The Last Straw

Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.
Proverbs 14:34

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In 2 Chronicles 7:14, we have seen that God promises to remove His curse from the people and from their land when they repent of their sin. This aspect of God’s providence, that the curse can be taken away, builds upon the precepts originally given to Israel in the book of Deuteronomy:

Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you today; and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.
Deuteronomy 11:26-28 (NKJV)

So whereas Moses warned the people that their disobedience would invoke God’s wrath, in the promise given to Solomon we are reminded that God does not rush to judgment. On the contrary,
there is a path that leads to final judgment…and that path can be changed.

Once again, it’s important to remember that repentance does not somehow win back God’s favor—for His blessings are never earned—rather, the point is that “the wages of sin is death.” Hence,
in order to avoid God’s disfavor—which happens to be the only thing we can truly earn from God—we must turn away from our sin. Unfortunately for the Israelites, though, judgment was something they became all too familiar with because they were rarely willing to acknowledge that they were heading in the wrong direction. Even though the signs of their decline—and God’s displeasure—were clear, they simply refused to change course.

So what does this mean to us today? For one thing, knowing that God is patient with our sin should greatly encourage us. Because just as the father of the prodigal son stood watching and waiting for his son to come home, we know that God has promised to forgive us when we admit and turn from the error of our ways—He wants to restore us, not to condemn us. Nevertheless, as long as this country persists upon our “prodigal” wanderings in a far-off land we should not expect revival to come.

If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
Psalm 66:18

In fact, if we continue on our present course, what we should expect is God’s discipline, and ultimately His judgment. Why? Because just as Israel’s refusal to keep God’s commandments brought judgment upon the nation, our disobedience incurs His wrath today. So if we are wise, we will learn from Israel’s mistakes.

Mirror, Mirror…

In virtually every instance where God proclaims final judgment upon the nation of Israel, His indictment focuses upon the disobedience of the nation’s rulers. Whether you look in Isaiah:

Israel’s watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they lie around and dream, they love to sleep. They are dogs with mighty appetites; they never have enough. They are shepherds who lack understanding; they all turn to their own way, each seeks his own gain.
Isaiah 56:10-11

or Jeremiah:

An astonishing and horrible thing has been committed in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power; and My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?
Jeremiah 5:30-31 (NKJV)

or Zephaniah:

Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled! She obeys no one, she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the Lord, she does not draw near to her God. Her officials are roaring lions, her rulers are evening wolves, who leave nothing for the morning. Her prophets are
arrogant; they are treacherous men. Her priests profane the sanctuary and do violence to the law.
Zephaniah 3:1-4

Indeed, whenever disregard for God reached the point where both the civil and religious authorities abandoned even the pretense of obedience, He simply cleaned house. Furthermore, the “last straw” always seemed to be the dishonesty and irreverence of the nation’s religious leaders. Before rushing to place all of the blame upon Israel’s leaders, though, turn to the book of Ezekiel:

“Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.

“Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain. 

“Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says’—when the Lord has not spoken.

“The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the alien, denying them justice.

“I looked for a man among them who would build up a wall and stand before Me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none. So I will pour out My wrath on them and consume them with My fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have
done,” declares the Sovereign Lord.
Ezekiel 22:26-31

As usual, God expresses His indignation over the authorities who profane His name and lead the people astray. In addition, though, God’s condemnation of the people underscores another important principle that is all too easy to overlook: the immorality of a nation’s leaders doesn’t happen in a vacuum. In other words, the sin manifested by Judah’s leaders was as much a reflection of the wickedness in the nation as it was a contributing factor to Judah’s decline.

This is significant, because it emphasizes the implicit relationship between the corruption of a nation’s leaders and the general moral condition of the nation. After all, if the healing promised in
2nd Chronicles is a direct reflection of the renewal that has already occurred in the people’s hearts, what does it say when God’s curse is pronounced? It necessarily points to the people’s own indifference and impenitence, a condition which undoubtedly prompted them to tolerate the wickedness of their leaders in the first place: immorality is a vicious cycle.

Why is this so important? Because Israel & Judah paid a terrible price for their failure to remain faithful to God, and it should give us pause when we consider how God dealt with Israel for her spiritual infidelity. He called them to be different, to be set apart, yet over time they became increasingly like the nations around them. They gradually set aside God’s commandments and opted for the rituals, customs, and values of their neighbors instead. In the end, truth was no longer regarded as a sacred obligation, but rather became a matter of preference. Sound familiar?

