Civil Government: Magistracy, Authority, and Romans 13: Christian & Civil Government

How God Destroys Nations Part 3

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Civil Government

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2005-05-22

Synopsis: In this sermon, John Weaver continues his series on how God destroys nations, focusing on governmental destruction. Using Isaiah 19 as a foundation, he explains that God can destroy a nation governmentally through five means: tyrannical corruption, political imbecility, moral turpitude, blatant idolatry, and social anarchy. He emphasizes that these judgments are slow and just, arising from a nation's rebellion against God. The sermon calls believers to recognize these patterns in contemporary America and to respond with repentance, wisdom, and reliance on God's sovereignty.

[John Weaver] Alright, those of you who have your Bibles, and I trust many of you do, I want you to open them please to Isaiah 19. As you turn to Isaiah 19, I'm going to have to explain something to you. I have started a short series that I have been preaching through, and today you're going to come to that third part. And the series is entitled, How God Destroys Nations. And I'm bringing this series so that you can see basically what has happened historically and what is really even happening presently.

[John Weaver] So I will give you the first two reviews very quickly after we read the scripture. Isaiah 19, verse 1, and we'll read through verse 17. The burden of Egypt. Behold, the Lord riding upon a swift cloud and shall come into Egypt and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence. And the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians, and they shall fight everyone against his brother, and everyone against his neighbor, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof, and I will destroy the councils thereof, and they shall seek to the idols and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards. And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord, and a fierce king shall rule over them. Set the Lord, the Lord of hosts, and the water shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.

[John Weaver] And they shall turn the rivers far away, and the brooks of the fence shall be emptied and dried up. The reeds and the flags shall wither. The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and everything sewn by the brooks shall wither, be driven away, and be no more. The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread their nets upon the water shall languish.

[John Weaver] Moreover, they that work fine flax, and they that we network, shall be confounded, and they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that makes sluices and ponds for fishes. Surely the princes of Zoan are fools. The counsel of the wise counselors of Pharaoh has become brutish. How say you unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? Where are they? Where are the wise men?

[John Weaver] And let them tell thee now, and let them know, what the Lord of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt. The princes of Zoanabe become fools, the princes of Nop are deceived, and they have also seduced Egypt, even as they that are the stay of the tribes thereof. The Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof, and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit. Neither shall there be any work for Egypt which the head or tail branch or rush may do. And that day shall Egypt be like unto women, and shall be afraid and fear, because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of hosts which he shaketh over it. And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt, and every one that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts which he hath determined against it. Now, let me just simply tell you that when you look at Isaiah chapter 19 and verse 1, the Bible says the burden of Egypt.

[John Weaver] Actually, the word burden refers to the prophecy of Egypt. As you read through Isaiah, you're going to find that Isaiah is talking about the burden of Tyre, the burden of Moab, the burden of Assyria. In other words, each one of these burdens is a prophecy against these particular countries. Now, what I've done in Isaiah chapter 19 is this. I've drawn out the principles that God uses when He destroys a nation. Now, I realize in the context here it is referring to Egypt, but the principles are the same. The very first thing I showed in this passage was when God destroys a nation, He always destroys that nation first and foremost religiously. That is because usually when a nation has left Him, they have always gone into idolatry. And of course, He has said in Isaiah 42 and verse 8, My glory will I not share with another, nor give my praise under graven images. He and He alone is the Lord God.

[John Weaver] Now, when I gave the introduction of this series, I pointed out that when we think of judgment, we normally think cataclysmically. We think of Noah's flood. We think of Sodom and Gomorrah. We think how God destroyed Herod, how Elijah beheaded the 450 prophets of Baal. We normally think instantaneous, cataclysmic judgment. But I've demonstrated from the Scripture that most of God's judgments are not instantaneous, Cataclysmic judgments, they are slow judgments. Even when God pronounced the death sentence against Adam, he said in dying thou shalt die. And Adam lived 939 years, but yet he was under judgment the whole time. And even King Saul was under God's judgment, and yet he continued to reign another 20 years. So a lot of God's judgments are slow judgments.

[John Weaver] And when I say that God destroys the country religiously, I just simply pointed out in the first message that when this country was founded, we were indeed a Christian nation founded upon Christian principles. I not only gave the word of God in history, but I even quoted several Supreme Court justices that said that this is a Christian nation. And yet you look around today, and you will find that we are no longer living nor acting as a Christian nation. We are certainly denying the one true and living God and His Word. And the only way that you can explain what has happened in this country is that God has destroyed us, basically, religiously speaking.

[John Weaver] And therefore, everyone has turned, as He said in verse 3, they've turned to their idols, they've turned to their charmers, they've turned to those who have familiar spirits and wizards. That's why you have witchcraft and voodooism and every ism under the sun on the increase. So God destroys nations religiously. And the second message that I brought was that God destroys nations socially. In verse 2 he said, And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians, and they shall fight everyone against his brother and everyone against his neighbor, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.

[John Weaver] Once again, when this country was founded, we were a unified people. And it did not matter who came into this country as an immigrant. When they came into this country, they realized this was a Christian nation with a Christian culture, and you then submitted to our culture and to our teaching. But what has happened today? What has happened today is that Christianity basically has been kicked out and we must bow to every Islamic religion or every foreign religion under the sun. And the one that is certainly dictated and legislated against is biblical Christianity. And you look in this country, what has happened?

[John Weaver] You have blacks pitted against whites, whites against blacks, Spanish against the white, the Orientals, the Africans. Notice, everything is simply now basically class-oriented. And someone says, someone says, but Brother Weaver, don't you remember the one-worlders? And the one world schemers, they planned it this way so they can control us. And my answer to that is yes, I understand that. But God said, one law shalt thou have to him that is home born and to the stranger that is in the land. In other words, we're to treat each other the way God always tells us to treat each other. And I don't care who you are, folks.

[John Weaver] You can still be civil and kind and biblical toward anyone, regardless of his race. You see what I'm saying? So if you and I followed the law of God, we could not have this warfare that is being promulgated by the one-worlders.

[John Weaver] Now, you don't have to be a Christian to be decent. I understand that you can really not be totally decent unless you are a Christian in one sense of the word, but you can be kind and you can be courteous without being a Christian. And certainly that's exactly what we ought to be and we should be all the time, even the unbelievers. But the fact is, God says He's going to turn Egyptian against the Egyptian, brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.

[John Weaver] And we can see the social deterioration in this country based upon what is happening right now. So God destroys nations, not only religiously, but God also destroys nations socially. And the third thing that we come to today is this. that God will destroy nations governmentally. Let me just say that I did not necessarily plan this message to fall on this particular day. That's how the providence of God worked it out. And so I want to show you basically some of the ways that God destroys nations governmentally. Now, when I'm talking about God destroying nations, I want to clear up one thing in your particular minds today, and that is this. Don't sit there and say, well, God must be some fiend. God must be some evil, wicked individual who is just waiting to smite and destroy nations. That is not so. The only reason God would fight against a nation, the only reason God would smite a nation was in justice and in judgment.

[John Weaver] The Bible says in Lamentations chapter 3 and verse 33 concerning God, for He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. So God is not some old fiend sitting up in the heavens somewhere with a switch just waiting to whip the living daylights out of anybody and everybody. No, He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. So when God smites us, He does so in righteous justice.

[John Weaver] And that's exactly what He does for our rebellion and our sin. So today we come to see how God destroys nations governmentally. As we think about this, it is imperative to remember that in Romans chapter 13 it is God who instituted civil government. Since God is the one who instituted civil government, it therefore follows that God has the absolute right to lay down the qualifications for those who rule in His government, and God also has the absolute right to place limitations upon that government that He has instituted. Government is not God.

[John Weaver] It cannot do as it pleases. I told you yesterday, and I want you to remember this, that God only ordained three institutions. He ordained the family, which is a ministry of education, the church, which is a ministry of grace, and the civil government, which is a ministry of justice. Now, think about this. The family cannot do as it pleases and survive. The church cannot do as it pleases and survive. And neither can the civil government do as it pleases and survive. You've got to remember that when we talk about the family and when we talk about the church, we are also talking about government. The most basic government is self-government. Then you have familial or family government, and then ecclesiastical government, and then you have civil government. Civil government is just one form of government. It is not the only government. And sometimes when we think of government, we only think in the realm of the civil.

[John Weaver] Now, let me point out a principle that we need to comprehend today, and that is simply this. Although God ordained the family and the church and civil government for a blessing, That which God ordained for a blessing when we abuse, misuse, or violate it can indeed turn out to be a curse. You know what God said in Malachi 2 and verse 2? Listen to this. God says, if you will not hear and if you will not lay it to heart to give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of hosts, I will send a curse upon you And I will curse your blessings, yea, I have cursed them already, saith the Lord." Notice what God said. If you will not hear me, if you will not take it to heart, if you will not give glory to my name, God said, I will curse your blessings.

[John Weaver] Now, let me just point out, going from the least to the greater in one sense of the word. Let's take the family, for instance. Let's take marriage. You know what the Bible says in Proverbs 18 and verse 22? The Bible says, Whosoever findeth a wife, findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favor of the Lord. Marriage is honorable, the Bible says. Whosoever findeth a wife findeth a good thing and obtaineth favor of the Lord. I could truthfully say that God has blessed me and my wife. I hope she can say that He's blessed her and her husband.

[John Weaver] But the truth of the matter is this. The Bible does say that he that get a wife getteth a good thing and obtaineth favor of the Lord. But I know many men who got a wife that didn't get a good thing. I know many women that got a husband that didn't get a good thing.

[John Weaver] Now, the point I'm trying to make is this, that marriage and the home has been ordained to be a blessing. But when you take a spouse in rebellion to God and in disobedience to God, that which God ordained to be a blessing can indeed turn out to be a curse. You follow me? So, God says, I will curse your blessings, yea, I have cursed them already.

[John Weaver] Now, you can take the same principle and apply it to ecclesiastical government, that is, to the church in general. You know what God said in 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 15? He wrote to Timothy and he said this, But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of truth. Now, what is the church supposed to be? The church is supposed to be the pillar and the ground of truth. Yet, if you and I were honest in our assessment of the average church today, we would have to confess there is not much truth in most churches. So instead, then, of the church being a beacon of truth and a pillar and ground of the truth, most of the churches have become what the Apostle John said in Revelation 2 and verse 9, and in Revelation 3 and verse 9, most churches have become synagogues of Satan. Do you realize in the average church you can indeed find entertainment?

[John Weaver] You can find refreshment. You can find social life. You can find even some fellowship, but the truth is you find very little truth. Very little truth. Emphasis is put on everything but the truth. And so the Bible says the church is to be the pillar and the ground of truth. And yet, when you get into the average church, That which God ordained to be a blessing basically turns out to be a curse, because let me tell you something, folks. I don't care how much entertainment you have and how much fellowship you have. If there is no truth, it is still a curse.

[John Weaver] And do you realize it is easier to become a member of most churches than it is of most country clubs. In fact, all you have to do to get to be a member of most churches is just simply make your profession of faith, even if your profession of faith is unbacked by a life of holiness and obedience.

[John Weaver] Now, you've seen how the family, which God ordained to be a blessing, can turn into be a curse. You've seen how the church, which God ordained to be a blessing, can be turned into be a curse. Likewise, civil government, according to Romans 13 and verse 4, was ordained for our good. The Bible says, for he, the civil ruler, is the minister of God for thee, for good. So it is for our good, then, that the civil ruler terrorizes evil works. It is for our good that he beareth not the sword in vain. It is for our good that civil government has the power to punish murderers and rapists and kidnappers. God has ordained it like this, folks.

[John Weaver] If the criminal lives, society dies. If the criminal dies, society lives. So it is for our good that the civil government then has the power to execute the wicked and the ungodly. That which God has turned or that which God has commanded to be a blessing, the civil government, it also can turn to be a curse when it becomes anything and everything other than that which God has ordained.

[John Weaver] Now, let's stop and go back over these three illustrations again. Let me ask you a question. Can families be rent apart? Well, of course. Can churches be rent apart? The answer is yes. Can governments be read apart? And the answer is yes. Why does God, in His infinite justice and wisdom, destroy some families? And the answer is because of their rebellion and disobedience to His Word. Why does He destroy some churches? And the answer is because of their rebellion and disobedience to His Word. Why does He destroy some governments? And the answer is because of their rebellion and disobedience to His Word. You see, God can judge any of the institutions that He has ordained. Now, let's ask and answer the question. When God destroys a nation governmentally, how does He do so?

[John Weaver] I'm going to give you five answers. First of all, I want you to note that He will destroy a nation governmentally through tyrannical corruption. Look in your Bible to verse 4. Isaiah 19 verse 4, And the Egyptians will I give over to the hand of a cruel Lord, and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord of hosts. So the first answer is God will give a government over to what you and I would call tyrannical corruption. He now shows in Isaiah 19 what will happen to the Egyptians once they have been destroyed religiously and socially, once they have been deprived of their courage and their understanding.

[John Weaver] There is absolutely nothing left for them but to be reduced to absolute slavery. Do you realize that a nation who is destitute of any hope in God, a nation that is destitute of social structure, must fall on its own accord? It does not necessarily have to be invaded by an enemy. When we've lost hope, when we have absolutely no type of social structure, we must fall on our own. And what God is saying in Isaiah chapter 19, these Egyptians who are under His curse now will be shut out of any hope of upholding their liberty.

[John Weaver] They're going to undergo hard bondage. He said, I'm going to hand them over into the hands of a cruel Lord. Now, folks, listen. Tyranny has never been a God-ordained form of government.

[John Weaver] Now, let me explain that. God-ordained government, according to Romans chapter 13, did carry out the purposes for which he instituted it. And the purposes for which he instituted government is for the punishment of the wicked and for the protection of the righteous. You'll find that in 1 Peter 2 and verse 13 as well. Those are the two reasons why God has ordained government. So, God has never ordained tyranny as a legitimate form of government in the sense that tyranny can never carry out the purposes for which God has ordained government. But God can, in His infinite justice, curse a nation and curse a people by giving them a tyrannically corrupt government. as just punishment for their sin and their rebellion. Now, let me explain that.

