 9, let me just read this. verses 13-16, here's what God says, And the LORD said, Because they have forsaken My law, which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice, neither walk therein, but have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Balaam, which their fathers taught them. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send a sword after them until I have consumed them." Why? Because, he said, they've forsaken my law, they refuse to listen, and they shall be destroyed.

[John Weaver] Now, very quickly, I want you to look at Isaiah chapter 30. Turn there with me. I want you to see this. Isaiah chapter 30 in itself is an illustration of Isaiah 24 and verse 5. I want you to watch this. You're going to see the difference between theonomy and humanism. You're going to see how these people left a theocracy and went to an autocracy. How they went from trusting in God to trusting in man, and the result. Look in verse 1.

[John Weaver] Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me. they don't want God's Word, they don't want God's truth, that cover with a covering, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin, or they want protection, but they don't want God's protection. Watch verse 2, that walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt. Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt, your confusion."

[John Weaver] So God says, no, no, no, no. You reject Me for humanism, for man, you will suffer.

[John Weaver] Now, look down, if you would, in the same chapter, beginning with verse 8. Watch it. Isaiah 30, verse 8.

[John Weaver] Now, go write it before them in a table, and note it in the book, that it may be for the time to come forever and ever. For this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord, which say to the seers, see not, and to the prophets, prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits, get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. We don't want God. Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because you despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon, therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach, ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly in an instant. And he shall break it as the breaking of the potter's vessel that is broken in pieces.

[John Weaver] He shall not spare, so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water out of a pit. No, no, no. God says, look, you have despised me. You've despised my word and you're going to fall. You're going to fail. The reason for our defilement, the reason for our pollution, the reason for our corruption is because we've sinned against God. We've violated his law. We've turned our back upon him. We've brought destruction upon ourselves.

[John Weaver] I've got one more quote for you. I want you to listen. This is from Nevin Holmberg. Here's what he said. Over the last 60 years, our society has abandoned its customs, morals, traditions, and self-restraint to limit bad behavior, including criminality. Many of our politicians, clergy, and educators avoid condemning the worst among us and the atrocities they commit. It has become commonplace for teachers to be threatened with violence or to actually suffer violence. Much of our art is little more than filth that in many circles is celebrated and defended. Much of this is aimed directly at our children. Our language too has become debased. Terrorist acts and other criminal mass murders commonly are referred to tragedies, when in fact they are atrocities. Those committing such violence are referred to as extremists, militants, depressed, angry, or other euphemisms.

[John Weaver] Talking about Black Lives Matter, Antifa, that kind of stuff, watch. Moreover, when the responsible parties are caught, they are rarely ever executed. Does anyone remember Nicholas Cruz? For 20 months since he murdered over a score of students at Douglas High School in Florida, he's been provided with three hots and a cot at taxpayer's expense. Why has he not been hung? We have become inured to behavior our parents and our grandparents would have never tolerated.

[John Weaver] Our violence problem is not caused by guns. It's cultural degeneration and deviancy. These are incredible complex issues and not amenable to any quick fixes. However, until those matters are addressed and dealt with, the past is but a prelude to the future. It will not be affected by limiting the rights of the citizenry, limiting the kinds of firearms we can own or the number of cartridges they can hold.

[John Weaver] Such proposals come from fools or charlatans and will do nothing to cure our nation. So let me sum everything up. Here it is. Let's suppose you have a cancer. And you're in pain. And you go to the doctor. And the doctor says, I will give you something that will alleviate the pain. And you thank him. And you take it. and the pain disappears temporarily. What has the doctor just done for you?

[John Weaver] He has treated your symptom. He's not treated the cause. If you want the pain gone, the cancer needs to be removed. What we're seeing happening in our land symptoms. The cause of all these symptoms is we've turned our backs upon God, we've transgressed his laws, we've changed the ordinance, we've broken the covenant. And until we repent and come back and learn to submit and obey, we will continue to have destruction. It will get worse and worse and worse unless God sovereignly, graciously and mercifully intervenes.

[John Weaver] Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee. We thank you for your word. We thank you, Father, for your truth. We thank you, Father, for your warnings. We thank you also, Father, for your judgments. For they also are for our admonition and learning. We pray, Lord, that You'll open our eyes, that You'll speak to our hearts, that You'll grant us understanding, and that You'd be pleased to give us repentance and faith.

[John Weaver] Turn us, and we shall be turned. Quicken us, and we shall call upon Thy name. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen. ♪ ♪ ♪ you

Three Reasons For Our Destruction

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	Sv7x3ujot1w
Subject	Civil Government
Course	Civil Government: Power, Nations, and Constitutional Order: War in the Gates
Genre	Sermon
Date	2022-03-12
Dictation Name
Book	Book 009: Civil Government: Power, Nations, and Constitutional Order — Chapter 27
Source Timed Segments	100

Formatted Transcript

Opening

In your Bibles, if you would please, to Isaiah 24, and verse 5 is going to be our text. We will come back and re-read some of this passage. But the title of the message is, "Three Reasons for Our Destruction." Three Reasons for Our Destruction. I want you to look, if you would please, at verse 5, Isaiah 24. The Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 24:5

"...the earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant."

Introduction: Times and People Change

Weaver observes that while times change, the root cause is that people change, becoming more openly sinful and shameless, as seen in modern cultural degeneracy.

It has been said that times change. In one sense of the word, that is a true statement, and in another sense of the word, it is not true. It is true that times change, but the reason times change is because people change. If you look back upon your childhood, your youth and early adulthood, you may ask yourself two questions. Number one, have times changed in my life? And then number two, have people changed in my lifetime? While it is true that there has never been a time in history that men were not sinners, except for the brief period in the Garden of Eden, it seems as if our depravity has become more and more open, aggressive, and without shame. I'm old enough to remember that in times past when people had sinned, they were ashamed and endeavored to hide their sin, but not anymore. It is now open, and not only is it open, Senators now brag concerning their sins and their rebellion and their wickedness, and they even count it as a badge of honor.

The Shamefulness of Modern Sin

Examples of open sin include drag queen story hours, pride parades, and a Biden administration hire who openly practices degenerate behavior, illustrating a society that glories in its shame.

Just let me show you. We're talking about people changing as well as times. But have you noticed how many libraries across this country are hosting drag queen story hours, which is unheard of as far as when I was growing up and most of you as well. What about all the parades where the sodomites are openly marching and chanting and carrying all kinds of banners? I mean, that had never ever happened in my lifetime. And today we also have people advertising even wife swapping clubs. They call themselves swingers.

And of course, it seems nobody is ashamed of their sins, their rebellion or their wickedness. Let me give you a good illustration. And if you have not seen this, I will tell you, you really don't want to see it. It was sent to me and I did look at it and I read the article. I saw the pictures. I'm just reading part of the article. Listen to this.

The Biden administration's latest Department of Energy hire is a queer activist who brags about his kink of leading other gay men who are pretending to be dogs around on leashes before having sex with them. Sam Brenton was recently hired by the Department of Energy as the spent fuel and waste disposition deputy. If you don't recognize Sam's name, perhaps you know them, not him, by their drag queen alter ego named Sister Radioactive. You can take comfort in Sister Radioactive's technical credential, and I'm reading it like it is. They has a master's degree from MIT, a dual master's degree in engineering systems and nuclear science and engineering. A Metro Weekly article contains some illuminating details about Brenton's lifestyle as a handler in the pup community. And yes, it's every bit as degenerate as you might think. And I added this. Yes, there were pictures of him, her or them, whatever case may be, he, she or it. They looked very, very degenerate. And certainly they were. And just stop and think that Biden hired this man.

Now, I want you to look in your Bibles, hold Isaiah 24, but turn, if you would, to the book of Jeremiah chapter 3, and let me just show you what I'm talking about. We're talking about how people have changed. God says in Jeremiah chapter 3, beginning in verses 8 and 9, I'm sorry, it's Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 3, Isaiah chapter 3, if you will look at verses 8 and 9. Note what God says concerning Judah and Jerusalem. He says, "For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen, because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of His glory." Note He said their tongue and their doings, so it's their talk as well as their conduct. And then look at verse 9, "The show of their countenance doth witness against them."

Biblical Precedent: Judah's Apostasy

Isaiah 3:8-9 shows that Judah's ruin came from their open sin and shamelessness, paralleling America's condition. Those destined for destruction glory in their wickedness (Philippians 3:18-19).

In other words, even their looks demonstrates sin, wickedness, and degeneracy. "The show of their countenance doth witness against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom. They hide it not. Woe unto their soul for they have rewarded evil unto themselves." So here's a people that were proud of their wickedness, and their countenance showed their wickedness, and he said they were not at all ashamed to hide it.

Now it appears to me, it's an amazing fact that those whom God leaves for destruction always glory in their wickedness. It was the Apostle Paul who said in the book of Philippians, chapter 3, verses 18 and 19,

Scripture Reading — Philippians 3:18-19

"For many walk, whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, listen carefully, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and who glory in their shame, and who mind earthly things."

Notice that they glory in their shame. It's a badge of honor to them. That is why in the book of Zephaniah, chapter 3 and verse 5, the Bible says that the unjust knoweth no shame.

So let me just tell you, since we're talking about times and people, principles do not change. God does not change. His Word does not change. His judgment does not change. And sinners do not change except by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. And they are brought to repentance and faith and obedience. And the only way that sinners change other than that is they continue to revel and glory more and more in their sins and in their disobedience.

The Necessity of Law: God's Rule vs. Man's Rule

Every society must have law; the choice is between God's law (theocracy) and man's law (humanism). Rejecting God's rule leads to tyranny, as illustrated by Israel's demand for a king in 1 Samuel 8.

Now, let me lay a truth on you. It is impossible to have a life, a family, a church, a society, a communion, or a nation without law. Every individual, every society, every nation has to have law. So the question is not whether or not you will have a law, but whose law will you have? So the only choice that you have is you have the law of God and you have the law of man. We're either going to be ruled by God or we're going to be ruled by man. It will either be theism or humanism. It will either be the rule of God or the rule of man. It would be either the rule of men in general or the rule of man in particular when you talk about autonomy, which is self-law. And autonomy, or self-law, is humanistic as well, because, again, it will not even recognize any law above itself.

Now, let me explain what I'm trying to get at. This past week, I heard a preacher say this. He was being interviewed by a radio host, and he said this, "We're not interested in a theocracy. All we want is for God's people to be salt and light." Now, let me explain something. Here's the word theocracy. Theos is the Greek word for God. Kratos is the Greek word for power. A theocracy is nothing more than the rule of God by His power. Now, He said we don't want a theocracy. All we want is for Christians to be salt and light.

May I ask you a question? How can Christians be salt and light without the power of God? And may I remind you that He said in John 15 and verse 5, "Without Me you can do nothing." Absolutely nothing. Now, it is true that God rules by His power. I'm going to show you that from the Bible just a little bit. You may not like it. You may not delight in it. You may not want it. You may resist it, but you cannot stop it. God is God.

And I don't know about you, but I had rather be ruled by a holy, righteous, loving, kind, merciful God than I had by a bunch of depraved, wicked, rebellious sinners who hate everything that is holy and right. Now, I want you to stop and think about this. Here's where we are. When you deny the rule of God, when you deny the rule of God by His power, the only thing left is the rule of man. You may have a plutocracy, which is a rule by the rich and the wealthy. Think about George Soros, Zuckerberg, Bezos, the billionaires who are in the tech movement and who hate God and hate America, who are calling the shots. That is a plutocracy. There are plutocrats. You can have a plutocracy, you can have an aristocracy where another elite rules and reigns. You can have a monarchy where you have just one king, one man in control. Or you can have an autocracy where people just do everything that they want to because they recognize themselves as law. So either one of these, whether you're talking about a plutocracy, an aristocracy, a monarchy, or an autocracy, all of these lead to totalitarianism, tyranny and despotism.

