Prof. Johan Malan, Mosselbaai (Mei 2010)
Het die Here in Nuwe Testamentiese tye ‘n doel en roeping vir bepaalde volke, soos wat Hy wél ‘n roeping vir gelowige individue en gemeentes het? Indien wel, is daar sulke volke wat ‘n uitsonderlike roeping vervul? Ons sal die Bybel hieroor moet raadpleeg.
Uit die Ou Testament is dit baie duidelik dat God ‘n volk - Israel - gehad het deur wie Hy Homself geopenbaar het. Die Israeliete (“Stryders vir God”) het ‘n roeping gehad om as sy besondere getuies in ‘n heidenwêreld op te tree. In die Ou Testament is die wonderlike eienskappe van God se liefde op ‘n duidelike wyse aan Israel geopenbaar. Hierdie volk het sy ontstaan én voortbestaan aan God se liefde te danke. Dit moes egter ‘n wederkerige liefde wees, daarom het die verpligting op die uitverkore volk gerus om God se liefde te beantwoord en altyd in die regte verhouding met Hom te leef (Deut. 7:7-10).
As afvallige lede van die volk hulle rug op die Here sou draai, sou dit tot hulle eie ondergang lei (Deut. 28:15-68). Dit het inderdaad gebeur en is die rede waarom Israel grootliks in hul roeping as God se volk gefaal het (1 Kor. 10:5). Die meerderheid Israeliete het onbekeerlike harte gehad wat ongeneë was tot God se wet.
Uit die Bybel is dit duidelik dat die Here in die Nuwe Testament nie ‘n besondere volk het wat Hom verteenwoordig en deur wie Hy werk nie, maar wel uitgeroepenes uit álle volke wat gesamentlik die kerk van Christus genoem word. Hoewel Israel as die uitverkore volk ‘n ewige roeping het, was hulle tydens die Nuwe Testamentiese bedeling weens ongeloof onder die nasies verstrooi. Selfs nou, in ‘n gevorderde stadium van hulle eindtydse herstel, verwerp die meerderheid Israeli’s steeds vir Jesus as die Messias. Hulle geestelike roeping en status as volk van God sal eers tydens hulle nasionale bekering herstel word (Jes. 27:6; Jer. 31:31-40; Eseg. 36:22-28; Sag. 12:10; Rom. 11:26-32). Dit sal ná die afsluiting van die kerkbedeling gebeur (Rom. 11:25).
In Nuwe Testamentiese tye is daar geen volk wat op ‘n nasionale roeping of status in God se koninkryk aanspraak kan maak nie, daarom word nie een van hulle in hierdie verband in die Bybel genoem nie. Daar is inteendeel duidelike aanduidings dat almal van hulle die pad van rebellie teen God sal inslaan en as gevolg daarvan op die oordele van die Here afstuur (Ps. 2:1-12; Dan. 2:44-45). Hulle sal almal navolgers van die Antichris word en as gevolg daarvan deur die Here Jesus vernietig word wanneer Hy weer kom (Op. 16:13-14; 19:19-21). Christus sal dan soewerein as Koning oor alle nasies regeer (Op. 11:15). ‘n Gelowige oorblyfsel van die nasies sal die vrederyk binnegaan en in ‘n teokratiese wêreldregering hulle posisies onder die oppergesag van die Messias-Koning inneem (Jes. 2:2-4; Sag. 14:16; Matt. 24:30; Hand. 15:16-17).
Ten spyte van hierdie Bybelse feite was daar deur die eeue heen verskeie volke en koninkryke wat hulleself as God se verteenwoordigers op aarde gesien het. Die Afrikanervolk is een van hulle. Dit is nodig om teen dié foutiewe idee standpunt in te neem. Benewens my eie verklaring oor die rol van volke in die raadsplan van God, het ek ook die menings van twee ander Bybelkenners oor hierdie saak ingewin.
Met die oog op die uitvoering van God se wil op aarde het die klem van ‘n bepaalde volk (Israel) in die Ou Testament, verskuif na gelowige individue uit alle volke in die Nuwe Testament (Hand. 10:34-35), m.a.w. na die kerk van Christus. Slegs diegene wat ten volle aan die Here behoort, word as instrumente in sy hand gebruik, en hulle word nêrens ‘n spesifieke “volk” genoem nie. Hulle is uitgeroepenes uit alle volke en word as lede van die liggaam van Christus beskryf (1 Kor. 12:27).
