Whether or not God is active among nations today is fundamentally a question of God’s providence. When a country is engaged in a geopolitical struggle or even a war, we often find religious leaders and/or institutions being very vocal about God’s position in it. In fact, we will often see two very different, opposite arguments made by people professing belief in the same God.
On the one side, some religious leaders will vehemently oppose the struggle. The opposition is often based on the “peace” and “love thy neighbor” portions of Scripture and refuses that God could be playing any part. “Jesus came to bring peace and end war,” they argue. On the other hand, religious-minded proponents of the national conflict will argue God’s providence is at work. “God is bringing this about!” they exclaim, usually quoting some portion of prophetic Scripture that they believe is being fulfilled in the event. Are either right?
How Scripture answers "Is God active among nations today?"
Any nation’s authority is granted from God1,2,6 and He will/can intervene3,4,5,7,9. In this way we can say God is active among nations today…but this leaves some popular notions without any biblical authority. For example, His authority is bestowed whether they are “good” or “bad”. Christians are commanded to submit to them regardless1,2,6, except of course when this conflicts with God’s command8. Also, we don’t and can’t know if or how God might be intervening7, since that was a role of God’s prophet4 to explain why it was happening…and they no longer exist. Finally, there is no passage or writer that ever engages in any commentary about governmental policy or system, such as socialism (as some argue).
Answer built on scripture-blocks below
related to 'Is God active among nations today?'
lend your own study to the discussion
PUBLIC COMMENT POLICY: While your email is required, it will not be posted publically.
All comments are vetted for potential spam before being published, but will not be restricted otherwise.
