Blessing or Curse: A Nation at the Crossroads
- Raymond Melendez
- Nov 22
- 8 min read
Updated: Nov 23
At the GoodNewsCast.com, we believe in blessings that expose God’s Kingdom—where productivity and prosperity are united in Christ.
Few voices have warned more urgently about America’s decay than pastor-teacher John MacArthur. Drawing from Romans 1 in sermons like “When God Abandons a Nation,” MacArthur argues that the country is already experiencing what he calls the “wrath of abandonment.” According to him, God's judgment doesn’t always arrive with thunderbolts—it often comes quietly, by allowing society to run headlong into the consequences of a reprobate mindset.
MacArthur describes a chilling three-stage progression: first, promiscuity explodes; second, these behaviors expand and normalize; third, God “gives them over” to a heart hardened beyond the hope of repentance, unleashing widespread decay. In a striking 2021 sermon, he suggested that America may already have crossed the threshold:
“It can be too late … When you see a nation deep in sexual sin … where they make laws to criminalize righteousness and to legalize evil … you know that nation is under judgment.” John MacArthur
Yet his message is not entirely grim. Even when a nation drifts beyond recovery, he insists, God’s mercy still extends to individuals: “It’s not too late for the elect.”
In MacArthur’s view, God's abandonment does not mean absence—instead, God withdraws favor but continues to preserve a remnant.
The tension between blessings and curses reverberates powerfully in Ezekiel 36, one of Holy Scripture’s most profound promises of restoration. Far more than a pledge to return Israel to its land, the passage reveals a deep truth: blessings—land, labor, prosperity—can either draw people toward God or into self-reliance, self-gratification, and eventually destruction. Israel was not without God during their exile, but the very blessings that motivated them to cultivate had become tools of corruption.
Ezekiel's message transcends time: when gifts turn into rewards, they consume nations. Yet even in a desolate land, God reverses the curse. Together, MacArthur’s warning and Ezekiel’s message form a single truth: a nation may fall under judgment, but God still calls it blessed.
When Blessings Become Cursed
Across America, a growing chorus of prophetic voices claims the nation is not just declining but entering an orchestrated cycle—one marked by curses, correction, and a call to repentance. These voices, though diverse in tone and style, paint a clear picture: when a nation forsakes the One who named it, the very gifts meant to bless become instruments of corruption.
Jonathan Cahn, the Messianic rabbi behind The Harbinger series, draws an expansive parallel between modern America and ancient Israel. He argues that America’s trajectory mirrors Israel’s historic pattern: abundance followed by apostasy, apostasy followed by repentance—calling good evil and evil good. Similarly, televangelist Jim Bakker has claimed that America is under a curse, interpreting catastrophes such as 9/11 as warnings meant to capture a falling nation’s attention (Cahn; Bakker).
In more recent prophetic circles, voices like Cindy Jacobs have issued urgent appeals, warning that rising debt, mounting anxiety, and political instability could trigger a “severe course correction.” World for Jesus Ministries speaks of a fifty-year judgment cycle, asserting that at decisive moments God lifts the hand of favor, allowing crisis to expose a nation’s wicked condition. According to these perspectives, America’s turmoil is not accidental—it is repeated, predictable, and yet preventable, if only the nation would repent.
These prophetic voices resonate vividly with Ezekiel’s indictment of Israel. In Ezekiel 36, God explains the reason for their suffering: “I poured out my wrath on them because of the blood they had shed upon the land and because they had defiled it with their idols.” The land—a gift—became the site of costly sacrifices made to idols of merit rather than a reflection of God's favor.
Israel’s exile was not God's abandonment; it was God's correction. Scattered among the nations, they were confronted with a kingdom that stands against them: the blessings meant to draw them closer had become an abomination to God. Their fertile land, abundant harvests, and secure borders no longer served God's purpose but exposed a people intoxicated by self-reliance. Thus the land “devoured its inhabitants,” because the hearts and minds cultivating it had forsaken the one who blesses the work.
In both America’s prophetic warnings and even in Israel’s recent tragedy, the message is unmistakable: blessings without reverence for God become the world’s burdens, and prosperity without an understanding of how God's Kingdom works becomes a curse, turning a garden into a wasteland. Yet sown in these nations are seeds of restoration and blessings for a land they can still call their own.
A Nation That Forgets Eden: The Betrayal
At the heart of many evangelical and prophetic warnings is a common conviction: America once lived under an unusual measure of God's favor. Not in a covenant sense, but as a “privileged people,” as John MacArthur puts it, influenced by biblical teachings that favor behavioral health and law and order. Prophetic voices like Cindy Jacobs and Jonathan Cahn widen this view, suggesting that America did more than benefit from its teachings—it entered into a relationship and enjoyed God's favor, yet has drifted from that communion (MacArthur; Jacobs; Cahn).
Across these warnings, one voice stands out: when promiscuity goes unchallenged, God's restraint follows. For MacArthur, the sexual revolution of the 1960s marked a rupture, a moment when a nation turned from biblical teachings and triggered ascending waves of judgment. In charismatic and prophetic circles, promiscuity is God's breaking point. Some suggest that the lack of sexual restraint invites spirits, such as the so-called Jezebel spirit, into political systems, leading to deception and increasing corruption.
