🪰 DEAD FLIES IN A NATION (National Decay)
SEEING THE BIG PICTURE
TEXT
Ecclesiastes 10:1
“Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savor…”
PROLOGUE: A NATION ONCE FRAGRANT
America did not begin in perfection — but it began in fear of God.
Our earliest laws quoted Scripture.
Our earliest schools taught Proverbs before arithmetic.
Our first Congress prayed before they debated.
“Righteousness exalteth a nation…” — Proverbs 14:34
But dead flies do not fall all at once.
The jar spoils slowly.
I.) DEAD FLY #1 — CORRUPTION IN LEADERSHIP
A nation rots when its rulers do.
“A wicked ruler is as a roaring lion, and a ravenous bear.” — Proverbs 28:15
“Your princes are rebellious, companions of thieves.” — Isaiah 1:23
When truth becomes negotiable, justice becomes weaponized.
“They all love bribes.” — Isaiah 1:23
“Judgment is turned away backward.” — Isaiah 59:14
Laws no longer protect the innocent — they protect the powerful.
“The law is slacked, and judgment never goes forth.” — Habakkuk 1:4
When courts reward deceit, God withdraws restraint.
“One sinner destroyeth much good.” — Ecclesiastes 9:18
Not invasion…
Not famine…
Corruption is the dead fly that spoils the jar.
II.) DEAD FLY #2 — MORAL & SEXUAL COLLAPSE
What Sodom did openly, America now does proudly.
“They declare their sin as Sodom; they hide it not.” — Isaiah 3:9
We renamed sin to sanitize it:
• Lust became “love.”
• Porn became “industry.”
• Confusion became “identity.”
• Perversion became “pride.”
“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil.” — Isaiah 5:20
When a nation is no longer ashamed, it is no longer stable.
“Were they ashamed? No… neither could they blush.” — Jeremiah 6:15
And once a people stop blushing, they soon stop believing.
“Fools make a mock at sin.” — Proverbs 14:9
The ointment still sits on the shelf —
but it no longer heals…
it stinks.
III.) THE STENCH OF NATIONAL DECAY
A country does not fall when God stops blessing it —
but when God stops restraining it.
“Ephraim is joined to idols: leave him alone.” — Hosea 4:17
God’s greatest judgment is not always disaster —
sometimes it is permission.
He lets a nation have what it demands —
and be destroyed by its own appetites.
“They sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind.” — Hosea 8:7
“Their own iniquities shall take them.” — Proverbs 5:22
The land melts.
The conscience melts.
The character melts.
Like the snail in Psalm 58 —
we are evaporating while still moving.
IV.) ONLY REPENTANCE RESTORES FRAGRANCE
Not politics.
Not programs.
Not personalities.
Repentance alone cleanses the jar.
“If My people… shall humble themselves and pray…” — 2 Chronicles 7:14
“Turn us again, O Lord, and we shall be saved.” — Psalm 80:3
God does not wait on the world —
He waits on the remnant.
EPILOGUE
“Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” — Proverbs 14:34
A reproach means: a stench.
Sin smells in heaven long before it collapses on earth.
INVITATION
