Nations

The Nations

Introduction

I think we are all only too aware of the fact that this world is run by numerous different nations, each with its own form of worldly government and its own way of governing its people and its relationship to the other nations of the world. This forms a very complex fabric in today’s world and, as we know, gives rise to many and frequent conflicts within and also well beyond each nation’s own borders. Given that it will effectively be the nations that will end up destroying the current system of things, I thought it timely for me to remind myself, and hopefully my readers, of all that the good book teaches us about the nations in the past, present and the future.

The World’s Nations

It is arguable that God created the worldly nations when he gave men a variety of different languages and scattered them abroad at the time of the ill-fated building of the Tower of Babel:

4 And they said, Come, let us build us a city, and a tower, whose top [may reach] unto heaven, and let us make us a name; lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
5 And Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
6 And Jehovah said, Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is what they begin to do: and now nothing will be withholden from them, which they purpose to do.
7 Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
8 So Jehovah scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off building the city.
9 Therefore was the name of it called Babel; because Jehovah did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did Jehovah scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. (Genesis 11 ASV)

Now the following verses in Genesis 10 come before the narration of the Tower of Babel in the Bible in Genesis 11, so this needs some explanation. Chapter 10 provides the overview of the early dispersion of mankind into the nations. Chapter 11 provides the detail behind that, so there is no temporal conflict between these chapters as may be thought on a first reading:

1 And these [are] the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And sons were born to them after the flood.
2 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.
3 And Gomer's sons were Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.
4 And Javan's sons were Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.
5 The coasts of the nations were divided by these in their lands each by his tongue, by their families, in their nations. (Genesis 10 GLT)

And repeated by Moses:

8 when the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance; when He separated the sons of Adam, He set up the bounds of the peoples, according to the number of the sons of Israel.
9 For Jehovah's portion [is] His people; Jacob [is] the lot of His inheritance. (Deuteronomy 32 GLT)

This dispersion of the nations would appear to be supported by Luke in his New Testament book of Acts:

26 and he made of one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined [their] appointed seasons, and the bounds of their habitation; (Acts 17 ASV)

Today, despite many nations superficially adopting a religious position, it is pretty clear to anybody with an ounce of true spirituality within them, that there is no nation on earth today that can genuinely consider itself to be a nation whose God is truly Jehovah. They all follow their own corrupted agendas to retain power, regardless of any consideration of true morality (check out my new paper on the Rulers of this World). In his day, David prayed to Jehovah to put the world’s nations in their place:

17 The wicked shall be turned to Sheol, all the nations forgetting God.

18 For the needy shall not forever be forgotten; the hope of the poor shall [not] perish forever.
19 Arise, O Jehovah! Do not let man have strength; let the nations be judged before Your face.
20 O Jehovah, put fear in them; let the nations know they are but men. Selah. (Psalms 9 GLT)

12 Blessed [is] the nation whose God [is] Jehovah, the people He has elected for His inheritance. (Psalms 33 GLT)

So which nation is it of which David writes? Well, it certainly does not appear to be any worldly nation which we would recognise today:

18 According to works, so He will repay; fury to His foes; recompense to His foes; He will repay recompense to the coasts.
19 So they shall fear Jehovah's name from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun. When the foe comes like a flood, the Spirit of Jehovah shall cause him to flee. (Isaiah 59 GLT)

12 For the nations and the kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; yea, the nations shall be utterly destroyed. (Isaiah 60 GLT)

A little earlier, David’s son Solomon wrote along similar lines also to those of the prophet Isaiah:

34 Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin [is] a shame to any people. (Proverbs 14 GLT)

God’s words to Jeremiah were, however, directed as much to the nation state of Judah as they were to the gentile nations of the world at that time:

7 The instant I speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, or to break down, or to destroy;
8 if that nation against whom I have spoken will turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do to it.
9 And the instant I speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant [it];
10 if it does evil in My eye, not to obey My voice, then I will repent of the good which I had said to do good to it.
11 Now then, please speak to the men of Judah and to those living in Jerusalem, saying, So says Jehovah, Behold, I am forming evil against you, and devising a plan against you. Now each one turn from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good. (Jeremiah 18 GLT)

God’s Nation in Old Testament Times

So if there are no nations in the world today that truly worship Jehovah (and I am afraid that I probably have to include the state of Israel in that category!), does God actually have a nation that is His own? Well He certainly did in Old Testament times as per His promise to Abram, upon who He bestowed the blessing of being the father of God’s nation:

