A Nation and National Sins
A NATION AND NATIONAL SINS
SCRIPTURE TEXT: JUDGES 10:10-16
INTRODUCTION.
No nation ever had richer promises than Israel had. No people were ever more peculiarly blessed than they were. But those promises were made conditionally, and when Israel failed to keep her part of the contract the blessings were withdrawn. For a long time they obeyed God and remembered that they were the beneficiaries of his favor. Then they realized that they were the sheep of his pasture. But they were docile and dependent for a short time only. Soon they entered upon a career of sin, as given in this passage of Scripture. The following observations are worthy of attention concerning that career of sin.
I. WHEN ISRAEL PROSPERED, SHE SINNED.
Divinely led and settled in the land of plenty she soon forgot the hand that had guided her from the darkness of Egypt to the light of Canaan. Her prosperity was the antecedent of her sin. She became independent of the divine Shepherd. Now she was able to care for herself. How true it is that too often neither nations nor individuals can stand prosperity! The condition of the world today may be that the former light was neither appreciated nor appropriated.
Oliver Goldsmith warned his native land of the peril of prosperity that had come "in the train of commerce" when he wrote:
Ill fares the land to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates and men decay.
II. WHEN ISRAEL SINNED, SHE SUFFERED.
As sin followed her career of success, so suffering followed her course of sin. Judges 10:7 says: And the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines." The fact that she was the chosen of God did not exempt her from the inexorable law that sin always brings suffering. Her creed of the unity of God, the Judge of all the earth, who must do right, was not enough; that creed must be followed by righteous conduct. Let us remember the examples of nations like Israel, Greece, and Rome that descended because they refused to ascend with God.
III. WHEN ISRAEL SUFFERED, SHE CRIED UNTO GOD.
She made a two-fold confession: "We have sinned against Thee, for indeed, we have forsaken our God and served the Baals." Sin has two features--omission, and commission. Israel could not forget God and remain neutral. Man is a religious being and if his devotion is not Godward it will be earthward. There are nations today that have forgotten the God of heaven and have made gods of power and glory of the earth. They are worshipers of their own mighty machines built without God.
IV. WHEN ISRAEL CRIED UNTO GOD HE SPOKE TO HER.
"And the Lord said to the sons of Israel, "Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians….yet you have forsaken me and served other gods….go and cry to the gods which you have chosen.'" With a tinge of irony, he reminded them of the inadequacy of materialism. The objects of Israel's devotion were unable to save her in the hour of distress.
Nations that are putting their trust in horses and chariots will learn that same expensive lesson. The time will come when nothing will save us unless we have chosen the Christian standards. We cannot heal a spiritual disease with a physical remedy. The disease is spiritual and the cure must be spiritual. The disorder is against God and the adjustment must be from him. A materialistic philosophy cannot and will not heal a spiritual malady. The rebellion against God, and the remedy must be from him. "The primary business of Christianity is not to be providing a new program, but to be creating new men." When that is done, new and better human relationships will be established in a changed social order.
The church's business, then, is to direct men to God who hears their confessions of sin, their cries of suffering, and who offers salvation and security. May the nations of the earth in their distress cry unto God for relief and when he speaks, let them see the wisdom of obeying and following his voice.
CONCLUSION.
A high school senior, in addressing his class at commencement said this: "This country was not founded to distribute the wealth equally among its citizens. It was founded so that each citizen would have an opportunity to strive for the highest goal he felt capable of achieving.
Wealth, luxury, and security are neither inherent nor guaranteed in our system. Our people, the establishment, call it what you may, have to earn them.
This country was founded to be rid of government interference in the daily lives of the people, not to foster it. Yet our government grows larger every day.
Our country was created to reward the man with individual initiative, not to chastise or handicap him by placing an increasingly heavy burden of taxation upon his shoulders, to the point where it destroys his initiative.
Finally, our country was founded not on the premise that all men are equal, but on the premise that all men are created equal. This phrase often causes confusion.
These are the principles upon which our country was founded. It was created by practical application of these ideas, and if we are to survive, we must return to them. I would like to ask each one of you to make an individual commitment to these timeless principles, not because they are old, but because they are true.
We have seen a miracle here in the New World. The greatest experiment in self-government has produced the greatest nation ever to grace our planet. And we simply must not be swerved by those who would seek to modify the basic tenets of the American ideal.
Thus, I ask each of you to try and remember why this country was founded, why it was believed that there was a better way, and remember the concern that the men who founded this country felt for the individual, and for this freedom.
Yes, we do have many problems facing us today and tomorrow. But we shall solve them if we do not forsake our heritage."
The French statesman, Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) studied the workings of democracy in the early part of the 19th century in order to understand America's success. He then wrote: "I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there. I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her fertile fields and boundless forests and it was not there. I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her public school system and her institutions of learning, and it was not there. I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her democratic congress and her matchless constitution, and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America every ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."
As happened to Israel, it is sad to say that America has ceased to be good and therefore, America is no longer great. We must confess with the Israelites "We have sinned, do to us whatever seems good to Thee; only please deliver us this day." So they put away the foreign gods from among them, and served the Lord. Then will God hear from Heaven and heal our land.