God is sovereign. I take a no risk view of history. That is to say, that the future in all of its details, macrocosmically and microcosmically, are all part and parcel of a divine plan, the execution of a divine decree. All things work together for the good of those that love him. Mm-hmm.
In terms of a theory and an understanding of history, both past, present, and future. All of it is ordered by God. Completely and without exception. If you push a Christian to explain what they mean when they state that God is sovereign.
Some will try to limit God's sovereignty only to those major events in history. like the death and resurrection of Christ. but not the major tragedies. That was the devil or our free will. And when it comes to the events of our own lives, maybe he is sovereign over the person you would marry, but not what you had for breakfast.
So is God sovereign over some things? Most things. or all things. Hi, I'm Nathan W. Bingham, and thank you for joining us today for Renewing Your Mind.
It is so important for us to understand the sovereignty of God rightly. especially before we face challenges and trials in our life. And today, as Derek Thomas continues his series, Imprisoned, Faith in All Circumstances, he is going to consider one of the most fascinating historical accounts recorded for us in the Old Testament. One that not only helps us understand the scope of God's sovereignty, but also the comfort that it should bring us today. Here's Doctor Thomas.
You know. Study of characters in the Bible who found themselves imprisoned. for a season. We've been looking at the lessons that they learned themselves and perhaps the lessons that you and I can learn from similar Trials and difficulties that are not literal imprisonments, but certainly when things aren't quite going our way. And the character today is Miciah, a prophet that we find in 2 Chronicles chapter 18.
And we'll set this in context in a moment, but again, I'm not going to read the entire chapter, which is lengthy, but I'm going to read verse 33. But a certain man drew his bow at random. and struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate. Therefore, he said to the driver of his chariot, Turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am. Wounded.
And then in verse 34. And the battle continued that day, and the king of Israel was prisoner. Propped up in his chariot, facing the Syrians until evening. Then, at sunset, he died. And this is, of course, the death of King Ahab of the northern kingdom of Uh Israel.
I I'm tempted to call this study A lucky shot. Because from a human perspective, that's precisely what it was. A certain man drew his bow. Adaventure. He wasn't even aiming at anyone in particular.
It just so happened that it struck the king of Israel, Ahab, and it was a fatal. Wound John Bunyan, at the time of the Civil War, Uh He lied about his age. He was technically underage to be participating in the Civil War in the middle of the 1640s in England. And uh For all kinds of reasons. His mother had died.
His father had remarried. It was not a great relationship for Bunyan, I think. And so John Bunyan decided to run away. And I don't think he ever saw any of the battles. He certainly wouldn't have fought in any of the battles, but I'm pretty sure he saw the effects of those set battles and the horrible injuries.
Unimaginably horrible injuries that he would have undoubtedly seen. When I was a soldier, he writes this in his autobiographical book, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners. When I was a soldier, I, with others, were drawn out to go to such a place to besiege it. But when I was just ready to go, one of the company desired to go in my room. to which, when I had consented, he took my place, and coming to the siege as he stood sentinel, he was shot into the head with a musket bullet.
and died. Um What do we call that for Bunyan, at least? A lucky. A lucky break. But of course we have a doctrine of providence.
that nothing happens without God willing it to happen, and without God willing it to happen before it happens, and without God willing it to happen in the way that it happens. And that's a similar thing to this man who draws a bow at random. The occasion in this chapter is a marriage alliance between the southern kingdom of Judah, where Jehoshaphat is king, his wife is unnamed, and Ahab and Jezebel in Samaria, in the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel. And they are agreeing that Jehoshaphat's son, Jehoram, and Ahab and Jezebel's daughter Athaliah were to be married. And it was meant to secure peace from 50 years of hostilities between Judah and Israel.
And a banquet is being held in the northern capital in Israel in the city of Samaria.
Now There's it's something it's somewhat shocking that this marriage alliance is even on the cards because Athalaya. Who was to marry Jehoshaphat's son Jehoram? After her husband died, she ensured the death of all her offspring and extended family except for one grandson, Joash, in order that she might usurp the throne for six years before eventually she died. She was executed. But you think we live in weird, terrible times?
Well, it's almost. Uh beyond description as to how bad things were in this period of history.
So let's go to this banquet in Samaria. And Ahab suggests, perhaps after drinking, suggests that the way to cement this marriage and the alliances of these two houses is a good war and to go against Ramoth Gilead, which was in Syrian hands, and recapture it for. Judah. And he asks for prophets to come. And all his prophets, of course, are sycophants who will say what the king wants to hear.
And the prophets come and they will say things like, yes, you will be wonderfully successful.
