God IS Sovereign- Psalms 1-2

Psalms 2:6

“As for me, I have set my King

on Zion, my holy hill.”

God is Sovereign

In Psalm 2 we have the prophetic words of the King of Israel, as well as the King of the Universe, God.   In the above passage we see that God is speaking and declares the HE has “set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”   Zion is Jerusalem and God has “set” the king He wants in authority in Jerusalem.   This verse speaks to the sovereign rule of God over nations; in this case, over Israel.  Note what will be written in a later Psalm:

Psalms 75:7

but it is God who executes judgment,

putting down one and lifting up another.

Note, also, what Daniel recorded:

Daniel 2:21-22

He changes times and seasons;

he removes kings and sets up kings;

he gives wisdom to the wise

and knowledge to those who have understanding;

he reveals deep and hidden things;

he knows what is in the darkness,

and the light dwells with him.

Authority in this world is set by God.  No king, ruler or leader is where they are without God’s approval and God’s appointment.   We can rest in assurance that no matter the system of governance, we can be assured that God is ultimately in charge and God, supremely, works His plans through the systems man believes he has created.   God has “set” His king ... we can rest in this blessed truth.

Note:

Proverbs 20:24 (ESV)

A man's steps are from the LORD;

how then can man understand his way?

Proverbs 21:1 (ESV)

The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD;

he turns it wherever he will.

Lamentations 3:37-39

Who has spoken and it came to pass,

unless the Lord has commanded it?

Is it not from the mouth of the Most High

that good and bad come?

Why should a living man complain,

a man, about the punishment of his sins?

Judges 9:23 (ESV)

And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech,

God’s sovereignty can even prevent movement, plans.

2 Chronicles 11:4 (ESV)

‘Thus says the LORD, You shall not go up or fight against your relatives. Return every man to his home, for this thing is from me.’” So they listened to the word of the LORD and returned and did not go against Jeroboam.

Deuteronomy 32:39 (ESV)

“‘See now that I, even I, am he,

and there is no god beside me;

I kill and I make alive;

I wound and I heal;

and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.

Romans 8:28 (ESV)

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Proverbs 16:33 (ESV)

The lot is cast into the lap,

but its every decision is from the LORD.

Job 42:2 (ESV)

“I know that you can do all things,

and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

Jeremiah 5:20-22 (ESV)

20 Declare this in the house of Jacob;

proclaim it in Judah:

21 “Hear this, O foolish and senseless people,

who have eyes, but see not,

who have ears, but hear not.

22 Do you not fear me? declares the LORD.

Do you not tremble before me?

I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea,

a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass;

though the waves toss, they cannot prevail;

though they roar, they cannot pass over it.

Exodus 4:11 (ESV)

Then the LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?

Generational Education and Change - Joshua 1-5

Joshua 3:11-13 (ESV)

Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan. Now therefore take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe a man. And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.”

Moses has passed and Joshua now leads. He is about to lead the nation into the Promise Land.   But he has to get across the Jordan, that at this time, was overflowing its banks.   Joshua informs this new generation of Israelites about how this is going to work.  At this point, we should remember a couple of things: 

1.  Joshua had this experience himself as a forty year old man, crossing the Red Sea under Moses.  The only two people left in Israel at this time that were over 20 at that time, 40 years later, are Joshua and Caleb.   They each walked through the Red Sea on dry ground.  We are not told how Joshua knew this Jordon crossing was about to happen.  We don’t know if God gave him special revelation about it.  We don’t know if he reasoned it out that God would have to do this miracle for them to get to the Promise Land.  Or, did he ask God to give him this miracle?   Joshua seems to have some military, tactical prowess.  Perhaps he reasoned what God would do and needed to do if he but asked. 

2. Most of the people did not know about this Red Sea experience.  These were new Israelites. Most of them were born in the wilderness.  There were those who were under 20 years old who did experience the Red Sea as young people.  Most would have remembered an experience like this.    God is providing this group a visual that as He was with Moses, so too, He was with Joshua.  For this new generation, born in the wilderness, God is giving them just another great sign of His power and His promises fulfilled. 

This story is a great example of the following:

Psalms 71:17-19 (ESV)

O God, from my youth you have taught me,

and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.

So even to old age and gray hairs,

O God, do not forsake me,

until I proclaim your might to another generation,

your power to all those to come.

Your righteousness, O God,

reaches the high heavens.

You who have done great things,

O God, who is like you?

One generation is to tell the next generation about the power and majesty of God.   

Psalms 145:4-7 (ESV)

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.

They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,

and I will declare your greatness.

They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness

and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

Walk In Light - Genesis 1-3

Genesis 1:3-5 (ESV)

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.

The opening of Genesis begins with the phrase God said mulitple times.  That phrase is always followed by God saw that it was good, or, as above, a combination like that.  When God speaks, it is good.  We ought to rejoice in that aspect of creation.  God speaks and that makes things good.  In the above passage it is the creation of light that makes it good.  Imagine living in permenant darkness.   There was a torture method in war that put an enemy combatant into a dark cell for days, just to exact from them some type of information.  Imagine that on the human condition on a regular basis.  What would happen if we had no light?  Here was a response from AI:

If there were no light, the world would plunge into darkness, photosynthesis would stop, plants and most animals would die, temperatures would plummet, the oceans would freeze, and human civilization would collapse as electricity, communication, and food systems fail, turning Earth into a frozen, uninhabitable wasteland, though some deep-sea life near geothermal vents might survive. 

