TEXT: Psalm 46

SUBJECT: Sovereignty of God #4: Nations

Today, with the Lord’s blessing, we’ll continue our study of God’s Sovereignty. The word, "sovereignty" means rule. When I say "God is sovereign" I mean the Lord rules everything at all times. From the rise of an empire to the fall of a sparrow,

Our response to His sovereignty is not doubt, fear, or pride, but joy.

If all you can do with the doctrine of God’s sovereignty is to argue about it, you haven’t got it! You’ve only understood it when it makes you adore Him and to pray for people who think He’s anything less than Lord of All!

After introducing the subject, we looked at God’s sovereignty over nature and then at His rule of the angels. Today, we’ll take up a third facet of His Lordship, and that is God’s sovereignty over the nations.

By His "sovereignty over the nations", I mean God controls the politics, economics, diplomacy, and wars of the world.

From the birth of Israel to the fall of Rome, from the election of Bill Clinton, to the assassination of John F. Kennedy, God has had His way in the world. Nothing has slipped His attention or gone against His eternal decree.

The decisions made in Washington and Kabul were first made in heaven. And both the president of the United States and the leader of the Taliban are firmly in the grip of Divine Sovereignty.

That’s what I’m getting at today. God rules the nations. He rules every nation—ancient, modern, or future; capitalist, communist, or fascist; democracy, dictatorship, or anarchy. It makes no difference how the government is run or by whom. Behind every human authority is the Kingdom of God.

This is easy to say, but not so easy to believe. When you think of the foolishness, scandal, and incompetence of human governments, it’s hard to see the wisdom, holiness, and power of God’s rule.

But make no mistake about it: it’s there. The Bible says so.

How did the nations get where they are?

If you study history and anthropology, you’ll learn that nations have gotten to where they are in various ways. They followed the herds; they looked for better soil; they sought gold. War, drought, and slavery moved people around. Australia was founded as a penal colony for the crooks and debtors of the British Empire!

This is all true, of course, but there’s a deeper truth the books never say anything about: God put the nations where He wants them to be. Deuteronomy 32:8 says,

Whatever wars and migrations do, it is God who draws the map of the world. This applies, not only to the land itself, but also to the times when any given people will occupy it. In Acts 17:26, Paul says,

For centuries the Amorites occupied the land of Canaan. It was theirs, by God’s will. But, in the days of Joshua, the Lord took it away from them and gave it to Israel. They held on to it—off and on--for something like 1,500 years, but then, in 70 A.D., God threw them off the land gave it to someone else.

Nations, therefore, come and go by God’s will.

How do men come to power in the nations?

If you read history books or watch the news, you know men take office usually in one of three ways: by birth, by popularity, or by force. Kings are born, presidents are elected, dictators take over.

All true, of course, but behind the birth of a king, the election of a president or the dictator’s coup d’etat is the will of God. Daniel 4:17 says,

Note: There are three verbs in the sentence and all of them are in the active voice-- rules, gives, and sets. Who’s ruling? Who’s giving? Who’s setting? The Lord, that’s Who!

This does not rule out secondary causes, of course. By killing him in battle, the Philistines took Saul off the throne of Israel and by winning the civil war, the men of Judah put David there in his place. But God was behind both the fall of King Saul and the rise of King David.

Does God actively rule through the kings of the earth?

He does.

This is true of good kings, of course. David ruled in the Name of God, and pretty much did His will. But not only good kings. Evil kings—though they don’t mean to—also fulfill God’s purposes in the world. Three examples are taken right out of the Bible.

1. King Nebuchadnezzar. Nobody is more wicked than he is, worshiping Bel and ruling without mercy. Yet Jeremiah 27:6 calls him God’s "Servant" in punishing Israel for their sins.
2. Cyrus is bad man, worshiping Marduk. Yet Isaiah 44,45 call him God’s "Anointed" and His "Shepherd" to bring Israel back to the land they lost seventy years before.
3. The Caesars worshiped themselves, yet Romans 13 says they are "God’s ministers and avengers of [God’s] wrath".

How do nations fall?

