Faith Baptist Church
4258 Botetourt Road
Fincastle, Virginia 24090
(540) 473-2325
Leviticus 26:18-20
As we have said, each successive stage or cycle of decline leads to intensified divine discipline and if the warning goes unheeded God has no choice but to honor his word.
As we also said God is not a cosmic sadist who finds pleasure in scourging mankind. [These warnings from God are to alert the conscience of the sinner so as to bring about redemption and restoration, Ps.119:66-71; Heb.12:10-11.] Mankind could easily fall apart due to his own devices, but God in his mercy and grace has a way to awaken mankind to his own peril and ultimate destruction. This way of grace is called divine discipline. Some folks as well as many believers do not desire to see this side of God, and yet it has been this side of God that has kept mankind from complete self-destruction. Pain is not our enemy; it is often the only path to our salvation and preservation. Pain administered by our loving God is meant to protect and bring out the best in us. If not for pain; I believe our capacity for life and pleasure would cease to exist. Pain has a way of putting things in their proper perspective whether the pain is physical or psychological, Ps.119:67.
A parents’ use of discipline in rearing their children can form within those children a conscience that will serve them well when they are older and tempted to fall into grievous error and suffering, and that my friend is love and grace, and it is the net-result of proper discipline. Discipline is designed by God to teach and steer children into a path of blessing, Prov.13:24; 19:18. And discipline guided by the hand of God is used to bring about a fruitful life in his own born again children, Heb.12:11.
Some perfect examples from the Bible of the preservation of mankind orchestrated by the hand of God is seen by way of the universal flood during Noah’s day, Gen.6-7 and the confusing of the languages during at the building of the Tower of Babel, Gen.11.
The seven year tribulation period will demonstrate this same principle as God brings Israel back to Himself, and purges the earth of gross immorality and satanic evil.
There have also been circumstances, providentially allowed by the hand of God, where people who lived in foreign lands where no freedom and prosperity abounded, for those people to be brought to a land where the Gospel is heard and prosperity abounds. Albeit some people came in chains and ships and went through much sorrow and pain. God has turned their cursing into an opportunity for blessing, Gen.50:20 and he has done for other people who were driven out of their lands by Nazi Germany and such war mongers. God lead persecuted Christians out of Europe to America in 1620. He led persecuted Jews from all over the earth to America where they have been blessed.
In review of Cycle One, we saw that mental and physical illnesses, unfounded fears, military weakness and economic downturns characterize the first cycle of national discipline for rebellion against God’s word.
Cycle Two
Lev.26:18-20 - Deut.28:23-24
This cycle of discipline is promised if the second warning as seen in 26:18 is not heeded.
The Lord God is calling on the nation Israel to repent. He calls on them to look at what they were doing in their continuous rebellion and negative volition toward His word. Some may say God is being too harsh; however, he is really being merciful by warning them.
Lev.26:18-20- In this second cycle of national discipline cycle one discipline is intensified seven times over with drought and economic depression prevailing.
I Kings 17:1, 7- Under Ahab’s wicked rule Israel suffered drought as a form of discipline.
Ps.107:33-34 read, also see Heb.6:7-8 read.
Drought means not only starvation but, national vulnerability to foreign powers. When people are physically weak they cannot fight to protect their country.
Our nation goes through God ordained weather induced droughts in certain regions but, an economic drought can be brought about by God’s had as well. High trade deficits as well as many of our jobs going to overseas companies cripple our economy.
When you go to the store it’s hard to find, “Made In America” on the label.
Other nations such as China are now prospering and becoming economic power houses off of our dollars. With these dollars they are absorbing the greatest portion of the world’s iron and concrete as well as timber. We have adopted the international model for establishing our role in the world economy. Due to our dependence on foreign trade to keep our economy going forward we have to play according to the rest of the world’s rules. We are quickly loosing our national autonomy as we see many of our jobs go overseas and many of our bright college students are going with them. We are not only loosing the economic basis for our national strength and prosperity, but we are also loosing the trained minds needed for future growth. Our production is going down and our consumption of products is going up and at the rate we are going we are headed into financial ruin.
Foreign nations already own and operate many of the manufacturing plants in our nation, and they can pull the plug on those jobs anytime they want, or their governments tell them to.
They will use us because we have the infrastructure to run these plants and we have the know how to make them profitable, but as they become knowledgeable and steal away enough good minds they will open up plants in their own countries and shut down the ones here in the USA.
So, the first two cycles of divine discipline bring about suffering as we reap what we sow in disobedience to God. Poor health including mental illnesses and rampant fears along with military ambivalence, then economic recession and economic depression follows.
I will remind you that it is the spin-off of apostate negative believers who are driving much of this suffering upon our nation. For as the nation is blessed by association to the positive believer, so likewise is the nation cursed by association to the negative believer.
When God says he will break the pride of their power in v.19 he is not just talking about military strength. In their pride they walked apart from God’s laws. Bible doctrine became insignificant to them and truths became relative and open to anybody’s interpretation. Judges 17:6 and Deut.12:8 say Israel did that which was right in their own eyes. [Today in America we have adopted a culture of such tolerance for so many religions that deny the Lord Jesus Christ that surely God is angry with us. There are those who worship the gods of false prophets and false teachers who deny the Lord Jesus Christ. God told Israel to destroy these places and get rid of these false prophets, and not tolerate them, Deut.12:2-4. We are wrong to think that adopting these religions makes us a stronger nation, for they only divide us and they will bring about our destruction.]