“A Nation Under God: The God Who Rules”
Jer. 10:1-16 & 18:1-10
It was so easy for Israel to say she was a nation ruled by God. But just who was this God? What was He like? Similarly it’s easy for us to debate whether or not America is a nation under God; but just who is this God? What is He like? Only when we understand who God is can we understand why He rules and why we should submit to Him. So God spoke through Jeremiah to remind His people who He is so they would submit to Him.
We get a glimpse of the God who rules in the two portions of Jeremiah we just read. We learn, first of all, that the God who rules is THE CREATOR. (12-13): “But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out heavens by his understanding. When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.”
He is the God who, in the beginning, said “Let there be…” and birthed a world. The word used in Genesis 1 for God is ‘Elohim’. It means THE ALMIGHTY GOD, the God of all might and strength, the Strong and Mighty, the omnipotent, the One with supreme power and intelligence, the One who is always there, the Faithful God of the Ages. Keep in mind that the Israelites knew God in an intimate way before they knew the words of Genesis 1. They had a history with God that enabled them to accept these words without question. Their history with God was the main spark that anchored their belief in creation by God. Their whole life had centered on God’s calling them forth from slavery in Egypt. They interpreted all of their life in the light of this great act. They, in fact, saw all the events of life as related to activity of God. Failures and defeats were signs that God was angry with and punishing them; successes and victories were signs that God was blessing them. The Psalmist summarized it (33:6-9): “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.”
Rabbi Daniel Lapin wrote a wonderful book a few years ago in which he postulated that the great divide in America is over the issue of “Where do we come from?” Were we created by God or are we the result of evolution? How one answers the question determines what one believes and how one lives. So it’s important to note that the Bible does not argue that the heavens and earth have a Creator; it declares that God created the heavens and the earth. THE BIBLE IS PRIMARILY RELIGIOUS, NOT SCIENTIFIC; GOD’S EXISTENCE AND POWER ARE NOT PROVED, BUT RATHER PERCEIVED. Listen to the testimony of Scripture: (Ps. 19:1) “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” (Ps. 97:6) “The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.” (Rom. 1:20) “For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” (Acts 14:17) “Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”
The Bible states it even more clearly and definitively in Col 1:15-18. In speaking of Jesus Paul wrote, “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities ...” Jesus once lived in a workshop greater than the one in Nazareth! What we call the laws of science are really divine laws. Whatever scientists discover and state as true is only something already in existence; it’s a principle established by God. Science, for example, didn’t create gravity, it only discovered it. Science cannot create out of nothing. Professor Edward Conklin wrote that the probability of life originating from accident is comparable to the probability of the Unabridged Dictionary resulting from an explosion in a printing factory.
Belief in God as the Creator is important because AS THE CREATOR HE IS THE OWNER AND AS THE OWNER HE HAS THE RIGHTFUL AUTHORITY to do at least two things. First, HE HAS THE RIGHT TO MAKE THE RULES. Last week we considered righteousness and said that righteousness can only exist if there is some standard or norm which determines what is right and wrong. As the owner, God has that right. Our founding fathers had it right when they continually asserted that our laws and government needed to be based upon and flow out of the laws of God. After all, as the creator God alone knows how to best live in His creation.
Second, God has THE AUTHORITY TO ASSIGN RIGHTS. Again, our founding fathers had it right. In the Declaration of Independence, they stated, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights…” To leave out the phrase “by their Creator”, as our President has done on more than one occasion, is to assign the giving of rights to someone other than God. But our rights do not come from the government – if they did they could always be taken away and changed. The only way for rights to be unalienable is to have them by creation, by divine right; they must be an inherent part of us. If there is no creator, there are no unalienable rights. Therefore any discussion of rights must be concerned with God. Thomas Jefferson wrote, “God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that His justice cannot sleep forever.” (1) The God who rules is the Almighty God who has created the world and who has the authority to make the rules and assign our rights. A nation that ignores this is a nation, as we see in the book of Judges, where everyone does what is right in his own eyes, and is therefore in chaos.
According to Jeremiah the God who rules is also SOVEREIGN. (3-6) “For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter. Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good.” No one is like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is mighty in power.” WE EITHER DEPEND UPON POWERLESS GODS OF OUR OWN MAKING OR UPON THE ALL-POWERFUL GOD WHO RULES. Ps. 33 affirms it (10-11): “The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of peoples. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart throughout all generations.” No wonder Jeremiah cried out (7) “Who should not revere you, O King of the nations? This is your due.”
Even the pagan kings of Daniel’s day understood. (Dl. 4:34-35) “At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. 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?”” (6:25-27) “Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations and men of every language throughout the land: “May you prosper greatly! “I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. “For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end. He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.””