So go. And then he says, Is there not a prophet? Realizing that these were all sycophants, he asks, Is there not a prophet of the Lord to give me advice? And yes, there is. And he's Micah, but he doesn't like Micah.
In fact, he specifically says that he hates him because Micaiah never says anything good about Ahab. Initially, Micaiah plays the game and goes along with the other prophets. telling Ahab what he wants to hear, but in a tone and a manner that probably suggested that he was being ironic. And then when he is chided, he tells Ahab the truth, that if he goes into battle, he will die. And Ahab has one of those moments where he says, I told you that this man never says anything good about me, but he goes into battle nevertheless.
And dies.
Now And Meika, of course, is put in prison. Analyze this narrative and draw some lessons from it. And the first is this. That God is sovereign. That God is sovereign.
I take a no-risk view of history. That is to say, that the future, in all of its details, Macrocosmically and microcosmically are all part and parcel of a divine plan. The execution of a divine decree. that all things work together, for the good of those that love him. In terms of a theory.
And an understanding of history, both past, present, and future. All of it is ordered. By God. completely and without exception. I believe in the total sovereignty of God.
Uh And uh Prophecy, of course, would be meaningless if that weren't true. True, the fact that Micah or any other prophet can make a prophecy about the future. And that prophecy comes true in all of its details means that God is in charge of that. Future. His dominion is Total.
Uh there are those in our time. It's not quite as popular now as it was maybe twenty years ago. Um but there was a an upsurge uh twenty years ago of a view that we sometimes refer to as open theism, that God plans big things. You know, the the the big things are are all planned, but the details have to sort themselves out uh by themselves. And that therefore the future was open, open theism.
But that it would only take one little detail. To change the course of history. Yeah. An an arrow. Mm-hmm.
A lucky shot. Changed the course of history. And what the scripture is saying, and what the chronicler wants you to understand here. And the Book of Chronicles is written to at a much later period to underscore that God's covenant is sure and that God's promise is sure. None can stay the hand of Got.
None can say to God, What are you doing? It was the lesson of Joseph. You meant it for evil, he says to his brothers, but God at the same time meant it for good. God has a plan. God has a purpose.
To ensure the survival of the godly line of King David in a covenant that he made with David in Second Samuel chapter seven, that messianic promise, great David's greater son would rule and reign. Forever. In all the messiness of life. In all the muck of life. God still has a plan.
God still has a purpose. In the words of the shorter catechism, God has foreordained whatsoever comes. To pass. The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord. He turns it wherever he wills.
Proverbs 21 and verse 1. The lot is cast into the lap, but the decision is wholly from the Lord. Proverbs 16 and verse 33. God is Sovereign. Secondly, God is sovereign in chance.
Events. From a human point of view, there is a concept, we all understand it, of luck, things that seem to be. Remptor. Things that at least appear to us to be contingent. I studied mathematics.
Uh I I have a bachelor's degree in mathematics. I remember studying uh probability theory. I remember studying at one point chaos. Theory. It sounds like a contradiction in terms.
There's chaos, but there's a theory. There are equations. You and I understand that Las Vegas wouldn't exist if there wasn't a theory of chance.
Okay. Couldn't possibly survive unless they know, using algorithms of probability, that in the end they will make a profit. Even though there will be losses along the way, they will make a profit. God is sovereign even over what appears to us. to be random and chaotic.
Events. They are not random. or chaotic. Yeah. God.
Jesus said Not even a sparrow falls to the ground. Not even a hair. Without God's will. God is present. And there's no telling what He can do.
What appears to be a random lucky shot. Fulfilled. The purposes. of Almighty God. That's the god we worship.
That's the world in which we live. Thirdly, God is sovereign. Over evil. Let me pick up verse 23.
Now, therefore, behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets. The Lord has declared disaster. concerning you. And for which this is Micaiah speaking to Ahab about his sycophantic prophets, and that the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets. And for which Miciah was struck on the cheek.
And Micaiah says something else to Ahab, and Ahab says, seize Micaiah and take him back to Ammon, the governor of the city, and to Joash, the king's son. And say, thus says the king, put this fellow in prison and feed him with meagre rations of bread and water until I return in peace. It's a difficult statement, isn't it? God has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets. You might bulk at that.
It certainly needs some nuanced interpretation. Let's pick it up somewhere else. Peter on the day of PENTECOST Speaking about the crucifixion of Jesus. In Acts chapter 2. And he says to the people in Jerusalem, By wicked hands Slew him.
But it was all by the determinate council. and foreknowledge of God. Yes, you did something that was evil. Your intent. was evil.