[John Weaver] I could give you this illustration in order to understand my statement. I could say that murder is not a God-ordained form of death. How can I say that? For God said, Thou shalt not kill. But yet we do know many individuals die like that, don't they? See, tyranny is not necessarily a God-ordained form of government, but there have been many nations that have been destroyed by tyranny. So we've got to understand that although God may use tyranny for punishment, it is not necessarily a God-ordained form of government. So the Egyptians then were to be destroyed as a nation by their tyrannical and despotical rulers. When God judges a nation, He destroys them governmentally.

[John Weaver] Now listen to what the Bible says in Hosea 13 and verse 11. God said, I gave thee a king in mine anger and took him away in my wrath. Now, what does God mean when he says, I gave you a king in my anger and I took him away in my wrath? In other words, God in his righteous indignation gave the people of Israel a king And then in his wrath, he not only took the king away, he took the people away as well. In his wrath and in his anger, he gave them Saul.

[John Weaver] Don't you remember 1 Samuel 8? He told Samuel, they have not rejected you, they have rejected me that I should not be king over them. And he said, I'm going to give them a king, but here's what I want you to tell them. You tell them what kind of king they're going to have. So God gave them that king in his anger, and he took him away in his wrath.

[John Weaver] And when he did, Saul and his sons and many of the Israelites died by the hands of the Philistines. So tyranny can be used to punish a nation. You see, if there is a cursed beginning, there is certainly going to be a cursed ending. Do you realize that when God set David over the people, It was a lawful appointment. And God gave David, therefore, to be the ruler over his people for their good.

[John Weaver] And he did so, basically speaking. But when God gave them Saul, It was a singular judgment because of their rebellion and their disobedience to him. Now, just like God gave Saul in his anger, consequently, all evil rulers who are like Saul are given in anger as well. David, by God's appointment, was for the good of the people. Saul, by God's Judgment was for the punishment of the people. We have to remember that God is the sovereign. God is the one who controls everything in this world. The Bible says in the book of Daniel, chapter 2 and verse 2, that He, God, changes the times and the seasons.

[John Weaver] He removed the kings and He set it up kings. In Psalm 75, verses 5 and 6, God says this, For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is judge. He putteth up one, and He taketh down another. You see, God is absolutely sovereign and absolutely free in His own wisdom to give us either a ruler in grace and mercy, or to give us a ruler in judgment and in righteousness.

[John Weaver] In other words, He knows the purpose for which He gives us rulers. We've got to remember something, folks. We've got to remember that when God's people in the Old Testament were obedient to Him and followed Him, listen to what God said in Psalm 105 and verse 14. The Bible says, He reproved kings for their sake, and He suffered no man to do them harm. Isn't that amazing? God said, when you obeyed me, I reproved kings for your sake. We've got to remember the Bible says in Proverbs 21 in verse 1, the king's heart is in the Lord's hands as rivers of water.

[John Weaver] He turneth it whithersoever he willeth. So God is capable of reproving kings. But when God wants to destroy a nation, one of the ways that he does so is governmentally, and he delivers the people over into what we would call tyrannical corruption. But there's a second way that the Bible here teaches us that God destroys a nation governmentally. How is that? Political imbecility. Everybody knows what an imbecile is. When we talk about political imbecility, we're basically talking about political stupidity.

[John Weaver] You know, when you look at some of the laws in this country, When you look at the Federal Reserve Act, you either have to conclude we have some of the most stupid politicians or some of the most traitors. I mean, you just have to make up your mind which one. But look what I'm talking about political imbecility. Look in Isaiah chapter 19 and notice if you would please at verse 11.

[John Weaver] He says, Surely the princes of Zoland are fools. The counsel of the wise, counsels of Pharaoh, has become brutish. How say you unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? Where are they?" Where are thy wise men? And let them tell thee now, and let them know what the Lord of Hosts hath purposed upon Egypt. The princes of Zoanaber come fools. The princes of Naphth are deceived. They have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the state of the tribes thereof." Notice how many times God says that the princes are fools, and they're brutish, and they're deceived.

[John Weaver] Now, the Hebrew word for fool here is a very revealing word. I want you to listen to this. The Hebrew word pronounced in English would be evil, which is a good word for it. But the word for fool here literally means to be foolish. One who despises wisdom, one who mocks when he is guilty or one who is quarrelsome and one who is licentious. And that pretty well describes our rulers today, doesn't it? Those who are licentious, those who are quarrelsome, those who are foolish, those who lack wisdom.

[John Weaver] You see, God is not limited to what you and I would call tyrannical corruption in order to destroy a nation governmentally. He may destroy a nation governmentally by turning the leaders into absolute fools. When God says that the princes are become brutish, The word brutish means that they are dumb and as stupid as animals. In other words, they're absolute fools. By the way, when the Bible talks about a fool, it is not talking about a mentally deficient person. When the Bible talks about a fool, it is talking about someone who is hard-headed, stiff-necked, who refuses to listen and who will not hear and will not receive counsel and instruction. For instance, listen to these verses. In Jeremiah 6 and verse 10, God complains of these rulers and looks into what He says. To whom shall I speak and give warning that they may hear?

[John Weaver] Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken. Behold, the word of the Lord is unto them a reproach, and they have no delight in it. Let me ask you a question. How far do you think that we would get if we got together and elected an assembly of men, godly Christian men, And we took up a large enough offering to send this assembly of men to Washington, and then we were able to sit down with our president, with our judges, and with our legislators, and just lay out for them what the Word of God commands them to do. How many of you think that they would really, genuinely listen and pay attention?

[John Weaver] You see what I'm saying? That's what God said. God said, so who am I going to speak? Who's going to listen? They've become absolute fools. They will receive no instruction and no correction. Listen to what God said concerning the judges in Psalm 82 and verse 5.

[John Weaver] Now He's talking about the judicial officers. He says this, they know not, neither will they understand, they walk on in darkness. The foundations of the earth are out of course.

[John Weaver] Now what does he say? They know not, neither will they understand. I just received a letter this past week from a brother, and he had been fighting in the court system. And the funny thing is, I remember thinking the same thing, only my education came about 30 years earlier. And he said that he was just absolutely assured of the fact that he was going to win his court battle because when he was able to get into court, he was going to show the judge the law and he was just absolutely sure the judge would rule according to the law. The law means nothing today. Being right means nothing today. That's why God says concerning those judges, they know not, neither will they understand. You know what God said in Jeremiah 8 and verse 9? Listen carefully, he says, the wise men are ashamed.

[John Weaver] They are dismayed, lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord and what wisdom is in them. They have rejected the word of the Lord and what wisdom is in them. Do you realize political imbecility abounds on every hand in our country, in our day and time? It appears that very few politicians in America possess an ounce of common sense, and the truth is most of them will not listen to any rational arguments. Do you realize our Constitution means nothing? The Word of God means nothing. The Bible says in the book of Proverbs chapter 17 and verse 16, listen to this, Proverbs 17 and verse 16, the Bible says, Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it? Wherefore is there the price of the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he has no heart to it?

[John Weaver] That is, he doesn't really want it. He not only will not listen, he does not want to listen. And the few who do listen are unwilling to change their conduct or their thinking after they listen to you. The Bible in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 4 and verse 13 says this, Better is a poor and wise child than an old and foolish king who will no more be admonished." Isn't that amazing? Better is a poor and wise child than an old and foolish king who will no more be admonished.

[John Weaver] You know, I believe Mark Twain was right when he said, suppose you were a congressman and a fool, but then I'm being redundant. Even Mark Twain understood back then political imbecility. Folks, let me tell you something. Listen carefully. Political imbecility will turn a nation from common sense and common law and constitutionalism into political correctness. Do you realize what has happened in our country? Everyone knows, or at least anyone with one eye and half sense knows, that political correctness is wrong, absurd, stupid, and destructive.

[John Weaver] And yet, in our desire to be wise in and of ourselves, we become as fools. We not only allow our leaders to destroy us, we destroy ourselves. When God wants to destroy a nation, He may use tyrannical corruption, but he's not limited to that. He may also use political imbecility. And I sometimes think that that's exactly where we are in this country. Our leaders are fools, biblically speaking. Then if you look in verse 14 of Isaiah chapter 19, You'll find that God is not limited to tyrannical corruption or political imbecility if he wants to destroy a nation governmentally. Verse 14 says this.

[John Weaver] The Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof. And they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit." Note, if you would please, another way that God may destroy a nation governmentally is through moral turpitude. By that I mean by their own sin and wickedness and rebellion. God destroys governments through the immorality of their leaders or of its leaders. God destroys government through the immorality of its leaders and rulers. When God sent a perverse spirit, what does that mean? That means the rulers then became perverse, or as you and I would call it, perverse. Bad government produces bad citizens. When the leaders of a nation lead in perversion, Many times the citizens follow.

[John Weaver] I've heard people argue for the last 30 years, why should I not cheat? Why should I not steal? Why should I not be an adulterer? Why should I? After all, our rulers do it. That is their argument. And I'm going to tell you something, folks. If you ever try to defend yourself by trying to argue over the definition of the word is, you've got problems. When President Bill Clinton says that depends upon your definition of the word is, you're talking about moral turpitude. It was Solomon who led the people into idolatry and immorality in 1 Kings chapter 11. It was Jeroboam who did it in 1 Kings 12. It was Manasseh who did it in 2 Kings 21. Folks, I don't have to tell you that we have rulers today that are immoral, ungodly, and positively wicked.

[John Weaver] Moreover, they are not only perverse, they have enacted laws that protect perverts. We have rulers that are known for their adultery, fornication, sodomy, pedophilia, and all of that is commonplace among our judges, our rulers, our officers. Let me tell you, if you want to get your eyes opened, if you really want to know the depth of moral turpitude in this land, you just read Senator John DeCamp's book, The Franklin Cover-Up. You read the book, The Transformation of America, but when you read it, have your bag ready because you will need it.

[John Weaver] It'll make you sick to your stomach. Read the book, Thanks for the Memories. It is unbelievable how Senator John DeCamp indicts the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, in pedophilia rings. Now this is a senator. He not only indicts them, he has defended some of those children that our rulers and leaders have molested. And some of those young children have already won multi-million dollar judgments against our rulers.

[John Weaver] Now, I'm just simply pointing out, folks, God can destroy a nation not just through tyrannical corruption, not just through political imbecility, but through moral turpitude as well. Wicked rulers are the delight of a wicked people. and a wicked people, or a delight of wicked rulers. It's a two-way street. You know what God said in Hosea 7, verses 3-5? Let me read it for you. Here's what God says.

[John Weaver] They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies. They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who seetheth from raising after he needed the dough, until at eleven, in the day of our king, the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine, he stretched out his hands with the scorners."

[John Weaver] Now what does the Bible say? They make the king glad with their wickedness. In other words, wicked people encourage wicked rulers, and wicked rulers encourage wicked people. If both are wicked, none can condemn the other. There will be no one to call anyone into account for their sins. I don't have to point out the fact that our nation is being destroyed governmentally through immoral and wicked rulers every day, every week, every month. There's some congressman, someone getting caught in idolatry, fornication, wickedness, you name it, it's there. God can deliver a people over through their government to immoral conduct and thus destroy them. Fourthly, very quickly, God can also destroy through what you and I would call blatant idolatry. It is one thing to push idolatry upon a people. It's quite another to claim to be God.

[John Weaver] Now, let me explain something to you. I do not believe that we have any rulers in this country that are yet so audacious and so outrageous who would stand up and say, I am God, worship me. No one I do not believe would be that stupid yet. But let me tell you something, folks. You don't have to stand up and say, I am God. All you have to do is to demand that people treat you like God.

[John Weaver] And the claim is still there. You never have to utter your voice. No one today is going to have the audacity and the gall to claim Godhood, and yet they demonstrate that desire by demanding that everyone submit to everything that they think fit to do to govern us. We have forgotten a simple principle, and that is that government can be an idol just like anything else. Let me tell you what God said in Hosea 8 in verse 4, and then I'll explain the verse. God said, they have set up kings. but not by me.

[John Weaver] They made princes, and I knew it not. Of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off."

[John Weaver] Now, the context of Hosea 8 and verse 4, that is the first three verse, clearly demonstrates that Israel has cast off God and has replaced him with wicked, ungodly rulers. Now, when the Bible says they have set up kings, but not by me, they made princes, I knew it not. That verse is not denying the omniscience of God, nor is it denying the sovereignty of God. Here's what God is actually saying. God is actually saying, you set up kings, but not by me. That is, you set up men that did not meet my qualifications. You set up men that I did not choose. You set up princes and I knew it not.

[John Weaver] Not that I was unaware of it. but that you knew that I would never recognize them. They were absolutely contrary to the qualifications that I laid down in my Word. And yet you chose them. You chose them in rebellion to me. And you've lifted them up, you've exalted them to a place of rulership which they should never be. And by the way, if you will remember, in John chapter 10, our Lord said, I said you were gods, and if you would take the context all the way back to Psalm 82, he's referring there to the rulers and especially to the judges, because anyone then who therefore held an office of authority supposedly under God was considered as a god back in those days because he had power and authority. And so what is God complaining of here? The people that have lifted these people up, they have elevated them. When God condemned them, God would not have them, God would not recognize them, and God would not honor them. Are you listening? When you make people rulers in rebellion to God, it is idolatry.

[John Weaver] Go back to 1 Samuel chapter 8. when the people demanded a king that they might be like other nations. And what did God say? They have not rejected you, Samuel. They rejected me that I should not reign over them. When you deny God as king, at the same time, you deny His law. When you elevate a man, therefore, to be that ruler, contrary to the Word of God, you are now also not only recognizing that man, but you're also recognizing His law. Have you ever wondered? Has it ever dawned on you to question why in the last 40 to 50 or 60 years we've had such anti-God, anti-Christian, immoral legislation that is pouring forth out of the White House and out of Congress? I'll tell you why. Because if you claim to be God, You're not going to brook any rivals. And if man wants to play God, he is certainly not going to recognize the one true and living God.

[John Weaver] I believe it was Jean-Paul Sartre, the French existentialist. He said, if I am God, then you're the devil. In other words, if I'm God, anybody who opposes me is my enemy. By the way, Is that not the attitude of those who believe in political correctness? I believe it was President George Bush himself who said, close your eyes to the words of Christ, if you're not with us, you're against us. Blatant idolatry. Blatant idolatry.

