Douglas Wilson

The Prophecy of Micah #12

Christ Church on October 31, 2021

INTRODUCTION

We have come to the climax of Micah’s great prophetic word. This is the note he ends on, which is a note of consolation. God chastises His people, but He does not forget His people. He disciplines His people, but He does not abandon His people. We know that regardless of what happens, God will obtain glory for Himself, and the greatest glory possible comes when He is manifested as the one who delivers.

THE TEXT

“Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: When I fall, I shall arise; When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, Until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness. Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her Which said unto me, Where is the Lord thy God? Mine eyes shall behold her: Now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets . . . Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, And passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger for ever, Because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; And thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, Which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old” (Micah 7:8–20).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The prophet ended the previous section by saying that he was going to wait on the Lord. He was going to look to the Lord, and only to the Lord, for the deliverance that was coming (v. 7). The prophet then steps into the persona of the Jewish people characterized as a woman. In that voice, speaking against a taunting unbelieving woman, she says that her adversary should not boast at her fall. And why? Because she was going to rise again (v. 8). Israel acknowledges her sin, and the justice of God in disciplining her, while at the same time rejecting the taunts of her adversaries (v. 9). The woman taunting will be humiliated, and will be trodden down like street dirt (v. 10). In vv. 11-13, the prophet refers in retrospect to the scattering of the Church that was illustrated by the Babylonians. But despite this, the people of God, the flock of God’s heritage, will be gathered again, and they will be well-pastured (v. 14). God will do marvels on their behalf, miracles that recall the glory of the Exodus (v. 15). The other nations will stop their mouths, and will be confounded (v. 16). They will eat dirt like a serpent, and will be afraid of Jehovah God (v. 17). Who is a God like our God, who pardons iniquity, and who delights in mercy (v. 18). He will turn back to us, and will subdue our iniquities, and He will drown our sins in the ocean (v. 19). God will do all this because He promised Abraham and Jacob that He would (v. 20).

TWO RELATIONS TO SIN

When the people of God repent of their sins, they come to understand two things about that sin. The first is that they call sin by its proper name. They confess or acknowledge their sin (1 Jn. 1:9), and they don’t try shuffle anything off through excuses. At the same time, they reject the taunts of the unbelievers, those who once said, “Where is the Lord your God?” (v. 10).

When David was the song of drunkards, exulting in his disgrace with Bathsheba, he was attacked with his sin (2 Sam. 12:14; Ps. 69:12). But he was not attacked for his sin. He was attacked because he was a friend of God, and the sin just proved to be a handy cudgel.

FEAR AS PART OF EVANGELISM

Notice again what Micah says in v. 17—the nations round about will come to fear Jehovah. We have for too long thought that the only possible way to be winsome is to be nice, grin a lot, and talk about Jesus. But this, all by itself, is an invitation into a cozy club. It is not an invitation into the community of those who worship the God who is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:28), and whose presence makes us want to worship Him in reverence and fear.

But when the power of God is present in the church, one of the responses that people naturally have is one of fear.

“And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch. And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them” (Acts 5:12–13).

“And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things” (Acts 5:11).

WHO IS LIKE OUR GOD?

What are we told at the very end of this prophetic book? We are told that we serve a God who delights in mercy. Earlier in the book (Micah 6:8), we were told what God requires of us—that we do justly, love mercy, and walk with humility. Here we are told that God delights in the very thing He tells us to love.

God promised the patriarchal fathers that they would have descendants, spiritual descendants, that were beyond the capacity of any mortal to count. Like the stars in the sky. Like the grains of sand on the seashore. And the apostle John turned and looked, and saw a number of redeemed saints that were beyond the possibility of counting (Rev. 7:9). God is going to save His elect, and He is going to do it on a scale that is beyond our ability to predict. He promised the patriarchs that He would, and He sent the Christ in fulfillment of that promise. Now do you think that now, after the Christ has actually accomplished the work that will do this thing, that God would change His purposes now? What kind of sense would that make?

Who is like our God? Who will forgive us for all our iniquities, and come back to fetch those iniquities so that He can go drown them all in the ocean? He will subdue our sins. He will deal with them. In the cross, He has dealt with them forever.

The Prophecy of Micah #11

Christ Church on October 24, 2021

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INTRODUCTION

As we come now to the last chapter of Micah, we are in the judgment section of the last cycle. As before, the judgment that is going to fall on Israel and Judah both was going to be a fearsome one. This is found in the first seven verses of the seventh chapter.

