God Governing the Nations.

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"If that nation I warned repents of its evil—then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned" (Jer. 18:8). There is no "if" in connection with what God has foreordained, and the history of nations has been as truly and definitely predestinated, as the destiny of each individual. "Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world" (Acts 15:18), and they are known to Him because they were decreed by Him. Now if God decreed an event He either foresaw what would be the outcome of it—or He did not. If He did not, where is His infinite wisdom and understanding? On the other hand, if He foresaw an event would not be—why did He purpose it should be? If God purposed a thing, then either He is able to bring it to pass by His wisdom and power—or He is not. If not, where is His omniscience and omnipotence? From the horns of that dilemma there is no escape. If God be God then there can be no failure with Him "The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations" (Psalm 33:11).

"If that nation I warned repents of its evil—then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned." There is always an "if" in connection with human responsibility, for man is as "unstable as water" being influenced by many things both from within and without; nevertheless he is held strictly accountable unto God. Nations, equally with individuals, are responsible: the Lord is their Maker, their Ruler, their God. His Moral Law is as binding upon kingdoms as it is upon the Church. If the rulers of the nations acknowledge God in the discharge of their office, if their laws be equitable and beneficent, maintaining a balance between justice and mercy, if the Lord is owned in prosperity and sought unto in adversity—then the smile of Heaven will be upon that people. But if He is slighted and defied, His frown will be experienced. As effects are dependent upon the operation ofcauses, and the character of the one determines the nature of the other—so a course of obedience is followed by very different consequence from one of disobedience, be it the case of a nation or individual.

"Righteousness exalts a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people" (Proverbs 14:34) expresses a foundational principle and an unchanging fact. Right doing or walking according to the Divine Rule—is the basic condition of national prosperity. A righteous administration of government and the public worship of God, gives an ascendancy to a people over those where such things prevail not. Nothing so tends to uphold the throne, elevate the mind of the masses, promote industry, sobriety and equity between man and man, as does the genuine practice of piety, the preservation of the virtues and suppression of vice, as nothing more qualifies a nation for the favor of God. Righteousness is productive of health, of population, of peace and prosperity. But every kind of sin has the contrary tendency. "The prevalence of vice and impiety is a nation's reproach, conduces to disunion, weakness and disgraces, and exposes any people to the wrath and vengeance of God" (Thomas Scott). When sin has become a public "reproach" then ruin is imminent.

We repeat, then, that Jeremiah 18 portrays not Jehovah as the Determiner of eternal destiny—but rather as the Dispenser of temporal benefits, not as decreeing the hereafter of individuals—but as distributing the portions of the kingdoms. "You are the God, even You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth" (2 Kings 19:15), and as such He governs them on the basis of His moral Law and in accordance with the discharge of their responsibilities thereto. Jeremiah 18 reveals to us, the fundamental principles which regulate the dealings of the Most High, with the nations and the relations which He sustains to them.

First, He is shown as an absolute Sovereign over Israel in particular, and over all peoples in general: "as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel" (v. 6). Jehovah has the most incontestable and immediate power over them. This shows the infinite ease with which He can deal with the most troublesome. "He makes nations great, and destroys them; he enlarges nations, and disperses them" (Job 12:23).

Second, the Lord is here depicted as the righteous Governor of the nations, dealing with them according to their deserts. In the exercise of His high and unchallengeable authority, the Most High is pleased to act according to the principles of goodness and equity. There is no arbitrary caprice in the infliction of punishment: "an undeserved curse does not come" (Proverbs 26:2). The Lord "does not afflict willingly ("from the heart," margin) nor grieve the children of men" (Lam. 3:33)—but only because they give Him occasion to and because the honor of His name requires it. "Oh, that you had listened to my commands! Then you would have had peace flowing like a gentle river and righteousness rolling like waves" (Isaiah 48:18) is His own avowal. Yes, had they respected His authority "I would soon have subdued their enemies and turned My hand against their adversaries" (Psalm 81:14) He declares. Let it be definitely recognized that God's dealings with the nation of Israel illustrate His administration of the nations today.

Third, the justice of God is tempered with mercy in His government of the nations. "The Lord is of great mercy" (Num. 14:18) and "plenteous in mercy" (Psalm 86:5), and therefore, "His tender mercies are over all His work" (Psalm 145:9). Consequently, when the dark clouds of Divine wrath gather over a kingdom, yes even when His thunderbolts have begun to be launched, genuine repentance will check the storm. When a people humble themselves beneath God's almighty hand, evidencing the genuineness of their repentance by turning away from their wickedness and doing that which is pleasing in His sight, His judgments are turned away from them. "And the children of Israel (1) did evil in the sight of the Lord and forgot the Lord their God. They worshiped the images of Baal and the Asherah poles. Therefore (2) the Lord burned with anger against Israel, and he handed them over to King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram-naharaim. And the Israelites were subject to Cushan-rishathaim for eight years. And (3) when the children cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them" (Judges 3:7-9). The same order—sin, punishment, penitence and merciful deliverance—is repeated again and again in the book of Judges.

That these principles of the Divine administration apply to the Gentiles, equally with the Jews, is unmistakably clear from the case of Nineveh a heathen city, concerning which the Lord said "their wickedness has come up before Me" (Jonah 1:2). Unto the vast metropolis, the Prophet was sent, crying, "Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!" (3:4). But note well the sequel: "The people of Nineveh believed God's message, and from the greatest to the least, they decided to go without food and wear sackcloth to show their sorrow. When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in sackcloth and sat on a heap of ashes. Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city: "No one, not even the animals, may eat or drink anything at all. Everyone is required to wear sackcloth and pray earnestly to God. Everyone must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence. Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will have pity on us and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us." When God saw that they had put a stop to their evil ways, he had mercy on them and didn't carry out the destruction he had threatened." (Jonah 3:5-10).

"Repent, and believe the Gospel" (Mark 1:15). "They must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus" (Acts 20:21). Unless there are both repentance and faith—there is no forgiveness of sins for any soul, yet there are comparatively few passages in which both of them are expressly mentioned. In Luke 13:3; Acts 2:38 and 17:30 "repentance" alone is inculcated. In John 3:15; Romans 1:16 and 10:4 only "believing" is specified. Why is this? Because the Scriptures are not written as lawyers draw up documents, wherein terms are needlessly repeated and multiplied. Each passage of the Word must be interpreted in the light of, and consistently with, "the Analogy of Faith" (Romans 12:6, Greek)—the general tenor of Scripture—and none made an exception to the general rule. Thus concerning the above references: where only "repentance" is mentioned, "believing" is implied, and when "believing" is found alone, "repentance" is presupposed. The same principle applies to all other subjects: for example, prayer, "Ask, and you shall receive" (Matt. 7:7) is not to be taken without qualification: if we are to "receive, we must "ask" aright—believingly (Heb. 11:6), according to God's will (1 John 5:14), in the name of Christ (John 14:13), and so on.

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