Nations: Blessed or Cursed

The Context

1. Isaiah 60-62 is one theme – a beautiful prophecy of the Jewish Church under Messiah.
   1. Isaiah 60 begins with glorious exaltation of the Jews by Christ’s light and Gentiles.
   2. Isaiah 61 continues with a prophecy Jesus claimed Himself in Nazareth’s synagogue.
   3. Isaiah 62 continues with prayer God will fulfill the prophesied honors of this church.
2. The Jews, God’s chosen people, due to sins were chastened, destroyed, and obscured.
   1. God blessed or cursed nations depending how they treated His small, chosen church.
   2. Jerusalem was destroyed and the people taken captive in 526 B.C. by the Chaldeans.
   3. After their return by Cyrus’s decree, they were quite obscure and harshly persecuted.
3. But God promised a glory age of Messiah for them when Gentiles would flock to them.
   1. This is easily seen in chapter 60, for it has 51 second person pronouns for the church.
   2. God would return double to them for the trouble He had caused them by chastening.
   3. Jerusalem would be a praise in the earth, which was fulfilled by spiritual Jerusalem.

 

The Text

1. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.
2. Nations are blessed or destroyed in proportion to their service of Jesus Christ’s church.
   1. This warning was stated in the 40s and 50s of this prophet (Is 41:10-16; 54:15-17).
   2. The positive is an axiom of the Bible and experience (Ps 33:12; 144:15; Pr 8:12-21).
   3. The negative side is an axiom of the Bible and experience (Deut 33:29; Ps 2:10-12).
   4. God warned nations or kings that messed with His anointed people (Ps 105:14-15).
   5. God’s blessing on nations by Abraham – by faith (Gen 12:3; Acts 3:25-26; Gal 3:8).
   6. Daniel prophesied that God would set up a kingdom to destroy all others (Dan 2:44).
   7. God caused nations to yield sovereignty to papal Rome for His will (Rev 17:12-18).
3. Examples? Think in the Bible … Egypt, Philistines, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece.
4. Examples? Think after the Bible … Israel, Rome, France, Spain, Germany, Japan, etc.
5. What of prosperous haters of Christianity? Ignorant, spiritually bankrupt, insignificant.
   1. They have living standards somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 that of the United States.
   2. They have a military and international influence far inferior to that of United States.
   3. After finding them only 1/4 of the U.S. or so, you find them 100% blinded spiritually.
   4. Ignorance, superstition, idolatry, deception, or foolish traditions are worse than war.
6. America must repent to end her hatred of God, His laws, the Bible, and Bible Christians.
   1. She has been and is at the present the most powerful and wealthy nation in the earth.
   2. She is in this exalted situation, like England before, for her support of Christianity.
   3. But since she is turning against God and His religion, she must bear consequences.

 