That's all. You cannot have either of those without having tyranny. Now let me show you. If you will hold Isaiah 24, but look in your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 8. 1 Samuel chapter 8. It's in this passage that Israel is demanding a king when God Almighty was their king. So in 1 Samuel chapter 8, beginning there with verse 6, they have asked Samuel for a man, for a king. Watch this. "But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord. And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people and all that they say unto thee. For they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them."

"According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me and served other gods, so do they also unto thee." Now God said to Samuel,

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 8:6-7

"They've not rejected thee, but they rejected me, that I should not reign over them."

If you will look very quickly in 1 Samuel chapter 12 and verse 12, here's an interesting thing, because Samuel repeats this truth. He said, "And when you saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, you said unto me, Nay, but a king shall reign over us when the Lord your God was your king." So what they did in 1 Samuel chapter 8 is they traded God for a man. And that's exactly what we have done.

The Consequences of Rejecting God's Rule

When Israel chose a human king, God warned of oppressive taxation and servitude (1 Samuel 8:10-18). Similarly, modern movements like the Great Reset represent a diabolical grab for power, leading to totalitarianism.

Now when you get in 1 Samuel chapter 8, they have rejected God as their king, and they have chosen a man. So look down, if you would, please, beginning there with verse 10. 1 Samuel 8, verse 10. "And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that ask of him a king. And he said, watch, you want to know what kind of king you're going to have? Here it is. And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you."

"He will take your sons and appoint them for himself, for his chariots to be his horsemen, and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands and captains over fifties, set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive yards, even the best of them, and give them to his service. And he will take the tenth of your seeds, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. And he will take your men's servants, and your maid's servants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. And he will take the tenth of your sheep, and you shall be his servants."

"And you shall cry out in that day, because of your king, which you shall have chosen you, and the LORD will not hear you in that day. Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel, and they said, Nay, that we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out before us and fight our battles." In other words, we don't want the responsibility of defending ourselves. We don't want the responsibility of confronting evil and wickedness. We don't want the responsibility of ruling our lives. We want somebody else to do it. I want you to notice the word take. I want you to notice how many times he's going to take a tenth of this and a tenth of that and a tenth of this. Wouldn't it be a wonderful day if our government only took a tenth?

But now you have to work until July before you can ever begin working for yourself because the first six months of the year is given basically to all kinds of taxes. So let me just put this in perspective and show you why I'm bringing this up. What do you think concerning the Great Reset and the New World Order? Obviously, those are not Christian reform movements. When you get to the Great Reset and the New World Order, it is nothing but a diabolical totalitarian grab for money, power, and control. It is humanism, communism, and Satanism plain and simple. Carol sent me a quote earlier in the week. I want to read that quote. It's from Alexander Truchtenberg, and it's from the book, America's Betrayal, American Betrayal. Listen to this. "When we get ready to take the United States, we will not take it under the label of Communism. We will not take it under the label of Socialism. Those labels are unpleasant to the American people."

"They have been smeared too much. We will take the United States under the labels we have made very lovable. We will take it under liberalism and progressivism, under democracy, but take it we will." So that ought to tell you something about liberalism. That should tell you something about progressivism. That should tell you something about democracy. Those are key words for Marxism. Those are key words for communism. You say, but we have a democracy.

No, no, no, no, no. We have a Republic. The Republic has been destroyed and turned into a democracy. And by the way, the word democracy just simply means mob power or mob rule is what it amounts to. So the rule of God or the rule of man is the only choice that we have. And the rule of man is God's judgment against us for rejecting the rule of His law. Now, it should be obvious as you read through the book of Isaiah that God's judgment is upon those who follow the rule of man. Let me just bring you up to speed to where we are in Isaiah chapter 24. In the book of Isaiah, Isaiah is pronouncing God's judgment upon the nations. In Isaiah chapter 15, he pronounces God's judgment against Moab. In Isaiah 16, he pronounces God's judgment against Damascus. In chapter 17, he pronounces God's judgment against Egypt. In chapter 18, he pronounces God's judgment against Ethiopia. In chapters 19 and 20, he again speaks of his judgments against Egypt and Ethiopia and assures them that the Assyrian will take care of them.

God's Judgment on the Nations and the Land

Isaiah 24:1-4 declares universal judgment. The earth is defiled because of sin, and God's judgment is a demonstration of His rule by power, either in salvation or condemnation (Isaiah 40:10; 63:5).

In Isaiah chapter 21, his judgments are against the desert of the sea, including Seir and Edom. In Isaiah 22, his judgment is against Judah and Jerusalem. In Isaiah 23, His judgment is against Tyre. And Isaiah 24, where we are, his judgment is against the whole land. It's not just these individual countries. It is now the whole land. So I want you to see this. Look, if you would, in Isaiah 24, beginning with verse one. Look what God says, "Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty and maketh it waste and turneth it upside down."

"and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof." So here's judgment wiping the board clean. Watch in verse 2. "And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest, as with the servant, so with the master, as with the maid, so with her mistress, as with the buyer, so with the seller, as with the lender, so with the borrower, as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him." "The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled, for the LORD hath spoken the word." Wow.

Now, you need to ask yourself this question. Why were these countries and why was this land judged so strenuously? What did they do to order such judgment and to merit such judgment and destruction. By the way, I was talking about theocracy a little bit earlier, and the word means God's power, God's rule by His power. Do you realize that God's judgment is a demonstration of His rule by His power? In the book of Romans, chapter 1, verses 18 through 20, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness, because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has showed it unto them. The invisible things of the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse." When you read from Isaiah 15 to chapter 24, that is God's power. That is God ruling. God is either going to rule in salvation or is going to rule in condemnation.

Let me show you this. I want you to turn in your Bibles to Isaiah 40, if you would. Isaiah 40. And look, if you would, at verse 10. Then we'll go to Isaiah 63. But look at Isaiah 40 in verse 10. Look what the Bible says. "Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand and his arm shall rule for him because his reward is with him and his work before him." Now, wait a minute. Look at that again. "Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand and his arm shall rule for him." And the Hebrew word for rule means to reign, to exercise dominion and to rule.

So here's what he's saying.

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 40:10-11

"Behold, the Lord God will come with a strong hand and His arm will exercise dominion. His arm will control. His arm will rule for Him. His reward is with Him."

So it's either going to be in grace or in condemnation. If you look in verse 11, here is grace.

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 40:10-11

"He shall feed his flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead those that are with young."

Yes. Now, if you look in your Bibles, Isaiah chapter 63 and verse 5, you'll see both mentioned together. Isaiah 63 and verse 5. Note, if you would, Isaiah 63, note verse 5, "And I looked, and there was none to help, and I wondered that there was none to uphold." Look what God says, "Therefore mine own arm brought salvation to me, and my fury it upheld me. And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth."

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 63:5

Note if you would, His arm either bring salvation or condemnation. And when you look back in Isaiah 24 and verse 2, no one escaped. Because He said, "As it is with the people, so with the priest. As it is with the servant, so with the master. As it is with the maid, so with the mistress. As it is with the buyer, so with the seller. As it is with the lender, so with the borrower."

"As with the taker of usury, so is the giver of usury." No one escaped. Now, I want you to look at verse 5. This is the text I want to get to. Look at it. He says, "The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances, broken the everlasting covenant."

The Declaration and Explanation of Defilement (Isaiah 24:5)

The earth is defiled because of three specific sins: transgressing God's laws, changing the ordinance, and breaking the everlasting covenant. These are the root causes of societal destruction.

Now, here are two points that we need to consider in verse 5. First, there is a declaration. "The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof." And secondly, there's an explanation, that is, an explanation for the judgment that he's just mentioned in verses 1 through 4, and that is "because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant." So let's consider, first of all, a declaration in verse 5. He says, "The earth also was defiled under the inhabitants thereof." Notice, the earth is defiled under the inhabitants thereof.

Defilement Through Bloodshed and Idolatry

Scripture shows that murder and child sacrifice defile the land (Numbers 35:33-34; Jeremiah 7:30-34). America's 60 million abortions parallel the innocent blood shed by Manasseh, which brought irreversible judgment (2 Kings 24:1-4).

Now, I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Numbers chapter 35, because we're still talking about defilement and pollution. He said the earth is defiled under the inhabitants thereof. Look at Numbers chapter 35, beginning there with verse 30. He says, "Whosoever killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses. But one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die." So there has to be at least two witnesses for a person to be put to death. Watch verse 31, "...Moreover, you shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer which is guilty of death, but he shall be surely put to death."

Now note if you would, God demands the execution of a murderer. He says there's to be no satisfaction. What does that mean? It means he doesn't get a lifetime sentence in jail. He is to be executed.

Now watch verse 32, "And you shall take no satisfaction for him that has fled to the city of his refuge, that he should come again to dwell in the land until the death of the high priest." So if a man killed another man accidentally, without malice of forethought, without deliberation, without purpose, if it was what you and I would call a truly accidental death, the man would then flee to the city of refuge and he had to stay there until the death of the high priest. That meant he could not come home. He could not go back to his place. He had to stay in his city of refuge. Now, if the high priest lived a year, he could go home after the high priest died. If the high priest lived 20 years, he had to stay in that city 20 years. He said, you should take no satisfaction. Now watch verse 33. Here's what he's saying. "So you shall not pollute the land where you are. Now watch carefully for blood. It defileth the land."

"And the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it. Defile not therefore the land which you shall inhabit wherein I dwell. For I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel." So God says blood defiles the land. Now I want you to stop and think with me just for a moment. What God is saying is this, when you have a murderer and that murderer is duly convicted, he is to be executed. He is to be put to death. If you do not execute the murderer, then the land is defiled. Hmm. Now, let me just tell you what this principle is. I can sum it up very easily. If the murderer dies, society lives. If the murderer lives, society dies.

It's what it amounts to. You just stop and think about all the murderers who have been let out of prison that committed more murders. Society dies when the murderer is not executed. Now, I want you to think about this with me. If a failure to execute murderers defiles and pollutes the land, and God says the blood cannot be cleansed except by the blood of him that shed it, if God says not putting a murderer to death defiles the land, how much more defilement is there when you murder and execute innocent individuals, helpless individuals like 60 million babies since 1973. Hmm. I want to show you, I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Jeremiah chapter seven. We're going to look at a number of passages. Because we're talking about defilement, and we're talking about pollution. In Jeremiah chapter 7, beginning there with verse 30. Jeremiah 7, watch verse 30. Jeremiah 7, verse 30. We'll read through verse 34. He says, "For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the Lord."

"They have set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to pollute it. They have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart." Now let me just stop there for a moment. Notice the valley of the son of Hinnom is also called Tophet. The word Tophet means to roll like a drum. Why? because when they were offering their babies and sacrifice to Moloch, Moloch was a big brass statue with his arms out like this and his mouth open. In the bottom of this statue, a roaring fire was built since he was normally made out of brass. That meant the brass heated up and turned red and the baby that was going to be sacrificed was placed in his hand and then roll down his arms into his belly to be consumed. And of course, when you put a baby on those hot red burning arms, he screamed. And so they roll the drums to cover the screams of the child who's being sacrificed.

I don't know if you've ever watched any of the sonograms of a baby being aborted. You better have a hard heart and a good stomach to watch it, because it will disturb you and tear you to pieces if you're normal, I can assure you. But this is what he's talking about. But go back to it. He said, he said, watch it in verse 32. "Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that shall be no more called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter." "shall bury in Topheth till there be no place. And the carcasses of this people, that is those who are doing all this murdering, shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth, and none shall fray them away." No one is going to take their bodies away, they'll lie there and rot. "Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, and the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, for the land shall be desolate."

Turn right over, if you would please, to Jeremiah chapter 32. Jeremiah 32, and look, if you would please, beginning there with verse 30. Jeremiah 32 and verse 30. Watch carefully. Jeremiah 32 and verse 30. "For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth. For the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the LORD. For this city hath been to me as a provocation in mine anger, and of my fury from the day that they built it, even unto this day, that I should remove it from before my face. Because all the evil of the children of Israel, and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they and their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, now watch, and they have turned unto me the back, and not the face."

