Nations rise by the hand of God and fall by the judgment of God. The way for a nation to last is for it to be established on righteousness. Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people (Prov 14:34). With sin comes reproach. With reproach comes judgment, even with God’s own people. They could not continue in sin and expect to be spared. No nation is immune to God’s judgment.

The kingdom days of the Israelites shows how the people and the leaders continually worshiped other gods. Most of the kings were wicked and tolerated or even led the people in worshipping Baal the storm god and Asherah the fertility goddess. Wickedness and lawlessness was tolerated. The people were oppressed by each other. The kings and the people refused to heed the warnings the Lord sent his people. The Lord is patient and slow to anger. But there is an end to God’s patience. Judgment comes in the form of King Nebuchanezzar of Babylon whose army came and destroyed the city.

What is heart rending about this account is its finality. The king’s sons were killed, destroying the dynasty. The temple was destroyed, ending the covenantal sacrifice and worship. The city was demolished along with all the important houses and the walls. The people were removed. The leaders are taken into prison and many are killed. There was no chance of an insurrection. This was the death of the people of God in Palestine.

In verse 24 the people are told to obey the Babylonian rulers. They should not think about returning to their homes and their land for they would not. All this was the judgment of God. Their world came to an end. For these people to return to the land ever again would be impossible—like a person being raised from the dead. Yet, what is humanly impossible is possible with God.

When I read of God’s judgment on the city where he placed his Name, I wonder about my own beloved country. We have been blessed incredibly in the last few centuries as we have changed from an outpost in the wilderness to the powerhouse of the world. We have received the blessing of God, but I know we are not immune to the judgment of God. When I look at the unrighteousness, idolatry and immorality that is growing in my beloved country I pray that God would be merciful to us and grant us repentance and revival.

America is the land of the free and the home of the brave, but it is not our love of freedom that has caused our blessings. While all of the founding fathers were not Christians, there was a general respect for the Word of God and a desire to have a righteous society which feared the Lord. Our country’s prideful spirit of dependence on our own economic and military might is growing. Our focus on the Baal of prosperity and the Asherah of sexual pleasure grows. Is it unthinkable that God’s judgment would come to our country?

As Christians, our personal righteousness is important. Without it, we are no different than the stream of culture that is flowing away from the Lord. Without it we cannot be salt and light in a generation that needs to see the love of God in action. But our personal relationship with God may not avert judgment. There were those in Jerusalem who were faithful to the Lord and they suffered judgment along with the rest when the Babylonians destroyed the city. We are called to encourage righteousness and work for justice in our land. Because I love my country, I want to part of that which can make her right.

There is something here about the judgment of God that is surprising. It does not mean that the Lord hated his people. In fact, God used it to cleanse them from idolatry and self-sufficiency before restoring them the land. Even in judgment we see the love of God.

Don’t forget that the message of the cross is a message of judgment. Sin had to be destroyed. This required judgment and destruction, pain and death. But with the cross, it was not God’s people who would suffer for their sins, but God’s Son who would suffer in their place. On the third day, Christ rose from the dead. The severe mercy of the cross would result in the redemption and resurrection of the whole people of God.