The Need to Listen to God’s Word
Because God is the supreme Ruler over all the nations of the earth, because the nations of the earth are still accountable to Almighty God, then each nation must listen to what God has to say. Some of the prophets, like Jeremiah, were appointed to the nations, not just to Israel. “Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” (Jer. 1:4-5)
Jeremiah had the temerity to preach to Babylon, and pronounce the judgment of God upon the wickedness of that empire.
Jonah was sent to Nineveh. Though a reluctant prophet, the message of Jonah was delivered, and the people listened.
Woe to those who do not listen to God’s word, to repent of sin, and return to a life of holiness, and devotion to the Lord.
However imperfect the prophets of the Lord may be, they are still His appointed way to prick the conscience of a nation, and bring individuals to repentance. Therefore, “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” (Rom. 10:15)
When individuals are not brought to repentance, when a nation will not listen to God, then God will move in judgment, not because of any covenant relationship, but because of His sovereign right as the ruler of the earth.
The Amorite nation was not a covenant nation, and yet God took into account all national sins. In like manner, America is not a covenant nation, but God is taking into account all transgressions, which are many. To date, the scales are not yet full, but when the scales are full, there will be the total disintegration of America, and another people will come to inhabit the land.
The Israelites of old dispossessed the Canaanites because of a promise given to Abraham, and also to be an instrument of God’s divine wrath against the iniquity of the Amorites, and all the other tribal states in Palestine. (Gen. 15:19-21) It was for the abominations of the people that God cast them out. Israel was God’s instrument to tickle the throat to spew the people out. (Lev. 18:28)
If God judges those lands that do not know formally the Moral Law of God, how much more will He judge America, which has been given so many gospel privileges? It is to our nation’s peril it ignores God’s word.
God has watched the Supreme Court of America rule to separate church and state. He has watched the Court authorize the wholesale slaughter of the unborn. He has witnessed the ruling of the Court in favor of homosexuality and lesbianism. Now God will overturn the decisions of the Supreme Court of America, and hand down His own judgment. This nation is still accountable to Almighty God.
Therefore, the church of Jesus Christ should never be ashamed, or hesitate, to preach the word of God to the nations of the earth. If a nation does not listen, then so be it. But some, in every nation, will listen to God’s message for the Lord has an elect people, according to the remnant of grace. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:” (John 10:27)
God’s message goes forth to the ends of the earth, saying, “Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it.” (Isaiah 34:1)
God wants individuals to know who He is. He is the One who has given His only begotten son. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)
God wants individuals to know who they are, sinners in need of salvation. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23)
God wants individuals to know of His great love for sinners. “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” (Jer. 31:3)
God wants individuals to know there is a way of salvation. “And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” (Acts 16:31)
The heart of God burns for people to know that He rules over the nations of the earth, that the nations are subject to Him, and that there is wisdom in listening to God, and obeying His will.
There is a final observation to be made, and it is this. Individuals live in solidarity with the nation in which they reside so that what God says to individuals, is equally valid for the nation. When God spoke to Moses, He was speaking to all the Hebrew people. When God spoke to king Nebuchadnezzar, he spoke to all of Babylon. When the word of the Lord was preached to Agrippa, it was being preached to all in authority. Agrippa said to Paul, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.” Nations could say the same. There was a time when Rome, Nazi Germany, and Communist Russia could have said, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.” Joseph Stalin studied in a seminary in Tiflis (now Tbilisi), the capital of Georgia, to become a priest. When God speaks to any person, He is speaking to all citizens with His message.
From the beginning of time, the concept of solidarity was established in Adam. “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” (Romans 5:12) God spoke to one man. One man heard the word of the Lord, and rejected it. In him, all men died. In Adam all died. (1 Cor. 15:22) Why? Because God deals in solidarity of Adam, and the human race. In like man God deals with individuals in solidarity to the nation in which they dwell. My sin, and your sin, becomes the sins of the nation, in the sight of God. This is the principle of solidarity.
This divine arrangement has been established, in part, so that those who stand in solidarity with Jesus Christ can be saved. The death of Christ at Calvary became my death, and your death, and the death of all who believe in Jesus. The Bible says, “in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Cor. 15:22)
As the principle of solidarity works itself out, we see the righteous suffering with the wicked, but we also see the wicked being blessed, because of those who are righteous. God blessed the house of Potiphar because of Joseph. (Gen. 39:5) In the house of Potiphar was his scheming wicked wife. Yet she too was blessed. Many nations are blessed because of Christians who are the salt, the preservers of society. (Matt. 5:13) The principle of solidarity is established.
In the Old Testament, there are three great national penitential prayers: Ezra 9, ,Nehemiah 9 and Daniel 9. When these holy men prayed, and confessed the sins of the nation, they included themselves in their prayers, and cried out for God to have mercy on us. They stood in solidarity with the nation. When Daniel prayed, he did not say, “Oh Lord, they have done wickedly.” Daniel prayed and said, “We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:” (Daniel 9:5) Daniel understood the principle of solidarity.
May Christians in America come to understood the principle of solidarity, and how the sin of one person can bring a nation trouble, much like the sin of one man, Achan, brought military defeat to Israel. His story is told in Joshua 7.
If the truth is told, American’s no longer believe in the principle of solidarity. The guiding principle of American’s today is individualism. Individuals say, “This is not my country.” “The President of the United States is not my President.” The governor of the state of California says he will not obey Federal laws on immigration, with which he disagrees. Gone are the days of Jefferson, Madison, Adam’s and Franklin whereby the Founding Fathers of this nation understood, and quipped, that if they did not hang together in solidarity, they would hang separately as rebels. So they pledged to each other their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. (Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776)
May God grant to us a renewed understanding of the principle of solidarity in God, in repentance, and in righteousness. Only then can we receive, with understanding, and with meaning the word of God to America.
