Chapter Five: God’s Rule over the Nations
GOD’S RULE OVER THE NATIONS
O LORD, God of our Fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you.
2 CHRONICLES 20:6
In a sermon entitled “God’s Providence,” C. H. Spurgeon said,
Napoleon once heard it said, that man proposes and God disposes. “Ah,” said Napoleon, “but I propose and dispose too.” How do you think he proposed and disposed. He proposed to go and take Russia; he proposed to make all Europe his. He proposed to destroy that power, and how did he come back again? How had he disposed it? He came back solitary and alone, his mighty army perished and wasted, having well-nigh eaten and devoured one another through hunger. Man proposes and God disposes.[1]
As we trace the sovereignty of God through the Bible, one of the most frequent references to it concerns His sovereignty over nations and governments. I listed almost forty references to God’s rule over the nations without attempting to compile an exhaustive list. God is Lord over all of human history, and He is working out all the details of that history, as Paul said in Ephesians 1:11, “in conformity with the purpose of his will.” That is, God makes all events of history; all the decisions of rulers, kings, and parliaments; and all the actions of their governments, armies, and navies serve His will.
A RELEVANT ISSUE
In terms of our trusting God, the sovereignty of God over the nations can at first glance seem theoretical and remote from our daily lives. In the West, especially, we don’t often consciously feel the actions of government impacting our lives from day to day. The laws of the land, for the most part, are reasonable and favorable to us, and we live each day unconscious of the multitude of laws and governmental decisions that affect us.
For most of the world, however, God’s sovereignty over the ruling powers is a crucial issue. It is commonly said that more Christians were martyred for their faith in the twentieth century than during all the rest of church history. Christians are viewed unfavorably in much of the world today and in many countries face outright persecution from hostile governments. The freedom to publicly practice biblical Christianity, taken for granted in most Western countries, is not available to more than half of the world’s population. For Christians living in these countries, the assurance that God rules over the governments that rule over them should give courage and confidence to them in times of harassment or persecution.
Those of us living in countries where religious freedom is allowed should regularly give thanks to God for that freedom. It is not an accident of history, or due merely to the foresight of our founding fathers, but rather to the sovereign hand of God working in and through our governments. We cannot take such liberty for granted. Alexander Carson stated it well when he said, “As God can protect his people under the greatest despotism, so the utmost civil liberty is no safety to them without the immediate protection of his Almighty arm. I fear that Christians in this country have too great a confidence in political institutions . . . [rather] than of the government of God.”[2]
It is not just religious freedom we are concerned about. Our lives are affected daily by the decisions of legislative bodies and government officials. Government bodies at all levels are increasingly telling us what we must or must not do. Sometimes these decisions are directly apparent; sometimes we are unconscious of them. Sometimes they are good decisions, at least from our point of view; sometimes they are bad decisions. At all times, those decisions, apparent or not, good or not, are under the control of our sovereign God. We should put our trust in God, not in the decision-making powers of politicians, government officials, and even supreme courts.
An Iranian Christian wrote of the time, years ago, when the Iranian government issued a decree to close all foreign primary schools, a decision that affected the Christian school where he was enrolled. His principal went to the government and obtained permission to allow the school to remain partially open so that the fifth and sixth grade students could finish their primary education at the school. For us that is not a particularly striking event, but for a Muslim country to allow a Christian school to remain open when others were closed was indeed unusual. Why would such permission be granted?
This man wrote, “I think it was in God’s plan for me that this permission was given, so that I might finish my primary education in a Christian school. Is not this the right way for a Christian to look at history, seeing the hand of God in all events weaving the pattern of the life of nations and individuals?”[3]
This Iranian brother had a correct perception of the sovereignty of God in the decrees and decisions of governments. He saw the hand of God ruling in the affairs of governments and through those governments in the affairs of us as individuals. Just as we saw in chapter 4 that God is sovereign in the hearts of individuals, whose decisions and actions affect us, so God is also sovereign in the decisions and actions of government as they affect us. As Margaret Clarkson wrote, “God is the Lord of human history and of the personal history of every member of His redeemed family.”[4] We cannot separate the history of a nation from the people of that nation.
