| Highlights of Dawn | September 1968 |
God’s Overruling in Human Affairs
“The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies. I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once.” —Isaiah 42:13,14
PRESIDENT Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “This generation has a rendezvous with destiny.” We have no way of knowing what President Roosevelt had in mind in making this statement but he could very well have meant that world conditions had gone beyond man’s ability to control; and in this he would have been right.
The Scriptures explain the “destiny” now being worked out with the nations in this time in which we live as “the day of the Lord.” It is not the Lord’s day in the sense that everything in the world is already brought into harmony with his laws of righteousness. Nothing could be further from the truth. But we believe there is now taking place a divine intervention in the affairs of men for the purpose of preparing the people for the blessings of a new social order which the Lord will establish in his due time.
God’s intervention in human affairs today is manifested particularly in the overthrow of man’s selfish social order, which is based largely on sin and selfishness. It is an expression of divine indignation against all those forces of unrighteousness which through the ages have contributed to human unhappiness. The Prophet Isaiah summed it up thus: “Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it. For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.”—Isa. 34:1,2
This prophecy speaks of the destruction of the armies of earth as already having been accomplished, but he is here speaking of the ultimate purpose of God in displaying his wrath against Satan’s social order, rather than recording the history of events already accomplished. That divine purpose is to prepare the way for Messiah’s kingdom, and this necessitates the setting aside of sinful and selfish human arrangements which would interfere with the new kingdom.
Man’s Unsolved Problems
One of the peculiarities of the “day of the Lord” in which we live is the utter failure of man to solve the problems of human selfishness. In every country on earth today there are unsolved problems. In many instances the problems of one nation are vitally related to the problems of another nation—perhaps of all the other nations. The world-wide political scene is such, and the pressures so great that an international holocaust might well be kindled almost any time.
We have not only international tensions, but chaos and stress within nations. There are race riots and student riots. There are demonstrations for peace in the midst of war. The elements of lawlessness are on the increase everywhere. Meanwhile the rulers promise better things but seem unable to do much to fulfill their promises. The war on poverty lags while the war on humans escalates. While even in the affluent United States millions are undernourished, and the hunger even greater in many other countries, the “great society” in which there will be plenty for all seems ever to remain remote.
Meanwhile there is increasing unbelief in God. The question is asked over and over again as to what God is doing about all the suffering there is in the world; and when no answer is forthcoming unbelief increases, many concluding that if there ever were a God he is now dead. But the great God of the universe knows all about this situation. He knew that sin, which had its beginning in Eden, would bring mankind to this very dilemma. He knew that the time would come when man’s “wisdom” would be unable to solve the problems created by his own selfishness and foolishness.
God’s Way
Throughout the ages various ones, in their foolishness, have challenged God to prove his existence by “striking them dead.” These have endeavored to bring God down to their own level, and have him deal with them as they wish. Of course God has ignored these conceited members of his human creation, and has gone steadily forward with his own plans for revealing himself to the sin-cursed and dying race. Think of that great act of love represented in the gift of his only begotten Son to be the Redeemer and Savior of the world. (John 3:16) How little this has been comprehended as yet by the darkened minds and hearts of God’s fallen human creatures.
Since Pentecost God’s Holy Spirit, or power, has been working in the hearts and lives of the faithful followers of the Master, preparing them to live and reign with Jesus in that kingdom of promise; that kingdom which will solve all human problems and give health, peace, and everlasting life to all who obey its laws. But this also has been unknown by an unbelieving world.
Now there is in progress the clearing away of Satan’s social order. It is this that is being talked about in our text: “The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war.” How does the Lord stir up jealousy? One of the outstanding developments in this day of the Lord, this time of his preparation for the kingdom, is the great increase of knowledge of our day. (Dan. 12:4) This increase of knowledge has made possible wonderful communication between nations and races so that the poor, underprivileged people of earth have become aware of the affluence of the rich nations, and now they want to share in this abundance.
Thus has jealousy been stirred up among nations simply by the prophetic increase of knowledge. Knowledge in itself is good, but in this instance it is resulting in what is spoken of in Daniel’s prophecy as “a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation.” (Dan. 12:1) Some years ago the various nations of earth were classified by one commentator as the “have” and the “have not” nations. The “have” nations are desperately striving to maintain their affluent standing among the family of nations, while the “have nots” are seeking to bring about a more equal distribution of the bounties of earth. This is leading to strife, a strife which eventually will lead to the complete dissolution of Satan’s social order.