Now just stop there just for a moment. This is where we are in our land where we've turned our backs upon God. So if Gary is talking to me and really trying to convey a point to me, and I just turn my back to him and walk off. Would he consider that an insult? He should, because it would be. What in the world do you think it would be like to turn your back on a holy, righteous God who has spoken and you refuse to hear his word? This is what he's saying. Now watch. He's in verse 33, "and they have turned unto me the back and not the face. Though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction. But they set their abomination in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it. And they built the high places of Baal, which were in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin."

"And now, therefore, thus saith the Lord God of Israel concerning this city, whereof ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword and by the famine and by the pestilence." Yes, he said, I'm going to destroy it. Now, I want you to turn back in your Bibles because I want you to see this in detail. Look, if you would, in 2nd Kings chapter 21. In 2nd Kings chapter 21, you have the truth about Manasseh. King Manasseh was the most wicked, vile king in the southern kingdom. Ahab was the most wicked, vile king in the northern kingdom. So here's Manasseh. Watch verse 10, 2 Kings 21, "And the LORD spake by his servants the prophets, saying, Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, hath done wickedly, now watch, above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down."

"and I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies, and they shall become prey and a spoil to their enemies, because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger since the day of their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even to this day. Moreover, watch, Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, beside his sin, wherewith he made Judah to sin, and doing that which was evil in the sight of the Lord." So here's a king that shed all kind of innocent blood, and it's not just adults. It was children that were being sacrificed. If you will turn to 2 Kings chapter 24, 2 Kings chapter 24, and I want you to watch this. Watch this carefully. Let's begin reading with verse 1.

Scripture Reading — 2 Kings 24:1-4

"In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up and Jehoiakim became his servant three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldees, bands of the Syrians, bands of the Moabites, bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it according to the word of the Lord which he spake by his servants the prophets."

Now watch,

Scripture Reading — 2 Kings 24:1-4

"Surely at the commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did, and also for the innocent blood that he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the Lord would not pardon."

Wow.

The Three Reasons Explained

Transgressing the laws means rejecting God's authoritative instruction. Changing the ordinance involves corrupt leaders making sin legal (Psalm 94:20-21). Breaking the everlasting covenant is ingratitude for God's adoption and promises.

Well, three reasons are given to us here. We have transgressed God's law. We've changed the ordinance, and we've broken the everlasting covenant. Actually, there are three Hebrew words here that will reveal exactly where we are today, I believe. The first one is the word Torah. Of course, it is there in the plural. If you will look in verse 5, he says, "because they have transgressed the laws," that is, we have gone over, above, and beyond what God has said. We have basically denied God's law. One of the applications of God's law, a proper application, is that of restraint. For instance, when God says, "Thou shalt not kill," "Thou shalt not murder," well, what is the penalty for murdering? The penalty for murder is death. Well, if the murderers were executed, that would certainly be a deterrent to anyone. And so the law has an application of restraint. And what happens when you cast off restraint, when you cast off the punishment?

Then, therefore, you have more and more violence and more and more wickedness. That's why the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 8, verse 11 says, "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil." So the quicker one is executed, obviously the more impact it's going to make. That is why in days gone by, hangings used to be public because anyone can see them and everyone would know this is going to be the result if I commit murder as well. So the Bible says in 1 John 3 and verse 4, "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law." So God is telling us very clearly that when we transgress His law, we're going to be facing a penalty. We're going to be facing a punishment.

Now, I want to give you three paragraphs, and these three paragraphs are quotes from John Calvin, because he's going to tie this together, because if I continue, it'll be another hour, but I want you to listen to this. Here's what he said. Here he's talking about Isaiah. "Here Isaiah peculiarly holds up to shame the revolt of this nation because it was baser and less excusable than all the transgressions of those that had never been taught in the school of God." "The word Torah is applied to the law because it denotes instruction, but here plural number, Torah, it denotes all the instruction that is contained in the law. But as the law contains both commandments and promises, he adds two parts for the purpose of explanation." So I'm going to stop there just for a moment. The word Torah usually refers at least to the first five books of the Bible which is written by Moses. Sometimes it is applied to the entire Old Testament. You will read in the New Testament where our Lord Himself spoke about the Law and the Prophets. That was just a division. It would include not just the major and minor prophets, but it would also include the poetical books as also the historical books. They would just be labeled under the Law and the Prophets. But the word Torah itself means instruction. It means authoritative instruction.

So here's what God is saying. They have transgressed the commandments. That is, they have transgressed the laws. They have transgressed this authoritative instruction that I've given them. They have not listened. They've disobeyed. They're lawless. They're wicked. They're wrong. Now, let me continue. He says they have changed the ordinance. The Hebrew word choke means an ordinance, and on account, some think that it denotes ceremonies and others that it denotes morals. We may render it commandments. And I understand it to mean not only ceremonies, but everything that belongs to a rule of a holy life. Now, he said we may render it commandments.

Now, I want you to look at this. He said they've transgressed the laws. They've changed the ordinance. They've changed the commandments. Look back in your Bibles very quickly to Psalm 94. Psalm 94. And look, if you would please, first of all, at verse 20. Psalm 94 and verse 20. Who can change the ordinance? Who can change the commandments? Only those who are in positions of authority and power. So look at verse 20 of Psalm 94. Here's the question.

"Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?" So look at it again. "Shall the throne," so the throne is speaking of government, speaking of power. Now it's called the throne of iniquity. That is, it is a wicked civil government. So watch the question. "Shall a wicked civil government have fellowship with thee, when that wicked civil government frameth mischief by a law?" Mischief in the Bible is another word for sin. In other words, it goes actually like this. "Shall a wicked civil government have fellowship with thee, which make sin legal." So it's legal to be a sodomite in America. It's legal to murder, as long as you do it before the baby is born. It's legal to be a thief, as long as you're a politician. The laws have been changed. The ordinance has been changed. The commandments have been changed. No longer is adultery considered a sin or a crime. Now it's just considered an affair.

But I want you to look at this. Look at verse 21. Let's read verse 20. "Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee which frameth mischief by law? They," who is the they? It's the throne. It's the power. It's the government. "They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous and condemn the innocent blood." In other words, they've changed the ordinance. Instead of them punishing the sinner, they're punishing the righteous. They're punishing the godly. So they've changed the ordinance. Here's the third one. They've broken the everlasting covenant. The third term employed by him is Berith, by which he means a covenant and contract.

"This word is limited to those contracts by which the Lord, who adopted His people, promised that He would be their God. He therefore charges them with ingratitude, because when the Lord revealed Himself by all these methods, and gave proofs of His love, they were disobedient and rebellious, transgressed the laws, and broke the holy covenant." I hope you're beginning to see a truth, and that is that God does rule. He is a theocracy.

The Call to Repentance

Isaiah 30 illustrates the folly of trusting in man over God. The nation's symptoms of decay stem from the root cause of rejecting God's law. Only repentance and return to God can bring healing.

Now, very quickly, I want you to look at Isaiah chapter 30. Turn there with me. I want you to see this. Isaiah chapter 30 in itself is an illustration of Isaiah 24 and verse 5. I want you to watch this. You're going to see the difference between theonomy and humanism. You're going to see how these people left a theocracy and went to an autocracy. How they went from trusting in God to trusting in man, and the result. Look in verse 1.

"Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me." They don't want God's Word, they don't want God's truth, "that cover with a covering, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin," or they want protection, but they don't want God's protection. Watch verse 2, "that walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt. Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt, your confusion." So God says, no, no, no, no. You reject Me for humanism, for man, you will suffer.

Now, look down, if you would, in the same chapter, beginning with verse 8. Watch it. Isaiah 30, verse 8. "Now, go write it before them in a table, and note it in the book, that it may be for the time to come forever and ever. For this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord, which say to the seers, See not, and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits, get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us." We don't want God. "Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because you despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon, therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach, ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly in an instant. And he shall break it as the breaking of the potter's vessel that is broken in pieces."

"He shall not spare, so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water out of a pit." No, no, no. God says, look, you have despised me. You've despised my word and you're going to fall. You're going to fail. The reason for our defilement, the reason for our pollution, the reason for our corruption is because we've sinned against God. We've violated his law. We've turned our back upon him. We've brought destruction upon ourselves.

Conclusion: Treating the Cause, Not the Symptoms

Like treating cancer symptoms without removing the tumor, addressing societal violence without dealing with spiritual rebellion is futile. The nation must repent of transgressing God's laws, changing His ordinances, and breaking His covenant.

"Such proposals come from fools or charlatans and will do nothing to cure our nation." So let me sum everything up. Here it is. Let's suppose you have a cancer. And you're in pain. And you go to the doctor. And the doctor says, "I will give you something that will alleviate the pain." And you thank him. And you take it. And the pain disappears temporarily. What has the doctor just done for you?

He has treated your symptom. He's not treated the cause. If you want the pain gone, the cancer needs to be removed. What we're seeing happening in our land are symptoms. The cause of all these symptoms is we've turned our backs upon God, we've transgressed his laws, we've changed the ordinance, we've broken the covenant. And until we repent and come back and learn to submit and obey, we will continue to have destruction. It will get worse and worse and worse unless God sovereignly, graciously and mercifully intervenes.

Study Guide

Major Themes

The Defilement of the Land Through Sin

Summary: The earth is defiled by the inhabitants' sins, particularly bloodshed and idolatry, which pollute the land and invoke God's judgment.

Evidence: Isaiah 24:5 states 'the earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof,' and Numbers 35:33 says 'blood it defileth the land.'

The Necessity of God's Law and Rule

Summary: Every society must be governed by law; the only choice is between God's law (theocracy) and man's law (humanism), and rejecting God's rule leads to tyranny.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'It is impossible to have a life, a family, a church, a society, a communion, or a nation without law... the only choice that you have is you have the law of God and you have the law of man.'

The Consequences of Rejecting God's Authority

Summary: When a nation rejects God as king, it inevitably falls under oppressive human rule, as seen in Israel's demand for a king and modern totalitarian movements.

Evidence: 1 Samuel 8:7: 'they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.' Weaver connects this to the Great Reset as a 'diabolical totalitarian grab for money, power, and control.'

The Three Specific Sins Leading to Destruction

Summary: Isaiah 24:5 identifies three causes of judgment: transgressing God's laws, changing His ordinances, and breaking the everlasting covenant.

Evidence: Weaver explains the Hebrew words Torah (law), Chok (ordinance), and Berith (covenant) to show how America has violated each.

The Shedding of Innocent Blood

Summary: Abortion is a modern parallel to ancient child sacrifice, defiling the land and bringing inevitable judgment, as seen in the case of Manasseh.

Evidence: Weaver cites 2 Kings 24:4: 'for the innocent blood that he shed... which the Lord would not pardon,' and compares it to 60 million abortions since 1973.

The Call to Repentance and Return to God

Summary: The only solution to societal decay is national repentance, turning back to God's law and covenant, rather than merely addressing symptoms.

Evidence: Weaver concludes, 'until we repent and come back and learn to submit and obey, we will continue to have destruction.'

Key Arguments

Societal decay is a result of people becoming more openly sinful and shameless.

Summary: Weaver argues that while times change, the root cause is that people have changed, becoming more depraved and proud of their sin, as evidenced by modern cultural phenomena.

Evidence: He states, 'it seems as if our depravity has become more and more open, aggressive, and without shame,' and cites drag queen story hours and pride parades.

Rejecting God's rule inevitably leads to tyranny and oppression.

Summary: When a nation rejects God as king, it falls under the rule of depraved men, resulting in totalitarianism, as illustrated by Israel's demand for a king and modern political movements.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'when you deny the rule of God... the only thing left is the rule of man... all of these lead to totalitarianism, tyranny and despotism.'

God's judgment is a demonstration of His rule by power, either in salvation or condemnation.

Summary: God's arm rules either to save or to destroy; the judgments in Isaiah 15-24 are examples of His power in condemnation against nations that reject Him.