[John Weaver] We're living in a Moloch state just like I taught you yesterday. We don't even know it. We don't even realize it. But fifthly, and very quickly this morning, there is a fifth way that God can destroy a nation governmentally. He not only may use tyrannical corruption, political imbecility, moral turpitude, blatant idolatry. He may also use what you and I know as social anarchy. Now, another way to destroy a nation, governmentally, is just simply through social anarchy. In this case, in such a case, God oftentimes will destroy the rulers, but he does not replace them. And therefore, the people descend into what you and I would know as social anarchy.

[John Weaver] That is like in Judges 17, 25, and I believe Judges 21, 25, where you have the theme of the book of Judges, where the Bible says there that there was no king in Israel in those days, that every man did that which was right in his own eyes. Let me tell you something, people. You cannot escape government. We must have government. We must have family government. We must have church government. We must have a civil government. You cannot escape the concept of government. If you just simply throw out government, period, all you have is anarchy, everyone doing that which is right in his own eyes.

[John Weaver] You say, well, Brother Weaver, that sounds good to me. It does until you want to run that red light at 100 miles an hour, and I'm running the green light at 70 miles an hour, and we meet. It's impossible to exist without government. You must have government. But God can destroy us as a nation just simply by destroying our rulers, even if they were tyrants. You know what he said in Hosea 3 and verse 4, listen carefully. For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king. And without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without a teraphim, just as they're not going to hear from me, they're not going to hear from a ruler, they're not going to hear from anyone, they're going to be left to themselves. You know, I've often laughed when I've thought about this.

[John Weaver] Everyone's afraid of China, everyone's afraid of Russia. You know, we don't have to fear Russia or China. If God wants to destroy us, all He has to do is let us alone, we'll kill ourselves. In Hosea 7, verse 7, God says, All their kings are fallen. There is none among them that call upon me. Isn't that amazing? Social anarchy. In Hosea 10, verse 3, Scripture says, For now shall they say, We have no king, because we feared not the Lord. What then should a king do to us? We don't have any ruler. Why? Because we didn't fear God. God took him away. Now we have nothing. We're left ourselves. It's interesting that when you and I think of governmental corruption, when we think of governmental destruction, we normally only think of tyranny and anarchy.

[John Weaver] We never realize that God can just as easily destroy a nation through political imbecility and moral turpitude and blatant idolatry. Do you realize that God, in his infinite wisdom and justice, may use any one of those five ways or any combination of them? He may use either one of them, either two of them, three of them, four of them, or he chooses all five of them. But either way, The nation will be destroyed. May I tell you something?

[John Weaver] I want you to think. How important it is in light of this for God's people. To group together. And to stay together. Let me tell you, I've heard people say, Brother Weaver, boy, if God destroys this nation, what in the world are we going to do? Well, I'll tell you what we're going to do. As Christians, according to Psalm 58 and Revelation chapter 19, we'll say, Hallelujah, the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.

[John Weaver] Because we always rejoice in his righteous judgment. But now you say, Brother Weaver, don't you understand that if this nation is destroyed, that means that everybody is going to suffer? Yes, I understand that. But may I tell you something? I don't know if you've thought about this or not, but if God brings down Washington D.C., if God brought down the Federal Reserve System, if God brought down the Illuminati, if He brought down the Bilderbergers, all the one-whirlers, if He destroyed them tomorrow and our economy collapses because it's based upon debt, you say, what would happen? Well, let me tell you what would happen. The only people who would have any insight to know what to do Any character to do what needs to be done would be God's people. And we could arise and build based upon the Word of God, based upon Christian liberty and Christian principles. God never, ever leaves his people nor forsakes them. And when God destroys His enemies, He always has a way of protecting His people.

[John Weaver] When you look around and see the deterioration in our country, let's be honest, folks. You know and I know things cannot go on as they are. They can't. Something is going to happen. And God will either judge us and destroy us and then allow his people to arise and build. Or somehow God's going to have to send revival and repentance. I don't know which. Or God's going to do, as Brother Ray talked yesterday, allow some of us to secede and to have our own Christian nation. But when you see the hand of God, You better remember, God may use tyrannical corruption, or political imbecility, or moral turpitude, or blatant idolatry, or social anarchy. Any one of those five things will bring a nation to its knees. And as we see that happening in this country, it ought to bring us to our knees, crying out, for mercy and wisdom and help and discernment. May we turn to Him in repentance and faith. Let's pray.

[John Weaver] Father, we're so thankful today for the Lord Jesus Christ, for His grace and for His mercy to us. Lord, I do pray that You would give us wisdom as Your people, discernment. Give us, Lord, Grace that we may submit to Your Word and understand Your principles and apply them. Help us, Lord, to honor Thee in every area of our life and to be that which we should be. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

How God Destroys Nations Part 3

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	5260511144
Subject	Civil Government
Course	Civil Government: Magistracy, Authority, and Romans 13: Christian & Civil Government
Genre	Sermon
Date	2005-05-22
Dictation Name
Book	Book 051: How God Destroys Nations — Chapter 3
Source Timed Segments	74

Formatted Transcript

Introduction and Review

Weaver reviews the series, noting that God destroys nations religiously and socially before addressing governmental destruction. He reads Isaiah 19:1-17 and explains the 'burden' as a prophecy against Egypt.

Alright, those of you who have your Bibles, and I trust many of you do, I want you to open them please to Isaiah 19. As you turn to Isaiah 19, I'm going to have to explain something to you. I have started a short series that I have been preaching through, and today you're going to come to that third part. And the series is entitled, "How God Destroys Nations." And I'm bringing this series so that you can see basically what has happened historically and what is really even happening presently.

So I will give you the first two reviews very quickly after we read the scripture. Isaiah 19, verse 1, and we'll read through verse 17.

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 19:1-17

"The burden of Egypt. Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards. And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts. And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up." "And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither. The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more. The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish." "Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks, shall be confounded. And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices and ponds for fish. Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? Where are they? where are thy wise men?" "And let them tell thee now, and let them know what the LORD of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt. The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof. The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit. Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do. In that day shall Egypt be like unto women: and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which he shaketh over it. And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt, every one that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the LORD of hosts, which he hath determined against it."

Now, let me just simply tell you that when you look at Isaiah chapter 19 and verse 1, the Bible says

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 19:1-17

"the burden of Egypt."

Actually, the word "burden" refers to the prophecy of Egypt. As you read through Isaiah, you're going to find that Isaiah is talking about the burden of Tyre, the burden of Moab, the burden of Assyria. In other words, each one of these burdens is a prophecy against these particular countries. Now, what I've done in Isaiah chapter 19 is this: I've drawn out the principles that God uses when He destroys a nation. Now, I realize in the context here it is referring to Egypt, but the principles are the same. The very first thing I showed in this passage was when God destroys a nation, He always destroys that nation first and foremost religiously. That is because usually when a nation has left Him, they have always gone into idolatry. And of course, He has said in Isaiah 42 and verse 8, "My glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images." He and He alone is the Lord God.

God's Judgments Are Often Slow

Weaver clarifies that most of God's judgments are not instantaneous but slow, using examples like Adam and King Saul to illustrate prolonged judgment.

Now, when I gave the introduction of this series, I pointed out that when we think of judgment, we normally think cataclysmically. We think of Noah's flood. We think of Sodom and Gomorrah. We think how God destroyed Herod, how Elijah beheaded the 450 prophets of Baal. We normally think instantaneous, cataclysmic judgment. But I've demonstrated from the Scripture that most of God's judgments are not instantaneous, cataclysmic judgments; they are slow judgments. Even when God pronounced the death sentence against Adam, He said, "in dying thou shalt die." And Adam lived 939 years, but yet he was under judgment the whole time. And even King Saul was under God's judgment, and yet he continued to reign another 20 years. So a lot of God's judgments are slow judgments.

And when I say that God destroys the country religiously, I just simply pointed out in the first message that when this country was founded, we were indeed a Christian nation founded upon Christian principles. I not only gave the word of God in history, but I even quoted several Supreme Court justices that said that this is a Christian nation. And yet you look around today, and you will find that we are no longer living nor acting as a Christian nation. We are certainly denying the one true and living God and His Word. And the only way that you can explain what has happened in this country is that God has destroyed us, basically, religiously speaking.

God Destroys Nations Governmentally

Weaver introduces the main topic: God destroys nations governmentally. He explains that civil government, ordained by God for good, can become a curse when abused, just like family and church.

And we can see the social deterioration in this country based upon what is happening right now. So God destroys nations, not only religiously, but God also destroys nations socially. And the third thing that we come to today is this: that God will destroy nations governmentally. Let me just say that I did not necessarily plan this message to fall on this particular day. That's how the providence of God worked it out. And so I want to show you basically some of the ways that God destroys nations governmentally. Now, when I'm talking about God destroying nations, I want to clear up one thing in your particular minds today, and that is this. Don't sit there and say, "Well, God must be some fiend. God must be some evil, wicked individual who is just waiting to smite and destroy nations." That is not so. The only reason God would fight against a nation, the only reason God would smite a nation was in justice and in judgment.

The Bible says in Lamentations chapter 3 and verse 33 concerning God,

Scripture Reading — Lamentations 3:33

"For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men."

So God is not some old fiend sitting up in the heavens somewhere with a switch just waiting to whip the living daylights out of anybody and everybody. No, He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. So when God smites us, He does so in righteous justice. And that's exactly what He does for our rebellion and our sin. So today we come to see how God destroys nations governmentally. As we think about this, it is imperative to remember that in Romans chapter 13 it is God who instituted civil government. Since God is the one who instituted civil government, it therefore follows that God has the absolute right to lay down the qualifications for those who rule in His government, and God also has the absolute right to place limitations upon that government that He has instituted. Government is not God.

It cannot do as it pleases. I told you yesterday, and I want you to remember this, that God only ordained three institutions. He ordained the family, which is a ministry of education; the church, which is a ministry of grace; and the civil government, which is a ministry of justice. Now, think about this. The family cannot do as it pleases and survive. The church cannot do as it pleases and survive. And neither can the civil government do as it pleases and survive. You've got to remember that when we talk about the family and when we talk about the church, we are also talking about government. The most basic government is self-government. Then you have familial or family government, and then ecclesiastical government, and then you have civil government. Civil government is just one form of government. It is not the only government. And sometimes when we think of government, we only think in the realm of the civil.

Now, let me point out a principle that we need to comprehend today, and that is simply this. Although God ordained the family and the church and civil government for a blessing, that which God ordained for a blessing when we abuse, misuse, or violate it can indeed turn out to be a curse. You know what God said in Malachi 2 and verse 2? Listen to this. God says,

Scripture Reading — Malachi 2:2

"If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart."

Notice what God said. If you will not hear me, if you will not take it to heart, if you will not give glory to my name, God said,

Scripture Reading — Malachi 2:2

"I will curse your blessings."

Now, let me just point out, going from the least to the greater in one sense of the word. Let's take the family, for instance. Let's take marriage. You know what the Bible says in Proverbs 18 and verse 22? The Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 18:22

"Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD."

Marriage is honorable, the Bible says. Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD. I could truthfully say that God has blessed me and my wife. I hope she can say that He's blessed her and her husband.

But the truth of the matter is this. The Bible does say that he that getteth a wife getteth a good thing and obtaineth favour of the LORD. But I know many men who got a wife that didn't get a good thing. I know many women that got a husband that didn't get a good thing.

Now, the point I'm trying to make is this, that marriage and the home has been ordained to be a blessing. But when you take a spouse in rebellion to God and in disobedience to God, that which God ordained to be a blessing can indeed turn out to be a curse. You follow me? So, God says, "I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already."

Now, you can take the same principle and apply it to ecclesiastical government, that is, to the church in general. You know what God said in 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 15? He wrote to Timothy and he said this,

Scripture Reading — 1 Timothy 3:15

"But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."

Now, what is the church supposed to be? The church is supposed to be the pillar and ground of the truth. Yet, if you and I were honest in our assessment of the average church today, we would have to confess there is not much truth in most churches. So instead, then, of the church being a beacon of truth and a pillar and ground of the truth, most of the churches have become what the Apostle John said in Revelation 2 and verse 9, and in Revelation 3 and verse 9, most churches have become synagogues of Satan. Do you realize in the average church you can indeed find entertainment?

You can find refreshment. You can find social life. You can find even some fellowship, but the truth is you find very little truth. Very little truth. Emphasis is put on everything but the truth. And so the Bible says the church is to be the pillar and ground of the truth. And yet, when you get into the average church, that which God ordained to be a blessing basically turns out to be a curse, because let me tell you something, folks. I don't care how much entertainment you have and how much fellowship you have. If there is no truth, it is still a curse.

And do you realize it is easier to become a member of most churches than it is of most country clubs? In fact, all you have to do to get to be a member of most churches is just simply make your profession of faith, even if your profession of faith is unbacked by a life of holiness and obedience. Now, you've seen how the family, which God ordained to be a blessing, can turn into a curse. You've seen how the church, which God ordained to be a blessing, can be turned into a curse. Likewise, civil government, according to Romans 13 and verse 4, was ordained for our good. The Bible says, "For he is the minister of God to thee for good." So it is for our good, then, that the civil ruler terrorizes evil works. It is for our good that he beareth not the sword in vain. It is for our good that civil government has the power to punish murderers and rapists and kidnappers. God has ordained it like this, folks.

If the criminal lives, society dies. If the criminal dies, society lives. So it is for our good that the civil government then has the power to execute the wicked and the ungodly. That which God has commanded to be a blessing, the civil government, it also can turn to be a curse when it becomes anything and everything other than that which God has ordained.

Now, let's stop and go back over these three illustrations again. Let me ask you a question. Can families be rent apart? Well, of course. Can churches be rent apart? The answer is yes. Can governments be rent apart? And the answer is yes. Why does God, in His infinite justice and wisdom, destroy some families? And the answer is because of their rebellion and disobedience to His Word. Why does He destroy some churches? And the answer is because of their rebellion and disobedience to His Word. Why does He destroy some governments? And the answer is because of their rebellion and disobedience to His Word. You see, God can judge any of the institutions that He has ordained. Now, let's ask and answer the question. When God destroys a nation governmentally, how does He do so?