Die multi-etniese samestelling van die kerk beteken nie dat Bybelse beginsels vir die ordening van volke nou verval het nie. ‘n Volk is ‘n groep mense wat as ‘n kulturele eenheid binne ‘n bepaalde gebied saamgegroei het. Die ideale omstandighede vir hulle voortbestaan is dat hulle ‘n eie land met ‘n soewereine volksregering moet hê. Daar kan hulle taal, kultuur, sosiale lewe, onderwysstelsel, ekonomie en godsdiensvorm sonder inmenging van buite tot hulle volle potensiaal ontwikkel. In die Nuwe Testament word die beginsel van selfbeskikkende volke binne hulle eie woongebiede herbevestig (Hand. 17:26).
Dit is ‘n natuurlike neiging onder volke om ter wille van hulle eie oorlewing en ordelike funksionering op onafhanklikheid en die beoefening van volksregte aanspraak te maak. Slegs wanneer ‘n volk nie bedreig word nie, kan dit in veiligheid naas ander volke woon, dieselfde regte aan buurvolke gun en in vrede met hulle saamleef. Gedwonge integrasie en die verwydering van grense tussen volke lei na ‘n Babiloniese samelewingsorde waarin onregverdige wedywering met lede van die meerderheidsgroep, onderdrukking, spanning, twis en die skending van menseregte hoogty vier.
Soos individue, het volke en hulle leiers ook die vryheid van keuse oor hoe hulle wil leef en watter geloof hulle wil aanhang. Weens die geestelike en morele verdorwenheid van alle mense, is volke en hulle regerings ook toonbeelde van hierdie verdorwenheid. Selfs in volke waarin daar in ‘n stadium ‘n sterk Christelike inslag was, wat tot die vestiging en grondwetlike verskansing van ‘n Christelik-nasionale lewenswyse gelei het, het sekularisasie en vormgodsdiens mettertyd ingetree en opkomende geslagte het die Christelike beginsels van weleer geminag en selfs verloën.
Waarom gebeur dit? Omdat elke nuwe geslag mense opnuut gered moet word, en volgens die Bybel is dit net ‘n klein groepie wat die smal pad van die Christelike geloof bewandel (Matt. 7:13-14; Luk. 13:23-24). Die meerderheid mag dan steeds lippediens aan die Christendom bewys omdat dit deel van hulle volkstradisie en die leerstellings van hulle groot volkskerke geword het. In die Here se oë is die handhawing van tradisies wat geen geestelike inhoud het nie, egter ‘n hol en leë gebaar: “Hierdie volk eer My met die lippe, maar hulle hart is ver van My af. Maar tevergeefs vereer hulle My deur leringe te leer wat gebooie van mense is... Julle verstaan dit goed om die gebod van God opsy te sit en so julle oorlewering te onderhou” (Mark. 7:6-9). Randy Pike het by geleentheid gesê: “Theology without regeneration changes men into clever devils.”
Omdat ware gelowiges oral ‘n klein minderheid is, bepaal hulle nie die karakter en doelstellings van enige volk nie. Trouens, hulle is in konflik met die wêreldgesinde meerderheid en as gevolg hiervan vreemdelinge en bywoners, selfs onder hulle eie volk. In die lig hiervan kan die idees van baie mense oor die sogenaamde “roeping” van die Afrikanervolk nie Bybels verantwoord word nie. Daar word heeltemal te veel gemaak van die Afrikaner as ‘n uitverkore verbondsvolk met ‘n goddelike roeping in Afrika, en ook die gevolgtrekking dat dié posisie die volk kwalifiseer vir buitengewone seëninge en voorkeurbehandeling in God se koninkryk.
Eers wanneer ‘n persoon gered is (m.a.w. ‘n vrye wilsbesluit geneem het om die Here Jesus as Verlosser aan te neem), het die Here vir hom of haar ‘n roeping (uitverkiesing of aanstelling) in sy koninkryk. Dit is moontlik dat groot groepe Christene dieselfde roeping kan ontvang (soos bv. in die herlewings van die 18de en 19de eeue) en dat die Here as gevolg van hulle toewyding baie siele red en selfs ‘n hele volk sal seën of spaar. Dit gebeur dan op dieselfde grondslag as die Here se bereidheid om Sodom te spaar indien daar tien gelowiges in die stad sou wees.
