Becoming Canaanites

“Thus Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalemto do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyedbefore the sons of Israel” (2 Chronicles 33:9 NASB).

Anything’s possible. If you think that any nation is incapable of sinking to the worst kind of idolatry, unfaithfulness, and wickedness, you simply do not understand the depravity of man.America is young, by historical standards. It began on a solidly biblical foundation. Some try to revise history to say otherwise, but it simply is not true.God has decreed that “righteousness exalts a nation” (Proverbs 14:34). And for many, many decades we have seen this displayed in our nation.But when decisions are made that violently and deliberately exalt man’s desires above God’s desires, (such as Roe v. Wade and the redefinition of marriage), we open Pandora’s box and begin the slide.The Responsibility of LeadersIf there is anything clear in the “good king/bad king” cycle seen in the books of Kings and Chronicles, and throughout the Bible, it is that leadership matters.Hezekiah was a great leader who restored God’s ways and led the nation back to God. They knew great blessing from God and relief from their enemies.Then along came Manasseh, who “did evil in the sight of the LORD according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD dispossessed before the sons of Israel” (2 Chronicles 33:2). They became Canaanites—the very people they had dispossessed.Canaanite RegressionWe are not immune. Our leaders, and our willingness to blindly follow, can lead us in the Canaanite regression.But God gives to the church a mighty tool. She is the only one afforded this opportunity.We can pray and repent and cry out to God. If we do, God promises to bless us and send reviving to the land. He can even turn the hearts of kings like rivers in His hand (Proverbs 21:1).He can send overwhelming revival and spiritual awakening among the lost, and exalt righteousness once again. It has happened many, many times. In fact, God delights to do this for any people who are willing to turn to Him.The question is, will the CHURCH cry out? Or will we become a nation of Canaanites?