April 11, 2001
Reading
“Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing?” (1)
From the time when people were divided into nations they have, either singularly or combined, sought to destroy God’s people and that for which they stand. Shortly after Joshua and the Children of Israel had crossed Jordan into their inheritance, six nations combined to fight against them: “And it came to pass when all the kings who were on this side of the Jordan, in the hills and in the lowland and in all the coasts of the Great Sea toward Lebanon--the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite--heard about it, that they gathered together to fight with Joshua and Israel with one accord” (Josh 9:1-2).
In the days of the divided Kingdom, the King of Israel and the King of Syria combined to fight Judah: “Now it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to make war against it, but could not prevail against it” (Is: 7:1).
In both cases the people of God
defeated the combined efforts of their enemies. The key was that they lived in
obedience to God’s Law and served Him exclusively. David wrote: “Through God we
shall do valiantly, for it is He who shall tread down our enemies” (Ps: 60:12).
Paul puts it this way: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”
(Phil:
As humans and even as Christians, we may tremble when we observe the threats of the nations around us. Mid-east countries that are enemies under any other circumstance, combine in their opposition to the Gospel. Communist powers constantly fight around their borders, but are united in their opposition to Jesus Christ.
If we would but only look at these conglomerations through the eyes of God we would see a very different picture: “He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the LORD shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure” (4,5). Yes, God laughs at His opposition and their futile attempts to thwart His purposes. “Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless” (Is: 40:21-23).
As much as the nations seek to
annihilate God and His people, they remain as grasshoppers in His sight. Is
here any wonder then that He laughs at their puny attempts? How much comfort
and strength would we know if we would but see things as He sees them? God has
given us the privilege and opportunity to do just that. Paul tells us that God
raised Jesus from the dead and has “seated Him at His right hand in the
heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion,
and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to
come. And He put all things under His feet” (Eph
God says, “I have set My King on My holy hill” (6), and, because He reigns supreme, “you shall break them (all opposition) with a rod of iron; you shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel” (9).