THE TEXT

“Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: There is no cluster to eat: My soul desired the firstripe fruit. The good man is perished out of the earth: And there is none upright among men: They all lie in wait for blood; They hunt every man his brother with a net. That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; And the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: So they wrap it up. The best of them is as a brier: The most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: The day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; Now shall be their perplexity. Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: Keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; A man’s enemies are the men of his own house. Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: My God will hear me” (Micah 7:1–7).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The devastation will be complete. The land will look like it has been completely harvested, but there is nothing to show for it in the barns (v. 1). There is no food in the fields, and there is no food in the storehouses. There are no good men left in the land, and those remaining seek to trap others with their nets (v. 2), in order that they might shed their blood. These scoundrels pursue evil with both hands (v. 3). The prince and the great men come to the judges with their desires, and all the corrupt judges have to say is how much? The best of these miscreants are like a hedge full of thorns (v. 4), a thicket of brambles, but their day of perplexity is about to fall down upon their heads. Do not trust in your friends, or even in the wife who lies in bed with you (v. 5) because the days are so treacherous. As Harry Truman once put it, if you want a friend in Washington, get a dog. A man’s adversaries are the members of his own household (v. 6). Trust no one. Things are really dark and hopeless, and this is why the prophet says that he will wait upon the Lord (v. 7). Salvation is from the Lord, and only from there.

OPEN CRUELTY

When sinful men first begin to drift away from the ways of the Lord, they claim to be able to fulfill, better than the Lord can, what believers value. In other words, the initial claim is that the Deuteronomic blessings that God promises are actually promises that our imaginary sky-friend will not be able to perform, while their enlightened way of approaching government will be able to fulfill them. Do you want peace, love and understanding? Then away with your reliance on ancient texts! Do you want a society governed by mutual respect? Then it needs to be a neutral society, with a secular public square.

But as time passes, it turns out that the peace, love and understanding were actually the values of a white supremacist culture. The cruelty that was implicit in the abortion clinics all along comes out in order to parade in the open. Hostility to others who differ becomes a feature, not a bug. The only thing that is necessary for sinful men to come to boast in their cruelty is the opportunity to do so. When they get their rebellion green-lighted, they pursue their wickedness with both hands.

They will at first mock you for thinking that peace and love can only come from Jesus Christ. They can generate the milk of human kindness just as well as Christian faith can. But then, after what seemed like a very short time, they start mocking you for valuing peace and love at all. Cruelty becomes their badge of vaunted pride.

CORRUPTED COURTS

Truth and justice are objective realities, and they can only be objective realities if there is a transcendent God over all of us. The moment you allowed justice to be a relativized value, settled by human voices down here below, that moment was the time when you put justice up for sale.

And as Micah points out, the only ones who can afford the prices that relativistic judges charge will be the princes and great men. The lowly cannot get justice because they have been priced out of the market. If you want the common man to be represented in the courts, the great need is not public defenders, but rather judges who cannot be bought.

But if you live in a time where this is the case—and you do—do not despair. The day of their perplexity is approaching. It is about to come crashing down on their heads because the ultimate court, the court of Heaven, cannot be corrupted. And God issues decisions from behind His bench.

NO HELP IN FAMILY

We are Christians, not sentimentalists. There is no innate power in human relationships. If we are out of kilter with our Maker, then we are also out of kilter with every aspect of His world. Jesus taught that His coming was intended to recalibrate everything. This is why we are summoned to love Him more than we love father or mother. “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). And worldlings, for their part, return the favor. “The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law” (Luke 12:53).

The only way to love your family properly is by loving them less than you love Jesus Christ.

WAIT ON THE LORD

The prophets end with hope, anticipating the hope of the next section. God does not abandon His people, but He does leave them in situations longer than they really wanted to be in them. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Afterward, it yields the peaceful fruit of an upright life (Heb. 12).

But the only way to look forward to that time of harvest is through looking toward the Lord of the harvest, who is the Lord Jesus. We can look forward to the great reckoning, to the time of harvest (v. 11) if we have obeyed the earlier exhortation (v. 2). We are took toward Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. That is the only way to wait on the Lord.

What is a Cult? What is a Sect? What is a Church?

Christ Church on October 17, 2021

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INTRODUCTION

Whenever we are confronted with a new problem, our first instinct as Christians ought to be that of turning to the Scriptures. What does the Bible say about this? And in our current mayoral election, since one of the candidates is running on the platform of fight the cult, referring to all of us, perhaps it would be a good idea if we turned to Scripture in order to hammer out a few definitions.

