God's Sovereignty, Ungodly Rulers, & A Gracious Call To Repent
The mystery of God's sovereignty, man's responsibility, and the transforming gospel in Jeremiah 51:11b
The LORD has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because His purpose concerning Babylon is to destroy it, for that is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance for His temple.
Jeremiah 51:11b
Some Christians today stiff-arm the sovereign providence of God to the point where it turns Yahweh into the god of Deism. This verse will challenge that tendency.
Context of Jeremiah 51:11b
In chapters 46-51 there is a series of severe judgments on the surrounding nations. Yes, Yahweh is bringing about temporary covenant curses upon Israel & Judah for their covenant faithlessness. He is doing this through the surrounding nations—in particular, Babylon and Egypt. But, this does not negate the responsibility of the nations that have attacked Israel & Judah.
Yahweh has not given up on His covenant with Abraham (Gen. 12, 15, 17). He will not forsake His people even though they forsake Him. He will fulfill His covenant promises despite their sin.
Not only that but these pronouncements of judgment upon the surrounding nations is a fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant. Genesis 12:3 says, “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Notice that middle phrase: and him who dishonors you I will curse. This is what these judgments are.
As each of the surrounding nations are severely warned we see that the worst of these comes upon Babylon. Chapters 50-51 are some of the longest chapters in Jeremiah and they are all about the coming judgment and destruction of Babylon. In Jeremiah 51:11b, we see that Yahweh is raising up the Medes to bring judgment upon Babylon.
The Doctrine Divine Sovereignty & Human Responsibility
Because the Bible is the inspired and inerrant Word of God we ought to expect to be utterly fascinated with its doctrine. And here is one that is often brought up: The mysterious dynamic of full Divine Sovereignty and real human responsibility.
We see this in this section of Scripture (and, in particular, with Babylon). Because of Judah’s covenant faithlessness Yahweh is sovereignly using Babylon as judgment upon Judah. At the same time, this does not excuse Babylon for sinning against God’s people.
This truly is a mystery. Finite minds will always drown in pondering the ways of the Infinite One. Nevertheless, He has revealed things to us that pertain to all of life and godliness.
A Quick Aside:
Mystery is not paradox. Paradox is something that appears to be absurd or self-contradictory. Mystery is something that only has parts of it revealed. It is not that a mystery is untrue but that we don’t have all the information or maybe not quite the understanding. The relation between Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility is not a paradox but a mystery.
How do finite minds even ponder Divine Sovereignty? Are not our very thoughts held up by His sovereignty? Therefore, finite minds will never be able to come to a full understanding of God’s sovereignty when they themselves cannot exist without His sovereign providence. There are some things that our minds simply aren’t capable of—even in their glorified state.
Summary: To embrace full Divine sovereignty and Human responsibility is not to embrace a paradox which forces one to choose one or the other. Rather, it is to enter into the mystery of what it means for the ways of the Infinite One to reveal Himself in analogy to finite creatures.
In Jeremiah 51:11b, there is a fascinating description of this mystery. Yahweh, the only Sovereign, has stirred up the kings of the Medes to bring judgment upon Babylon for attacking Judah. Notice who is doing the action. It is Yahweh who stirs up the Medes.
How does Yahweh sovereignly stir up unbelievers in such a way that doesn’t take away their responsibility? Matthew Henry sees this dynamic. “They do it, but God devised it, He designed it; they are but accomplishing his purpose, and acting as he directed.”1 Henry describes both aspects of sovereignty and responsibility. The Bible unashamedly speaks of both. Henry goes on to speak about the doctrinal mystery. “God’s counsel shall stand, and according to it all hearts shall move.”2
This is similar to the way our Westminster Confession of Faith describes this. God, from all eternity, ordained whatsoever has come to pass (WCF 2.1). And in such a way that He is not the author of sin or evil all the while He is never not sovereign over all things—including sin and evil (2.1). In a strange way, His decree is so sovereign and all-encapsulating that nothing can come about outside of it yet it neither takes away the liberty of second causes nor takes away the responsibility of the human will (2.1). God, as the First Cause, brings all things to pass yet He also orders them to take place according to the nature of second causes either “necessarily, freely, or contingently” (5.2). God governs all things to His glory for His own holy ends although sinfulness proceeds only from the creature and not from God (5.4).
