Category Archives: sovereignty of God

Absolute Power – Daniel 2

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“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
    to whom belong wisdom and might.
He changes times and seasons;
    he removes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
    and knowledge to those who have
    understanding;
he reveals deep and hidden things;
    he knows what is in the darkness,
    and the light dwells with him
(Daniel 2:20-22, ESV).

In Daniel 1 the king of Babylon invaded Judah and besieged Jerusalem. Many people from the nobility and royal family of Judah were exiled to Babylon. Daniel and three of his friends were among the exiles. As youths they were to be educated in the Chaldean language and culture. The faithfulness of Daniel and his friends is tested and with God’s favor upon them they are proven to have greater understanding and knowledge than all the Chaldean wise men in Nebuchadnezzar’s court.

In Daniel 2 King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and wanted the wise men of his court to interpret it. The thing is, he didn’t want them just to interpret the dream; he wanted them to reveal what the dream was and then interpret it.

King Nebuchadnezzar wasn’t exactly an enlightened ruler and when his wise men couldn’t tell him the dream, he was furious and decreed for them all to be executed. Apparently, Daniel and his friends were at the top of the kill list. When the captain of the king’s guard came to take them to be executed, Daniel requested a meeting with the king to tell him he could interpret the dream.

Daniel told his friends about King Nebuchadnezzar’s decree and they all prayed and asked for God’s help in knowing and interpreting the dream to Nebuchadnezzar. And, God revealed the dream and its interpretation in a night vision to Daniel! In response to revealing Nebuchadnezzar’s dream to him, Daniel proclaimed the song of praise celebrating God’s power, wisdom, and control over history in vs. 20-22.

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Role Player – Genesis 20-21:6

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“The Lord came to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time God had told him” (Genesis 21:1-2, CSB).

In basketball not every great player is a starter. You have players who come off the bench who are great defensive players, great rebounders, great ball-handlers or great 3-point shooters. These players may not be the stars of the team but you can’t be a championship team without great role players.

After the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Genesis returned to the story of Abraham. Genesis 20 is devoted to God’s rescue of Abraham’s wife, Sarah, from the harem of King Abimilech.

Abraham had continued his travels around the Promised Land and settled for a while in the region of the Negev. The Negev is a desert region in southern Israel. Abraham obviously had a large entourage and a large number of flocks so when he entered the region he likely requested permission from the king to encamp there.

In making his request Abraham told King Abimelech that Sarah was his sister, not his wife. While it was true that Sarah was Abraham’s half-sister (Genesis 20:12), Abraham omitted the part that she was also his wife. Abimilech took Sarah into his household (or harem) as one of his wives, possibly to seal the deal.

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What Is God Like? Rugged Determination – Ezekiel 1

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“As I looked at the creatures, suddenly there was a wheel on the earth corresponding to all four faces of the creatures. The appearance and composition of the wheels were like sparkling topaz. There was one shape for all four of them, as if one wheel were inside another. When they moved in any of the four directions, they moved without swerving. Their rims were tall and terrifying, because all four of them were filled with eyes all around. When the creatures moved, the wheels moved next to them. Whenever the creatures rose above the earth, the wheels also rose up. Wherever the wind would appear to go, the wind would make them go there too. The wheels rose up beside them, because the spirit of the creatures was in the wheels. When they moved, the wheels moved; when they stood still, the wheels stood still; and when they rose above the earth, the wheels rose up along with them, because the spirit of the creatures was in the wheels” (Ezekiel 1:15-21, CEB).

What if God threw open the gates of heaven and let you see what He was doing. How would you describe it? The words or analogies you would use to describe it would be limited by your own personal experiences and understanding. Maybe you would use unusual descriptions of what you’re familiar with to describe what you’re not familiar with.

And, could you take it all in at once? Perhaps you would focus on a few aspects of the scene that stand out to you the most.

That’s what happened to the prophet Ezekiel when he got a glimpse of what God was doing. His description is rather perplexing. It almost seems like he’s describing a UFO sighting or a scene from a Star Wars movie with ancient terminology!

Ezekiel saw something that looked like a tornado or whirlwind moving closer to him. As the storm moved closer he was able to observe more precise details and features of what he saw.

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The Crooked Path – Ecclesiastes 7:13-14

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“Consider God’s work! Who can straighten what God has made crooked? When times are good, enjoy the good; when times are bad, consider: God has made the former as well as the latter so that people can’t discover anything that will come to be after them” (Ecclesiastes 7:13-14, CEB).

