Deuteronomy 30: Lessons Regarding God’s Covenant Promises to Israel
Introduction: Deuteronomy Chapter 30 contains one of the most important prophetic predictions in the Bible. Here, God foretold two separate times thousands of years later when Israel would be sent into exile and then later restored as a nation. No human could have accurately predicted these events in advance. In addition to its prophetic significance, this chapter contains several important promises for all the ages regarding Jesus’ First Covenant.
First, although God warned that Israel’s future apostasy would lead to its exile, He also promised to restore it if the Jews returned to Him and repented of their sins. Second, He promised that He would “circumcise” the hearts of His people if they returned to Him. This would make it easier for His people to listen and obey. Third, if His people could leave vengeance to Him, He promised to impose justice upon those who cause harm to His people. Fourth, if the Jews as a whole remained obedient, He promised to bless the nation as a whole with abundance and fertility. Fifth, if the Jews tried to stay obedient, He promised to give them an easy yoke. Sixth, if the Jews as a whole promised to stay obedient, He promised to bless the nation with success. Finally, if the Jews returned to disobedience and idolatry, He warned that they would bring curses and sorrow upon themselves. All of these promises and warnings still have important lessons for America. Even though individuals can be saved by faith in Jesus, the country as a whole will either be blessed or cursed depending upon its decision to either obey or disobey Jesus’ First Covenant of the Ten Commandments.
1. God’s Promise of Restoration. Dt. 30:1-5.
God’s prophecy of Israel’s fall and restoration. Before the Jews entered the Promised Land, God warned that dark times would come when Israel would turn to idolatry. He warned that their sins would result in their future exile: “Moreover, the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone, which you or your fathers have not known.” (Dt. 28:64). Yet, out of grace, God also promised to restore His people if they returned to Him: “So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind in all nations where the Lord your God has banished you, 2 and you return to the Lord your God and obey Him with all your heart and soul according to all that I command you today, you and your sons, 3 then the Lord your God will restore you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. 4 If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you back. 5 The Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers.” (Dt. 30:1-5). Israel has had several periods of exile followed by restoration. The ingathering of the Jewish exiles is so important that it is part of the Jews’ daily recommended prayer: “Blast the Great Shofar for our freedom, and leave a banner to gather our exiles, and gather us together from the four corners of the earth. Blessed are You, O Lord, who gathers the scattered ones of His people Israel.” (Tenth Benediction of the Shemoneh Esrei). The prophetic claims regarding the ingathering of the exiles, called “kibbutz galuyot”, are also important because they provide a way to test the Bible’s accuracy. Consider how this prophecy came true on two occasions thousands of years later.
God foretold both the Jews’ captivity and their second chance through Him1
The fulfillment of God’s prophecy through Israel’s restoration after its first exile. Just as God warned, Israel’s disobedience led to its exile. From 722 through 582 B.C., foreign powers sent the Jews into several waves of captivity. In 722 B.C., Assyrian King Shalmaneser V conquered the (Northern) Kingdom of Israel, and deported many Jews to Medea and Persia. Approximately 125 years later, King Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judea (Southern Israel) and deported the remaining Jews to Babylon in three waves. In 597 B.C., during his eighth year in power, he placed King Jeconiah, his court, and many others into exile. In 587 B.C., during his eighteenth year in power, he sent Jeconiah’s successor Zedekiah into exile. The same year, he also destroyed the Jews’ first Temple. In 582 B.C, during his twenty-third year of power, he deported the rest of the Jews to Babylonian captivity (2 Kgs. 25:8-17). Some Jews also went to Egypt, Ethiopia, and various islands in the Mediterranean. Although this was a dark time in Israel’s history, God told the prophets that He would be faithful to keep His promise to Moses to restore Israel: “Then it will happen on that day that the Lord will again recover the second time with His hand the remnant of His people, who will remain, from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And He will lift up a standard for the nations and assemble the banished ones of Israel, and will gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” (Is. 11:11-12). “Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply.” (Jer. 23:3). ‘“For behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah.’ The LORD says, ‘I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers and they shall possess it.’” (Jer. 30:3). “In that day the LORD will start His threshing from the flowing stream of the Euphrates to the brook of Egypt, and you will be gathered up one by one, O sons of Israel.” (Is. 27:12). “Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.’’” (Ezek. 11:17). True to God’s Word, He freed the Jews from Babylonian captivity in 536 B.C. And the Jews began rebuilding the Temple (Ezra 1:1-4). In 515 B.C., they finished rebuilding it (Ezra 6:15). There is no way that Moses could have known that Israel would become a great nation, fall into idolatry, be sent into exile, and then be restored as a nation. These prophetic claims prove the Bible to be God’s inspired Word (2 Tim. 3:16). Yet, many skeptics are not convinced. Many skeptics claim that these verses are instead proof that the Torah was written long after Moses’ death when Israel was either in exile or after they had already returned from exile. Yet, to prove God’s Word to be true, He has given us another prophetic prediction with Israel’s second exile.
