Here is a question you may not have thought about. “Does God reward good behaviour?” I’m not referring to the reward of individuals in heaven; I am relating this question to countries and nations. In other words does God reward and bless a nation which takes His laws seriously, or doesn’t it matter how a nation behaves?The Bible gives an emphatic answer. Many passages of the Bible show that just as God rewards individuals in the next life, He likewise blesses nations or countries that follow Him. Perhaps it doesn’t need to be stated but of course the reverse is also true – ie God withdraws His blessing and protection proportionate to how far a nation ignores His laws. Many sections of Scripture teach this eg Psalm 107:34 “a fruitful nation will become impoverished because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it.” Proverbs 14:34 “righteousness will exalt a nation but wickedness will destroy a people,” and of course there is the whole of Deuteronomy 28 which lists one example after another explaining the practical problems and troubles that will befall any nation or society that rejects the laws of God.
Our country is lurching from one crisis to another and it is not difficult to recognize that God is neither blessing our nation nor protecting it. The following sad statistics perhaps highlight some of the reasons why:
‘Britain has the worst record in Europe (excluding Ireland) for pilfering.’ (5/10/05)
‘Britain is now the card fraud capital of Europe.’ Classic FM Radio (21/11/06)
‘Britain is the single parent capital of the world.’ Daily Telegraph (23/3/05)
‘London is the abortion capital of the world.’ Evening Standard (7/8/07)
‘Britain’s youngsters are the most destructive in Europe.’ Classic FM Radio
‘Britain has one of the highest rates in the world of youngsters dropping out of education’
‘Britain has the highest rate of school truancy since records began.’ (21/9/05)
Between 1969 and 2005 an average of one church closed down every 8 days!
How can a righteous God bless and protect a nation which clearly wants nothing to do with Him, His church or the Ten Commandments He gave? Our society has lost touch with the reality of sin and the consequences it brings. For some this may seem an old fashioned message – a message that sits uncomfortably with their own personal agenda of ‘me first selfishness’ but to such people I would ask the following “if liberalism is so good, why is everything going bad?”
Our country is now developing an unprecedented level of debt, but more borrowing and spending cannot fix the problems caused by too much borrowing and spending! Money will not save us. Our national salvation lies instead in addressing the spiritual crisis which is the root cause of our national ills. A sane, spiritual revival which changes the hearts and minds of our people is what is really needed!
There is a famous incident which occurred during the reign of Queen Victoria which illustrates this. On one occasion she was asked by a prince from India to explain the secret of Britain’s power. For her answer the Queen picked up a Bible from the table and said “This is the secret.” The secret was that as the nation took the laws of God seriously and people applied the Commandments to their own personal lives, God’s blessings flowed.It is easy to forget just how great Britain was and how recently. At the turn of the 20th Century our wealth and power was unmatched. Our country was the world’s number one or two producer of petroleum, coal, steel, pig iron, gold and every other precious metal. The Royal Navy, by law larger than the world’s next two largest navies combined, provided a presence around the globe. We made sure we were reliant on no other country for defence! At its peak The Royal Navy had almost 900 warships. Currently we have 22 and only a third of these can operate at any one time.
Our once prized military self sufficiency in arena after arena has gone – we are forced to trust on the goodwill of other nations for our military needs. Put another way we now rely on other countries for our defence and liberty. People may hold various views about Britain’s past but this doesn’t change the fact that a country which not long ago governed one out of every four people on the planet, is now having trouble governing its own children and has become a fractious nation full of infighting! Our society has done away with God’s “thou shalt nots” which were intended for our benefit and blessing and the consequences of this rejection can be seen all around us. These consequences are outlined in detail in chapter 2 of ‘A call to the Nation’ which can be downloaded free from this website.
As uncomfortable as it may be, what we need to hear loudly and clearly are hard truths about repentance and living a life that is pleasing to God. As Abraham Lincoln stated, “It is the duty of nations as well as of individuals, to recognize their dependence upon the overruling power of God, and to acknowledge the sublime truth taught in Holy Scripture and proven by all history that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.”
I urge you to pray for our nation and that closed minds may be opened. The following prayer was written by Thomas Jefferson, a former President of America. It is a useful guide regarding how we should pray.
A prayer for the nation
Almighty God, Who has given us this good land for our heritage, we beseech Thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of Thy favour and glad to do Thy will . Bless our land with honourable industry, sound learning and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord and confusion; from pride and arrogance and from every evil way. Defend our liberties and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endow with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in Thy name we entrust the authority of the government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that through obedience to Thy law, we may show forth Thy praise among the nations of the earth. In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness and in the days of trouble, suffer not our trust in Thee to fail.