Tyrannical Corruption

The first way God destroys a nation governmentally is by giving them over to a cruel lord and fierce king, as seen in Isaiah 19:4. Tyranny is not God-ordained but can be used as punishment.

I'm going to give you five answers. First of all, I want you to note that He will destroy a nation governmentally through tyrannical corruption. Look in your Bible to verse 4. Isaiah 19 verse 4, "And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts." So the first answer is God will give a government over to what you and I would call tyrannical corruption. He now shows in Isaiah 19 what will happen to the Egyptians once they have been destroyed religiously and socially, once they have been deprived of their courage and their understanding.

There is absolutely nothing left for them but to be reduced to absolute slavery. Do you realize that a nation who is destitute of any hope in God, a nation that is destitute of social structure, must fall on its own accord? It does not necessarily have to be invaded by an enemy. When we've lost hope, when we have absolutely no type of social structure, we must fall on our own. And what God is saying in Isaiah chapter 19, these Egyptians who are under His curse now will be shut out of any hope of upholding their liberty. They're going to undergo hard bondage. He said, "I'm going to hand them over into the hands of a cruel lord." Now, folks, listen. Tyranny has never been a God-ordained form of government.

Now, let me explain that. God-ordained government, according to Romans chapter 13, did carry out the purposes for which He instituted it. And the purposes for which He instituted government is for the punishment of the wicked and for the protection of the righteous. You'll find that in 1 Peter 2 and verse 13 as well. Those are the two reasons why God has ordained government. So, God has never ordained tyranny as a legitimate form of government in the sense that tyranny can never carry out the purposes for which God has ordained government. But God can, in His infinite justice, curse a nation and curse a people by giving them a tyrannically corrupt government as just punishment for their sin and their rebellion. Now, let me explain that.

I could give you this illustration in order to understand my statement. I could say that murder is not a God-ordained form of death. How can I say that? For God said, "Thou shalt not kill." But yet we do know many individuals die like that, don't they? See, tyranny is not necessarily a God-ordained form of government, but there have been many nations that have been destroyed by tyranny. So we've got to understand that although God may use tyranny for punishment, it is not necessarily a God-ordained form of government. So the Egyptians then were to be destroyed as a nation by their tyrannical and despotical rulers. When God judges a nation, He destroys them governmentally.

Now listen to what the Bible says in Hosea 13 and verse 11. God said,

Scripture Reading — Hosea 13:11

"I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath."

Now, what does God mean when he says,

Scripture Reading — Hosea 13:11

"I gave you a king in my anger and I took him away in my wrath"

? In other words, God in his righteous indignation gave the people of Israel a king, and then in his wrath, he not only took the king away, he took the people away as well. In his wrath and in his anger, he gave them Saul. Don't you remember 1 Samuel 8? He told Samuel, "They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them." And he said, "I'm going to give them a king, but here's what I want you to tell them. You tell them what kind of king they're going to have." So God gave them that king in his anger, and he took him away in his wrath.

And when he did, Saul and his sons and many of the Israelites died by the hands of the Philistines. So tyranny can be used to punish a nation. You see, if there is a cursed beginning, there is certainly going to be a cursed ending. Do you realize that when God set David over the people, it was a lawful appointment. And God gave David, therefore, to be the ruler over his people for their good. And he did so, basically speaking. But when God gave them Saul, it was a singular judgment because of their rebellion and their disobedience to him. Now, just like God gave Saul in his anger, consequently, all evil rulers who are like Saul are given in anger as well. David, by God's appointment, was for the good of the people. Saul, by God's judgment, was for the punishment of the people. We have to remember that God is the sovereign. God is the one who controls everything in this world. The Bible says in the book of Daniel, chapter 2 and verse 21, that He, God, "changeth the times and the seasons."

"He removeth kings, and setteth up kings." In Psalm 75, verses 6 and 7, God says this, "For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another." You see, God is absolutely sovereign and absolutely free in His own wisdom to give us either a ruler in grace and mercy, or to give us a ruler in judgment and in righteousness. In other words, He knows the purpose for which He gives us rulers. We've got to remember something, folks. We've got to remember that when God's people in the Old Testament were obedient to Him and followed Him, listen to what God said in Psalm 105 and verse 14. The Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 105:14

"He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes."

Isn't that amazing? God said, when you obeyed me, I reproved kings for your sake. We've got to remember the Bible says in Proverbs 21 and verse 1, "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will."

So God is capable of reproving kings. But when God wants to destroy a nation, one of the ways that he does so is governmentally, and he delivers the people over into what we would call tyrannical corruption. But there's a second way that the Bible here teaches us that God destroys a nation governmentally. How is that? Political imbecility. Everybody knows what an imbecile is. When we talk about political imbecility, we're basically talking about political stupidity.

Political Imbecility

God can destroy a nation by making its leaders fools, as described in Isaiah 19:11-13. This refers to leaders who despise wisdom, refuse counsel, and enact destructive policies.

You know, when you look at some of the laws in this country, when you look at the Federal Reserve Act, you either have to conclude we have some of the most stupid politicians or some of the most traitors. I mean, you just have to make up your mind which one. But look what I'm talking about political imbecility. Look in Isaiah chapter 19 and notice if you would please at verse 11. He says, "Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? Where are they? where are thy wise men? and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the LORD of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt. The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof." Notice how many times God says that the princes are fools, and they're brutish, and they're deceived.

Now, the Hebrew word for fool here is a very revealing word. I want you to listen to this. The Hebrew word pronounced in English would be "evil," which is a good word for it. But the word for fool here literally means to be foolish, one who despises wisdom, one who mocks when he is guilty, or one who is quarrelsome and one who is licentious. And that pretty well describes our rulers today, doesn't it? Those who are licentious, those who are quarrelsome, those who are foolish, those who lack wisdom. You see, God is not limited to what you and I would call tyrannical corruption in order to destroy a nation governmentally. He may destroy a nation governmentally by turning the leaders into absolute fools. When God says that the princes are become brutish, the word brutish means that they are dumb and as stupid as animals. In other words, they're absolute fools. By the way, when the Bible talks about a fool, it is not talking about a mentally deficient person. When the Bible talks about a fool, it is talking about someone who is hard-headed, stiff-necked, who refuses to listen and who will not hear and will not receive counsel and instruction. For instance, listen to these verses. In Jeremiah 6 and verse 10, God complains of these rulers and looks into what He says. "To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear?"

"Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it." Let me ask you a question. How far do you think that we would get if we got together and elected an assembly of men, godly Christian men, and we took up a large enough offering to send this assembly of men to Washington, and then we were able to sit down with our president, with our judges, and with our legislators, and just lay out for them what the Word of God commands them to do. How many of you think that they would really, genuinely listen and pay attention? You see what I'm saying? That's what God said. God said, "So who am I going to speak? Who's going to listen?" They've become absolute fools. They will receive no instruction and no correction. Listen to what God said concerning the judges in Psalm 82 and verse 5.

Now He's talking about the judicial officers. He says this, "They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course." Now what does he say? "They know not, neither will they understand." I just received a letter this past week from a brother, and he had been fighting in the court system. And the funny thing is, I remember thinking the same thing, only my education came about 30 years earlier. And he said that he was just absolutely assured of the fact that he was going to win his court battle because when he was able to get into court, he was going to show the judge the law and he was just absolutely sure the judge would rule according to the law. The law means nothing today. Being right means nothing today. That's why God says concerning those judges, "They know not, neither will they understand." You know what God said in Jeremiah 8 and verse 9? Listen carefully, he says, "The wise men are ashamed."

"They are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them?" They have rejected the word of the LORD, and what wisdom is in them? Do you realize political imbecility abounds on every hand in our country, in our day and time? It appears that very few politicians in America possess an ounce of common sense, and the truth is most of them will not listen to any rational arguments. Do you realize our Constitution means nothing? The Word of God means nothing. The Bible says in the book of Proverbs chapter 17 and verse 16, listen to this, Proverbs 17 and verse 16, the Bible says, "Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it?" Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he has no heart to it?

That is, he doesn't really want it. He not only will not listen, he does not want to listen. And the few who do listen are unwilling to change their conduct or their thinking after they listen to you. The Bible in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 4 and verse 13 says this,

Scripture Reading — Ecclesiastes 4:13

"Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished."

Isn't that amazing? Better is a poor and wise child than an old and foolish king who will no more be admonished. You know, I believe Mark Twain was right when he said, "Suppose you were a congressman and a fool, but then I'm being redundant." Even Mark Twain understood back then political imbecility. Folks, let me tell you something. Listen carefully. Political imbecility will turn a nation from common sense and common law and constitutionalism into political correctness. Do you realize what has happened in our country? Everyone knows, or at least anyone with one eye and half sense knows, that political correctness is wrong, absurd, stupid, and destructive.

And yet, in our desire to be wise in and of ourselves, we become as fools. We not only allow our leaders to destroy us, we destroy ourselves. When God wants to destroy a nation, He may use tyrannical corruption, but he's not limited to that. He may also use political imbecility. And I sometimes think that that's exactly where we are in this country. Our leaders are fools, biblically speaking. Then if you look in verse 14 of Isaiah chapter 19, you'll find that God is not limited to tyrannical corruption or political imbecility if he wants to destroy a nation governmentally. Verse 14 says this.

Moral Turpitude

God sends a perverse spirit among rulers, leading to immorality and wickedness that corrupts the nation. Weaver cites examples of modern political scandals and the mutual encouragement of wickedness between rulers and people.

"The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit." Note, if you would please, another way that God may destroy a nation governmentally is through moral turpitude. By that I mean by their own sin and wickedness and rebellion. God destroys governments through the immorality of their leaders or of its leaders. God destroys government through the immorality of its leaders and rulers. When God sent a perverse spirit, what does that mean? That means the rulers then became perverse, or as you and I would call it, perverse. Bad government produces bad citizens. When the leaders of a nation lead in perversion, many times the citizens follow.

I've heard people argue for the last 30 years, "Why should I not cheat? Why should I not steal? Why should I not be an adulterer? Why should I? After all, our rulers do it." That is their argument. And I'm going to tell you something, folks. If you ever try to defend yourself by trying to argue over the definition of the word "is," you've got problems. When President Bill Clinton says, "That depends upon your definition of the word 'is,'" you're talking about moral turpitude. It was Solomon who led the people into idolatry and immorality in 1 Kings chapter 11. It was Jeroboam who did it in 1 Kings 12. It was Manasseh who did it in 2 Kings 21. Folks, I don't have to tell you that we have rulers today that are immoral, ungodly, and positively wicked.

Moreover, they are not only perverse, they have enacted laws that protect perverts. We have rulers that are known for their adultery, fornication, sodomy, pedophilia, and all of that is commonplace among our judges, our rulers, our officers. Let me tell you, if you want to get your eyes opened, if you really want to know the depth of moral turpitude in this land, you just read Senator John DeCamp's book, "The Franklin Cover-Up." You read the book, "The Transformation of America," but when you read it, have your bag ready because you will need it. It'll make you sick to your stomach. Read the book, "Thanks for the Memories." It is unbelievable how Senator John DeCamp indicts the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, in pedophilia rings. Now this is a senator. He not only indicts them, he has defended some of those children that our rulers and leaders have molested. And some of those young children have already won multi-million dollar judgments against our rulers.

Now, I'm just simply pointing out, folks, God can destroy a nation not just through tyrannical corruption, not just through political imbecility, but through moral turpitude as well. Wicked rulers are the delight of a wicked people, and a wicked people are the delight of wicked rulers. It's a two-way street. You know what God said in Hosea 7, verses 3-5? Let me read it for you. Here's what God says. "They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies. They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened. In the day of our king the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners."

Now what does the Bible say? "They make the king glad with their wickedness." In other words, wicked people encourage wicked rulers, and wicked rulers encourage wicked people. If both are wicked, none can condemn the other. There will be no one to call anyone into account for their sins. I don't have to point out the fact that our nation is being destroyed governmentally through immoral and wicked rulers every day, every week, every month. There's some congressman, someone getting caught in idolatry, fornication, wickedness, you name it, it's there. God can deliver a people over through their government to immoral conduct and thus destroy them. Fourthly, very quickly, God can also destroy through what you and I would call blatant idolatry. It is one thing to push idolatry upon a people. It's quite another to claim to be God.

Blatant Idolatry

Government can become an idol when rulers demand submission contrary to God's law. Weaver references Hosea 8:4 and 1 Samuel 8 to show that choosing rulers in rebellion to God is idolatry.

Now, let me explain something to you. I do not believe that we have any rulers in this country that are yet so audacious and so outrageous who would stand up and say, "I am God, worship me." No one I do not believe would be that stupid yet. But let me tell you something, folks. You don't have to stand up and say, "I am God." All you have to do is to demand that people treat you like God. And the claim is still there. You never have to utter your voice. No one today is going to have the audacity and the gall to claim Godhood, and yet they demonstrate that desire by demanding that everyone submit to everything that they think fit to do to govern us. We have forgotten a simple principle, and that is that government can be an idol just like anything else. Let me tell you what God said in Hosea 8 and verse 4, and then I'll explain the verse. God said, "They have set up kings, but not by me."

"They have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off." Now, the context of Hosea 8 and verse 4, that is the first three verses, clearly demonstrates that Israel has cast off God and has replaced him with wicked, ungodly rulers. Now, when the Bible says "they have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not," that verse is not denying the omniscience of God, nor is it denying the sovereignty of God. Here's what God is actually saying. God is actually saying, "You set up kings, but not by me." That is, you set up men that did not meet my qualifications. You set up men that I did not choose. You set up princes and I knew it not.

Not that I was unaware of it, but that you knew that I would never recognize them. They were absolutely contrary to the qualifications that I laid down in my Word. And yet you chose them. You chose them in rebellion to me. And you've lifted them up, you've exalted them to a place of rulership which they should never be. And by the way, if you will remember, in John chapter 10, our Lord said, "I said, Ye are gods," and if you would take the context all the way back to Psalm 82, he's referring there to the rulers and especially to the judges, because anyone then who therefore held an office of authority supposedly under God was considered as a god back in those days because he had power and authority. And so what is God complaining of here? The people that have lifted these people up, they have elevated them. When God condemned them, God would not have them, God would not recognize them, and God would not honor them. Are you listening? When you make people rulers in rebellion to God, it is idolatry.