1 And Jehovah had said to Abram, Go out from your land and from your kindred, and from your father's house, to the land which I will show you.
2 And I will make of you a great nation. And I will bless you and make your name great; and you will be a blessing.
3 And I will bless those who bless you, and curse the one despising you. And in you all families of the earth shall be blessed. (Genesis 12 GLT)

3 And Abram fell on his face. And God spoke with him, saying,
4 As for Me, behold, My covenant [is] with you, and you shall be a father of many nations.
5 And your name no longer shall be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham. For I have made you a father of many nations.
6 And I will make you very fruitful, exceedingly. And I will give you [for] nations. And kings shall come out of you. (Genesis 17 GLT)

18 And Abraham shall become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
19 For I have known him, so that whatever he may command his sons and his house after him, even they may keep the way of Jehovah, to do righteousness and justice; to the intent that Jehovah may bring on Abraham that which He has spoken of him. (Genesis 18 GLT)

The fact that God established His nation on an individual, rather than a specific plot of land, in the first instance is of some considerable import as will become evident later on in this paper. This nation became Israel in later generations:

10 And God said to him, Your name [is] Jacob; your name will not any more be called Jacob, but Israel will be your name. And He called his name Israel.
11 And God said to him, I [am] God Almighty; be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall be from you. And kings shall go forth from your loins.
12 And the land which I gave to Abraham and to Isaac, I will give it to you; and after you I will give the land to your seed. (Genesis 35 GLT)

4 For Jehovah has chosen Jacob to Himself, Israel for His special treasure. (Psalms 135 GLT)

God confirmed His promises to Moses after He rescued the nation of Israel from Egypt:

5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be mine own possession from among all peoples: for all the earth is mine:
6 and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. (Exodus 19 ASV)

6 For thou art a holy people unto Jehovah thy God: Jehovah thy God hath chosen thee to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth. (Deuteronomy 7 ASV)

2 For thou art a holy people unto Jehovah thy God, and Jehovah hath chosen thee to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth. (Deuteronomy 14 ASV)

1 And it shall be if listening you will listen to the voice of Jehovah your God, taking heed to do all His commandments which I command you this day, Jehovah your God shall give you [to be] on high above all nations of the earth. (Deuteronomy 28 GLT)

God promised, through the prophet Jeremiah, that all nations would come to know God through His nation Israel:

59 And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the LORD, be nigh unto the LORD our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require:
60 That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD [is] God, [and that there is] none else. (1 Kings 8 KJV)

Despite that nation’s failings God still kept faith with them via its then king, Solomon:

14 and My people, on whom My name is called, shall be humbled, and shall pray, and shall seek My face, and shall turn back from their evil ways, then I will hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7 GLT)

Through His prophet Isaiah, God promised Israel that He would protect them from any invading gentile nation subject to their own righteous behaviour and contrition for past sins:

25 to break Assyria in My land, and trample him on My mountains. Then his yoke shall depart from them, and his burden shall depart from his shoulders.
26 This [is] the purpose that [is] purposed on all the earth; and this the hand that is stretched out on all the nations. (Isaiah 14 GLT)

18 Violence shall not still be heard in your land, or wasting and ruin within your borders; but you shall call your walls, Salvation, and your gates, Praise. (Isaiah 60 GLT)

During some of the generations of the nation state of Israel, evil was to be found within its ranks. God did not only protect His nation from the gentile nations but also reserved punishment against His own nation when circumstances warranted such a response. More to the point, this is where God intimates that His physical nation of Israel will be replaced by His spiritual nation taken from all the worldly nations:

1 I have been sought, not by those who asked. I have been found, not by those who sought Me. To a nation not calling on My name, I said, Behold Me! Behold Me!
2 I have spread out My hands all the day long to a rebellious people who walk in the way not good, after their own thoughts; (Isaiah 65 GLT)

29 Shall I not visit for these [things], declares Jehovah? Shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this? (Jeremiah 5 GLT)

God’s Word to Ezekiel makes it plain that, regardless of whether He is dealing with Israel or the alien nations, He will not tolerate sinful behaviour from either. Clearly something would have to change to separate the righteous from the non-righteous ones out of all the world’s nations:

