The United States: A Drop From A Bucket.

It is now time, Christians, to re-focus. I understand the frustration, hatred, sadness, and anger because I’ve experienced it all myself. Yes, hatred. I have had to reject it descending upon me at various times. None of this is surprising. Culture has a very loud voice, and I am a sinner.

To initiate that re-focus, I would like to look at two verses which may startle us.

“Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust” (Isaiah 40:15).¹

And, just two verses later:

“All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness” (Isaiah 40:17).

When people ask me if I have hope, I answer in the affirmative. I have hope in the Lord God Almighty, His power to save, and His loving, sovereign will.

If they ask me if I have hope in the United States, not so much.

For decades, Christians have been touting the last half of this verse as the answer:

“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:13–14).

Well, pestilence has been sent. Did we repent? No, we just blamed people for doing a poor job responding to it. This is an interesting passage in that context.

“The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts” (Revelation 9:20–21).

I do not maintain COVID-19 is one of those plagues. But the response of mankind is interesting, isn’t it?

There has been no rain in California, and wildfires have destroyed communities.

Did Californians repent?

Did anyone repent? No, mostly hatred, anger, and accusations.

To state it plainly, this nation is toast without Jesus. As one scholar said, “It’s Christ or chaos.” It’s also Christ or wanton, death-producing sinfulness.

Have you noticed any of that lately?

We are sliding downward, fellow Christians. Donald Trump could not and would not have stopped it. Joe Biden cannot and will not stop it. No human can.

It is difficult to see this nation descend. I was born and grew up here. I love this country and am grateful to God for the freedom and prosperity I have enjoyed. However, if it was once a city on a hill, it is no longer.

So, let us return to the beginning of this article. The United States is a drop from a bucket. It is dust on the scales. It is nothing. It is less than nothing and emptiness.

Tough words from God that may make us wince. After wincing, we must face reality. Think about this. The early Church lived and ministered under the dictatorial rule of the Caesars. They didn’t vote for them. Rome was a degenerate and brutal society if there ever was one. We are as degenerate as they but not yet as brutal, thankfully.

It is time to live and minister as if we were under Roman rule, living in a decadent society. That is the plain reality of it. We may wish to continue to live in the land of entertainment and Disneyland, but in reality, underneath it is a nest of poisonous snakes.

We must get over our disgust, horror, and anger. Complaining about how terrible times are gets us nowhere. Nothing is going to change without Jesus. What behavior should we expect from a nation when the majority of its citizens are not Christians? Exemplary behavior and moral uprightness? No, we should expect what we are now seeing.

¹All Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

Gif courtesy Bing images.