Go back to 1 Samuel chapter 8, when the people demanded a king that they might be like other nations. And what did God say? "They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them." When you deny God as king, at the same time, you deny His law. When you elevate a man, therefore, to be that ruler, contrary to the Word of God, you are now also not only recognizing that man, but you're also recognizing His law. Have you ever wondered? Has it ever dawned on you to question why in the last 40 to 50 or 60 years we've had such anti-God, anti-Christian, immoral legislation that is pouring forth out of the White House and out of Congress? I'll tell you why. Because if you claim to be God, you're not going to brook any rivals. And if man wants to play God, he is certainly not going to recognize the one true and living God.

I believe it was Jean-Paul Sartre, the French existentialist. He said, "If I am God, then you're the devil." In other words, if I'm God, anybody who opposes me is my enemy. By the way, is that not the attitude of those who believe in political correctness? I believe it was President George Bush himself who said, "Close your eyes to the words of Christ, if you're not with us, you're against us." Blatant idolatry. Blatant idolatry. We're living in a Moloch state just like I taught you yesterday. We don't even know it. We don't even realize it. But fifthly, and very quickly this morning, there is a fifth way that God can destroy a nation governmentally. He not only may use tyrannical corruption, political imbecility, moral turpitude, blatant idolatry. He may also use what you and I know as social anarchy. Now, another way to destroy a nation, governmentally, is just simply through social anarchy. In this case, in such a case, God oftentimes will destroy the rulers, but he does not replace them. And therefore, the people descend into what you and I would know as social anarchy.

Social Anarchy

God may destroy rulers without replacing them, leading to anarchy where everyone does what is right in their own eyes, as in Judges. This leaves a nation without leadership and vulnerable to self-destruction.

That is like in Judges 17:6 and I believe Judges 21:25, where you have the theme of the book of Judges, where the Bible says there that "in those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes." Let me tell you something, people. You cannot escape government. We must have government. We must have family government. We must have church government. We must have a civil government. You cannot escape the concept of government. If you just simply throw out government, period, all you have is anarchy, everyone doing that which is right in his own eyes.

You say, "Well, Brother Weaver, that sounds good to me." It does until you want to run that red light at 100 miles an hour, and I'm running the green light at 70 miles an hour, and we meet. It's impossible to exist without government. You must have government. But God can destroy us as a nation just simply by destroying our rulers, even if they were tyrants. You know what he said in Hosea 3 and verse 4, listen carefully. "For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim." Just as they're not going to hear from me, they're not going to hear from a ruler, they're not going to hear from anyone, they're going to be left to themselves. You know, I've often laughed when I've thought about this.

Everyone's afraid of China, everyone's afraid of Russia. You know, we don't have to fear Russia or China. If God wants to destroy us, all He has to do is let us alone, we'll kill ourselves. In Hosea 7, verse 7, God says, "All their kings are fallen: there is none among them that calleth unto me." Isn't that amazing? Social anarchy. In Hosea 10, verse 3, Scripture says, "For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the LORD; what then should a king do to us?" We don't have any ruler. Why? Because we didn't fear God. God took him away. Now we have nothing. We're left to ourselves. It's interesting that when you and I think of governmental corruption, when we think of governmental destruction, we normally only think of tyranny and anarchy.

Application and Conclusion

Weaver urges believers to recognize these judgments in America and respond with repentance, wisdom, and unity. He assures that God protects His people and may use judgment to allow a righteous rebuilding.

I want you to think. How important it is in light of this for God's people to group together and to stay together. Let me tell you, I've heard people say, "Brother Weaver, boy, if God destroys this nation, what in the world are we going to do?" Well, I'll tell you what we're going to do. As Christians, according to Psalm 58 and Revelation chapter 19, we'll say, "Hallelujah, the Lord God omnipotent reigneth." Because we always rejoice in his righteous judgment. But now you say, "Brother Weaver, don't you understand that if this nation is destroyed, that means that everybody is going to suffer?" Yes, I understand that. But may I tell you something? I don't know if you've thought about this or not, but if God brings down Washington D.C., if God brought down the Federal Reserve System, if God brought down the Illuminati, if He brought down the Bilderbergers, all the one-worlders, if He destroyed them tomorrow and our economy collapses because it's based upon debt, you say, "What would happen?" Well, let me tell you what would happen. The only people who would have any insight to know what to do, any character to do what needs to be done, would be God's people. And we could arise and build based upon the Word of God, based upon Christian liberty and Christian principles. God never, ever leaves his people nor forsakes them. And when God destroys His enemies, He always has a way of protecting His people.

When you look around and see the deterioration in our country, let's be honest, folks. You know and I know things cannot go on as they are. They can't. Something is going to happen. And God will either judge us and destroy us and then allow his people to arise and build, or somehow God's going to have to send revival and repentance. I don't know which. Or God's going to do, as Brother Ray talked yesterday, allow some of us to secede and to have our own Christian nation. But when you see the hand of God, you better remember, God may use tyrannical corruption, or political imbecility, or moral turpitude, or blatant idolatry, or social anarchy. Any one of those five things will bring a nation to its knees. And as we see that happening in this country, it ought to bring us to our knees, crying out for mercy and wisdom and help and discernment. May we turn to Him in repentance and faith. Let's pray.

Father, we're so thankful today for the Lord Jesus Christ, for His grace and for His mercy to us. Lord, I do pray that You would give us wisdom as Your people, discernment. Give us, Lord, grace that we may submit to Your Word and understand Your principles and apply them. Help us, Lord, to honor Thee in every area of our life and to be that which we should be. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

God's Sovereignty in Judgment

Summary: God is absolutely sovereign over nations and rulers, using various means to judge rebellious nations according to His righteous justice.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'God is the sovereign. God is the one who controls everything in this world... He removeth kings, and setteth up kings' (Daniel 2:21).

Governmental Destruction as Divine Punishment

Summary: God destroys nations governmentally through tyrannical corruption, political imbecility, moral turpitude, blatant idolatry, and social anarchy as consequences of national sin.

Evidence: Weaver outlines five ways God destroys nations governmentally, each drawn from Isaiah 19 and other scriptures.

The Curse of Corrupt Leadership

Summary: When a nation rejects God, He gives them rulers who are cruel, foolish, immoral, idolatrous, or absent, leading to societal collapse.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'God can, in His infinite justice, curse a nation and curse a people by giving them a tyrannically corrupt government as just punishment for their sin.'

The Necessity of Godly Government

Summary: Civil government is ordained by God for good, but when it deviates from His purposes, it becomes a curse rather than a blessing.

Evidence: Weaver explains, 'Civil government, according to Romans 13 and verse 4, was ordained for our good... it also can turn to be a curse when it becomes anything and everything other than that which God has ordained.'

The Call to Repentance and Wisdom

Summary: Believers must recognize God's hand in national decline and respond with repentance, prayer, and reliance on God's Word to navigate judgment.

Evidence: Weaver concludes, 'As we see that happening in this country, it ought to bring us to our knees, crying out for mercy and wisdom and help and discernment.'

Key Arguments

God's judgments are often slow, not instantaneous.

Summary: Weaver argues that most divine judgments are gradual, using Adam's 939-year life under judgment and Saul's 20-year reign as examples.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Most of God's judgments are not instantaneous, cataclysmic judgments; they are slow judgments.'

God destroys nations governmentally as part of His judgment.

Summary: Weaver contends that after religious and social destruction, God targets the government, using five specific methods outlined in Isaiah 19.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'God will destroy nations governmentally... I want to show you basically some of the ways that God destroys nations governmentally.'

Tyranny is a tool of divine punishment, not a God-ordained form of government.

Summary: Weaver distinguishes between God's ideal for government and His use of tyranny to judge sin, citing Hosea 13:11 and 1 Samuel 8.

Evidence: Weaver explains, 'Tyranny has never been a God-ordained form of government... But God can, in His infinite justice, curse a nation... by giving them a tyrannically corrupt government.'

Political imbecility leads to national ruin.

Summary: Weaver argues that God makes leaders foolish, causing them to reject wisdom and enact destructive policies, as seen in Isaiah 19:11-13.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'God may destroy a nation governmentally by turning the leaders into absolute fools.'

Moral turpitude among rulers corrupts the entire nation.

Summary: Weaver asserts that when leaders are immoral, they encourage wickedness in the people, and vice versa, leading to societal decay.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'Wicked rulers are the delight of a wicked people, and a wicked people are the delight of wicked rulers.'

Choosing rulers contrary to God's Word is idolatry.

Summary: Weaver argues that elevating ungodly leaders is a form of idolatry, as it rejects God's reign and law, referencing Hosea 8:4 and 1 Samuel 8.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'When you make people rulers in rebellion to God, it is idolatry.'

Social anarchy results when God removes all rulers.

Summary: Weaver explains that God may destroy a nation by leaving it without leadership, leading to chaos as described in Judges 17:6.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'God can destroy us as a nation just simply by destroying our rulers, even if they were tyrants... every man did that which was right in his own eyes.'

God's people must respond with repentance and unity.

Summary: Weaver concludes that believers should recognize these judgments, repent, and trust God to protect and use them for rebuilding.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'When God destroys His enemies, He always has a way of protecting His people.'

Scripture References

Isaiah 19:1-17

Context: The primary text for the sermon, describing God's judgment on Egypt through religious, social, and governmental destruction.

Isaiah 42:8

Context: God's glory will not be given to another, used to explain why God destroys nations religiously first.

Lamentations 3:33

Context: God does not afflict willingly, emphasizing that His judgments are just, not capricious.

Romans 13:4

Context: Civil government is ordained by God for good, to punish evil and protect the righteous.

Malachi 2:2

Context: God curses blessings when people disobey, applied to family, church, and government.

Proverbs 18:22

Context: Finding a wife is a good thing, used to illustrate how marriage can become a curse through disobedience.

1 Timothy 3:15

Context: The church is the pillar and ground of truth, but can become a synagogue of Satan when truth is abandoned.

Hosea 13:11

Context: God gave a king in anger and took him away in wrath, illustrating tyrannical corruption as judgment.

1 Samuel 8

Context: Israel's demand for a king was a rejection of God, leading to Saul's reign as judgment.

Daniel 2:21

Context: God changes times and seasons, removes and sets up kings, affirming His sovereignty over rulers.

Psalm 75:6-7

Context: Promotion comes from God, who puts down one and sets up another.

Psalm 105:14

Context: God reproved kings for the sake of His obedient people.

Proverbs 21:1

Context: The king's heart is in the Lord's hand, He turns it as He wills.

Jeremiah 6:10

Context: Rulers' ears are uncircumcised, they cannot hearken to God's word, illustrating political imbecility.

Psalm 82:5

Context: Judges know not, neither will they understand; they walk in darkness.

Jeremiah 8:9

Context: Wise men are ashamed, they have rejected the word of the Lord, so what wisdom is in them?

Proverbs 17:16

Context: A fool has no heart for wisdom, even if he has the price to get it.

Ecclesiastes 4:13

Context: Better a poor wise child than an old foolish king who will no more be admonished.

Hosea 7:3-5

Context: Wicked people make the king glad with their wickedness, illustrating moral turpitude.

Hosea 8:4

Context: They set up kings but not by God, making idols of them, illustrating blatant idolatry.

Historical References

Noah's flood

Context: Mentioned as an example of cataclysmic judgment, contrasted with slow judgments.

Sodom and Gomorrah

Context: Another example of instantaneous judgment.

Herod's death

Context: Cited as an example of cataclysmic judgment.

Elijah beheading the prophets of Baal

Context: Used as an example of instantaneous judgment.

Adam's 939-year life under judgment

Context: Illustrates slow judgment; Adam was under the death sentence but lived long.

King Saul's 20-year reign under judgment

Context: Another example of slow judgment; Saul reigned long after God rejected him.

America as a Christian nation

Context: Weaver argues America was founded on Christian principles, citing Supreme Court justices.

President Bill Clinton's 'definition of is'

Context: Used as an example of moral turpitude among modern rulers.

Senator John DeCamp's book 'The Franklin Cover-Up'

Context: Referenced to illustrate the depth of moral corruption among rulers, including pedophilia rings.

Jean-Paul Sartre's quote

Context: French existentialist quoted: 'If I am God, then you're the devil,' to illustrate the attitude of those who play God.

Important Quotes

The only reason God would fight against a nation, the only reason God would smite a nation was in justice and in judgment.

Significance: Clarifies that God's destruction of nations is not arbitrary but a response to sin.

God can, in His infinite justice, curse a nation and curse a people by giving them a tyrannically corrupt government as just punishment for their sin and their rebellion.

Significance: Explains how tyranny serves as divine punishment.

Political imbecility will turn a nation from common sense and common law and constitutionalism into political correctness.

Significance: Highlights the destructive effect of foolish leadership on a nation's legal and cultural foundations.

Wicked rulers are the delight of a wicked people, and a wicked people are the delight of wicked rulers.

Significance: Summarizes the mutual reinforcement of immorality between leaders and citizens.

When you make people rulers in rebellion to God, it is idolatry.

Significance: Defines the elevation of ungodly leaders as a form of idolatry.

If God wants to destroy us, all He has to do is let us alone, we'll kill ourselves.

Significance: Emphasizes that social anarchy leads to self-destruction without external enemies.

When God destroys His enemies, He always has a way of protecting His people.

Significance: Offers hope that believers will be preserved amid national judgment.

Discussion Questions

How does understanding God's judgments as often slow and gradual change our perspective on current events?

Context: Weaver emphasizes that most judgments are not instantaneous but unfold over time.

In what ways have we seen the five forms of governmental destruction (tyrannical corruption, political imbecility, moral turpitude, blatant idolatry, social anarchy) in modern nations?

Context: Weaver outlines these five methods from Isaiah 19 and applies them to contemporary America.

How can Christians discern whether a ruler is given by God in grace or in judgment?

Context: Weaver contrasts David (given for good) and Saul (given in anger) as examples.

What does it mean for government to become an idol, and how can believers avoid participating in that idolatry?

Context: Weaver explains that choosing rulers contrary to God's Word is idolatry, referencing Hosea 8:4.

How should the church respond when it sees political imbecility and moral turpitude among leaders?

Context: Weaver calls for repentance, prayer, and wisdom rather than despair or passive acceptance.

