THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013
Numbers 8:1–9:23
Mark 13:14–37
Psalm 50:1–23
Proverbs 10:29,30
Today’s passages included several mentions of the manifold nature of God’s sovereignty:
1. Over near-term direction of His people: “On the day the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant law, was set up, the cloud covered it. From evening till morning the cloud above the tabernacle looked like fire. That is how it continued to be; the cloud covered it, and at night it looked like fire. Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. At the Lord’s command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. 19 When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites obeyed the Lord’s order and did not set out. 20 Sometimes the cloud was over the tabernacle only a few days; at the Lord’s command they would encamp, and then at his command they would set out. Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening till morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they set out. Whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud lifted, they set out. Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out; but when it lifted, they would set out. At the Lord’s command they encamped, and at the Lord’s command they set out. They obeyed the Lord’s order, in accordance with his command through Moses.” (Numbers 9:15–23)
The Israelites took their cue from God’s revealed will and did not run ahead or lag behind. Many times, we grow anxious to discern God’s yet-to-be-revealed will with regard to our education, our employment, or our relationships. We may even consider that God’s “slowness” in revealing His will has somehow impeded our progress. The broad testimony of Scripture points, however, to a different conclusion: by hungering and thirsting after God’s revealed will (righteousness and His Kingdom purposes), we will find contentment even amidst uncertainty.
I struggle mightily with this lesson, so I do not write these words from a position of strength, but rather vulnerability. Many times, I have sought to know God’s will (facts or circumstances) more than to know Him (intimacy with my loving Heavenly Father). I have frequently mistaken the proper order of priority.
2. Over every created object and being: In Psalm 50, God speaks to the Israelites and reminds them of His sovereignty and their need for Him. He explains: “I have no need of a bull from your stall/ or of goats from your pens,/ for every animal of the forest is mine,/ and the cattle on a thousand hills./ I know every bird in the mountains,/ and the creatures of the field are mine.” (Psalm 50:9–11)
These words call my attention to another promise from Jeremiah 32:17: “Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.” I likewise doubt the completeness of God’s sovereignty over His creation. But these promises and the realities underlying them are 1,000% true.
3. Over every moment of history and all the nations: Jesus speaks of history’s culmination in Mark 13:26,27: “At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.” He further explains that “no one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, no the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.” (32,33)
Psalm 33:10 highlights His sovereignty over history: “The Lord foils the plans of the nations;/ he thwarts the purposes of the peoples./ But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever,/ the purposes of his heart through all generations.”
He may turn the hearts of kings and rulers for his purposes, according to Proverbs 21:1: “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord;/ He turns it wherever He wishes.” (NASB)
In light of His sovereignty, God still reacts to His servants’ prayer and supplication on behalf of the nations. Moses chides the Israelites about this amazing reality: “What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him?” (Deuteronomy 4:7)
God’s sovereignty over history and the nations – and the reality of God’s responsiveness to His people’s prayer -- therefore should stir us to great prayer. We may rejoice in God’s sovereignty and His omnipotent capacity to intervene – for His glory and purposes.
QUESTIONS
1. How have you seen God’s sovereignty at work this week?
2. How may these realities affect the attitudes of your heart?
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