7 For every man of the house of Israel, or of the alien who resides in Israel, who is separated from after Me and causes his idols to go up in his heart, and puts the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet to inquire of him concerning Me, I, Jehovah, will answer him Myself.
8 And I will set My face against that man, and I will make him desolate for a sign and for proverbs. And I will cut him off from the midst of My people. And you shall know that I [am] Jehovah.
9 And the prophet, if he is deceived, and he speaks a word, I, Jehovah, have deceived that prophet. And I will stretch out My hand on him and will destroy him from the midst of My people Israel.
10 And they shall bear their iniquity. As the iniquity of the inquirer, so the iniquity of the prophet shall be.
11 So that the house of Israel may not stray any more from after Me, and not be defiled again with all their transgressions; but they are to Me for a people, and I will be to them for God, declares the Lord Jehovah.
12 And the Word of Jehovah came to me, saying,
13 Son of man, when a land sins against Me, baring a faithless act, then I will stretch out My hand on it, and [I] will shatter the staff of bread to it, and I will send famine on it. And I will cut off from it man and beast.
14 And [though] these three men were in its midst, Noah, Daniel, and Job, by their righteousness they should deliver [only] their souls, declares the Lord Jehovah. (Ezekiel 14 GLT)

As a prelude to the next section, Ezekiel prophesied the removal of any authority the Pharisees or other worldly rulers might have had over God’s people and confirms that God Himself will take them out of their worldly trappings and into His Kingdom:

10 So says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I [am] against the shepherds, and I will require My sheep from their hand and cause them to cease from pasturing the sheep. And the shepherds shall no longer feed themselves, for I will deliver My sheep from their mouth, and they will not be food to devour.
11 For so says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep, and seek them out.
12 As a shepherd seeks his flock in the day that he is among his scattered sheep, so I will seek out My sheep and will deliver them from all the places where they were scattered in a day of cloud, and thick cloud.
13 And I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the lands, and [I] will bring them to their land and feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the dwelling places of the land. (Ezekiel 34 GLT)

God’s Nation in Jesus’s Time

There was clearly a shift in the apparent nature of God’s nation during Christ’s ministry as we can tell from the gospels. Jesus had been given full authority of all worldly nations, not just Israel. In fact, authority was to be taken from the Pharisaical leaders of the worldly nation of Israel. God’s promises to Israel were, therefore, to be made available to all those of any nation that would accept Christ’s rulership. Again this follows the pattern of God’s original promise to Abram in that it was aimed at individual men, not any one piece of land. Arguably, God’s people would, themselves, become His Land:

43 Because of this I say to you, The kingdom of God will be taken from you, and it will be given to a nation producing the fruits of it. (Matthew 21 GLT)

18 And Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: (Matthew 28 ASV)

In the Book of Acts, Luke describes God’s blessing going forward to be with those selected from the nations as being judged as righteous. The blessing bestowed upon Israel was that the Word came forth from that nation:

35 but in every nation the [one] fearing Him and working righteousness is acceptable to Him.
36 The Word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching the gospel of peace through Jesus Christ, this One is Lord of all. (Acts 10 GLT)

Peter goes further after Jesus’ resurrection by calling the early Christians a new and holy nation. This previously had not been a recognised nation but was drawn from individuals answering the call of God without regard to the worldly nation into which they had been physically born. This is clearly representing the eventual breakdown of worldly and physical national borders:

9 But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for [God's] own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
10who in time past were no people, but now are the people of God: who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. (1 Peter 2 ASV)

In retrospect, Paul recalled that Abraham was not only the earthly father of Israel but also of the spiritual Jerusalem to come, sourced from all the nations of the world:

8 And the Scripture foreseeing that God would justify the nations by faith, preached the gospel before to Abraham: "All the nations will be blessed" "in you." [Gen. 12:3] (Galatians 3 GLT)

The final book of the bible confirms that Christ will reign as supreme ruler over all the chosen kings of God’s Kingdom:

5 even from Jesus Christ the faithful Witness, the First-born out of the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him loving us and washing us from our sins by His blood,
6 and made us kings and priests to God, even His Father. To Him [is] the glory and the might forever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1 GLT)

God’s Nation in The End Times

In the final days, all the world’s nations will be drawn to Jehovah. Even as early as in King David’s time, it was understood that the world’s nations would become subservient to God’s Kingdom:

27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn back to Jehovah; and all the families of the nations shall worship before You.
28 For the kingdom [is] Jehovah's; and [He is] the ruler among the nations. (Psalms 22 GLT)

9 He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; He burneth the chariots in the fire.
10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. (Psalms 46 ASV)

2 That Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.
3 Let the peoples thank You, O God; let all the peoples thank You.
4 Oh let the peoples be glad and sing for joy; for You shall judge the peoples uprightly and govern the peoples on earth. Selah. (Psalms 67 GLT)

17 His name shall endure for ever; His name shall be continued as long as the sun: And men shall be blessed in him; All nations shall call him happy. (Psalms 72 ASV)

