God Bless America
Today I read an article written by Dr. Tom Ascol entitled A Theology of Tragedy. You can read this excellent article at http://www.founders.org/blog/2006/09/theology-of-tragedy.html. This article is precise in it's biblical assertions, well written, and may stretch your theological mindset.
One question which arose while reading Dr. Ascol's article was how much had God changed me since September 11, 2001. I went back to read some of the things which I had written for publication and had preached since that awful day in our lives. What I found is that while I feel that God was definitely at work in my life and my preaching during the early days after 911, I no longer feel as inclined to state specifically that I know exactly what God's exact purpose is in anything that occurs. The article that follows was written October 5, 2001 for publication in the local newspaper. While the article continues to adequately represent my theological position, I will note in a couple of areas where my feelings have changed a degree or two.
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God Bless America
Larry W. Brown
Friday, October 5, 2001
Larry W. Brown
Friday, October 5, 2001
While driving up and down our highways, one cannot help but be impressed with the number of signs reading God Bless America. In the beginning, (immediately following 9-11) I looked at this as a signal that America was waking up to her need of God. As time has progressed, however, I have detected emptiness in this much like that of the Israelite nation as recorded in Hosea 6. Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Hosea 6:1-2 KJV.
Just like a vending machine spitting out its wares, we expect God to pour out His blessings at our beck and call. After all, He is God. And being God, He is supposed to bless us. It is in God's job description to bless His people. All we have to do is ask. Or is it?
God Desires to Bless His People
When Pharaoh and his army pursued the Israelites during the exodus from Egypt, God protected His people. Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. Exodus 14:13-14 KJV. God's hand did provide for them on that day and on many other days afterward. There was a very good reason for that. Exodus 14:10 declares that when the Israelites saw Pharaoh and his army coming after them they were very frightened and cried unto the Lord for help. They had run headlong to the sea, the place of death. Death was in front of them and death was behind them. But their trust was in the Lord and their hope was certain. God delivered them.
I do not know of an instance in the scripture where God hands out gratuitous blessings. That is not to dispute the reality that the unjust enjoy good things from God right along with the faithful but God's direct favor to a person or a nation has always come because of faith which results in our trusting Him. Paul wrote in Galatians 3:9 that they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. In 2 Chronicles 16:9, the promise is given to King Asa, who had been unfaithful to the Lord, that "the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him."
God's Blessings are Conditional
Much of the bible message can be summed up in the words, "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV. The truth is that God wants to bless America. (Looking back I don't know that I can substantiate this last statement. I may have been presuming too much about what God wants to do. The one thing that I am certain of is that it is His will to glorify His name and that He will do.) From the beginning of time, He has blessed those who would walk close to Him and obey Him. It is that close walk and obedience which is the key to blessing from God. The Power of God was manifest on behalf of Israel at the Red Sea but getting across Jordan was another story. When Israel believed the majority report of the spies who had seen the land God had promised, "the LORD was wroth, and sware, saying, Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers." Deuteronomy 1:34-35. Lack of absolute trust in God earned for these people the title "evil generation." Like the Promised Land He promised Israel, God has blessings for His people today that defy description. But as with Israel of old, God expects our total commitment to His guidance in order to realize those blessings. Deuteronomy 28:1-2 outlines the rewards Israel would receive for obedience. "And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God." Verses 3-14 fill in the details. Notice, in verse two that these blessings "shall come on thee, and overtake thee." If you are faithful, trusting and obedient, you just can't help but be blessed. (Whatever the word "blessed" actually means. Many things have happened in my life since this article was written that have taught me that "blessings" often don't take the form we imagine.) In contrast, the remainder of the chapter declares the "curses" which will "shall come on thee, and overtake thee" (the nation) for disobedience. "But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field." Deuteronomy 28:15-16 KJV. God, then, is not a vending machine who passes out his favors for every frivolous cry for His help from those who do not meet the conditions to receive his blessings.
Why should God withhold his blessings from America?
Deuteronomy 32 is a very interesting chapter, especially in light of the events of September 11 in our country. "But Jeshurun (America) waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger. They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee. And when the LORD saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters. And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith. For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them. O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up? For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges."
America is a highly secularized nation.
