Have you ever thought about the role God’s sovereignty plays in the fulfillment of Bible prophecy? Far too often, we ignore this divine attribute as much too abstract or of having little to do with our daily lives when, in reality, it’s the basis of how we know the Lord is able to deliver on all His promises to us. Author and pastor Paul David Tripp put it like this in his book, New Morning Mercies: “I don’t know whether you have ever thought of this before, but God’s promises are only as good as the extent of his sovereignty. He can deliver what you need only in the places where he rules. If his rule is not firm and unchanging, his promises are not either.”
Tripp then explained how the Lord exercised control over history leading up to Jesus’ birth. Through many centuries of turmoil, wars, and rebellion against Him, He orchestrated history so precisely that Christ fulfilled forty-eight specific prophecies related to His first appearing on Earth. God worked through a myriad of events and outcomes over a vast expanse of time so that upon His arrival, the Savior would fulfill all the Scriptures concerning His first appearance.
Several students of Bible prophecy have calculated that the first sixty-nine weeks of Daniel’s prophecy ended precisely on the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem just a week before His crucifixion (Daniel 9:24-27). So not only did he fulfill the words of Zechariah 9:9, He did so at the exact time that the Lord told His prophet Daniel it would happen. Only a sovereign and all-powerful God could accomplish such precision.
What’s the relevance for today? Despite the troubling news we read concerning the Middle East war, the warnings of impending economic disaster as a result of the growing oil crisis, and the political strife of our day, we rest assured that the Lord is still in the business of orchestrating events so that the result of all we see will in the end turn out exactly as He prophesied in His Word.
I have recently read many predictions of imminent economic disaster due to the war in the Middle East, and while they are troubling, I remind myself of two things. First, if not for the Lord’s restraining hand, we would already be in the midst of a great economic depression that many experts warned would soon happen a dozen years ago. Second, as He has done throughout history, God is still sovereignly orchestrating events to bring about all that He has promised us regarding the Rapture and to Israel concerning His restoration of a kingdom to them.
I also realize that many of the warnings of imminent catastrophe come from those who don’t believe the Rapture will happen before the Tribulation. As such, they warn us about Day of the Lord conditions without the assurance of 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 and Jesus’ promise of deliverance before the beginning of God’s wrath upon the earth.
If you are like me, you remain a bit unsettled over the fact that Iran is still able to strike Israel with deadly missiles, attack oil and gas reserves through the region, and severely disrupt the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz. The political strife here in the U.S. also contributes to my uneasy feelings as I read accounts of the enormous theft of taxpayer funds with no one held accountable for it.
That’s again when Scripture, along with God’s sovereignty, brings relief to my troubling thoughts. God didn’t intend for us to find comfort in looking at this vile and violent world, where everything seems out of control and about to erupt into further chaos. We rather find encouragement in Scripture with its amazing promises that pertain to us as New Testament saints. We know that our Lord is more than able to make good on His word because His sovereign power is so much greater than we can even begin to imagine.
As someone who has watched for the Rapture for a very long time, it’s easy for me to grow impatient at times and tell the Lord that “today would be a very good time for it to happen.” Thoughts of His sovereignty, however, remind me that His appearing and all the other prophesied events concerning the world and Israel will happen at the precise time the Father set long ago.
In the words below from Isaiah 46:9-10, God declares His sovereignty over history, assuring us that no matter how crazy and dark our day seems, He remains in total control of future events: “I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.’”
God has already decreed the future for this world. That’s a key reason for resisting the temptation to “fret” over wickedness that is rapidly growing around us (see Psalm 37:1-20). Furthermore, our relief also comes from the assurance that He’s more than able to do what He’s promised us and will soon take us home to the place He’s preparing for us.