15 So nations shall fear the name of Jehovah, and all the kings of the earth Your glory.
16 When Jehovah shall build up Zion, He shall be seen in His glory.
17 He will turn to the prayer of the destitute, and will not despise their prayer.
18 This shall be written for the generation to come, and people to be created shall praise Jehovah.
19For He has looked down from the height of His sanctuary; Jehovah looked from Heaven to the earth,
20 to hear the groaning of the prisoner, to set free the sons of death,
21 to declare the name of Jehovah in Zion, and His praise in Jerusalem,
22 when the peoples and the kingdoms are gathered together to serve Jehovah. (Psalms 102 GLT)

Daniel prophesied the coming of the Christ to create a new nation of God from the remnant of the worldly nations to be ruled by the saints:

13 I was looking in the night visions. And behold! [One] like the Son of Man came with the clouds of the heavens. And He came to the Ancient of Days. And they brought Him near before Him.
14 And dominion was given to Him, and glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion [is] an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. (Daniel 7 GLT)

27 And the kingdom and rulership, and the greatness of the kingdom under all the heavens shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom [is] an everlasting kingdom. And all kingdoms shall serve and obey Him. (Daniel 7 GLT)

A later writing from Zephaniah confirms God’s plan to destroy the nations of the world in their current form and to set up His Kingdom in the next system. He also appears to be promising that the world’s languages, created at the time of the building of the Tower of Babel as described above, would be reduced back down to the single language so that all the peoples of the new Kingdoms would be able to speak one with another to praise the Lord:

8 Therefore wait ye for me, saith Jehovah, 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 earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.
9 For then will I turn to the peoples of a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of Jehovah, to serve him with one consent. (Zephaniah 3 ASV)

The nations will put down their weapons of war and learn the ways of peace or be judged accordingly. But also comes the warning for Judah (the more faithful part of the nation of Israel) that they would also have to shape up, together with all the nations of the earth, given their wayward and worldly behaviour. They will no longer be given any special privileges from Jehovah over and above His treatment of the ungodly nations of the world:

1 The Word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
2 And it shall be in the last days, the mountain of the house of Jehovah shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow into it.
3 And many people shall go and say, Come and let us go up to the mount of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob. And He will teach from His ways, and we will walk in His paths. For out of Zion the Law will go forth, and the Word of Jehovah from Jerusalem.
4 And He shall judge among the nations and shall rebuke many people. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, nor shall they learn war any more.
5 Oh house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of Jehovah.
6For You have forsaken Your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled from the east, and are spirit-knowers like the Philistines. And they clap [hands] with children of foreigners. (Isaiah 2 GLT)

And as with Daniel, Isaiah prophesies the coming of the Christ to collect the remnant of His people from the nations of the world:

9 They shall not do evil, nor destroy in all My holy mountain. For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea.
10 And it shall be in that day, the Root of Jesse stands as a banner of peoples; nations shall seek to Him; and His resting place shall be glory.
11 And it shall be in that day, the Lord shall again set His hand, the second time, to recover the remnant of His people that remains, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Ethiopia, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the coasts of the sea. (Isaiah 11 GLT)

Isaiah prophesied the joining of the gentiles to the House of Jacob:

1 For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. (Isaiah 14 KJV)

And continues with the promise that Jehovah will destroy the old worldly leaders and return His people to a peaceful and happy existence:

5 Jehovah has broken the rod of the wicked, the staff of rulers,
6 who struck the peoples in wrath, a blow without turning away, ruling the nations in anger, [dealing out] persecution without restraint.
7 All the earth is at rest, quiet; they break forth into singing. (Isaiah 14 GLT)

There is also an intimation from Isaiah that the physical Israel will be supplanted by the spiritual. In the following verse he refers to a nation that physical Israel shall call on and that they do not know:

5 Behold, You shall call a nation You do not know; yea, a nation not knowing You shall run to You, because of Jehovah Your God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for He has glorified You. (Isaiah 55 GLT)

A message he repeats in the final chapter of his book:

18 For I [know] their works and their thoughts; it comes to gather all the nations and the tongues; and they shall come and see My glory.
19 And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those who escape from them to the nations of Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, drawers of the bow; [to] Tubal and Javan, [to] the far away coasts that have not heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they shall declare My glory among the nations.
20 And they shall bring all your brothers out of all nations, an offering to Jehovah, on horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and on mules, and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem, says Jehovah; as the sons of Israel bring the offering in a clean vessel [to] the house of Jehovah.
21 And I will also take some of them for the priests, for the Levites, says Jehovah.
22 For as the new heavens and the new earth which I make stand before Me, declares Jehovah, so your seed and your name shall stand.
23 And it will be, from new moon to its new moon, and from sabbath to its sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before Me, says Jehovah. (Isaiah 66 GLT)