Evidence: Weaver cites Isaiah 40:10 and 63:5 to show that God's arm brings either salvation or fury, and says, 'God is either going to rule in salvation or is going to rule in condemnation.'

The land is defiled by bloodshed, and failure to execute murderers pollutes the land.

Summary: Numbers 35:33 teaches that unpunished murder defiles the land, and this principle extends to the national sin of abortion, which brings corporate guilt and judgment.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'if a failure to execute murderers defiles and pollutes the land... how much more defilement is there when you murder and execute innocent individuals... like 60 million babies.'

Corrupt leaders change God's ordinances to legalize sin.

Summary: Psalm 94:20 describes a 'throne of iniquity' that frames mischief by law, meaning governments make sin legal, such as legalizing sodomy and abortion.

Evidence: Weaver explains, 'Shall a wicked civil government have fellowship with thee, which make sin legal... The laws have been changed. The ordinance has been changed.'

The three reasons for destruction are transgressing God's laws, changing His ordinances, and breaking His covenant.

Summary: Isaiah 24:5 explicitly states these three causes, and Weaver uses the Hebrew terms Torah, Chok, and Berith to explain how America has violated each, leading to defilement and judgment.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'we have transgressed God's law. We've changed the ordinance, and we've broken the everlasting covenant.'

National repentance is the only cure for societal destruction.

Summary: Addressing symptoms like violence without dealing with the root cause of rebellion against God is futile; the nation must repent and return to God's law.

Evidence: Weaver concludes, 'until we repent and come back and learn to submit and obey, we will continue to have destruction.'

Scripture References

Isaiah 24:5

Context: The central text: 'The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.'

Isaiah 3:8-9

Context: Judah's ruin came because their speech and actions were against the Lord, and they declared their sin as Sodom without shame.

Philippians 3:18-19

Context: Enemies of the cross glory in their shame and their end is destruction.

Zephaniah 3:5

Context: The unjust know no shame.

Isaiah 1:7-8

Context: Judah's country was desolate, cities burned, and land devoured by strangers, paralleling modern American cities.

Isaiah 1:21-24

Context: The faithful city became a harlot; silver became dross; princes were rebellious, leading to God's vengeance.

1 Samuel 8:6-7

Context: Israel rejected God as king by demanding a human king.

1 Samuel 12:12

Context: Samuel reminds Israel that the Lord was their king when they demanded a human king.

1 Samuel 8:10-18

Context: God warns that a human king will take their sons, daughters, fields, and a tenth of their produce, leading to oppression.

Isaiah 24:1-4

Context: The Lord makes the earth empty and waste, and judgment falls on all classes without exception.

Romans 1:18-20

Context: The wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness, and His eternal power is clearly seen, leaving them without excuse.

Isaiah 40:10-11

Context: The Lord comes with strong hand to rule; His arm brings both judgment and tender care for His flock.

Isaiah 63:5

Context: God's own arm brought salvation, and His fury upheld Him to tread down the people in anger.

Leviticus 18:24-28

Context: The nations were defiled by abominations, and the land vomited out its inhabitants; Israel is warned not to defile the land lest it spew them out.

Numbers 35:30-34

Context: Murderers must be executed; failure to do so pollutes the land, for blood defiles the land and can only be cleansed by the blood of the shedder.

Jeremiah 7:30-34

Context: Judah built high places to burn their children in the fire, defiling the land, leading to slaughter and desolation.

Jeremiah 32:30-35

Context: Israel and Judah turned their backs to God, set abominations in the temple, and sacrificed children to Molech, provoking God to destroy the city.

2 Kings 21:10-16

Context: Manasseh did more evil than the Amorites, shed innocent blood, and filled Jerusalem with it, leading to God's judgment.

2 Kings 24:1-4

Context: The Lord sent enemies against Judah for the sins of Manasseh and the innocent blood he shed, which the Lord would not pardon.

Psalm 94:20-21

Context: A wicked throne frames mischief by law, condemning the innocent blood, showing how governments legalize sin.

Historical References

Destruction of the Northern Kingdom (722 BC)

Context: The Northern Kingdom was destroyed earlier for forsaking God, serving as a warning to Judah.

Destruction of the Southern Kingdom (586-587 BC)

Context: Judah was later destroyed for similar apostasy, paralleling America's trajectory.

Manasseh's reign and child sacrifice

Context: King Manasseh shed much innocent blood, including child sacrifice, which led to Judah's irreversible judgment.

Roe v. Wade (1973) and 60 million abortions

Context: Weaver cites the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, comparing the 60 million abortions to Manasseh's shedding of innocent blood.

Biden administration hire of Sam Brenton

Context: A recent Department of Energy hire who openly practices degenerate behavior, illustrating the shamelessness of modern society.

Great Reset and New World Order

Context: Weaver describes these as diabolical totalitarian movements representing humanism, communism, and Satanism.

Riots in Minneapolis, Detroit, Portland, Seattle

Context: Modern American cities experiencing burning and desolation, paralleling Isaiah 1:7.

Nicholas Cruz and Douglas High School shooting

Context: Cruz murdered over a score of students but has not been executed, illustrating the failure to administer justice.

Important Quotes

The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.

Significance: This is the central text of the sermon, providing the three reasons for destruction that Weaver expounds throughout the message.

They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

Significance: Quoting 1 Samuel 8:7, Weaver uses this to show that demanding a human king is a rejection of God's direct rule, paralleling modern rejection of God's law.

If the murderer dies, society lives. If the murderer lives, society dies.

Significance: Summarizes the biblical principle of capital punishment and its necessity for societal health, linking it to the defilement of the land through unpunished bloodshed.

Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?

Significance: Quoting Psalm 94:20, Weaver uses this to illustrate how corrupt governments legalize sin, changing God's ordinances.

We have transgressed God's law. We've changed the ordinance, and we've broken the everlasting covenant.

Significance: Directly states the three reasons for destruction from Isaiah 24:5, which form the core of the sermon's application to America.

Until we repent and come back and learn to submit and obey, we will continue to have destruction.

Significance: The concluding call to repentance, emphasizing that only a return to God's law can reverse the nation's decline.

Discussion Questions

In what ways have you observed people becoming more openly sinful and shameless in your lifetime, and how does this compare to the biblical description in Isaiah 3:9?

Context: Weaver argues that modern society glories in its shame, similar to Judah.

How does the choice between God's law and man's law play out in current political and cultural debates? Can you think of specific examples where man's law has led to tyranny?

Context: Weaver states that rejecting God's rule leads to totalitarianism.

What does it mean for a nation to 'change the ordinance' as described in Isaiah 24:5, and how have you seen this happen in America's legal system?

Context: Weaver explains that changing the ordinance involves making sin legal through corrupt leadership.

How does the biblical principle of blood defiling the land (Numbers 35:33-34) apply to the issue of abortion? What responsibility does the church have in addressing this?

Context: Weaver connects unpunished bloodshed to national defilement and judgment.

In what ways have we 'broken the everlasting covenant' today, and what would genuine national repentance look like?

Context: Weaver identifies breaking the covenant as ingratitude and rebellion against God's adoption.

How should Christians respond to the tension between being 'salt and light' and advocating for God's law in the public square? Is there a conflict?

Context: Weaver critiques a preacher who said Christians should not seek a theocracy but only be salt and light.

What are some 'symptoms' of societal decay that we tend to focus on, and how can we address the root cause of rebellion against God instead?

Context: Weaver uses the analogy of treating cancer symptoms versus removing the tumor.

Applications

Recognize and repent of national sins

Summary: Believers must acknowledge that America has transgressed God's laws, changed His ordinances, and broken His covenant, and lead in repentance.

Evidence: Weaver concludes, 'until we repent and come back and learn to submit and obey, we will continue to have destruction.'

Uphold God's law as the standard for justice

Summary: Christians should advocate for biblical principles in law, including the proper administration of justice such as capital punishment for murderers.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'If the murderer dies, society lives. If the murderer lives, society dies,' based on Numbers 35.

Reject the rule of man and trust in God's rule

Summary: Instead of placing hope in human governments or movements, believers must submit to God's authority and promote His law as the foundation for society.

Evidence: Weaver warns that rejecting God's rule leads to tyranny, citing 1 Samuel 8 and modern totalitarian movements.

Speak out against the shedding of innocent blood

Summary: The church must actively oppose abortion and other forms of innocent bloodshed, recognizing that they defile the land and bring judgment.

Evidence: Weaver compares 60 million abortions to Manasseh's child sacrifice, which brought irreversible judgment (2 Kings 24:4).

Be salt and light by upholding God's standards

Summary: Christians cannot be salt and light apart from God's power and law; they must boldly proclaim and live out biblical truth in a decaying culture.

Evidence: Weaver asks, 'How can Christians be salt and light without the power of God?' and cites John 15:5.

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T03:23:31Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T16:16:41Z

