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GOD AND ISRAEL After the universal flood of Genesis 6-8, men began to multiply upon the earth and God allowed them to form nations so long as these nations remained divided (Gen. 10:5, 32, Deu. 32:8). However, after forming nations, men decided to form a sort of “united nations” in Genesis chapter 11. This was contrary to the will of God, so He intervened with judgment. We read in Genesis 11:8-9, “So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.” From this we learn a valuable lesson: God is the Judge of Nations. Jeremiah 10:7 even states that God is the “King of nations.” He allows men to build communities, cities, and nations, but He maintains a watchful eye over them at all times. Proverbs 15:3 says, “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” The words “every place” would have to include the White House, the Pentagon, the Senate Chamber, the Supreme Court, the House of Representatives, and the United Nations headquarters in New York. The King of nations, the Judge of all the earth, is on His throne rendering perfect justice with every passing day. Some of His judgments are harsh in nature (II Sam. 21:1, I Kgs. 17:1), while others are just plain devastating (Jer. 52:1 – Lam. 5:22). Being the omnipotent God that He is, the Lord doesn’t have to exert Himself to bring a measure of judgment on a nation. In Jeremiah chapter 18, He speaks of nation building and nation destroying as being no harder than planting or pulling up a plant: “At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.” (Jer. 18:7-10) Men are real proud of themselves and their great nations and kingdoms, but God really isn’t impressed. This is made more than clear in Isaiah 40:15: “Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.” If that’s not bad enough, God delivers the death blow two verses later: “All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.” (Isa. 40:17) God isn’t very patriotic, is He? Yes, God is pleased to bless those nations that live righteously (Psa. 33:12), but the record of history is that nations do not live righteously. They grow more and more proud and wicked until God demotes them and promotes another. This is confirmed with the words of Psalm 75:6-7: “For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.” The up/down cycle of Gentile nations has been continuing for thousands of years, but it is about to end with judgment. No one who reads the Bible has to wonder about the future of the United Nations for Zephaniah 3:8-9 paints the picture for all to see: “Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy. For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent.” The glory days of the Gentile empires are fading into the past because the “times of the Gentiles” are drawing to a close (Luke 21:24), and the nations of this world are headed for judgment (Joel 3:2, Mat. 25:32). God’s Country However, there is one nation that is unlike all the rest. After the original “UN” movement was judged at Babel (Iraq!) in Genesis 11, God called a man named Abram out of that same region and made an unconditional covenant with him. Abram (later named Abraham) left Ur of the Chaldees for a better land that God would give him. The original promise, which is just as sound today as it was 4,000 years ago, is found in Genesis 12:1-3: “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Notice five basic truths about this covenant: (1) It’s an unconditional covenant after Abraham leaveshis father’s house. God doesn’t say He’ll blessAbraham if Abraham does such and such. There’s noif in the passage or anywhere in the chapter. (2) Abraham is given some land. (3) Abraham’s people will become a great nation in thepromised land. (4) A divine blessing is given to Abraham, to those whom heblesses, and to those who bless him. (5) A curse is given to those who curse Abraham. There is nothing anywhere in the Bible that disannuls the above covenant. One cannot relegate it to the “law of Moses” because it was given hundreds of years before Moses, and there is nothing in the New Testament that says this covenant was disannulled at Calvary. The law of Moses was fulfilled by Jesus at Calvary (Mat. 5:17, John 19:30, Col. 2:14), but God’s unconditional covenant with Abraham still stands, just as God’s unconditional covenant with Noah still stands (Gen. 9:11-17). When you see a rainbow, remember God’s covenant with Noah. When you see a Jew or a Jewish flag, remember Genesis 12:1-3.