National Greatness

1. What makes a nation great? The definition of greatness and measures will affect results.
   1. Greatness includes military might, economic wealth, etc., but also includes far more.
   2. Character and conduct, moral and religious, issues are superior to might and money.
   3. Consider God’s premium in the Bible on justice, righteousness, truth, wisdom, etc.
   4. Consider the truth of Jehovah, creation, salvation, revelation, kingdom, wisdom, etc.
   5. The legal system, educational system, opportunities for all, marital happiness, etc.
   6. Individual liberty under his own vine and fig tree is national prosperity (I Kgs 4:25).
   7. Individual liberty is from the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:12-17; Romans 13:8-10).
   8. U.S. opportunities in height and breadth are unequalled in the history of the world.
2. The world continues to invent new measures of greatness to satisfy depraved ignorance.
   1. Equality in income is not greatness, for men are not equal by ability or opportunity.
   2. Happiness is man’s subjective measure of contentment with folly by foolish persons.
   3. Equality is not a measure of greatness … observe Israel on its best days … with slaves.
   4. Nations foolishly think abortion, sodomy, and transgenders good (Romans 1:18-32).
   5. They think teaching evolution rises to a new level of knowledge (Romans 1:18-32).
3. Even lip service for Jehovah helps – nations given to idolatry are doomed for insanity.
   1. The Assyrian immigration policies found that lip service works (II Kings 17:24-33).
   2. Ahab, without genuine repentance, was spared for cleaning up a little (I Kgs 21:29).
   3. Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus were blessed for lip service (Dan 4:36-37; Ezra 1:1-4).
   4. Nineveh was saved 160 years with only outward repentance (Jonah 3:10; 4:1-4,11).
   5. Jonah and Nineveh (slides) … https://letgodbetrue.com/sermons/index/year-2018/jonah/.
4. Keeping God’s rules in the Bible e.g. child disciple will work for even pagan nations.
   1. Nations that have a higher saving rate than others should have capital for expansion.
   2. Nations that have more severe punishment of criminals will usually have less crime.
   3. Nations with better sanitation and hygiene will be healthier than the nations without.
5. Why are Catholic nations poorer than neighbor Protestant nations? Easy (Rev 17:1-6).
   1. They have been given over to superstitious blindness to believe lies (II Thes 2:9-13).
   2. Their abominable heresies require rejection of simple science and of common sense.
   3. They are guilty of the blood and lives of martyrs, so vengeance comes (Rev 6:9-11).
6. The Bible teaches that some aspects of humanism are more destructive than others.
   1. God has declared His vengeance against nations teaching evolution (Rom 1:18-32).
   2. God has declared vengeance against unthankfulness (Rom 1:18-32; Deut 28:46-47).
   3. He winked at ignorant superstition, but now expects full repentance (Acts 17:22-31).
7. God can and will blind nations that reject truth of creation, providence, conscience, etc.
   1. He deprived the ostrich of wisdom (Job 39:13-18), and He boasted to Job about it.
   2. He deprives men of wisdom also, and He boasts of it (Rom 1:18-32; II Thes 2:9-12).
   3. He mocks idolaters as being no wiser than the stupid idols they adore (Ps 115:1-8).
   4. American Indians never invented a wheel, a number system, an alphabet, a city, etc.
   5. Eastern Indians bathe in the Ganges’ sewage and starve to protect reincarnated cattle.
   6. Author of Confusion … https://letgodbetrue.com/sermons/index/year-2002/is-god-the-author-of-confusion/.
8. National greatness depends on acknowledging the only true and living God – Jehovah.
   1. Lip service to some god is totally inadequate, for Allah is no God, but Jehovah is.
   2. Love of God’s house leads to prosperity, for God’s house is His worship (Ps 122:6).
   3. Love of God’s word and wisdom leads to great blessings of all kinds (Pr 8:12-21).
   4. Love of His people leads to prosperity, for they are His children (Gen 30:27; 39:5).
9. National greatness is seen by political, economic, and other angles in Solomon’s works.
   1. Inventive genius and capital leverage are straight from the Bible (Prov 8:12; 14:4).
   2. Adam Smith is hailed as a genius for Wealth of Nations 3000 years after Solomon.
   3. Inventive Genius is from God … https://letgodbetrue.com/proverbs/index/chapter-8/proverbs-8-12/.
   4. Capitalism crushes Communism … https://letgodbetrue.com/proverbs/index/chapter-14/proverbs-14-4/
   5. Solomon’s Proverbs for Politics … https://letgodbetrue.com/proverbs/index/proverbs-by-topic/politics/.
   6. Solomon’s Proverbs for Money … https://letgodbetrue.com/proverbs/index/proverbs-by-topic/money/.
   7. Ecclesiastes for Philosophy … https://letgodbetrue.com/sermons/index/year-2019/ecclesiastes-outline/.
10. God’s providence is constantly working for the advantage of His people over all others.
    1. God transfers wealth from bad to good men (Pr 13:22; 28:8; Job 27:16-17; Ec 2:26).
    2. Even when a nation invents something, God lets His people benefit (II Sam 1:18).
    3. The boundaries of all nations was set by God looking out for Israel (Deut 32:8).

