According to Solomon, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. (Proverbs 1:7) In another place, he informed us that the fear of the Lord is what enables us to turn away from evil. (Proverbs 16:6) The fear of the Lord is based on two key components: God’s glorious power and his commitment to justice. The fear of the Lord teaches us to turn from evil because we understand that God will judge us one day for what we think, say, and do.

Paul wrote the following, which should inspire the fear of God in each of us.

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. Galatians 6:7 (ESV) 

The Terror of Looming Judgment

The United States has put to death approximately sixty million innocent unborn children since the infamous Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision. Let that sink in. That is ten times the total number of people put to death by the Nazis during the Holocaust, which we decry as an example of the worst sort of evil. We know what judgment came to that nation. What might be stored up for us, a nation to whom so much has been committed and which has fallen so far from God’s intent for us?

Since God reckons that unborn babies are his creation endowed with a God-given spirit and are indeed people (Ecclesiastes 11:5, Isaiah 44:2, Jeremiah 1:5, Ephesians 1:4), no amount of legislation can ever make it okay to put them to death. To do so is a violation of God’s justice, which he hates and promises to punish.

Can unjust leaders claim that God is on their side— leaders whose decrees permit injustice? 21  They gang up against the righteous and condemn the innocent to death.22  But the LORD is my fortress; my God is the mighty rock where I hide.23  God will turn the sins of evil people back on them. He will destroy them for their sins. The LORD our God will destroy them.Psalm 94:20-23 (NLT) 

This should literally scare the hell out of all citizens of the United States. This is a corporate sin by the nation, and, even if we do not agree with it or contribute to it, we are likely to share in the judgment. Consider that not all Jews participated in the idolatry and wickedness of the majority and the leaders, but all suffered the consequences when Babylon finally destroyed Jerusalem. Afterward Jeremiah wrote these sadly insightful words.

Our ancestors sinned, but they have died— and we are suffering the punishment they deserved! Lamentations 5:7 (NLT)  

Sin that is not confessed and forsaken begs God’s judgment (Proverbs 28:13), which may be stored up and fall upon a future generation. Jesus warned the residents of Jerusalem that this was precisely what would happen to them, and it did. (Luke 11:50-51) The blood of sixty million babies is crying out to God for vengeance, and he hears their voice.

And the LORD said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. Genesis 4:10 (ESV) 

We are bound up corporately in life and either blessing or possibly judgment with the people around us. Our nation has enjoyed incomparable blessings over the last two hundred years, but we cannot think God will ignore our blasphemous swerve away from truth and justice in the last several decades. When a nation chooses to shake an angry fist at God and boldly transgress his laws, all those who dwell in that nation stand in jeopardy. That is why we need to pray with great fervency while there is still time. No one knows when God finally may say, “Enough!” and be done with us, but, since we are still here, we assume he is still giving us space to repent as a nation.

A Way Out

Repentance begins with a change of mind which culminates in a change of behavior. The mind is ruled by the heart. If the heart is hard, the mind is unable to recognize and embrace truth. That is why God promises to give his people a new heart, one that is capable of recognizing and receiving God’s truth and properly responding to it.

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27  And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. Ezekiel 36:26-27 (ESV) 

Unless God gives us a new heart through the new birth, we will angrily resist God’s truth and keep ourselves on a trajectory to collide with God’s sure judgment. The only way to avoid this future appointment with the wrath of God is to repent and believe the Gospel.

The Good News is that God recognized our hopeless situation and understood that, unless he came to our rescue, we had no hope at all. He sent Jesus to model his love, demonstrate his power, and teach us his ways. Jesus willingly sacrificed himself as a payment for our rebellious transgressions, fulfilling his role as the Lamb of God. When he shed his blood for us, he purchased our forgiveness and opened the way for us to be restored to God’s family. When he rose again, he did so in power and glory as the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, who is endowed with all authority, including the authority to judge all people, which he will do when he returns again.

If we recognize the confess that he is indeed the risen Lord and submit our lives to his rule (believe in him), we will be forgiven, saved, and made new on the inside. The Holy Spirit will come to live in us and daily lead and transform us to be more and more like Jesus. One day, Jesus will finish this great salvation by giving us brand new resurrection bodies. This is what it means to be saved. The more people who become Christ followers, the greater the influence of God will be in our nation. Currently, a majority of our people appear to be quite godless, and they are leading our nation into the spiritual abyss. Paul’s description of the decline of a society found in Romans Chapter One is taking place before our very eyes.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. Romans 1:18 (ESV)  

The markers associated with such a society are as follows:

• The suppression of truth. This is now rampant in our schools and media. We are living in Orwellian times.
• Refusal to honor God. The first step is to refuse to acknowledge him. The outcome of this is the determination to not glorify him or even thank him.
• Given over to lust. Our nation is a fountain of sexual perversion, pornography, etc., which is being exported to the world.
• Given over to a depraved mind. Paul describes the fierce society of the Last Days in Romans and 2 Timothy.

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2  For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3  heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4  treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 2 Timothy 3:1-4 (ESV)  

Obviously this describes the nation in which we live, at least the power brokers who control the media and our government.

Addressing the Root Problem of Legalized Abortion

There is a consternation among many today regarding the gross violation of justice going on in our FBI and DOJ. We wonder why those in high places who have committed crimes are not brought to justice. It should not surprise us, however, that there is a lack of honesty, truth, and justice. If we as a nation cannot be honest and forthright about the evil of murdering innocent unborn children in the womb, how can we honestly confront any evil? Until we repent of this horrendous violation of God’s justice, we have no right to expect justice anywhere. This is a wake up call  to our  nation!

Until our people truly change their way of thinking and embrace truth again, we are stuck in a downward spiral of deception, violence, and judgment. God will not be mocked. What we sow, we shall surely reap.  We cannot violently kill sixty million babies and get away with it.

Every nation is built upon the foundation of justice. Unless we restore justice to the unborn, I see little good in our future. God help us!

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you. Psalm 89:14 (ESV)  

What about you, reader? Individually, we cannot turn the tide in the nation, but we can make things right between ourselves and God. Have you repented on behalf of our nation for this horrible sin? If enough people pray and ask God to turn the tide, perhaps we shall see true repentance sweep our nation – before it is too late. We can turn to Jesus, whose blood pleads for mercy rather than vengeance.

You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel. Hebrews 12:24 (NLT)  

Prayer

Lord, our nation has shed innocent blood in the name of freedom, women’s rights, convenience, and the almighty dollar. Please forgive us for the murder of all those innocent babies, whose blood cries out to you for justice. Forgive me for not taking this as seriously as I should. Please help all those who have had abortions or provided them as a medical doctor or other staff to come to their senses and repent and turn away from this evil. Help them to find true forgiveness and peace through the gospel. (If perhaps you have had an abortion, but now see that it was wrong, you can pray as follows. Lord Jesus, forgive me for killing my baby. Please cleanse me and give me peace again.) Let the fear of God fall upon our nation. Let our people wake up to this horrible evil. Let our lawmakers and judges make just laws and decisions that will end the government sponsored legalized murder of unborn children. Let justice and righteousness once again grace our land and secure our government. Amen.