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The Nations – Week 17 / April 22nd
“And He has made from one blood every nation of men
to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined
their preappointed times and the boundaries of their
dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope
that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He
is not far from each one of us.” Acts 17:26-27
“We have staked the whole future of American civilization,
not upon the power of government, far from it. We have
staked the future of all our political institutions upon the
capacity of mankind for self-government; upon the
capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to
control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the
Ten Commandments of God.” James Madison
The Bible at one level recognizes three groups of people; the Jews, the Gentiles and the Church. The Jews regulate history by their journey through it, the Gentiles seek and grope for the God that the Jews reveal to them and the Church reflects the glory, power and character of this God by Jesus Christ. However, having said this it is also true that God has set the habitation and boundaries of nation states thus giving them the opportunity to seek Him and find Him. Nations that do this have discovered that the values of the God of the Bible lift their people out of poverty and bless them with prosperity, peace and safety. It is therefore no coincidence that those nations that have been greatly impacted by the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the values of the Bible have become the most successful. In fact the whole world is seeking to get into them because of the blessing and stability that they offer.
The greatest example of this truth is the United States of America. There is absolutely no doubt that it was founded on the Bible and in particular the five Books of Moses, as James Madison’s quote above demonstrates. Even the famous Liberty Bell is inscribed with a verse from the book of Leviticus and the Ten Commandments were emblazoned upon countless local community halls and courts of justice. The vigorous preaching of the Gospel in the market place was openly encouraged and in many cities the Monday morning papers carried the Sunday sermons of prominent preachers. Theology was the considered the “Queen of Sciences” and men everywhere honored God and at least entered His house twice a year; to celebrate Jesus’ birth and death. President after President affirmed their personal faith in God, including Washington and Lincoln and they frequently called the nation to prayer. Christmas was declared a national holiday and the very currency of the Union stated, “In God We Trust.” That is, we trust in the God of the Bible.
Truly a nation like this groped for God, found Him and gave Him much glory. They even sang hymns that boldly called upon God to bless America and time and time again prominent leaders and politicians would end their speeches with the refrain, “God bless America.” While America is a clear example of what God will do with a people that honors Him, much of the world today is a clear example of what happens when nations reject Him and opt for other gods. Misery, poverty, chaos, tyranny and conflict are the result. Dr. Jedidiah Morse preached these words in 1799:
“To the kindly influence of Christianity we owe that degree of civil freedom, and
political and social happiness which mankind now enjoys. In proportion as the
genuine effects of Christianity are diminished in any nation, either through unbelief
or the corruption of its doctrine, or the neglect of its institutions; in the same
proportion will the people of that nation recede from the blessings of genuine
freedom, and approximate the miseries of complete despotism. I hold this to be a
truth confirmed by experience. If so, it follows, that all efforts made to destroy the
foundations of our holy religion, ultimately tend to the subversion also of our
political freedom and happiness. Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be
overthrown, our present republican forms of government, and all the blessings
that flow from them, must fall with them.”
How strange it is then that western nations, that once were made great by the enlightenment that biblical values brought to them, are now abandoning their foundations in favor of the godlessness of secular humanism. For instance all the Nordic countries have the Christian Cross in their flags, a reminder of their roots and values, but now they have become bastions of secularism and are drifting back into the paganism that was theirs before the fair name of Jesus reached their shores. Where the great values of the Bible are rejected, and even scoffed at, it will not be long until the darkness embraced will engulf the region in chaos.
The Nazis of Germany did not arrive in a vacuum as the preceding decades witnessed the academic world in Germany casting doubt and rejection upon the pages of scripture. Schools of liberal thought sprung up and systematically undermined the great Christian values of the Reformation and consequently a generation, ravaged by war, had no moral compass to guide its journey into the future. Hitler, an occultist schooled by the Thule Society, stepped into the vacuum and gave glory to the gods of war that once ruled the Norsemen. Their heaven was the great hall of the warrior dead known as Valhalla and so Hitler’s high ranking SS officers were invested in a deep dungeon under a castle in an attempt to identify with this dark shadowy world. They honored and loved war and were determined to wage it. Consequently millions died on the altar of this wicked and savage underworld.
The same is true of the Soviet Union; the Marxist Communists rejected the God of the Bible and persecuted those who followed Him. Once again, having abandoned a proven moral compass they glorified violence and brutality and Stalin systematically murdered more people than Hitler. Countless millions died in his purges and he goes down in history as one of the most evil men that ever lived. By contrast the most successful nations are those that have embraced the Bible and its message but this is rapidly changing. We are witnessing the rapid paganization of the Christian world and with it the plunge toward lawlessness and chaos. Jesus warned of this when He said, ” And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.” (Matthew 24:12)
Paul was clear about the fact that the God of the Bible sets the boundaries and the times of nations in order that they should seek Him, grope for Him and find Him. Indeed, he declares, God is close to us and can be found and that He reveals Himself to the world in Jesus of Nazareth. The great cathedrals and churches of Europe and elsewhere remain a silent testimony to this and we should think deeply about these things. Scripture, not for nothing, warns that shortly an individual, like that of Hitler and Stalin,will again step onto the stage of history and reject the God of the Bible and in His place affirm and honor a god of war!
“He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire
of women, nor regard any god; for he shall exalt himself
above them all. But in their place he shall honor a god of
fortresses; and a god which his fathers did not know he shall
honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant
things.” Daniel 11:27-38
We live in desperate times and we should all pray for our nations and their leaders and we should double our efforts to impact and influence our communities. We need bold faith in Jesus in these days as the the future and well being of our nations depends upon it.
Malcolm Hedding
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