Thematic Bible: National Sins
Thematic Bible
national Sins » Often caused by prosperity
Now this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, plenty of food, and comfortable security, but didn’t support the poor and needy.
you have increased your wealth,
but your heart has become proud
because of your wealth.”
you became fat, bloated, and gorged.
He abandoned the God who made him
and scorned the Rock of his salvation.
settled like wine on its dregs.
He hasn’t been poured from one container to another
or gone into exile.
So his taste has remained the same,
and his aroma hasn’t changed.
they again did what was evil in Your sight.
So You abandoned them to the power of their enemies,
who dominated them.
When they cried out to You again,
You heard from heaven and rescued them
many times in Your compassion.
national Sins » Often caused and encouraged by rulers
Jeroboam said to himself, "[The way things are going] now, the kingdom might return to the house of David. If these people regularly go to offer sacrifices in the Lord's temple in Jerusalem, the heart of these people will return to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will murder me and go back to the king of Judah." So the king sought advice. Then he made two gold calves, and he said to the people, "Going to Jerusalem is too difficult for you. Israel, here is your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt." read more.
He set up one in Bethel, and put the other in Dan. This led to sin; the people walked [in procession] before one of the calves all the way to Dan. Jeroboam also built shrines on the high places and set up priests from every class of people who were not Levites. Jeroboam made a festival in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the festival in Judah. He offered sacrifices on the altar; he made this offering in Bethel to sacrifice to the calves he had set up. He also stationed in Bethel the priests for the high places he had set up. He offered sacrifices on the altar he had set up in Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the month he had decided on his own. He made a festival for the Israelites, offered sacrifices on the altar, and burned incense.
He set up one in Bethel, and put the other in Dan. This led to sin; the people walked [in procession] before one of the calves all the way to Dan. Jeroboam also built shrines on the high places and set up priests from every class of people who were not Levites. Jeroboam made a festival in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the festival in Judah. He offered sacrifices on the altar; he made this offering in Bethel to sacrifice to the calves he had set up. He also stationed in Bethel the priests for the high places he had set up. He offered sacrifices on the altar he had set up in Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the month he had decided on his own. He made a festival for the Israelites, offered sacrifices on the altar, and burned incense.
He will give up Israel because of Jeroboam’s sins that he committed and caused Israel to commit.”
Jehoram also built high places in the hills of Judah, and he caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves, and he led Judah astray. Then a letter came to Jehoram from Elijah the prophet, saying: This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: "Because you have not walked in the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or in the ways of Asa king of Judah but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, have caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves like the house of Ahab prostituted itself, and also have killed your brothers, your father's family, who were better than you,
national Sins » Ministers should » Testify against
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Tell My people their transgression
and the house of Jacob their sins.
and inscribe it on a scroll;
it will be for the future,
forever and ever.
“Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because their wickedness has confronted Me.”
He said to me: "Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites [and] to the rebellious nations who have rebelled against Me. The Israelites and their ancestors have transgressed against Me to this day. The children are obstinate and hardhearted. I am sending you to them, and you must say to them: This is what the Lord God says. Whether they listen or refuse [to listen]-for they are a rebellious house-they will know that a prophet has been among them.
“As for you, son of man, will you pass judgment? Will you pass judgment against the city of blood? Then explain all her detestable practices to her.
national Sins » Should be » Confessed
and you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey Him with all your heart and all your soul by doing everything I am giving you today,
so they cried out to the Lord, saying, “We have sinned against You. We have abandoned our God and worshiped the Baals.”
“But if they will confess their sin and the sin of their fathers—their unfaithfulness that they practiced against Me, and how they acted with hostility toward Me,
and when they come to their senses in the land where they were deported and repent and petition You in their captors' land: "We have sinned and done wrong; we have been wicked," and when they return to You with their whole mind and heart in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and when they pray to You in the direction of their land that You gave their ancestors, the city You have chosen, and the temple I have built for Your name,
national Sins » Punishment for
When the 70 years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, and I will make it a ruin forever.
However, if they will not obey, then I will uproot and destroy that nation.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
and Judah has fallen
because they have spoken and acted against the Lord,
defying His glorious presence.
I am about to bring strangers against you, ruthless men from the nations. They will draw their swords against your magnificent wisdom and will defile your splendor. They will bring you down to the Pit, and you will die a violent death in the heart of the sea. Will you still say: I am a god, in the presence of those who kill you? Yet you will be [shown to be] a man, not a god, in the hands of those who kill you. read more.