 

Blessings of Wisdom

1. King Solomon by inspiration left a long list of the blessings and rewards of true wisdom.
   1. He introduced wisdom, extended an offer to all, and exalted its value (Prov 8:1-11).
   2. He listed the varied benefits of wisdom for kings, nations, and all men (Pr 8:12-21).
   3. He exalted its value by God’s use of it in the creation of the universe (Prov 8:22-31).
   4. He concluded by stating the great difference of having or not having it (Pr 8:32-36).
   5. He did all this by an extended personification of wisdom as a woman offering help.
   6. He exalted wisdom over all desirable things, bringing God’s favor (Pr 8:11,32-35).
   7. He then warned that to violate or hate wisdom is to bring certain death (Prov 8:36).
   8. These ten verses are an incredible description of benefits of God-defined wisdom.
   9. Wisdom = power of right judgment = applied moral genius for perfect solutions.
   10. Extended commentaries on all 36 verses … https://letgodbetrue.com/proverbs/index/chapter-8/.
2. This list could be studied exhaustively, but we will provide only brief descriptions here.
   1. Prudence … the best way to do things for maximum efficiency, safety, utility, value.
   2. Knowledge … harness science (knowledge) to do new things by creative application.
   3. Witty inventions … creative scientific tools to do more better, cheaper, easier, faster.
   4. Fear of the LORD … foundational regard-reverence for God Jehovah and His will.
   5. Hate evil … moral compass and commitment to despise and avoid all God condemns.
   6. Hate pride … embrace humility and modesty to abhor all pretentious self-admiration.
   7. Hate arrogancy … meekness to despise all real or implied claims to dignity or ability.
   8. Hate the evil way … upright choice to resent any or all sinful compromise in conduct.
   9. Hate the froward mouth … a pure heart that abhors any naughty or wicked speech.
   10. Counsel … ability to communicate knowledge, understanding, and wisdom to others.
   11. Sound wisdom … perfect, robust, and thorough wisdom without defect or corruption.
   12. Understanding … correct perception of reality and truth without distortion or error.
   13. Strength … ability and power to perform as needed and to resist any contrary efforts.
   14. Kingly rule … ability of monarchs, absolute rulers to govern all for perfect outcomes.
   15. Princely justice … legislative knowledge and creativity to promote maximum equity.
   16. Princely rule … dedicated loyalty of lesser officers to a king’s vision in all decisions.
   17. Nobility rule … ability of self-supported officers to apply limited authority perfectly.
   18. Wise judges … superior perception, knowledge to sort facts, testimony to apply law.
   19. Love wisdom … direct affections to the highest means, good, and goals in universe.
   20. Seek early … set priority to acquire wisdom against scarce resources, especially time.
   21. Wealth … wisdom applied right brings success and productive efforts for prosperity.
   22. Honor … good reputation held by others and rewards given by others for excellence.
   23. Durable wealth … riches gained by honest effort and righteous integrity will remain.
   24. Righteousness … doing right as Jehovah taught in Bible is highest standard of virtue.
   25. Better than gold … the combined benefits here are superior to gold or other riches.
   26. Better than fine gold … no matter how well refined, even to 24k, wisdom excels gold.
   27. Better than choice silver … wisdom trumps this precious metal, even the best silver.
   28. Directed righteousness … wisdom finds the right way and holds it for men to follow.
   29. Discriminating judgment … wisdom weighs all angles and aspects for right justice.
   30. Substance … the result of wisdom is real wealth of all kinds to enhance human life.
   31. Treasures … accumulated wealth by rightly using wisdom will exceed expectations.

 

