WHEN GOD BLESSES A NATION

WHEN GOD BLESSES A NATION

DEUTERONOMY 28:1-14, 15-20

Posted by Mike Kintner

When you look at the landscape of America what comes to your mind?
The sobering truth is, since each of us have lived in America all of our lives, it isn’t very hard to take lightly the abundant blessings that God has blessed our land with. Yet, when we compare ourselves with any given other country, there can only be one sobering reality. We have been blessed and we have been blessed abundantly by the Lord God.

If you have a change of clothes, in comparison to many countries you are richly blessed.

If you have a change of shoes, or have shoes at all the compared to many countries you
are blessed.

If you have one meal a day, you are blessed.

If you have a roof over your head and a home to call your own you are more blessed that many peoples of many countries.

If you have one automobile, you are better off that much of the world’s population.

The fact is, there is no getting around the reality that we are not only blessed but we are immensely blessed by the Lord God. Our land has gone through the Revolutionary War, Civil War, World Wars 1 & 2, The Korean War, The Vietnam War, The Persian Gulf War, and recently the war against terrorism. And with all that has happened, this nation still stands, and not only does it still stand, but it still stands as the land that is the most desired place to be in all the world. But why? Why has God chosen to bless this land with all His riches, abundance and blessings?

1. GOD LOVES TO BLESS A LAND WHEN THERE IS A PEOPLE THAT REVERES AND OBEYS HIM.

To the nation of Israel, God made a covenant promise, and that promise was simply this. “If you fully obey all these commandments of the Lord your
God…these are the blessings that will come upon You.” It was not an accident that the nation of
Israel was blessed. Their blessings came about as a byproduct of godly people obeying the
Living Lord, and standing on truths that are timeless and eternal. Those that were blessed were
blessed because God loved them, and loved for them to worship Him. Second, they were blessed
based on the obedience of their forefathers. One of the reasons that God has blessed this land
with abundance is based on one sobering yet simple reality- many of our forefathers sought the
leadership of God in the founding and establishing of this land that we now call the United States
of America. Many presidents who have walked the corridors of the White House have been men
guided by Biblical principles, who were willing to make godly decisions in hours that were most
crucial to the life of this land.

A recent documentary disclosing the speech of former President John F. Kennedy
revealed that the last speech that he was to give (which was preempted by his assassination)
contained within it certain passages from the Bible that he would have quoted, yet his death
preempted such a speech. While this land has never been a land where most the people are
godly, or most the people are Christians, or most the people are faithful attenders of church, there
is one sobering truth about this land- we hold high the holiness and omnipotence of Almighty
God.

2. WHEN GOD BLESSES A NATION HE WILL BLESS THEM IN VISIBLE WAYS
AND HE DESIRE THE PRAISE FOR SUCH.

God made a promise to the nation of Israel.
He declared in essence that He would make their businesses and farms successful. The God that
made this promise better than 4000 years ago has not changed. When a nation worships God,
praises God, God will make it His business to bless the people who exalt him.
God made a promise then, and that promise still holds true today. When God finds a
people that will worship Him from their hearts, and will praise Him, exalt Him, and truly obey
Him, not for what they can get out of it, but because they know Him to be a good God, then He
will make it his business to bring about his blessings. We are a land that preaches and teaches
the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are a land that is willing to run to the aid of peoples that are being
abused and taken advantage of and mistreated, and God never lets that go unnoticed.
While we are not a land of majority of Christians, there is a remnant of godly people in
the land, in public office, in places that desire to make a godly impact on the land, and God will
not let that go unnoticed. Yet, God wants to praise of His people. When we have won victory in
a military battle, God wants His people to be appreciative to all the armed men who fought, but
ultimately give Him the glory for all victories. King David declared, “it is a vain thing to place
your trust in a chariot (the means of military might in his day)

3. WHEN GOD BLESSES A NATION, HE WANTS THEM TO SEE THAT THE
BLESSINGS ARE DIRECTLY FROM HIM.

God declared to the nation of Israel, that He
would be the One that would bring about the blessings, and He even named what the blessings
would be.

First, there would be the blessing of successful businesses and farms. Second, there
would be the blessing of many children. Third, there would be the blessings of large crops and
herds. Fourth, there would be the blessing of plenty. In short, God wanted His people to know
that the purpose of plenty was completely attributed to the goodness of God. Fifth, the Lord
would make them successful in their daily work. God also declared that victory in battle would
be His doing.