You will die the death of the uncircumcised at the hands of strangers. For I have spoken. [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the declaration of the Lord God .
You will die the death of the uncircumcised at the hands of strangers. For I have spoken. [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the declaration of the Lord God .
national Sins » Denunciations against
This is the Lord’s declaration.
They carry out a plan,
they make an alliance,
but against My will,
piling sin on top of sin.
the Mighty One of Israel, declares:
“Ah, I will gain satisfaction from My foes;
I will take revenge against My enemies.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge Myself
on such a nation as this?
I have appointed you to be an assayer among My people- a refiner- so you may know and assay their way of life. All are stubborn rebels spreading slander. [They are] bronze and iron; all of them are corrupt. The bellows blow, blasting the lead with fire. The refining is completely in vain; the evil ones are not separated out. read more.
They are called rejected silver, for the Lord has rejected them.
They are called rejected silver, for the Lord has rejected them.
national Sins » Ministers should » Mourn over
weep between the portico and the altar.
Let them say:
“Have pity on Your people, Lord,
and do not make Your inheritance a disgrace,
an object of scorn among the nations.
Why should it be said among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”
“This is what the Lord God says: Clap your hands, stamp your feet, and cry out over all the evil and detestable practices of the house of Israel, who will fall by the sword, famine, and plague.
my innermost being will weep in secret
because of your pride.
My eyes will overflow with tears,
for the Lord’s flock
After the Lord commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from inside the wheelwork, from among the cherubim,” the man went in and stood beside a wheel.
national Sins » Aggravated by privileges
The Lord says:
I will not relent from punishing Judah
for three crimes, even four,
because they have rejected the instruction of the Lord
and have not kept His statutes.
The lies that their ancestors followed
have led them astray.
for three crimes, even four,
because they have rejected the instruction of the Lord
and have not kept His statutes.
The lies
have led them astray.
What more could I have done for My vineyard than I did? Why, when I expected a yield of good grapes, did it yield worthless grapes? Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled. I will make it a wasteland. It will not be pruned or weeded; thorns and briers will grow up. I will also give orders to the clouds that rain should not fall on it. read more.
For the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah, the plant He delighted in. He looked for justice but saw injustice, for righteousness, but heard cries of wretchedness.
For the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah, the plant He delighted in. He looked for justice but saw injustice, for righteousness, but heard cries of wretchedness.
Then I gave them My statutes and explained My ordinances to them-the person who does them will live by them. I also gave them My Sabbaths to serve as a sign between Me and them, so they will know that I am the Lord who sets them apart as holy. "But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not follow My statutes and they rejected My ordinances-the person who does them will live by them. They also completely profaned My Sabbaths. So I considered pouring out My wrath on them in the wilderness to put an end to them.
Listen to this message that the Lord has spoken against you, Israelites, against the entire clan that I brought from the land of Egypt: I have known only you out of all the clans of the earth; therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities.
national Sins » National worship rejected on account of
I am about to bring disaster on these people,
the fruit of their own plotting,
for they have paid no attention to My word.
They have rejected My instruction.
Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah! "What are all your sacrifices to Me?" asks the Lord. "I have had enough of burnt offerings and rams and the fat of well-fed cattle; I have no desire for the blood of bulls, lambs, or male goats. When you come to appear before Me, who requires this from you- [this] trampling of My courts? read more.
Stop bringing useless offerings. I despise [your] incense. New Moons and Sabbaths, and the calling of solemn assemblies- I cannot stand iniquity with a festival. I hate your New Moons and prescribed festivals. They have become a burden to Me; I am tired of putting up with [them].
Stop bringing useless offerings. I despise [your] incense. New Moons and Sabbaths, and the calling of solemn assemblies- I cannot stand iniquity with a festival. I hate your New Moons and prescribed festivals. They have become a burden to Me; I am tired of putting up with [them].
"Do you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known? Then do you come and stand before Me in this house called by My name and insist: We are safe? As a result, you are free to continue doing all these detestable acts! Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your view? Yes, I too have seen [it]." [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration. read more.
"But return to My place that was at Shiloh, where I made My name dwell at first. See what I did to it because of the evil of My people Israel. Now, because you have done all these things"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"and because I have spoken to you time and time again but you wouldn't listen, and I have called to you, but you wouldn't answer, what I did to Shiloh I will do to the house that is called by My name-the house in which you trust-the place that I gave you and your ancestors.