Comparing Nations

1. God exalts national comparisons and contrasts for differences He makes (Mal 1:2-5)!
   1. He told Rebekah that Jacob’s nation would be stronger than Esau’s (Genesis 25:23).
   2. Observance of God’s word will exalt a nation over envious neighbors (Deut 4:6-8).
   3. God despises wicked nations and sent Israel to waste them in Canaan (Deut 9:4-5).
   4. God loved His people and would exalt them over all other nations (Deut 26:18-19).
   5. God promised to reduce Egypt to a base and the basest kingdom (Ezek 29:14-15).
2. It is not wrong to compare or mock nations for character deficiencies, though unpopular.
   1. Paul used a Cretian poet to warn about the character of the men there (Titus 1:12).
   2. Paul told Athens it was too superstitious, and Luke mocked them (Acts 17:21-22).
3. Nations may be compared by any measure, but eventually it must be by God’s measures.
   1. Let us compare the large nations on earth with the best reputations outside America.
   2. Small nations can have special niches and acquire a measure or two of superiority.
   3. The main nations we should measure are Germany, Russia, India, China, and Japan.
   4. England and Australia are comparable to America in some ways, but still inferior.
4. America measured by most ideas wins; America measured by God is uniquely superior.
   1. Cars per 1000 … G=561; R=381; I=176; C=181; J=615; USA=838 … quality, size.
   2. Baptists % of population … G=0; R=1%; I=0%; C=1%; J=0%; USA=15%.
   3. Japan is still down 50% in their stock market from their high 31 years ago. Wow!
   4. China is still down 55% in their stock market from their high 5 years ago. Wow!
   5. America had a terrible pandemic lockdown, but is only down 15% from 3 mo. ago.
   6. Even England could not give up a state church and still has one, though a formality.
   7. Spiritual emphasis … excluding pagan idolatry or insane hallucinations like Islam.
   8. Square feet per capita … 4x Russia …2x Germany … 2x Japan … 4x China … 8x India.
   9. Price of gasoline … Japan 3x … Germany 3x … China 2x … India 2x … Russia same.
   10. Military power … there has been no comparison for a hundred years … China closes.
   11. Everyone wants the America buck far more than the Russian ruble or Chinese yuan.
   12. The history of a nation’s currency and its international respect says much of a nation.
   13. Conduct in war varies greatly from benevolent mercy to violent rape and destruction.
   14. S. war casualties are nothing compared to other nations though bearing the brunt.
   15. GDP per capita is a rough measure of personal income for comparison of nations.
   16. The extent of Christianity in a nation and/or persecution of it says much of nations.
   17. The extent of an empire, like the British Empire, also says much of God’s blessings.
   18. Reputation in the world says much – do people want to immigrate or emigrate?
   19. Wealth per person – saved wealth … 7x China, 30x India, 2x Japan/Ger, 16x Russia.
   20. Compare billionaires and Bibles per capita, there will be some correlation. Glory!

 

America’s Greatness

1. It is simply and primarily the degree of Christianity, righteousness, truth, and wisdom.
   1. Christianity is Bible Christianity, including Protestants, against Roman Catholicism.
   2. Righteousness is character and conduct as defined and approved by the word of God.
   3. Truth is the breadth and depth of Bible knowledge known and confessed by a nation.
   4. Wisdom is that character and conduct taught by God and Solomon in his Proverbs.
2. Men have invented false ideas of America’s greatness in an effort to promote agendas.
   1. Fundamentalists and Dispensationalists say it is due to befriending the state of Israel.
   2. But God counts reprobate Jews – Ashkenazi or Sephardi – the synagogue of Satan.
   3. The NEA, PTA, and those of like persuasion say it is due to our educational system.
3. Think of just a few measures in addition to those comparison measures listed above.
   1. Speed of greatness … unbelievable … from nothing … to unprecedented superpower.
   2. Lack of idolatry or superstition of many others e.g. Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.
   3. Bill of Rights – freedom of religion, right to assemble … totally against state church.
   4. Freedom for a crazy Baptist church to be totally contrary to government – Westboro.
   5. Nation established with formal and definite hatred of the Catholic church and pope.
   6. Protection of individual liberty and personal rights like no other (Romans 13:8-10).
   7. Innocent until proven guilty; disappointing justice only confirms future protection.
   8. Pledge, coinage, and public prayer to the God of the Bible, which was never Allah.
   9. Tax deductible gifts to churches, which means Uncle Sam subsidizes Jesus’ church.
   10. Special provisions for ministers of the gospel under the tax laws of the government

 

