All the striving of the nations are but a wave by His hand, He raises one up and He brings down another. When there are wars and conflicts it is God who decides the outcome. It is God who increases a nations and it is He who diminishes the nations. We must not think, however, that this is an arbitrary activity designed by the whim of God (As portrayed by the Greek writers of old, Homer and Virgil in the Iliad the Odyssey and the Aeneid. These books malign the nature of the true God by making the mythical gods appear petty and arbitrary). Our God has very specific criteria for those He raises up and those He uses for a good versus an evil purpose (and this applies to the individual as well as on the national level). What is the criteria that God uses to raise a nation up or to bring them down low, to bless them or to bring on them a curse? We can find the answer to that in the book of Deuteronomy:
Deuteronomy 28:1-2 KJV 1 "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: 2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God." The lifting up of the nations is not speculative nor is it on a whim; we are clearly told in Gods word, in the book of the law that those who keep His commandments and listen closely to His word to keep it will be lifted up above all other nations and will enjoy the blessing of the Lord on their land. As you read through the first half of chapter twenty eight of Deuteronomy then you will see all the great blessings that will follow. This is encouragement for us to follow in His ways and to keep His commandments. We should pray for our nation that God would magnify His law again that we would be a people who would please Him and walk in His ways, that is the way to be lifted up above other nations. It is not a secret nor is it complicated, walk in his ways and you will be blessed.
Contrariwise, we have the other side of the spectrum where a nation is broken down and becomes cursed. Deuteronomy 28:15 KJV "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:" As you read through the remaining verses of Deuteronomy twenty eight you will see how a nation is brought down low, it is by disregarding His commandments and not listening to His words. This is the deplorable state of many nations today and therefore the entire earth is in a terrible state making the godly to long for the millennium, a reign of peace. Those of us who believe Gods word are moved to pray for our nation that God would bring a revival that will make His Word honorable again; that we would please Him with godly judgments and godly laws to govern us. The primary example is walking in his ten commandments and keeping His judgments and statutes but also that all our laws that govern us civily would be laws that bring Him pleasure and not displeasure.
O' God, forgive our sin and heal our broken land!
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