If God puts nations into power, He also throws them out of power. Babylon was the mightiest Empire in the world, but where is it now? It’s gone. Why? You could blame Belshazzar’s partying for that, but the Bible says God took the power away from them and gave it to the Persians and the Medes. After they served His purpose for a time, He took it from them and gave it to Greece. Then to Rome. And finally, in 476 A.D., the last great Empire fell.

In Daniel 2, Rome is compared to the Iron Legs of an idol. Nothing is harder than iron or less likely to break, yet it is broken—not by an internal weakness (as Edward Gibbon said), but by a power greater than its own. And that power is God’s Kingdom. Which grinds Rome—and all human authorities—into powder.

If God lifts up a nation and throws it down; if He appoints the rulers thereof and expels them from office, if He rules through the leaders of men—whether they intend it or not--then you can be sure He’s what Jeremiah 10:7 says He is,

God’s sovereignty over the nations creates a problem for many people. If God is good and wise, how could He permit Adolf Hitler to take charge of Germany and to commit the staggering crimes he did?

The short answer is: We don’t know. But we can say the rise of wicked men—including Hitler—does not mean God is weak, foolish, or sinful. We don’t have to understand the ways of God to worship and adore Him!

God never explained why He let Hitler come to power. But, in general, He justifies Himself in light of the wickedness of human authorities.

In some cases, wicked rulers are a punishment on wicked nations. Why did Saul become first king of Israel? Because God wanted to punish them for their unwillingness to let the Lord be their King! "I gave you a king in My wrath". When you think of the cruel and corrupt men who rule the world, you have to admit, we have the leaders we deserve!

When William Bennett wrote that book saying Bill Clinton was outraging the morality of America, I laughed my head off! Outraging our morality? He was living it! What young people called for in the 60’s and lived in the 70’s and 80’s, we elected in the 90’s!

Bad rulers are God’s way of punishing bad people. That’s one reason He appoints them.

He also allows the wicked to rule to sanctify His people. "Tribulation produces character" says the Apostle Paul. If the powers were outspokenly Christian, how easy it would be to own the Lord Jesus and to speak up for Him in public. Philip Henry thought the Puritan government of Oliver Cromwell was one of the worst things to ever befall England! Why? Because—he said—it made a nation of hypocrites.

I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I know this: Bad government forces God’s people to choose. Right or wrong. Black or white. God or the devil. In Rome, men had to say "Caesar is Lord" or "Jesus is Lord". Though we regret the sufferings they endured, we know it made them better. The same is true today in places like Sudan and Saudi Arabia where believers are forced to choose between Muhammad and Jesus Christ.

Thirdly, wicked rulers rise up only to display God’s justice in their fall. That explains the Pharaoh who drove the Hebrew slaves and threw their babies in the river,

In summary: Although the ways of God are mysterious, we be sure of this much: The Lord is in control of human authorities. He can be praised for the good they do, but He cannot be blamed for their sins. He lets them act unjustly and without mercy, but in that permission, He executes His justice on the wicked and grants mercy to His people.

If human authorities are appointed by God and serve only at His pleasure, then two duties must follow:

In the first place, we must respect our rulers—even if we didn’t vote for them and dislike their character and policies.

Peter lived in the Roman Empire—which was distinctly pagan—yet he said, "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of men, for the Lord’s sake…Honor the King".

Paul lived under the same government, and said,

Did you know both of these men were executed by the Roman authorities? Peter was crucified under Roman Law and Caesar took Paul’s head off his shoulders. Yet even to these human authorities—wicked, corrupt, idolatrous, the Apostles said, Pay your respects.

That’s the first duty that follows from the sovereignty of God over the nations. Here’s the second: Don’t worry.

The world is in turmoil right now. Three weeks ago, terrorists hijacked three jets and crashed them, killing more than 6,000 innocent Americans. The networks cut from the falling towers in New York to the parties in Palestine.

America is now on the verge of war. Any day now, your husbands and sons and brothers could be called up and sent to the Middle East. Some of them will die; others will come back without arms and legs—and minds, maybe. If America attacks Afghanistan what will the Muslim world do? Will they attack us? And if they do, what will their nuclear powers do? Will they unleash a war of total destruction? If they do, will we strike back with our own apocalyptic powers? And then what?

The possibilities are staggering. Millions could die in the next few days. What a world we live in!

But God is in control of it all. And we can trust Him,