There’s a very interesting statement in the Old Testament that always makes me smile when I ready it. In the book of Jeremiah, God refers to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, as “my servant.”
“I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon… and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants.” -Jeremiah 25:9
Nebuchadnezzar was not at all a faithful worshiper of Yahweh... He was the king of a pagan empire. Babylon worshiped false gods, conquered nations, destroyed Jerusalem, burned the temple, and carried many of God’s people into exile. Yet God said: “My servant Nebuchadnezzar.” Wait... what? Why?
The word servant here describes God using him as an instrument to accomplish His purpose.
For generations, Judah had been warned. God sent prophet after prophet calling His people away from idolatry, injustice, rebellion, and covenant unfaithfulness. They repeatedly refused to listen. Eventually, judgment came. And astonishingly, Babylon became the instrument. (Free side note here: Babylon (Iraq) will again play a key role in end times prophesy, also as an instrument of God).
In this historical moment however, God tells Judah: “I will hand all your countries over to my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.” -Jeremiah 27:6
This reveals something enormous about the sovereignty of God: God does not have to wait for someone to acknowledge Him before He can use them to accomplish His purposes. He’s God. He can do anything, at any time, using anybody.
Nebuchadnezzar believed he was expanding his empire. Politically, Babylon was pursuing Babylon’s interests. Yet above the ambitions of kings stood the sovereign God of all creation, accomplishing something they could not even see.
That pattern appears elsewhere in Scripture. God later calls the Persian king Cyrus, His “anointed,” even though Cyrus did not even know Him (Isaiah 45:1–5). Assyria is called the “rod of my anger” (Isaiah 10:5), while God simultaneously holds Assyria accountable for its arrogance and brutality.
What does this teach us? That God using someone's actions does not necessarily mean God approves of their motives. Someone might need to read that again.
Human beings remain morally responsible for what they do, while God remains sovereign enough to work even through human rebellion.
Nebuchadnezzar himself would eventually learn this lesson in dramatic fashion.
After becoming consumed with pride over the greatness of Babylon, God humbled him until he finally acknowledged Him: “His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation.” -Daniel 4:34
The king who thought he controlled everything discovered that he had never actually been the highest authority in the room. Remember that.
Presidents, kings, governments, armies, corporations, movements, and nations may appear to hold enormous power. Some acknowledge God. Others reject Him entirely. But none operate outside His ultimate sovereignty. God is never scrambling to respond to culture, society, or history. He is Lord over it.
Sometimes He works through faithful servants who willingly say, “Here I am, send me.” And sometimes, as Nebuchadnezzar discovered, He accomplishes His purposes through people who do not yet realize whose world they are living in. Everything and everyone can be used to accomplish the will of God.
No matter what side of the aisle or ocean they reside on, kings, princes, and presidents may believe that they are moving history, but God is still, and always will be, on the throne.
~Devin
Devin Osborne
The Early Church