SOVEREIGNTY NOT USUALLY APPARENT
The fact that God is sovereign over our rulers is usually not evident to us as we view their decisions and actions on a human plane. For the most part, governmental officials and legislative bodies do their work quite apart from any intent to carry out the will of God. We see this amply demonstrated in the life and death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken. This required Joseph and Mary to go to the town of Bethlehem to register at just the right time for the Messiah to be born in Bethlehem in fulfillment of Micah’s prophecy (see Micah 5:2). Caesar certainly did not intend to be an instrument to fulfill any Jewish prophecy, yet that is exactly what he was.
Matthew records several instances in the early life of Jesus where governmental action directly affected Jesus and in each instance makes the observation that through those actions certain prophecies were fulfilled (see Matthew 2:14-15, 17-18, 21-23). In each case, the people involved acted freely, doing what they intended to do, yet, in each instance, they did exactly what God planned for them to do.
In the apostles’ prayer in Acts 4, they said concerning the death of Jesus,
Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. ACTS 4:27-28, EMPHASIS ADDED
Obviously Herod, Pilate, and the Jewish leaders did exactly what they wanted to do, yet they did exactly what God planned that they do. What Solomon said of individuals in Proverbs 16:9—“In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps”—applies when men act not only in their private capacities, but also when they act as officials and rulers of nations.
John Newton (1725–1807), converted slave trader, Anglican minister, and author of the familiar hymn “Amazing Grace,” wrote:
The kings of the earth are continually disturbing the world with their schemes of ambition. They expect to carry every thing before them, and have seldom any higher end in view, than the gratification of their own passions. But in all they do they are but servants of this great King and Lord, and fulfill his purposes, as the instruments he employs to inflict prescribed punishment upon transgressors against him, or to open a way for the spread of his Gospel. . . . They had one thing in view, he had another.[5]
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. Professor Berkouwer is again helpful:
This does not mean that the work of God is always evident in the interlacing of Divine and human activity. . . . Yet it is striking to observe how often the purpose of God is reached without radical intervention. On the surface there may be nothing to see except human activity creating and defining history on a horizontal level.[6]
It is only in the biblical revelation that we see the hand of God ruling over and guiding the activities of the nations and the effects of those activities on His people. The events that Matthew recorded as happening in the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies all happened as a result of human decisions and were worked out in the course of ordinary human circumstances. Were it not for the inspired commentary by Matthew, we would have no more reason to see the sovereign hand of God in them than we do in the most mundane occurrences reported in our daily newspapers.
That being true, then, we should likewise see in those affairs reported in our daily paper the sovereign hand of God just as much as we see it in the Bible. Of course, we don’t have the advantage of the divinely revealed explanation of today’s events, as we do of those recorded in the Bible, but that does not make God’s sovereign rule today any less certain. 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. We should remember that, for those experiencing the events recorded in the biblical narratives, God’s hand was no more apparent to them in those events than His hand is apparent to us today in ours.
GOD ORDAINS RULERS
As we turn to the Scriptures to determine their teaching on the sovereignty of God over the nations, there are several specific truths that stand out. First, God in His sovereignty has established government for the good of all people—believer as well as unbeliever. Paul said, “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). Admittedly the statement, “the ruler is God’s servant to do us good,” seems difficult to accept when we see some of our brothers and sisters in Christ persecuted and perhaps killed because of their Christian commitment. We should remember again that God in His infinite wisdom and sovereignty and for reasons known only to Himself, allows rulers to act contrary to His revealed will. But the evil actions of those rulers against God’s children are never beyond the bounds of His sovereign will. 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.
Because God has ordained rulers for our good, and because He sovereignly rules over their actions, we should pray that they will rule for our good. Paul urges that prayers be made “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. If we would trust God for our persecuted brothers and sisters in other countries, we must be diligent in prayer for their rulers. If we would trust God when decisions of government in our own country go against our best interests, we must pray for His working in the hearts of those officials and legislators who make those decisions. The truth that the king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord is meant to be a stimulus to prayer, not a stimulus to a fatalistic attitude.
Next we see that in addition to establishing government, God determines who rules in those governments. “The Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men” (Daniel 4:17, see also verse 32). 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.
Once again, we must view this truth from God’s eternal perspective. Psalm 76:10, in the King James Version, says, “Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shall thou restrain.” While more recent translations vary from that particular rendering, it is a truth supported by the whole tenor of Scripture. God will allow people, whether strong-willed tyrants or weak-kneed politicians, to do only what ultimately results in His glory. How sin and evil ultimately redound to God’s glory is a mystery, but it is a truth affirmed throughout Scripture.