Indeed, if we miss the parallels between these episodes in Israel’s history and what is happening around us today, then we are setting ourselves up for a similar fate. Do we really believe that we will be spared from the hands of our enemies? Do we think that just because we are under the “covenant of grace” we are somehow exempt from discipline and judgment? On the contrary, we are foolish if we likewise take our standing in Christ for granted:

…do not boast against the branches (Israel). But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.
Romans 11:18-21 (NKJV)

It’s a vital lesson that we need to take to heart, because as those who are “called by His name” today we have subsequently inherited the promise of healing that was first given to Israel. What we need to realize, though, is that just as revival will bring blessing to our land, so too will our growing recalcitrance lead to judgment. To put it bluntly, a faithful church may be the last bulwark standing between this nation and the outpouring of God’s wrath.

Standing in the Gap

Now I realize that this statement may sound like nothing more than “Chicken Little” howling about impending doom, especially in light of the fact that we have been conditioned to think of
ourselves—the United States of America—as the “good guys.” And I’m not about to dispute that notion, at least not in a comparative sense, because when you look around the world at other nations today, it certainly seems like there a plenty of other candidates for God’s wrath that would be higher on His “list” than we are.

More problematic, then, is our inherent assumption that since we can identify nations that are “clearly worse” than us, God will also see the disparity and therefore deal with them before He judges us. But Israel thought the same thing. So did Judah. It’s not that their basic assumption was incorrect, but their logic came up short (as will ours) because they were not using the same criteria as God to evaluate the extent of their own transgressions.

Perhaps they started judging themselves by standards of their own design, ones that allowed them to “feel good about themselves” in spite of their obvious faults. Or maybe they did know God’s standards and simply chose to ignore them, “suppressing the truth in unrighteousness” as Paul described in his letter to the Romans. Then again, maybe they simply failed to grasp the fact that their sins incurred a greater debt than those of their neighbors…because they should have known better:

That servant who knows his master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows.

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Luke 12:47-48

Whatever the reason for their miscalculations, though, Israel & Judah rationalized their sin and thereby convinced themselves that they were “better” than their neighbors. This in turn led them to the mistaken conclusion that they would be spared from judgment…at least until after God dealt with the other nations that were clearly “worse.” It was a fatal mistake that we need to learn from, because if the Israelites were not accorded a “pass” for their disobedience, neither should we expect one if things continue to degenerate in this country. In other words, God’s judgment will fall upon this nation if we fail to acknowledge the magnitude of our sin before Him.

Consider the things going on in our legislatures, courts, and even our churches across the country today. Sadly, the descriptions of Judah’s leaders that we find in Zephaniah and Ezekiel could just as easily describe our own! Every manner of sin is being tolerated and even exalted in this country, and yet we can be certain that God’s distaste for sin has not changed with time. So if our leaders are blithely heading down paths which lead this nation further away from God, whose fault is it? Certainly they are responsible for their actions and their decisions, but just as the wickedness of Judah’s leaders implicitly reflected the sin of the people, so too does the corruption of our leaders reveal our own depravity.

Make no mistake, as those who are called by His name today, it is up to each of us to “stand in the gap” today. We are ultimately responsible to hold our pastors and leaders accountable to the Word of God, for just as Israel was entrusted with the truth of God’s Law under the Old Covenant, we have likewise been entrusted with proclaiming the Gospel of Christ as revealed in the New:

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1 John 4:1

Of course, before we are able to test the spirits, we must first be grounded individually in God’s word. Otherwise, we will be unable to discern truth from lies, and we will subsequently accept any argument or teaching that sounds convincing—especially if it is cloaked in Scripture. And gradually, as small errors pave the way for larger ones, compromise will continue to chip away at the foundations of our faith until we eventually begin to call evil “good,” and good “evil.” But what does God have to say about those who do this?

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Isaiah 5:20

Shining Our Light

In the final analysis, then, any sin, weakness, or error that we perceive in our nation today can be present for only one of two reasons. On one hand, it is possible that the Body of Christ has
become so ignorant of truth that we have become incapable of keeping anyone accountable…including ourselves. Alternatively, if our knowledge of the truth is not the issue, then we simply haven’t cared enough to do much about it. Either way, the Body of Christ has abrogated its solemn responsibility to uphold righteousness, and to the extent that we see immorality gaining ground in our nation we condemn ourselves for allowing it to happen.