The fulfillment of God’s prophecy through Israel’s restoration after its second exile. The fulfillment of God’s promise to restore Israel is also seen in the exact date that Israel became a modern state after nearly two centuries of exile. In 66 A.D., the first Jewish Roman war began, leading to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 A.D. The destruction of the Second Temple fulfilled a prophecy that Christ gave just before His death (Matt. 24:1-2). Between 132 and 135 A.D., the Jews fought and lost a second war against the Romans. The Romans then expelled the Jews across the Western world in what became known as the great “Diaspora.” For nearly 2,000 years, the Jews waited for the opportunity to return to Israel. Then, in 1948, Israel became a nation again. Yet, the exact date that Israel became a nation again was no accident of history. God foretold the exact year of this event in Deuteronomy 30:5 when He promised to bring the Jews back to their land. This verse is the 5,708th verse in the Bible. The year 5,708 on the Jewish calendar corresponds exactly with 1948 on the Western calendar ((Benjamin Blech, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Understanding Judaism, (Indianapolis, IN: Alpha Books 1999), xi.). If Jewish leaders conspired on their own to make up the Torah and falsely claim that Moses wrote it as many now claim, how could this alleged forgery foretell the exact year (thousands of years later) when Israel became a nation? This revealed prophecy also has profound implications for Bible-believing Christians. Many Christians assume that God abandoned the calendar system that He gave the Jews to now operate around dates on the Western calendar. But God does not change (Mal. 3:6; Jam 1:17). If we are to look for the fulfillment of Bible prophecy, it will happen based upon God’s calendar and not our own. For example, the holy days on the Jewish calendar that most Christian ignore are still relevant and should be studied because they foreshadow past and future events.
Restoration requires repentance. When Moses told the Jews to “return” to God (Dt. 30:2), he was also telling them to repent. “Return” is the Hebrew verb “shuv.” This same word appears as part of the noun repentance or “teshuvah.” Throughout the Bible, God taught that restoration was always preceded by true repentance. Repentance involves turning back to God, not just a quick apology without a real change in behavior: “For if you return “shuv” to the LORD, your brothers and your sons will find compassion before those who led them captive and will return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and compassionate, and will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.” (2 Chr. 30:9). Before Jesus began His public ministry, John the Baptist also preached: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matt. 3:2). Repentance was also an important part of Jesus’ teaching. After He began His public ministry, repentance was His first message: “From that time Jesus began to preach and say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” (Matt. 4:17). He also preached: “‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mk. 1:15). Even when just one sinner repents and returns to Him, there is great joy in heaven: “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Lk. 15:10). Today, many churches give altar calls while soft peddling the need to first repent. Yet, this is not the example that the Bible gives us. A person who is ready to repent must count the cost (Lk. 14:28) and understand that they are committing to a real change in behavior from the flesh to the Spirit through Christ. We are to then “renew” our minds each day (Ro. 12:1-2). Are you repenting and renewing your mind each day?
