"All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, 'What have You done?'" (Dan 4:35)Nebuchadnezzar was a pagan king who got slapped in the face by God. This king claimed that "no one can ward off His hand." He claimed that we do not have the right to challenge God -- "What have You done?"
I wonder how many of us would claim the same? I mean, how many of us faithful believers? How many of us actually believe that God does whatever He pleases? It seems to be a prevalent perspective that we can limit God by our sin or lack of faith. We seem to believe that if we don't do what we ought, God cannot accomplish what He intends. I am constantly amazed at this notion. Do we really believe that the God of Creation can be limited by His creation? Is that not what Paul warned about when he warned Christians "not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think" (Rom 12:3)? Is that really the God of Scripture? Not that I can see. God's hand is not that short. You can count on it.
5 comments:
Christians like to claim that God can't use you if you aren't being obedient to Him. But I don't see that in Scripture. God has used non-believers to accomplish His will time and again in Scripture. Pharaoh, Balaam, Nebuchadnezzar are just a few that pop to mind. As you (and He) say, His hand is not short. He claims that the heart of the king is like a river in His hands, even the rebellious kings of Israel, the atheistic "kings" of the USSR and China, or the apostate "king" of the current US.
David, I agree. Scripture clearly paints a picture of YHWH using who He will for what He wills, regardless of the degree of obedience of the person in question beforehand.
Stan, It's almost like you are suggesting that YHWH will cause harm to people in order to make His power visible and for His glory. How could a good God possibly do something that clearly contradicts the 21st century progressive opinions about what is good?
Craig, I think it's pretty clear that God is going to have to modify His idea about "good" to comply with our more refined version. And I'm sure He's grateful we figured it out for Him.
Stan, clearly YHWH is going to have to accept the fact that our knowledge of right and wrong has surpassed His and He's going to have to bow to our conclusions. He really needs to understand that His purpose is now to keep us from even the slightest inconvenience or harm.
My husband often uses the phrase, “Your arm’s too short to box with God.” I always take that as another way to say the last part of Dan. 4:35 (“no one can ward off His hand”). (I read online just now that that particular phrasing was coined in a piece of fiction in the 1920s.) Certainly, no mere mortals--either individually or collectively--can thwart God’s will one tiny bit; He is above everything and does as He pleases. As you wrote yesterday, He has the big picture in His mind, and since He also has the omniscience and wisdom, as well as the power, to execute things perfectly, I can trust Him fully in His plan, whatever it may be. Although it may seem that we humans control everything, God always has “the upper hand” (another sports-based idiom). Personally, these days, I am so relieved this is true!
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