November - December 2001 The Sabbath Sentinel

The Absolute Necessity of Repentence by Daniel Botkin

Since the terrorist attack on September 11, there has been a great deal of talk about prayer. Even on secular radio and TV, people are being urged to pray for America, and many people have been gathering to pray. Since Tuesday morning I have heard and read the words pray and prayer more times than I can count. The thing that concerns me, though, is that I have not heard or read anything about the need for national repentance. Except for one brief reference by Billy Graham ("God promises to bless us if we repent"), I have not heard the words repent or repentance.

I do not belittle the power of prayer, but without nation-wide repentance, nation-wide prayer is useless. Let me explain. After the children of Israel came into the Promised Land and saw the walls of Jericho fall down for them, they felt invincible (much like America did before September 11, 2001). Therefore, they were stunned and bewildered when they suffered an unexpected defeat at the next city, a small town called Ai (much like America was stunned and bewildered after September 11, 2001).

The hearts of the people melted and became like water. Joshua and the elders of Israel tore their garments, fell on their faces before God, put dust on their heads, and prayed to the Lord.

God's response to all this prayer was: "Get thee up; wherefore liest thou upon thy face? Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled [deceived] also, and they have put it even among their own stuff. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you. Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow: for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you" (Josh. 7:10-13).

Prayer was ineffective for the children of Israel until the sin was dealt with and the accursed things removed from the nation.

Like all Americans, I am deeply grieved by what happened in our nation. But what do you expect, America? When a nation turns its back on God, He turns His back on them. "If ye forsake Him, He will forsake you" (2 Chron. 15:2). A nation forfeits Divine protection when it sins as grievously as we have.

I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s. Sin existed in America in the 1950s, of course. But at least sin was still considered sinful and shameful then. People didn't "have affairs"; they committed adultery. Unmarried couples didn't "live together"; they were fornicators living in sin. There were no "single moms"; there were unwed mothers. There were no "single-mother-children"; there were bastards. There were no "gays"; there were homosexuals, sodomites, queers. These sins existed, but at least they were kept in the darkness where they belonged. These sins were not constantly flaunted before the public, demanding acceptance.

In the early 1960s, America tried to kick God out of public schools by declaring school-sponsored prayer unconstitutional. All the filthy sexual perversion started coming out of the closet demanding acceptance. In the early 1970s, abortion was legalized, and now America has the blood of millions of aborted babies on its hands. "So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are," God warned, "for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it" (Num. 35:33).

If there is not nation-wide repentance - no deep, genuine remorse for our nation's sins - then God will not hear the prayers of our nation, regardless of how many prayers we make. "And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes; cease to do evil" (Isa. 1:15ff).

Repentance must be deep enough to make us change our ways. A quick "please-comfort-us" prayer, followed by a surge of patriotism, flag-waving, and the singing of patriotic hymns, will not get the job done. These activities may unite the nation, but they do not guarantee God's blessing and victory. If America goes to war without first getting right with God, she runs the risk of defeat. The oft-quoted passage of 2 Chronicles 7:14 declares God's promise to heal the land of His backslidden people, but this promise is conditional. One of the necessary conditions is that His people "turn from their wicked ways."

When God's judgment was announced by Jonah to the people of Nineveh, the king of Nineveh ordered all his people to put on sackcloth, to fast, to cry mightily unto God, and to turn from their evil ways. Even the domestic animals were forced to fast and wear sackcloth. God saw their works and spared them.

President Bush proclaimed last Friday a Day of Prayer and Remembrance. Let us pray that he will go a step further and call for a national Day of Prayer and Repentance.

Reprinted from Gates of Eden, Special Edition, September 2001.

TSS

November - December 2001 The Sabbath Sentinel