God Desires to Bless His People
When Pharaoh and his army pursued the Israelites during the exodus from Egypt, God protected His people. Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. Exodus 14:13-14 KJV. God's hand did provide for them on that day and on many other days afterward. There was a very good reason for that. Exodus 14:10 declares that when the Israelites saw Pharaoh and his army coming after them they were very frightened and cried unto the Lord for help. They had run headlong to the sea, the place of death. Death was in front of them and death was behind them. But their trust was in the Lord and their hope was certain. God delivered them.
I do not know of an instance in the scripture where God hands out gratuitous blessings. That is not to dispute the reality that the unjust enjoy good things from God right along with the faithful but God's direct favor to a person or a nation has always come because of faith which results in our trusting Him. Paul wrote in Galatians 3:9 that they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. In 2 Chronicles 16:9, the promise is given to King Asa, who had been unfaithful to the Lord, that "the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him."
God's Blessings are Conditional
Much of the bible message can be summed up in the words, "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV. The truth is that God wants to bless America. (Looking back I don't know that I can substantiate this last statement. I may have been presuming too much about what God wants to do. The one thing that I am certain of is that it is His will to glorify His name and that He will do.) From the beginning of time, He has blessed those who would walk close to Him and obey Him. It is that close walk and obedience which is the key to blessing from God. The Power of God was manifest on behalf of Israel at the Red Sea but getting across Jordan was another story. When Israel believed the majority report of the spies who had seen the land God had promised, "the LORD was wroth, and sware, saying, Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers." Deuteronomy 1:34-35. Lack of absolute trust in God earned for these people the title "evil generation." Like the Promised Land He promised Israel, God has blessings for His people today that defy description. But as with Israel of old, God expects our total commitment to His guidance in order to realize those blessings. Deuteronomy 28:1-2 outlines the rewards Israel would receive for obedience. "And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God." Verses 3-14 fill in the details. Notice, in verse two that these blessings "shall come on thee, and overtake thee." If you are faithful, trusting and obedient, you just can't help but be blessed. (Whatever the word "blessed" actually means. Many things have happened in my life since this article was written that have taught me that "blessings" often don't take the form we imagine.) In contrast, the remainder of the chapter declares the "curses" which will "shall come on thee, and overtake thee" (the nation) for disobedience. "But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field." Deuteronomy 28:15-16 KJV. God, then, is not a vending machine who passes out his favors for every frivolous cry for His help from those who do not meet the conditions to receive his blessings.
Why should God withhold his blessings from America?
Deuteronomy 32 is a very interesting chapter, especially in light of the events of September 11 in our country. "But Jeshurun (America) waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger. They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee. And when the LORD saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters. And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith. For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them. O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up? For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges."
America is a highly secularized nation.
We can no longer call ourselves a Christian nation in any respect. Of course, there are Christians in the nation and, as always, God has His remnant. This was true in ancient Israel and it is true today. And while there are manifold blessings for knowing God as individual Christians, when the nation suffers, all suffer. In this regard, God does not cause mans inhumanity to man, He simply does not prevent it. He has "hidden His face from us." (As I look back, I remember what I meant when I wrote the last two sentences. God withdrew His hand allowing the terrible events of 911 to occur. I believed then that God likely was involved only in a passive manner. While that may have been true, I do not have a clear window into the mind of God. What the terriosts meant for evil, perhaps God meant for good.)
According to a recent survey by the Barna Research Group only 41% of adults in America's twelve largest denominations can be classified as born again. Only about 41% of the adults surveyed believed in the total accuracy of the bible. Only forty percent believed Christ was sinless and 27% believed Satan to be real. That is the state of the twelve largest Christian groups in America and says nothing of the millions of Americans who claim no religious affiliation at all. Americans, including most Christians, are biblically illiterate. Either we have no idea what the Word of God actually has to say or we no longer care. Mainstream churches or branches of them now routinely accept homosexuality into the church. Abortion is the plague of America, differing from the Jewish Holocaust only by its immensity. Prayer and the Ten Commandments have been removed from our schools. Even conservative churches routinely accept extra-marital sex as acceptable. Drugs have become the scourge of our society, a self-inflicted wound from which there may be no recovery. There are churchmen who are telling us that God is not the God we always thought He was. According to the Open Theists of our day, He is neither omniscient nor omnipotent. He makes mistakes. He regrets His actions. His advice to His people has not always worked out. He is not the sovereign God of both the old and the New Testaments. How can God bless a society so openly hostile to Him? Our walk does not equal our talk. We have disdained knowing God in our land and yet we continue to ask for His blessings. In Hosea 6:6-7, we find God's final word: "For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me." Hosea 6:6-7 KJV.