Nor is this jealousy limited to international relationships, for we know that within nations there are similar inequalities which are also leading to strife. The poor want to share in the abundance of the rich, and when they are denied this opportunity there are strikes, marches, riots, and demonstrations. Thus the social structures within nations and among nations are being gradually weakened, and will give place ultimately to the authority and power of earth’s new King, Christ Jesus.
Our text continues, “I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself.” (vs. 14) From many quarters the question is raised as to what God is doing about all the suffering in the world today. Here the Lord informs us that he has remained silent up till now, that he has refrained himself from interfering in human affairs. Now the Lord is no longer refraining from using his power among his fallen human creatures, for the time is near for the full establishment of the long-promised messianic kingdom, and this requires the setting aside of all other authority and power in the earth.
As our text points out, when God breaks his silence and speaks to the nations it is not with a message of peace—not to start with, that is—but as a man of war. His strategy is exactly that which we see in operation throughout the earth today—jealousy has been stirred up among and within the nations. But those not acquainted with the plan of God, and with the Bible prophecies pertaining to our day, do not recognize the turmoil in the world as the voice of God. The vast majority have concluded that God is not interested in what is occurring throughout the earth today. Others go so far as to say that God is dead. Millions deny that a living and loving and powerful God ever existed.
But God is not concerned at the moment with the people’s reaction to his preparatory work for the messianic kingdom. The vast majority of humanity have had little faith in his existence in any case, and it is not to be expected that their viewpoint will change when he speaks to the world in the thunderous tones of war, revolution, and anarchy.
However, those who are acquainted with the prophecies of the Bible know that when the time came for the Lord to break his silence the first message the world would receive from him would not be pleasant to hear. Our text declares that he would “cry like a travailing woman.” In a prophecy written by Paul the period in which this “time of trouble” develops is described as “the day of the Lord.” We quote: “But of the times and seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.”—I Thess. 5:1-4
Here we have Paul’s confirmation that “the day of the Lord,” the day in which the Lord no longer is “still,” but stirs up jealousy among the nations and cries “like a travailing woman,” is indeed a time of destruction. It is the time in which Satan’s social order is destroyed, and the pattern of destruction is described as being like “travail upon a woman with child.” This is in spasms. The first of these great spasms of “travail” came upon the world in 1914. Men called it a World War, and it was just that. What human wisdom did not realize was that God was speaking. Men thought that after the war the world could be restored to “normal.” But that was not to be, for God had decreed otherwise.
There was a short period of relative prosperity, then came the great financial crash which further weakened the fabric of Satan’s social order. Then the Second World War. Then the Korean War. And since then there have been brush fire wars and revolutions almost everywhere, with the Viet Nam struggle heading the list. All of these are, true to Paul’s prophecy, the spasms of travail—the birth pangs, so to speak, of a new social order which will be the kingdom of Christ.
The Objective of God’s Zeal
Zephaniah 3:8 is another prophecy of interest in this connection. We quote: “Wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the [symbolic] earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy [Hebrew, ‘zeal’].” While the world has little or no faith in God, his own people are here encouraged to “wait” on him, and they are assured that in due time he would “rise up to the prey”; that is, he would interfere in the affairs of sinful man, and the first visible evidence of this would be the “devouring” of the symbolic earth with the “fire” of his zeal.
God’s zeal in the accomplishment of his plan of deliverance of the world from sin and death has been in evidence in many ways to those who have been blessed with “eyes to see.” God’s zeal raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus had died to redeem the world from sin and death, and doubtless Satan thought he had gained a great victory over the Creator. God’s zeal has operated to prepare the followers of Jesus to live and reign with him in his kingdom. Now we see God’s zeal operating to destroy Satan’s empire, and soon his zeal will accomplish the full establishment of the messianic kingdom.
We are told that with Satan’s world destroyed by God’s zeal, the Lord will turn to the people a pure language, or message of truth, and that as a result of this they will call upon the name of the Lord and serve him with one consent. (Zeph. 3:9) Then the earth will be filled with a knowledge of the Lord. (Isa. 11:9) This assurance of peace and good will on the earth indicates the ultimate result of increasing knowledge, when that knowledge includes an understanding of God and of his plan. What a glorious prospect! And how wonderful to be assured in God’s Word that all who have suffered and died will be awakened from death to enjoy those blessings!