Good Very Good and Greatness: A Biblical Vocabulary

Good, Very Good, and “Great”: A Biblical Vocabulary Lesson for a Nation Obsessed With Greatness

America loves the word great. It’s on hats, banners, yard signs, and bumper stickers. It’s a promise, a memory, a grievance, and a rallying cry. But Scripture uses a different vocabulary—good, very good, and great—and those words don’t mean what modern politics thinks they mean. In fact, the Bible’s language exposes a deep spiritual confusion at the heart of our national nostalgia.

Before we can talk about making anything “great again,” we have to ask a more biblical question: What does God call good, and who is it that keeps calling himself great?

I. The Bible’s Vocabulary: Good, Very Good, and Great

Good — טוֹב (tov)

In Scripture, good is God’s own word for His character and His works. It is moral, relational, life‑giving, and aligned with His nature.

Genesis 1:4 (KJV)

“And God saw the light, that it was good.”

Psalm 34:8 (KJV)

“O taste and see that the LORD is good.”

Nahum 1:7 (KJV)

“The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble.”

Goodness is not mediocrity. It is holiness.

Very Good — טוֹב מְאֹד (tov me’od)

God uses “very good” only after completing creation and humanity.

Genesis 1:31 (KJV)

“And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.”

“Very good” is God’s verdict on a world in right relationship with Him.

Great — גָּדוֹל (gadol)

Biblically, great is not a moral word. It is a size word—big, mighty, powerful, impressive. It can describe good things or evil things.

Genesis 11:4 (KJV)

“Let us build us a city and a tower… and let us make us a name.”

The first “Make Us Great Again” campaign.

Revelation 18:2 (KJV)

“Babylon the great is fallen…”

Greatness is often the vocabulary of empire, pride, and rebellion.

II. God Is Good — Not “Great”

Jesus Himself draws the line with surgical clarity.

When a man calls Him “Good Master,” Jesus responds:

Mark 10:18 (KJV)

“Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.”

Jesus is not denying His divinity—He is exposing the man’s flattery.

He is saying: Do you understand what “good” means? It belongs to God alone.

Jesus never says, “God is great.”

He says God is good.

Greatness, when applied to God, refers to His power—not His character.

Goodness is His character.

God does not need to be “great again.”

He has never ceased being good.

III. Satan Is the One Obsessed With Being “Great”

Scripture consistently shows Satan and the kingdoms aligned with him using the language of greatness.

Isaiah 14:13–14 (KJV)

“I will ascend… I will exalt… I will be like the most High.”

The original “I will be great” speech.

Revelation 13:3 (KJV)

“And all the world wondered after the beast.”

Satan markets greatness.

God manifests goodness.

Greatness is the devil’s brand.

Goodness is God’s.

IV. MAGA and the Theology of Greatness

The slogan “Make America Great Again” assumes a shared memory:

that America was once great.

But if greatness is a biblical category of power, not morality, then we must ask:

When, exactly, was America “great,” and for whom?

1. When America Was Originally “Great” — The Postwar Boom (1945–1965)

This is the era most people mean when they say “again”:

Explosive economic growth
A booming middle class
The GI Bill
Global military dominance
Cultural stability
A sense of national unity

America was mighty, wealthy, and admired.

In biblical terms, America was gadol—great.

But at the same time:

Jim Crow was law
Black veterans were denied GI benefits
Redlining locked minorities out of wealth
Women were restricted legally and economically
Indigenous communities remained displaced
Immigration quotas favored Europeans
LGBTQ Americans lived in hiding

America was great for some, not for all.

It was powerful, not righteous.

Impressive, not just.

Large, not holy.

It was Babel, not Eden.

V. What America Was Before the “Greatness”

1. The Founding Era (1776–1865)

A nation proclaiming liberty while practicing slavery.

A republic declaring equality while excluding most people from it.

A land of opportunity built on Indigenous displacement.

This was a nation with a high calling and a divided heart—like Israel in Judges, doing “what was right in their own eyes.”

2. The Industrial Age (1865–1940)

Massive economic expansion
Child labor
Tenement poverty
Robber barons
Segregation
Anti‑immigrant hostility
Overseas empire building

America was becoming great—big, powerful, influential.

But morally, it was deeply fractured.

This was greatness without goodness.

VI. What America Became After the “Greatness”

1. The Civil Rights Reckoning (1954–1970s)

America confronted its own sins.

Some repented.

Some resisted.

Some still resist.

2. The Culture Wars (1980s–2000s)

Politics became identity.

Churches became voting blocs.

“Greatness” became a brand.

3. The Age of Division (2000s–Present)

Polarization
Conspiracy culture
Digital tribalism
Racial tension
Immigration battles
Churches splitting
Families fracturing

Jesus’ warning echoes:

“Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation.”

(Matthew 12:25, KJV)

America is not collapsing because it lost greatness.

It is fracturing because it abandoned goodness.

VII. The Biblical Punchline: Greatness Was Never the Goal

God never commands nations to be great.

He commands them to be:

Just — Amos 5:24
Righteous — Proverbs 14:34
Humble — Micah 6:8
Merciful — Zechariah 7:9

Greatness is the language of empire.

Goodness is the language of God.

Greatness builds towers.

Goodness builds communities.

Greatness seeks a name.

Goodness bears God’s name.

Greatness demands loyalty.

Goodness invites repentance.

VIII. So When Was America Good?

Whenever it acted with justice.

Whenever it expanded dignity.

Whenever it protected the vulnerable.

Whenever it repented of sin.

Whenever it pursued righteousness.

These moments exist—beautiful, powerful, Spirit‑breathed moments.

But they were moments, not eras.

America has had flashes of goodness.

It has never fully embodied it.

IX. The Final Contrast: God Is Good, Satan Is “Great,” and America Must Choose

God calls Himself good.

Satan markets himself as great.

America must decide which vocabulary it wants to live under.

If we chase greatness, we will repeat Babel.

If we pursue goodness, we may glimpse Eden.

X. Greatness Fails When We Forget Our Dual Citizenship

In a previous article, we explored the biblical idea that Christians hold dual citizenship—one in earthly nations and one in the Kingdom of God. That earlier piece argued that when believers confuse the two, they begin to expect from earthly nations what only the Kingdom can provide.

This article now reveals the other side of that truth:

X. Greatness Fails When We Forget Our Dual Citizenship — And Our Call to the Divine Vine

This article now reveals the other side of that truth:

When Christians forget their heavenly citizenship, they start chasing earthly greatness instead of divine goodness.

Earthly nations promise greatness.

The Kingdom of God promises goodness.

And Jesus promises something deeper still—life in the Vine.

As explored in the Da Vine Intervention article, Jesus does not call us to be “great branches.” He calls us to be abiding branches—rooted, nourished, and fruitful only because we draw life from Him.

Greatness is a human project.

Goodness is a divine gift.

Fruitfulness is a Vine‑born miracle.

“For our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven.”

(Philippians 3:20, KJV)

If our citizenship is in heaven, then our moral vocabulary must come from heaven—not from political branding. And if our life is in the Vine, then our identity must come from Christ—not from national nostalgia.

The Kingdom calls us to goodness.

The Vine calls us to fruitfulness.

Earthly politics calls us to greatness.

Only one of those words is divine.

For readers who want to explore that deeper call to abiding, fruitfulness, and the life that flows from Christ alone, see the companion reflection “Da Vine Intervention” at HippocraticParty.org.