Previously Isaiah had confirmed that a king will be raised as the leader of God's new nation which is to be drawn not only from Israel but also from the gentile nations:

6 And He said, It is [too] little that You should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You for a light of the nations, that [You may] be My salvation to the end of the earth.
7 So says Jehovah, the Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One, to the despised of soul, to the hated of the nation, the servant of rulers, Kings shall see and rise up; [and] chiefs shall worship; because of Jehovah who is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel; and He chose You. (Isaiah 49 GLT)

A generation later, Micah repeats Isaiah’s message for the world’s nations:

1 But it shall be in the end of the days, the mountain of the house of Jehovah shall be established on the top of the mountains; and it shall be lifted up from the hills; and peoples shall flow on it.
2 And many nations shall come and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, and to the house of the God of Jacob. And He will teach us from His ways, and we will walk in His paths. For the Law shall go forth out of Zion, and the Word of Jehovah from Jerusalem.
3 And He shall judge between many peoples, and will decide for strong nations afar off. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, nor shall they learn war still. (Micah 4 GLT)

And further later confirmation comes from Zechariah who goes the extra mile by describing the Messiah:

7 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country;
8 and I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness. (Zechariah 8 ASV)

9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you! He is righteous and being victorious, humble, and riding on an ass, even on a colt, the son of an ass.
10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem. And the battle bow shall be cut off, and He shall speak peace to the nations. And His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. (Zechariah 9 GLT)

And names the new nation of the Kingdom:

9 And Jehovah shall be King over all the earth. In that day there shall be one Jehovah, and His name one.
10 All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. And it shall rise and dwell in its place, from Benjamin's Gate to the place of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananeel to the king's winepresses.
11 And they shall live in it. And there shall not again be a shutting in, but Jerusalem shall dwell safely. (Zechariah 14 GLT)

16 And it shall be, everyone who is left from all the nations which came up against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, Jehovah of Hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. (Zechariah 14 GLT)

Haggai confirms that God will take the precious things from the nations and fill His own house with them. The Jews of the time probably thought these would be physical treasures won in battle against their enemies, but I believe that God was actually referring to the righteous ones being plucked out of the nations to fill His Kingdom to come:

7 and I will shake all nations; and the precious things of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory, saith Jehovah of hosts. (Haggai 2 ASV)

And just in case we still did not quite get the prophets’ messages to us all, the gospels confirm the Kingdom is coming and it is being preached to all the world’s nations before their end is due:

14 And this gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the earth for a testimony to all the nations, and then will come the end. (Matthew 24 GLT)

We also see that, despite God’s anger with the worldly nations and the physical nation state of Israel, He still loved the world and ensured that those faithful ones would be saved from it through the sacrifice of His Son:

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone believing into Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God did not send His Son into the world that He might judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. (John 3 GLT)

The apostle John in his vision saw the righteous citizens of the Kingdom, all drawn from the nations of the world:

9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; (Revelation 7 KJV)

Psalm 2 – The Whole Deal

Tripping up over Psalm 2, it appears that the whole of God’s plan for mankind is told to King David in this one relatively short chapter of the bible. In the first five verses God describes His anger with the gentile nations:

1 Why have the nations raged and the peoples are meditating on vanity?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves; yea, the rulers have plotted together against Jehovah and His Anointed, [saying],
3 We will break their bands in two, and throw off their cords from us.
4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall mock at them.
5 Then He will speak to them in His anger, and He will terrify them in His wrath;

We then have God’s promise to David, in the final seven verses, that He will set him above all the gentile kings of the earth. Clearly, however, we have the greater meaning that God is also describing David’s ultimate heir to the Kingdom, Jesus Christ, and the destruction of all worldly nations:

6 Yea, I have set My king on My holy mount on Zion.
7 I will declare concerning the statute of Jehovah: He said to Me, You [are] My Son. Today I have begotten You.
8 Ask of Me, and I will give the nations [as] Your inheritance; and the uttermost parts of the earth as Your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
10 Now, then, be wise, O kings; be taught, O judges of the earth:
11 Serve Jehovah with fear; yea, rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish [from] the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Oh the blessings of all those who flee to Him for refuge! (Psalms 2 GLT)

Date of Publication: 4th June 2019

Babble at the Tower of Babel

Jewish Lords' Witness