Restoration involves changed behavior leading to obedience out of love, not obligation. Keeping God’s Ten Commandments is another important part of true repentance: “and obey Him with all your heart and soul according to all that I command you today . . .” (Dt. 30:2). ‘“[B]ut if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.’” (Neh. 1:9). “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.” (Jam. 1:23-24). Yet, God did not want obedience out of obligation. He wanted obedience that comes from love when you search for Him and love Him with all your heart: “But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul.” (Dt. 4:29). “Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,” (Dt. 10:12; same, 11:13). “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’” (Matt. 22:37). If you appreciate what Christ did for you, you will obey His Ten Commandments out of love: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” (Jo. 14:15; 21:3; 1 Jo. 5:3). If you continue to sin, how much love are you showing Christ?
2. God’s Promise of a Changed Heart. Dt. 30:6.
God’s promise to circumcise the hearts of His people. If a person truly repents and turns to God, He promises to “circumcise” the believer’s heart so that he or she will be more inclined to both hear and obey God’s Word: “6 Moreover the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.” (Dt. 30:6). When a person accepts Christ, He also promises to circumcise your heart with the Holy Spirit: “and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;” (Col. 2:11). “But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.” (Ro. 2:29). One of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to cause you to “remember” and obey God’s Word (Jo. 14:16-18, 26). Thus, God’s promise to circumcise the heart of the believer does not mean that there is nothing for the believer to do in this process. He expects you to respond to the Spirit with obedience motivated by love.
A believer’s obligation to keep his or her heart circumcised. Earlier in the book of Deuteronomy, God also put upon the Jews the responsibility to keep their hearts circumcised: “So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer.” (Dt. 10:16). God later repeated this obligation when He spoke to the prophet Jeremiah: “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD and remove the foreskins of your heart, men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or else My wrath will go forth like fire and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.” (Jer. 4:4). He has softened every believer’s heart through the Holy Spirit to make it easier to hear His Word and to obey it. Yet, a believer must keep the arteries to the heart free from sin that might clog it. You must make a daily effort to circumcise the sin out of your life and to keep your heart and head clean and oriented toward God (Ro. 12:1-2). Are you allowing sin to clog the arteries to your heart?
3. God’s Promise of Justice. Dt. 30:7.
God promises to curse His people’s enemies. Believers are told that vengeance belongs to God alone (Lev. 19:18; Dt. 32:35; Ro. 12:19). Believers are also told to forgive others who have wronged them (Matt. 6:14-15; Mk. 11:26). If you forgive others, God will judge the non-believers who have wronged you: “7 The Lord your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you.” (Dt. 30:7). “But if you truly obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.” (Ex. 23:22). “Do not say, ‘I will repay evil’; wait for the LORD, and He will save you.” (Prov. 20:22). “For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,” (2 Thess. 1:6). “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘vengeance is mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.” (Ro. 12:19; Matt. 5:39; 1 Pet. 3:9). Are you harboring ill will toward others? Are you trying to repay evil with evil when someone hurts you? If you have an enemy in your life, have you forgiven and prayed for that person? (Matt. 5:44).
A warning not to be Israel’s enemy. Because the Jews are God’s chosen people, nations are warned that they will either be blessed or cursed depending upon how they treat Israel: “And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse.” (Gen. 12:31(a)). “Blessed is everyone who blesses you, and cursed is everyone who curses you.” (Nu. 24:9(b)). The Arab world has suffered as it has stood against Israel, even though it has extensive oil resources. By contrast, America has been blessed as it has defended Israel. Yet, it should never take its alliance with Israel for granted. To be blessed, America must continue to be its ally.