Namate ons dieper in die eindtyd in beweeg, word die ware gelowiges al hoe minder en die goddeloses al hoe meer. Dit is ‘n herhaling van die goddeloosheid in die dae van Noag en Lot. Weer eens sal die Here op dramatiese wyse ingryp en die minderheid ware gelowiges deur middel van die wegraping uit die rampgebied van goddelike oordele (dit is die hele aarde) verwyder. Die goddeloses sal dan in die verdrukking geoordeel word, soos in Openbaring 6 tot 19 beskryf, deur hulle o.a. aan die skrikbewind van die Antichris uit te lewer.
Net gelowige individue gaan dus “oorleef”, nie volke nie. Vergeet dus maar van die triomfering van sogenaamde “Christenvolke” oor die ander volke. In hierdie goddelose Afrika-kontinent waarin die wet van die oerwoud steeds tot ‘n groot mate geld, is dit die sterkste man met die meeste volgelinge wat wen, en hy is gewoonlik die grootste sondaar en diktator. Net gelowiges uit alle volke gaan uiteindelik die paal haal – die res gaan almal, saam met hulle afvallige regerings en teruggevalle kerke, navolgers van die Antichris word.
Daar sal eers in die Millennium in die ware sin van die woord Christenvolke op aarde wees wat nie meer as “heidense nasies” bestempel sal kan word nie. Hulle sal gereeld na Jerusalem optrek om die Here Jesus te raadpleeg, in sy weë te wandel en vreedsame naasbestaan met ander volke na te streef (Jes. 2:2-4; Sag. 8:20-23). Satan sal dan gebind wees sodat hy die nasies nie meer sal kan mislei nie (Op. 20:2-3). Die troon van Dawid sal in Jerusalem herstel wees en Jesus sal as Messias-Koning oor die hele aarde regeer: “In dié tyd sal hulle Jerusalem noem die troon van die Here; en al die nasies sal daarheen saamkom vanweë die Naam van die Here in Jerusalem; en hulle sal nie meer wandel na die verharding van hul bose hart nie” (Jer. 3:17). In daardie bedeling sal daar nét Christenvolke wees, ook in die Midde-Ooste (Jes. 19:22-25).
Het die Here 'n spesifieke plan met Suid-Afrika? Dit sal na my mening voorbarig wees om so ‘n vraag namens God te beantwoord. Wat meer is, as ons hierop bevestigend antwoord, dan sal ons direk wil voortgaan om uit te wys wát God se plan met Suid-Afrika is. Wie van ons gaan daardie vraag beantwoord?
Een ding is seker: Die blanke volksplanting aan die Suidpunt van Afrika het toe nie die lig in Afrika ingedra soos wat ons so graag wil glo nie. Die drie Afrikaanse kerke is teen die middel van die 1800’s in Transvaal herplant. Hoeveel sendelinge het daardie drie kerke in die 1800’s in donker Afrika ingestuur? Bitter, bitter min, indien enige. Waar is die kerk in Angola wat deur die Dorslandtrekkers gestig en uitgebou moes gewees het? Blanke sendelinge het Afrika in die 1800’s deurkruis, maar weinig van hulle kom uit Suid-Afrika. Die NGK het in die 1900’s met sendingwerk in die destydse Noord- en Suid-Rhodesië (die huidige Zambië en Zimbabwe) begin, maar ook dit was ‘n druppel in die emmer as dit met die aantal sendelinge uit Engeland en die VSA vergelyk word. As God wel ‘n plan met die blanke volksplanting van 1652 gehad het, dan het daardie mense self gesorg dat God se doel met hulle verydel is. Net soos wat God ‘n groot en verhewe doel met die volk Israel gehad het (Gen. 12 tot 15) - wat daardie volk na 3500 jaar nog steeds nie nagekom het nie - so glo ek dat ons volksplanting hier sy goddelike doel gemis het. Ander mense moes van ander lande af kom om die werk te kom verrig wat ons veronderstel was om hier te doen.
