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I hear "God Bless America" often. It has puzzled me for many years because it doesn't makes sense to me that God cares about man-made borders or political systems. The only land I've heard referred to that God prefers is Israel.
Is there any scripture where it shows that God would care about one country more than another?
Further, is there any scripture that indicates that God prefers one political system over another?
In the Old Testament you will find special blessings for Israel; but even then, God did not bless only Israel. He promised Abraham that "in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed" (Genesis 22:18).
Once we look to the New Testament, we have Jesus commanding His disciples to preach His gospel throughout the world (Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15*, Luke 24:46-49, Acts 1:8).
Paul said that in Christ:
Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one—who will justify the circumcised [the Jews] by faith and the uncircumcised [the Gentiles] through faith. (Romans 3:29-30)
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:28-29)
God is not the God of America only, or the God of Israel only -- He is the God over all the world and wishes to draw every person from every nation to Himself (John 3:16-17, 12:32).
And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth." (Revelation 5:9-10, emphasis mine)
* Early manuscripts do not include verses past 16:8
This is an excellent question! There are many interesting responses. Of course, I am biased in my perception that the answer is (mostly) no. The one exception is the covenant with Israel, though there is some questioning about whether Israel and the Jewish people are still heirs to the covenant. My personal answer is yes, but not simply yes- the covenant has not ended, but Israel has, through rejecting Christ, fallen, but can be (and hopefully will be) restored to the Father. (See Romans 11, though any translation that states that the Jews are the enemy of God in verse 28 needs to re-read the original Greek) The failure to fulfill the covenant, which God cannot abandon, has caused God to redeem the Gentiles first, in order that the Jews may become jealous and return to salvation through Christ, according to Paul (Romans 11:11-12)
Stanley Hauerwas's Unleashing the Scripture is useful in examining the cultural interpretation of the Bible to support American ideals. A link to the Amazon page can be found below. It's a bit difficult, and draws upon and references a lot of modern theology, so it may be a bit inaccessible, but if you're willing to take some time to read and research, it can be quite helpful, and you can snag it pretty cheap.
http://www.amazon.com/Unleashing-Scripture-Freeing-Captivity-America/dp/0687316782/
Yes, it is believed that God's mother patronizes Russia (the blue color of Russian flag is due to this fact). St. George patronizes Moscow (that's why he is on the Moscow's flag). He also patronized country of Georgia (they believe). St. Andrew patronizes Russian fleet.