4. God’s Promise to the Nation of Abundance and Fertility. Dt. 30:8-10.
God’s conditional promise of abundance and fertility tied to obedience. If the Jews obeyed God’s Word, He promised to bless their nation as a whole with abundance and fertility: “8 And you shall again obey the Lord, and observe all His commandments which I command you today. 9 Then the Lord your God will prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your cattle and in the produce of your ground, for the Lord will again rejoice over you for good, just as He rejoiced over your fathers; 10 if you obey the Lord your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law, if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul.” (Dt. 30:8-10). Fertility was the third of God’s blessings that He promised to an obedient nation: “Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock.” (Dt. 28:4). With obedience: “He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, . . .” (Dt. 7:12-13). ‘“For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.’” (Jer. 29:11). ‘“As I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to overthrow, to destroy and to bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,’ declares the LORD.” (Jer. 31:28). “Indeed, the LORD will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places. And her wilderness He will make like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and sound of a melody.” (Is. 51:3). “Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness and streams in the Arabah.” (Is. 35:6). ‘“I will multiply on you man and beast; and they will increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited as you were formerly and will treat you better than at the first. Thus you will know that I am the LORD.’” (Ezek. 36:11). When the nation of Israel obeyed God, He blessed it with abundance and growth. The Jews first left Israel as a clan of 70 people (Gen. 46:27). After approximately 400 years in captivity (Gen. 15:13; Ex. 12:40), the men of fighting age totaled 603,550 (Num. 1:46). By contrast, when the nation was disobedient, God gave them leanness. Their population also shrank. The decline of the Jews during their 38-year march after leaving Mount Horeb is proof of this. Yet, even during periods of decline, those who are obedient can still enjoy God’s blessings. Although the Jews stagnated during their time in the wilderness, the tribes that were obedient still managed to grow. For example, the Manasseh tribe began with 32,200 fighting men (Nu. 1:35). By the end of their 38-year-journey, their fighting men totaled 52,700 (Nu. 26:34). This was an increase of 20,500 or 63.66%. A person can also be blessed with fertility when they are obedient. Hannah is one example (1 Sam. 1:27).
The lesson for the Church. For most of America’s early history, it was a God-fearing nation. It kept the Ten Commandments out of devotion. As a result, God blessed it with abundance and growth. Today, however, it has increasingly turned away from God. It has largely stopped observing the Ten Commandments. And the Church has also largely stopped preaching that its members or society observe them. As a result, America has stagnated. Its fertility rate has dropped. It also now carries a staggering debt. All of the blessings and curses for a society are laid out clearly in Deuteronomy 28. Christ’s resurrection did nothing to change the judgments that fall upon a disobedient country. Yet, how can we expect America to realize this if the Church does not teach this to its members?
5. God’s Promise of an Easy Yoke. Dt. 30:11-14.
God’s promise of an ease in obedience to His Law. God promised that obedience is not a hard thing to do. His rules are easy to follow once you make them part of your lifestyle: “11 For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach.” (Dt. 30:11). Jesus also promised that following His directions are not burdensome: “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matt. 11:30). “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.” (1 Jo. 5:3). Although God promises that His commandments are easy to follow, many believers groan at the thought of following them. For example, no believer will lose his or her salvation for failing to observe a day (any day of the week) for God (Col. 2:16). Yet, a day spent worshiping God and reading the Word out of love and not obligation, allows Him to pour out His blessings on your life. If you pack seven days of the week with work, sports, and other events, your body will become run down. You will also lose God’s peace. Although God’s Commandments may sound burdensome, they are not burdensome when you observe them out of love and not obligation. God in turn promises to bless you when you are faithful.
God’s Word is near to you to obey it and to confess it. Part of the ease of obedience is God’s promise that His Word is near to you and written on your heart: “12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ 14 But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.” (Dt. 30:12-14). Paul later quoted this verse so that believers would not only observe the Word, but to profess the author of the Word as the source of their salvation: “But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ -- that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;” (Ro. 10:8-9). If you confess Jesus to be Lord and Savior before others, He in turn will confess you in heaven: “And I say to you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God;” (Lk. 12:8; Matt. 10:32). Are you sharing the good news of the Gospel with others as Jesus commanded? (Matt. 28:16-20).
