Author:
Hillbilly
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Date Posted: 17:24:12 01/18/11 Tue
There are several factors at work in the rise and fall of nations. One important factor is that God uses nations to punish other nations. He did often with Israel.
Amos 6:14 But, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith the LORD the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you from the entering in of Hemath unto the river of the wilderness.
Habakkuk 1:6 For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs.
Isaiah 10:5-6 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
There is also a time factor in God's dealings with nations and people.
Galatians 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Romans 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Then we have instances in individuals who are seeming "on God's list". Pharaoh is a prime example. Many times in the Book of Exodus it is written that God hardened Pharaoh's heart. The word does not necessarily carry the meaning of turning his heart against God but it does carry the meaning of strengthening what was already there.
AV - strong 48, repair 47, hold 37, strengthened 28, strengthen 14, harden 13, prevail 10, encourage 9, take 9, courage 8, caught 5, stronger 5, hold 5, misc 52; 290
One way that God does this is simply to remove any counter force that would alter what was already there. Hezekiah was an example of this (as well as Pharaoh). 2 Chronicles 32:31 Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.
In reading the passage you might think that God didn't know Hezekiah's heart before hand and wanted to test him to find out what he would do. God knew his heart and the removing of His influence through the Spirit was so that Hezekiah might know his own heart.
Psalm 139:1-3 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. 2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. 3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
When looking at these verses we can see that God knows what is going on and in the case of nations he chooses those nations he will use and builds them up for the task at hand.
I believe the U.S. is a prime example and as we fall God has someone to humble us.
God foretells who He will use many years in advance and this shows the omniscience of God as well as His sovereignty.
In His sovereignty, for His own purpose, He uses people and nations to punish other people and nations. He also, in the case of Job, for example, allows Satan at us to reveal to ourselves and others what we are made of. In order for steel to be tempered it must go through the fire. An untempered sword is of little use in a fight and we are in a spiritual battle that will last our entire lifetime. We may think it hard but God knows it's necessary.
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