God's Sovereign Rule
God created the universe, and He is in charge of all things. He created the earth, so He could have a place for us to live, and we could enter a relationship with Him. God rules over all of the earth. He does this by ordaining the leaders of countries and other authorities. They are used by God to do His will. This is true whether they are believers or unbelievers. We see this in the case of King Cyrus of Persia. When Persia conquered Babylon, King Cyrus sent the Jewish people back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. (Ezra 1:2) This is pretty amazing! God instructed a pagan king to release His people, and He gave them the articles for God's House plus other things needed to rebuild the temple. This shows us the sovereignty of God.
There are some people who think God only speaks to believers. This is clearly not the case. God is able to speak to any person, and they are able to hear from Him. God is not limited in what He can do. He uses kings and those in authority to bless their people or to punish people for their sinful actions. We see this throughout the Bible. That is one reason we must pray for the leaders of our country and for the rulers of the countries of this world. They are God's agents to carry out His will. (Romans 13:1-7) Also, that is why we obey our leaders, as long as what they tell us to do doesn't contradict God's commands to us. This is how our Sovereign God has chosen to rule the earth and to complete His purpose. Of course, the church works within this system to carry out God's will, even in places where the rulers are against the Lord. That is how our amazing God uses people to bring people to Christ and to extend His kingdom on this earth.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Ezra 2-5.
There are some people who think God only speaks to believers. This is clearly not the case. God is able to speak to any person, and they are able to hear from Him. God is not limited in what He can do. He uses kings and those in authority to bless their people or to punish people for their sinful actions. We see this throughout the Bible. That is one reason we must pray for the leaders of our country and for the rulers of the countries of this world. They are God's agents to carry out His will. (Romans 13:1-7) Also, that is why we obey our leaders, as long as what they tell us to do doesn't contradict God's commands to us. This is how our Sovereign God has chosen to rule the earth and to complete His purpose. Of course, the church works within this system to carry out God's will, even in places where the rulers are against the Lord. That is how our amazing God uses people to bring people to Christ and to extend His kingdom on this earth.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Ezra 2-5.