Clean Transcript

Three Reasons For Our Destruction

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

In your Bibles, if you would please, to Isaiah 24, and verse 5 is going to be our text. We will come back and re-read some of this passage. But the title of the message is, "Three Reasons for Our Destruction." Three Reasons for Our Destruction. I want you to look, if you would please, at verse 5, Isaiah 24. The Bible says, "...the earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant."
#1 | 0:01 to 0:47 | cleaned
It has been said that times change. In one sense of the word, that is a true statement, and in another sense of the word, it is not true. It is true that times change, but the reason times change is because people change. If you look back upon your childhood, your youth and early adulthood, you may ask yourself two questions. Number one, have times changed in my life? And then number two, have people changed in my lifetime?
#2 | 0:48 to 1:20 | cleaned
While it is true that there has never been a time in history that men were not sinners, except for the brief period in the Garden of Eden, it seems as if our depravity has become more and more open, aggressive, and without shame. I'm old enough to remember that in times past when people had sinned, they were ashamed and endeavored to hide their sin, but not anymore. It is now open, and not only is it open, Senators now brag concerning their sins and their rebellion and their wickedness, and they even count it as a badge of honor.
#3 | 1:21 to 2:04 | cleaned
Just let me show you. We're talking about people changing as well as times. But have you noticed how many libraries across this country are hosting drag queen story hours, which is unheard of as far as when I was growing up and most of you as well. What about all the parades where the sodomites are openly marching and chanting and carrying all kinds of banners? I mean, that had never ever happened in my lifetime. And today we also have people advertising even wife swapping clubs. They call themselves swingers.
#4 | 2:06 to 2:50 | cleaned
And of course, it seems nobody is ashamed of their sins, their rebellion or their wickedness. Let me give you a good illustration. And if you have not seen this, I will tell you, you really don't want to see it. It was sent to me and I did look at it and I read the article. I saw the pictures. I'm just reading part of the article. Listen to this.
#5 | 2:50 to 3:15 | cleaned
The Biden administration's latest Department of Energy hire is a queer activist who brags about his kink of leading other gay men who are pretending to be dogs around on leashes before having sex with them. Sam Brenton was recently hired by the Department of Energy as the spent fuel and waste disposition deputy. If you don't recognize Sam's name, perhaps you know them, not him, by their drag queen alter ego named Sister Radioactive. You can take comfort in Sister Radioactive's technical credential, and I'm reading it like it is.
#6 | 3:17 to 4:01 | cleaned
They has a master's degree from MIT, a dual master's degree in engineering systems and nuclear science and engineering. A Metro Weekly article contains some illuminating details about Brenton's lifestyle as a handler in the pup community. And yes, it's every bit as degenerate as you might think. And I added this. Yes, there were pictures of him, her or them, whatever case may be, he, she or it. They looked very, very degenerate. And certainly they were. And just stop and think that Biden hired this man.
#7 | 4:01 to 4:42 | cleaned
Now, I want you to look in your Bibles, hold Isaiah 24, but turn, if you would, to the book of Jeremiah chapter 3, and let me just show you what I'm talking about. We're talking about how people have changed. God says in Jeremiah chapter 3, beginning in verses 8 and 9, I'm sorry, it's Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 3, Isaiah chapter 3, if you will look at verses 8 and 9. Note what God says concerning Judah and Jerusalem. He says, "For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen, because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of His glory." Note He said their tongue and their doings, so it's their talk as well as their conduct. And then look at verse 9, "The show of their countenance doth witness against them."
#8 | 4:43 to 5:39 | cleaned
In other words, even their looks demonstrates sin, wickedness, and degeneracy. "The show of their countenance doth witness against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom. They hide it not. Woe unto their soul for they have rewarded evil unto themselves." So here's a people that were proud of their wickedness, and their countenance showed their wickedness, and he said they were not at all ashamed to hide it.
#9 | 5:39 to 6:08 | cleaned
Now it appears to me, it's an amazing fact that those whom God leaves for destruction always glory in their wickedness. It was the Apostle Paul who said in the book of Philippians, chapter 3, verses 18 and 19, "For many walk, whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, listen carefully, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and who glory in their shame, and who mind earthly things." Notice that they glory in their shame. It's a badge of honor to them. That is why in the book of Zephaniah, chapter 3 and verse 5, the Bible says that the unjust knoweth no shame.
#10 | 6:09 to 6:57 | cleaned
So let me just tell you, since we're talking about times and people, principles do not change. God does not change. His Word does not change. His judgment does not change. And sinners do not change except by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. And they are brought to repentance and faith and obedience. And the only way that sinners change other than that is they continue to revel and glory more and more in their sins and in their disobedience.
#11 | 6:58 to 7:31 | cleaned
So here's a good question, because I want to answer it from the Bible. Why are we witnessing the destruction of our lives, our families, our society, our communities, and our nation on every hand? I remember when I was a boy, the disturbances, not just in our community, but even in our town and county, were rare and occasional. And they were counted as the exception and not the rule. And yet you look around today and you find that chaos, turmoil, riots, plunder, destruction, arson, and even murder are not the exception. They're now seemingly the rule.
#12 | 7:32 to 8:19 | cleaned
So you have to ask what has happened and why it has happened. And of course, the answer is given to us in Isaiah chapter 24.
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Now, in order to set up this message, in order to show you the reasons for our destruction, we have to consider some of the principles and truths that have been given to us in the Word of God. And before I give you those principles and those truths, I want you to observe something. The same thing happened in Judah and Jerusalem. And it happened for exactly the same reasons that I'm going to show you that is happening here in America today. So if you'll look back in your Bibles to the book of Isaiah chapter 1 at verses 7 and 8, and I want you to think about these verses in light of America, okay? Look at Isaiah 1, verse 7 and 8. God says to Judah and Jerusalem, "Your country is desolate."
#14 | 8:28 to 9:19 | cleaned
"Your cities are burned with fire." Look at Minneapolis. Look at Detroit. Look at all these major cities. Look at Oregon. Look at Portland. Look at Seattle, Washington. He says, "Your country's desolate, your cities are burned with fire, your land, strangers devoured in your presence, and it is desolate, is overthrown by strangers. And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, just a small little area, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city." In other words, you've got just very little breathing room, everything else around you is besieged. Wow. Look, if you would, in Isaiah chapter 1 there, skipping down to verse 21, if you would, and reading through verse 24.
#15 | 9:20 to 10:11 | cleaned
Here again, I want you to think what America used to be, what it is now. Watch this. Here's what Judah and Jerusalem used to be and what it became. Isaiah 1, verse 24, the Bible says this, "...therefore saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the Mighty One." That's verse 24. Let's begin with verse 21. He says, "How is the faithful city become a harlot? It was faithful, but now it's a harlot. It was full of judgment at one time."
#16 | 10:11 to 10:38 | cleaned
"Righteousness lodged in it, but now murderers. He says, thy silver's become dross, thy wine mixed with water. Thy princes are rebellious." We could change that to congressmen. Let's do that and watch it. "Thy congressmen are rebellious and companions of thieves. Everyone loveth gifts and followeth after rewards. They judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. Therefore, thus saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the mighty one of Israel, Ah, I will ease me in mine adversaries, I will avenge me of mine enemies."
#17 | 10:39 to 11:15 | cleaned
Now, Judah and Jerusalem had forsaken God and His law exactly as Samaria and the northern kingdom had earlier. Now Judah and Jerusalem stayed faithful a little longer than the Northern Kingdom did. The Northern Kingdom was destroyed in 722 BC, the Southern Kingdom in 586 and 587 BC. But the interesting thing is this, God refers both to the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom as sisters in whoredom in Ezekiel chapter 16. He refers to these countries as harlots, as adulterers, and as whores.
#18 | 11:16 to 12:03 | cleaned
Now why does He do that? And the answer is because they had forsaken Him for another. They had forsaken His law. They had turned their backs upon Him.
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Now, here's what I want you to do. I want you to think with me just for a moment. Most of us in here can do this. Let's think back at what America used to be 50 years ago. If you can't think back that long, think 10 or 20 years ago. You think what America used to be 50 years ago and you compare with what America is now.
#20 | 12:13 to 12:36 | cleaned
And when you stop and think about those things, it's enough literally to blow your minds because everything is totally, absolutely different and corrupt. Because America now has apostatized exactly the way Judah and Jerusalem has apostatized.
#21 | 12:39 to 12:58 | cleaned
Now, let me lay a truth on you. It is impossible to have a life, a family, a church, a society, a communion, or a nation without law. Every individual, every society, every nation has to have law. So the question is not whether or not you will have a law, but whose law will you have? So the only choice that you have is you have the law of God and you have the law of man. We're either going to be ruled by God or we're going to be ruled by man. It will either be theism or humanism. It will either be the rule of God or the rule of man. It would be either the rule of men in general or the rule of man in particular when you talk about autonomy, which is self-law. And autonomy, or self-law, is humanistic as well, because, again, it will not even recognize any law above itself.
#22 | 12:58 to 13:57 | cleaned
Now, let me explain what I'm trying to get at. This past week, I heard a preacher say this. He was being interviewed by a radio host, and he said this, "We're not interested in a theocracy. All we want is for God's people to be salt and light." Now, let me explain something. Here's the word theocracy. Theos is the Greek word for God. Kratos is the Greek word for power. A theocracy is nothing more than the rule of God by His power. Now, He said we don't want a theocracy. All we want is for Christians to be salt and light.
#23 | 13:59 to 14:47 | cleaned
May I ask you a question? How can Christians be salt and light without the power of God? And may I remind you that He said in John 15 and verse 5, "Without Me you can do nothing." Absolutely nothing. Now, it is true that God rules by His power. I'm going to show you that from the Bible just a little bit. You may not like it. You may not delight in it. You may not want it. You may resist it, but you cannot stop it. God is God.
#24 | 14:47 to 15:17 | cleaned
And I don't know about you, but I had rather be ruled by a holy, righteous, loving, kind, merciful God than I had by a bunch of depraved, wicked, rebellious sinners who hate everything that is holy and right. Now, I want you to stop and think about this. Here's where we are. When you deny the rule of God, when you deny the rule of God by His power, the only thing left is the rule of man. You may have a plutocracy, which is a rule by the rich and the wealthy. Think about George Soros, Zuckerberg, Bezos, the billionaires who are in the tech movement and who hate God and hate America, who are calling the shots. That is a plutocracy. There are plutocrats. You can have a plutocracy, you can have an aristocracy where another elite rules and reigns. You can have a monarchy where you have just one king, one man in control. Or you can have an autocracy where people just do everything that they want to because they recognize themselves as law. So either one of these, whether you're talking about a plutocracy, an aristocracy, a monarchy, or an autocracy, all of these lead to totalitarianism, tyranny and despotism.
#25 | 15:19 to 16:46 | cleaned
That's all. You cannot have either of those without having tyranny.
#26 | 16:47 to 16:52 | cleaned
Now let me show you. If you will hold Isaiah 24, but look in your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 8. 1 Samuel chapter 8. It's in this passage that Israel is demanding a king when God Almighty was their king. So in 1 Samuel chapter 8, beginning there with verse 6, they have asked Samuel for a man, for a king. Watch this. "But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord. And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people and all that they say unto thee. For they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them."
#27 | 16:52 to 17:41 | cleaned
"According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me and served other gods, so do they also unto thee." Now God said to Samuel, "They've not rejected thee, but they rejected me, that I should not reign over them." If you will look very quickly in 1 Samuel chapter 12 and verse 12, here's an interesting thing, because Samuel repeats this truth. He said, "And when you saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, you said unto me, Nay, but a king shall reign over us when the Lord your God was your king." So what they did in 1 Samuel chapter 8 is they traded God for a man. And that's exactly what we have done.
#28 | 17:43 to 18:34 | cleaned
Now the impact of this truth should be understood in the context of Biblical law. So I'm going to repeat something that I said earlier. I said that it is impossible to have a life, a family, a church, a society, a community, or a nation without law. So the question again is not whether or not you will have a law, but whose law will you have? Because we're either going to be ruled over and governed by God, or ruled over and governed by man.
#29 | 18:35 to 19:06 | cleaned
Now since you're in 1 Samuel, I want you to go back to 1 Samuel chapter 8, and I want you to see this because I've made this statement many times, but I want you to watch this. A king rules by his law. That is true with God. That is true by any king or by any person in power. It's just like when Donald Trump was president, he made a number of executive orders. When Joe Biden supposedly inaugurated as president, what did he do? He immediately canceled Trump's executive orders, issued executive orders of his own. I understand executive order is not law. I understand that. But what I'm saying is each one of these men are showing this is the direction that I want you to go. I want the nation to go.
#30 | 19:06 to 19:55 | cleaned
This is what we're going to do. So a king rules by his law.
#31 | 19:55 to 19:58 | cleaned
Now when you get in 1 Samuel chapter 8, they have rejected God as their king, and they have chosen a man. So look down, if you would, please, beginning there with verse 10. 1 Samuel 8, verse 10. "And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that ask of him a king. And he said, watch, you want to know what kind of king you're going to have? Here it is. And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you."
#32 | 19:58 to 20:24 | cleaned
"He will take your sons and appoint them for himself, for his chariots to be his horsemen, and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands and captains over fifties, set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive yards, even the best of them, and give them to his service. And he will take the tenth of your seeds, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. And he will take your men's servants, and your maid's servants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. And he will take the tenth of your sheep, and you shall be his servants."
#33 | 20:25 to 21:11 | cleaned
"And you shall cry out in that day, because of your king, which you shall have chosen you, and the LORD will not hear you in that day. Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel, and they said, Nay, that we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out before us and fight our battles." In other words, we don't want the responsibility of defending ourselves. We don't want the responsibility of confronting evil and wickedness. We don't want the responsibility of ruling our lives. We want somebody else to do it. I want you to notice the word take. I want you to notice how many times he's going to take a tenth of this and a tenth of that and a tenth of this. Wouldn't it be a wonderful day if our government only took a tenth?
#34 | 21:12 to 22:09 | cleaned
But now you have to work until July before you can ever begin working for yourself because the first six months of the year is given basically to all kinds of taxes. So let me just put this in perspective and show you why I'm bringing this up. What do you think concerning the Great Reset and the New World Order? Obviously, those are not Christian reform movements. When you get to the Great Reset and the New World Order, it is nothing but a diabolical totalitarian grab for money, power, and control.
#35 | 22:12 to 22:55 | cleaned
It is humanism, communism, and Satanism plain and simple. Carol sent me a quote earlier in the week. I want to read that quote. It's from Alexander Truchtenberg, and it's from the book, America's Betrayal, American Betrayal. Listen to this. "When we get ready to take the United States, we will not take it under the label of Communism. We will not take it under the label of Socialism. Those labels are unpleasant to the American people."
#36 | 22:55 to 23:31 | cleaned
"They have been smeared too much. We will take the United States under the labels we have made very lovable. We will take it under liberalism and progressivism, under democracy, but take it we will." So that ought to tell you something about liberalism. That should tell you something about progressivism. That should tell you something about democracy. Those are key words for Marxism. Those are key words for communism. You say, but we have a democracy.
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No, no, no, no, no. We have a Republic. The Republic has been destroyed and turned into a democracy. And by the way, the word democracy just simply means mob power or mob rule is what it amounts to. So the rule of God or the rule of man is the only choice that we have. And the rule of man is God's judgment against us for rejecting the rule of His law. Now, it should be obvious as you read through the book of Isaiah that God's judgment is upon those who follow the rule of man. Let me just bring you up to speed to where we are in Isaiah chapter 24. In the book of Isaiah, Isaiah is pronouncing God's judgment upon the nations. In Isaiah chapter 15, he pronounces God's judgment against Moab. In Isaiah 16, he pronounces God's judgment against Damascus. In chapter 17, he pronounces God's judgment against Egypt. In chapter 18, he pronounces God's judgment against Ethiopia. In chapters 19 and 20, he again speaks of his judgments against Egypt and Ethiopia and assures them that the Assyrian will take care of them.
#38 | 24:06 to 25:35 | cleaned
In Isaiah chapter 21, his judgments are against the desert of the sea, including Seir and Edom. In Isaiah 22, his judgment is against Judah and Jerusalem. In Isaiah 23, His judgment is against Tyre. And Isaiah 24, where we are, his judgment is against the whole land. It's not just these individual countries. It is now the whole land. So I want you to see this. Look, if you would, in Isaiah 24, beginning with verse one. Look what God says, "Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty and maketh it waste and turneth it upside down."
#39 | 25:35 to 26:20 | cleaned
"and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof." So here's judgment wiping the board clean. Watch in verse 2. "And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest, as with the servant, so with the master, as with the maid, so with her mistress, as with the buyer, so with the seller, as with the lender, so with the borrower, as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him."
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"The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled, for the LORD hath spoken the word." Wow.
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Now, you need to ask yourself this question. Why were these countries and why was this land judged so strenuously? What did they do to order such judgment and to merit such judgment and destruction. By the way, I was talking about theocracy a little bit earlier, and the word means God's power, God's rule by His power. Do you realize that God's judgment is a demonstration of His rule by His power?
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In the book of Romans, chapter 1, verses 18 through 20, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness, because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has showed it unto them. The invisible things of the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse." When you read from Isaiah 15 to chapter 24, that is God's power. That is God ruling. God is either going to rule in salvation or is going to rule in condemnation.
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Let me show you this. I want you to turn in your Bibles to Isaiah 40, if you would. Isaiah 40. And look, if you would, at verse 10. Then we'll go to Isaiah 63. But look at Isaiah 40 in verse 10. Look what the Bible says. "Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand and his arm shall rule for him because his reward is with him and his work before him." Now, wait a minute. Look at that again. "Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand and his arm shall rule for him." And the Hebrew word for rule means to reign, to exercise dominion and to rule.
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So here's what he's saying. "Behold, the Lord God will come with a strong hand and His arm will exercise dominion. His arm will control. His arm will rule for Him. His reward is with Him." So it's either going to be in grace or in condemnation. If you look in verse 11, here is grace. "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead those that are with young." Yes. Now, if you look in your Bibles, Isaiah chapter 63 and verse 5, you'll see both mentioned together. Isaiah 63 and verse 5. Note, if you would, Isaiah 63, note verse 5, "And I looked, and there was none to help, and I wondered that there was none to uphold." Look what God says, "Therefore mine own arm brought salvation to me, and my fury it upheld me. And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth."
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Note if you would, His arm either bring salvation or condemnation. And when you look back in Isaiah 24 and verse 2, no one escaped. Because He said, "As it is with the people, so with the priest. As it is with the servant, so with the master. As it is with the maid, so with the mistress. As it is with the buyer, so with the seller. As it is with the lender, so with the borrower."
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"As with the taker of usury, so is the giver of usury." No one escaped.
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Now, I want you to look at verse 5. This is the text I want to get to. Look at it. He says, "The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances, broken the everlasting covenant."
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Now, here are two points that we need to consider in verse 5. First, there is a declaration. "The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof." And secondly, there's an explanation, that is, an explanation for the judgment that he's just mentioned in verses 1 through 4, and that is "because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant." So let's consider, first of all, a declaration in verse 5. He says, "The earth also was defiled under the inhabitants thereof." Notice, the earth is defiled under the inhabitants thereof.
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The defilement is nothing less than sin, transgression, iniquity, and lawlessness. Everything was defiled. A fallen man can only do one thing and do it well, and that is he can defile and pollute and corrupt and destroy. And that's exactly what God is saying.
