Does God Bless Nations?

Does God bless nations today? What determines whether He will bless them or not? Does God curse some nations and if so, why?

Blessing and Cursing’s

God chooses to bless some nations more than others but what is the reason He blesses some more than others? The reason is clear as we read in Psalm 33:12 which says “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!” If a nation has God as its national heritage, then God will bless that nation. God told the young nation of Israel, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine” (Ex 19:5). What God did for Israel He will do for any nation but it is conditional; “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant” only “then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession” and how deep is God’s treasure? “The whole earth is mine.”

The Freedom to Choose

If you read any of the gospels, Jesus never once pushed Himself or believing in Him on anyone, and certainly never against their will. God gives all of us the freedom to choose and here are our two choices as a nation and as individuals; “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live” (Duet 20:19) however “if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them” (Duet 20:17a) instead of God, then His blessings will be replaced by His curses and that applies to any nation or person (Duet 20:17b). These “other gods” can be personal idols like money, job, position, self, pleasure, a car, or whatever else the human mind can imagine. The point of this chapter is that we should be “loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days” (Duet 20:20a).

Nation Blessings

How can a nation be blessed? We have previously read that God will bless the nation that has Him as it’s heritage, as America has, but it was conditioned on the nation’s obedience, just as with any nation, however sometimes God blesses other nations who are less than godly in order to discipline a nation that is in need of it, such as with Israel. When the nation of Israel divided into two, separate nations and the Northern Kingdom was known as Israel and the Southern Kingdom, Judah, then God used other nations to take them into captivity. Both nations eventually fell into idolatry and so God disciplined them so that they would repent and return to Him. That was God’s whole purpose behind these captivities, but eventually the time came when He withdrew His blessings on these other nations and they both were later destroyed by other powers. Many of the veterans of World War Two believe that God may have used the Allied Forces as His rod of destruction against the fascist regimes of the world.

Testing God

Although Micah was writing to the nation of Israel, we can see the implications for other nations and people that turn to God and give back to God (Micah 3:1-15) that God “will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts” (Mal 3:11) and “Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts” (Mal 3:12). This is the one place that God says “put me to the test” (Mal 3:10). The psalmist writes a great conclusion to all this; “Blessed is the people of whom this is true; blessed is the people whose God is the LORD” (Psalm 144:15).

Conclusion

Even if you don’t believe in God, everyone is going to die and finally know for sure (Heb 9:27) but the trouble with that is if a person has heard or read the gospel and rejected it time after time, they are more accountable for what they’ve been exposed to. Many read Christian articles simply to attack the author’s belief and even make it personal, but ultimately, they are rejecting God and they are hardening their hearts to the truth. They go so far as to suppress the truth and the knowledge of God (Rom 1:18) but they should understand this, “the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more” (Luke 12:48) and so for them, “it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them” (2nd Pet 2:21). If the way is not through Christ (Acts 4:12) the way will be cursing’s (Rev 21:8).

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.