What practical steps can believers take to prepare for potential social anarchy or national collapse?

Context: Weaver suggests that God's people would have insight and character to rebuild based on biblical principles.

Applications

Recognize God's hand in national decline

Summary: Believers should see the deterioration in government as part of God's judgment and not merely political or social trends.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'When you see the hand of God, you better remember, God may use tyrannical corruption, or political imbecility... Any one of those five things will bring a nation to its knees.'

Respond with repentance and prayer

Summary: The appropriate response to national judgment is to cry out to God for mercy, wisdom, and discernment.

Evidence: Weaver urges, 'As we see that happening in this country, it ought to bring us to our knees, crying out for mercy and wisdom and help and discernment.'

Trust in God's sovereignty and protection

Summary: Even in judgment, God preserves His people and can use them to rebuild according to His Word.

Evidence: Weaver assures, 'When God destroys His enemies, He always has a way of protecting His people.'

Submit to God's Word in all areas of life

Summary: To avoid the curse on institutions, believers must honor God in family, church, and civil matters.

Evidence: Weaver prays, 'Give us, Lord, grace that we may submit to Your Word and understand Your principles and apply them.'

Maintain unity among God's people

Summary: In light of coming judgment, it is crucial for believers to group together and stay together.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'How important it is in light of this for God's people to group together and to stay together.'