Yet even in their most dreadful tones, these voices speak with hope and intervention. MacArthur points to a remnant preserved by God; Jacobs insists that warnings are opportunities, not final verdicts—“If we pray… we can avert disaster.” The message given through both evangelical and prophetic perspectives is clear: judgement was not meant to curse but to expose what is blessed.
This tension between blessing, betrayal, and redemption reaches back far before America or Israel—back to Eden itself. In the garden, humanity’s earliest calling was to be productive and prosper:
“The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” Genesis 2:15
However, labor was never meant to be measured through merit; it was an extension of God’s favor. Eve’s creation as “a helper fit for him” made her not inferior to man but proof that nothing is impossible with God. Together, man and woman were united to cultivate the land, multiply, and bring forth God's blessings.
Later, Israel reenacted the tragedy of Eden by forsaking what is eternal through a union—"the two shall become one body"—what was intended to bless instead became a curse. Eternal life, forfeited in Eden and again in Israel’s efforts to re-unite.
From Eden to Israel and to every nation on earth, the pattern is the same: blessings become curses when they separate the union formed in the body of Christ. Every warning—whether from preacher, prophet, or poet—is ultimately a call to return: to the garden, to the union, in which man and woman feed from the fruit of the tree of life.
When the Heart Is Tested: The Search for God
Why do prophetic warnings resonate so deeply with many American Christians today? In a time when debates over sexuality, race, national identity, and good vs evil intensify, many feel out of place in their homeland. Prophetic and pastoral voices—whether speaking of judgment, covenant-breaking, or spiritual warfare—contribute to that confusion. They offer a logical perspective of cultural decline and a call to action through prayer, repentance, and intercession.
However, the chosen few are not represented by these cloudy messages. Critics fear that these cautions could turn into conspiracy theories or political agendas, especially when tied too closely to national events. Others argue that applying biblical teachings to multicultural nations complicates the issue. Still others caution that obsession with national decline can distract from the Gospel’s primary work—personal growth.
Yet the tension these warnings highlight is not just personal. The Holy Bible itself reveals a universal struggle of productivity and prosperity that will either deepen or bridge the divide.
Jacob displayed this tension when he declared, “If God will be with me… and give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, then shall the LORD be my God” (Genesis 28:20–21). His devotion was conditional—rooted in God's provision. This mindset reflects how easily humanity drifts into self-reliance, self-gratification, and violence when God's work does not supply the demand.
Ezekiel 36 confronts this problem directly. God promises to provide and rebuild the ruins, repopulate the cities, and multiply fruit and harvests. However, the restored land must turn Israel’s reverence into an understanding that it is God who provides and it is Christ who re-unites.
The Book of Mormon echoes this simple principle: “Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper in the land” (2 Nephi 1:20). It forms a crossroads where a people must choose between a blessing or a curse.
In times of national upheaval, these truths surface again: productivity and prosperity test the mind, warnings awaken the soul, and nations—like people—must decide what they're willing to part with for the sake of the blessing.
Redemption Is Near: A Lament for the Kingdom
Across America, a lament has begun. Whether inspired by John MacArthur’s warnings or the more dramatic tones of prophetic leaders, many believe that God’s favor over the nation is slipping. For some, it stirs grief; for others, it sparks intervention, repentance, and prayer. For others it awakens their faith.
Yet behind every warning lies a deeper story—not of falling but of belonging. As these voices reverberate through pulpits, conferences, and social media, they leave behind a haunting question: if God’s favor is lifting, what will God expose next?
Ezekiel 36 offers a surprising answer. It teaches that productivity and prosperity without reverence and an understanding of how God works become perilous, but with God's restoration a blessing is exposed:
“The nations shall know that I am the LORD.” Ezekiel 36:23
Blessings of land, labor, and abundance are not meant to divert our reliance toward God—they exist to draw our attention to its significance. When a people forget this, the works become rubbles of trouble, leaving God's children to ask, "What do these stones mean?"
Today, just as in Ezekiel’s time, it is easy to forget that our hands were formed not only to bless but also to curse. Ezekiel’s message cuts to the truth: hands are blessed when they are entrusted to the One who reverses the curse.
Through Christ, this truth reaches its fulfillment. Jesus reveals what no prophet or patriarch could fully unveil:
“All things have been committed to me by my Heavenly Father… no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal the Father” (Matthew 11:27).
John echoes this revelation: Moses handed down the law, which exposed the curse, but Jesus offers a gift that exposes a blessing, a gift that keeps on giving (John 1:18).
In Christ, the mystery of the Kingdom unfolds and through his voice, his words, and his teachings the Kingdom is blessed; through him, the work of mankind becomes holy and acceptable to God. It is a gift fit for a king.
Works Cited
“Bakker: ‘America Is Under Curse’ and Ripe for Divine Punishment.” Right Wing Watch, 19 Sept. 2012, www.peoplefor.org/rightwingwatch/post/bakker-america-is-under-curse-and-ripe-for-divine-punishment
Cahn, Jonathan. The Harbinger: The Ancient Mystery That Holds the Secret of America’s Future. Frontline, 2011.
Jacobs, Cindy. “Prophetically, America Is at a Tipping Point.” Charisma, 2015.
MacArthur, John. “Can God Bless America?” Ligonier Ministries, adapted from Tabletalk, Ligonier Ministries, 2002.