THE TEXT

“For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:29–30).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul is here speaking to the elders of the church at Ephesus, and he is preparing them for the days to come, after he is no longer present with them. He says that “grievous wolves” will come, and they will savage the flock (v. 29). He also says that corruption will arise from within, and that some of them will start teaching twisted things, in order to gain their own following (v. 30). If you want to carve off a following for yourself, you need to come up with something distinctive, something to set you apart. The Ephesian leadership apparently took Paul’s warning about corrupt doctrine to heart, in that this church was greatly commended for their doctrinal watchfulness (Rev. 2:2, 6). But the apostle John then had to warn them about a new danger, that of falling away from their first love (Rev. 2:4-5).

SOME DEFINITIONS

We have two basic categories here. They are orthodoxy and orthopraxy, which translated, refer to straight doctrine and straight living. Paul tells Timothy to watch his life and his doctrine closely.

“Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Timothy 4:16, ESV).

We should want our definitions to be objective, and not emotional and subjective. Unless we are careful, we will wind up defining a cult as any intense religious group that we don’t happen to like. But we are not the standard. To the Scriptures, always to the Scriptures.

There are four basic options. A group can be orthodox and holy (a church). A group can be orthodox and unholy (a sect). A group can be heterodox and externally moral (a legalistic cult). And a group can be heterodox and immoral (an antinomian cult). And because one sin always leads to others, groups can always morph from one category to another. That happens also.

THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR

You are in a church now, but the price of keeping it a church is constant vigilance. Maintain your first love (Rev. 2:4-5). Hold fast to the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 3). Grow in grace (2 Pet. 3:18).

As you do this, here are some of the things to watch out for, things that signal sectarian or cultic temptations ahead.

Imperious rule: “I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not” (3 John 9).

Weird teaching: “For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you” (1 Cor. 11:19).

License to sin: “Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols” (Rev. 2:20).

Complacency: “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth” (Rev. 3:15–16).

Abusive leadership: “For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise. For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face” (2 Cor. 11:19–20).

TRUE KOINONIA FELLOWSHIP

In many cases, cults are a fleshly attempt to counterfeit what God gives to His people by grace.

Individual Christians are not the only ones summoned to follow the Lord in obedience. Churches are also called to live together in a particular way. Think of all the one anothers that we find in Scripture. The New Testament presupposes godly life together in community, and that community is required to have a particular flavor to it.

For example, we are told to have fervent love for one another (1 Pet. 4:8). We are commanded to strive for like-mindedness (Rom 15:5; Phil. 2:2). We are enabled, by the grace of God, to gather together with other sinners, and yet still be characterized by gladness and simplicity of heart (Acts 2:46). Our lives together are marked by a deep attraction to music of a kind that glorifies God (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). Our worship of God together is disciplined and focused (Col. 2:5). The morale is really high, and is characterized by great gladness and loud instruments (2 Chron. 30:21).

And all this fervent love, and like-mindedness, and simplicity, and singing, and liturgical rigor, and great gladness, all of it, is suffused with the fear of God.

“And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of the Lord appeared unto all the people. And there came a fire out from before the Lord, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces” (Lev. 9:23–24).

The word shouted here can be rendered as to rejoice, or to exult. Something terrifying happened here, and yet the people shouted for joy. The glory of the Lord, the weight of His awesome holiness, was manifested to all the people—the people saw. The glory of the Lord was located in a particular place, because fire erupted from the place right before where the glory was, and that fire shot across and incinerated the sacrificial animal that was on the altar. And what was the reaction of the people? It was an exultant shout of joy.

CHRIST IS THERE

Remember this, Christian. Christ is your altar. Christ is your high priest. Christ is your temple. Christ is your sacrifice. And Christ is the consuming fire that takes all of it up to your God.

And so the striking thing about a faithful church is that Christ is there. Christ is always there. And if the bridegroom is present, you can be sure that the bride is there also. She is His church, and not a sect, and never a cult.

The Prophecy of Micah #10

Christ Church on October 10, 2021

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INTRODUCTION

We are now at the beginning of the last cycle of Micah’s prophecy. Remember that the pattern is one of warning, judgment, and consolation. We see in this section the testimony of Jehovah, in which He sets out the reasons for the judgment coming down upon Judah and Israel. It is a fearsome judgment indeed.

