Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people. Proverbs 14:34
History testifies of the greatness of the colonial era of America. Yet it was no patriotic identity or putting of self first that gave strength to that fledgling nation. Far more elevated principles actuated the formerly persecuted pilgrims that settled in North America:
The Pilgrims were men of conscience; and this they carried with them into work and into statesmanship…From any enumeration of the elements of the early colonial felicity, purity of morals must not be omitted. “As Ireland would not brook [tolerate] venomous serpents, so would not that land [America] vile livers.” One might dwell there “from year to year, and not see a drunkard, nor hear an oath, nor meet a beggar.” The consequence was wide-spread health, one of the chief promoters of social happiness. — W. Carlos Martyn, The Pilgrim Fathers of New England: A History, 428.
The commandments of God are the definition of righteousness (right-doing). If every person in a nation ceased from sinning against the precepts of God’s law, what glorious prosperity would be the result! Since there would be zero crime, there would be no need for police, prisons, or court houses. Additionally, the lifestyle diseases resulting from drinking, smoking, and unhealthy eating would cease to arise, virtually eliminating the need for a health care system. Rather than relying on hospitals and facilities, families and individuals would take care of themselves and their loved ones. What freeing up of resources would result from the dissolution of these things!
In such a nation, our current fractional reserve banking system – which dishonestly creates money from nothing and lends it to others – would find no sanction. The absence of greed and extortion would allow the individual to enjoy the fruit of their own toil, free from the enslavement of debt. With ease could every family afford their own home.
But alas! By seeking prosperity by selfish means, the nations have brought reproach and contempt upon themselves. In the great and small nations of this world, the rich ‘join house to house, [and] lay field to field, till there be no place’ for anyone else to own (Isaiah 5:8). While a greedy individual may obtain personal wealth by buying up everything, his actions result in his own neighbourhood becoming an unsafe place to live in due to the crime resulting from the poverty of his neighbours.
In the absence of a return to the selfless principles enshrined in the ten commandments, it is vain to hope that things is this world will improve. The students of Bible prophecy understand that this world will go from bad to worse. But this does not cause them to despair. On the contrary, the harbingers of the end of this world give them hope for the only sure place of peace and prosperity. Heaven will be secure because the reproach of sin will not dwell there.
Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 2 Peter 3:13
Christopher Sparks