On this July 4th day of celebration, we remember the brave and selfless acts of those patriots who have gone before us. We reflect on the history of the United States, and we thank God for our country and the rights we have...life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Not to mention the freedoms of speech and of religion. We as a fairly young country have done some great things in our short
existence: throwing off the tyranny of a
King, defeating a dictator bent on conquering the world, and telling Socialist/Communist powers to “Tear down that wall!” proving to
other countries that Democracy and Capitalism prevail. But, we have also had our equally dark times. The way in which Native Americans were
treated and dealt with in our country's desire for resources and land. A bloody Civil War,
fought between brothers, that tore the country apart for too many years. Struggles to establish equal rights under our laws and in the minds of our countrymen for women and minorities, struggles that should not have taken so long or so much effort by so many.
Proverbs 14 34 Righteousness exalts a nation,
But sin is a disgrace to any people.
So, what kind of Nation should we strive to be as we grow
towards maturity? What is the standard a
nation is judged by? The Bible provides
a guide and a standard. God pronounces
certain cities and nations as righteous or wicked. The stories of two cities in
the Old Testament provide tales of warning and of hope. The cities are Sodom
(Sodom and Gomorrah)
and Nineveh.
Genesis 18 20 And the Lord said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. 21 I will go down now, and see if they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know.” 22 Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before the Lord. 23 Abraham came near and said, “Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? 25 Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” 26 So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account.” …32 Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once; suppose ten are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the ten.” 33 As soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham the Lord departed, and Abraham returned to his place.
Genesis 19 1 Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom …12 Then the two men said to Lot, “Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place; 13 for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” …24 Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven, 25 and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
Ezekiel 16 49 Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy. 50 Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them when I saw it.
The Bible says that the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah was great, and their sin was exceedingly grave. A question immediately comes into my mind: where did this outcry come from? Not the people of Sodom and Gomorrah obviously. It is possible that those poor and needy who were ignored cried out. Likewise, it may have been those who suffered because of the abominations that were committed. In Genesis 4:10, God tells Cain that the blood of Able was “crying out to me from the ground.” Perhaps it was something similar with the victims of Sodom and Gomorrah’s sins. The Lord did not find even 10 righteous people in the city, and the entire city was destroyed due to its wickedness and arrogance.
Jonah 1:1 The
word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for
their wickedness has come up before Me.”
Jonah 3:1 Now the
word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the
proclamation which I am going to tell you.” 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three
days’ walk. 4 Then Jonah began to go through the city one day’s walk; and
he cried out and said, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5 Then the people
of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and
put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. 6 When the word
reached the king of Nineveh,
he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with
sackcloth and sat on the ashes. 7 He issued a proclamation and it said,
“In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles:
Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or
drink water. 8 But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth; and
let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from
the violence which is in his hands. 9 Who knows, God may turn and relent
and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish.” 10 When God saw their deeds, that they
turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which
He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.
Nineveh was a
city described by God as wicked. Jonah was
sent to warn the city that in 40 days it would be overthrown. The people of Nineveh
heard Jonah’s warning and believed God.
They fasted from food and water and put on sackcloth. On hearing Jonah’s proclamation, even the
King put on sackcloth, sat in ashes, and decreed a fast for all inhabitants of Nineveh,
including the animals. The people put on
sackcloth and fasted as an outward sign of repentance. They outwardly showed their desire to turn
from their wicked ways, and inwardly, they earnestly called out to God to
forgive them. God saw their actions,
determined that they had turned, or repented, from their wickedness, and
relented on the judgment He had planned for Nineveh.
Psalm 33 12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.
On this July 4th, we need to take a moment during
the picnics and fireworks to reflect on our country’s standing with God. Does He find America
to be wicked or righteous? Are we
hearing the warnings of God’s coming judgment?
Are we responding with arrogance, or with truly repentant hearts and
minds? As Christians we need to be making
a difference in our realms of influence:
our own lives, our family, our workplace, our church, our schools, our
community, and our state.
