by Jerry Edmon

It is easy to assume that America is unstoppable and beyond the reach of decay or collapse. I cannot help but look back through history at other empires that seemed invincible. Nations who elevated themselves to heights unimaginable and only after a time fell into the depths of obscurity. One day they held the title of Super power and the next they were gone. Whatever happened to the Assyrian Empire or the Babylonian Empire or the Roman Empire? You can find the fragments of what is left of them in museums. The Babylonian Empire totally conquered the Middle East, and the armies of Nebuchadnezzar were unstoppable. For 500 years the Roman Empire dominated the world and the thought of their demise was inconceivable. World War II saw the rise of the Third Reich across Europe and North Africa. Hitler's ambitions included conquest of the entire world, but he failed, and Allied armies pummeled Germany into a heap. And what of Britain, France, Prussia, Austria-Hungary and Russia? All super powers in their own right and time.

Now they are only remembered in that light in our history books.

Why do nations decline and fall? I think there is a common thread found in the pages of our history. Unfortunately it appears that we aren’t learning from those lessons. America is going down the same road. Like a series of dominoes, one leads to another and the chain reaction spreads like wild fire. The first domino is seen in a nation's moral condition which is the foundation for all that it becomes. The morality of a nation springs out of it spirituality. The weaker they are morally the weaker their character. All failure branches out from that. As these nations began to grow, they became obsessed with self. They became more liberal in their attitudes and began to compromise their core values. Their need for entertainment caused them to build coliseums where they tortured people in unimaginable ways simply for entertainment. Search it out.  Luxury, superstition, a preoccupation with self. A party spirit. No restraint. A lack of sound moral judgment". Another domino falls and then another. Cultures come and go but that never changes. Although they try, mankind cannot resist the indulgence of their own fate. We are immersed in the addiction of self and we cannot keep from it.  Anyone for a trip to the museum?

In his book “The tenth generation”  George Mendenhall told of Dometrice, Captain of Rome, who said, “As long as they have bread and a circus, they will fall”. Doesn’t that sound like America with our sense of entitlement coupled with unrestrained need for entertainment and distractions. We are consumed by it. Our conditions worsen as liberalism spreads through our nation. Their obstinacy, over indulgence and hatred for all things Godly makes me afraid that our nation is in a downhill slide. The dominoes began to fall. Rome, Babylon, as we do what they did, we will become what they became and we suffer what they suffered.

In short, our future is predictable because the common denominator among the nations who have fallen before us, is, and has always been, greed, pride and moral impurity. These are heart issues. These are the things that have eroded our ethics and poisoned our sense of values. They cannot help but take us where we don’t want to go.

God is the only one who can change the heart. If our nation does not find God, then there is no hope. We cannot fix ourselves, but we can turn to God. We must shake ourselves and find our moral and spiritual compass.

Is it possible that the United States could be reduced to ashes like so many great nations that have gone before us? I am afraid we are already down the road on that. We must repent and turn our direction.