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Clean Transcript

How God Destroys Nations Part 3

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

Alright, those of you who have your Bibles, and I trust many of you do, I want you to open them please to Isaiah 19. As you turn to Isaiah 19, I'm going to have to explain something to you. I have started a short series that I have been preaching through, and today you're going to come to that third part. And the series is entitled, "How God Destroys Nations." And I'm bringing this series so that you can see basically what has happened historically and what is really even happening presently.
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So I will give you the first two reviews very quickly after we read the scripture. Isaiah 19, verse 1, and we'll read through verse 17. "The burden of Egypt. Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards. And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts. And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up."
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"And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither. The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more. The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish."
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"Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks, shall be confounded. And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices and ponds for fish. Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? Where are they? where are thy wise men?"
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"And let them tell thee now, and let them know what the LORD of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt. The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof. The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit. Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do. In that day shall Egypt be like unto women: and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which he shaketh over it. And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt, every one that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the LORD of hosts, which he hath determined against it." Now, let me just simply tell you that when you look at Isaiah chapter 19 and verse 1, the Bible says "the burden of Egypt."
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Actually, the word "burden" refers to the prophecy of Egypt. As you read through Isaiah, you're going to find that Isaiah is talking about the burden of Tyre, the burden of Moab, the burden of Assyria. In other words, each one of these burdens is a prophecy against these particular countries. Now, what I've done in Isaiah chapter 19 is this: I've drawn out the principles that God uses when He destroys a nation. Now, I realize in the context here it is referring to Egypt, but the principles are the same. The very first thing I showed in this passage was when God destroys a nation, He always destroys that nation first and foremost religiously. That is because usually when a nation has left Him, they have always gone into idolatry. And of course, He has said in Isaiah 42 and verse 8, "My glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images." He and He alone is the Lord God.
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Now, when I gave the introduction of this series, I pointed out that when we think of judgment, we normally think cataclysmically. We think of Noah's flood. We think of Sodom and Gomorrah. We think how God destroyed Herod, how Elijah beheaded the 450 prophets of Baal. We normally think instantaneous, cataclysmic judgment. But I've demonstrated from the Scripture that most of God's judgments are not instantaneous, cataclysmic judgments; they are slow judgments. Even when God pronounced the death sentence against Adam, He said, "in dying thou shalt die." And Adam lived 939 years, but yet he was under judgment the whole time. And even King Saul was under God's judgment, and yet he continued to reign another 20 years. So a lot of God's judgments are slow judgments.
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And when I say that God destroys the country religiously, I just simply pointed out in the first message that when this country was founded, we were indeed a Christian nation founded upon Christian principles. I not only gave the word of God in history, but I even quoted several Supreme Court justices that said that this is a Christian nation. And yet you look around today, and you will find that we are no longer living nor acting as a Christian nation. We are certainly denying the one true and living God and His Word. And the only way that you can explain what has happened in this country is that God has destroyed us, basically, religiously speaking.
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And therefore, everyone has turned, as He said in verse 3, they've turned to their idols, they've turned to their charmers, they've turned to those who have familiar spirits and wizards. That's why you have witchcraft and voodooism and every "ism" under the sun on the increase. So God destroys nations religiously. And the second message that I brought was that God destroys nations socially. In verse 2 he said, "And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom."
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Once again, when this country was founded, we were a unified people. And it did not matter who came into this country as an immigrant. When they came into this country, they realized this was a Christian nation with a Christian culture, and you then submitted to our culture and to our teaching. But what has happened today? What has happened today is that Christianity basically has been kicked out and we must bow to every Islamic religion or every foreign religion under the sun. And the one that is certainly dictated and legislated against is biblical Christianity. And you look in this country, what has happened?
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You have blacks pitted against whites, whites against blacks, Spanish against the white, the Orientals, the Africans. Notice, everything is simply now basically class-oriented. And someone says, "But Brother Weaver, don't you remember the one-worlders? And the one-world schemers, they planned it this way so they can control us." And my answer to that is yes, I understand that. But God said, "One law shalt thou have to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you." In other words, we're to treat each other the way God always tells us to treat each other. And I don't care who you are, folks.
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You can still be civil and kind and biblical toward anyone, regardless of his race. You see what I'm saying? So if you and I followed the law of God, we could not have this warfare that is being promulgated by the one-worlders.
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Now, you don't have to be a Christian to be decent. I understand that you can really not be totally decent unless you are a Christian in one sense of the word, but you can be kind and you can be courteous without being a Christian. And certainly that's exactly what we ought to be and we should be all the time, even the unbelievers. But the fact is, God says He's going to turn Egyptian against the Egyptian, brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
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And we can see the social deterioration in this country based upon what is happening right now. So God destroys nations, not only religiously, but God also destroys nations socially. And the third thing that we come to today is this: that God will destroy nations governmentally. Let me just say that I did not necessarily plan this message to fall on this particular day. That's how the providence of God worked it out. And so I want to show you basically some of the ways that God destroys nations governmentally. Now, when I'm talking about God destroying nations, I want to clear up one thing in your particular minds today, and that is this. Don't sit there and say, "Well, God must be some fiend. God must be some evil, wicked individual who is just waiting to smite and destroy nations." That is not so. The only reason God would fight against a nation, the only reason God would smite a nation was in justice and in judgment.
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The Bible says in Lamentations chapter 3 and verse 33 concerning God, "For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men." So God is not some old fiend sitting up in the heavens somewhere with a switch just waiting to whip the living daylights out of anybody and everybody. No, He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. So when God smites us, He does so in righteous justice.
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And that's exactly what He does for our rebellion and our sin. So today we come to see how God destroys nations governmentally. As we think about this, it is imperative to remember that in Romans chapter 13 it is God who instituted civil government. Since God is the one who instituted civil government, it therefore follows that God has the absolute right to lay down the qualifications for those who rule in His government, and God also has the absolute right to place limitations upon that government that He has instituted. Government is not God.
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It cannot do as it pleases. I told you yesterday, and I want you to remember this, that God only ordained three institutions. He ordained the family, which is a ministry of education; the church, which is a ministry of grace; and the civil government, which is a ministry of justice. Now, think about this. The family cannot do as it pleases and survive. The church cannot do as it pleases and survive. And neither can the civil government do as it pleases and survive. You've got to remember that when we talk about the family and when we talk about the church, we are also talking about government. The most basic government is self-government. Then you have familial or family government, and then ecclesiastical government, and then you have civil government. Civil government is just one form of government. It is not the only government. And sometimes when we think of government, we only think in the realm of the civil.
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Now, let me point out a principle that we need to comprehend today, and that is simply this. Although God ordained the family and the church and civil government for a blessing, that which God ordained for a blessing when we abuse, misuse, or violate it can indeed turn out to be a curse. You know what God said in Malachi 2 and verse 2? Listen to this. God says, "If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart." Notice what God said. If you will not hear me, if you will not take it to heart, if you will not give glory to my name, God said, "I will curse your blessings."
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Now, let me just point out, going from the least to the greater in one sense of the word. Let's take the family, for instance. Let's take marriage. You know what the Bible says in Proverbs 18 and verse 22? The Bible says, "Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD." Marriage is honorable, the Bible says. Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD. I could truthfully say that God has blessed me and my wife. I hope she can say that He's blessed her and her husband.
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But the truth of the matter is this. The Bible does say that he that getteth a wife getteth a good thing and obtaineth favour of the LORD. But I know many men who got a wife that didn't get a good thing. I know many women that got a husband that didn't get a good thing.
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Now, the point I'm trying to make is this, that marriage and the home has been ordained to be a blessing. But when you take a spouse in rebellion to God and in disobedience to God, that which God ordained to be a blessing can indeed turn out to be a curse. You follow me? So, God says, "I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already."
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Now, you can take the same principle and apply it to ecclesiastical government, that is, to the church in general. You know what God said in 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 15? He wrote to Timothy and he said this, "But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." Now, what is the church supposed to be? The church is supposed to be the pillar and ground of the truth. Yet, if you and I were honest in our assessment of the average church today, we would have to confess there is not much truth in most churches. So instead, then, of the church being a beacon of truth and a pillar and ground of the truth, most of the churches have become what the Apostle John said in Revelation 2 and verse 9, and in Revelation 3 and verse 9, most churches have become synagogues of Satan. Do you realize in the average church you can indeed find entertainment?
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You can find refreshment. You can find social life. You can find even some fellowship, but the truth is you find very little truth. Very little truth. Emphasis is put on everything but the truth. And so the Bible says the church is to be the pillar and ground of the truth. And yet, when you get into the average church, that which God ordained to be a blessing basically turns out to be a curse, because let me tell you something, folks. I don't care how much entertainment you have and how much fellowship you have. If there is no truth, it is still a curse.
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And do you realize it is easier to become a member of most churches than it is of most country clubs? In fact, all you have to do to get to be a member of most churches is just simply make your profession of faith, even if your profession of faith is unbacked by a life of holiness and obedience.
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Now, you've seen how the family, which God ordained to be a blessing, can turn into a curse. You've seen how the church, which God ordained to be a blessing, can be turned into a curse. Likewise, civil government, according to Romans 13 and verse 4, was ordained for our good. The Bible says, "For he is the minister of God to thee for good." So it is for our good, then, that the civil ruler terrorizes evil works. It is for our good that he beareth not the sword in vain. It is for our good that civil government has the power to punish murderers and rapists and kidnappers. God has ordained it like this, folks.
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If the criminal lives, society dies. If the criminal dies, society lives. So it is for our good that the civil government then has the power to execute the wicked and the ungodly. That which God has commanded to be a blessing, the civil government, it also can turn to be a curse when it becomes anything and everything other than that which God has ordained.
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Now, let's stop and go back over these three illustrations again. Let me ask you a question. Can families be rent apart? Well, of course. Can churches be rent apart? The answer is yes. Can governments be rent apart? And the answer is yes. Why does God, in His infinite justice and wisdom, destroy some families? And the answer is because of their rebellion and disobedience to His Word. Why does He destroy some churches? And the answer is because of their rebellion and disobedience to His Word. Why does He destroy some governments? And the answer is because of their rebellion and disobedience to His Word. You see, God can judge any of the institutions that He has ordained. Now, let's ask and answer the question. When God destroys a nation governmentally, how does He do so?
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I'm going to give you five answers. First of all, I want you to note that He will destroy a nation governmentally through tyrannical corruption. Look in your Bible to verse 4. Isaiah 19 verse 4, "And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts." So the first answer is God will give a government over to what you and I would call tyrannical corruption. He now shows in Isaiah 19 what will happen to the Egyptians once they have been destroyed religiously and socially, once they have been deprived of their courage and their understanding.
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There is absolutely nothing left for them but to be reduced to absolute slavery. Do you realize that a nation who is destitute of any hope in God, a nation that is destitute of social structure, must fall on its own accord? It does not necessarily have to be invaded by an enemy. When we've lost hope, when we have absolutely no type of social structure, we must fall on our own. And what God is saying in Isaiah chapter 19, these Egyptians who are under His curse now will be shut out of any hope of upholding their liberty.
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They're going to undergo hard bondage. He said, "I'm going to hand them over into the hands of a cruel lord." Now, folks, listen. Tyranny has never been a God-ordained form of government.
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Now, let me explain that. God-ordained government, according to Romans chapter 13, did carry out the purposes for which He instituted it. And the purposes for which He instituted government is for the punishment of the wicked and for the protection of the righteous. You'll find that in 1 Peter 2 and verse 13 as well. Those are the two reasons why God has ordained government. So, God has never ordained tyranny as a legitimate form of government in the sense that tyranny can never carry out the purposes for which God has ordained government. But God can, in His infinite justice, curse a nation and curse a people by giving them a tyrannically corrupt government as just punishment for their sin and their rebellion. Now, let me explain that.
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I could give you this illustration in order to understand my statement. I could say that murder is not a God-ordained form of death. How can I say that? For God said, "Thou shalt not kill." But yet we do know many individuals die like that, don't they? See, tyranny is not necessarily a God-ordained form of government, but there have been many nations that have been destroyed by tyranny. So we've got to understand that although God may use tyranny for punishment, it is not necessarily a God-ordained form of government. So the Egyptians then were to be destroyed as a nation by their tyrannical and despotical rulers. When God judges a nation, He destroys them governmentally.
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Now listen to what the Bible says in Hosea 13 and verse 11. God said, "I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath." Now, what does God mean when he says, "I gave you a king in my anger and I took him away in my wrath"? In other words, God in his righteous indignation gave the people of Israel a king, and then in his wrath, he not only took the king away, he took the people away as well. In his wrath and in his anger, he gave them Saul.
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Don't you remember 1 Samuel 8? He told Samuel, "They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them." And he said, "I'm going to give them a king, but here's what I want you to tell them. You tell them what kind of king they're going to have." So God gave them that king in his anger, and he took him away in his wrath.
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And when he did, Saul and his sons and many of the Israelites died by the hands of the Philistines. So tyranny can be used to punish a nation. You see, if there is a cursed beginning, there is certainly going to be a cursed ending. Do you realize that when God set David over the people, it was a lawful appointment. And God gave David, therefore, to be the ruler over his people for their good.
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And he did so, basically speaking. But when God gave them Saul, it was a singular judgment because of their rebellion and their disobedience to him. Now, just like God gave Saul in his anger, consequently, all evil rulers who are like Saul are given in anger as well. David, by God's appointment, was for the good of the people. Saul, by God's judgment, was for the punishment of the people. We have to remember that God is the sovereign. God is the one who controls everything in this world. The Bible says in the book of Daniel, chapter 2 and verse 21, that He, God, "changeth the times and the seasons."
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"He removeth kings, and setteth up kings." In Psalm 75, verses 6 and 7, God says this, "For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another." You see, God is absolutely sovereign and absolutely free in His own wisdom to give us either a ruler in grace and mercy, or to give us a ruler in judgment and in righteousness.
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In other words, He knows the purpose for which He gives us rulers. We've got to remember something, folks. We've got to remember that when God's people in the Old Testament were obedient to Him and followed Him, listen to what God said in Psalm 105 and verse 14. The Bible says, "He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes." Isn't that amazing? God said, when you obeyed me, I reproved kings for your sake. We've got to remember the Bible says in Proverbs 21 and verse 1, "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will."
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So God is capable of reproving kings. But when God wants to destroy a nation, one of the ways that he does so is governmentally, and he delivers the people over into what we would call tyrannical corruption. But there's a second way that the Bible here teaches us that God destroys a nation governmentally. How is that? Political imbecility. Everybody knows what an imbecile is. When we talk about political imbecility, we're basically talking about political stupidity.
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You know, when you look at some of the laws in this country, when you look at the Federal Reserve Act, you either have to conclude we have some of the most stupid politicians or some of the most traitors. I mean, you just have to make up your mind which one. But look what I'm talking about political imbecility. Look in Isaiah chapter 19 and notice if you would please at verse 11.
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He says, "Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? Where are they? where are thy wise men? and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the LORD of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt. The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof." Notice how many times God says that the princes are fools, and they're brutish, and they're deceived.
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Now, the Hebrew word for fool here is a very revealing word. I want you to listen to this. The Hebrew word pronounced in English would be "evil," which is a good word for it. But the word for fool here literally means to be foolish, one who despises wisdom, one who mocks when he is guilty, or one who is quarrelsome and one who is licentious. And that pretty well describes our rulers today, doesn't it? Those who are licentious, those who are quarrelsome, those who are foolish, those who lack wisdom.
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You see, God is not limited to what you and I would call tyrannical corruption in order to destroy a nation governmentally. He may destroy a nation governmentally by turning the leaders into absolute fools. When God says that the princes are become brutish, the word brutish means that they are dumb and as stupid as animals. In other words, they're absolute fools. By the way, when the Bible talks about a fool, it is not talking about a mentally deficient person. When the Bible talks about a fool, it is talking about someone who is hard-headed, stiff-necked, who refuses to listen and who will not hear and will not receive counsel and instruction. For instance, listen to these verses. In Jeremiah 6 and verse 10, God complains of these rulers and looks into what He says. "To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear?"
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"Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it." Let me ask you a question. How far do you think that we would get if we got together and elected an assembly of men, godly Christian men, and we took up a large enough offering to send this assembly of men to Washington, and then we were able to sit down with our president, with our judges, and with our legislators, and just lay out for them what the Word of God commands them to do. How many of you think that they would really, genuinely listen and pay attention?
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You see what I'm saying? That's what God said. God said, "So who am I going to speak? Who's going to listen?" They've become absolute fools. They will receive no instruction and no correction. Listen to what God said concerning the judges in Psalm 82 and verse 5.
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Now He's talking about the judicial officers. He says this, "They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course."
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Now what does he say? "They know not, neither will they understand." I just received a letter this past week from a brother, and he had been fighting in the court system. And the funny thing is, I remember thinking the same thing, only my education came about 30 years earlier. And he said that he was just absolutely assured of the fact that he was going to win his court battle because when he was able to get into court, he was going to show the judge the law and he was just absolutely sure the judge would rule according to the law. The law means nothing today. Being right means nothing today. That's why God says concerning those judges, "They know not, neither will they understand." You know what God said in Jeremiah 8 and verse 9? Listen carefully, he says, "The wise men are ashamed."
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"They are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them?" They have rejected the word of the LORD, and what wisdom is in them? Do you realize political imbecility abounds on every hand in our country, in our day and time? It appears that very few politicians in America possess an ounce of common sense, and the truth is most of them will not listen to any rational arguments. Do you realize our Constitution means nothing? The Word of God means nothing. The Bible says in the book of Proverbs chapter 17 and verse 16, listen to this, Proverbs 17 and verse 16, the Bible says, "Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it?" Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he has no heart to it?
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That is, he doesn't really want it. He not only will not listen, he does not want to listen. And the few who do listen are unwilling to change their conduct or their thinking after they listen to you. The Bible in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 4 and verse 13 says this, "Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished." Isn't that amazing? Better is a poor and wise child than an old and foolish king who will no more be admonished.
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You know, I believe Mark Twain was right when he said, "Suppose you were a congressman and a fool, but then I'm being redundant." Even Mark Twain understood back then political imbecility. Folks, let me tell you something. Listen carefully. Political imbecility will turn a nation from common sense and common law and constitutionalism into political correctness. Do you realize what has happened in our country? Everyone knows, or at least anyone with one eye and half sense knows, that political correctness is wrong, absurd, stupid, and destructive.
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And yet, in our desire to be wise in and of ourselves, we become as fools. We not only allow our leaders to destroy us, we destroy ourselves. When God wants to destroy a nation, He may use tyrannical corruption, but he's not limited to that. He may also use political imbecility. And I sometimes think that that's exactly where we are in this country. Our leaders are fools, biblically speaking. Then if you look in verse 14 of Isaiah chapter 19, you'll find that God is not limited to tyrannical corruption or political imbecility if he wants to destroy a nation governmentally. Verse 14 says this.
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"The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit." Note, if you would please, another way that God may destroy a nation governmentally is through moral turpitude. By that I mean by their own sin and wickedness and rebellion. God destroys governments through the immorality of their leaders or of its leaders. God destroys government through the immorality of its leaders and rulers. When God sent a perverse spirit, what does that mean? That means the rulers then became perverse, or as you and I would call it, perverse. Bad government produces bad citizens. When the leaders of a nation lead in perversion, many times the citizens follow.
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I've heard people argue for the last 30 years, "Why should I not cheat? Why should I not steal? Why should I not be an adulterer? Why should I? After all, our rulers do it." That is their argument. And I'm going to tell you something, folks. If you ever try to defend yourself by trying to argue over the definition of the word "is," you've got problems. When President Bill Clinton says, "That depends upon your definition of the word 'is,'" you're talking about moral turpitude. It was Solomon who led the people into idolatry and immorality in 1 Kings chapter 11. It was Jeroboam who did it in 1 Kings 12. It was Manasseh who did it in 2 Kings 21. Folks, I don't have to tell you that we have rulers today that are immoral, ungodly, and positively wicked.
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Moreover, they are not only perverse, they have enacted laws that protect perverts. We have rulers that are known for their adultery, fornication, sodomy, pedophilia, and all of that is commonplace among our judges, our rulers, our officers. Let me tell you, if you want to get your eyes opened, if you really want to know the depth of moral turpitude in this land, you just read Senator John DeCamp's book, "The Franklin Cover-Up." You read the book, "The Transformation of America," but when you read it, have your bag ready because you will need it.
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It'll make you sick to your stomach. Read the book, "Thanks for the Memories." It is unbelievable how Senator John DeCamp indicts the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, in pedophilia rings. Now this is a senator. He not only indicts them, he has defended some of those children that our rulers and leaders have molested. And some of those young children have already won multi-million dollar judgments against our rulers.
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Now, I'm just simply pointing out, folks, God can destroy a nation not just through tyrannical corruption, not just through political imbecility, but through moral turpitude as well. Wicked rulers are the delight of a wicked people, and a wicked people are the delight of wicked rulers. It's a two-way street. You know what God said in Hosea 7, verses 3-5? Let me read it for you. Here's what God says.
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"They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies. They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened. In the day of our king the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners."
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Now what does the Bible say? "They make the king glad with their wickedness." In other words, wicked people encourage wicked rulers, and wicked rulers encourage wicked people. If both are wicked, none can condemn the other. There will be no one to call anyone into account for their sins. I don't have to point out the fact that our nation is being destroyed governmentally through immoral and wicked rulers every day, every week, every month. There's some congressman, someone getting caught in idolatry, fornication, wickedness, you name it, it's there. God can deliver a people over through their government to immoral conduct and thus destroy them. Fourthly, very quickly, God can also destroy through what you and I would call blatant idolatry. It is one thing to push idolatry upon a people. It's quite another to claim to be God.
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Now, let me explain something to you. I do not believe that we have any rulers in this country that are yet so audacious and so outrageous who would stand up and say, "I am God, worship me." No one I do not believe would be that stupid yet. But let me tell you something, folks. You don't have to stand up and say, "I am God." All you have to do is to demand that people treat you like God.
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And the claim is still there. You never have to utter your voice. No one today is going to have the audacity and the gall to claim Godhood, and yet they demonstrate that desire by demanding that everyone submit to everything that they think fit to do to govern us. We have forgotten a simple principle, and that is that government can be an idol just like anything else. Let me tell you what God said in Hosea 8 and verse 4, and then I'll explain the verse. God said, "They have set up kings, but not by me."
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"They have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off."
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Now, the context of Hosea 8 and verse 4, that is the first three verses, clearly demonstrates that Israel has cast off God and has replaced him with wicked, ungodly rulers. Now, when the Bible says "they have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not," that verse is not denying the omniscience of God, nor is it denying the sovereignty of God. Here's what God is actually saying. God is actually saying, "You set up kings, but not by me." That is, you set up men that did not meet my qualifications. You set up men that I did not choose. You set up princes and I knew it not.
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Not that I was unaware of it, but that you knew that I would never recognize them. They were absolutely contrary to the qualifications that I laid down in my Word. And yet you chose them. You chose them in rebellion to me. And you've lifted them up, you've exalted them to a place of rulership which they should never be. And by the way, if you will remember, in John chapter 10, our Lord said, "I said, Ye are gods," and if you would take the context all the way back to Psalm 82, he's referring there to the rulers and especially to the judges, because anyone then who therefore held an office of authority supposedly under God was considered as a god back in those days because he had power and authority. And so what is God complaining of here? The people that have lifted these people up, they have elevated them. When God condemned them, God would not have them, God would not recognize them, and God would not honor them. Are you listening? When you make people rulers in rebellion to God, it is idolatry.
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Go back to 1 Samuel chapter 8, when the people demanded a king that they might be like other nations. And what did God say? "They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them." When you deny God as king, at the same time, you deny His law. When you elevate a man, therefore, to be that ruler, contrary to the Word of God, you are now also not only recognizing that man, but you're also recognizing His law. Have you ever wondered? Has it ever dawned on you to question why in the last 40 to 50 or 60 years we've had such anti-God, anti-Christian, immoral legislation that is pouring forth out of the White House and out of Congress? I'll tell you why. Because if you claim to be God, you're not going to brook any rivals. And if man wants to play God, he is certainly not going to recognize the one true and living God.
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I believe it was Jean-Paul Sartre, the French existentialist. He said, "If I am God, then you're the devil." In other words, if I'm God, anybody who opposes me is my enemy. By the way, is that not the attitude of those who believe in political correctness? I believe it was President George Bush himself who said, "Close your eyes to the words of Christ, if you're not with us, you're against us." Blatant idolatry. Blatant idolatry.
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We're living in a Moloch state just like I taught you yesterday. We don't even know it. We don't even realize it. But fifthly, and very quickly this morning, there is a fifth way that God can destroy a nation governmentally. He not only may use tyrannical corruption, political imbecility, moral turpitude, blatant idolatry. He may also use what you and I know as social anarchy. Now, another way to destroy a nation, governmentally, is just simply through social anarchy. In this case, in such a case, God oftentimes will destroy the rulers, but he does not replace them. And therefore, the people descend into what you and I would know as social anarchy.
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That is like in Judges 17:6 and I believe Judges 21:25, where you have the theme of the book of Judges, where the Bible says there that "in those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes." Let me tell you something, people. You cannot escape government. We must have government. We must have family government. We must have church government. We must have a civil government. You cannot escape the concept of government. If you just simply throw out government, period, all you have is anarchy, everyone doing that which is right in his own eyes.
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You say, "Well, Brother Weaver, that sounds good to me." It does until you want to run that red light at 100 miles an hour, and I'm running the green light at 70 miles an hour, and we meet. It's impossible to exist without government. You must have government. But God can destroy us as a nation just simply by destroying our rulers, even if they were tyrants. You know what he said in Hosea 3 and verse 4, listen carefully. "For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim." Just as they're not going to hear from me, they're not going to hear from a ruler, they're not going to hear from anyone, they're going to be left to themselves. You know, I've often laughed when I've thought about this.
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Everyone's afraid of China, everyone's afraid of Russia. You know, we don't have to fear Russia or China. If God wants to destroy us, all He has to do is let us alone, we'll kill ourselves. In Hosea 7, verse 7, God says, "All their kings are fallen: there is none among them that calleth unto me." Isn't that amazing? Social anarchy. In Hosea 10, verse 3, Scripture says, "For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the LORD; what then should a king do to us?" We don't have any ruler. Why? Because we didn't fear God. God took him away. Now we have nothing. We're left to ourselves. It's interesting that when you and I think of governmental corruption, when we think of governmental destruction, we normally only think of tyranny and anarchy.
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We never realize that God can just as easily destroy a nation through political imbecility and moral turpitude and blatant idolatry. Do you realize that God, in his infinite wisdom and justice, may use any one of those five ways or any combination of them? He may use either one of them, either two of them, three of them, four of them, or he chooses all five of them. But either way, the nation will be destroyed. May I tell you something?
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I want you to think. How important it is in light of this for God's people to group together and to stay together. Let me tell you, I've heard people say, "Brother Weaver, boy, if God destroys this nation, what in the world are we going to do?" Well, I'll tell you what we're going to do. As Christians, according to Psalm 58 and Revelation chapter 19, we'll say, "Hallelujah, the Lord God omnipotent reigneth."
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Because we always rejoice in his righteous judgment. But now you say, "Brother Weaver, don't you understand that if this nation is destroyed, that means that everybody is going to suffer?" Yes, I understand that. But may I tell you something? I don't know if you've thought about this or not, but if God brings down Washington D.C., if God brought down the Federal Reserve System, if God brought down the Illuminati, if He brought down the Bilderbergers, all the one-worlders, if He destroyed them tomorrow and our economy collapses because it's based upon debt, you say, "What would happen?" Well, let me tell you what would happen. The only people who would have any insight to know what to do, any character to do what needs to be done, would be God's people. And we could arise and build based upon the Word of God, based upon Christian liberty and Christian principles. God never, ever leaves his people nor forsakes them. And when God destroys His enemies, He always has a way of protecting His people.
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When you look around and see the deterioration in our country, let's be honest, folks. You know and I know things cannot go on as they are. They can't. Something is going to happen. And God will either judge us and destroy us and then allow his people to arise and build, or somehow God's going to have to send revival and repentance. I don't know which. Or God's going to do, as Brother Ray talked yesterday, allow some of us to secede and to have our own Christian nation. But when you see the hand of God, you better remember, God may use tyrannical corruption, or political imbecility, or moral turpitude, or blatant idolatry, or social anarchy. Any one of those five things will bring a nation to its knees. And as we see that happening in this country, it ought to bring us to our knees, crying out for mercy and wisdom and help and discernment. May we turn to Him in repentance and faith. Let's pray.
#73 | 53:01 to 54:28 | cleaned
Father, we're so thankful today for the Lord Jesus Christ, for His grace and for His mercy to us. Lord, I do pray that You would give us wisdom as Your people, discernment. Give us, Lord, grace that we may submit to Your Word and understand Your principles and apply them. Help us, Lord, to honor Thee in every area of our life and to be that which we should be. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T18:08:03Z

