“I sought neither preeminence, glory, nor riches; my honor was that Jesus Christ should reign.”

– John Knox

The Bible is a pretty awesome book. There are many reasons why the Bible is so valuable, but recently certain stories have really been jumping out at me. I really like reading the Old Testament and the stories of the Israelites and the covenants of Abraham and Moses. So often in the Bible the Isralites are initially on board with God’s plan and see themselves following Him lock and step. Like clockwork, after a time they go astray and turn away from God with more fervor than they ever had towards him. It’s a perpetual cycle that starts in the very beginning of Genesis with Adam and Eve and continues all the way until Revelation. Given how often this cycle of following God then turning away from Him happens, it has to be significant. There is a guaranteed zero percent chance that this is just some fun fact.

Generally, it is my assumption that most Christians have heard and read about these cycles often enough. It is not particularly new or novel to point out that sometimes the Israelites obey God and sometimes they don’t. The second part of the cycle has to do with blessings and curses. When Israel follows God, they see themselves being blessed with offspring, wealth, and stability. When they turn away from God they are cursed with death, famine, and in extreme cases; exile. The prophets tended to warn God’s chosen people often about the coming consequences of their unfaithfulness and adultery towards the God of their forefathers. Sometimes the people listened, but usually they just carried on and suffered the consequences.

Based on my personal experience and anecdotal evidence, it seems to me that many Christians use these stories to serve as examples for their own lives. An average person should obey God, and though blessings are not certain, they are at least more likely. While I would not disagree with this theoretical and hypothetical statement that I crafted, I think this look is too individualistic. I find that the Western church has a tendency to read a passage in scripture and immediately ask: “What does this have to do with my life?” I think we ask this question far too often and far too quickly. Maybe we should just read the Bible and let God’s word stir and dwell within us.

That being said, there is still a lot of wisdom that can be gleaned from God’s blessings and curses, I just think we need to think about it on a larger scale. Instead of comparing ourselves personally to the nation of Israel, what if we compared our nation as a whole to the nation of Israel? Seems reasonable at the surface of it, and this is where I think we can clearly see God’s providence.

Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known. – Deuteronomy 11:26-28 (KJV)

There is much love in my heart for my fellow trinitarian Catholic and Orthodox brothers and sisters in Christ. However, as a Protestant it should be no surprise that I believe that the Protestants, especially Reformed/Calvinist Protestants, have the most correct understanding of theology and of Christianity. Interestingly, historically there have really only been three countries that were majority Reformed, in both an ecclesial and a political sense. These are Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Scotland. If one were to consult any ranking of global development, these three places are near to the top of the list. In the case of Switzerland, it is in fact the most developed country on earth. It is the richest country in Europe per capita, one of the safest in the world, and has some of the best public transportation of anywhere. I could say similar things about the Netherlands and Scotland, both of which are highly wealthy and transparent, but I think you get the point. If we take off my Calvinist lens, Protestant nations generally are the most developed in the world. In particular the Nordic/Scandinavian countries are some of the richest and happiest nations on earth with very high standards of living. If we were to generally look at European and European descendant nations with historically majority Protestant populations, like America, Germany, Denmark, Australia, etc, we would find that they all make the top thirty list of the most developed nations in the world. The richest, safest, most developed, freeist, and most prosperous countries in the world are all Western nations, i.e. Catholic and Protestant nations with European ancestry. Only places like Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan can compete in terms of overall development and quality of life. Important to note, Korea has a large Christian population and Christnaitly has been a major part of their history, especially during Japanese occupation.

The next question to ask is why? Why is it that Western countries are the best places in the world to live? Many would point to capitalism, the postwar economic boom, and liberalism. Cynics might prefer to say it is because of colonialism, exploitation, and slavery. I would say that both miss the mark. Why is the West as nice as it is? Why is it exceptional? Answer: God’s blessing.

I understand that this may sound too simplistic. It feels almost wrong to say. But, my dear reader, is this a bad hypothesis? Could this theory at least be possible? God often blessed Israel and blessed them abundantly when they worshiped God correctly. When they did not follow idols, things were good. Did Jesus ever say this would stop? Did Jesus ever teach that a nation’s prosperity is in no way tied to its spiritual health? Of course not.

