Protective Judgments (9) - New Testament

The rainbow covenant was eternal (Gen 9:12), so God continues to determine the rising and falling of the nations during the New Testament age.

He made all the nations…; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands (Acts 17:26).

When nations go sour and begin to magnify evil, God causes them to collapse and die. Sometimes they just collapse in on themselves, but often they destroyed by the armies of other nations.
The big difference in New Testament times is that protective judgment has become Plan B. God’s Plan A for dealing with evil nations and empires is the gospel and the Spirit. If Christians take the gospel to the evil nation, the hearts of the people can be changed. If these Christians are willing to suffer in the face of persecution, they can change the direction of the evil nation. If enough people come to faith in Jesus, the leaders of the nation will have to change too. If the church heeds his call, the Holy Spirit can use the gospel to transform an evil nation.

During the gospel age, God only sends protective judgments when the gospel fails. This should be very rare. If the church is doing its job, most evil nations will be transformed by the gospel. Situations where evil gets so entrenched that it begins to threat to the world should not really occur. Unfortunately, the church sometimes gets sluggish and does not fulfil its role, which allows evil nations to expand and grow.

Rome is an example. For two or three hundred years, the church was very effective and nearly transformed the Rome empire. However, after the conversion of Constantine, the church was seduced by political power, which compromised its witness. This left God with no option, but to send protective judgment to destroy the power of Rome. After being invaded by marauding armies, the Roman empire collapsed and disappeared.

During the New Testament age, God is still committed to the rainbow covenant, so he continues to use protective judgements when this is necessary. However, he prefers to work thought gospel and the Spirit to transform evil nations. This is more effective way of dealing with evil, because it gets to the root cause of the problem.

Statements that God has stopped using judgments during the age of grace are wrong.

God’s role is clearer, if prophets warn the collapsing nation why it is falling apart. When God is about to send a protective judgment, he needs New Testament prophets to speak to the nations effective. John demonstrated the role of prophet to the nations with his prophesy of the fall of Babylon the Great (Rev 18).