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Now, since we're talking about defilement and pollution, I want you to hold Isaiah 24, but I want you to turn back in your Bibles to the book of Leviticus chapter 18. Leviticus 18, and let's begin reading there with verse 24. Leviticus 18, verse 24, and we'll read through verse 27. Leviticus 18, notice if you would please verse 24. Look what God says. He's talking now to His people. And He says, "Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things," which I will mention, that is the preceding verses in this chapter. "Defile not yourselves in any of these things, for in all these the nations are defiled, which I cast out before you." So it's because of these things God cast out all the other nations. And then he says this, "And the land is defiled, therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it. And the land itself vomited out her inhabitants." In other words, the people were so wicked, so vile, so corrupt, the land could not even stand them. And so God tells His people, "You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, neither any of your own nation nor any stranger that sojourneth among you."
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"For all these abominations have the men of the land done which were before you, and the land is defiled." Now watch verse 28, "that the land spew not you out also when you defile it, as it spewed out the nations that were before you." Note if you would, note if you would, He says, "I'm warning you because the land will spew you out if you get these abominations." Why? Because they defile you and they defile the land. Well, what are some of those abominations?
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If you will take the time when you get home, to read Leviticus 18, 1 through 23, you'll find he talks about defiling sins such as adultery, fornication, incest, bestiality, sodomy, idolatry, and a host of other unclean and defiling sins. So this would be defilement in the personal arena, or in the personal area.
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Now, I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Numbers chapter 35, because we're still talking about defilement and pollution. He said the earth is defiled under the inhabitants thereof. Look at Numbers chapter 35, beginning there with verse 30. He says, "Whosoever killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses. But one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die." So there has to be at least two witnesses for a person to be put to death. Watch verse 31, "...Moreover, you shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer which is guilty of death, but he shall be surely put to death."
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Now note if you would, God demands the execution of a murderer. He says there's to be no satisfaction. What does that mean? It means he doesn't get a lifetime sentence in jail. He is to be executed.
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Now watch verse 32, "And you shall take no satisfaction for him that has fled to the city of his refuge, that he should come again to dwell in the land until the death of the high priest." So if a man killed another man accidentally, without malice of forethought, without deliberation, without purpose, if it was what you and I would call a truly accidental death, the man would then flee to the city of refuge and he had to stay there until the death of the high priest. That meant he could not come home. He could not go back to his place. He had to stay in his city of refuge. Now, if the high priest lived a year, he could go home after the high priest died. If the high priest lived 20 years, he had to stay in that city 20 years. He said, you should take no satisfaction. Now watch verse 33. Here's what he's saying. "So you shall not pollute the land where you are. Now watch carefully for blood. It defileth the land."
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"And the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it. Defile not therefore the land which you shall inhabit wherein I dwell. For I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel." So God says blood defiles the land.
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Now I want you to stop and think with me just for a moment. What God is saying is this, when you have a murderer and that murderer is duly convicted, he is to be executed. He is to be put to death. If you do not execute the murderer, then the land is defiled. Hmm. Now, let me just tell you what this principle is. I can sum it up very easily. If the murderer dies, society lives. If the murderer lives, society dies.
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It's what it amounts to. You just stop and think about all the murderers who have been let out of prison that committed more murders. Society dies when the murderer is not executed. Now, I want you to think about this with me. If a failure to execute murderers defiles and pollutes the land, and God says the blood cannot be cleansed except by the blood of him that shed it, if God says not putting a murderer to death defiles the land, how much more defilement is there when you murder and execute innocent individuals, helpless individuals
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like 60 million babies since 1973. Hmm. I want to show you, I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Jeremiah chapter seven. We're going to look at a number of passages. Because we're talking about defilement, and we're talking about pollution. In Jeremiah chapter 7, beginning there with verse 30. Jeremiah 7, watch verse 30. Jeremiah 7, verse 30. We'll read through verse 34. He says, "For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the Lord."
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"They have set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to pollute it. They have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart."
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Now let me just stop there for a moment. Notice the valley of the son of Hinnom is also called Tophet. The word Tophet means to roll like a drum. Why? because when they were offering their babies and sacrifice to Moloch, Moloch was a big brass statue with his arms out like this and his mouth open. In the bottom of this statue, a roaring fire was built since he was normally made out of brass. That meant the brass heated up and turned red and the baby that was going to be sacrificed was placed in his hand and then roll down his arms into his belly to be consumed. And of course, when you put a baby on those hot red burning arms, he screamed. And so they roll the drums to cover the screams of the child who's being sacrificed.
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I don't know if you've ever watched any of the sonograms of a baby being aborted. You better have a hard heart and a good stomach to watch it, because it will disturb you and tear you to pieces if you're normal, I can assure you. But this is what he's talking about. But go back to it. He said, he said, watch it in verse 32. "Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that shall be no more called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter."
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"shall bury in Topheth till there be no place. And the carcasses of this people, that is those who are doing all this murdering, shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth, and none shall fray them away." No one is going to take their bodies away, they'll lie there and rot. "Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, and the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, for the land shall be desolate."
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Turn right over, if you would please, to Jeremiah chapter 32. Jeremiah 32, and look, if you would please, beginning there with verse 30. Jeremiah 32 and verse 30. Watch carefully. Jeremiah 32 and verse 30. "For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth. For the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the LORD. For this city hath been to me as a provocation in mine anger, and of my fury from the day that they built it, even unto this day, that I should remove it from before my face. Because all the evil of the children of Israel, and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they and their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, now watch, and they have turned unto me the back, and not the face."
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Now just stop there just for a moment. This is where we are in our land where we've turned our backs upon God. So if Gary is talking to me and really trying to convey a point to me, and I just turn my back to him and walk off. Would he consider that an insult? He should, because it would be. What in the world do you think it would be like to turn your back on a holy, righteous God who has spoken and you refuse to hear his word?
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This is what he's saying. Now watch. He's in verse 33, "and they have turned unto me the back and not the face. Though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction. But they set their abomination in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it. And they built the high places of Baal, which were in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin."
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"And now, therefore, thus saith the Lord God of Israel concerning this city, whereof ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword and by the famine and by the pestilence." Yes, he said, I'm going to destroy it.
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Now, I want you to turn back in your Bibles because I want you to see this in detail. Look, if you would, in 2nd Kings chapter 21. In 2nd Kings chapter 21, you have the truth about Manasseh. King Manasseh was the most wicked, vile king in the southern kingdom. Ahab was the most wicked, vile king in the northern kingdom. So here's Manasseh. Watch verse 10, 2 Kings 21, "And the LORD spake by his servants the prophets, saying, Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, hath done wickedly, now watch, above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down."
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"and I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies, and they shall become prey and a spoil to their enemies, because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger since the day of their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even to this day. Moreover, watch, Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, beside his sin, wherewith he made Judah to sin, and doing that which was evil in the sight of the Lord." So here's a king that shed all kind of innocent blood, and it's not just adults.
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It was children that were being sacrificed. If you will turn to 2 Kings chapter 24, 2 Kings chapter 24, and I want you to watch this. Watch this carefully. Let's begin reading with verse 1. "In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up and Jehoiakim became his servant three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldees, bands of the Syrians, bands of the Moabites, bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it according to the word of the Lord which he spake by his servants the prophets." Now watch, "Surely at the commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did, and also for the innocent blood that he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the Lord would not pardon." Wow.
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I don't know if he reached 60 million or not, but he surely did a good job of it. You know what the Bible says in Jeremiah chapter 2 and verse 34? "Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents. I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these saith the Lord." God said I didn't have to search. It was there. In Jeremiah 19 and verse 4, "because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and burned incense to other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents."
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So the point I'm trying to make is very simple. Just like Judah and Jerusalem defiled and polluted and corrupted their land, which God judged, so here in America, we also have defiled and polluted and corrupted this land. We have sinned and we rebelled against God's lawful authority.
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Now, I want you to go back to Isaiah 24 and look at verse 5, because very quickly, I want to cover this last point. Watch this. In verse 5, here is the declaration, "the earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof." Here is an explanation why it's defiled, "because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant." So here's the good question. How did our land, our society, our nation, our government become so corrupt, so polluted, and so defiled?
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Well, three reasons are given to us here. We have transgressed God's law. We've changed the ordinance, and we've broken the everlasting covenant. Actually, there are three Hebrew words here that will reveal exactly where we are today, I believe. The first one is the word Torah. Of course, it is there in the plural. If you will look in verse 5, he says, "because they have transgressed the laws," that is, we have gone over, above, and beyond what God has said. We have basically denied God's law. One of the applications of God's law, a proper application, is that of restraint. For instance, when God says, "Thou shalt not kill," "Thou shalt not murder," well, what is the penalty for murdering? The penalty for murder is death. Well, if the murderers were executed, that would certainly be a deterrent to anyone. And so the law has an application of restraint. And what happens when you cast off restraint, when you cast off the punishment?
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Then, therefore, you have more and more violence and more and more wickedness. That's why the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 8, verse 11 says, "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil." So the quicker one is executed, obviously the more impact it's going to make.
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That is why in days gone by, hangings used to be public because anyone can see them and everyone would know this is going to be the result if I commit murder as well. So the Bible says in 1 John 3 and verse 4, "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law." So God is telling us very clearly that when we transgress His law, we're going to be facing a penalty. We're going to be facing a punishment.
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Now, I want to give you three paragraphs, and these three paragraphs are quotes from John Calvin, because he's going to tie this together, because if I continue, it'll be another hour, but I want you to listen to this. Here's what he said. Here he's talking about Isaiah. "Here Isaiah peculiarly holds up to shame the revolt of this nation because it was baser and less excusable than all the transgressions of those that had never been taught in the school of God."
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"The word Torah is applied to the law because it denotes instruction, but here plural number, Torah, it denotes all the instruction that is contained in the law. But as the law contains both commandments and promises, he adds two parts for the purpose of explanation." So I'm going to stop there just for a moment. The word Torah usually refers at least to the first five books of the Bible which is written by Moses. Sometimes it is applied to the entire Old Testament. You will read in the New Testament where our Lord Himself spoke about the Law and the Prophets. That was just a division. It would include not just the major and minor prophets, but it would also include the poetical books as also the historical books. They would just be labeled under the Law and the Prophets. But the word Torah itself means instruction. It means authoritative instruction.
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So here's what God is saying. They have transgressed the commandments. That is, they have transgressed the laws. They have transgressed this authoritative instruction that I've given them. They have not listened. They've disobeyed. They're lawless. They're wicked. They're wrong. Now, let me continue. He says they have changed the ordinance. The Hebrew word choke means an ordinance, and on account, some think that it denotes ceremonies and others that it denotes morals. We may render it commandments. And I understand it to mean not only ceremonies, but everything that belongs to a rule of a holy life. Now, he said we may render it commandments.
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Now, I want you to look at this. He said they've transgressed the laws. They've changed the ordinance. They've changed the commandments. Look back in your Bibles very quickly to Psalm 94. Psalm 94. And look, if you would please, first of all, at verse 20. Psalm 94 and verse 20. Who can change the ordinance? Who can change the commandments? Only those who are in positions of authority and power. So look at verse 20 of Psalm 94. Here's the question.
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"Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?" So look at it again. "Shall the throne," so the throne is speaking of government, speaking of power. Now it's called the throne of iniquity. That is, it is a wicked civil government. So watch the question. "Shall a wicked civil government have fellowship with thee, when that wicked civil government frameth mischief by a law?" Mischief in the Bible is another word for sin.
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In other words, it goes actually like this. "Shall a wicked civil government have fellowship with thee, which make sin legal." So it's legal to be a sodomite in America. It's legal to murder, as long as you do it before the baby is born. It's legal to be a thief, as long as you're a politician. The laws have been changed. The ordinance has been changed. The commandments have been changed. No longer is adultery considered a sin or a crime. Now it's just considered an affair.
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But I want you to look at this. Look at verse 21. Let's read verse 20. "Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee which frameth mischief by law? They," who is the they? It's the throne. It's the power. It's the government. "They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous and condemn the innocent blood." In other words, they've changed the ordinance. Instead of them punishing the sinner, they're punishing the righteous. They're punishing the godly. So they've changed the ordinance. Here's the third one. They've broken the everlasting covenant. The third term employed by him is Berith, by which he means a covenant and contract.
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"This word is limited to those contracts by which the Lord, who adopted His people, promised that He would be their God. He therefore charges them with ingratitude, because when the Lord revealed Himself by all these methods, and gave proofs of His love, they were disobedient and rebellious, transgressed the laws, and broke the holy covenant." I hope you're beginning to see a truth, and that is that God does rule. He is a theocracy.
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He rules by His power. And His rule is manifested. His power is manifested either in grace and mercy, which leads us to repentance and faith and obedience, or it is expressed and manifested in wrath and anger, which brings us into judgment and destruction.
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Now, in Jeremiah chapter 9, let me just read this, verses 13-16, here's what God says, "And the LORD said, Because they have forsaken My law, which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice, neither walk therein, but have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send a sword after them until I have consumed them." Why? Because, he said, they've forsaken my law, they refuse to listen, and they shall be destroyed.
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Now, very quickly, I want you to look at Isaiah chapter 30. Turn there with me. I want you to see this. Isaiah chapter 30 in itself is an illustration of Isaiah 24 and verse 5. I want you to watch this. You're going to see the difference between theonomy and humanism. You're going to see how these people left a theocracy and went to an autocracy. How they went from trusting in God to trusting in man, and the result. Look in verse 1.
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"Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me." They don't want God's Word, they don't want God's truth, "that cover with a covering, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin," or they want protection, but they don't want God's protection. Watch verse 2, "that walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt. Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt, your confusion."
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So God says, no, no, no, no. You reject Me for humanism, for man, you will suffer.
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Now, look down, if you would, in the same chapter, beginning with verse 8. Watch it. Isaiah 30, verse 8.
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"Now, go write it before them in a table, and note it in the book, that it may be for the time to come forever and ever. For this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord, which say to the seers, See not, and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits, get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us." We don't want God. "Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because you despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon, therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach, ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly in an instant. And he shall break it as the breaking of the potter's vessel that is broken in pieces."
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"He shall not spare, so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water out of a pit." No, no, no. God says, look, you have despised me. You've despised my word and you're going to fall. You're going to fail. The reason for our defilement, the reason for our pollution, the reason for our corruption is because we've sinned against God. We've violated his law. We've turned our back upon him. We've brought destruction upon ourselves.
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I've got one more quote for you. I want you to listen. This is from Nevin Holmberg. Here's what he said. "Over the last 60 years, our society has abandoned its customs, morals, traditions, and self-restraint to limit bad behavior, including criminality. Many of our politicians, clergy, and educators avoid condemning the worst among us and the atrocities they commit. It has become commonplace for teachers to be threatened with violence or to actually suffer violence. Much of our art is little more than filth that in many circles is celebrated and defended. Much of this is aimed directly at our children. Our language too has become debased. Terrorist acts and other criminal mass murders commonly are referred to tragedies, when in fact they are atrocities. Those committing such violence are referred to as extremists, militants, depressed, angry, or other euphemisms."
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Talking about Black Lives Matter, Antifa, that kind of stuff, watch. "Moreover, when the responsible parties are caught, they are rarely ever executed. Does anyone remember Nicholas Cruz? For 20 months since he murdered over a score of students at Douglas High School in Florida, he's been provided with three hots and a cot at taxpayer's expense. Why has he not been hung? We have become inured to behavior our parents and our grandparents would have never tolerated."
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"Our violence problem is not caused by guns. It's cultural degeneration and deviancy. These are incredibly complex issues and not amenable to any quick fixes. However, until those matters are addressed and dealt with, the past is but a prelude to the future. It will not be affected by limiting the rights of the citizenry, limiting the kinds of firearms we can own or the number of cartridges they can hold."
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"Such proposals come from fools or charlatans and will do nothing to cure our nation." So let me sum everything up. Here it is. Let's suppose you have a cancer. And you're in pain. And you go to the doctor. And the doctor says, "I will give you something that will alleviate the pain." And you thank him. And you take it. And the pain disappears temporarily. What has the doctor just done for you?
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He has treated your symptom. He's not treated the cause. If you want the pain gone, the cancer needs to be removed. What we're seeing happening in our land are symptoms. The cause of all these symptoms is we've turned our backs upon God, we've transgressed his laws, we've changed the ordinance, we've broken the covenant. And until we repent and come back and learn to submit and obey, we will continue to have destruction. It will get worse and worse and worse unless God sovereignly, graciously and mercifully intervenes.
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Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee. We thank you for your word. We thank you, Father, for your truth. We thank you, Father, for your warnings. We thank you also, Father, for your judgments. For they also are for our admonition and learning. We pray, Lord, that You'll open our eyes, that You'll speak to our hearts, that You'll grant us understanding, and that You'd be pleased to give us repentance and faith.
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Turn us, and we shall be turned. Quicken us, and we shall call upon Thy name. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T03:23:31Z

