The historical record presented in the Old Testament is not a general history of the world in ancient times, but is instead a history of the nation of Israel which descended from the patriarch Abraham. In order to unfold His plan to redeem mankind from sin God made three major promises to Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3).

The Old Testament presents the record of the unfolding of God's plan by demonstrating how the descendants of Abraham became the nation of Israel, how this nation received its own land to possess, and how God worked to bring salvation for all nations of the earth into the world through that same nation. For these reasons, the Old Testament record is focused on God's interaction with the nation of Israel.

Although the non-Israelite nations are not the focus of the unfolding of God's plan in the Old Testament, the Scriptures do discuss God's interaction with many of them. Job summarized this interaction, saying, "He makes nations great, and destroys them; He enlarges nations, and guides them" (Job 12:23). While the focus of Old Testament Scripture is placed squarely upon the nation of Israel as the vehicle by which God would bless the world, the sacred record demonstrates His concern for the Gentile nations as well.

God's dealings with the nations in the Old Testament serve as a grand demonstration of what is often referred to as "Divine Providence." "Providence," in this sense, is defined as: "God considered as the power sustaining and guiding human destiny; an event in which God's care is clearly shown" (Webster's English Dictionary). An examination of God's interaction with the nations in the Old Testament will demonstrate His providence in guiding the events of history toward His desired outcome. In order to appreciate God's providential dealings with the nations in the Old Testament it is necessary to understand the principles undergirding these dealings, the examples which portray these dealings, and the purposes behind these dealings.

Principles Behind God's Dealings with the Nations
1. God reigns over the nations. The psalmist praised God, saying, "Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with understanding. God reigns over the nations; God sits on His holy throne" (Psa. 47:6-8). God's providential dealings with the nations demonstrate that God reigns as the supreme ruler over even the greatest and most powerful human rulers and most powerful human nations.

2. God is infinitely superior to the nations. The prophet Isaiah wrote of God's superiority, saying, "Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust on the scales; look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before Him are as nothing, and they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless. To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him?" (Isa. 40:15-18). Even the greatest world powers among the nations of men are considered "as a drop in a bucket" when compared to the greatness and power of Almighty God and it is a "very little thing" for Him to rule over them and make use of them in accomplishing His purposes.

3. God orchestrates the rising and falling of nations and rulers. The prophet Daniel wrote that the king of Babylon was given a message from heaven informing him that, "This decision is by the decree of the watchers, and the sentence by the word of the holy ones, in order that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, gives it to whomever He will, and sets over it the lowest of men" (Dan. 4:17). In the repeated struggles between the nations of the world for power, wealth, and enlarged territory which are recorded in the Old Testament it must be understood that the outcomes of those struggles and the destinies of those nations were directed by the God of heaven.

Portraits Of God's Dealings with the Nations
1. Joseph. Joseph, the son of Jacob and great-grandson of Abraham, was sold by his brothers into slavery, was taken to Egypt, and was wrongfully imprisoned in Egypt (Gen. 37; 39-40). However, in due time God allowed Joseph to interpret the troubling dreams of the king of Egypt in a manner which led the king to elevate this Hebrew slave to a position over the kingdom second only to the Pharaoh himself (41:1-44). Joseph understood that it was not by his own power, but by the providence of God, that he was raised to such heights in a foreign kingdom. He expressed his understanding of these things to his brothers, saying, "But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life" (Gen. 45:5).

2. Pharaoh. The hard-hearted Pharaoh of the Exodus stubbornly refused to allow the Israelites to depart from Egypt when commanded by God through Moses to do so (Exod. 5:1-2). As a result, God unleashed a series of ten devastating plagues upon Egypt. God's providential use of this stubborn Egyptian king was made known in the midst of these disasters as the Almighty spoke to him through Moses, saying, "But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth" (Exod. 9:16).

3. Jonah. The account of the Israelite prophet Jonah is unique in that he was sent by God to preach His word to a Gentile nation. God instructed Jonah, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me" (Jon. 1:2). Once Jonah finally obeyed God's instruction and preached a message of repentance to those in the Assyrian capital, the people repented and the Bible says, "Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it" (Jon. 3:10).

4. Nebuchadnezzar. The powerful Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, was used providentially by God to accomplish His purposes among the kingdoms of men. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God even refers to the Babylonian king as His "servant" in this sense (Jer. 25:9). While Nebuchadnezzar was not a servant of the Lord in the same sense as those who lived lives of faithfulness to Him, the king of Babylon and his nation were put to use in God's service in reducing various nations to captivity.

5. Cyrus. Cyrus, the mighty Persian conqueror who defeated Babylon, attributed his great success to the providence of God, saying, "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah" (Ezra 1:2). Truly, God was orchestrating Cyrus' rise to power behind the scenes, even calling him by name long before his birth (Isa. 45:1-3).

