Tag: boundaries

36. “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?”

 

 

 

Genesis 11:1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

 Acts 17:26    And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,

 Ecclesiastes 11:9    Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

 Psalms 2:1-4    Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,  “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”  He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.

From the confusion of tongues the city received the name Babel, according to divine direction, though without any such intention on the part of those who first gave the name, as a standing memorial of the judgment of God which follows all the ungodly enterprises of the power of the world. (Keil/Delitzsch)

Observe the wisdom and mercy of God, in the methods taken for defeating this undertaking. And the mercy of God in not making the penalty equal to the offence; for he deals not with us according to our sins. The wisdom of God, in fixing upon a sure way to stop these proceedings. If they could not understand one another, they could not help one another; this would take them off from their building. God has various means, and effectual ones, to baffle and defeat the projects of proud men that set themselves against him, and particularly he divides them among themselves. Notwithstanding their union and obstinacy God was above them; for who ever hardened his heart against him, and prospered? Their language was confounded. They left off to build the city. The confusion of their tongues not only unfitted them for helping one another, but they saw the hand of the Lord gone out against them. It is wisdom to leave off that which we see God fights against. God is able to blast and bring to nought all the devices and designs of Babel-builders: there is no wisdom nor counsel against the Lord. The builders departed according to their families, and the tongue they spake, to the countries and places allotted to them. The children of men never did, nor ever will, come all together again, till the great day, when the Son of man shall sit upon the throne of his glory, and all nations shall be gathered before him. (Henry)

The imagination of man can take a person to places of personnel sin or to places of corporate sin (one mind, one purpose). Paul stated that we ought to take every thought that comes into our minds captive. He is saying that we ought to put it in a clear sealed box and then observe it through the lens of godliness, holiness, God-honoring, God-glorifying, and the Word of God, examine it, listen for the whispers of discernment given by the Holy Spirit, and then rightly choose to open the box and put effort into its contents or to discard it, never to think of it or dwell on it again.  You might not be able to stop unholy and sinful thoughts from popping up in your mind, but you surely can decide what is done with them.  How many have fallen headlong into sinful behavior by allowing an unholy sinful thought room in which to dwell in their mind? As we mature in our understanding of God’s Word, capturing thoughts and the use of proper discernment become easier and easier. The thought pops into your mind and you immediately say, “where did that come from?” and then just as fast as it is recognized it is cast out of your mind.  

Be mindful of what thoughts you allow to be resident in your head.

33.x. “He deprives the earth’s leaders of reason and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.…”

 

Deuteronomy 32:7 …Remember the days of old; consider the years long past. Ask your father, and he will tell you, your elders, and they will inform you. When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He divided the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.

Job 12:22   He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into light. He makes nations great and destroys them; He enlarges nations, then disperses them. He deprives the earth’s leaders of reason and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.…

Acts 17:26 From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands.

A large log was swept from the bank of a fast-flowing river and is hurtling through the rapids. (The log is our world.) On the log are thousands of tiny ants, all of whom think they are in control of the log. (We are the ants.) Is anything more absurd than for a tiny ant to think it is in charge of a giant log that is careening on the waves of a raging river? And yet, men and women often think that we can change the outcome of this tumultuous world and bring it safely to what we think is the best outcome. The Bible states the obvious opposite: This world belongs to God, and God alone is able to work out His purposes for the world He created. Don’t let the tumult in our world create fear in your heart. God has been, is, and will remain on the throne ruling His creation. (Jeremiah)

God is Great

“There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours.”

Psalms 86:10  For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God.

Psalms 77:14     You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples.  You with your arm redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph.

Psalms 145:3    Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.  One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.  On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.

Exodus 15:11    “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?

Daniel 6:26    I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end.  He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.”

Acts 2:19     And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;  the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.  And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’  “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—

Psalms 105:5    Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,

I will meditate on your majesty and wondrous works.  When I read this, two approaches to looking at and meditating on seem to happen.  The first is I start remembering various wonders that are recalled in scripture – creation, Noah’s ark, judgement – flood, Abraham and promises made and fulfilled to him, Joseph, Pharaoh, Moses, Splitting the Red Sea, water from a rock, numerous times of God intervening in battles when all seemed lost, numerous times God called out the sin of a nation and performed judgement on them, battle of Jericho, stopping of the  Jordan river, prophets, David and Goliath, manna, Jonna and the whale, John the baptist, Jesus and all of the miracles He performed, death and resurrection of Jesus, sending the Holy Spirit to indwell all who believe.  This list of what has been recorded can go on and on.  The second thing I start to remember is His wonders that I have seen in my life.  Saving me from an explosion, softening my heart and mind and bringing Dawn and I to a place where  we saw the absolute need for salvation, Saving us, guiding us, giving us 4 sons, giving us two daughter-in-laws, so far, blessing us through out our lives together, answering prayers, teaching us, correcting us, revealing to us, confirming to us, speaking to us and using us in ways that are through His leading, putting people into our lives, and making His promises alive in our heart and soul.  Behind all of these there are many more specifics and all are at the hand of God.  No life is wasted when it is placed in the hands of God.  Spend time today thinking of and meditating on His greatness, grace, mercy and love.

Handiwork of God

Psalms 74:16  Yours is the day, yours also the night; you have established the heavenly lights and the sun. You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth; you have made summer and winter.

Psalms 136:7  to him who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures forever;  the sun to rule over the day, for his steadfast love endures forever;  the moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures forever;

Genesis 1:3  And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.  And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.  God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

Genesis 1:14  And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years,  and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so.  And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.  And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,  to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

Psalms 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.  Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.

Psalms 136:3  Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever;   to him who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever;   to him who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever;   to him who spread out the earth above the waters, for his steadfast love endures forever;   to him who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures forever;   the sun to rule over the day, for his steadfast love endures forever;   the moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures forever;

“The heavens declare the glory of God.”  There is so much we take for granted.  We see the sun come up every day and as well the moon and stars, yet we forget the awesome power of God who spoke them into existence.  In Romans it says that  “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”  We chase after so much and so easily turn a blind eye toward the handiwork of God.  I recently heard a man speaking from back in 1975 on the expanse of the galaxies and how many stars are estimated.  We seem to be able to see more and more with the latest technology which shows the expanse of God’s creation.  This same man said it appears as though we are being allowed to come out of a designed permitted ignorance.  There have been so many new discoveries in the last 25 years about the universe we live in.  These discoveries, though new to us, have been there since creation.  It seems as though God is allowing mankind to see more of His creation.  Don’t get lost in the science and discoveries.  Keep grounded in knowing God is the creator of all there is.  Commit to humbly serving, honoring, following and obeying Him.