Why National Debt?

A 2011 Tomorrow’s World commentary, “Slaves to Debt,” reported that the United States was approaching $14 trillion in debt. Now, fourteen years later, that indebtedness has grown 160%. According to the U.S. National Debt Clock, U.S. debt is over $38 trillion. But why is the national debt so high? While the obvious answer is that America spends more than it takes in as tax revenues, there is another, far more dire reason.

Viewing the U.S. National Debt Clock, you see it spiraling upwards at an incredible rate, sure to pass the next trillion-dollar level in a few short months. The amount of debt is truly staggering. It is difficult to comprehend one trillion dollars, much less $38 trillion. A trillion is one million times one million. If you spent $1 million every single day it would take you 2,740 years to spend $1 trillion. If the U.S. population of 342 million people each spent $1 million per day, it would take just over eight years to reach $1 trillion. Put another way, if you spent $1 billion every day it would take you 2.74 years to spend $1 trillion, and 38 times longer to spend $38 trillion. No matter how you frame it, a trillion is a near incomprehensible number.

Most nations of the world are in debt. Countries without national debt include Liechtenstein, Macau, Brunei, Palau, and Nauru. But most nations have a major problem with national debt. When a nation’s government borrows in the form of treasury securities, treasury bonds, bills, and notes to meet its obligations, it accumulates debt. …

What’s more, America’s $38 trillion national debt reflects only part of the nation’s total indebtedness. Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security are mandatory obligations that exceed tax revenues. These financial obligations are uncounted in the national debt but still represent deficits that require borrowing. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage companies are government-sponsored enterprises that contribute to the overall budget deficit. Supplemental appropriations also add to the national debt.

The national debt does not include state and local government debts, nor does it include debts carried by individuals, such as mortgages or credit card debt. Add all the indebtedness together and it is a loathsome burden, difficult to calculate.

So, what is the other reason the nations are in debt? Simply put, it is national and individual disobedience to the Eternal God that bring curses instead of blessings on a nation. Deuteronomy 28 is known as the Blessings and Cursings chapter, promising blessings from God come to those who obey Him and cursing to those who disobey. Many of the blessings are, in effect, financial, including increases in produce, herds and flocks, and storehouses. Notice: “The Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow” (vv. 1–14). Obedience to God’s moral and financial statutes, if followed, will bring additional blessings. These laws include periodic forgiveness of debt (e.g., Deuteronomy 15:1) and giving God tithes and offerings (Malachi 3:8–10). A nation that obeys Him will indeed prosper.

The curses for disobedience bring the opposite results (vv. 14–68). This includes pestilence, disease, indebtedness (vv. 43–44), being “in need of everything,” and eventually captivity to an oppressor who will consume everything (vv. 47–51).

Growing debt leads to an increasing burden and stress of higher payments, making further borrowing and debt reduction impossible. Ultimately, it leads to a fiscal crisis—default, collapse, or bankruptcy. Further borrowing and debt reduction becomes impossible—and that’s when creditors come for the assets.

A nation’s indebtedness brings very serious consequences. While we can’t control what the nation does, we can choose individually to obey God’s laws and reap His blessings, including His protection and deliverance.

To dive more deeply into this subject and how you can benefit from understanding God’s real plan for the future, be sure to check out these related articles: “A Catastrophic Storm is Coming”, “Why Tomorrow’s World Is Different”, and “Forgetfulness, Disobedience, and Sudden Demise!” Also be sure to order or read online the free the study guide God’s People Tithe!