It seems to me that there are two ways in which God’s blessing of Christian nations can be seen. The first is explicit, God blesses the nations who love Him. This should hopefully be fairly self explanatory. God will award riches, success, and security to nations who love Him. There is at the same time an implicit aspect to this as well. When a business is run by saved people, there is a fairly high degree of confidence that they are going to conduct their business fairly and honestly. They are not going to try and swindle their customers and they are not going to cheat. In a truly Christian nation, corruption cannot be a part of it. From the farmers’ market to the king’s palace there should be integrity and citizens putting the needs of others first. This means that even implicitly the entire economy and society will be more efficient. Because the people love God, they will work hard and do everything to the best of their ability. Not because of greed or for profit, but because it honors our Lord.

The founding of America is also a very interesting case study. It was essentially founded by two types of people; the Pilgrims who wanted freedom from what they saw as the ‘popish’ Church of England and settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The other group was the London Company who established Jamestown, Virginia. The geography of America has without a doubt been to its benefit. However, America has become the largest economy in the world and by far and away the largest country to have such a high standard of living and a high average income. The prayers and partial founding of this nation by the highly religious Puritans was not a coincidence. America has been a nation that has generally been more devoted to God than other European and European descended countries. This is a very sweeping generalization, but I believe it still holds. America was allowed to develop and given the land and resources to be developed because it has always had a deeply devout Christian core.

“Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” – John Adams, Letter from John Adams to Massachusetts Militia (1798)

It is this author’s opinion and theory that you can look throughout all of human history and see God’s blessing on those who loved Him. For another example, why was it that Spain was able to conquer a majority of the Americas, once holding colonies that stretched from Baja California all the way to Argentina? In 1492, the reconquista was completed and all of Iberia was finally free again and in the hands of Christian monarchs. In that exact same year Christopher Columbus set sail towards the new world in the names of Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. This was no coincidence, there is a very strong case to be made that because Castile, Aragon, and other Christian kingdoms in Iberia were so committed to reconquering their land and expelling the Islamic hordes, they were rewarding with the blessing of being the first to discover and colonize the new world.

Like Israel in the Old Testament, Spain was not as God honoring in their colonization as they should have been. Instead of eradicating pagan institutions they would often just co opt them and integrate them into their own structures. This means that unfortunately the Catholic Church in Latin America is a lot more pagan and a lot more socially weak than its European counterpart. There is a lot of idolatry and worship of the old gods that is still allowed under the guise of saints. Whether explicitly or not, the Latin American Catholic Church has not been as strong in its theology as it should have been. Keeping my line of God’s blessing going, this makes sense. Spain expelled Islam and then was given a headstart to the New World. However, they did not eradicate paganism and corruption in the locals enough, meaning that total Latin America is a lot poorer and less developed than it could have been. Stability, safety, and economic power in the New World are nearly exclusively in America and Canada.

A final caveat to make is one that we can read in Job. Job was a man who loved and followed God, yet everything was still taken from him. We can learn from Job that karma does not exist. There is no guarantee of good things happening to good people, nor bad things to bad people. Just because a person follows God, does not mean they will necessarily thrive. Evil people often do become successful because we still live in a fallen world. In particular I can think of China and Saudi Arabia both of which have grown substantially in the past couple of decades, relying on manufacturing and oil resources respectively. These countries have developed in spite of their hatred of God and His church. Will this success be long lasting? Time will tell. Although I have a sneaking suspicion that void of any heart change or repentance, it will fall away like dust in the decades and centuries to come.

Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. – Psalm 127:1 (KJV)

History is complicated, and I am not trying to discount the complexity of how history and innovation has been woven together over centuries. That being said, if there is any thesis to be extracted, it is that nations first and foremost need to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. The world faces many problems today and there are some very clever ideas and solutions that are being implemented to promote prosperity. These are not bad ideas, and it is good to develop competent institutions with freedom-loving ideals. However, without the Lord’s blessing, it will all be for nought. There may be nations and people who can temporarily become wealthy and successful, but if history is any guide, it will not last. Only nations of Christian faith have been able to build lasting generational prosperity. As the West is trying to give its wisdom to the third world, it would behoove us to give them the Gospel first, before diving into any talk on fiscal policy or building railroads. The West is exceptional, a city upon a hill. We have built the greatest nations on earth. Not of our own doing, but by the grace of God. And by that same grace, may we continue to be the great.

But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. – Deuteronomy 8:18 (KJV)

And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself: That the Lord may continue his word which he spake concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel. – 1 Kings 2:3-4 (KJV)