How God Destroys Nations Part 3

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

In this sermon, John Weaver continues his series on how God destroys nations, focusing on governmental destruction. Using Isaiah 19 as a foundation, he explains that God can destroy a nation governmentally through five means: tyrannical corruption, political imbecility, moral turpitude, blatant idolatry, and social anarchy. He emphasizes that these judgments are slow and just, arising from a nation's rebellion against God. The sermon calls believers to recognize these patterns in contemporary America and to respond with repentance, wisdom, and reliance on God's sovereignty.

Introduction and Review

So I will give you the first two reviews very quickly after we read the scripture. Isaiah 19, verse 1, and we'll read through verse 17.

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 19:1-17

"The burden of Egypt. Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards. And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts. And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up." "And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither. The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more. The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish." "Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks, shall be confounded. And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices and ponds for fish. Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? Where are they? where are thy wise men?" "And let them tell thee now, and let them know what the LORD of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt. The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof. The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit. Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do. In that day shall Egypt be like unto women: and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which he shaketh over it. And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt, every one that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the LORD of hosts, which he hath determined against it."

Now, let me just simply tell you that when you look at Isaiah chapter 19 and verse 1, the Bible says

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 19:1-17

"the burden of Egypt."

God's Judgments Are Often Slow

Weaver clarifies that most of God's judgments are not instantaneous but slow, using examples like Adam and King Saul to illustrate prolonged judgment.

God Destroys Nations Governmentally

Weaver introduces the main topic: God destroys nations governmentally. He explains that civil government, ordained by God for good, can become a curse when abused, just like family and church.

The Bible says in Lamentations chapter 3 and verse 33 concerning God,

Scripture Reading — Lamentations 3:33

"For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men."

Scripture Reading — Malachi 2:2

"If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart."

Notice what God said. If you will not hear me, if you will not take it to heart, if you will not give glory to my name, God said,

Scripture Reading — Malachi 2:2

"I will curse your blessings."

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 18:22

"Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD."

Scripture Reading — 1 Timothy 3:15

"But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."

Tyrannical Corruption

The first way God destroys a nation governmentally is by giving them over to a cruel lord and fierce king, as seen in Isaiah 19:4. Tyranny is not God-ordained but can be used as punishment.

Now listen to what the Bible says in Hosea 13 and verse 11. God said,

Scripture Reading — Hosea 13:11

"I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath."

Now, what does God mean when he says,

Scripture Reading — Hosea 13:11

"I gave you a king in my anger and I took him away in my wrath"

Scripture Reading — Psalm 105:14

"He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes."

Political Imbecility

God can destroy a nation by making its leaders fools, as described in Isaiah 19:11-13. This refers to leaders who despise wisdom, refuse counsel, and enact destructive policies.

Scripture Reading — Ecclesiastes 4:13

"Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished."

Moral Turpitude

Blatant Idolatry

Government can become an idol when rulers demand submission contrary to God's law. Weaver references Hosea 8:4 and 1 Samuel 8 to show that choosing rulers in rebellion to God is idolatry.

Social Anarchy

Application and Conclusion

How God Destroys Nations Part 3

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	5260511144
Subject	Civil Government
Course	Civil Government: Magistracy, Authority, and Romans 13: Christian & Civil Government
Genre	Sermon
Date	2005-05-22
Dictation Name
Book	Book 051: How God Destroys Nations — Chapter 3
Source Timed Segments	74

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction and Review: Weaver reviews the series, noting that God destroys nations religiously and socially before addressing governmental destruction. He reads Isaiah 19:1-17 and explains the 'burden' as a prophecy against Egypt.
God's Judgments Are Often Slow: Weaver clarifies that most of God's judgments are not instantaneous but slow, using examples like Adam and King Saul to illustrate prolonged judgment.
God Destroys Nations Governmentally: Weaver introduces the main topic: God destroys nations governmentally. He explains that civil government, ordained by God for good, can become a curse when abused, just like family and church.
Tyrannical Corruption: The first way God destroys a nation governmentally is by giving them over to a cruel lord and fierce king, as seen in Isaiah 19:4. Tyranny is not God-ordained but can be used as punishment.
Political Imbecility: God can destroy a nation by making its leaders fools, as described in Isaiah 19:11-13. This refers to leaders who despise wisdom, refuse counsel, and enact destructive policies.
Moral Turpitude: God sends a perverse spirit among rulers, leading to immorality and wickedness that corrupts the nation. Weaver cites examples of modern political scandals and the mutual encouragement of wickedness between rulers and people.
Blatant Idolatry: Government can become an idol when rulers demand submission contrary to God's law. Weaver references Hosea 8:4 and 1 Samuel 8 to show that choosing rulers in rebellion to God is idolatry.
Social Anarchy: God may destroy rulers without replacing them, leading to anarchy where everyone does what is right in their own eyes, as in Judges. This leaves a nation without leadership and vulnerable to self-destruction.
Application and Conclusion: Weaver urges believers to recognize these judgments in America and respond with repentance, wisdom, and unity. He assures that God protects His people and may use judgment to allow a righteous rebuilding.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

God's judgments are often slow, not instantaneous.

Weaver argues that most divine judgments are gradual, using Adam's 939-year life under judgment and Saul's 20-year reign as examples.

Weaver says, 'Most of God's judgments are not instantaneous, cataclysmic judgments; they are slow judgments.'

God destroys nations governmentally as part of His judgment.

Weaver contends that after religious and social destruction, God targets the government, using five specific methods outlined in Isaiah 19.

Weaver states, 'God will destroy nations governmentally... I want to show you basically some of the ways that God destroys nations governmentally.'

Tyranny is a tool of divine punishment, not a God-ordained form of government.

Weaver distinguishes between God's ideal for government and His use of tyranny to judge sin, citing Hosea 13:11 and 1 Samuel 8.

Weaver explains, 'Tyranny has never been a God-ordained form of government... But God can, in His infinite justice, curse a nation... by giving them a tyrannically corrupt government.'

Political imbecility leads to national ruin.

Weaver argues that God makes leaders foolish, causing them to reject wisdom and enact destructive policies, as seen in Isaiah 19:11-13.

Weaver says, 'God may destroy a nation governmentally by turning the leaders into absolute fools.'

Moral turpitude among rulers corrupts the entire nation.

Weaver asserts that when leaders are immoral, they encourage wickedness in the people, and vice versa, leading to societal decay.

Weaver states, 'Wicked rulers are the delight of a wicked people, and a wicked people are the delight of wicked rulers.'

Choosing rulers contrary to God's Word is idolatry.

Weaver argues that elevating ungodly leaders is a form of idolatry, as it rejects God's reign and law, referencing Hosea 8:4 and 1 Samuel 8.

Weaver says, 'When you make people rulers in rebellion to God, it is idolatry.'

Social anarchy results when God removes all rulers.

Weaver explains that God may destroy a nation by leaving it without leadership, leading to chaos as described in Judges 17:6.

Weaver says, 'God can destroy us as a nation just simply by destroying our rulers, even if they were tyrants... every man did that which was right in his own eyes.'

God's people must respond with repentance and unity.

Weaver concludes that believers should recognize these judgments, repent, and trust God to protect and use them for rebuilding.

Weaver says, 'When God destroys His enemies, He always has a way of protecting His people.'

Scripture References

Isaiah 19:1-17: The primary text for the sermon, describing God's judgment on Egypt through religious, social, and governmental destruction.
Isaiah 42:8: God's glory will not be given to another, used to explain why God destroys nations religiously first.
Lamentations 3:33: God does not afflict willingly, emphasizing that His judgments are just, not capricious.
Romans 13:4: Civil government is ordained by God for good, to punish evil and protect the righteous.
Malachi 2:2: God curses blessings when people disobey, applied to family, church, and government.
Proverbs 18:22: Finding a wife is a good thing, used to illustrate how marriage can become a curse through disobedience.
1 Timothy 3:15: The church is the pillar and ground of truth, but can become a synagogue of Satan when truth is abandoned.
Hosea 13:11: God gave a king in anger and took him away in wrath, illustrating tyrannical corruption as judgment.
1 Samuel 8: Israel's demand for a king was a rejection of God, leading to Saul's reign as judgment.
Daniel 2:21: God changes times and seasons, removes and sets up kings, affirming His sovereignty over rulers.
Psalm 75:6-7: Promotion comes from God, who puts down one and sets up another.
Psalm 105:14: God reproved kings for the sake of His obedient people.
Proverbs 21:1: The king's heart is in the Lord's hand, He turns it as He wills.
Jeremiah 6:10: Rulers' ears are uncircumcised, they cannot hearken to God's word, illustrating political imbecility.
Psalm 82:5: Judges know not, neither will they understand; they walk in darkness.
Jeremiah 8:9: Wise men are ashamed, they have rejected the word of the Lord, so what wisdom is in them?
Proverbs 17:16: A fool has no heart for wisdom, even if he has the price to get it.
Ecclesiastes 4:13: Better a poor wise child than an old foolish king who will no more be admonished.
Hosea 7:3-5: Wicked people make the king glad with their wickedness, illustrating moral turpitude.
Hosea 8:4: They set up kings but not by God, making idols of them, illustrating blatant idolatry.

Historical References

Noah's flood: Mentioned as an example of cataclysmic judgment, contrasted with slow judgments.
Sodom and Gomorrah: Another example of instantaneous judgment.
Herod's death: Cited as an example of cataclysmic judgment.
Elijah beheading the prophets of Baal: Used as an example of instantaneous judgment.
Adam's 939-year life under judgment: Illustrates slow judgment; Adam was under the death sentence but lived long.
King Saul's 20-year reign under judgment: Another example of slow judgment; Saul reigned long after God rejected him.
America as a Christian nation: Weaver argues America was founded on Christian principles, citing Supreme Court justices.
President Bill Clinton's 'definition of is': Used as an example of moral turpitude among modern rulers.
Senator John DeCamp's book 'The Franklin Cover-Up': Referenced to illustrate the depth of moral corruption among rulers, including pedophilia rings.
Jean-Paul Sartre's quote: French existentialist quoted: 'If I am God, then you're the devil,' to illustrate the attitude of those who play God.

Important Quotes

The only reason God would fight against a nation, the only reason God would smite a nation was in justice and in judgment.

Clarifies that God's destruction of nations is not arbitrary but a response to sin.

God can, in His infinite justice, curse a nation and curse a people by giving them a tyrannically corrupt government as just punishment for their sin and their rebellion.

Explains how tyranny serves as divine punishment.

Political imbecility will turn a nation from common sense and common law and constitutionalism into political correctness.

Highlights the destructive effect of foolish leadership on a nation's legal and cultural foundations.

Wicked rulers are the delight of a wicked people, and a wicked people are the delight of wicked rulers.

Summarizes the mutual reinforcement of immorality between leaders and citizens.

When you make people rulers in rebellion to God, it is idolatry.

Defines the elevation of ungodly leaders as a form of idolatry.

If God wants to destroy us, all He has to do is let us alone, we'll kill ourselves.

Emphasizes that social anarchy leads to self-destruction without external enemies.

When God destroys His enemies, He always has a way of protecting His people.

Offers hope that believers will be preserved amid national judgment.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How does understanding God's judgments as often slow and gradual change our perspective on current events?

[Context]

Weaver emphasizes that most judgments are not instantaneous but unfold over time.

[Question]

In what ways have we seen the five forms of governmental destruction (tyrannical corruption, political imbecility, moral turpitude, blatant idolatry, social anarchy) in modern nations?

[Context]

Weaver outlines these five methods from Isaiah 19 and applies them to contemporary America.

[Question]

How can Christians discern whether a ruler is given by God in grace or in judgment?

[Context]

Weaver contrasts David (given for good) and Saul (given in anger) as examples.

[Question]

What does it mean for government to become an idol, and how can believers avoid participating in that idolatry?

[Context]

Weaver explains that choosing rulers contrary to God's Word is idolatry, referencing Hosea 8:4.

[Question]

How should the church respond when it sees political imbecility and moral turpitude among leaders?

[Context]

Weaver calls for repentance, prayer, and wisdom rather than despair or passive acceptance.

[Question]

What practical steps can believers take to prepare for potential social anarchy or national collapse?

[Context]

Weaver suggests that God's people would have insight and character to rebuild based on biblical principles.

Applications

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