How great is God’s work in His Creation. God knows exactly how He has made us and what we need to live fulfilling lives.

These verses notify us that although God is sovereign, our lives aren’t predetermined. Good times and bad times are both part of life. They make life a crooked path.

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The Wrestling Match – Genesis 32:27-31

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“He said to Jacob, ‘What’s your name?’ and he said, ‘Jacob.’ Then he said, ‘Your name won’t be Jacob any longer, but Israel, because you struggled with God and with men and won.’ Jacob also asked and said, ‘Tell me your name.’ But he said, ‘Why do you ask for my name?’ and he blessed Jacob there. Jacob named the place Peniel, ‘because I’ve seen God face-to-face, and my life has been saved.’ The sun rose as Jacob passed Penuel, limping because of his thigh” (Genesis 32:27-31,CEB).

I once heard it preached that choosing to believe Jesus was the Son of God and died for our sins so we could have eternal life was more plausible than choosing not to believe.  Because, if you believed and got to the end of your life and it wasn’t true, you still lived a good life with no regrets. But, if you didn’t believe and it was true then you risked a dreadful eternity.

In other words, it is more logical (and eternally safe) to believe in God than not to believe. And, we get to choose…

While our modern minds try to analyze everything, even faith in God, and make it logical and rational and human-centric, the biblical pattern is actually something quite different: God chooses us and we choose whether to accept His challenge or not.

And, it’s not like a debate.

It’s more like a wrestling match!

In fact, struggling with God is the normal Christian life.

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Casting Crowns – Revelation 4:9-11

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Casting Crowns“The twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” (Revelation 4:9-11, ESV).

The twenty-four elders may represent the orders of priests serving in the Old Testament temple or they may symbolize the unity of God’s people as encompassing the twelve tribes of Old Testament Israel and the twelve apostles of the New Testament church–like the new Jerusalem’s twelve gates and twelve foundations in Revelation 21. Their thrones resemble those of God’s heavenly court in Daniel 7.

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Hold On! Part 2 – Hebrews 12:28-29

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HoldOn“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us hold on to grace. By it, we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:28-29, HCSB).

In Part 1 of this meditation on grace, we saw how the Hebrews writer assembled an argument showing that God’s grace demonstrated to us through Christ is superior to the Old Testament law and temple worship because Christ was its culmination.

So, the new covenant is superior to the old because now we enter into God’s presence through a relationship or covenant based on receiving His grace through Christ (what the Hebrews writer called approaching Mt. Zion), not on adherence to the law (what the Hebrews writer called approaching Mt. Sinai).

When we receive God’s grace through believing in Christ as our Savior, we must hold on to it! And then, the grace of God becomes the source of our strength for serving God and His Kingdom.

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Resident Evil – 2 Kings 14:23-27

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resident-evil-logo“Jeroboam II, the son of Jehoash, began to rule over Israel in the fifteenth year of King Amaziah’s reign in Judah. Jeroboam reigned in Samaria forty-one years. He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight…Jeroboam II recovered the territories of Israel between Lebo-hamath and the Dead Sea, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had promised through Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath-hepher. For the Lord saw the bitter suffering of everyone in Israel, and that there was no one in Israel, slave or free, to help them. And because the Lord had not said he would blot out the name of Israel completely, he used Jeroboam II, the son of Jehoash, to save them.” (Kings 14:23-27, NLT).

Jeroboam II ruled over the northern kingdom of Israel from 793 – 753 BC. He perpetuated the apostate religion established by Jeroboam I, the first king of Israel.

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Eyes Wide Open – Isaiah 26:12-13

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Eyes-Wide-Open“Lord, you will grant us peace; all we have accomplished is really from you. O Lord our God, others have ruled us, but you alone are the one we worship” (Isaiah 26:12-13, NLT).

Ultimate control and supreme authority over the universe emanate from the throne room of God, the unseen Kingdom of Heaven where God resides and rules over the universe.

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Note to Myself: God Is in Charge – Deuteronomy 32:8-9

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thumbtack“When the Most High assigned lands to the nations, when he divided up the human race, he established the boundaries of the peoples according to the number in his heavenly court. For the people of Israel belong to the Lord; Jacob is his special possession” (Deuteronomy 32:8-9, NLT).

These verses describe God’s sovereignty over His created order. They are part of a song that Moses composed under divine inspiration as a witness to God’s covenant with Israel (see 31:19-22).

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