"But return to My place that was at Shiloh, where I made My name dwell at first. See what I did to it because of the evil of My people Israel. Now, because you have done all these things"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"and because I have spoken to you time and time again but you wouldn't listen, and I have called to you, but you wouldn't answer, what I did to Shiloh I will do to the house that is called by My name-the house in which you trust-the place that I gave you and your ancestors.
national Sins » Cause the withdrawal of privileges
this is the declaration of the Lord God—
when I will send a famine through the land:
not a famine of bread or a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the Lord.
ט TetZion’s gates have fallen to the ground;
He has destroyed and shattered the bars on her gates.
Her king and her leaders live among the nations,
instruction is no more,
and even her prophets receive
no vision from the Lord.
He has destroyed and shattered the bars on her gates.
Her king and her leaders live among the nations,
instruction
and even her prophets receive
no vision from the Lord.
"Jerusalem, Jerusalem! The city who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, yet you were not willing! See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will never see Me again until you say, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! "
national Sins » Pervade all ranks
Why do you keep on rebelling?
The whole head is hurt,
and the whole heart is sick.
everyone is making profit dishonestly.
From prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.
Roam through the streets of Jerusalem. Look and take note; search in her squares. If you find a single person, anyone who acts justly, who seeks to be faithful, then I will forgive her. When they say, "As the Lord lives," they are swearing falsely. Lord, don't Your eyes [look for] faithfulness? You have struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They made their faces harder than rock, and they refused to return. read more.
Then I thought: They are just the poor; they have played the fool. For they don't understand the way of the Lord, the justice of their God. I will go to the powerful and speak to them. Surely they know the way of the Lord, the justice of their God. However, these also had broken the yoke and torn off the fetters.
Then I thought: They are just the poor; they have played the fool. For they don't understand the way of the Lord, the justice of their God. I will go to the powerful and speak to them. Surely they know the way of the Lord, the justice of their God. However, these also had broken the yoke and torn off the fetters.
national Sins » Punishment for, averted on repentance
So the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, "The Lord is righteous." When the Lord saw that they had humbled themselves, the Lord's message came to Shemaiah: "They have humbled themselves; I will not destroy them but will grant them a little deliverance. My wrath will not be poured out on Jerusalem through Shishak.
But the Israelites said, "We have sinned. Deal with us as You see fit; only deliver us today!" So they got rid of the foreign gods among them and worshiped the Lord, but He became weary of Israel's misery.
national Sins » Defile » The land
The land has become defiled, so I am punishing it for its sin, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants.
"Do not defile the land where you are, for bloodshed defiles the land, and there can be no atonement for the land because of the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of the person who shed it. Do not make the land unclean where you live and where I reside; for I, the Lord, reside among the Israelites."
national Sins » Defile » The people
“Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices, for the nations I am driving out before you have defiled themselves by all these things.
in order that the house of Israel may no longer stray from following Me and no longer defile themselves with all their transgressions. Then they will be My people and I will be their God.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.
national Sins » Defile » National worship
Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah! "What are all your sacrifices to Me?" asks the Lord. "I have had enough of burnt offerings and rams and the fat of well-fed cattle; I have no desire for the blood of bulls, lambs, or male goats. When you come to appear before Me, who requires this from you- [this] trampling of My courts? read more.
Stop bringing useless offerings. I despise [your] incense. New Moons and Sabbaths, and the calling of solemn assemblies- I cannot stand iniquity with a festival. I hate your New Moons and prescribed festivals. They have become a burden to Me; I am tired of putting up with [them]. When you lift up your hands [in prayer], I will refuse to look at you; even if you offer countless prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.
Stop bringing useless offerings. I despise [your] incense. New Moons and Sabbaths, and the calling of solemn assemblies- I cannot stand iniquity with a festival. I hate your New Moons and prescribed festivals. They have become a burden to Me; I am tired of putting up with [them]. When you lift up your hands [in prayer], I will refuse to look at you; even if you offer countless prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.
I hate, I despise your feasts! I can't stand the stench of your solemn assemblies. Even if you offer Me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept [them]; I will have no regard for your fellowship offerings of fattened cattle.
national Sins » Lead the heathen to blaspheme
When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned My holy name, because it was said about them, ‘These are the people of Yahweh, yet they had to leave His land in exile.’
I will honor the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. The nations will know that I am Yahweh”—the declaration of the Lord God—“when I demonstrate My holiness through you in their sight.
national Sins » Bring down national judgments
All the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”
national Sins » Exemplified
and if He reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes and condemned them to ruin, making them an example to those who were going to be ungodly;
So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, these people have committed a grave sin; they have made a god of gold for themselves.
