There is only one remedy for covenant-breaking; that is – repentance. The offended party must be entreated to forgive the breach, to restore the good relationship that existed before the offense was given, to set aside what forms of retribution the offense must bring forth in the absence of heartfelt contrition. Without repentance, contrition, humility, shame, and abject beseeching of the offended party to again honor the covenant, there can be no healing.
A tribe that broke covenant with a neighboring one could expect swift retribution from them – usually in the form of that tribe coming against the offenders and slaughtering every one of them, with particular attention to their chief. The offended parties prevailed because, in a way, notwithstanding the violence of their acts, they had justice on their side and they somehow knew that they would prevail and they made war in the strength of that knowledge.
It is the same with God. Hear the thunder of His Word – “In flaming fire taking vengeance upon them that know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power.” (2 Thess 1:8). This is the ultimate violence, yet God commands it because those who come before Him in their sins have rejected the New Covenant that is in Christ.
Repentance on behalf of our nation must be on a scale commensurate with the offense. Scholars and archaeologists have estimated that there were at least 10,000 residents of the cities Sodom and Gomorrah. God sought 10 righteous people out of that group and could not find them. The result is recorded in Genesis 19:24-28. All 10,000 or more perished for the lack of 10 who were faithful to God. For a nation of 325 million such as ours, the same scale would call for no less than 325,000 Christians in this country to repent for our covenant-breaking and the tsunami of sin and depravity that have followed. The strong suggestion of Scripture is that unless at least that many faithful Christians can be found who will take this critical step – to set aside a season of prayer, fasting, and weeping before the Lord for our arrogance and wickedness as a nation – His justice may demand that He do to us as he did to Sodom.
But to repent with knowledge and understanding, we as Americans must take to heart the event that caused us to break God’s Covenant. What could we as a people have done to cause such a catastrophic breach? How, after all the nearly 200 years of blessing that a loving God had showered upon us, could we pour contempt upon His Name and by extension upon His Person? If we cannot understand this, then we cannot repent as God would have us do if we are to be saved as a nation and again be what we once were, “a shining city on a hill.”
Jim Kohlmann has been a believing Christian for over 40 years and seen the Lord do marvelous things. He has been a licensed minister with a worldwide sending organization for 15 years and was a Bible teacher and worship leader before that. A small businessman in the Orlando, Florida area, he has ministered in various local churches but most recently has been attached to Intercessors For America, a 45 year old organization based near Washington D.C. that is focused on praying for the restoration of this unique country. He worked for them building prayer networks in various states during the 2016 presidential election. He is married to a fabulous Christian artist and has two grown sons.
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