Kan dit regtig gesê word dat Bloedrivier ‘n oorlog was waar die magte van die lig geseëvier het oor die magte van die duisternis soos ons so dikwels op 16 Desember moes aanhoor? En wat van die Geloftekerk wat die boere sou bou? Ja, dit is gebou. Waar? Vir wie? Dalk om die Zoeloes te evangeliseer? Nee, nie eers amper nie. Dit is in Pietermaritzburg gebou - slegs vir witmense. En terwyl die kruitdampe oor die laer van Bloedrivier gehang het, was daar reeds ‘n sendeling op die heuweltjie langs Dingaanstad besig om die evangelie te verkondig. Sy van was Owen en hy was ‘n Engelsman ... Wat sê dit vir ons van die “Christelike beskawing” wat met die Groot Trek die binneland ingedra is? Meer as 100 jaar ná Bloedrivier het ‘n professor van die NGK eers wakker geskrik en gesê dat ons ‘n verantwoordelikheid teenoor die Zoeloes het as ons beweer dat dit die magte van die lig was wat daar teenoor die duisternis geseëvier het. Toe samel hulle geld in vir sendingwerk in Zoeloeland en stig die GEM (Geestelike Eeufees Monumentsending).
Gaan bestudeer ook maar die sendinggeskiedenis van die Kaap. Gaan lê besoek af by die ou historiese sendingstasies soos Wuppertal, Genadendal en ander, en gaan vind uit watter mense daar sendingwerk gedoen het. Jammer, dit was weer eens nie ons mense nie. Goed, baie van daardie sendelinge se metodes was nie suiwer nie, want hulle werk was op filantropiese en humanistiese idees gebaseer. Dit maak egter nie saak nie, want met ‘n krom stok het baie van hulle nog steeds ‘n reguit hou geslaan. Maar waar is óns mense se sendingwerk binne en buite Suid-Afrika? Dit was te min en te laat. Selfs vandag is sending ‘n uiters lae prioriteit by ons mense.
Ek sou nie sê dat die huidige aanslae wat ons volk verduur, toegeskryf kan word aan die oordele van God weens ons wederstrewigheid om sy doel te verwesenlik nie. Ons is nie nou in die tyd van oordeel nie, maar in die genadebedeling. Daar is egter baie mense wat dit as hoogs waarskynlik beskou dat God inderdaad besig is om ons te oordeel...
We all long for a righteous and just society where God’s laws are respected and where people all do the right thing. There is nothing wrong with that desire. I believe that too, is in line with God’s plan. But the question is how do we get the world from its current state to that ideal state?
There are many Christians who feel that this needs to be done by bringing into power a government that will enact laws that will change society into, what they believe, to be a righteous society. But is that correct? Will it work? Has it been tried before and more importantly, what does the Bible have to say about it?
First we need to understand that the Bible makes a clear distinction between “the world” and “the church”, or what 1Corinthians 5:12-13 calls “those who are inside” and “those who are outside”. Jesus said, “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” (John 17:16).
The world and the church cannot be the same thing. That sounds pretty obvious, but what does that mean? It means you cannot have a “Christian world”. The two concepts are mutually exclusive. Christians cannot be the world and the world cannot be Christian (although both keep trying to be). I’m sure you will agree with me on that. But here’s the problem: If you cannot have a Christian world, then you cannot have a Christian nation! Nations are, by definition, part of the world and its system and the two can never be the same.
By this I do not deny that there are, or have been, nations who have a predominantly “Christian” ethic, morality or value system. But it does not make the nation Christian. For a nation to be Christian in the true sense of the word, the nation, including its government and all its people would need to be born-again Christians (at least the vast majority), its laws would need to reflect the whole of the Bible (not just the Ten Commandments) and its government and the leadership of the church would need to be one-and-the-same. Clearly this has never happened except for a few failed attempts.
The closest we have ever come to this ideal was in the nation of Israel when God Himself established a theocracy – a nation under God’s rule. In Israel there was no difference between church and state. The civil government and the spiritual leadership was the same and there was only one law – God’s law. The problem was that this did not work. Not because God failed or because His plan was flawed, but because the people of Israel were sinful, and in constant rebellion to God and His laws.
