National Repentance
“O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? Saith the LORD, Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in Mine hand, O house of Israel”. Jeremiah 18:6
The subject of yesterday’s blog was how God gave Jeremiah an example to show him the need to punish Judah for their idolatry and their abandonment of their Creator. Without repentance, Judah would suffer immensely at the hand of the Babylonians as God allowed. God’s promise of redemption for an individual when he or she repents and puts his or her faith in Christ is also a promise to a nation. That doesn’t mean that people in the nation who do not individually trust Christ are saved, but it indicates that if a nation, as a whole, repents and turns back to God as its sovereign and righteous ruler, then judgment will be withheld. If Judah as a nation had repented during the days of Jeremiah’s prophecy and returned to the worship of and sacrifice to the LORD God, He would have forgiven them, or as scripture states, would have “repented” of the harsh punishment that He did eventually allow to come upon them.
God has no need to “repent” as we think of repentance as the act of confessing our sins and submitting to the mercy of God. However, there is one aspect of God’s repentance that describes human repentance, that is, a “change of mind”. God can change His mind about bringing His wrath upon a rebellious people who truly repent, and humans can change their mind that once only considered “self”, but now think more like how God thinks. In other words, men and women who repent of sin come into agreement with God’s view of sin which is an egregious affront to the holiness of God Almighty.
That said, how does an entire nation repent? It begins with each individual, but usually must first begin with a nation’s leaders. The historical account of Israel, as found in the Old Testament, gives evidence that the way of a nation tends to go the way of its leaders. When Israel and Judah had righteous kings, like David or Josiah, the people, in general, would follow by ridding the land of idols and returning to the proper worship of the LORD. However, when evil kings reigned, such as Ahab or Manasseh, the people reverted to idolatry. Thus, those in positions of leadership have a great influence over the nation, but God always has a remnant of people who are loyal to Him. I suppose if it wasn’t for this remnant, the population of earth would have been wiped out a long time ago.
Our world today is filled with ungodly leaders who are supporting some of the most ungodly policies that has ever been proposed. These ungodly leaders are like the evil kings of Israel and Judah but just more subtle in their words and presentations. They are like those in scripture who call evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20). When God created the world, man, and woman, He intended that He would be worshipped, and, in turn, He would provide for Adam and Eve. As we know, they became disobedient and lost their home, their dignity, and their peace. At that point, God could have destroyed them and the world that He had made, and then created another world and another man and woman, but, to the angels in heaven, that would have looked like defeat. Like the potter did not throw away the clay of the vessel that was marred but used the same clay to make a new vessel, God gave man a second chance at life, but allowed him to experience the consequences of his sin.
From Adam and Eve, God allowed nations and kingdoms to arise, particularly Israel, who was to show the world the value in serving God. As long as they were obedient, He blessed them, providing every need. But, like Adam and Eve, they lost it all because they became rebellious, turning to idolatry. God will not bless a nation who turns against Him. Rather than blessing, He brings judgment. Matthew Henry wrote in his commentary “if there be a general decay of serious godliness among God’s people, then God will turn His hand against them, will pluck up what He was planting and pull down what He was building”. Since God’s promise was to bless His people if they were obedient and worshipped Him only, why would they think that He would not follow through on His promise to withhold blessings and, instead, administer punishment for rebellion and disobedience? Sinful pride destroys everything that it touches.
America is not God’s chosen nation, but we are a nation founded upon God’s word, originally led by men and women who sought the freedom to worship and were thankful for the blessings of liberty. Without a return to the LORD, we will lose what freedoms that we have left and face judgment by the Judge of all the earth. I just hope that our nation hasn’t gone too far into idolatry and sin to repent and turn back to the LORD. Contrary to what the Rolling Stones sang, time is not on our side.