The children of Israel went through repeated cycles of being delivered in miraculous ways, vowing their allegiance to God, reneging on those vows, and being chastised by God. I'm not overly harsh on them because, in many ways, this cycle mirrors what we as Christians do and what the church in America does collectively.
I began studying Romans 12, which begins with a “Therefore,” so I figured I needed to go back to chapter 11 to see what the therefore was there for. Romans 11:8-10 states,
“just as it is written, ‘God gave them a spirit of stupor, Eyes to see not and ears to hear not, Down to this very day.’ And David says, ‘Let their table become a snare and a trap, And a stumbling block and a retribution to them. Let their eyes be darkened to see not, And bend their backs forever.’” (NASB1995)
The moment I read that passage, the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart, “This is what's happening to America.” I was curious as to which Old Testament scriptures Paul was quoting. From what I can tell, it's a combination of thoughts from a couple of scriptures. One is from Isaiah 29:9-14:
“Be delayed and wait, Blind yourselves and be blind; They become drunk, but not with wine, They stagger, but not with strong drink. For the Lord has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep, He has shut your eyes, the prophets; And He has covered your heads, the seers. The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed book, which when they give it to the one who is literate, saying, ‘Please read this,’ he will say, ‘I cannot, for it is sealed.’ Then the book will be given to the one who is illiterate, saying, ‘Please read this.’ And he will say, ‘I cannot read.’ Then the Lord said, ‘Because this people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote, Therefore, behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; And the wisdom of their wise men will perish, And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed.’” (NASB1995)
And another scripture found in Deuteronomy 29:2-6:
“And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, ‘You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and all his servants and all his land; the great trials which your eyes have seen, those great signs and wonders. Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear. I have led you forty years in the wilderness; your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandal has not worn out on your foot. You have not eaten bread, nor have you drunk wine or strong drink, in order that you might know that I am the Lord your God.’” (NASB1995)
These passages are very interesting in that it was the doing of the Lord to cause blindness and dullness on account of the disobedience and infidelity of the people!
So, what is a stupor?
It is defined as “a condition of greatly dulled or completely suspended sense or sensibility, a chiefly mental condition marked by the absence of spontaneous movement, greatly diminished responsiveness to stimulation, and usually impaired consciousness; a state of extreme apathy or torpor often resulting from stress or shock.”
God has given America a spirit of stupor. The dullness within the church is palpable.
Let's consider our country and the spiritual significance of why America was created. With everything within me, I believe that America was formed to champion the propagation of the Gospel worldwide. God raises nations for a purpose. He raised Israel to display His love and provide salvation for the world. He raised Egypt to display His power. He raised Babylon to chastise His people. He raised Rome to display His sovereignty and provide a fitting backdrop in which the world's Savior would be born. Finally, He raised America so that the Gospel of Jesus Christ would spread like wildfire to the ends of the earth.
America has done much good on earth, and we can't deny that our nation was built upon biblical principles. Our founding documents are filled with biblical influence and Christian thought. The acknowledgment of the Creator God and references to morality are throughout its founding documents. Does this mean the nation is perfect? No! Neither were the founding fathers, but even Israel, whom God birthed Himself and made a people, has a history of sinfulness.
The question is what happens when something created with a purpose either fails to continue in that purpose or if what is done begins to be perverted. See, we can stick out our chest and say things like, “America was founded on biblical principles,” and that's true, or even say, “America is a Christian nation,” but this brings about needed discipline from God when there is a turning away from His standard.
If we as a country can make a claim to be a nation under God, if we can realize that our formation was a miracle itself, impossible apart from His providential hand, we also have to recognize that when we disobey, we will be disciplined and even fall under God’s judgment.
Hebrews 12:5-11 reminds us,
“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the
peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." (NASB1995)
God disciplines nations, and I believe God considers America to have been founded with respect for His Word. This is why we have experienced so many years of blessing, but what happens when a nation not only turns from God but sticks the proverbial finger in the eye of God? How does God respond?
Ezekiel 12:12-20 explains,
"Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, if a country sins against Me by being unfaithful, and I stretch out My hand against it, [a]destroy its supply of bread, send famine against it, and eliminate from it both human and animal life, even though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only save themselves,” declares the Lord God. “If I were to cause vicious animals to pass through the land and they [b]depopulated it, and it became desolate so that no one would pass through it because of the animals, though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not save either their sons or their daughters. They alone would be saved, but the country would be desolate. Or if I were to bring a sword on that country and say, ‘A sword is to pass through the country,
‘and I eliminated human and animal life from it, even though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not save either their sons or their daughters, but they alone would be saved. Or if I were to send a plague against that country and pour out My wrath on it in blood to eliminate man and animal from it, even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not save either their son or their daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness.” (NASB 1995)
When a nation that touts its very existence on God’s providence turns away from God over time, God gives them over to their desires.
Romans 1:18-32 instructs,
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasonings, and their senseless hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible mankind, of birds, four-footed animals, and crawling creatures.Therefore God gave them up to vile impurity in the lusts of their hearts, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for falsehood, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged natural relations for that which is contrary to nature, and likewise the men, too, abandoned natural relations with women and burned in their desire toward one another, males with males committing shameful acts and receiving in their own persons the due
penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a depraved mind, to do those things that are not proper, people having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, and evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unfeeling, and unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.” (NASB1995)
And God gives them a spirit of stupor so that even if they wanted to see and hear, they couldn’t.
In addition to abortion, legalizing same-sex marriage, pornography being viewed more in America than any other country in the world, sex trafficking, soaring murder rates and violence, rebellion in the streets, entertainment, and media given over to depravity and deviancy, churches failing to make disciples, the world’s increase influence on the church. . . Let’s look at some headlines:
1. Church to Start Counting Non-binary Members
2. Abortion Is Not Only A Woman’s Right
3. Most Christian Colleges Will Never Be a Safe Space for LGBTQ Students, But They Must Still Do Better to Affirm and Support Us
4. America’s Largest Teachers Union Backs Teaching CRT to Children
In these headlines listed above, we have. . .
1. Sexual deviance and confusion affirmed by the church,
2. More confusion through using gender pronouns for women who want to abort babies but not be referred to as women,
3. The affirmation of killing babies,
4. Lawlessness - a state of disorder due to a disregard of the law,
5. Persecution - Christian institutions being bombarded and harassed into accepting the godless spirit of this age and making room and allowances for sin,
6. Teaching children to hate and rebelliousness against parents and authority.
We are definitely under God's judgment as a nation, and when you think of all these issues, we’ve been lulled to sleep as the people of God. There’s a dullness that’s not even perceived by many of us. Things are happening, and we can’t discern. Why are so many false(?) ideas offered and accepted by the professing church? How does something like CRT get a foothold in the house of God? How is something that just a few years ago was described as a mental health disorder now something celebrated by the culture without and by some segments within the professing Church? Why aren’t we outraged at the moves to indoctrinate our children? Why are we so lax in our concern regarding our children's discipleship and education? These are features of a nation under the judgment that has been given a spirit of stupor. There’s no other answer!
The hope is for repentance. When we realize the situation that we are in, it is only God that can awaken us. It’s the Lord that gives a spirit of stupor. We must seek the Lord for an awakening of our senses and to have our sensibilities back so that we can be a people able to discern once again.
We are not Israel here in America, but God has definitely formed America, has kept America, and has provided for America as one of His own. The only way this country can be redeemed is for God’s people to express true repentance and turn away from sin. Not only must we confess, but we need to confess and forsake our sins.
