When God Removes His Hand

Inscribed on the walls of the Jefferson Memorial are the words of Thomas Jefferson.  The inscription reads, “And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure, when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God?  That they are not to be violated but with his wrath?  Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep forever.”

When we reflect on the history of our nation, we are hard pressed to ignore the hand of God upon our land.  While our sins have been many, God in His grace has blessed us in abundance for nearly four centuries.  Could it be that God is removing His hand of blessing in these days?  Is it possible that He is simply fulfilling the desire of many in our culture today by leaving us to ourselves?

When we think of God’s blessing, we understand that blessing can be both personal and corporate.  In the life of the individual, we read two great texts that speak of the connection between God’s blessing and the righteousness of the blessed.  The first is Psalm 1.  There we read that a blessed (blessed denoting a happiness from the hand of God that transcends our circumstances) person does not listen to the wrong advice, follow the wrong crowd, or join in the wrong behavior.  Rather, he delights in God’s instruction and stands strong even in the difficult times of life.  As a result, he can stand confidently in the community of the righteous. 

The word for “blessed” or “happy” is the Hebrew word esher.  In the Septuagint, it is translated by the Greek work makarios.  That is the same Greek word used to convey Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount.  In Matthew 5, Jesus describes a blessed person as one who realizes his own spiritual deficiencies and hunger and thirst after God. (Matthew 5:3-10).  Throughout the Scripture, it seems like blessing begets righteousness and righteousness begets blessing (remember the biblical definition of blessing is not the same as the way some define it today).

We also see a correlation between blessing and righteousness on a corporate level.  The Bible says, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people” (Proverbs 14:34, HCSB) and “A city is built up by the blessing of the upright, but it is torn down by the mouth of the wicked” (Proverbs 11:11, HCSB).  The paths we choose as a people make a difference.  Could it be in these days, as we continue to shove God farther away, that He is complying with our wishes and simply removing His hand?

Paul gives the Christians at Rome a picture of what it is to see God’s hand removed.  He writes,

“For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them.  From the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what He has made.  As a result, people are without excuse.  For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude.  Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened.  Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.  Therefore God delivered them over in the cravings of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves.  They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served something created instead of the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen” (Romans 1:18-23, HCSB).

The Bible tells us that although God clearly makes Himself known, people reject Him.  In addition, they demonstrate a lack of gratitude and become wrapped up in themselves.  Thus, they become spiritual blind and create their own gods and systems of worships.  Subsequently, God hands them over to their own impulses and desires.  Paul continues,

“This is why God delivered them over to degrading passions.  For even their females exchanged natural sexual intercourse for what is unnatural.  The males in the same way also left natural sexual intercourse with females and were inflamed in their lust for one another.  Males committed shameless acts with males and received in their own persons the appropriate penalty for their perversion.  And because they did not think it worthwhile to have God in their knowledge, God delivered them over to a worthless mind to do what is morally wrong.  They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness.  They are full of envy, murder, disputes, deceit, and malice.  They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful. Although they know full well God’s just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them” (Romans 1:26-32, HCSB).

In response to people’s rejection of Him, God hands people over their own desires.  The word translated delivered is the Greek word paradidōmi.  The word could be used as a legal, technical term that speaks to God having the authority to hand us over in a judicial decision.  In other words, He exercises His authority in judgment and gives us over to ourselves.

The above paragraph suggests three ways in which God hands us over, and their subsequent results.  First, God hands us over to our corrupt passions and we turn to more sexual perversity.  Second, God hands us over to our corrupt worship and we lack a moral clarity.  Finally, God hands us over to our corrupt behavior and we engage in more unrighteousness.

How then do the people of God respond in the face of such judgment?  For one, we need to repent.  Repentance must begin with God’s people.  In the Old Testament, God makes a promise to the people of Israel.  He says, “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14, ESV).  His words remind us of the need to deal with our hearts first.  In other words, we need to remove the plank out of our eye before worrying about the speck in our neighbor’s (Matthew 7:1-6).

Second, the church needs to repent.  In the book of Revelation, Jesus give instructions to seven different churches.  At least a half a dozen times in those seven letters He calls for the church to repent (Revelation 2:5, 2:16, 2:21, 2:22, 3:3, 3:19).  His words remind us of the need for the church to be right before her Lord.  Could it be that part of our national ills lie at the feet of the church?  Absolutely!  We have failed to be salt and light (Mathew 5:13-16), and tragically, we reflect our culture rather than help shape it.

The third thing God’s people need to do is pray.  We need to intercede for our nation and its leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-4).  Too often, we throw our hands up in disgust.  We complain about this elected official and about that piece of legislation.  Constitutionally, that’s our right and our privilege.  And, there is certainly a lot to disagee with and complain about.  Biblically, however, we must pray for those that lead us.  If people’s hearts would change, perhaps too would their policies.

Fourth, we must live righteously.  Paul says,

“For the grace of God has appeared, with salvation  for all people, instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age, while we wait for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.  He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for Himself a special people, eager to do good works” (Titus 2:11-14, HCSB).

It is imperative that we live lives that reflect God and His holiness.  We truly must learn what it is live in the world without living like the world.

Finally, we must be diligent in sharing the gospel.  In the book of Acts, we find Paul in the city of Athens.  The Scripture says that “his spirit was troubled” (Acts 17:16) as he saw the spiritual plight of that city.  Paul, however, did not shake his head in disgust and wag his finger disapprovingly.  Rather, he found an opening in which he could point people towards Christ (Acts 17:16-31).  We too must point people to Jesus.  After all, He is the only hope we have.

May God’s people turn to him in repentence, pray and obedience and may we see a great awakening in this land.   May God bless us once more.  To Him be honor and glory forever.