THE TEXT

“Hear ye now what the Lord saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, And let the hills hear thy voice. Hear ye, O mountains, the Lord’s controversy, And ye strong foundations of the earth: For the Lord hath a controversy with his people, And he will plead with Israel. O my people, what have I done unto thee? And wherein have I wearied thee? Testify against me . . .” (Micah 6:1–16).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The prophet has been speaking to a senseless people, and so now Jehovah has told them to go preach to the rocks instead (v. 1). Even the stones of the mountains will listen better than Judea and Israel did, and they will sit in the jury box, as the Lord lays out His case against His people (v. 2). God, speaking in a figure, as though He could fit inside a courtroom, asks them to testify as to what wrong He has committed against them (v. 3). Jehovah plays at defendant.

God redeemed them from the slavery of Egypt, and gave them Moses, Aaron and Miriam as leaders (v. 4). He then prevented Balaam from cursing them, as Balak wanted him to (v. 5). Speaking for the people, he asks about what they might think to bring to God—burnt offerings, rams, rivers of oil? Perhaps their own firstborn (vv. 6-7)? No—it is much more straightforward than that. Do justice, love mercy, and walk in humility before God (v. 8).

Jehovah cries out to the city, and a wise man knows where the rod is coming from (v. 9). Do not the wicked have a great treasury, filled with the profits gained with a short measure and crooked scales (vv. 10-11)? Her rich men are full of violence, and the people have a mouthful of lies (v. 12). And this is why God will strike them (v. 13). They will eat, but not be filled (v. 14). What they manage to salvage out of the wreckage will be taken from them later (v. 14). They will also experience true vanity in their agriculture (v. 15). And why? Because they decided to follow the doctrines of Omri (Ahab’s father) and Ahab they will be left desolate, and will be reproached with hissing (v. 16).

HYPOCRISY GAMES

When Micah brings his testimony, the hypocrites who listen to him are pretending to engage. Jehovah says that rocks would listen better than they do, and yet they try to prove Him wrong by making a show through religious bustling. What shall we offer to God that will prove our devotion? Rivers of oil? Our own first born? No. God wants you, and not some sacrifice swapped in instead of you. That is an extortion payment, not religious worship.

Hypocrites behave as though the God of Heaven is petty and simple, like some cranky toddler in a stroller, and that it is somehow possible to distract Him with baubles and trifles. Here, play with this, they seem to say.

No. God wants the heart. He has always wanted the heart. He has never settled for anything less than your heart. Rend your hearts, not your garments (Joel 2:13). Circumcise your hearts (Jer. 4:4). To obey is better than sacrifice (1 Sam. 15:22). Sacrifices and burnt offerings you did not require (Ps. 40:6). Go and find out what this means, Jesus said (Matt. 9:13). I desire mercy and not sacrifice (Hos. 6:6). And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings (Hos. 6:6).

GRASPING MERCHANTS

Hypocrites love paint their sins with the whitewash of religious scrupulosity. But two inches of white snow on a dunghill is a dunghill still, and you shouldn’t try to sled on it.

What particular sin is in view in this passage? There were numerous sins, no doubt, but what sins are in view here. The problem here was dishonesty in business. When the rod comes to give these hustlers their beat down, the wise man knows the reason for it (v. 9). Was it not their short measure (v. 10)? Wicked scales and deceitful weights (v. 11)? When they open their mouths, lies come fluttering out, like hundreds of moths (v. 12). That is why God is striking them, making them desolate (v. 13).

HE HATH SHOWN THEE

What does God actually want from us? There are three verbs—do, love, and walk (v. 8). Do justly. Love mercy. Walk with humility before your God.

When you make a judgment, it must be an honest assessment, not a partisan decision. It is not enough to do mercy, grudgingly dragged out of you. No, you must love mercy (hesed). It is this pairing, incidentally, that gives the lie to so many today who are trumpeting what they call “social justice.” It is not justice at all because biblical justice loves mercy, and those commies are merciless—without pity, without forgiveness, without tenderness, without compassion. In short, without Christ.

The third characteristic of this godly demeanor is that of walking humbly with God. God is the absolute ground of all goodness, all value, and so we must submit to Him. We must submit to His definition of justice. We must embrace His sacrificial commitment to mercy. We must submit to the God who is the ground of all objective truth, goodness, and beauty.

And this means Christ. Who displays the justice of God? Christ on the cross, wracked with pain because of His Father’s hatred of sin. Who displays the mercy of God? Christ on the cross, embracing our sin and folly so that He could carry it all down the grave. Who displays the humility of God? Christ on the cross, who summons us to take up our cross and follow Him. If we do follow Him in this way, we can be assured that we will do justly, love mercy, and walk with humility. And unlike the religious liars and thieves of ancient Judea and Israel, we will not try to bribe God to look the other way because we put on some sort of a religious show.

