What's goin' on here?

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”  –Revelation 7:9-10 (NIV)
 
Have the last several days made you stop and go, “Hmmm….”? If so, you’re not alone. I’m not generally a conspiracy theorist (well, maybe a little – I mean, they can be fun sometimes). But with events that left me unsettled and every answer seemingly raising more questions, I couldn’t help wonder (as I once had an elderly neighbor inquire when he noticed me working on the fence between our two houses), “What in the Sam Hill is goin’ on here?”
 
The last three weeks have been tumultuous. We’ve seen the leading presidential candidate from one major party trying to quell an uprising within his own ranks questioning whether he is still fit for office, while the leading presidential candidate from the other major party narrowly avoided assassination. In the meantime, a couple of interesting court cases came to a close, at least for the moment, and a software glitch rendered a broad swath of cloud-based data storage inaccessible, creating major disruptions in the transportation, healthcare, and banking industries.
 
A friend of mine in the security field told me this week, “Multiple coincidences in a row might not be a coincidence.” Many have attributed one or more of these occurrences to Divine Providence and I would not disagree. Moreover, I continually pray for revival in our land and I think it’s a positive development when people, especially unexpected people in unexpected roles, acknowledge the possibility of an Almighty hand at work.
 
That said, I am careful not to conflate gratitude for heightened spiritual awareness with faith in human systems. The USA is not the new Israel, nor can we legitimately apply God’s Old Testament promises for Israel to 21st-century America. Still, there is a principle at work, coming with strong evidence, that God honors nations that honor Him. But will this newfound awareness last?
 
The question arises because humans are fickle. Even if heart-change is genuine, it tends to be fleeting, especially when observed within a group. After the crisis is past, most tend to resume business as usual. Once success is achieved, however defined, many are quick to rob God of the credit. Arrogance and greed take over. Operating from a mindset of scarcity, too much is never enough, whether in power, accolades, pleasure, or wealth.
 
Meanwhile, my Bible study plan has me camping in the fall of Israel to Assyria, the prophets’ accounts of how and why that happened, and the judgment and redemption of the nations in that process. I recently came across a passage I had not noticed before, from the book of Isaiah. After pronouncing judgement on Israel and the neighboring countries who played a role in their apostacy, God delivers a message of future hope for His people AND blessing for multiple of the other nations.
 
What to make of this? God is sovereign. His justice is perfect and his mercy extravagant. He has always had a heart for the nations and He has long used interactions between them to woo and to discipline and to patiently re-direct a remnant back unto Himself. What appears as chaos is part of the plan, just not the plan we were expecting. You’ll want to crack open the scriptures yourself for a larger context on this one, but Isaiah describes YHWH making Himself known to the Egyptians, with the implication that the multi-national worship mentioned in this sample is directed toward Him. See if these words surprise you as much as they did me.
 
In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.”  –Isaiah 19:23-25 (NIV)
 
He isn’t finished, y’all. Heads up, eyes open.