And here is the nub. As long as people’s hearts are unregenerate they will never (indeed cannot) keep God’s law. This, again, is not a reflection on the Law, but on the inherent wickedness of man’s heart. Therefore to attempt to create a Christian society through legislation becomes an exercise in futility because the laws do not change the wickedness of man’s heart.
John Calvin dreamt of such a utopian society and attempted to establish one in Geneva in the mid-16th century. For 25 years he ran the city/state with an iron fist. He ruthlessly exterminated any opposition and enacted laws that forbade anything and everything that was in conflict with his view of godliness. As time went on the laws became increasingly draconian and harsh. Many were executed for infractions of the law, including heresy. These executions were so gruesome and macabre that they cannot be discussed amongst civilized people (Bernard Cottret: Calvin. A Biography. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. 1995: 157-231). Missing a church service, giving your child a name that is not in the Old Testament, any form of joy or merriment and a thousand other things were punishable by imprisonment. Confessions were extracted by torture paralleled only by the inquisition. What people ate, what they wore (including the colour, style and type of cloth) was all regulated. He built an increasingly invasive KGB-type police force that would routinely search people’s houses for anything that might be contraband and would check on who attended church and who did not. In addition the police were supported by a network of informants who would report on their friends and neighbours, just like in the former USSR.
Calvin did not only enforce the law, but made sure people would be in church to hear the Word several times a week. But none of this made a happy, just or righteous society. It all failed. It only produced a drab, miserable, neurotic and hypocritical community. “The extant records of the Council reveal a high percentage of illegitimate children, abandoned infants, forced marriages, and sentences of death; Calvin’s son-in-law and his step daughter were among those condemned for adultery” (Will Durant: The Reformation. A History of European Civilization From Wyclif to Calvin: 1300-1564. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1957: 476). The city failed on other levels, including that of creativity, aesthetics, productivity and spirituality. This system did not only break the spirit of the community but also caused the murder of some of the godliest people in Geneva.
The Pharisees in Jesus’ time tried to do the same thing. They added law upon law. They taught the laws, shamed and punished those who disobeyed them and did everything in their power to create a society which would conform to their idea of a scriptural one. But in the end they produced a society which was so morally corrupt that they crucified the King of Glory!
Trying to legislate an unrighteous community into becoming righteous produces the same thing in the world as it does in the church – hypocrisy. People are simply forced to appear to do the right thing on the outside while the evil just goes underground where it flourishes even more under the cover of darkness. Hypocrisy is about two standards, one for what can be seen and one for that which cannot be seen.
I am not propagating lawlessness and antinomianism in the church or in the world. Paul is specific: Civil government is placed there by God and its purpose is to maintain order and peace and if we disobey the government, we will not only be punished by the judicial system, but also by God (Romans 13:1-7).
But the only way to get people to avoid the wrong, but to also do the right, and to do so irrespective of whether they are policed or not, is if their hearts are changed. And our hearts can only be changed when we are born-again. It is then that God writes his laws on our hearts and minds. For the unregenerate the law is an external thing which is written on stone or paper and which requires enforcing by external “police”. To the saved the law is written on their desires, will and intellect and it does not require external policing but it is obeyed willingly (Hebrews 8), “…not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart” (Ephesians 6:6).
The term “a Christian nation” is a contradiction in terms. Just as you cannot have a “Christian world” you cannot have a “Christian nation”. Recently, the subject of America as a Christian nation has become a hot topic as a result of a statement by a popular politician.
Over the past two centuries many nations have claimed to be “Christian nations”. The whole Roman Empire became “Christian” in 312 AD, France became a “Christian nation” in 466 AD and technically England remains one to this day, since the monarch is both head of the “church” and head of the state. Germany was a “Christian nation” when it spawned Nazism. Sweden and Denmark became “Christian nations” in the 11th and 12th centuries respectively. South Africa made the same claim until 1994 when overnight it changed from “Christian” to Secular/Communist. These are but a few examples of the many nations that have claimed to be “Christian” over the last 2,000 years.