The Prophecy of Micah #9

Christ Church on October 3, 2021

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INTRODUCTION

So we have now come to the conclusion of the second consolation section in the prophecy of Micah. As we continue to work through this passage, notice again that deliverances are hard. To be saved through trials is not the same kind of thing as an afternoon at the park.

THE TEXT

“And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men. And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: Who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver . . .” (Micah 5:7–15).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

As Calvin points out, there are two great things promised here. The first is God will defend His Church apart from the help of men, and second, that the Church will grow to surpass all her enemies. The first thing to note is that the people of God will be very much like a grassy meadow drenched in dew (v. 7). This is grass that just grows, and does not require cultivation (v. 7). It will be dew from Jehovah. God will empower His people, and they will be like a lion in the midst of a flock of sheep (v. 8). The enemies of God will be cut off (v. 9). Then comes a curious comment. God will cut His people off, taking away their horses, chariots, cities, and strongholds (vv. 10-11). They would not be delivered by their own might. In addition, God will purify His people, granting them repentance. He will take away their witchcraft and soothsaying (v. 12), their graven images (v. 13), and their groves (v. 14). This then will culminate in God’s summary dispatching of the heathen.

TWO KINDS OF IDOLS

Idolatry occurs whenever we place any created thing in the place of our Creator. This can be done surreptitiously, in the realm of heart motives, but with the object of this false worship being innocent in itself. But idolatry can also be something gross and explicit, as when men carve or paint objects to facilitate devotion, veneration, or worship.

We can see the first kind implied in various places of the New Testament. For example, Paul tells the Colossians that covetousness is idolatry (Col. 3:5). If you are looking over a catalog with a heart filled with avarice, then you are an idolater. But the catalog might be filled with items that are perfectly innocent. In this vein, a man might make an idol out of his job, or his family, or his church. When this happens, repentance is a heart matter. He doesn’t have to quit his job, or leave his family, or burn down his church.

This is not the same response that is required with explicit idolatry. In this case, repentance looks like a demolition of the idol itself, and a removal of the pieces.

TWO KINDS OF IDOLS IN OUR TEXT

This is an important thing to mention because we have this distinction in our passage this morning. What does God remove from His people first? He removes horses, and chariots, cities, and strongholds. None of these things are sinful in themselves. But if God had not removed them, He knew that Israel might be tempted to glory in victory, as though they had accomplished it all by themselves. God sometimes removes instruments and means when we start to think that we are in charge of our own blessings. But we are not. “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: But we will remember the name of the Lord our God” (Psalm 20:7).

But God does not just deliver His people apart from visible means, He is also gracious enough to cleanse and restore His people. When He determines to grant reformation and revival what will He do? He will take away the witchcraft, and the fortunetellers, and the idols, and the groves that sanctify them.

OUR REPENTANCE, HIS GIFT

It is absolutely true that we must repent of our sins, and we must believe in God. This is something we do. But it is also something we are enabled to do because it comes to us as a gift from God. If God does not give this gift, we cannot obtain it.

“In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth” (2 Timothy 2:25).

“Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:31).

“Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned; Renew our days as of old” (Lamentations 5:21).

THE LAST AND ONLY AMERICAN HOPE

We come then, to the sharp point of application. We cannot fully understand the intersection between God’s absolute sovereignty and man’s complete and foundational responsibility. But we can know this. If we are guilty of wickedness, we are guilty as true moral agents. We are not puppets. We are not automata. We are not moist robots.

At the same time, if we have sinned our way into spiritual prison, we do not hold the key to that prison. The only one who can grant the repentance that will make the doors swing outward, gloriously outward, is the God of Heaven. If we are dead, we cannot raise ourselves. If we are slaves, we cannot free ourselves. The only thing we can do is cry out to the Lord.

And that means that if our nation does not repent, it is not because we have successfully gotten away from God. We have not outrun Him. No creature is ever out of His range. If we do not repent, then that is because God decided that we would not, and has determined to make us an object lesson. “What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction” (Romans 9:22)?

And if God restores us, it will be the result of Him determining to grant us times of refreshing. The church will be restored, lush and luxuriant, a mountain meadow filled with grass—a meadow that nobody planted, that nobody watered, that nobody tended. It will be the result of a dew from Jehovah.