A Nation Accountable Its Day of the Lord

By James Tarter

The Day of the Lord on a nation is its just judgment by God: a nation's full accountability to the just and loving God for the nation's sins throughout its history. In the Bible, the Day of the Lord refers to God's just judgment of a nation far more often than to Jesus' return to earth (which also is a good meaning). The Bible shows many examples of His judgment of ancient nations as whole units. National judgments have continued through the centuries after Biblical times, but have become especially common in the last 80 years as nation after nation has come under atheistic communism or another dominating spiritual darkness. As with individuals, a nation that has sinned badly can be justly blessed by joining itself to the Lord Jesus and receiving His sacrifice for sinful mankind. This little book is written to show this vital picture in the Bible, so that believers in Jesus will turn to Him and hear Him accurately.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jul 17, 2018
• ISBN: 9781387948291

Book preview

A Nation Accountable Its Day of the Lord

A Nation Accountable   Its Day of the Lord

Dr. James M. Tarter

Copyright Page

Third Edition, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-387-94829-1

Copyright c 2018 by James M. Tarter.  All rights reserved.  Printed in the United States of America.  Permission granted to make copies for purposes consistent with furthering the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE® (1995 Updated Edition): c 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation.  Used by permission.  (www.Lockman.org)

I call the New American Standard Bible the NAS.  I add boldface or underline to specific words and phrases in Scriptures to add my emphasis for discussion.

A Nation’s Day of the Lord

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6).  Not knowing a Biblical truth can be used to keep us from fulfilling God’s calling for us in Jesus, especially if we are refusing to learn what God shows us repeatedly in the Bible and will be important to us on earth.

I write this book to help believers realize that God justly judges nations as whole units: He did this with many nations in the Bible and after Biblical times – and especially in the last 100 years.  The Bible repeatedly calls this time that the Lord holds a nation fully accountable for all of its unresolved sins the Day of the Lord.  The New Testament emphasizes the Day of the Lord on all of the earth, but this must not keep us from realizing that the Bible more often emphasizes this Day on a single nation.  God also gives us cause to expect that each nation will be justly judged before Jesus returns to earth.

Another part of this vital Biblical truth for us is that a nation today can avoid its just destruction by joining itself to the Lord Jesus Christ and becoming a part of His people.  As the Bible shows, many nations will do this in our day of shakings and opportunity.

I know far too few now who are living with this whole Biblical truth.  Few realize that the devastation of many whole nations after Biblical times was really a nation’s Day of the Lord, and also realize the great practical way in Jesus to save a nation from its awful just destruction.  This book shows the problem and way with enough Biblical support for believers to decide that this really is Biblical truth: the two chapters can satisfy many believers, but others should also examine the Appendix.  As you can see at the end of this book, I have written longer free books that add what believers in our day can do to move into God’s great provision in Jesus to heal nations.

Chapter 1: The Day of the Lord on a Nation

For thousands of years whole nations received a judgment that destroyed the nation and enslaved or killed its people.  Other nations survived crises that would have destroyed them, but we might not recognize that these are merciful judgments until we learn more.  This pattern in God’s work with nations as whole units is especially clear in the Bible and in the last century.  God’s judgment of a nation is a prominent Biblical topic that few people notice in the Bible or before our eyes.  His work with whole nations in this way will surely become more evident in the relatively near future.

This judgment of a whole nation is its time to be fully accountable to God for the sins of the nation that it had never straightened out with Him.  The Bible calls this time of accountability of a nation to God its Day of the Lord.  The Bible shows that this Day is produced when the Lord visits a land in His holy justice.  The New Testament emphasizes a Day of the Lord on the whole earth