Divine Judgment and Societal Rebellion

Who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

(Romans 1:32)

We have already examined the above quoted passage of Scripture to demonstrate that all men instinctively know the laws that God expects them to live by. In this section, however, I want to examine what this passage declares about mankind's rebellious nature against God and His laws. Sadly, over time many nations become increasingly rebellious against God, and invariably there is an erosion of His norms in those nations as the laws that once upheld those norms are slowly replaced with perversions thereof. This passage reveals to us that as men become increasingly depraved, they begin to openly approve of more and more lawlessness and applaud people who indulge in perverse practices. Eventually, those societies begin to pass laws that affirm perversions of God's norms, thus making the perversion the new normal in society. As we have already mentioned, this passage clearly shows us that men who choose to go down this path instinctively know that they will ultimately incur the punishment of death for their practices, but—just like the individual who is intent on committing suicide—they continue on their path to destruction.

Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.

(Ecclesiastes 8:11)

God always intended that for every evil work, there should ultimately be two judgments incurred. The first judgment should be incurred in this life because, as we have already seen, God has placed authorities in the earth to wield the sword of judgment against all evildoers in the earth. The second judgment is the eternal punishment that God will pronounce on those individuals on their day of judgment. While the second judgment is guaranteed to take place because God Himself effects that judgment, the first judgment in this life is not always guaranteed, however, because God has given that judgment into the hands of those whom He places in positions of authority in the earth.

In the above quoted passage of Scripture, God explains to us why mankind is inclined to do more and more evil. The reason is that mankind does not always incur punishment in this life for the evil works that he does, and so he foolishly believes that he will never be held to account. We saw in an earlier quoted passage of Scripture that the apostle Paul warns those who do evil to be afraid because governments are able to wield the sword (Romans 13:4). This implies that citizens should expect swift justice against those who practice evil, because in a normal society their governments would function as God had always intended.

Sadly, in many societies today the wicked are not afraid to do evil. So why is that? It is simply because the governments concerned choose either not to use the sword or they choose to use the sword selectively—that is, against certain segments of society only. Clearly, it is in that type of environment that the wicked become emboldened to practice more and more lawlessness. Governments that are negligent in the impartial wielding of the sword can expect to eventually be judged by God Himself, for in failing to act in this area they have, in effect, become complicit with those who resist His ordinances. Eventually those nations reach a stage where God says "enough is enough" and He steps in and judges the whole nation, as in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah (2 Peter 2:6).

Shall the throne of iniquity, which devises evil by law, have fellowship with You? They gather together against the life of the righteous, and condemn innocent blood.

(Psalms 94:20-21)

There are many nations that fully embrace a godless environment, proclaiming that God does not exist and thus formulating laws that outlaw any reference to Him. In the above quoted passage of Scripture, the Holy Spirit describes these nations as devising evil by law. In other words, these nations enact laws that promote godlessness and punish any form of godly behaviour. Invariably, these forms of government are very oppressive and do not tolerate any dissent from their citizens. God allows these nations to continue in their foolishness until they reach the fullness of their transgressions.

Just as with individuals who get away with evil deeds without incurring swift punishment, for a while it seems as if these nations are also able to get away with their godless practices. Nevertheless, once that nation has reached the fullness of its transgressions, God steps in and judges them by replacing their governmental systems with one that is more tolerant of godly norms. The replacement of these types of regimes normally occurs through one of two avenues: either they collapse internally or they are violently overthrown.

The word of the Lord came again to me, saying: "Son of man, when a land sins against Me by persistent unfaithfulness, I will stretch out My hand against it; I will cut off its supply of bread, send famine on it, and cut off man and beast from it.

(Ezekiel 14:12-13)

God is extremely patient and merciful, because of which He allows nations to walk in their own ways, all the while giving them time to repent of their wicked ways and turn back to following after His norms. We see that truth confirmed to us in the above quoted passage of Scripture, for in this passage God speaks about dealing with nations that are persistent in their unfaithfulness to Him. In other words, God warns these nations and gives them time to repent, but nevertheless they persist in following their path of rebellion. There comes a time when God says "enough is enough," and He then begins to judge a nation for their wickedness—and that judgment takes on many different forms.

There are three main judgments that God pronounces on nations: the sword, pestilence, and famine (Jeremiah 27:13). As revealed in the above passage, one of the earlier judgments that God sends on a nation is famine. When we look at God's judgment of famine, we tend to think of food shortages only; however, this form of God's judgment involves every aspect of a nation's economy. Whenever we see a nation that is experiencing famine, drought, and economic collapse, we can be assured that judgment has begun to fall on that nation, and unless they repent, things will only get progressively worse for them.

There are also instances when God chooses to judge all the nations of the world because of their collective wickedness. An example of this type of global judgment would have been the Great Depression that occurred in the nineteen-thirties, when the economies of almost all nations of the world were impacted—some more than others.

Michael E.B. Maher

The Church and the State

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