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Although we may not perceive the hand of God in the affairs of nations as we view them today, His rule is no less sovereign today than it was in the days of the prophets or the apostles.
i think this statmet is less so for the church in 2023
God recorded in His Word specific instances of His sovereign rule over history in order that we might trust Him in the affairs of history as they unfold before us today.
good insight
“There is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God…. For [the ruler] is God’s servant to do you good” (Romans 13:1,4).
And we should remember that God works in history from an eternal perspective, whereas we tend to view the outworking of history from a temporal perspective.
eternal vs temperol perspective
“for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness” (1 Timothy 2:2). Prayer is the most tangible expression of trust in God.
When we consider some of the evil tyrants and dictators that have reigned, as well as some of the weak and foolish men who have held high office, even in this century, we are amazed to learn that they have ruled in the sovereign will of God. But that is what Scripture tells us.
For me the holocaust comes to mind
He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.
God not only determines who governs, He also rules in the decisions that they make. Proverbs 16:33 says, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.”
Yet Absalom chose to follow Hushai’s advice instead of Ahithophel’s. Why? The Scripture says, “For the LORD had determined to frustrate the good advice of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster on Absalom” (2 Samuel 17:14).
Why did Rehoboam make such a foolish decision? The Scripture says, “So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the LORD, to fulfill the word the LORD had spoken” (1 Kings 12:15). Two foolish decisions were made, in two instances good advice was rejected and harmful or foolish advice was followed. Both instances are attributed to the sovereign work of God guiding the minds of the kings to accomplish His will.
God in his will made these rulers choose the foolish afvice
Alexander Carson said, Why does folly often prevail over wisdom in the counsels of princes, and in houses of legislators? God has appointed the rejection of good counsel in order to bring on nations that vengeance that their crimes call down from heaven.
Viewed in the light of the exploding moral decadence of our American society, one cannot help but wonder if this is evidence of God’s hand of judgment upon our nation. If so, believers as well as unbelievers will suffer the consequences of those decisions.
Britain is the same here our socity is slowly unravealing, there is still much grace, but for how long. Have mercy Lord
We must believe both that God is sovereignly in control of those events and that the care and welfare of His children in those events has not been forgotten.
remember thisbwhen things get worse
more seriously our responsibility to pray for the leaders of our government that they will make wise decisions.
Need to do this more
Proverbs 21:31, “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD,”
The Christian, however, must trust in God, not military might of any size.
good lesson for me
We see in this statement not only an affirmation of the absoluteness of God’s sovereignty, but also the thoroughness with which His sovereignty penetrates down to the last minute detail.
God is into detail
In fact, according to biblical history, God sometimes uses an evil nation to punish another one, then in turn punishes the first nation for its sin.
think of Germany punishing Britain and look at us now a shadow of nour former selves bith spirtually and mentally
The so-called sovereign nations of the world are not truly sovereign. They are nothing more than instruments in the hand of God to accomplish His will: sometimes to protect His people, sometimes to open doors for advancement of the gospel, and sometimes to be His instrument of judgment against ungodliness.
Why He allowed it to happen is a question we cannot answer (and should not try to), but we can say, on the testimony of Scripture, that God did indeed allow it or cause it to happen.
indeed must rush to say God judged it though but this could be true aswell
The insurance companies refer to major natural disasters as “acts of God.” The truth is, all expressions of nature, all occurrences of weather, whether it be a devastating tornado or a gentle rain on a spring day, are acts of God. The Bible teaches that God controls all the forces of nature, both destructive and productive,
Sadly, we Christians often get caught up in this ungodly habit of our society. But when we complain about the weather, we are actually complaining against God who sent us our weather.
Not only do we sin against God when we complain about the weather, we also deprive ourselves of the peace that comes from recognizing our heavenly Father is in control of it.
deprive ourselves of peace when we complain against the weather
I need to learn to see God’s sovereign and loving hand controlling it.
We tend to remember the “bad” weather and take for granted the good. However, when Jesus spoke about the weather, He spoke about the goodness of God: “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45).
He most often uses weather as an expression of His gracious provision for His creation. Both saint and sinner alike benefit from God’s gracious provision of weather.
amen did not see it like this before
We as Christians need to stop complaining about the weather and instead learn to give thanks for it. God, our heavenly Father, sends us each day what He deems best for all of His creation.
Lord help me to stop complaining about the weather
Do I really believe it myself at a time such as this? Wouldn’t it be easier to just accept Rabbi Kushner’s statement that it is simply an act of nature—a morally blind nature that churns along following its own laws?
“I, and I alone, have the power and authority to bring about both prosperity and disaster, both weal and woe, both good and bad.”
God brings both prosperity and diaster
“We gain nothing by seeking to minimize the force of the present verse.”
We recognize, too, that just as God sends His sun and rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous, so He also sends the tornado, or the hurricane, or the earthquake on both. I have friends, fellow staff members
God’s sovereignty over nature does mean that, whatever we experience at the hand of the weather or other forces of nature (such as plant diseases or insect infestation of our crops), all circumstances are under the watchful eye and sovereign control of our God.
Illness and physical affliction is another area in which we struggle to trust God. Babies are born with major birth defects. Cancer strikes people who have apparently done everything possible to guard against it. Others
Is God sovereign over this aspect of nature, is He in control of the diseases and physical infirmities that affect us?
Here God specifically ascribes to His own work the physical afflictions of deafness, muteness, and blindness.
“No person in this world was ever blind that God had not planned for him to be blind; no person was ever deaf in this world that God had not planned for that person to be deaf…. If you do not believe that, you have a strange God who has a universe which has gone out of gear and He cannot control it.”6
This God who is the God of deafness, muteness, and blindness is also the God of cancer, arthritis, Down’s syndrome, and all other afflictions that come to us or our loved ones.
So we can say that the ultimate cause of all pain and suffering must be traced back to the Fall. God’s weal and woe are not arbitrary or capricious, but His determined response to man’s sin.
human sin
My purpose is not to deal with the problem of pain theologically but to help us deal with it on the level of faith, of trust in God.
help us to deal with pain by trusting in God
But if God is sovereign in this area, then we can trust Him without understanding all the theological issues involved in the problem of pain.
Another common arena of struggle with trusting God is in the area of childlessness.
Here again, however, the Bible consistently affirms that God is in control.
All of these Scripture passages teach us that God controls the conception of children. In fact Psalm 139:13 goes a step further and says that “[God] knit me together in my mother’s womb.” God
Truly God exercises a sovereign and loving control over all the works of His creation, including that which happens to our physical bodies.
In chapter one, I said that in order to trust God in adversity we must believe that God is completely sovereign, perfect in love, and infinite in wisdom.
God does not willingly bring affliction or grief to us.
but it is enough to know that His infinite wisdom and perfect love have determined that the particular sorrow is best for us. God never wastes pain. He always uses it to accomplish His purpose.
Therefore, we can trust Him when our hearts are aching or our bodies are racked with pain.
But to truly accept our pain and heartache has the connotation of willingness. An attitude of acceptance says that we trust God, that He loves us and knows what is best for us.
We should indeed pray for those things, but we should pray in a trusting way. We should realize that, though God can do all things, for infinitely wise and loving reasons, He may not do that which we pray that He will do.