Just as God determines who rules in the nations, He also determines their time of ruling. Isaiah 40:23-24 says:
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.
We see this most vividly illustrated in the life of the powerful Babylonian monarch, Nebuchadnezzar. At the height of his power, Nebuchadnezzar’s sanity was taken from him, and he was driven away from his people to eat grass like cattle. Seven years later, his sanity was restored to him, his advisors and nobles sought him out, and he was restored to his throne and became even greater than before (see Daniel 4:33-36). From the greatest monarch of his time to a madman living like a wild beast to an even greater monarch, all in just over seven years, is a roller coaster series of events that could only be orchestrated by a sovereign God. And the God who ruled absolutely in the life and fortunes of the most powerful monarch of that time still rules in the fortunes and destinies of governments today. No government or dictator is so powerful as to be beyond the sway of His sovereign rule over all the nations of the earth.
GOD CONTROLS DECISIONS
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.” The practice of casting lots was often used to determine important matters of state. Officials were chosen, tasks determined, dates selected, and disputes were settled by casting lots (see 1 Chronicles 24:5; Esther 3:7; Proverbs 18:18; Luke 1:9). The king of Babylon determined military strategy by casting lots (see Ezekiel 21:18-22). And Solomon tells us that every decision from casting lots was from God, that is, God controlled the decisions that kings and government officials made through this method.
Not every decision in biblical times was made from casting lots. Some were made, as is often true today, after seeking advice and counsel from others. In these cases, God rules in the advice given and the extent to which that advice is received and acted upon so that His sovereign will is always accomplished. Two instances recorded in the Old Testament bear this out.
David’s son Absalom had mounted a rebellion against his father with the result that David and a few loyal followers fled Jerusalem. One of David’s trusted counselors, Ahithophel, had entered into the conspiracy with Absalom. In seeking to determine how to consolidate his initial success, Absalom sought the advice of first Ahithophel and then another counselor, Hushai, who was secretly still loyal to David.
After hearing contradictory advice from Ahithophel and Hushai, Absalom and his men chose the advice of Hushai, which was secretly intended to favor David. The scriptural account of this incident tells us that “in those days the advice Ahithophel gave was like that of one who inquires of God” (2 Samuel 16:23). 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). So we see that the advice Ahithophel gave on this occasion was good, yet Absalom chose to disregard it because God caused him to do so.
A similar event occurred in the life of David’s grandson Rehoboam. When he came to the throne, the men of Israel asked him to lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke Solomon, his father, had put on them. Rehoboam first consulted the elders who had served his father. They advised him to give the people a favorable answer. But Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders and consulted the young men who had grown up with him. They advised him to answer the people harshly. As a result, ten tribes of Israel revolted against Rehoboam, splitting the kingdom.
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.
What observations can we make from these events recorded in Scripture? First, God can and does work in the hearts and minds of rulers and officials of government to accomplish His sovereign purpose. Their hearts and minds are as much under His control as the impersonal physical laws of nature. Yet their every decision is made freely—most often without any thought or regard to the will of God.
The second observation we can make is that God sometimes causes government leaders or officials to make foolish decisions in order to bring judgment upon a nation. 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. God rules the world by Providence, not by miracle. See that grave senator. He rises and pours forth wisdom. But if God has determined to punish the nation, some prating speculatist will impose his sophisms on the most sagacious assembly.[7]
At the time of this writing, the government of the United States has just made what appears to be a series of incredibly foolish and naive decisions in the arena of foreign affairs. 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. Historically, God has not spared the righteous when He judges a nation (though He is well able to do so if He chooses; see Exodus 9:5-7).
If these apparently foolish decisions are allowed to run their course, and believers are caught up in the disastrous consequences of those decisions, then we must still continue to trust God even in those difficult times. 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.
Third, as has been observed earlier in this chapter, we should take more seriously our responsibility to pray for the leaders of our government that they will make wise decisions. Although we may suspect that some of the more disastrous decisions are evidence of God’s judgment, we do not know that. We do know God has instructed us to pray for leaders. Our duty, then, is to pray for wise decisions, but to trust when foolish and harmful decisions are made.
