A great awakening is occurring in America. Such “awakenings” have periodically taken place in America in the past. Christian believers are more likely to call them “revivals.” The First Great Awakening was kindled through great preaching. Leaders of the Awakening such as Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield come to mind. Lasting from 1734 to 1750, this revival greatly influenced the thinking of the time.

The American Revolution actually began even before the shot was fired. John Adams wrote:

“The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people….This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people was the real American Revolution.”  (John Ferling, Setting the World Ablaze: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and the American Revolution (2002) p. 281)

Before any significant change can take place in a representative democratic republic there first must be a change in the hearts and minds of the people. We are now seeing a change in the thinking of the American people. What force or vision is bringing about this change?

Let us begin by saying what this change agent is not. It is not one of our political parties. Both parties were surprised by the present day tea party and have failed to understand fully what motivates it. We can also rule out the American Church for the most part. This church does not seem to be in touch with either God or the American people. That might be an overstatement but who would want to argue that today’s church is behind any sort of spiritual awakening? They are still preaching the Gospel for personal financial gain. In recent times our nation has exported more debt to the world than the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

God is releasing the Spirit of Truth into our land. The Holy Spirit is speaking directly to the hearts of the people. The American people have been stirred-up. Falsehoods, propaganda, and demagoguery are being exposed. Leaders are tripping over themselves, begging for God’s wrath.

This is the promise God made to Israel through the prophet Jeremiah:

“Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah — not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

Could this promise also apply to America? It just may, especially if we are willing to standby Israel in these difficult times. This much we do know, God has not waited for the American Church to catchup. He is acting in His own sovereignty. He is moving swiftly. This does not mean that the Church will not ultimately be effected by God’s movement. Nevertheless, it is doubtful that today’s Church will escape His wrath:

For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?  (1 Peter 4;17)

What remains to be seen is whether or not the remnant believers in American will follow the path that the remnant people of Israel did.

“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”  (2 Chronicles 7:14)