THE LORD SPOKE (December 21)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Micah 4-5

Do you have a hard time following a Jewish God? There is no other! His name is not “Allah”, nor is it “America”. His name is Jehovah (perhaps better pronounced “Yahweh”). He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the God who chose Zion, “to make His name dwell there forever” (Ps. 68:16; 76:2). He is the God who not only chose Israel, but also is in control of the nations.

Both Micah and Isaiah received a nearly identical prophecy at this point:

In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. (Micah 4:1-3; c.f. Isaiah 2:1-4)

Though the Jewish theme is strong in this book (e.g. “Zion” appears 8x in chapters 3-4), so is the international theme. Take note for instance of all the references to the nations (goyim in Hebrew) and the peoples (amim) of the earth just in these two chapters:

Mic. 4:1 - peoples will stream to the Temple
Mic. 4:2 - many nations will come
Mic. 4:3 - He will judge between many peoples...and nations
Mic. 4:5 - the nations may follow their gods, BUT...
Mic. 4:11 - many nations are gathered against you
Mic. 4:13 - you will break to pieces many nations
Mic. 5:7,8 - the remnant of Judah will be in the midst of many peoples
Mic. 5:15 - God will take vengeance on the nations

Whether they acknowledge Him or not, He is both in control now and will direct all the affairs of men in the future. He is the all-powerful Creator and King of the earth.

So, why should you have a hard time following a Jewish God? There is no other!


Proverbs 21

The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord;
He directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.
(Prov. 21:1)

You’ll read that verse differently if you live in a democracy or a dictatorship. It might be harder to trust it if you’re living under an oppressive regime, but it’s no less true. Everything in Scripture confirms that God is sovereign over the affairs of men. All affairs. All men.

Whether or not we can determine God’s purposes is not the question. Gratifying it is to be able to see and understand what He is doing at the moment. But it is not our ability to perceive that determines the virtue or propriety of a series of events. Precisely because He knows all things - He knows the beginning from the end of everything - precisely because of that, He is able to direct the outcome of every series of events.

But have you stopped to think about that? How does He know the outcome of every event? It’s because the event is a certainty; it’s not left up to chance. It has been determined beforehand. Who or what determined it? Certainly not chance, or it wouldn’t be certain! Certainly not someone or something else because then that someone or something would be greater than God. No, God knows the certainty of all things because He has determined all things.

In that light, the heart of the king is a very small thing. Of course (!) God can give it the direction He purposes. Just ask Nebuchadnezzar. He thought he was a king with clout until God humbled him. Nebuchadnezzar concluded:

...that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of man.... His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?” (Dan. 4:32,34-35)