6. Esther. Esther was an orphan girl of the captives of Judah who was brought up by her cousin Mordecai in Shushan, the capital of the Medo-Persian Empire (Esth. 2:5-7). After being chosen by the Medo-Persian ruler, Ahasuerus, to be his queen, Esther was warned of a plot against the Jews and was urged by Mordecai to use her influence to seek help from the king for her people (4:1-8). Her being in the right place at the right time demonstrates the providence of God in directing the affairs of powerful nations. As he urged her to speak to the king on behalf of her people, Mordecai spoke to Esther, saying, "For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (4:14).

Purposes Involved in God's Dealings with the Nations
1. Preservation of God's people. One of the primary purposes involved in God's interaction with the nations during the Old Testament period has to do with His preservation of the nation of Israel in connection with the promises which He made to Abraham. Joseph was made second in command over the nation of Egypt in order to ensure that the Israelites would not perish during a time of severe famine. Along these lines, he spoke to his brothers concerning their former mistreatment of him, saying, "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive" (Gen. 50:20). Cyrus and his Medo-Persian Empire were used to reestablish the Israelites in their homeland following seventy years of captivity. Prior to Cyrus' birth, God spoke of the use He would make of this conqueror in providing for His chosen people and their dwelling place (Isa. 44:28). Esther was used by God to prevent the Jews "throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus" from being destroyed by the murderous plot of Haman (Esth. 9:2). Had Haman's wicked plan succeeded, the entire nation of Israel would have perished. God dealt with the nations in the Old Testament in such a way as to preserve His people alive.

2. Punishment of the wicked. Another purpose served by God's interaction with the nations in the Old Testament era is that of bringing judgment and punishment upon the wicked. Once Israel took possession of the land of Canaan and became unfaithful to God in the days of the judges, the Bible says, "And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel. So He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies" (Judg. 2:14). Following the division of the kingdom after Solomon's death, God used Assyria to conquer the northern kingdom of Israel as punishment for the sins of His people (2 Kings 17:18). On the other hand, God used Babylon to punish the southern kingdom of Judah for its sins (2 Chron. 36:17). At the same time, the Gentile nations were also held accountable by God for their wickedness and God would providentially orchestrate their demise, as He prophesied through Obadiah, saying, "For the day of the Lord upon all the nations is near; as you have done, it shall be done to you; your reprisal shall return upon your own head. For as you drank on my holy mountain, so shall all the nations drink continually; yes, they shall drink, and swallow, and they shall be as though they had never been" (Obad. 15-16). God used the nations of the Old Testament era for the purpose of punishing the wicked.

3. Power of God placed on display. God's interaction with the nations of the Old Testament further served the purpose of demonstrating His magnificent power and glory to the world. Egypt was made powerful so that God could demonstrate His power over its king and its false gods, who were powerless to prevent the plagues, as Moses' father-in-law observed, saying, "Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods; for in the very thing in which they behaved proudly, He was above them" (Exod. 18:11). The psalmist petitioned God concerning the Gentile nations, saying, "Let them be confounded and dismayed forever; yes, let them be put to shame and perish, that they may know that You, whose name alone is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth" (Psa. 83:17-18). God spoke of His judgments on the nations through the prophet Ezekiel, saying, "Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord" (Ezek. 38:23). The true God of heaven displayed His power to the people of the world through His providential dealings with the nations.

4. Plan of salvation in Christ unfolded. Another vital purpose which was served in God's interaction with the nations of the Old Testament concerns the carrying out of His plan to save mankind through Jesus Christ. God's interaction with Egypt in the days of Joseph, with Babylon in the days of Jeconiah, and with the Medo-Persian Empire in the days of Zerubbabel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther served to preserve the people through whom the Christ would come and, eventually, to secure their place in the land in which the Christ would be born. God's dealings with the nations of the Old Testament involved the orchestrating of events in preparation for the coming of Christ and the establishment of His kingdom. Daniel prophetically described the rise and fall of four major world empires, saying, "And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever" (Dan. 2:44). God's use of the nations in the Old Testament facilitated the coming of Jesus Christ into the world to serve as the perfect sacrifice to take away the sins of mankind.

Conclusion
Through God's providential dealings with the nations in the Old Testament, salvation has been made available to those of all nations under the new covenant of Jesus Christ. Following His resurrection, the risen Savior instructed His apostles, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matt. 28:18-20). God's dealings with the nations have made it possible for those of all nations to become His people through obedience to the gospel of His Son. Have you surrendered your life to the Most High who rules over the kingdoms of men?

David Dann, ddann1@hotmail.com. David Dann has been working with the West Main church of Christ in Lewisville, Texas since 2010.