Land of the Setting Sun
Romans 2:4 – “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?”I am often astonished at how well fear of being shunned and desire to conform work so well to keep a relatively safe and functioning society in Japan. Is there any other country in the world that has been so God-less for so long and had such prosperity and peace as Japan has?
I believe this is a major stumbling block for the Japanese. “Why do we need God,” they seem to ask as they remain less than 0.5% Christian. “We have one of the cleanest, safest, wealthiest, & most beautiful countries in the whole world. What could ‘God’ add,” they think.
What the Japanese do not understand is that what they enjoy on earth has been from the riches of God’s kindness and forbearance and patience, something designed in love to lead them into repentance.
The next verse in Romans 2 states, “But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.”
The sun may one day set on earth on the Land of the Rising Sun in judgment and wrath for years of rejecting Creator God. But whether or not the country continues to prosper, each Japanese will sooner or later see the sun set in their own lives, and when that day comes, the chance to repent and believe sets with it.
Please pray for repentant, faithful hearts in the people of Japan.
