Today we are reminded of the terrible attacks on our country of 9/11/2001. That was certainly an awful and society-changing day for the United States. We can thank God, however, that we rarely have to deal with massive tragedies in our country. All we have to do is watch the world news on CNN to see nightmare after nightmare taking place in the third world. Things here never seem to be as bad as they could be. Why is this the case?
Why is our country (the USA) so blessed by God?
How are we blessed? Let me count a few of the ways:
-We have had a Christian heritage (from the very beginning).
-We are still free to worship God however we please.
-We can openly proclaim the gospel message.
-We are not forced to worship false gods.
-Compared to much of the world, we have a good climate.
-We have no routine, yearly natural disasters.
-Our country can feed itself.
-We have huge amounts of natural resources.
-No diseases consistently ravage our country.
-We have very good medical care.
-We have almost no problem with real poverty.
-We are relatively safe from enemy attack.
-We have the strongest military in the world.
-We have easy transportation from place to place.
-We have a democratic process in government.
So, why are we blessed? We certainly don't deserve it. As a society, we have in general turned away from the Lord. Many of the ideals that our country was founded upon are now ignored by our government. God is no longer allowed in our public schools. Evolution has become accepted by the intelligentsia as an unquestionable fact. Homosexuality is now seen by many as normal, or even preferable. Promiscuity is hardly even discussed as a problem inside or outside the church. In light of these and many other issues, why does God continue to bless the USA?
God has made no promises to the United States. He has made no covenant with the USA. So why is He continuing to bless us now?
I strongly believe it is for one reason: we continue to be Israel's only real ally. Look again at Genesis 12:1-3: Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (ESV)
This is clearly a statement of God's blessing upon Abraham and his descendants. The key for this post is the first part of verse three. The text reads, "I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse."
God's covenant has no end. God is always faithful to His covenant. This means, then, that God will bless those who bless Abraham (and his descendants). Today, Abraham is Israel. We, the USA, bless Israel by being its ally and defender. This is the sole reason I can see that God blesses our country.
What will happen to our country if we turn away from Israel? The USA is not mentioned in the book of Revelation. Therefore, it appears that we eventually turn away from Israel as an ally.
While we are alive and can have a say in the matter, may we continue to encourage our government to ally with Israel that we may, as a country, be blessed by the Lord.
Let us also pray, as Paul did, for the salvation of Abraham's descendants. In Romans 10:1, Paul says, "Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them (the Jewish people) is that they may be saved."
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