Will God Bless America?
In great contrast to the sixth chapter of Hosea stands the fourteenth chapter. In chapter 6, the Israelites offered something less that real repentance for their sins. They gave lip service to repentance and thought God would hear them and respond just because He is God. They gave no thought to a real change in their lives. They sought God's blessings without making any commitment to Him. In chapter 14, however, there is a difference in their approach. They ask God for forgiveness of their sins, for which they are genuinely sorry. They then promise to keep their promises to God. It is as important for us to keep our promises to God as it is for God to keep His promises to us. Then they acknowledge that God is their only source of protection. Assyria cannot protect them nor can they trust their (war) horses. They get rid of the other gods in their lives. Only the God of their fathers can give them the blessings they seek.
More important that putting up signs saying God Bless America, America must go to God and seek forgiveness of sins. We must once again keep our promises to God. So much is required of us in the real work of becoming disciples. We must change the way we live and the way we think. God must be honored in our lives. When we once again know God in the way He desires, we will once again know the blessings of God. To paraphrase Hosea 14:5-7 "I will be like a dew to America, and they will blossom like a lily. Like the cedar trees in Lebanon, their roots will be firm. They will be like spreading branches and the beautiful olive trees and the sweet-smelling cedars in Lebanon. The people of America will once again live under my protection. They will grow like the grain, and they will bloom like a vine, and they will be famous as the wine of Lebanon."
According to a recent survey by the Barna Research Group only 41% of adults in America's twelve largest denominations can be classified as born again. Only about 41% of the adults surveyed believed in the total accuracy of the bible. Only forty percent believed Christ was sinless and 27% believed Satan to be real. That is the state of the twelve largest Christian groups in America and says nothing of the millions of Americans who claim no religious affiliation at all. Americans, including most Christians, are biblically illiterate. Either we have no idea what the Word of God actually has to say or we no longer care. Mainstream churches or branches of them now routinely accept homosexuality into the church. Abortion is the plague of America, differing from the Jewish Holocaust only by its immensity. Prayer and the Ten Commandments have been removed from our schools. Even conservative churches routinely accept extra-marital sex as acceptable. Drugs have become the scourge of our society, a self-inflicted wound from which there may be no recovery. There are churchmen who are telling us that God is not the God we always thought He was. According to the Open Theists of our day, He is neither omniscient nor omnipotent. He makes mistakes. He regrets His actions. His advice to His people has not always worked out. He is not the sovereign God of both the old and the New Testaments. How can God bless a society so openly hostile to Him? Our walk does not equal our talk. We have disdained knowing God in our land and yet we continue to ask for His blessings. In Hosea 6:6-7, we find God's final word: "For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me." Hosea 6:6-7 KJV.
Will God Bless America?
In great contrast to the sixth chapter of Hosea stands the fourteenth chapter. In chapter 6, the Israelites offered something less that real repentance for their sins. They gave lip service to repentance and thought God would hear them and respond just because He is God. They gave no thought to a real change in their lives. They sought God's blessings without making any commitment to Him. In chapter 14, however, there is a difference in their approach. They ask God for forgiveness of their sins, for which they are genuinely sorry. They then promise to keep their promises to God. It is as important for us to keep our promises to God as it is for God to keep His promises to us. Then they acknowledge that God is their only source of protection. Assyria cannot protect them nor can they trust their (war) horses. They get rid of the other gods in their lives. Only the God of their fathers can give them the blessings they seek.
More important that putting up signs saying God Bless America, America must go to God and seek forgiveness of sins. We must once again keep our promises to God. So much is required of us in the real work of becoming disciples. We must change the way we live and the way we think. God must be honored in our lives. When we once again know God in the way He desires, we will once again know the blessings of God. To paraphrase Hosea 14:5-7 "I will be like a dew to America, and they will blossom like a lily. Like the cedar trees in Lebanon, their roots will be firm. They will be like spreading branches and the beautiful olive trees and the sweet-smelling cedars in Lebanon. The people of America will once again live under my protection. They will grow like the grain, and they will bloom like a vine, and they will be famous as the wine of Lebanon."
May God Bless America!
posted by Larry Brown at 10:33 AM
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