Many years ago, a brother who was preaching described history as His Story. As one of that strange group of people that actually enjoys reading history, aka a history "nut", I find it fascinating and instructive to understand that all the vicissitudes of kings and kingdoms are controlled by the King of Kings. Consider the language used by the Holy Spirit through Paul the apostle as he addressed the Athenians in Acts 17:26. "And he (God) made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place." God determines the rise and fall of nations.
The OT book of Daniel illustrates this. In chapter 2:20ff Daniel says, "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings." Daniel says of Nebuchadnezzar, one of the most powerful rulers of the ancient Middle East, that "You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man...making you rule over them all..." ( Dan. 2:37ff ESV)
Nebuchadnezzar is told that "The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones, to the end that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever he will and sets over it the lowliest of men." ( Dan. 4:17 ESV) Nebuchadnezzar is a pagan king, yet God allows him to rule for a season. May we remember that the same God who set up and took down kings in the OT still does this today with government leaders.
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