As the Sovereign Ruler GOD WILL NOT TOLERATE OPPOSITION AND REBELLION; HE WILL EXECUTE JUSTICE. Jeremiah the eighteenth chapter pictures this truth for Jeremiah. He was disappointed that his message and ministry were not being followed by Judah. He felt he had done all he could with Judah and his heart was broken that she was still as wayward as ever. So God spoke to Jeremiah and told him to go to the potter’s house. When he did so, he observed the master potter at work. It was a fascinating experience – two wheels connected by an axle. The potter rotates and controls the speed of the wheel with his foot and molds the clay with his hands. So adept was the potter that beautiful pottery was formed as if by magic. Mesmerized by what he saw Jeremiah was jolted back to reality when the potter felt a flaw in the clay and stopped his work. Jeremiah anticipated he would throw out the clay and start with a fresh batch. But he was fascinated to discover the potter simply took the same clay and started over again to form a different pot. Then God spoke again to Jeremiah: “"O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.”
In that moment of divine communication Jeremiah gained some insights that have tremendous implications for us as well. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand.” The clay does not shape itself – its final shape is entirely up to the potter. The design, the working, and the sculpturing are all in His hands and under His control. The life of the clay is in His hands. There is no greater power than this creative control over life. Even when the flaw appeared in the clay, still the potter took control; the clay still became a pot. So GOD WILL HAVE HIS WAY WITH NATIONS. God puts them on His divine wheel and never lets up – He is continually molding, shaping, sculpturing. Think about this: no matter how independent nations think they are, no matter how much control they think they have over their destinies, the truth is they are clay. They are being shaped, molded, controlled by hands other than theirs. They are being formed by God’s hands.
We also learn, however, that NATIONS CAN INFLUENCE GOD’S WAYS. Clay doesn’t always do what the potter wants it to! Just a small speck of sand, or an imperfection in the clay can destroy the original pot. Clay that is marred alters the work of the potter. Listen again to God’s explanation to Jeremiah (7-10): “If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.” A nations’ response to God influences God ways. A nation under God recognizes God’s sovereignty and seeks to cooperate with God.
The God who rules is also A MASTER PLANNER. While the prophets had only a partial picture and an incomplete understanding of God’s plan for the ages, the apostle Paul - because of the death and resurrection of Jesus - had keener insight. To the Church at Ephesus he wrote (Eph. 1:9-10) “And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment —to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.” GOD’S PLAN IS TO BRING EVERYTHING TOGETHER UNDER JESUS. In Colossians Paul states (1:16) - “all things were created by him (Jesus) and for him.” In other words, all creation and all history flows from and points to Jesus! Jesus is the one man who split history into before and after. Every time we write a letter or date a check we acknowledge the focal point of history - we write 2012, meaning 2012 AD - Anno Domine – “in the year of our Lord,” in the period dominated by and controlled by our Lord. Many other men have, throughout history, tried to fix a date upon which to base calendars - and none have survived. History has acknowledged its own focal point - and it is Jesus Christ! Remember the old hymn: “Of the Father’s love begotten Ere the worlds began to be, He is Alpha, He is Omega, He’s the source, the ending He, Of the things that are, that have been, And that future years shall see, Evermore and evermore.” JESUS NOT ONLY CREATED ALL THINGS, HE IS THE GOAL OF ALL THINGS; JESUS IS NOT ONLY THE FOCAL POINT OF HISTORY, HE IS THE GOAL OF HISTORY. Imagine - the hands which hold history are nail scarred; the heart from which history beats is love-filled; the mind which plans history is grace-filled.
Passengers on a plane at Detroit Metropolitan Airport were waiting to take off for the Tri-City Airport, which serves Saginaw, Bay City, and Midland. Over the intercom, the flight attendant welcomed the passengers and stated that the destination would be Midland. Concerned remarks from passengers alerted her to her omission so she tried a second announcement, this time saying they would land in Tri-City and Bay City. People now began to chuckle, realizing her frustration. In her third attempt she mentioned only Saginaw; now laughter broke out. At that point a very authoritative voice came over the intercom: “I’m your pilot, folks. And don’t worry - I know where we’re going!” So our Sovereign Creator holds the destiny and direction of nations in His hands! He knows where the plane of history is going. A nation under God follows Him.
Hear again the words of the Psalmist (33:12-22):“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance. From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth—he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do. No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you.”
Let us now focus that hope as we prepare to gather around the Table of our Lord. Let us pray.
(1) Panel Three on the Jefferson Memorial in WA DC.
