For example, in reading Isaiah, God’s prophet to the nation Israel, one might think that you were reading today’s newspaper. Other than the names and places of his day, the prophet speaks to us today in our own land. His desire is for his nation to return to God, to forsake their pretense of being religious, and instead, seek Truth from the Word to solve the problems that they faced. The prophet of God recognized that the survival of a nation in freedom was directly tied to its adherence to the principles of God’s Word. The author Gibbons, in writing The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, listed five things that contributed to the demise of that great empire. First was the undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home. The second step in decline was ever increases taxes and mismanagement of public funds. The third step was an insatiable craze for pleasure, particularly in sporting events that emphasized brutality. The fourth was the building of great armaments when the real enemy was within; the lack of individual responsibility. Finally there was the decay in the spiritual fiber of the nation, substituting mere ritual for a personal relationship with the Living God. It is interesting that the Wall Street Journal carried an article that “what America needs more than railway extension, western irrigation, a low tariff, a bigger cotton crop, and a larger wheat crop, is a revival of religion; a religion that counted it good business to take time for daily family worship even in the middle of wheat harvest; a religion that prompted people to quit work early enough during the week so that the entire family could attend a prayer meeting. Today we boast of great achievements, while forgetting from Whom all these blessings flow. Sadly to say, the spiritual fiber of our nation is in need of repair. Just as our Lord extended grace to the nation Israel, He offers that same grace to us in the words --
… “Come let us reason together saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be a white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”(Isa 1:18)
The solution is a spiritual one, for human solutions have failed and continue to fail. Philosophy says, think your way out; indulgence says, drink your way out; politics says, spend your way out; industry says, work your way out; but Jesus says --
… “I am the Way (out).”(John 14:6)
We, as believers in Christ, are living at a great time in history. The challenge is ours to present the Savior and His Word as the solution to the needs of any individual and the nation. It is a time to stand firm in the faith, and to make the personal resolve to be that “salt” that preserves the nation. As goes the Christian so goes the nation. May our prayer for America be that of the writer of the Hebrews --
… “let us come boldly before the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”(Heb 4:16)