He Will Make All Things Right!预览

God’s actions through history gives us hope

God has demonstrated His willingness over and over to restore the effects of sin, and to make things right (at least if His people obeyed Him). The fact that God repeatedly steps into history to bring things back to righteousness, at least to a point, is very encouraging. If He is willing to do this then we have increased confidence that He will finish what He has started. In Philippians 1:6, the Word tells us that He will finish what He has started in us as individuals. So, how much more is He likely to finish His big, global goals, ending up with a perfect place to live called heaven? Satan (the devil, or Lucifer) all through history has been trying to thwart God’s plans to redeem us. By God entering history as a man, becoming sin in our place, taking that sin to the cross, dying in our place, and then rising from the dead on the third day, Satan’s plans are doomed to ultimate failure!

God’s love for the people He created for Himself is evident in His mercy shown to the Old Testament patriarchs, and we see His story continuing as it is woven through the ages. Through His people He demonstrated who He was, and nothing would thwart His plan for the Godly line which would bring us Jesus Christ. He did this in the crucible of Egypt, and when the Israelites had grown to the point of being a viable nation, He created a plan to deliver them from Egypt (Exodus 3-13). It was amazing, involving many miracles which made the Egyptians want Israel to leave. Then when the Egyptian army was in hot pursuit and Israel was stuck (the Red Sea in front and the army behind them), God divided the Red Sea so Israel could walk through on dry ground, but the Egyptian army drowned (Exodus 14).

Later, as Israel entered the Promised Land, by another miracle of stopping up the Jordan River so that Israel could again cross on dry ground (Joshua 3 and 4), God gave the land to Israel. After Joshua died, they abandoned God to serve themselves and pagan gods again, but God delivered Israel over and over again through various judges. Women were not highly valued in many early cultures, but God did amazing things through them. Israel was delivered from the Canaanite army under leadership of Deborah (Judges 4), and the leader of the enemy’s army was killed through another woman, Jael.

Then in Judges 6-8, Israel was delivered from a huge Midianite army (300 Israelites under Gideon routed 135,000 Midianites). There was no way this could happen without God! In 1 Samuel 17, God delivered Israel from the Philistines and their giant leader, Goliath. These kinds of miraculous events have continued throughout Israel’s history - and only after His people repented and turned back to Him. In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God said: “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

After Israel had been banished to Babylon because of their sin, God still desired good for them, and said in Jeremiah 29:11-14, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity...”

These and many other events like them demonstrate that God is faithful, creative and determined to carry out the plans He promised. Knowing that God is active in history and always has His eyes on us gives us confidence that He will indeed make all things right.

Reflection: How has God’s continuing intervention into human history encouraged you for the future?