Bible Evidence God Rules Nations

1. The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil (Prov 16:4).
2. Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee (Jer 10:7).
3. When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel (Deut 32:8).
4. And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation (Acts 17:26).
5. He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD (Ps 147:19-20).
6. Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness (Ac 14:17).
7. Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places (Deut 33:29).
8. The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will (Proverbs 21:1).
9. And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding (Dan 2:21).
10. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever (Dan 2:44).
11. This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men (Daniel 4:17).
12. And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou (Dan 4:34-35)?
13. That they may offer sacrifices of sweet savours unto the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons (Ezra 6:10).
14. Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of the God of heaven: for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons? (Ezra 7:23).
15. Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces. Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us (Isaiah 8:9-10).
16. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him (Psalm 2:10-12).
17. Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church (Eph 1:20-22).
18. And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood (Rev 1:5).
19. And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father (Rev 2:26-27).
20. If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them … (Lev 26:3).
21. But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commands … (Lev 26:14).
22. 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 (Deut 28:1).
23. 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 (Deut 28:15).

 

Bible Rules of National Greatness

1. When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel (Deut 32:8).
2. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance (Psalm 33:12).
3. Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD (Psalm 144:15).
4. Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people (Proverbs 14:34).
5. Righteousness keepeth him that is upright in the way: but wickedness overthroweth the sinner (Pr 13:6).
6. And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes (Gen 18:26).
7. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed (Genesis 12:3).
8. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed (Gal 3:8).
9. Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities (Acts 3:25-26).
10. Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall (Pr 16:18).
11. Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled (Isaiah 10:33).
12. 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 (Deut 28:1).
13. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people (Deut 4:6).
14. Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake. 16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. 17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD (Is 54:15-17).
15. She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her (Prov 3:15).
16. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it (Prov 8:11).
17. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding (Prov 4:7).
18. And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding (Job 28:28).
19. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel (Ex 19:5-6).
20. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) (II Cor 4:18; 5:7).
21. I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour (I Tim 2:1-3).
22. Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity (Dan 4:27).
23. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon; Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace (Jer 29:4-7).
24. If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land (II Chron 7:14).
25. Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened (Rom 1:21).
26. And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them (Deut 28:13).

 

Bible Rules of National Destruction

1. The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God (Psalm 9:17).
2. A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein (Ps 107:34).
3. And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants (Lev 18:25).
4. Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, spue you not out (Lev 20:22).
5. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death (Prov 8:36).
6. Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin (Heb 3:12-13).
7. He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD (Psalm 147:19-20).
8. Perilous times are not what nations fear but what they should fear (II Tim 3:1 – 4:4).
9. I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan (Rev 2:9).
10. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee (Rev 3:9).

 

Specific Destruction of Nations

1. For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the LORD thy God thrice in the year (Ex 34:24).
2. And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven (Ex 17:14).
3. And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul (Psalm 106:15).
4. When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died (Hosea 13:1).
5. And I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their habitation; and they shall be there a base kingdom. It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations (Ezek 29:14-15).
6. And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away (Zech 10:11).
7. And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee (Deut 28:37).
8. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations (Jer 25:12).
9. Judgment on Judah and its king for shaking hands with Nebuchadnezzar but not keeping his promise (Ezek 17:11-17).
10. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation (Luke 19:43-44).

 

Quotations of Politicians and Statesmen

 

Moses … Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?

 

David … Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance…. Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.

 

Solomon … Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people…. Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

 

George Washington … It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible. Do not let anyone claim to be a true American if they ever attempt to remove religion from politics.

 

John Adams … The Bible is the best book in the world. It contains more of my little philosophy than all the libraries I have seen. So great is my veneration for the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectable members of society. I have for many years made it a practice to read through the Bible once every year.

 

Thomas Jefferson … I have always said and always will say that the studious perusal of the Sacred Volume will make better citizens, better fathers, better husbands… the Bible makes the best people in the world.

 

James Madison … We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We’ve staked the future of all our political institutions upon our capacity … to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.

 

John Quincy Adams … My custom is to read four or five chapters of the Bible every morning immediately after rising… It seems to me the most suitable manner of beginning the day… It is an invaluable and inexhaustible mine of knowledge and virtue.

 

Andrew Jackson … The Bible is the Rock on which this Republic rests.

