Sovereign Over the Nations

“I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are on the ground, by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and have given it to whom it seemed proper to Me. And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant; and the beasts of the field I have also given him to serve him. So all nations shall serve him and his son and his son’s son, until the time of his land comes; and then many nations and great kings shall make him serve them. And it shall be, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish, says the Lord, with the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand… But the nations that bring their necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let them remain in their own land, says the Lord, and they shall till it and dwell in it.” Jeremiah 27:5-8, 11

In this passage in Jeremiah, God is speaking to five Gentle kings that had come to Jerusalem, perhaps to form an alliance with Israel against Babylon. Babylon was a wicked, idol worshipping country and would be judged later for its sins. However, at this time it was God’s servant to carry out his judgement on these nations until later He submitted Babylon to them and/or other nations in judgement. God’s sovereignty is demonstrated in that he gives the earth and man and beasts to whom he wills. He had determined to give these lands to Babylon and these nations had the choice of submitting to the captivity or not. If not, increased punishments in the form of the sword, famine and pestilence would come upon on them. If they accepted the will of God then they could remain in their land and have relative peace.

It struck me that there is a real application to our day. Although with Trump as President there has been some reprieve for the Christian way, almost certainly that will revert and even worse leaders than in the past will gain power. Persecution for Christians along with support of evil conduct will follow. God has given America every chance to repent and there has been a start. Possibly it will continue and expand and revival will come and the day of punishment will be postponed. But if America continues down its godless road of abortions, transgender surgeries, gay marriage, support of criminals of every kind and other reprobate activities, coming judgement is sure. When this occurs Christians will need to submit to God’s will and the government authorities He places over us and obey all that does not involve asking us to perform clear wrongs. At the same time we should speak out boldly in support of godly values and against sin and accept whatever punishment comes our way. God is sovereign and he will give control of our government to whoever He wills and He will judge their wicked actions in due course. Our job as Christians will be the same as always, to stand firm in the faith, courageous and strong (I Corinthians 16:13-14) and be of good cheer because Christ has overcome the world (John 16:33).