Three Reasons For Our Destruction

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

Pastor John Weaver examines Isaiah 24:5 to explain why America is experiencing societal decay and judgment. He argues that the nation has defiled itself by transgressing God's laws, changing His ordinances, and breaking the everlasting covenant. Drawing parallels between ancient Judah and modern America, he contends that rejecting God's rule leads to tyranny and destruction, and that only repentance and return to God's law can reverse the decline.

Opening

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 24:5

"...the earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant."

Introduction: Times and People Change

Weaver observes that while times change, the root cause is that people change, becoming more openly sinful and shameless, as seen in modern cultural degeneracy.

The Shamefulness of Modern Sin

Examples of open sin include drag queen story hours, pride parades, and a Biden administration hire who openly practices degenerate behavior, illustrating a society that glories in its shame.

Biblical Precedent: Judah's Apostasy

Isaiah 3:8-9 shows that Judah's ruin came from their open sin and shamelessness, paralleling America's condition. Those destined for destruction glory in their wickedness (Philippians 3:18-19).

Scripture Reading — Philippians 3:18-19

"For many walk, whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, listen carefully, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and who glory in their shame, and who mind earthly things."

Notice that they glory in their shame. It's a badge of honor to them. That is why in the book of Zephaniah, chapter 3 and verse 5, the Bible says that the unjust knoweth no shame.

The Necessity of Law: God's Rule vs. Man's Rule

Every society must have law; the choice is between God's law (theocracy) and man's law (humanism). Rejecting God's rule leads to tyranny, as illustrated by Israel's demand for a king in 1 Samuel 8.

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 8:6-7

"They've not rejected thee, but they rejected me, that I should not reign over them."

The Consequences of Rejecting God's Rule

God's Judgment on the Nations and the Land

Isaiah 24:1-4 declares universal judgment. The earth is defiled because of sin, and God's judgment is a demonstration of His rule by power, either in salvation or condemnation (Isaiah 40:10; 63:5).

So here's what he's saying.

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 40:10-11

"Behold, the Lord God will come with a strong hand and His arm will exercise dominion. His arm will control. His arm will rule for Him. His reward is with Him."

So it's either going to be in grace or in condemnation. If you look in verse 11, here is grace.

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 40:10-11

"He shall feed his flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead those that are with young."

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 63:5

Note if you would, His arm either bring salvation or condemnation. And when you look back in Isaiah 24 and verse 2, no one escaped. Because He said, "As it is with the people, so with the priest. As it is with the servant, so with the master. As it is with the maid, so with the mistress. As it is with the buyer, so with the seller. As it is with the lender, so with the borrower."