However, claiming the name “Christian” did not result in these nations being more righteous than those who claimed not to be. Some of them did bless the world with great works such as the missionaries from England who spread the gospel across the globe. But did their being “Christian” make them godly and righteous societies? No. England, at the height of its “Christianity” murdered tens of thousands of innocent Boer women and children in concentration camps in South Africa. Germany empowered Hitler. And the alliance between church and state under Constantine gave birth to the Roman church. Thus we can examine each of those nations who claimed to be “Christian” and find that none of them, as a nation, exemplified the essence of Christianity.
Any nation can claim to be “Christian” just as any person can make the same claim. But, claiming to be Christian does not make one a Christian. The word “Christian” means a follower of Christ. The name was first used in Antioch: “And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch” (Acts 11:26). Thus a Christian is a disciple – one who follows Christ. It is clear that the vast majority of people who claim to be Christians do not follow Christ. And the same can be applied to those nations who use the same title.
For an individual and a nation to be Christian, implies a relationship with Jesus Christ. Where any relationship exists, it needs to be acknowledged by both parties in the relationship. You can claim a relationship with the Queen of England and know a lot about her, but does she acknowledge the relationship? In the same way Jesus warns that there will be many who will claim a special relationship with Him: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23).
Jesus speaks of those that He never knew in spite of their claim to His name. In Revelation 3:5, Jesus speaks of those whom He will acknowledge before His Father and the angels. In the same way, a nation can make its claims to being Christian, but the real question is whether God acknowledges that claim. The Bible speaks about such a relationship only with regard to two groups: Israel and the Church. No other nation is mentioned as having a special deal with God. Many nations are mentioned in connection with the last days (not in good terms) but the most amazing is that America, the most powerful nation of all, is not even alluded to. Would God not have made mention of it in the Bible if He was planning a special covenant with America, or any other country?
Secondly Jesus says that the proof of that relationship, or lack of it, is manifest in behaviour (“you who practice lawlessness”). In the same way we can look at the fruit of someone’s life to determine whether their claim of being a Christian is valid or false. (God is the ultimate judge but we are taught to know the difference – Matthew 7:20). In the same way a nation that claims to be Christian needs to prove it by their works. Pre-World War II Germany was said to be Christian because an overwhelming majority of its citizens were “Christians” - but what did it produce? What was its fruit? Two world wars in one lifetime in which millions were killed and entire people-groups annihilated are not the fruit that points to a good tree. Now we need to look at the fruit of any other nation that makes the same claim and judge objectively.
What does the Bible say about the nations of the world? 1John 5:19 says “the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one”. The NIV translates it: “the whole world is under the control of the wicked one”. The Greek word for “world” here is kosmos meaning the world, its people, governments, systems, riches and everything that it contains. Also note the word “whole”, meaning every bit, totally, completely – nothing and no nation is excepted. Many people think that this was the state of the world only before the Cross. But John makes this statement long after the Cross and he places every nation (amongst other things) squarely under the control of the Devil and not under God.
Revelation 5:9 speaks of those who are redeemed out of every nation but the Bible never speaks of a redeemed nation.
In Daniel chapter 2, God shows Nebuchadnezzar an image and the interpretation of the vision. Daniel supernaturally details all the great kingdoms that will follow the Babylonian empire until the end of the age. Each of those world empires, except for the final one, have come and gone, exactly as predicted. Finally “the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever” (Daniel 2:44).
Revelation 19 explains how this will happen: Jesus will come again and he will destroy all the kings of the earth and their armies and then He will set up His Kingdom. Not one earthly kingdom is spared which simply means that not one belonged to Christ! He does not use a single one of them as a base on which to build His Kingdom. Thus there is not a single Christian nation at His return – which is any day now.
It has become customary to speak of prayers of “national repentance”.
On May Day, this year - 2010, a large number of people met at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC to pray various prayers of repentance “on behalf of the American people”. I remember a number of times, when growing up in South Africa, that the Government called national days of prayer and repentance in the hope that God would send rain at times of drought. Shortly after the fall of Apartheid many churches, groups and individuals prayed prayers of repentance on behalf of the nation for the sins of the past. Many have prayed prayers of repentance because of the holocaust under Hitler. And the list goes on.
But is this a Biblical idea?
