Originally released May 22, 2014  Download PDF:  Bad Laws.Bad Leaders.How Did This Happen.05.22.14

The above are reasonable conclusions that lead to a reasonable question.  Another question we are forced to ask ourselves is, “Can we handle the truth?”  But if we are going to find an answer to how we arrived where we are, we must follow the path of truth no matter how painful it is.

I’ll offer the following as a place to start.  The truth I am suggesting may be shocking to some that believe that the only thing the Lord can do is bless America.  Let’s begin with bad leaders.  How did we get them?  Where did they come from?  In the following passage, the Lord speaks through His prophet –

Isaiah 3:1–5 (NASB95)

1 For behold, the Lord God of hosts is going to remove from Jerusalem and Judah Both supply and support, the whole supply of bread And the whole supply of water;

2 The mighty man and the warrior, The judge and the prophet, The diviner and the elder,

3 The captain of fifty and the honorable man, The counselor and the expert artisan, And the skillful enchanter.

4 And I will make mere lads their princes, And capricious children (literally arbitrary power will rule over them),

5 And the people will be oppressed, Each one by another, and each one by his neighbor; The youth will storm against the elder And the inferior against the honorable.

So what can we learn from the above Scripture?  Simply this…bad (wicked) leadership is a form of judgment that comes from the Lord.  Why would the Lord bring judgment?  The Lord speaks to that as well –

Isaiah 66:4 (NASB95)

4 So I will choose their punishments And will bring on them what they dread. Because I called, but no one answered; I spoke, but they did not listen. And they did evil in My sight And chose that in which I did not delight.”

Simply put, not listening to the Lord becomes a real problem for a nation and the Church.  Let’s go further.  What about really bad laws?  Laws that you and I question and say, “How in the world could anyone believe that was a good idea let alone pursue it hard enough to make it a law?!”  Again Scripture points the way.

Ezekiel 20:24–25 (NASB95)

24 because they had not observed My ordinances, but had rejected My statutes and had profaned My sabbaths, and their eyes were on the idols of their fathers.  25 “I also gave them statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live;

2 Thessalonians 2:11–12 (NASB95)

11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.

So what is happening?  I would submit that the Lord has entered into judgment with America and we are already seeing the ramifications of our sin.  We are reaping a bitter harvest.  The Lord has been calling us back to His truth for many years, but we as a nation have rejected the truth and because of it, we are seeing a “deluding influence” permeating society.  Why?  To what end?  The answer comes from 2 Thes 2:11-12, “…in order that they all may be judged.”

Some may say that the judgment that the Lord intends is reserved for His final judgment, to which I say, “Judgment is all around us!  Open your eyes!”

Mark Biteler