GOD DETERMINES MILITARY VICTORIES
In addition to ruling in the decisions of governments, God also rules in the victories and defeats between nations on the battlefield. The truth stated in Proverbs 21:31, “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD,” is one of the most frequently stated truths about the sovereignty of God in all of the Old Testament. Consider the following few passages of many that could have been selected (emphasis added in each quotation):
The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, announce now to the people, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” . . .
When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the LORD caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.
JUDGES 7:2-3, 22
Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.” . . .
Then panic struck the whole army—those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties—and the ground shook. It was a panic sent by God. . . .
Then Saul and all his men assembled and went to the battle. They found the Philistines in total confusion, striking each other with their swords. 1 SAMUEL 14:6, 15, 20
The man of God came up and told the king of Israel, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because the Arameans think the LORD is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you will know that I am the LORD.’”
For seven days they camped opposite each other, and on the seventh day the battle was joined. The Israelites inflicted a hundred thousand casualties on the Aramean foot soldiers in one day. 1 KINGS 20:28-29
Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy. 2 KINGS 5:1
Judah turned and saw that they were being attacked at both front and rear. Then they cried out to the LORD. The priests blew their trumpets and the men of Judah raised the battle cry. At the sound of their battle cry, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. The Israelites fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hands. 2 CHRONICLES 13:14-16
Because of this clear statement of God’s sovereignty in war, we as Christians should put our trust in God, not in our nation’s armaments. As Psalm 20:7 says, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” Or as another psalm says,
No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.
A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength it cannot save.
PSALM 33:16-17
To restate those truths from Psalms in modern-day language we could say, “Some trust in nuclear warheads and large armies, but we trust in God, because no country is saved by the size of its military forces or the power of its military armament. Instead, victory comes from God.”
The debate between politicians over the size of our nuclear arsenal and the number of aircraft carriers and submarines our navy should have is, in a sense, a futile debate. Both sides are ultimately trusting in military muscle; they only differ in how much is necessary. The Christian, however, must trust in God, not military might of any size.
This does not mean our country should discharge all our military personnel and mothball our ships and tanks. It means we should not trust in them. The psalmist said, “I do not trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory” (Psalm 44:6). He did not trust in his bow or sword but neither did he discard them. He recognized that an army must fight but that God gives the victory in warfare to whomever He wills.
In Isaiah 5, at the end of a series of woes pronounced upon wicked Judah, the prophet predicts the forthcoming invasion of the Assyrian army, at the response to God’s summoning “whistle” (verse 26). Isaiah describes the battle ready condition of this army in such terms as,
They come,
swiftly and speedily!
Not one of them grows tired or stumbles,
not one slumbers or sleeps.
ISAIAH 5:26-27
Then he adds a rather amazing statement, “Not a sandal thong is broken” (verse 27). In modern-day language we would say, “Not a single shoelace [of any soldier] is broken.”
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. Nothing is left to chance, not even the brokenness of a sandal thong or shoelace. We have all heard the old statement, “For want of a nail, the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe, the horse was lost; for want of a horse, the rider was lost; for want of a rider, the battle was lost.” Details are important, and God is just as sovereign over the details as He is over the so-called “big picture.” In Isaiah 5, the prophet assures us that, in the sovereignty of God over the battlefield, the missing nail that ultimately leads to defeat will not be lost. Victory belongs to the Lord and to the nation He chooses.
Because of God’s sovereignty in warfare, we can also take courage regarding the threat of a nuclear holocaust. Such a disaster cannot happen apart from the sovereign will of God. Obviously none of us knows what the sovereign will of God is in this matter, so we cannot rule out the possibility of widespread nuclear destruction. What we can rule out is the possibility of that happening purely by the uncontrolled hand of some madman or some careless military officer. God controls the hand of both the mad tyrant and the careless officer.
As Christians we should not fall prey to the nuclear anxiety of our day. Rather we should trust in the sovereign control of God and pray to Him for protection from a possible holocaust.
This whole subject of God’s sovereignty in warfare is a tricky business because of our innate tendency to think our country is always right. We assume that God will bless our side with victory. The Bible does not support such a view. 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.
God used the Assyrian army to punish Judah, calling Assyria, “the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath,” and saying, “I send him against a godless nation, I dispatch him against a people who anger me” (Isaiah 10:5-6). God states very clearly that He is sending Assyria against Judah; one ungodly nation against another. Further, the Scripture is very clear that the king of Assyria did not consider himself as God’s agent of punishment:
But [God’s will] is not what [the king of Assyria] intends,
this is not what he has in mind;
his purpose is to destroy,
to put an end to many nations.
