by John Holbrook Jr.
A Biblical View, Blog #098 posted July 22, 2019, edited March 10, 2021.
A nation’s peace and prosperity depends on whether or not it honors God and obeys his commandments – not on any other factors, such as its internal polity and productivity or its external diplomacy and trade.
1 – God’s rules for individuals
In Genesis 1-2, God makes it very clear that he defines what is good and what is evil – not humans. Later in Exodus, he inscribes his rules for individuals (Exodus 20:1-17) on two stone tablets with his finger, and then he gives the tablets to Moses (Exodus 31:18). The rules or commandments can be divided into two groups, probably one group to each tablet:
• Commandments 1-5 govern the manner in which he expects us to relate to him: (1) we must honor and obey God; (2) we must not fabricate and worship idols; (3) we must not blaspheme or use profanities and obscenities; (4) we must observe the Sabbath, ideally congregating with others to praise him, pray to him, and attend to his Word, the Holy Scriptures; and (5) we must honor our parents because he chose them to conceive us and to exercise his authority over us as they raise us.
• Commandments 6-10 indicates the manner in which he expects us to relate to one another: (6) we must not murder one another; (7) we must not commit adultery or otherwise be sexually impure; (8) we must not steal from one another; (9) we must not bear false witness against one another; and (10) we must not covet one another’s spouse or possessions.
Humans may make the rules for chess, Parcheesi, or the Olympic Games, but we cannot change the rules that govern our treatment of God and one another.
2 – Christ’s Gospel
Our problem is that none of us can keep the above ten commandments, which explains the need for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which consists of
• The bad news that all of us are sinners and in need of an atonement for our sins which satisfies God, because the best of our intentions and good works are not sufficient to do so, and
• The good news that God will accept his Son’s death on the cross in 33 AD as sufficient atonement for our sins if we accept his Son as our Savior and Lord. Only by accepting Jesus of Nazareth, the Jewish Messiah, as our Lord and Savior can we receive the awakening of our spirits by the Holy Spirit and enjoy a righteous and eternal relationship with God.
Three points regarding the above are worth stressing:
• We have only two choices. God intends to resurrect all of us on the Last Day to either (a) an eternity in heaven with God or (b) an eternity in hell without God. There are no other alternatives.
• We cannot just act like Christians – i.e. by merely attending church, participating in its rites and rituals, and supporting it with our time, talents, and treasure.[1] We must individually undergo a change of heart, which involves (a) ruing, confessing, and repenting[2] of our sins to God and to one another when appropriate, and (b) openly acknowledging God’s sovereignty over our bodies, minds and spirits for the rest of our lives.
…if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, “Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.” For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich unto all who call upon Him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (KJ21 Romans 10:9-13)
Obvious signs of our having done so are (a) acknowledging and turning away from our previous, sinful behavior, (b) showing concern and love for others, particularly for fellow saints,[3] and (c) demonstrating love and reverence for God’s Word, the Bible.
• All of the foregoing is based on God’s promises in the Holy Scriptures, which we can trust completely because “…Scripture cannot be broken” (KJ21 John 10:35).
3 – God’s rule for nations
Now there is a startling difference between God’s rules for individuals and God’s rules for nations. He has set down ten rules for individuals, but only one rule for nations in the form of a choice between two alternatives.[4] To Israel, he said in Deuteronomy 28 – and I paraphrase – ‘If you honor me and obey my commandments, I will bless you in every respect – such as when your are coming in and when you are going out. If you dishonor me and disobey my commandments, however, I will curse you in every respect – such as when your are coming in and when you are going out.’ In other words, Israel’s well-being, both internally and externally, depends on nothing other than its treatment of God and his commandments. Since God intended that Israel be an example to the Gentile nations, his policy toward Israel applies to them as well.
4 – How should a nation honor God?
How should a nation honor God and his commandments? First, its laws should conform to his laws, prohibiting what his laws prohibit and permitting what his laws permit. Second, each public event should start with a prayer, (a) praising him for his greatness, goodness, and mercy, (b) thanking him for his past and present blessings, (c) confessing the nation’s transgressions against his laws, as and when appropriate, as well as asking for his help in avoiding such transgressions in the future, and (d) invoking his blessings on the purposes of the event about to begin.[5]
Since the early first century AD, there has been some divine clarification in what it means to honor God, which has to do with the identity of the Lord. When, just before the beginning of His ministry in 30 AD, John the Baptist baptized Jesus, a voice from heaven spoke, saying “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (KJ21 Matthew 3:16; see also Mark 1:11, and Luke 3:21). Then, during His ministry, Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (KJ21 John 14:6). Later in His ministry, when Jesus was transfigured on the mountain top, a voice out of the clouds said, “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him!” (KJ21 Matthew 17:5; see also Mark 9:2, Luke 9:28, John 35:37, and 2 Peter 1:17). Finally, after Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, Paul wrote of Him:
And being found in the fashion of a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death – even the death on the cross. Therefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in Heaven, and things in earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (KJV Phil 2:8-11 ).
Clearly, God-the-Father has indicated that honoring God and obeying his commandment means honoring and obeying Jesus, who is God-the-Son, Israel’s Messiah, Israel’s Prophet, Priest, and King, and the world’s “…blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Timothy 6:15).
* * *
Most nation’s operate on the assumption that a nation’s treatment of God has nothing to do with its peace and prosperity. Their leaders focus their attention and efforts on the following aspects of their nation’s life:
• Its relations with other nations,
• Its currency, both its issuance and its protection from counterfeiting and devaluation,
• Its defense against aggression by its neighbors, and, all too often, a bigger nation’s assault on its smaller neighbors,
• Its administration of justice by its courts,
• Its management of its commons (publicly owned land),
• Its ability to feed itself,
• Its commerce, both among its citizens and with other nations,
• Its labor force, both its fair treatment and its health,
• Its built-up areas, particularly the planning and management of its dense urban areas and its publicly owned housing,
• Its transportation systems, such as airports, bridges, canals, highways, railways, rivers, and tunnels,
• Its energy supplies,
• Its medical and retirement provisions for its citizens,
• Its education of its children,
• Its care of its veterans,
• Its safety from illegal immigrants and malevolent terrorists, etc.
All these aspects of a nation’s life[6] are important to a nation’s peace and prosperity, but how well the nation’s citizens attend to them is not the controlling factor in their outcome. God is the controlling factor. He blesses or curses their outcome based on whether or not the nation honors him and his commandments. Thus, nations ignore God at their peril. As the Bible warns us, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (KJ21 Hebrews 10:31).
Indeed, to use a naval metaphor, most nations’ leaders are doing nothing more than polishing the brass on their respective ships of state while those ships are steaming full speed ahead into harm’s way.
© 2019 John Holbrook Jr.
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[1] G.K. Chesterton is credited with observing that “Going to church no more makes you a Christian than standing in a garage makes you a car.”
[2] Turning away from….
[3] The biblical definition of a saint is a sinner who acknowledges Jesus as his or her Savior and Lord – not someone whom any church has canonized.
[4] Probably because individuals will be judged finally in eternity (or outside Universe), whereas nations are judged in time (or inside Universe).
[5] All of the foregoing were commonplace in the USA prior to the 1960s.
[6] I have enumerated the foregoing at some length because I want to stress the difference between what most man and women regard as important and what God regards as import.