The Sovereignty of God

Daniel begins and it's one of my favorite books in the Bible. Daniel is a book about conviction and clarity regarding one's place in God's sovereign control of history.

We find that truth in the first two verses of the English version of this book:

Daniel 1:1–2 (ESV) In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god.

The first verse suggests that Nebuchadnezzar was in charge. He came to Jerusalem and besieged it. But the second verse provides interesting clarity. The Lord gave the king of Jerusalem into his hand. 

God rules over history. Even here where the beloved nation suffers the reproach of being conquered in the ancient world, God is in charge. 

Wow. 

Now we love the sovereignty of God over the good things. The money comes in at just the right time, the door to opportunity opens, things fall into place for a venture we’ve started. But here in Daniel, the sovereignty of God is over the horrible thing of the Jews losing their land, their kingdom, their rights, their home. Those moments of seeing God’s sovereignty are far more poignant. They call us to true faith. Can we believe when things are being taken away? 

I believe we can if we follow the narrative of scripture. You see this moment was a moment of discipline. God had warned Israel who refused to listen for hundreds of years. Now if you knew scripture at the time of Daniel, you’d have expected this exact event. Jeremiah told them it was going to happen and now here it was. Which supposes the only way to be sure of God’s sovereignty over the moments of hardship are to be sure of God’s truthfulness. And to be sure of God’s truthfulness requires awareness of His Word. 

All that to say this: the more you know God’s Word the less you’ll be stressed when terrible things happen. You know there’s a bigger and better plan in mind. He knows what He’s doing even when it hurts. 

This is why scripture is so important. For there is nothing new under the sun. And what we will deal with in our world has already happened in times past. As we read scripture we learn how God intervenes in history and how to stand strong when history seems horrible. Thus we begin Daniel with two verses that speak across time.