The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Samuel 10:17-19,
"The Arameans formed their battle lines to meet David and fought against him. But they fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred of their charioteers and forty thousand of their foot soldiers. He also struck down Shobak the commander of their army, and he died there. When all the kings who were vassals of Hadadezer saw that they had been routed by Israel, they made peace with the Israelites and became subject to them."
In these several verses a great truth in life is on display regarding international relationships. Diplomacy can provide for the well being of a nation, but that diplomacy will always be couched in the outcomes of the aggressive use of force.
The Ammonites had spurned a genuine expression of kindness by David and Israel, and greatly humiliated David and all of Israel. As a result war ensued. David and the Israelites defeated the enemy and when the kings who had been subject to Israel's enemy, the Arameans and Ammonites, they "made peace with the Israelites and became subject to them." Verse 19. Note that the diplomacy was couched in the realities of the aggressive use of force by David. Diplomacy is always couched in the realities of the potential aggressive use of force.
It is often recalled that the world is controlled by the aggressive use of force. What this truthful observation is short to recognize, however, is that the aggressive use of force is squarely in the hands of God. It is God who utilizes nations and the relationships they develop to his own ends. When the threat of an aggressive enemy, and its intent to use force imposes itself on others, it produces people who begin to reach out for refuge, for help, for relief. It is in this context the gospel operates with great efficiency.
Perhaps this sounds somewhat bewildering, but it is God who determines the nations that exist and he uses them for his own agenda. Listen to Paul as he speaks to the philosophers at the Areopagus, "From one man he [God] made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us." Acts 17:26-27.
How does God utilize the institution of nations to cause people to "seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him"? We read in Romans 8:20-21, "For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God."
"The Arameans formed their battle lines to meet David and fought against him. But they fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred of their charioteers and forty thousand of their foot soldiers. He also struck down Shobak the commander of their army, and he died there. When all the kings who were vassals of Hadadezer saw that they had been routed by Israel, they made peace with the Israelites and became subject to them."
In these several verses a great truth in life is on display regarding international relationships. Diplomacy can provide for the well being of a nation, but that diplomacy will always be couched in the outcomes of the aggressive use of force.
The Ammonites had spurned a genuine expression of kindness by David and Israel, and greatly humiliated David and all of Israel. As a result war ensued. David and the Israelites defeated the enemy and when the kings who had been subject to Israel's enemy, the Arameans and Ammonites, they "made peace with the Israelites and became subject to them." Verse 19. Note that the diplomacy was couched in the realities of the aggressive use of force by David. Diplomacy is always couched in the realities of the potential aggressive use of force.
It is often recalled that the world is controlled by the aggressive use of force. What this truthful observation is short to recognize, however, is that the aggressive use of force is squarely in the hands of God. It is God who utilizes nations and the relationships they develop to his own ends. When the threat of an aggressive enemy, and its intent to use force imposes itself on others, it produces people who begin to reach out for refuge, for help, for relief. It is in this context the gospel operates with great efficiency.
Perhaps this sounds somewhat bewildering, but it is God who determines the nations that exist and he uses them for his own agenda. Listen to Paul as he speaks to the philosophers at the Areopagus, "From one man he [God] made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us." Acts 17:26-27.
How does God utilize the institution of nations to cause people to "seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him"? We read in Romans 8:20-21, "For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God."
God uses the push and pull between nations, the aggressive threats imposed by some nations over others to bring people to a point where they begin to seek refuge, relief from fear, a desire to be rescued, a felt need for deliverance, and, hopefully, bring them to a point where they "seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him... " In this way God meets us well past "half way" in order to draw us to himself.
While our desire might be for a peaceful and hopefully prosperous existence in this life, this is not the agenda of God. This life is the stage upon which God seeks to make a kingdom and a family for himself from all who will embrace him in faith. This life is all about this one singular agenda of God. Real life takes place in the resurrection, not in this age. This age has one purpose and one purpose alone, to populate a kingdom, a people, a nation, a family for God in the next. One way God accomplishes this is by establishing within us a felt need for being saved, that we might reach out to him.
Unrest in the world, as well as the fear from concerns within a nation is an answer to prayer for God to "move mightily" in drawing the unsaved to himself. If those people who pray for such only knew...
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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