When Debauchery Rules A Nation, God’s Hand Is Removed

Word-Of-The-Day: ‘(14) <God said to the Israelites>,“But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, (15) and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, (16) then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and sap your strength. You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it. (17) I will set my face against you so that you will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you. (18) If after all this you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over.”’ (Leviticus 26:14-18)

Leviticus 26 sets up first, from God Himself, rewards for obedience to God’s Word, then consequences for disobedience that violates God’s commands.  Leviticus 26:14-18 is a classical ‘if/then’ statement, if the people reject God’s commands and violate His Word, then there will be consequences that God will allow to happen to the people that will punish them.

We humans often have the mindset that God punishes individuals who do evil, and while He certainly can and has done that, He often allows the evil doers to live out their lives without repercussions, as they will eventually be judged and punished for their actions against Him in eternity.  The people or nation who go against God, however, are seen throughout the Bible as being punished by God.  This punishment, though, is not necessarily directly from God as much as it is God’s hand of protection and blessings being removed from them.  Their own actions against God’s Word bring the calamity that befalls them. 

Old Testament Israel would go against God, worshipping idols and money and concerned more about ‘greed for me’ than helping others, and depravity and debauchery for self-pleasure overwhelmed the people, and brought famine, pestilence, and a collapse and conquest of their nation – several times.

Today in our world and our nation the United States have similarities to Old Testament Israel.  The greed of money and self-pleasure has brought a plague, COVID, to hit our nation that continues to hit us in waves.  Greed has brought over-farming of the land reducing crop yields; along with calls to reduce farmlands due to ‘climate change’, shortages of food have happened in cycles and are predicted to be widespread in the future.  Our nation has fallen into a place of where deviant sex is practiced in our Capitol, taught in our public schools, and regarded as ‘artistic’ by our President and his family.  Our military, once strong, is now weak with ‘woke’ policies, and our troops, without discipline or effective leadership, openly and publicly deride its physical standards as being too tough for them – though the standards are less stringent now as they were 30 years ago.

We as a people are straying further from God and His commandments to follow Him, and should not be surprised that His hand is removing itself from us.  However, like Hezekiah and his leadership returning Israel to God, it is not too late for us to do the same.  We who are Christian need to light the fuse to get the United States back on track by obeying Jesus’ Great Commission, to go make disciples who will follow Him.  Ensure accountability in our elected officials at all levels – from school board members to the President himself – to obey and follow the decrees of the Lord and the US Constitution, not to allow those who place ‘but’ statements in their platforms, those things that oppose God’s precepts, in office. 

The tolerance of evil has been allowed too long by the Christian.  Too many Christians for too long have not gotten ‘involved’; don’t fight to get out of jury duty, or ignore the town hall meetings of the school board or city commissioners – go and let your voice be heard.  If you see a crime, take note and volunteer as a witness.  Speak the Truth and use the Word to oppose evil speech, even if it is coming from our government.  We have been called to action by Jesus to be activists for Him, get involved or prepare for inevitable collapse that will assuredly come.