Abandonment Wrath

The wrath of God isn't a very popular subject in today's age. But, the truth is that there is no good news or gospel without first having wrath.  God's holiness demands righteous anger against sin. The fact that He cares at all about what we do should prove to us that He is a loving Father.  Only the blood of Jesus appeases this wrath.  The wrath is severe and eternal, which points to just how glorious and complete the cross and resurrection of Jesus are.

Both Chuck Missler and John MacArthur agree that there are at least four types of wrath that reverberate off a Holy God.  MacArthur throws in a fifth, but we will look at four and then focus on the last one.

They are:
1.  Appositional Wrath:  God's wrath against sin in each man's life (the remedy is accepting the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.)

2.  Catastrophic Wrath:  Flood of Noah, Sodom and Gomorrah, modern day tsunamis, etc.

3.  Eschatalogical Wrath:  this is yet to occur, Revelation 6-19

4.  Abandonment Wrath:  God removes his protection, how He deals with nations

Let's look at the concept of abandonment wrath.  (All of this information comes from either Missler or MacArthur.)  How about this question:  Has God's abandonment wrath begun on America?

There is a litmus test provided in the Word that allows us to know whether this is true or not.  It is found in Romans 1:18-32.  In these verses, we learn that God judges any culture or nation that fails to acknowledge Him as Creator.  He is El Qanna, Jealous God, and He is jealous about the fact that He, alone, is Creator.

Just looking at all He has created is enough for us to believe in Him, but many have exchanged truth for a lie and become mini-gods in their own eyes. Their hearts have rejected God, and they are without excuse because His glory is all around.

When men repeatedly reject God and Truth, God rejects them in return.  "Because you have forgotten...I will forget..." Hosea 4:4 This rejection from God looks like this:  He lifts His protective and restraining hand and allows man to fully indulge in sinful passions. Abandonment wrath is when he abandons us to our own sinful ways.  When a nation stops worshiping the one true God, then judgment is inevitable. God will simply bow out and remove His restraining grace that has held things together.  He will leave mankind to their sinful passions and the consequences of those sins. If you see moral chaos and confusion all around, then you can rest assured that God has abandoned the nation.

He gives them over...and Romans 1 tells us it is in phases, progressions, if you will.  First, the heart is bad, then the body acts, then the mind follows.  First, He gives man over to sexual impurities.  Then, He gives man over to vile affections that remove a person's dignity (i.e. homosexuality and lesbianism, see Romans 1:26-27.) And last, He gives man over to a reprobate mind.  Reprobate in Greek is "adokimos" and means unworthy, cast away, and undiscerning.  Literally, the brain stops functioning the way God intended.  I love what MacArthur says about the depraved mind:

"What is a depraved mind?  Well the word literally means tested and found useless, disqualified for its intended purpose, a non-functioning mind.  Reasoning is so corrupted that it is crippled.  The faculty, the intellectual faculty can no longer function.  The moral law of God written in the heart has been literally stomped and replaced with cultural immorality.  The conscience cannot function."

That's why, at the DNC, when a lady boasts about her abortion, the crowd turns to a raucous applause.  That's why, at the DNC, they boast about a platform that will allow abortions to be paid with by our tax dollars.  To those that have rejected God, He has removed their ability to think with a moral or intellectual mind.  On one hand, they boast about motherhood and how they serve in politics to better the next generation, and on the other hand, they boast about how we can kill off the next generation, at no cost to the individual harboring life.  They don't see the disconnect.  God has stripped their ability to think.

God deals with nations based on how the nations deal with Him.  When we outright reject Him, He outright rejects us.  I am fully convinced we are experiencing God's abandonment wrath on America. God calls all nations to worship Him as the one true God (see Psalm 72.)  When we fail to do so, we beg for judgment.

I love the allegory MacArthur puts out:  America is burning.  It was a fire lit by ourselves as we rejected the Word of God.  God is pouring fuel on the fire in the form of judgment.  As we fiddle, we continue to burn.  Only the Living Water can quench the flames.

Where does that leave us?  What are we, as Believers, to do?

First, we don't blame God. We recognize that our iniquities against a holy God have separated our nation from Him.  "If a society is in the crapper, it is because God's people have ceased being salt and light.  It is because we have engaged in the same sins as the culture around us."  MacArthur

If God's people would fall on their faces and repent...  "The only hope for our nation is to worship the One True God."  MacArthur

Lord, Mercy.

{I think it's important to note that Believers in Jesus Christ are secure.  The sacrifice at the cross removed the wrath of God on our lives (see above about appositional wrath.)  But, as Believers in a nation where night has fallen, we can still experience the effects of abandonment wrath.  I believe God will never forsake or leave us.  He will continue to be our Provision and Comfort and Guide in the days to come, though things may look totally different in the future.  "The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts.  The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress."  Psalm 46:6-7}

Do you agree?  Do you believe our beloved land is under the divine wrath of abandonment?