This is not the god of Deism.
What Is Jeremiah 51:11b Teaching?
God can and does raise up people—even unbelievers—to do His bidding. And He does this in the fullness of His sovereignty as the First Cause and yet He works through the liberty of second causes and human responsibility. Government is not outside of God’s control. Sometimes this is for judgment and other times for relief.
Here is what John Calvin says about this verse:
…and he mentions the word spirit, that he might more fully express that men’s minds are ruled and turned by the secret power of God, and also that whatever power or boldness is found in them, proceeds altogether from God; as though he had said, that God would so prepare the Medes and the Persians, that he would not only strengthen their arms, hands, and feet, for the war, but would also lead them, and overrule their passions—that he would, in short, turn their spirit here and there, according to his will.3
Do we believe that God will use ungodly and unbelieving rulers to rule for our judgment or for relief in temporal things? In this text, we see that as God had previously used Babylon for Judah’s judgment, He is now using the Medes for Babylon’s judgment. And, by using the Medes for Babylon’s judgment, it will bring a type of relief to God’s people.
So What?
As the Church, we must pursue faithfulness to God in all things. God has the right, and the sovereign wisdom, to bring temporal judgment upon our land in ways that He sees fit. We ought not to lose sight of this. The promotion of ungodliness in families, schools, business, government, societies, policies, and ethics is not some neutral event. God will not be mocked (Gal. 6:7).
When this happens in widespread efforts, one of two things will be the result: 1) God will either bring temporal judgment or, 2) God will bring gracious revival to transform hearts.
Either Christ takes the wrath of God or we will. Regardless, God will not be mocked. That wrath for unbelievers might come in portion in temporal matters here in this life but certainly it will in fullness in eternity—unless they come to Jesus for full pardon.
Throughout history, God has raised up good kings and bad kings to do His bidding. He works all things for His glory and the good of His people (Rom. 8:28). This even goes for times of persecution upon the Church and times of revival. Sometimes persecution of the Church comes because the Church is faithful—other times because they are lazy and unrepentant. Sometimes judgment comes upon a land where Christians have not been faithfully following the Lord and proclaiming His Word. Other times judgment comes upon a land where Christians have been faithful but the unbelievers amidst them are called into judgment.
In all this, we must be slow to make assertions. Yet, we must not be too stubborn to make observations. We fail to speak about such things when we fear man more than we fear God. There are professing Christians living in rampant worldliness, embracing ungodly ethics, being silent in the face of widespread sin, promoting sinful ideologies, endorsing ungodly and wicked policies, and contributing to the watering down of godliness among God’s people. They need to wake up and see when God is bringing temporal judgment. They need to be rebuked—even when they might be antagonistic to those who rebuke them.
At the same time, we must never pronounce judgment while failing to champion the gospel of grace. Yes, Christians can and do severely err at times. Nevertheless, is Christ not enough for them? In our rebukes of ungodliness, do we also urge them to run to the overwhelming grace of God in Christ? Do we call unbelievers to receive and rest upon Christ who died for sinners? Do we call erring believers to embrace the sufficiency of the mercy that is in Christ and the power that is in Him to transform us?
Do Christians enter into legalism and fail to see that they need the grace of God just as much as others who don’t see the world the way they do? Do Christians embrace putting the emphasis on our efforts in obedience over the empowering grace of Christ through the Holy Spirit? Do Christians react to this by promoting the same error of putting their ultimate hope in politics, policies, and politicians instead of Christ? Don’t forget that legalism often is the response to antinomianism. Neither of these will work. What we must proclaim now more than ever is the sovereign, free, monergistic, pardoning, empowering, cleansing, clothing, and transforming grace of God in the gospel. Nothing else will bring genuine repentance.
As long as someone has breath, there is the call to repent. The years that the locusts took away the Lord can and does restore. Let us never only proclaim judgment and sin. Let us proclaim the Christ who took the ultimate judgment on the Cross to save wretched and wicked sinners by grace alone.
Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 1321.
Ibid.
John Calvin and John Owen, Commentaries on the Prophet Jeremiah and the Lamentations, vol. 5 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 212.