It may be cliché to say that history is “His story,” but that is the way the Bible presents God’s sovereignty over temporal events. God rules over all things, directing them towards His ends. History is His story unfolding in time. This is part of the Biblical worldview.
The Bible reveals first and foremost that God is Lord of all the earth, and it is He that oversees all things. King Nebuchadnezzar learned this the hard way. After h attempted to prove himself more powerful than the living God, the Lord caused the king to go insane. And when his “reason returned” to him he spoke rightly of the God of the universe. In Isaiah 4:34-35 we read:
At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; 35 all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?” (Daniel 4:34-35)
God does as he pleases, no one can stay his hand. Just a few verses back we learn that God oversees the rise and fall of kings (v. 17). It is he who appoints the rulers of nations. The book of Proverbs is even more bold. Proverbs 21:1 declares that God moves and directs the heart of a king as he sees fit. And 2 Corinthians 8:16 declares that God controls the hearts of other men, specifically the young pastor Titus, not just of kings.
The Bible is replete with this idea of God’s kingship over the universe and his control of all things. In addition it boldly declares that God ordains events in time, that God is Lord of history too. His story unfolds as he sees fit.
Acts 1:7 plainly calls attention to God’s ordaining events in time. Jesus responds to the disciples request to know the time of his kingdom by saying: It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority (Acts 1:7). The immediate context applies to the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God, but the words actually speak to a broader application. God fixes times and seasons generally speaking. The Old Testament often addresses this reality. Amos 3:6 states that God controls even the rise and fall of cities. The prophet Jeremiah applies God’s sovereignty to the very actions of men themselves, stating: I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps (Jer. 10:23). So God oversees the actions of men and the rise, fall, and rebirth of nations. We see both ideas combined in the person of Cyrus. Centuries before his arrival on the scene God foretells of his coming and of his releasing the people of Israel to return to their land (Isa. 44:28; 54:1; see also 2 Chron. 36:22-23). God rules over history for His purposes. This is scene most notably in the crucifixion of Jesus.
The apostle Peter testifies to this when he preaches on the day of Pentecost saying:
Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know – 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. (Acts 2:22-23)
Jesus death was foreordained. Even his being “killed by the hands of lawless men” was part of God’s “definite plan.” God’s purposes are guiding all of history, namely the salvation of His people.
How we understand history depends on where we start from. The Bible declares that God governs history and is unfolding His story in real time. We will see next week that when we shift the foundations of history to be impersonal we will abuse history and in fact misunderstand it as a discipline. History is God’s personal story unfolding; it is His story.
Sparrow & Heart Soul Care 