God takes the space to name all the blessings that He will give to the nation to reveal to
them that obedience to God does pay. Often times, there is a tendency to believe that all our
obedience to God is going no where and accomplishing nothing on this earth, only somehow
counting for future gains. But the truth is obedience by God’s people in a given nation causes
that nation to flourish. Obedience causes businesses to flourish.
God declared the specific ways that He would bless a nation when they chose to obey
Him with the truth of Scripture. The fact is any person who follows biblical principles in his or
her life cannot be a failure and what holds true for a person also holds true for a family and what
holds true for a family also holds true for a community, and what holds true for a community
holds true for a nation. Sadly, there is often the reality that because of mental genius that we as a
nation have done something marvelous to receive the blessings of God, but that is completely
inconsistent with the truth. The only reason God blesses a nation is in proportion to their
obedience.
Consider: Look with wisdom at those lands who hold other gods other than the Lord God
Almighty. Consider those lands who serve gods that are pagan and in reality dead or simply a
part of their imagination. Their land is like their god- dead, desolate, and decayed.
God is the initiator of every good blessing, and it is a wise man or woman who
remembers that all the good things of life come from the Living God. If a person is living in
obedience to the Living God, he or she has a right to expect the blessings of God in and upon
their life for it is God that made the promise in the first place.

4. WHEN GOD BLESSES A NATION, HE WANTS THAT NATION TO LIFT HIS
NAME ON HIGH.

When God blessed Israel, He did not want His people to walk away idly
without giving Him thanks, praise and glory for all He had given to them. He had given them
their His presence, successes in defeating enemy after enemy. He had given them rich lands. He
had made their businesses to succeed. It was not their mere mentality that brought about success
but the Most High God. The fact that God loves to hear His people praise Him is revealed by the
sobering truth that the word “praise” is mentioned 248 times in the Old Testament alone, give
full proof that the God that has blessed us, loves for us to boast in Him and who He is.

5. WHEN GOD BLESSES A NATION, HE WANTS THAT NATION TO
CONTINUAL BE BLESSED THROUGH OBEDIENCE.

Once Israel started receiving the
good things from God, He desires to continually bless them. The phrase “will come upon you”
carries not only the truth about blessing but an ongoing reality that blessing after blessing would
come- if they stayed the course of obedience. The nation that God started to bless was the nation
that God desired to continue to bless. The truth is God has blessed America for over 200 years,
and the God that brought our forefathers to this country has by no means run out of blessings.
The God who caused the first settlers to come for the purposes of religious freedom, continual
desires to bless this land, “The United States”. But for blessings to continue there must be
continued obedience. The power of obedience to God’s laws and Word will always bring about
personal, family, and national success- God has ordered it and it cannot be changed.

6. WHEN GOD BLESSES A NATION, HE WANTS THAT NATION TO KNOW
PAST BLESSINGS DO NOT SECURE FUTURE BLESSINGS.

While God blessed the
nation of Israel, and has blessed the United States immensely, God gives a sobering Word in
verses 15ff. In short God declares, “If you won’t listen to the Lord your God and won’t obey
these laws I am giving you today, then …curses shall come upon you.” It is a dangerous thing to
presume that future blessings await us simply because we have been blessed in the past. In truth
there is no such principle in Scripture.
God declared that if the nation chose to forget Him, reject Him, spurn Him, turn away
from Him, that He would see to it that they experienced blight. There would be a blight of fruit
and bread. There would be a blight of children. Less and less children would be born. He
would see to it that crops failed. In short God would see to it that they were destroyed because they forgot who the “Blesser” was. In our land today there is a strong undercurrent to take
“God” and the holy things of God from society. The name “God” is continual attacked. Ten
Commandments remain under fire as to whether they should or should not be hung. The sacred
sanctity of marriage (one man to one woman) is under fire. Yet, God’s Word remains clear.
God’s past blessings do not secure future blessings for a person, city or nation. Though Israel
had been blessed God warned them of the blight that would come. When we fail to respond to
holy God with obedience and faithful devotion, and spurn His Word, as though it was some sort
of casual word, we as a nation are on a downward spiral. If you wanna point the finger at why this country is the way it is today.....just go to the closest mirror. THEN maybe try praying for this country because its clear to see that nothing else is working and its obvious that we are losing it and only God knows why.

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