29 Aug When a Nation Implodes

Therefore this iniquity will be to you like a breach about to fall, a bulge in a high wall, whose collapse comes suddenly in an instant.
—Isaiah 30:13

To prepare to build a new campus for our church, we had to take down six aging buildings. It was a tricky process because our campus is located in downtown Dallas, surrounded by skyscrapers. So it was important that these buildings be removed in a controlled fashion. The demolition experts told us the best way to accomplish that was with an implosion. The experts explained that in the implosion, they would attach 200 pounds of dynamite to key structural supports in the buildings. Then they would ignite those explosives. There would be a pause, and then those explosives would so weaken the infrastructure of the facility that after a few seconds the building would collapse on itself. That is how an implosion works.

So one Saturday morning, I stood on top of a nearby building and prepared for the implosion. Many media outlets aired the ceremony live. First came the explosions—I had never heard anything like that in my life. After the explosions, I expected the building to collapse immediately. But I forgot that the demolition expert said there was going to be a pause. I stood there, waiting, for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, 600,000 square feet of space collapsed on itself. I remember looking at that twisted mass of steel and concrete and thinking of Revelation 18, in which John describes the sudden destruction of the city of Babylon.

I learned something that Saturday about implosions. Implosions are dramatic. They begin with a series of unrelated explosions that weaken the infrastructure of the facility. Finally, after a pause, the weakened building collapses on itself. You know, that is a great metaphor for what has happened in our country. A series of bad choices by our government leaders has weakened the underlying structure of our country. For example, the federal government’s inadequate protection of our borders has made us increasingly vulnerable to terrorist attacks. Additionally, our inspection of imported goods is practically nonexistent. Now, if the terrorists do not succeed in leveling one of our cities, then our own politicians seem destined to destroy our economy. Washington’s inability to turn off the spending spigot has led to a staggering national debt.

However, I am not really that panicked over our security and economic challenges as a nation. I believe we eventually will find a way to protect ourselves against terrorist attack. And I am confident that another economic meltdown will once and for all convince us to get our fiscal house in order as a country. But in the last 50 years there have been three explosive decisions in our country that have so weakened the spiritual and social infrastructure of our country that our nation’s collapse is inevitable. We will look at those explosions this week.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “When a Nation Implodes – Part 1” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2011.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.