Thursday, August 19, 2010

God's Sovereignty in History


HISTORY IS THE RECORD OF THE UNFOLDING OF GOD'S SOVEREIGN PLAN FOR THE AGES.

The LORD has established His throne in the heavens; and His sovereignty rules over all. Psalm 103: 19

But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases. Psalm 115:3
 

For I know that the LORD is great, And that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the LORD pleases, He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps. Psalm 135: 5-6

To be sovereign is to possess supreme power and authority so that one is in complete control and can accomplish whatever he pleases. The dictionaries tell us that sovereign means chief or highest, supreme in power, superior in position, independent of and unlimited by anyone else.

Christians are to view all things from God's perspective. A Christian view of history applies the truth of the Bible to the record of the past. History is not governed by evil men or the devil, it is ruled by God Almighty. The Bible teaches us that all things have been predestined by the all-wise God who works all things together according to His purpose.


God is sovereign and active in history, working out His eternal plan; raising up some men and nations and casting down others. God rules according to His Word. He has promised to honor those who honor Him and to curse those who rebel against Him (I Samuel 2:30). No kingdom or nation can prosper which despises God. Proverbs 14:34 reminds us that this is true for every nation in every age, "Righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people". God is sovereign over secular governments. Throughout the history of Israel, God used the pagan nations to accomplish His purposes. God used Egypt to preserve and proliferate the nation Israel for 400 years before they were to possess the Promised Land. God used the hard-hearted Pharaoh to display His greatness and power. He used the surrounding nations to chasten Israel when the nation fell into sin and disobedience. He used the nations of Assyria and Babylon to lead the Jews into captivity. Nebuchadnezzar was even called God’s “servant”. The sacking of Judah and Jerusalem was no fluke of history; it was no mere fate. It was the outworking of the plan and purpose of the sovereign God of Israel to achieve His purposes, to fulfill His promises and prophecies.



* Excerpts from an article by Steve Wilkins which originally appeared in the publication Counsel of Chalcedon .

22 comments:

  1. Hello class. History HW: write 2-3 sentences about what you learned fom this article. - Mrs. Jordan

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  2. God controls everything that happens in history. Things that are so bad may happen that people would say, "If there was a God, he would not allow this to happen." But everything that happens is part of God's soverign plan. - Donald Livingston

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  3. God let the children of Israel wander in the wilderness for forty years to humble them. Everything that happens every day and everyone in the world is in Gods hands and nothing can hide from Him.

    -Emily R. Hier

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  4. The Bible says whom the Lord loveth He chaseneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. God used other nations to chasen Israel. It was all part of God's plan for Egypt to rule over Israel for many years before He led them to the Promised Land. - Joel Frost

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  5. God has already planned what has happened, is happening, and will happen in History. The Bible says that not even a sparrow falls to the ground without Him knowing it. God's sovereignty has been in History from the beginning of the world to this present time. - Ann Marie Michaelis

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  6. Dr. Martin Luther writes that God is omnipotent. this has been proved throught History as God showed His sovereignty by punishing those who hated and disobeyed Him, and blessing those who obeyed and honored Him. God is capable of anything, and we are indeed thankful that He is a merciful God.
    -Laura Swanzy

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  7. Anonymous said...
    God will plan things 400 year ahead of time,such egypt preserving the nition isral. God will use hard heart to show his power and greatness. George

    September 22, 2010 5:49 PM

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  8. He has promised to honor those who honor Him and to curse those who rebel against Him (I Samuel 2:30). When Israel honored God, He would honor them, but when they despised God He would send stronger nations to make them cry out to Him.-Joseph Martinez

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  9. The LORD has established His throne in the heavens; and His sovereignty rules over all. Psalm 103:19. God is sovereign over the nations of this world, every thing that happens in history is done to Gods almighty plan.God uses many people to show his greatness.He uses People such as Nebuchadnezzar, Pharaoh, Darius, and many more.He is Lord over all.-Judah Martinez

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  10. No matter how bad things may seem at the time, God is always watching and has a plan for them. We may only see what is happening right now, but God can see the whole picture and has control over how it will all work out, whether for good or bad.-Lauryn Caputo

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  11. In the Bible it says "Jesus died for the foundations of the world" meaning his death was before the world was created. It was no mistake that God mest up Jesus's death and that He needed a plan B. He know everything before and after they happen he is Eternal,Unchangable, Omnipotent,Omniscient, and Omnipresent.

    -Evan Kirk-

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  12. God always has a plan for everything. God had a plan for even Nebuchadnezzar who thought that he had built Babylon, but when he was done being a beast he knew that God was really the Lord. Everything that ever happened in history was God's plan.

    John O

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  13. Things that happen aren't fate. It is God's plan from the beginning. God works in mysterious ways like using a hard-hearted man(Pharoh)to fulfill his purpose. Sometimes you might only see the bad things are happening but you never know of the blessings that will overtake you, like Deut. 28:2 says.

    *Breia*

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  14. I am glad that God controls everything.
    I don't need to worry.
    I am free to be a servant.

    Jim

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  15. God is very sovrign and he has a plan. It reminded me of Joeph & his brothers of how his brothers ment for evil and God ment for good. So there's no reason we should ever worry. -Leanna

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  16. This article tells me God has a plan for me, right now whether or not I am aware of it. He can use anyone or any nations to acomplish His will such as He did with Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Egypt... He can even use the U.S. to accomplish His wishes. His will for me is to be doing whatever is in front of me with all my heart. Since God has established His throne in me ("But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases." Psalm 115:3), this means I can now serve my neighbors.
    Lenard Caputo

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  17. This article is about what god did, does , and will yet do for us every day . God knew what how the iserlites acted from the beginning of the world .It was gods plan to have the iserlites wander in the wilderness for 40yrs.
    David Hill

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  18. History shows that God is always in control no matter how bad the situation seems to be. We can also be thankful that we have a sovereign God that has a plan for everything.
    Josh

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  19. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. - Romans 8:28

    God has planned everything through out history and has a purpose for everything that He plans. His sovereingty has reigned and will reign forever.

    - Ruth D. Hill

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  20. It's just like that song that we did, "All the Glory Must be to the Lord". God has chosen to use us in his mighty plan, and as was seen with Nebuchadnezzar, once he tried to claim glory for himself, God had to humble him, so he was turned from the highest king in the world, to a beast that ate grass; that is until the Lord caused him to look to repent.

    John W

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  21. This article is about what God did, does , and will yet do for us every day . God knew how the Israelites would act from the beginning .It was Gods plan to have the iserlites wander in the wilderness for 40yrs

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  22. One thing this meant to me was that God controls everything that happens. When I look at things from God's perspective, I see that even things that usually seem evil can work out for good. - Paul W.

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