A lot of noise is made on this, and other, forums whenever a "natural" catastrophe strikes — anywhere in the world. It is immediately assumed that this was God meting out some of His avengement and wrath in judgment. But. I suspect the chastising judgement that comes our way happens more often along these lines that David Chilton suggests.
When God's goodness does not lead to repentance, He chastises. He sent judgments to our nation, to turn us from our sins — and as we felt our power eroding, we turned more and more toward sin as a means of strength. We allowed our rulers to lead us into wars, in order to achieve a supremacy that is denied to all but the obedient. We increasingly deified the state, ascribing to it creative powers, abandoning biblical standards in one area after another. We coveted goods, and got credit expansion; we wanted business booms, and the state provided them. Our demands increased, and the dominance of our new god was enlarged to keep up with them. And as our nation became enslaved, the Christians ran — some to the security of fundamentalist retreat, some to the comfort of liberal compromise, some to the heretical moderation of hovering somewhere in between. Every avenue was tried but the way of obedience.
And everything backfired. Our wars reduced our population; our foreign aid produced contempt and envy; our foreign policies generated revolutions abroad and riots at home; our welfare resulted in poverty and dependence; our economic booms terminated in racking depressions; our energy policies caused shortages; our evangelistic campaigns strewed a generation of "carnal Christians" across the land. And inflation accompanied it all. The Curse became a part of everyday life.
So we sought for new solutions, in a fruitless attempt to avoid the consequences of apostasy without repenting of sin. And our new solutions have bound us in chains stronger than those we had before. From national pride we have sunk into national guilt. We once bragged about God's blessings; we now feel ashamed of them. Our freedom has become an unstable anarchy; our stability has resulted in stagnation. I think God has judged.
When God's goodness does not lead to repentance, He chastises. He sent judgments to our nation, to turn us from our sins — and as we felt our power eroding, we turned more and more toward sin as a means of strength. We allowed our rulers to lead us into wars, in order to achieve a supremacy that is denied to all but the obedient. We increasingly deified the state, ascribing to it creative powers, abandoning biblical standards in one area after another. We coveted goods, and got credit expansion; we wanted business booms, and the state provided them. Our demands increased, and the dominance of our new god was enlarged to keep up with them. And as our nation became enslaved, the Christians ran — some to the security of fundamentalist retreat, some to the comfort of liberal compromise, some to the heretical moderation of hovering somewhere in between. Every avenue was tried but the way of obedience.
And everything backfired. Our wars reduced our population; our foreign aid produced contempt and envy; our foreign policies generated revolutions abroad and riots at home; our welfare resulted in poverty and dependence; our economic booms terminated in racking depressions; our energy policies caused shortages; our evangelistic campaigns strewed a generation of "carnal Christians" across the land. And inflation accompanied it all. The Curse became a part of everyday life.
So we sought for new solutions, in a fruitless attempt to avoid the consequences of apostasy without repenting of sin. And our new solutions have bound us in chains stronger than those we had before. From national pride we have sunk into national guilt. We once bragged about God's blessings; we now feel ashamed of them. Our freedom has become an unstable anarchy; our stability has resulted in stagnation. I think God has judged.
