Articles
God’s Sovereignty Over Nations
Dictionary.com defines sovereignty as “having supreme power or authority” and “dominion, power or authority.” True sovereignty means having the right and ability to do whatever you want to do and never having to answer to anyone for your actions. It is being devoid of consequences imposed from an outside power or authority.
Today, we will look at God’s sovereignty over Nations. It wasn’t long after creation that man began to exercise his power to subjugate and rule over his neighbor. The strong began to understand something of sovereignty. In fact, many rulers began to refer to themselves as Sovereign, or His Sovereignty. Even today, nations speak of their sovereignty, meaning that they answer to no other nation and that their laws alone are supreme in their land.
But what does God say about the sovereignty of nations? The most powerful monarch of his day, Nebuchadnezzar, learned the lesson directly from the One true and only Sovereign: "While the word was in the king's mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, 'King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you, and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.'" (Daniel 4:31-32).
In fact, it was earlier in Daniel 2 that God foretold through Nebuchadnezzar’s dream that He would make 4 of the world’s greatest empires rise and fall, including the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman empires. Each one thought they were invincible, but each met their end when God willed it.
Obadiah foretold Edom’s demise as a punishment from God even though the Edomite people believed that their mountain strongholds were impregnatable. Maybe man could not touch them, but God could. And how many times do we read in the book of Judges that God strengthened Israel’s enemies only to deliver them at a time of His choosing?
We read in Genesis 15:16 as to why God was not ready to give Abraham his land inheritance right away: "Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete." Sometimes we may not understand God’s reasoning or timetable when it comes to why certain people or nations are in power, but that doesn’t change the fact that God is in control of it all. He chooses when nations rise and fall because He is sovereign over all nations.
The fact that God is sovereign over the nations also means that He owes us no explanation as to why He allows certain nations or people to rule. We cannot put Him on trial and demand answers. It is His right, and His alone, to cause nations to rise and fall as He wills. That’s true sovereignty.