The short answer is no – there are a bunch of problems with this notion. The first is that repentance is something that needs to be done, rather than prayed. Every day millions of prayers ascend to God in which people pray prayers of repentance. The vast majority of these are a waste of time since the prayer has no intention of changing their actions, lifestyles or habits. Repentance is about doing not talking. The word itself means a change of mind and of direction. You can be heading down the road and say a million times that you are going in the wrong direction, but until you actually make that U-turn and stop going in the wrong direction and start going in the right direction, nothing will happen. It’s as simple as that.
John the Baptist said that the Pharisees who had come to see him baptize must: “Bear fruits worthy of repentance” (Matthew 3:8). Paul, speaking of the mission to the Gentiles said: “That they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance” (Acts 26:20). Isaiah said: “Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7). So, no prayer of repentance is worth anything unless it is accompanied by actions. In spite of the many prayers of repentance prayed on behalf of the nations, all nations are becoming more sinful and thus those prayers clearly do not work.
Secondly, there is no such thing as repentance “by proxy”. This means you cannot repent on behalf of other people, whether living or dead. No-one except Hitler himself can repent of the things he did – and he cannot because he is dead and it is too late for him. You can repent on behalf of your family as much as you like, but until they individually and personally repent, nothing is going to happen. We cannot repent on behalf of our family, a church, and least of all, a nation.
Sin is personal. When we sin, each who has sinned is guilty of that sin and each one has to personally repent. One could argue that Israel sinned as a nation when they refused to cross the Jordan (Numbers 14), yet the two individuals that did not agree with the majority were saved and entered the Land. So, was God dealing with them as a nation or individually? Clearly individually; since Joshua and Caleb would have had to perish with the rest of the nation if God was dealing with them as a group. When God destroyed the world in the Flood, righteous Noah and his family is saved. The same happened in Sodom. Thus, even in the Old Testament, God’s dealings are on an individual basis.
Thirdly, God does not deal with nations, He only deals with individuals. Jesus did not die for America or England – He died for each of us personally. The only nation God ever had a relationship with as a nation was Israel (See the first article in this series). Yet, Jesus did not even die for Israel. All the verses that are quoted as examples of God’s promises or dealings with a nation are directed at Israel and they cannot be claimed for any other country. When Israel eventually returns to God (Romans 11:26), each individual Jew will still have to make a personal decision. Israel will not be saved because of a decision of the government, but because of the cumulative effect of each Jew coming to personal repentance. We need to be clear the Jews in the end are saved, not because they are Jews, but because each of them has personally believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.
One of the favorite verses used by those who promote the idea of National Repentance is 2Chronicles 7:14: “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land”. This promise is very specific – it is to “my people who are called by my name”. Is South Africa, or Germany, or America, God’s people? Obviously not. Which country is called by God’s name? None – except Israel. So this verse has nothing to do with any nation other than Israel. The only people who can claim both those conditions are Christians. They are the people of God (Romans 9:25, 1John 3:1-3, 1Peter 2:10). And they are called by His name (Acts 11:26, 1Corinthians 12:12).
But then you cannot apply this verse to Christians since their Land does not need to be healed. The Christian’s land is the New Jerusalem and that is perfect. Here we are but strangers and pilgrims. (Hebrews 11:13, 16). The often-recited verse in 2Chronicles 7:14 only applies to one nation, and that is to Israel, and even then the promise has been suspended since Israel rejected the offer one time too many.
Should we not pray for nations? Yes, we can pray but there is only one valid prayer and that is that people, individually, will come to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and repent. Because we are often too lazy to name individuals before the Throne of Grace, we resort to those catch-all phrases: “Lord save the Chinese”, “Lord help the poor”, or “Lord be with those in prison”. What does that mean? I don’t want to be insensitive, but it means absolutely nothing.
As Christians we can make a difference, but it begins where you are. Pray for each of your unsaved family members; pray for others you know by name – your colleagues, neighbors and others you have dealings with. First pray that the Lord will help you to show them what it means to be a real Christian. Next pray that the Lord will soften their hearts to the Gospel and bring them to repentance. Finally pray that the Lord will open an opportunity for you to share your Hope with them and that He will give you the courage and wisdom to do it right. Do this until Jesus comes. Yes, that is a lot harder than “Lord save the lost”, but that is our duty; everything else is a copout.
Anton Bosch
9070 Sunland Blvd
Sun Valley, CA, 91352