This is why God created light first.   Without it  we cannot exist.   Nothing He was about to create would exist.   It is interesting that God did not eliminate darkness, He simply gave it boundaries.  It shows God’s ability to take something that, on appearance, had no use, and make it useful for Him.  God can take darkness and use it for His glory.  The boundaries of light and dark give us our days.   The darkness gives us a time to rest and recover.   God designed us this way.  Of course, we are later told this, by Jesus, about mankind and darkness:

John 3:19 (ESV)

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

Jesus is the light of world.  He is the life giving light. Without Jesus light we cannot have life.   I wonder what AI would say about that?   HI (Human Intelligence) does not readily recognize Jesus is the light of the world.  Why? 

2 Corinthians 4:3-4 (ESV)

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

God came to give light to mankind.  He started with light and will end with light:

Revelation 22:5 (ESV)

And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

True Doctrine Prevents Ungodly Living and God’s Judgment - Jude

Jude 1:14-15 (ESV)

It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

Jude is writing about false teachers who have entered into the church and are attempting to lead others astray with their vain and selfish philosophy.  Their false belief system had taught them that the material world (body) was separate from the spiritual world (soul).  Therefore as long as they believed right in their soul they could do whatever they wanted with their body.   Jude uses repetition to emphasize the ungodly nature of this belief.   Jude makes sure the true believers in the church knew that the end of false belief is ungodly living.   Jude wants them to know that judgment is coming upon these false teachers.    To illustrates his point, Jude sites an old prophetic message from the book of Enoch.  The book of Enoch was not included in the cannon of scripture (that is a topic for another day).  But even though the book was not inspired scripture, Jude uses it to illustrate his point.   He is using literature of the day that the readers of his letter would understand.  Paul did the same thing on Mars Hill in Acts 17.    What Jude wants the reader to know is that bad doctrine creates ungodly living that will end in God’s judgment.  That means if you want to correct ungodly living and avoid God’s judgment you have to get back to good doctrine:  The point of his book.  True doctrine corrects false living and prevents God’s judgment.   

Some Will Believe - Some Will Not - Acts 27-28

Acts 28:24-28 (ESV)

And some were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved. And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet:

“‘Go to this people, and say,

“You will indeed hear but never understand,

and you will indeed see but never perceive.”

For this people’s heart has grown dull,

and with their ears they can barely hear,

and their eyes they have closed;

lest they should see with their eyes

and hear with their ears

and understand with their heart

and turn, and I would heal them.’

Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”

Some heard and responded in faith to Paul’s presentation of the Gospel and some did not.  That might be the results of every preacher, teacher, speaker and/or teller of truth could say every time they finished speaking.  This is a hard truth.  This is even harder when you consider the content of the message Paul is telling them in the above passage.  We can tell people stories in an entertaining way and they typically believe them.  The news can paint an actually event with the political twist they want and people will believe it.   We can make up and fabricate a complete lie, tell it with convincing passion and people will believe it.   Yet, Paul speaks the truth about the resurrection of Jesus Christ and some of these Jewish hearers do not respond in faith.  Why?  Because God, the the prophets, prophesied that they would not.  Some would and some wouldn’t.   Remember this is a spiritual battle.  Note what Paul will later write about this very aspect of not responding:

2 Corinthians 4:3-4 (ESV)

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Satan does not want people to see the glory of the gospel.   The combination of man’s hard hearts and Satan’s blinding their eyes equates to what we read above.  God wants to reveal Himself to us, but man and Satan want to close our eyes to see Him.  

He Is Coming - Revelation 18-22

Revelation 22:18-21 (ESV)

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.

These are the last four verses of the Bible.   They come with a warning and a promise.  That is the story of the entire 66 books of Scripture:  Warnings and Promises.   They come with warning that is very clear: Don’t mess with the content of this book (the immediate context is the book of Revelation, but in theme, the entire books of the Bible).   John is telling us that the prophecy found in The Revelation of John are to be both believed and not twisted and denied and messed with.  That is true about any of God’s prophecy, but in specific everything read in this book.  This is not to say we properly understand all the words written in it, however.  There is much debate about a lot of the book.   However, John has just written that the book is not sealed:

Revelation 22:10 (ESV)

And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.

This means it is open for all to see.  Spoiler Alert: God, in this book, is revealing to mankind His entire game plan.  He has no secrets.   This plan ends with the greatest promise anyone could hope for.  Jesus is coming again.   Jesus is coming to rule the new heaven and new earth.   God is in complete control and tells everyone the ending of the story in the ending of the book.  

Our prayer should simply be, a stated throughout the book: Christ is the Coming King - all mankind will see him!

Revelation 1:7-8 (ESV)

BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Rev 3:11

[Indeed] I am coming soon.

Rev 16:15

Indeed, I am coming like a thief.

Rev 22:7

Indeed, I am coming soon.

Rev 22:12

Indeed, I am coming soon

Revelation 22:20 (ESV)

20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!