Don’t underestimate the significance of this! For while we are prone to look at our nation and blame its problems on the atheists who warp the Constitution to suit their own purposes, the homosexuals who manipulate the courts to advance their agenda, or the feminists who continue to fight for abortion in the name of “women’s rights,” we must first acknowledge the church’s complicity in our nation’s moral collapse. Because the most serious issue at hand is the church’s failure to reach people with the truth of the Gospel.

Now I know what you’re thinking, because clearly we cannot force people to accept Christ. Jesus said as much Himself…

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.
John 6:44

Furthermore, we know from the Old Testament that the mere proclamation of truth does not turn people’s hearts. For if that were the case, then Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the rest of the prophets would have been more successful.

The point, however, is not that the church has failed to tell people that Jesus died to be our Savior, but that we’ve stopped short of proclaiming that Jesus is also Christ the Lord. We’ve essentially
truncated the Gospel by emphasizing conversion over commitment, and by focusing on salvation as opposed to sacrifice. For even though we all like the sound of having a Savior, people start
to squirm whenever we start to talk about His authority over us. Consequently, much of the spiritual darkness that we perceive today is the natural, logical, consequence of the powerless pseudo-Gospel that the church has been offering people for years.

This may seem like a brash statement, but I challenge you to go into any bookstore and look through the titles in the “religious” section. While you will find many books that truly exalt God, there are just as many that elevate man in His place…and most of them come from pastors, priests, and bishops within the church! Therefore, since it is so easy to find “authorities” who preach salvation on one hand and self-fulfillment on the other, should we be surprised that the
world is merely turning to its own devices? Or that God is allowing us to reap the fruit of our foolish choices?

Hear, O earth: I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their schemes, because they have not listened to My words and have rejected My Law.
Jeremiah 6:19

In other words, by virtue of our willingness to compromise the entirety of the Gospel—by putting a “basket” over our light, so to speak—we have left the culture with little choice but to embrace philosophies and courses of action that are inherently godless and destructive. It’s not that we are called to change people’s hearts, but we are called to show them the light. So whenever we preach a “Gospel” that effectively reduces Jesus to a loving, gentle, savior, the church is compounding the problem…

Ironically, in many ways we have become our own worst enemy. For by focusing on telling people how to be saved from sin’s penalty without subsequently showing them their need to be freed from its power, we have essentially “dumbed-down” the Gospel. Over time, this has weakened the Body of Christ by allowing those who profess false doctrine to rise through the ranks of our denominations. The end result is a hollow form of salvation, one devoid of sacrifice or
transformation, which is why our culture continues its slide towards moral relativism—people believe they can be saved and still do things their way. Thus, until the Body of Christ recaptures the fullness of the Gospel, we have no hope of reclaiming either our denominations or our nation.

In the meantime, the proper response to our moral crisis is not to sit back and shake our heads at those who are aggressively undermining the moral fiber of our country. Nor will the solution
be found primarily in trying to beat them at their own game through the courts and the legislatures. That’s not to say that we sit back and do nothing, though, because I’m not trying to imply that political activism is wrong or unimportant. Rather, the point is that we need to make sure we are winning souls for Christ even as we win battles in our courtrooms. Because even if we succeed in enforcing moral standards through the rule of law, the victory is hollow—and will be
short-lived—if people remain lost and separated from God.

It’s a difficult proposition to be sure, for we can easily come across as pretentious and self-righteous to those who have a different viewpoint on issues of decency and morality. Consequently, we need to be sure that we’re speaking the truth in love, otherwise we’re no
better than the Pharisees who dragged the adulterous woman before Jesus. So how do we do this? How do we have compassion for and truly minister to people rather than simply beat them over the head with our Bibles? The key is found in making sure that we are each spiritually equipped to unleash the transforming power of God’s word:

Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?

You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Matthew 7:3-5

And what is the prerequisite that Jesus mentions? Before we can hope to lead others out of darkness and into the light of the Gospel, we must personally repent and deal with our own stubborn hearts! Once again we see that repentance is the key, and this admonition only underscores how important revival is to the health of our church as well as our nation. For if this country is indeed heading down the broad road that leads to destruction, the revival that flows out of the church’s repentance may be the only hope we have of changing this course.

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