6. God’s Promise of a Successful Life. Dt. 30:15-16.
God’s conditional promise of life and prosperity tied to obedience. God reveals that obedience is not something that you should do merely because He commands it. Spirit-led obedience is also the foundation to a successful life: “15 See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity; 16 in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it.” (Dt. 30:15-16). This was both the fifth and tenth blessing that God made available to an obedient nation: “6 Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out . . . 11 The Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your beast and in the produce of your ground, in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. 12 The Lord will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13 The Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you only will be above, and you will not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully, . . ” (Dt. 28:6, 11-13). “In the way of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death.” (Prov. 12:28). “He who is steadfast in righteousness will attain to life, and he who pursues evil will bring about his own death.” (Prov. 11:19). “You shall also say to this people, thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.’” (Jer. 21:8). Israel has had a blessed and successful existence when it was obedient. The proof of this can be seen in almost any statistic that measures success. For example, the Jews comprise less than 0.2% of the world's population. Yet, of the approximate 800 individuals who have received Nobel Prizes at least 20% were Jewish. Likewise, approximately 200 Jews have received Nobel laureates. Approximately 27 percent of the Nobel physics laureates are Jewish. An estimated 31 percent of the medicine laureates are Jewish. Approximately 37 percent of the Academy Award-winning directors are Jewish. Approximately 54 percent of the world chess champions are Jewish. Between 1980 and 2000, Israelis registered 7,652 patents in the U.S. By contrast, the much larger country of Egyptians registered only 77 patents in the U.S. People who are anti-Semitic often complain that the Jews have a disproportionate influence in the banking system and in other center of power. There is nothing magical about Jewish people. They share the same DNA as everyone else. Their success is instead proof of the power of God’s blessings.
The lesson for the Church. While America was God-fearing, it was the strongest and most feared nation on Earth. Today, it is mired in debt and hated by much of the world. America also can have God’s blessings if it repents, returns to God, and follows God’s Commandments. America, however, needs the Church to be its light to pull it out of darkness. Yet, how can the Church expect America to follow the Ten Commandments if the Church teaches its own members that there is no longer any need to follow them?
7. God’s Warning that a Return to Sin Will Lead to Sorrow. Dt. 30:17-20.
Don’t use His mercy and grace as a license to sin. Finally, God warns the people that the blessings from obedience will quickly turn into the curses of destruction and death if they disobey and follow after other gods: “17 But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it. 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, 20 by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.” (Dt. 30:17-20). Although God wants to bless you, He may turn your blessings into curses in order to humble you and cause you to repent: ‘“If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart.”’ (Mal. 2:2). He warns that disobedience will only bring ruin: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will surely perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to possess it. You shall not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed.” (Dt. 4:26). “It shall come about if you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish.” (Dt. 8:19). “The LORD will send upon you curses, confusion, and rebuke, in all you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me.” (Dt. 28:20). “For if you turn away from following Him, He will once more abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.” (Nu. 32:15).
The lesson for the Church. God is slow to anger and does not want any to perish (2 Pet. 3:9). Yet, if America does not repent and change its path, the Bible warns it may face God’s judgment: “For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1 Pet. 4:17). “Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.” (Matt. 10:15; 11:24; Lk. 10:12). The Church is called upon to be God’s salt and light. Yet, if it loses its flavor it is considered to be “good for nothing” (Matt. 5:13-16). America has seen its blessings slowly disappear as it has turned from God. As the Church has stayed silent or embraced teachings that are contrary to the Bible, it has lost its saltiness. Salt stings in the open wound of sin. The Church must confront sin, even if it is ridiculed by society (Ro. 1:16).
God has the power to forgive the nation’s sins and bless it if it repents. God is faithful to forgive any who repent (1 Jo. 1:9). “Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in unchanging love.” (Micah 7:18). “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” (Is. 43:25; Heb. 8:12). Is your Church holding prayer vigils for the nation? Are you also praying for the nation to repent and return to God?
