Suffering and Deliverance (Part 10) – Four Ways in Which God Judges a Nation

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I.       When a nation is in need of judgment, there are four possibilities of how it will be meted out.

1.      God will spare the entire nation for the sake of the righteous minority.

1. God would have done this for Sodom and Gomorrah if there would have been even ten righteous among them (Gen 18:24-26, 32).
   1. This should give us hope because God might spare this nation for the sake of His few faithful churches within it.
   2. This may be the reason that this nation was not destroyed long ago.
2. The LORD spared the nation of Judah for a long time for the sake of the remnant (Isa 1:9).
3. God said that he would pardon the city of Jerusalem if they could find a man who executed judgment and sought the truth (Jer 5:1).
4. Remember this the next time things look hopeless: you could be the reason that God spares our nation, state, city, or town.

2.      God won’t spare the nation for the sake of the righteous.

1. This happened prior to the Babylonian captivity when the wrath of the Lord arose until there was no remedy and He destroyed the nation (2Ch 36:16-17).
2. Judah became so wicked that God said that even if Moses and Samuel would have stood before God and interceded for them their destruction would not be averted (Jer 15:1-9).
3. When a nation fills up the cup of its iniquity and judgment has been determined upon it, even the repentance of the king will not stop God from destroying that nation (2Ki 23:24-27).
4. They that are often reproved and continue to harden their necks will be destroyed without remedy (Pro 29:1).

3.      God will only spare the righteous minority.

1. When a nation is too far gone in backsliding and sin God will only spare the righteous within it when He judges it (Eze 14:13-14).
   1. In such a case, God will not even deliver the children of the righteous, but only the righteous themselves (Eze 14:15-20).
   2. God has no grandchildren.
2. Jeremiah and Ebedmelech were both spared death because of their faithfulness while the rest of the nation were judged (Jer 39:11-18).
3. Jeremiah’s remnant were spared and treated well by the enemy when they were conquered (Jer 15:11).
4. Those that seek the LORD, righteousness, and meekness may be hid in the day of God’s anger (Zep 2:3).
   1. God’s children should seek to save themselves from this untoward generation (Act 2:40).
   2. They can do so by repenting of their sins, getting baptized into the church, and living a godly life (Act 2:38-42).
5. God shortened the days of the siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD for the elects’ sakes, otherwise they too would have been killed (Mat 24:22).
6. God spared a remnant that escaped the sword of Nebuchadnezzar when He destroyed Jerusalem by him the first time (Eze 6:8).

4.      God will not spare the nation nor the righteous minority.

1. When a nation is ripe for judgment, there are times when God will destroy both the righteous and the wicked in it (Eze 21:3-5).
2. Pray that our nation will not get to that point.