In the last several classes we have been discussing the cycles of discipline that God places on client nations when believers in the nation neglect the spiritual life and revert back to a lifestyle in the kosmic system.
We have seen that the client nation forms up around what is called the pivot of mature believers who become the target of God's blessing because of the divine righteousness that accrues to their soul as a result of their advance in the spiritual life.
Because of their advance in the spiritual life, their nation receives blessing by association and has prosperity that goes beyond what would normally be expected and cannot be explained or understood apart from the doctrine of the pivot. Deut 30:15-16;
As our Lord stated in Luke 21:24;b We are presently living in the church age or the "times of the gentiles which means that all client nations at the present time are gentile not Israelite, but model or pattern for the client nation is Israel so we have been examining how God dealt with Israel as the first client nation.
Just as Israel had responsibilities to God in their dispensation, in the church age, the gentile client nation is responsible to God for the following:
It must evangelize its own population at home.
It must communicate Bible doctrine to the believers in the nation.
It is responsible for the custodianship of Bible doctrine.
It is to provide a safe haven for the Jews.
It is responsible to send out missionaries to evangelize other nations
When the cycles of discipline start, at least initially, a major part of the discipline is economic. God does this in order to provide a wake up call to the nation and provide the "grace space" necessary for recovery from a change of thinking decision should it occur.
This brings us to the Doctrine of Economic Depression.
The economic status of the client nation to God is often a sign of the spiritual status of that client nation under the principle of as goes the believer, so goes the client nation to God, Isa 37:30-31.
When economic depression occurs, we have a tendency to blame someone such as the Federal Reserve, the policies of government and bureaucracy, poor management, or the demands of labor.
But whatever the apparent visible reasons, the economic status is simply a visible reflection of the invisible spiritual status of believers in that nation.
Depression means the pivot is shrinking. It means believers are not advancing to spiritual maturity and there is no blessing by association and because of chronic NVTD God begins to exercise His divine prerogative by administering the cycles or waves of discipline.
When the word "Famine" is used in the Bible it refers to economic depression from warfare or natural disaster.
Jesus Christ prophesied there would be many wars and famines until His Second Advent. Matt 24:7; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:11;
War manifests man's arrogance. Depression manifests his function under the old sin nature in satan's kosmic system.
Since the Bible advocates private property and free enterprise as part of the laws of divine establishment that are repeated in the church age in Rom 13:7-10; any violation of these principles through sin, human good, or evil will result in recession and depression. The government is not excluded from complying with these principles.
Human good causes a depression by trying to solve the economic problems of those with persistent and locked in NVTD through social engineering that violate the laws of Divine Establishment.
In the natural course of life in the chaos of the kosmos, economic depression occurs periodically. Depression is inevitable when government tries to play God and prevent these economic cycles.
Economic depression for divine judgment and punishment of a nation in degeneration and reversionism is described in, Isa 51:17,19; Jer 14:15-16, Jer 15:1-2; Jer 29:17-19; Ezek 5:16;
From God's point of view believers without Bible doctrine are worthless, Rom 3:10-12 and the justice of God can only discipline them hoping for a change of thinking and if that is not forthcoming under intense discipline, take them out with the sin unto physical death.
Economic Recession and Depression is designed to wake believers up to the truth. When they reject the truth, strong delusion is at work and if they don't eventually come to a change of thinking decision, they will be destroyed.
When an economic depression occurs even when there is proper separation of government and business it indicates that part of the populace is living in the cosmic system, Lam 4:6-10;NET Jer 4:28. NET
When political power or legislation tampers with free enterprise, it results in economic depression. Government can attempt to legislate away God's laws all they want to, but it will only make things worse. God's laws are immutable.
People are the products of their own decisions. Politicians and the evil policies of those in government who seek to solve the problem with the evil of human good always exacerbate economic depression.
We have seen that recession as a part of divine discipline on a national entity is part of thee second cycle of discipline, Lev 26:18-20.
This is intensified to a depression in the third cycle as described in Lev 26:21-23;
The fourth cycle of discipline, as described in Lev 26:23-26, is an intensification of the depression to the point of economic collapse.
We can infer from this that the second cycle of discipline is economic recession; the third cycle of discipline is economic depression and the fourth cycle is economic collapse.
We have seen the fourth cycle of discipline is also mentioned in the curses on the client nation in Deut 28:15; and Deut 28:23-24;
Economic depression often results in the collapse of a nation from within that subsequently leads to the administration of the fifth cycle of discipline and the warfare that causes the external destruction of the client nation, Deut 28:25-26;