ISAIAH 10:7
Therefore, God said, “When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, ‘I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes. For he says: “By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, because I have understanding”’” (Isaiah 10:12-13).
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. As God looks down upon the nations that accomplish His purpose, even while rebelling against Him, He sees them as nothing more than His instruments. He says:
Does the ax raise itself above him who swings it,
or the saw boast against him who uses it?
As if a rod were to wield him who lifts it up,
or a club brandish him who is not wood!
ISAIAH 10:15
These mighty nations, even those of our own contemporary time, are nothing more than the ax or the saw in the hand of God. They may boast of their might and power, but that power is only as effective as God sovereignly determines.
We see that God is firmly in control of history and of the nations and rulers that, from our human point of view, determine history. God establishes governments, determines who will govern and for how long, rules in the councils of state, causes officials to make both wise and foolish decisions, grants victory or defeat in war, and uses ungodly nations to carry out His will.
As suggested by our Iranian brother, history is like a giant piece of fabric with very intricate and complex patterns. During the limited span of our lifetimes we see only a tiny fraction of the pattern. Furthermore, as has been observed by others, we see the pattern from the underside. The underside of a weaving usually makes no sense. Even the upper side makes little sense if we view just a tiny piece. Only God sees the upper side, and only He sees the entire fabric with its complete pattern. Therefore, we must trust Him to work out all the details of history to His glory, knowing that His glory and our good are bound up together.
ENLARGING OUR HORIZONS
Most of us as Christians tend to think of the sovereignty of God only in terms of its immediate effect upon us, or our families or friends. We’re not too interested in the sovereignty of God over the nations and over history unless we are consciously and personally affected by that history. We are only vaguely interested in the political turmoil and wars of distant nations unless, for example, a missionary friend of ours can’t get an entrance visa to his country of ministry.
But we must remember that God promised to Abraham and to his seed that all nations will be blessed through Christ (see Genesis 12:3; 22:18; Galatians 3:8). Someday that promise will be fulfilled for, as recorded in Revelation 7:9, John saw “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.” God has a plan to redeem people from all nations and to bless all nations through Christ.
However, as we look around the world today what do we see? We see over one-half of the world’s population living in countries whose governments are hostile to the gospel, where missionaries are not allowed, and where national Christians are severely hindered from proclaiming Christ. How do we trust God for the fulfillment of His promises when the current events and conditions of the day seem so directly contrary to their fulfillment?
We can take a lesson from the example of Daniel. Daniel understood from the Scriptures in the prophecy of Jeremiah that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years, and realizing that seventy years was almost complete, Daniel set himself to pray (see Daniel 9). He recognized that his people were in exile because of their sins, and he recognized that a sovereign God, and only a sovereign God, could restore them from their exile. He trusted in the sovereignty and faithfulness of God, therefore he prayed. We might say he pleaded God’s promise to Jeremiah. Neither God’s sovereignty nor His promise to restore the exiles caused Daniel to lapse into a fatalistic, do-nothing attitude.
Daniel realized that God’s sovereignty and God’s promise were intended to stimulate him to pray. Because God is sovereign, He is able to answer. Because He is faithful to His promises, He will answer. Daniel prayed and God answered. As we saw in chapter 4, God moved the heart of the Persian king to permit and even encourage all the exiles who wanted to, to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple.
As we look at the condition of the world today, so utterly hostile to the gospel, we must also look at the sovereignty of God and at His promises. He has promised to redeem people from every nation, and He has commanded us to make disciples of all nations. We must, then, trust God by praying. Some will go to those nations as God opens doors, but all of us must pray. We must learn to trust God, not only in the adverse circumstances of our individual lives, but also in the adverse circumstances of the church as a whole. We must learn to trust God for the spread of the gospel, even in those areas where it is severely restricted.
God is sovereign over the nations. He is sovereign over the officials of our own government in all their actions as they affect us, directly or indirectly. He is sovereign over the officials of government in lands where our brothers and sisters in Christ suffer for their faith in Him. And He is sovereign over the nations where every attempt is made to stamp out true Christianity. In all of these areas, we can and must trust God.