Isa
40:15-17 (ESV) Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
and are
accounted as the dust on the scales;
behold,
he takes up the coastlands like fine dust.
16
Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,
nor are
its beasts enough for a burnt offering.
17 All the nations are as nothing before him,
they
are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
NOTE: This is an
often quoted verse or set of verses. We rightly understand it to mean that God
is sovereign over the nations. They do not surprise him. He raises them up and
pulls them down. He uses them to his end. But, he DOES NOT cause evil or generate
evil actions from them. He uses those actions to bring about his plan, but he
is not the cause. Men and nations are free to choose their own course of
action. His wisdom and greatness of knowledge allows him to masterfully weave
them into his plan with little direct influence. How does he do that? Do we
really think we could understand it? I can think of human ways to do it, but I
have no true idea how God does it. He certainly influences people through his
word, through his Spirit opening their eyes, through the removal of his
protection from Satan (see Job)--so, there are many ways for him to indirectly
control the nations. And sometimes, as in the case of Isa 36-39, he intervenes
directly. What is the application? We should not worry about what nations do.
God understands their course. They do not affect his plan. He long ago
understood how evil men and evil nations would evolve. He has a plan, we need
not fear.
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