 

Abraham Lincoln … I am profitably engaged in reading the Bible. Take all of this book upon reason that you can and the balance by faith, and you will live and die a better man. I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good of the Savior of the world is communicated to us through the Book. But for this Book we could not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man’s welfare, here and hereafter, are to be found portrayed in it.

 

Ulysses S. Grant … Hold fast to the Bible as the sheet-anchor of your liberties; write its precepts in your hearts and practice them in your lives. To the influence of this book we are indebted for all the progress made in true civilization, and to this we must look as our guide in the future. Righteousness exalteth a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people.

 

Herbert Hoover … The whole inspiration of our civilization springs from the teachings of Christ and the lessons of the prophets. To read the Bible for these fundamentals is a necessity of American life. The study of the Bible is a post-graduate course in the richest library of human experience.

 

Theodore Roosevelt … A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education. Almost every man who has by his life-work added to the sum of human achievement of which the race is proud has based his life-work largely upon the teachings of the Bible.

 

Calvin Coolidge … The foundations of our society and of our government rest so much on the teachings of the Bible, that it would be difficult to support them, if faith in these teachings should cease to be practically universal in our country.

 

Woodrow Wilson … When you have read the Bible, you know it is the word of God, because it is the key to your heart, your own happiness, and your own duty. I have a very simple thing to ask of you. I ask every man and woman in this audience that from this day on they will realize that part of the destiny of America lies in their daily perusal of this great Book (the Bible). A man has deprived himself of the best there is in the world who has deprived himself of this (a knowledge of the Bible).

 

Harry Truman … The fundamental basis of this nation’s law was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teaching we get from Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiah and St. Paul. I don’t think we emphasize that enough these days. If we don’t have the proper fundamental moral background, we will finally end up with a totalitarian government which does not believe in the right for anybody except the state.

 

Ronald Reagan … Of the many influences that have shaped the United States into a distinctive nation and people, none may be said to be more fundamental and enduring than the Bible. Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face.

 

Benjamin Franklin … Young man, my advice to you is that you cultivate an acquaintance with, and a firm belief in, the Holy Scriptures. This is your certain interest.

 

John Jay … In forming and settling my belief relative to the doctrines of Christianity, I adopted no articles from creeds but such only as, on careful examination, I found to be confirmed by the Bible.

 

Daniel Webster … I have read it through many times. I now make a practice of going through it once a year. It is a book of all others for lawyers as well as divines. I pity the man who cannot find in it a rich supply of thought and rules of conduct. If there is anything in my thoughts or style to commend, the credit is due to my parents for instilling in me an early love of the Scriptures. If we abide by the principles taught in the Bible, our country will go on prospering and to prosper; but if we and our posterity neglect its instructions and authority, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity. If truth be not diffused, error will be; if God and His Word are not known and received, the devil and his works will gain the ascendancy; if the evangelical volume does not reach every hamlet, the pages of a corrupt and licentious literature will; if the power of the Gospel is not felt throughout the length and breadth of the land, anarchy and misrule, degradation and misery, corruption and darkness will reign without mitigation or end.

 

Noah Webster … The Bible is the chief moral cause of all that is good, and the best corrector of all that is evil in human society; the best book for regulating the temporal concerns of men, and the only book that can serve as an infallible guide to future felicity.

 

Robert E. Lee … The Bible is a book in comparison with which all others in my eyes are of minor importance, and which in all my perplexities and distresses has never failed to give me light and strength.

 

W.H. Seward … The whole hope of human progress is suspended on the ever growing influence of the Bible. I do not believe human society, including not merely a few persons in any state, but whole masses of men, ever have attained, or ever can attain, a high state of intelligence, virtue, security, liberty, or happiness without the Holy Scriptures; even the whole hope of human progress is suspended on the ever-growing influence of the Bible.

 

William Gladstone … I have known ninety-five of the world’s great men in my time, and of these eighty-seven were followers of the Bible. The Bible is stamped with a Specialty of Origin, and an immeasurable distance separates it from all competitors.

 

Queen Victoria … Tell the prince that this (a Bible) is the secret of England’s greatness.

 

General John J. Pershing … I am glad to see that every man in the army is to have a Testament. Its teachings will fortify us for our great task.