One Nation Under God
“He makes
nations great, and destroys them;
He enlarges
nations, and disperses them.”
Job 12:23
“I do not
have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson,
Jephthah,
David, Samuel and the prophets, who
through faith
conquered (“to crush underfoot”) kingdoms,
administered
justice, and gained what was promised. . .who
became
powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.”
Hebrews
11:32-34
“He (God)
trains my hands for battle;
my arms
can bend a bow of bronze.”
David in Psalm
18:34
“When I shut
up the heavens so that there is no rain, or
command
locusts to devour the land or send a plague among
my
people, if my people, who are called by my name, will
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.”
2 Chronicles
7:13-14
“Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war my
fingers for battle. He
is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my
shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.”
David in Psalms
144:1-2
“I urge,
then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession
and
thanksgiving be made for everyone— kings
and all
those in
authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives
in all
godliness and holiness.”
1 Timothy 2:1,2
Divine Institutes
Individual
freedom
Marriage
Family
Nationalism
Each comes with a form of authority:
You are the
head of your soul and rule through self discipline
Man is the head
of woman (Ephesians 5:23; 1
Parents are the
head of the house (Col.3:20; Dt. 5:16)
Government is
the head of the nation (Rm 13:1-7; Mt. 22:21)
Revolution
Revolution against authority is never God’s plan and is
never justified by the word of God.
Aristotle wrote “Inferiors revolt in order that they may
be equals,and equals revolt
that they may be superior. Such is the
state of mind which creates revolution.
Korah’s rebellion
Numbers 16 and Jude 11
The French Revolution of 1789 and the Russian Revolution
of 1917 were mob violence used to overthrow established authority. The result was whatever evil existed was
replaced by a worse evil.
The American Revolution of 1775 was not a revolution but
an attempt to get representation for the taxation and to secure individual
freedoms for citizens (ie: from the Church of
England)
Personal Problem Solving Devices
Confession of
Sin and Fellowship with God (1 John 1:9)
Faith and trust
in God’s Promises (Heb.4:1-3)
Application of
Grace in your life (2 Cor.12:5-10)
Understanding
of God’s Word and Application of Wisdom
Realization of Destiny in God’s plan for you.
Cycles of National Discipline
Leviticus 26:14
National fear
Economic
Crime
War in your
land
Complete
overthrow
Do not worry about the symptom of the problem.
Take care of the disease, which is losing focus on God.
Failure to Fight for Nation
“If you
fail to do this (go to war), you will be sinning
against the
Lord” Numbers 32:23
They cause
discouragement in those who go to battle (Numbers 32:6,7)
Israelite
children had learned pacifism from their fathers in Numbers 32:8,9 when they listened to the 10 spies.
God becomes
angry with those who refuse to fight and defend their nation (Numbers 32:10)
The choice not
to fight is called sin. (Num. 32:23)
Turn the Other Cheek
Matthew 5:39 is in context speaking about your testimony to the
world. We are not to kill or attack to
spread our faith. Evangelism is not a
“holy war.”
Luke 22:36 Jesus tells the disciples to take a sword along
with them on their journeys for protection
Luke 11:21 Jesus speaks of protecting your home, “When a
strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and
overpowers him, he . . .divides up the spoils.”
National Freedom can only come and remain through military victory. When Jesus returns to establish his 1000 year
reign of peace it is established with a military victory. See Nehemiah 4:6-14
“I was heaven standing
open and there before me was a white horse, whose
rider is called Faithful and True.
With justice he judges and makes war.” Revelation
19:11
Based on the verse above there is such a thing as a “holy war.” We would call it a “righteous war”. A more exact term might be a “moral
war.” Jesus will make war in
righteousness while being called “faithful” to God’s plan and in line with the
“truth” of the Word of God.
1) It is moral to defend your nation from brutal
people who wish to:
a) enslave your
citizens
b) remove basic freedoms from your people
- worship of their God
- pursuit of their moral purposes in life
2) It is moral to destroy
a form of government that oppresses people and plans to spread their oppression
through out the world.
The Commandment “Though shalt
not kill” (Exodus 20:13)
This does not mean that it is a sin for men to kill other men when called
on in war or in the administration of governmental justice (Romans
13:1-7) In the same book of Exodus the law of Moses tells
when it is proper to “kill”. The word
“kill” in the ten commandments is one of several words
for “kill” in the Hebrew language. In
Exodus 20:13 “kill” refers to “murder” or the shedding of innocent blood as
mentioned in Proverbs 6:17.
Exodus 22:2 if a thief is caught
and killed by the home owner it is not murder.
It is acceptable in certain circumstances.
Exodus 21:23 the government is
to take life for life. (Notice it is the
government, and not individuals.)
Exodus 21:12 “Anyone who
strikes a man and kills him shall surely be put to death. . .take him away from
,y altar and put him to death.”
“Though shalt
not kill” does not refer to all killing but refers to murder.
Jesus refers to the governments responsibility of capital punishment of
criminals when Peter engaged in criminal activity and cut off a man’s ear. Jesus said, “If you live by the sword
(meaning to live as a criminal), you will die by the sword (meaning you
will face the judgment of the government, or capital punishment.)”
In Acts 25:11 Paul recognizes
the governments right to capital punishment when he
tells the gentile judicial system, “If I am guilty of doing anything
deserving death, I do not refuse to die.”
Points:
We need to be
righteous to save our nation
We need to
crush our enemies to save our nation