But it was all. By the foreknowledge. of God. As a caveat, as we think about Divine causality. We make caveats.
That God is not the author of sin. He is sovereign over all events, but he's not the author. Of sin. The Westminster Confession, for example. employed what had been part of medieval theology.
That there was a recognition of first causes and second. Causes. Think of those words in Amos chapter 3. Does evil befall a city? And the Lord said has not done it.
Does evil befall a city? and the Lord has not done it. Yeah, think of it from A point of view of spiritual and emotional well-being. When we think of when we settle this, Biblically. Intellectually, emotionally.
That God has Ultimate control of all things, including evil. And that this is gracious and precious beyond Words. The Heidelberg Catechism. Question twenty seven. The Almighty And everywhere present, power of God upholds heaven and earth with all creatures, and so governs them that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, yea, all things come not by chance.
But by his fatherly hand. When a person believes and cherishes. That That changes. is life. This is more than just the language of permission.
that God permits something. to happen. When Spurgeon was challenged that this is nothing but fatalism and stoicism, he replied, What is fate? Fate is this Whatever is must be. But there is a difference between that and providence.
Providence says whatever God ordains must be. But the wisdom of God never ordains anything without a purpose. Everything in this world is working for some great end. Fate does not say that. There is all the difference between fate and providence that there is between a man with good eyes.
and a blind. Men. God is sovereign. Over evil. God is sovereign over life and death.
That's another lesson here. He was sovereign over the life and death of King Ahab. Of course. Jehoshaphat. should never have been in this situation.
But we can also say that it is appointed unto man once to die and after death. The judgment. Yes, deep and unfathomable minds of never failing skill he Treasures up his bright designs and works, his sovereign.
Well Yes, God is sovereign over life and death, but He's also sovereign to ensure the final. Outcome. And the final outcome, of course, was the survival of the house of David in Jerusalem. That was. the goal that was the plan.
And the death of Ahab and the destruction of this alliance was part and parcel of that. There are Two lessons I think I want us to think about. as we think about the death of Ahab. A specific one. Jehoshaphat learned something about Prayer.
In this incident. If you were to turn to chapter 20 in verse 3, then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all of Judah. I think this incident brought Jehoshaphat to a better place. to a greater sense of faith and a sense of leaning more and more upon the Lord. out of this imprisonment of Micaiah.
And the consequences that followed. Jehoshaphat learned something, I think, about prayer. But there's a second lesson. Learn patience when things A bad. This is a rotten chapter.
Just as Sampson's story is a mess. Life can be messy.
Sometimes we find ourselves in the muck. The end is going to be good, however. God is in control. God knows. what he is doing.
and to change the course of history. All it took. was a random shot, a random arrow that just happened to pierce the king in a vulnerable spot in his armor as he rode along in his chariot, playing games of war to impress King Jehoshaphat. Um but it was an arrow that fulfilled A prophecy. of a faithful prophet and man of God.
My Kaya. who was imprisoned. for his prophecy. Uh Well Lesson four, we looked at One more character from the Old Testament.
Well, life can be messy, can't it? But isn't it encouraging to be reminded that God is in control? And he knows what he's doing. And really that's what we're being reminded of every day this week on Renewing Your Mind. Whether it was through the life of Jonathan Edwards and what we learned from Stephen Nicholls, or from what Derek Thomas has taught us about the life of Sampson yesterday and to day Micaiah.
The message you heard today on Micaiah is from Dr. Thomas' 12-part series Imprisoned, Faith in All Circumstances. It covers more people than you'll hear about this week, including Joseph, Jeremiah, Daniel, John the Baptist, the Apostle John, and more. We'll send you the DVD set as our way of saying thank you for your donation at renewingyourmind.org or when you call us at 800-435-4343. In addition to the DVD set, you'll have lifetime streaming access to the messages and the study guide in the free Ligonier app.
So please give your gift today at renewingyourmind.org or by using the link in the podcast show notes before this offer ends tomorrow. And for our global listening audience, this series and study guide is available for you at renewingyourmind.org slash global. Whether you listen to Renewing Your Mind on the radio, in the Ligonier app, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or on YouTube, it can be easy to miss an episode if your day gets busy or your schedule gets interrupted.
So I recommend entering your email address at renewingyourmind.org/slash email, and every morning we'll send you an email with a link to that day's episode and resource offer. Never miss an episode again. Visit renewingyourmind.org slash email today. To conclude our week, Derek Thomas will revisit a familiar story, one that reminds us of the sweetness of the gospel. Tomorrow, he'll consider Jonah, here on Renewing Your Mind.
