LORD of the nations

( 2 Samuel 7:10-11) - "And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies."

As God was making His covenant with David, one of the promises God included was that Israel would be protected in a place where they would not be afflicted "as formerly". This invites the following question: When and why were the Israelites previously afflicted? The rest of the verse explains that this affliction was in the time of the judges. So what was the situation surrounding this affliction?

Joshua had just died, as did "all that generation" with him soonthereafter. Judges 2:10 then says, "And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done." This generation is said to have done "what was evil in the sight of the LORD........served the Baals.....abandoned the LORD....went after other gods....bowed down to them......provoked the LORD to anger......(and again) abandoned the LORD and served the Baals and Ashtaroth" (v.11-13).

As a result of Israel's disobedience, "the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel and he gave them over to pluderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. Whenever they marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them for harm, as the LORD had warned, and as the LORD had sworn to them" (v.14-15).

It is clear from this passage that the surrounding enemies are the tools of the LORD to inflict punishment upon His people. God's point here is to show His people that He is their strength and that He is for their good. He confirms this as He "raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them" (v.16). There is this constant mix of judgment and mercy, with mercy clearly being predominate. Though this cycle continues of disobedience, punishment by the nations and then deliverance from the nations, an important truth is to be observed: It is the LORD who freed His people from the enemies He sent against them. This is sovereignty in action. God is free to use the nations for His purposes, knowing His purposes are always good and holy. This is the point God is making in His covenant promise to David. I will give rest from your enemies by preventing them from coming against you.

God did the same work of freeing His people from the enemies He sent against them in the days of Moses after the exodous. In 1 Samuel 12:9-11, The people "forgot the LORD"; the LORD "sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab"; the people "cried out to the LORD" and confessed their sin; and the LORD "sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered [the people] out of the hand of [their] enemies on every side, and [they] lived in safety." The LORD sends the surrounding nations against His people and then delivers His people from the surrounding nations. He can do this because He rules the nations. God is not to be trifled with! He is truly a God to be feared and loved! Feared because He rules all nations; loved because "if God is for us, who can be against us" (Rom.8:31). Let us serve Him with great reverence and humility for He is great and mighty!

"For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations" (Ps.22:28).