I love the United States of America! It is the greatest nation to live in, ever. Can I say that without offending anybody today? Probably not! Oh well, at least that is my opinion, even if it may not be yours. As bad as it seems sometimes, when I look around (okay all the time), there are still a lot of good qualities about America, yet there is much that needs to be corrected in the behavior and thinking of the American people, certainly when it comes to God’s Word, and our relationship to Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son. I think our knowledge of God and His Word are anemic to say the least. That needs to change. I am grateful to be part of this great country however, I served four years of my life in military service for my country because I wanted to return to this great nation what men and women died to give me, FREEDOM. There is no country in which I would rather live than America. But, America has some serious problems in her that are a threat to our survival as a nation. We really need the Lord, and we really need to be “one nation under God.” We need a revival where men and women repent of their sinfulness and turn to the living God in order to be saved from His wrath which is coming on the disobedient. Only God knows what His plans are regarding the future of our nation (Daniel 4:17), however, I want to share with you some valid biblical principles in God’s past dealings with nations. It is indeed sobering to look at these principles and see how they apply to us today.
In reading Obadiah (Obadiah 1:1-21), you’ll notice that the prophet pronounced the coming judgment of God upon the nation of Edom, a prophecy that was announced about 588 B.C. and fulfilled by 583 B.C. when the Babylonians conquered the Edomites and drove them out of their land. What do we know about the nation of Edom? Well, Edom was once a nation that was filled with wealth (Obadiah 1:6), they were also known for their wise men (Obadiah 1:8), and a strong military. But what happened to Edom? Pride entered in and they became deceived in their heart of their own greatness. This led to a false sense of security and a delusional their greatness. God charged, “The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; you who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’” Can you see what pride can do to a nation? Is there such arrogance in the United States today? How many times have we heard that the United States will come out it’s crisis’s better, stronger, saying, “we will rebuild?” My patriotic heart says “yes let’s do that” and yet the Spirit in me warns me not to be so haughty against God. In (Obadiah 1:3-4), God assured them, “I will bring you down.” Is that where we are today?
I would say that we to have become a nation that is much like the former nation of Edom. When 9-11 happened, how many were surprised that something like that could even happen in America. We have the strongest military, we dominate every war and conflict, and it has created in us a prideful spirit that declares we will not and cannot be defeated in any future conflict. We have even responded to the terrorist attacks in our nation and our allie nations with great assurance and much certainty that “We will not be defeated!” – or, as Edom once put it, “Who will bring me down to the ground?” Can you see the pride in our nation? One has to wonder why are we so certain, so confident, so boastful, that we cannot be brought down? And the pride runs so deep that we believe (as a nation) that God would not even do such a thing because after all, we are Americans. Where did such pride come from?Well we know it is from sin, the complete depravity of the human soul (Romans 3:10-18). So we, like Edom, boldly declare, “Who will bring me down to the ground?” We as a nation have forgotten the sovereignty and decisions of Almighty God regarding America. If it is within God’s wisdom and providence to punish our nation for its pride, He can and will do so. If He determines that the wealth, the prestige, the influence, the wisdom of our leaders, the power of our military might is to be taken away, we, like Edom of old, will be a nation that cannot stand, no matter how loudly we sing “God Bless America” or declare that God is on our side. The principles by which He judges nations have not changed (Jeremiah 5) (Jeremiah 18:1-10). Almighty God “plucks up, pulls down and destroys” nations, and He “builds and plants” nations (Jeremiah 18:7,9) based upon whether they will or will not abide by principles of righteousness. When a nation ceases to abide by principles of righteousness, it is a nation that will probably incur God’s judgment against them. As the Proverb writer stated, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34).
There is another prophet that announced God’s decree of coming judgments against eight nations, including Israel and Judah. His name is Amos (Amos 1-2). Each of these judgments against the nations was fulfilled either by the conquests of the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Macedonians, or the Nabateans. In reading these passages (and other passages of Scripture) we realize God’s sovereignty extends over all nations. The prophet Daniel said, “God rules in the kingdoms of men” (Daniel 4:17). God is the Sovereign ruler over all nations and the United States is not an exception (Psalm 2) (1 Timothy 6:15). When any nation refuses to abide by principles of righteousness, when unrighteousness becomes the accepted way of life, it is a nation that is fit for God’s righteous judgment (Romans 1). The Old Testament is full of examples of this truth. For example, read (Leviticus 18) where numerous abominations were mentioned, and the Israelites were warned against practicing any of them. The Israelites were warned by God, “Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, and the land became unclean so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. But you shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you (for the people of the land, who were before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean), lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you” (Leviticus 18:24-30 – ESV). The abominations committed by the Gentile nations, abominations that caused them to be “vomited out” of the land, were eventually practiced by the nation of Israel. Because of this, the Israelites were later “vomited out” of the land (Leviticus 18:28) (Jeremiah 9:19) and carried off into either Assyrian or Babylonian captivity. Sadly, some of these same abominations that are mentioned in (Leviticus 18) are presently practiced in America today. How arrogant and presumptuous we have become to think that such abominations can be practiced, condoned, or tolerated with impunity from the righteous judgment of God. The mighty United States of America cannot think itself to be invincible or independent of God. We cannot promote and hold to godless ideologies such as atheistic evolution, pro-choice, sexual perversions, same sex marriage, and secular humanism and remain unharmed by such godless teachings. What we are seeing today is the depravity of man on display. When a man or woman is told that he/she is only a higher form of an animal, not the product of special Divine creation, he/she will think and behave like an animal (or in some cases, worse than an animal – (Romans 1:22-25). Just look what is going on around us today. We as a nation cannot continue to reject God, His morality, His ethics, and righteous conduct that is contained in the Bible (His Word), then expect God to be pleased. We cannot behave wickedly and expect the blessings that are the fruit of righteous conduct (Amos 9:5-10). We cannot demand God’s blessings and reject the responsibilities of sober, righteous, and godly living. We as a nation need to recognize that we simply cannot have it both ways. May we as a nation turn to God, through Jesus Christ before it is to late.