The Declaration and Explanation of Defilement (Isaiah 24:5)

The earth is defiled because of three specific sins: transgressing God's laws, changing the ordinance, and breaking the everlasting covenant. These are the root causes of societal destruction.

Defilement Through Bloodshed and Idolatry

Now note if you would, God demands the execution of a murderer. He says there's to be no satisfaction. What does that mean? It means he doesn't get a lifetime sentence in jail. He is to be executed.

Scripture Reading — 2 Kings 24:1-4

"In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up and Jehoiakim became his servant three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldees, bands of the Syrians, bands of the Moabites, bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it according to the word of the Lord which he spake by his servants the prophets."

Now watch,

Scripture Reading — 2 Kings 24:1-4

"Surely at the commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did, and also for the innocent blood that he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the Lord would not pardon."

Wow.

The Three Reasons Explained

The Call to Repentance

Isaiah 30 illustrates the folly of trusting in man over God. The nation's symptoms of decay stem from the root cause of rejecting God's law. Only repentance and return to God can bring healing.

Conclusion: Treating the Cause, Not the Symptoms

Three Reasons For Our Destruction

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	Sv7x3ujot1w
Subject	Civil Government
Course	Civil Government: Power, Nations, and Constitutional Order: War in the Gates
Genre	Sermon
Date	2022-03-12
Dictation Name
Book	Book 009: Civil Government: Power, Nations, and Constitutional Order — Chapter 27
Source Timed Segments	100

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction: Times and People Change: Weaver observes that while times change, the root cause is that people change, becoming more openly sinful and shameless, as seen in modern cultural degeneracy.
The Shamefulness of Modern Sin: Examples of open sin include drag queen story hours, pride parades, and a Biden administration hire who openly practices degenerate behavior, illustrating a society that glories in its shame.
Biblical Precedent: Judah's Apostasy: Isaiah 3:8-9 shows that Judah's ruin came from their open sin and shamelessness, paralleling America's condition. Those destined for destruction glory in their wickedness (Philippians 3:18-19).
The Necessity of Law: God's Rule vs. Man's Rule: Every society must have law; the choice is between God's law (theocracy) and man's law (humanism). Rejecting God's rule leads to tyranny, as illustrated by Israel's demand for a king in 1 Samuel 8.
The Consequences of Rejecting God's Rule: When Israel chose a human king, God warned of oppressive taxation and servitude (1 Samuel 8:10-18). Similarly, modern movements like the Great Reset represent a diabolical grab for power, leading to totalitarianism.
God's Judgment on the Nations and the Land: Isaiah 24:1-4 declares universal judgment. The earth is defiled because of sin, and God's judgment is a demonstration of His rule by power, either in salvation or condemnation (Isaiah 40:10; 63:5).
The Declaration and Explanation of Defilement (Isaiah 24:5): The earth is defiled because of three specific sins: transgressing God's laws, changing the ordinance, and breaking the everlasting covenant. These are the root causes of societal destruction.
Defilement Through Bloodshed and Idolatry: Scripture shows that murder and child sacrifice defile the land (Numbers 35:33-34; Jeremiah 7:30-34). America's 60 million abortions parallel the innocent blood shed by Manasseh, which brought irreversible judgment (2 Kings 24:1-4).
The Three Reasons Explained: Transgressing the laws means rejecting God's authoritative instruction. Changing the ordinance involves corrupt leaders making sin legal (Psalm 94:20-21). Breaking the everlasting covenant is ingratitude for God's adoption and promises.
The Call to Repentance: Isaiah 30 illustrates the folly of trusting in man over God. The nation's symptoms of decay stem from the root cause of rejecting God's law. Only repentance and return to God can bring healing.
Conclusion: Treating the Cause, Not the Symptoms: Like treating cancer symptoms without removing the tumor, addressing societal violence without dealing with spiritual rebellion is futile. The nation must repent of transgressing God's laws, changing His ordinances, and breaking His covenant.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Societal decay is a result of people becoming more openly sinful and shameless.

Weaver argues that while times change, the root cause is that people have changed, becoming more depraved and proud of their sin, as evidenced by modern cultural phenomena.

He states, 'it seems as if our depravity has become more and more open, aggressive, and without shame,' and cites drag queen story hours and pride parades.

Rejecting God's rule inevitably leads to tyranny and oppression.

When a nation rejects God as king, it falls under the rule of depraved men, resulting in totalitarianism, as illustrated by Israel's demand for a king and modern political movements.

Weaver says, 'when you deny the rule of God... the only thing left is the rule of man... all of these lead to totalitarianism, tyranny and despotism.'

God's judgment is a demonstration of His rule by power, either in salvation or condemnation.

God's arm rules either to save or to destroy; the judgments in Isaiah 15-24 are examples of His power in condemnation against nations that reject Him.

Weaver cites Isaiah 40:10 and 63:5 to show that God's arm brings either salvation or fury, and says, 'God is either going to rule in salvation or is going to rule in condemnation.'

The land is defiled by bloodshed, and failure to execute murderers pollutes the land.

Numbers 35:33 teaches that unpunished murder defiles the land, and this principle extends to the national sin of abortion, which brings corporate guilt and judgment.

Weaver states, 'if a failure to execute murderers defiles and pollutes the land... how much more defilement is there when you murder and execute innocent individuals... like 60 million babies.'

Corrupt leaders change God's ordinances to legalize sin.

Psalm 94:20 describes a 'throne of iniquity' that frames mischief by law, meaning governments make sin legal, such as legalizing sodomy and abortion.

Weaver explains, 'Shall a wicked civil government have fellowship with thee, which make sin legal... The laws have been changed. The ordinance has been changed.'

The three reasons for destruction are transgressing God's laws, changing His ordinances, and breaking His covenant.

Isaiah 24:5 explicitly states these three causes, and Weaver uses the Hebrew terms Torah, Chok, and Berith to explain how America has violated each, leading to defilement and judgment.

Weaver says, 'we have transgressed God's law. We've changed the ordinance, and we've broken the everlasting covenant.'

National repentance is the only cure for societal destruction.

Addressing symptoms like violence without dealing with the root cause of rebellion against God is futile; the nation must repent and return to God's law.

Weaver concludes, 'until we repent and come back and learn to submit and obey, we will continue to have destruction.'

Scripture References

Isaiah 24:5: The central text: 'The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.'
Isaiah 3:8-9: Judah's ruin came because their speech and actions were against the Lord, and they declared their sin as Sodom without shame.
Philippians 3:18-19: Enemies of the cross glory in their shame and their end is destruction.
Zephaniah 3:5: The unjust know no shame.
Isaiah 1:7-8: Judah's country was desolate, cities burned, and land devoured by strangers, paralleling modern American cities.
Isaiah 1:21-24: The faithful city became a harlot; silver became dross; princes were rebellious, leading to God's vengeance.
1 Samuel 8:6-7: Israel rejected God as king by demanding a human king.
1 Samuel 12:12: Samuel reminds Israel that the Lord was their king when they demanded a human king.
1 Samuel 8:10-18: God warns that a human king will take their sons, daughters, fields, and a tenth of their produce, leading to oppression.
Isaiah 24:1-4: The Lord makes the earth empty and waste, and judgment falls on all classes without exception.
Romans 1:18-20: The wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness, and His eternal power is clearly seen, leaving them without excuse.
Isaiah 40:10-11: The Lord comes with strong hand to rule; His arm brings both judgment and tender care for His flock.
Isaiah 63:5: God's own arm brought salvation, and His fury upheld Him to tread down the people in anger.
Leviticus 18:24-28: The nations were defiled by abominations, and the land vomited out its inhabitants; Israel is warned not to defile the land lest it spew them out.
Numbers 35:30-34: Murderers must be executed; failure to do so pollutes the land, for blood defiles the land and can only be cleansed by the blood of the shedder.
Jeremiah 7:30-34: Judah built high places to burn their children in the fire, defiling the land, leading to slaughter and desolation.
Jeremiah 32:30-35: Israel and Judah turned their backs to God, set abominations in the temple, and sacrificed children to Molech, provoking God to destroy the city.
2 Kings 21:10-16: Manasseh did more evil than the Amorites, shed innocent blood, and filled Jerusalem with it, leading to God's judgment.
2 Kings 24:1-4: The Lord sent enemies against Judah for the sins of Manasseh and the innocent blood he shed, which the Lord would not pardon.
Psalm 94:20-21: A wicked throne frames mischief by law, condemning the innocent blood, showing how governments legalize sin.

Historical References

Destruction of the Northern Kingdom (722 BC): The Northern Kingdom was destroyed earlier for forsaking God, serving as a warning to Judah.
Destruction of the Southern Kingdom (586-587 BC): Judah was later destroyed for similar apostasy, paralleling America's trajectory.
Manasseh's reign and child sacrifice: King Manasseh shed much innocent blood, including child sacrifice, which led to Judah's irreversible judgment.
Roe v. Wade (1973) and 60 million abortions: Weaver cites the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, comparing the 60 million abortions to Manasseh's shedding of innocent blood.
Biden administration hire of Sam Brenton: A recent Department of Energy hire who openly practices degenerate behavior, illustrating the shamelessness of modern society.
Great Reset and New World Order: Weaver describes these as diabolical totalitarian movements representing humanism, communism, and Satanism.
Riots in Minneapolis, Detroit, Portland, Seattle: Modern American cities experiencing burning and desolation, paralleling Isaiah 1:7.
Nicholas Cruz and Douglas High School shooting: Cruz murdered over a score of students but has not been executed, illustrating the failure to administer justice.

Important Quotes

The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.

This is the central text of the sermon, providing the three reasons for destruction that Weaver expounds throughout the message.

They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

Quoting 1 Samuel 8:7, Weaver uses this to show that demanding a human king is a rejection of God's direct rule, paralleling modern rejection of God's law.

If the murderer dies, society lives. If the murderer lives, society dies.

Summarizes the biblical principle of capital punishment and its necessity for societal health, linking it to the defilement of the land through unpunished bloodshed.

Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?

Quoting Psalm 94:20, Weaver uses this to illustrate how corrupt governments legalize sin, changing God's ordinances.

We have transgressed God's law. We've changed the ordinance, and we've broken the everlasting covenant.

Directly states the three reasons for destruction from Isaiah 24:5, which form the core of the sermon's application to America.

Until we repent and come back and learn to submit and obey, we will continue to have destruction.

The concluding call to repentance, emphasizing that only a return to God's law can reverse the nation's decline.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

In what ways have you observed people becoming more openly sinful and shameless in your lifetime, and how does this compare to the biblical description in Isaiah 3:9?

[Context]

Weaver argues that modern society glories in its shame, similar to Judah.

[Question]

How does the choice between God's law and man's law play out in current political and cultural debates? Can you think of specific examples where man's law has led to tyranny?

[Context]

Weaver states that rejecting God's rule leads to totalitarianism.

[Question]

What does it mean for a nation to 'change the ordinance' as described in Isaiah 24:5, and how have you seen this happen in America's legal system?

[Context]

Weaver explains that changing the ordinance involves making sin legal through corrupt leadership.

[Question]

How does the biblical principle of blood defiling the land (Numbers 35:33-34) apply to the issue of abortion? What responsibility does the church have in addressing this?

[Context]

Weaver connects unpunished bloodshed to national defilement and judgment.

[Question]

In what ways have we 'broken the everlasting covenant' today, and what would genuine national repentance look like?

[Context]

Weaver identifies breaking the covenant as ingratitude and rebellion against God's adoption.

[Question]

How should Christians respond to the tension between being 'salt and light' and advocating for God's law in the public square? Is there a conflict?

[Context]

Weaver critiques a preacher who said Christians should not seek a theocracy but only be salt and light.

[Question]

What are some 'symptoms' of societal decay that we tend to focus on, and how can we address the root cause of rebellion against God instead?

[Context]

Weaver uses the analogy of treating cancer symptoms versus removing the tumor.

Applications

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