Lesson for January 9, 2022
The Doctrine of the Client Nation to God
Lesson 2
Divine Form of Government
In order to prevent people from destroying themselves, God introduced human government as a ruling factor for a nation. Human government was given by God for all nations. It was the confusion of languages and the dispersion of mankind that God used to introduce human government into the human race. Tribal or clan leaders sat as governing boards for various nations. (Genesis 11:1-9)
As history has progressed, nations have risen and fallen, some good, some bad, but the concept of nations still exists. Nations are designed by God for the perpetuation of the human race, for freedom to accept or reject Jesus Christ, freedom to worship, freedom to succeed or fail and protection from interior and exterior predators. It is mankind that corrupts this divine institution and introduces evil into a national entity.
A Biblical pattern for a client nation is one where freedom exists for all people (believers and unbelievers) and is governed by “the common good for all” concept. This pattern rejects anything that would subvert or corrupt the nation. This subversion or corruption can be, but is not limited to, music, art, literature, and drama (including movies, television, and the internet in our culture). When these cultural activities become corrupt, the people of the influenced nation begin to act out the pattern of behavior that they are being taught by the various media. This bad behavior eventuates in several cycles of divine discipline, until the nation is destroyed from within or from without. Only a nation that remains true to the Biblical concept of a nation will prosper and survive.
Divine Authority
Without authority the human race would be in such a chaotic condition that it would rival the days of Noah and the Flood. The ultimate authority, of course, is God, but He has given mankind divine establishment laws and a government entity to enforce them so that we can live happy, productive lives in an atmosphere of freedom. Believers and unbelievers alike can enjoy their lives on earth if they adhere, either consciously or unconsciously, to the principles of divine establishment. The difference is that believers have the power of the Holy Spirit, and their eternal destination is Heaven. Therefore, a believer has no excuse for living a life of inferiority and yet we see it every day. Why? The reason is volition. When a person chooses to reject truth, they simply “reap what they sow.” However, in the case of a believer, they not only “reap what they sow,” they are also under divine discipline for the rejection of truth (God’s authority). Often, an unbeliever who applies divine establishment principles is a much better person than a believer who has rejected the authority of God in his/her life.
The Five Cycles of Divine Discipline of a Nation
When a client nation fails to provide freedom for its citizens so that the Word of God can be taught and the Gospel shared without persecution, cycles of discipline are invoked upon them by God. As with the individual believer, God’s discipline begins with a gentle nudge and progresses from there based on the nation’s response. There are at least five cycles or progressions of discipline in the Bible, all dealing with Israel but applicable to any client nation. We must understand this was written in an agricultural time. The analogies in each cycle will be interpreted to reflect the industrial age, in which we live today, with varying ideas as to exactly what they mean. The important lesson to learn is that God’s patience with a client nation will run out if that nation continues to ignore God’s Laws of Divine Establishment.
The First Cycle is found in Leviticus 26:14-17, “But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, then I will do this to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror in the form of wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and drain away your life. You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it. I will set my face against you so that you will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you.”
In the first cycle we see plagues of diseases that cause death. Along with the diseases, the nation’s food supply is affected, so that their enemies will eat the food that was grown for the client nation. This could be a case where the agriculture of a nation is being sent abroad while their people go without, or prices soar on all goods and become unaffordable. This is a form of defeat by the enemy of a nation because they are controlling their commerce. So, in effect, the enemy is ruling over the client nation whether they realize it or not. This sends those in power within the client nation running scared.
The Second Cycle is found in Leviticus 26:18-20, “If after all this you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over. I will break down your stubborn pride and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze. Your strength will be spent in vain, because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the trees of the land yield their fruit.”
The “seven times over” phrase is not to be taken literally. It is a common metaphor in the Bible meaning “a lot or an increase.” In this cycle the land and the environment itself becomes the enemy of the farmer. This cycle of discipline also begins an economic depression in which food supplies dwindle and poverty begins to take hold in earnest over a large segment of the population. “The sky like iron” seems to indicate no rain and “the ground like bronze,” no water. Rain and watering are necessary for crop growth.
This cycle may include bad decisions concerning the environment, decisions which protect the environment too much, and so cause damage to the economy. It may refer to bad decisions concerning trade and/or bad decisions concerning labor and management. The people of the nation will have a chance to respond to God by reversing their policies and reestablishing the Laws of Divine Establishment after this cycle has been administered.
The Third Cycle is found in Leviticus 26:21-22, “If you remain hostile toward me and refuse to listen to me, I will multiply your afflictions seven times over, as your sins deserve. I will send wild animals against you, and they will rob you of your children, destroy your cattle and make you so few in number that your roads will be deserted.”
The third cycle of discipline multiplies the effects of the second cycle by a factor of seven. The third cycle begins the predominance of the criminal element in society, as the wild animal is a metaphor for crime. In this cycle, there is a great deal of crime against all parts of society. It includes rioting, looting, and destruction of private and public property. It also includes crime against children like human trafficking. Because of the predominance of crime, the roads become deserted because of fear, which means there is virtually no commerce. The people of the nation will have a chance to respond to God after this cycle has been administered.
The Fourth Cycle is found in Leviticus 26:23-26, “If in spite of these things you do not accept my correction but continue to be hostile toward me, I myself will be hostile toward you and will afflict you for your sins seven times over. And I will bring the sword upon you to avenge the breaking of the covenant. When you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague among you, and you will be given into enemy hands. When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will be able to bake your bread in one oven, and they will dole out the bread by weight. You will eat, but you will not be satisfied.”
This cycle multiplies the effects of the third cycle by a factor of seven. This is the cycle of war from within the nation. The uprising of the anti-establishment element in society will trap the rest of the people of the nation. In the ancient world, the civil war would begin in the countryside and surround the city or town where the rulers of the nation lived. Without the logistical support from the countryside (farming), a siege ensues, and food becomes scarce. In addition to this, being trapped in close quarters means that the potential for widespread disease is great and will happen. These are desperate times. The people of the nation will have a chance to respond to God after this cycle has been administered.
The Fifth Cycle is found in Leviticus 26:27-32, “If in spite of this you still do not listen to me but continue to be hostile toward me, then in my anger I will be hostile toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over. You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters. I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars and pile your dead bodies on the lifeless forms of your idols, and I will abhor you. I will turn your cities into ruins and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings. I will lay waste the land, so that your enemies who live there will be appalled.”
This cycle is a multiplication of the fourth cycle by a factor of 7. This cycle describes the total destruction of the nation by foreign enemies from without. You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters could be literal or perhaps it means there will be no one exempt from the effects of divine discipline of the nation including entire families. People will be killed by the foreign enemies while participating in their idolatry. The industries of the nation, and most of the buildings, public and private, will be destroyed. The people will be carted off to the foreign countries as slaves. Their places of idol worship will be destroyed, and cities laid waste.
Rejection of Bible doctrine by believers leads to destruction of the client nation. Everything depends on our attitude toward Bible doctrine. Jesus Christ, who controls history, knows where positive volition will be in each generation. This assures that Gentile nations will continue as client nations until the Rapture. But only God knows who those nations will be in the future. Our prayer is that the United States will continue to be a client nation to God for many generations to come.