Every nation in the world except Israel has a life cycle. The LORD gave the following words of assurance to Israel through the prophet Jeremiah, “ ‘Do not fear, O Jacob My servant,’ says the LORD, for I am with you; For I will make a complete end of all the nations to which I have drive you., but I will not make a complete end of you. I will rightly correct you, for I will not leave you wholly unpunished” (Jeremiah 46:28).

We all know that Israel is surrounded by enemies who want to destroy her. The conflict in Syria will soon become a regional war as Russia and the U.S. are arming opposing factions. Israel will have no choice but to defend itself. While in war people die and suffer, the Almighty will protect Israel and give her victory over her enemies. But what about America?

In 1787, about the time America established its independence from Britain, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh named Alexander Tyler made the following comment about the fall of Athens. Please read it carefully and make your own determination as to where you believe America is on the numeric list. Then based on your assessment, what are you going to do about it?

“A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent for m of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.

“The average of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the following sequence: 1. From bondage to spiritual faith 2. From spiritual faith to great courage 3. From courage to liberty 4. From liberty to abundance 5. From abundance to complacency 6. From complacency to apathy 7. Form apathy to dependence 8. From dependence back into bondage”