Hear the word of the Lord, people of Israel, for the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land: There is no truth, no faithful love, and no knowledge of God in the land! Cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another.
Moses continued, “The Lord will give you meat to eat this evening and more than enough bread in the morning, for He has heard the complaints that you are raising against Him. Who are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the Lord.”
Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is immense, and their sin is extremely serious.
They had lived according to the customs of the nations that the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites and the customs the kings of Israel had introduced. The Israelites secretly did what was not right against the Lord their God. They built high places in all their towns from watchtower to fortified city. They set up for themselves sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. read more.
They burned incense on all the high places just like those nations that the Lord had driven out before them. They did evil things, provoking the Lord. They served idols, although the Lord had told them, "You must not do this."
They burned incense on all the high places just like those nations that the Lord had driven out before them. They did evil things, provoking the Lord. They served idols, although the Lord had told them, "You must not do this."
Even Judah did not keep the commands of the Lord their God but lived according to the customs Israel had introduced.
Listen, heavens, and pay attention, earth, for the Lord has spoken: "I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against Me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's feeding-trough, [but] Israel does not know; My people do not understand." Oh-sinful nation, people weighed down with iniquity, brood of evildoers, depraved children! They have abandoned the Lord; they have despised the Holy One of Israel; they have turned their backs [on Him]. read more.
Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep on rebelling? The whole head is hurt, and the whole heart is sick. From the sole of the foot even to the head, no spot is uninjured- wounds, welts, and festering sores not cleansed, bandaged, or soothed with oil. Your land is desolate, your cities burned with fire; before your very eyes foreigners devour your fields- a desolation overthrown by foreigners.
Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep on rebelling? The whole head is hurt, and the whole heart is sick. From the sole of the foot even to the head, no spot is uninjured- wounds, welts, and festering sores not cleansed, bandaged, or soothed with oil. Your land is desolate, your cities burned with fire; before your very eyes foreigners devour your fields- a desolation overthrown by foreigners.
national Sins » Saints especially mourn over
“Pass throughout the city of Jerusalem,” the Lord said to him, “and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the detestable practices committed in it.”
national Sins » Should be » Turned from
Remove your evil deeds from My sight.
Stop doing evil.
Israel, return to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled in your sin. Take words [of repentance] with you and return to the Lord. Say to Him: "Forgive all [our] sin and accept what is good, so that we may repay You with praise from our lips.
national Sins » Should be » Repented of
The men of Nineveh believed in God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth—from the greatest of them to the least.
However, if that nation I have made an announcement about turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the disaster I had planned to do to it.
national Sins » National prayer rejected on account of
between you and your God,
and your sins have made Him hide His face from you
so that He does not listen.
I will refuse to look at you;
even if you offer countless prayers,
I will not listen.
Your hands are covered with blood.
national Sins » Exemplified » Moab
We have heard of Moab's pride, great pride, indeed- his insolence, arrogance, pride, and haughty heart. I know his outburst. [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration. It is empty. His boast is empty.
national Sins » Ministers should » Pray for forgiveness of
So Moses returned to the Lord and said, "Oh, this people has committed a great sin; they have made for themselves a god of gold. Now if You would only forgive their sin. But if not, please erase me from the book You have written."
national Sins » Exemplified » Nations of canaan
When the Lord your God drives them out before you, do not say to yourself, ‘The Lord brought me in to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.’ Instead, the Lord will drive out these nations before you because of their wickedness.
national Sins » Ministers should » Try to turn the people from
they would have enabled My people to hear My words
and would have turned them back from their evil ways
and their evil deeds.
national Sins » Are a reproach to a people
but sin is a disgrace to any people.
national Sins » Exemplified » Tyre
“Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre: This is what the Lord God says:
Your heart is proud,
and you have said, ‘I am a god;
I sit in the seat of gods
in the heart of the sea.’
Yet you are a man and not a god,
though you have regarded your heart
as that of a god.
and you have said, ‘I am a god;
I sit in the seat of gods
in the heart of the sea.’
Yet you are a man and not a god,
though you have regarded your heart
as that of a god.
national Sins » Exemplified » Nineveh
totally deceitful,
full of plunder,
never without prey.
national Sins » Should be » Mourned over
this is the Lord’s declaration—
turn to Me with all your heart,
with fasting, weeping, and mourning.