Through Isaiah, God condemned entire nations because of rampant evil. He punished His chosen people—Judah and Israel—but He also punished all the surrounding nations.
Isaiah presented oracles against Babylon (Isaiah 13–14), Assyria (Isaiah 14.24–27), Philistia (Isaiah 14.28–32), Moab (Isaiah 15–16), Damascus (Isaiah 17), Cush and Egypt (Isaiah 18–20), the wilderness of the sea (Isaiah 21.1–10), Edom (Isaiah 21.11–12), Arabia (Isaiah 21.13–17), Jerusalem (Isaiah 22), Tyre and Sidon (Isaiah 23), and the whole earth (Isaiah 24). Why was God punishing all these nations?
- “to destroy its sinners from [the land]” (Isaiah 13.9)
- Because of their pomp and pride (Isaiah 14.11–14; 23.9): “I will make myself like the Most High”
- “We have heard of the pride of Moab—how proud he is!—of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence; in his idle boasting he is not right” (Isaiah 16.6)
- “For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not remembered the rock of your refuge” (17.10)
- Because they consulted idols, sorcerers, mediums, and necromancers (19.3)
God’s law extended to all nations. Egypt and Assyria were not under the Law of Moses, but they were subject to God’s law to all nations. They were under His authority, as all men have always been.
“Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.”
Isaiah 45.22
God also saves the nations, and He plans for the good of all the earth. Notice Isaiah 19.16–25 gives a gorgeous future of Egypt, Assyria, and Israel in which a highway will run from Assyria to Egypt, and Israel would connect the two as “a blessing in the midst of the earth” (19.24). God would strike Egypt, “striking and healing, and they will return to the LORD, and He will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them” (19.22). God ends the section with, “Blessed be Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance” (19.25)!
God speaks of a judgment day: “On that day the LORD will punish the host of heaven, in heaven, and the kings of the earth, on the earth” (Isaiah 24.23). He reigns over all kings as the King of kings.
We err greatly if we think the God of the New Testament is any different. Christ now reigns supreme over all the nations of the earth. He has been given “dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom one that shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7.14). God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ (Acts 2.36), and all authority has been given to Him in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28.18). He is seated at God’s right hand in the heavenly places, “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come” (Ephesians 2.21).
What, then, shall we do? Shall we not kneel before our King? Shall we not serve Him all the days of our lives? Shall we not speak His name with reverence and awe? Shall we not herald His gospel to all men, tribes, and tongues?
His kingdom absorbs all others and has authority over all others. Kings of the earth may think they have sovereign power, but they have only what has been granted to them by God. This is why Christians are persecuted and hated by many governments—because they follow a King higher than their earthly rulers, and they refuse to comply with sinful laws because they refuse to break the highest law of God.
The LORD said to Me, “You are My Son;
Psalm 2.7–12
today I have begotten You.
Ask of Me, and I will make the nations Your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son,
lest He be angry, and you perish in the way
for His wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.
Kings and rulers are told to serve Yahweh with fear, to kiss the Son (Jesus), or the Son will break them. This is the mandate even today—all rulers should serve God with fear and bow the knee to His Son, Jesus Christ. In this way, a nation will thrive; otherwise, it will surely fall.
“It is an abomination to kings to do evil, for the throne is established by righteousness.”
Proverbs 16.12
“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.”
Proverbs 14.34
There should be a separation of church and state in the sense that the State should have no jurisdiction over the church, and there should be no church over the government of the land (those are separate, God-instituted authorities). However, God’s authority extends over both the church and the government. Government officials should rule by God’s decrees. They should make laws in keeping with God’s laws. For instance, no government has a right to redefine marriage as anything other than what God has already established. However, they have a right to punish those who do not keep God’s marriage and sexual laws.
Christians do well to elevate God’s laws before the people. We first should obey God’s law ourselves, and second, we should promote God’s law to others as the ultimate authority in everyone’s life.
This is against the American way, for sure, because the American way has been to live and let live, let everyone do whatever they want as long as they don’t hurt anyone else. Except that doesn’t make for righteousness or peace. All sin hurts people. Abandoning God’s mandates and directives destroys a nation, as we are seeing. We must return to righteousness—repent of our sins and turn back to God.
He is God of the nations. He is God of our nation.