Judg 3:12, Now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. 
	We are continuing with our consideration of the fact that the Lord uses even those who would be our enemies to fulfill that work which needs to be done within His people for His name’s sake as the Sovereign Lord of all of Creation. There is nothing and no one who can stand against the Lord God, Jehovah. He is the Victorious and Glorified Almighty Who rules and overrules in all the history and the plans and the lives of men. He is the Great I Am Who has ever been and will ever be. Time is His tool to accomplish that for which He created it. 
	The reality is that time and nature, the storms and volcanic eruptions, the flow and overflow of rivers and oceans are all at the command of the Lord God. All the events of what society calls Acts of God, are in fact under His full Sovereignty. He controls the tides, the expansion of the universe, the earthquakes, the tornadoes, the fires, the rise and fall of nations, and the life time of each person on this earth. Everything is in His Hands!
Thusly, it is God Who moves nations and peoples to do exactly what He commands them to do! This will always be in line with how He will manifest His glory to those who are both the beloved of God as well as those who are the means by which God’s Sovereignty is seen on this earth. 
	We turn our attention back to the fact that God uses whatever and whomever He deems necessary to accomplish what will bring glory to His name. We will continue in the Old Testament, specifically starting in 2 Kings, Chapter 5 with the account of Naaman, the leprous captain of the army of the king of Aram. As recorded in 2 Kings 5:1, the Lord gave the victory to the nation of Aram over Israel. God used even this to prove Himself and His healing power to this captain of that victorious enemy army. 
	2 Kings 5:1, Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man with his master, and highly respected, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man was also a valiant warrior, but he was a leper. 
As a result of that victory over Israel, many Jews were led away as captives. One, a Hebrew slave girl, told Naaman about the Prophet Elisha. All the events that unfolded showed the power and the Sovereignty of God over illness and pride and ambition. God was glorified by humbling the heart and then healing the leprosy so that Naaman would declare for himself that there was no god in the entire world except the God of Israel, as recounted in the 15+16th verses of this Chapter. 
2 Kings 5:15+16, When he returned to the man of God with all his company, and came and stood before him, he said, "Behold now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel; so please take a present from your servant now." But he said, "As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, I will take nothing." And he urged him to take it, but he refused. 
	The Psalmist then picks up our current theme of the Lord using those people, considered to be the enemies of God, to bring His own chosen nation to the place of repentance. Consider such passages as Ps 78:55-64. Please open your Bibles to this.
	Ps 78:55-64, He also drove out the nations before them, And He apportioned them for an inheritance by measurement, And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents. Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God, And did not keep His testimonies, But turned back and acted treacherously like their fathers; They turned aside like a treacherous bow. For they provoked Him with their high places, And aroused His jealousy with their graven images. When God heard, He was filled with wrath, And greatly abhorred Israel; So that He abandoned the dwelling place at Shiloh, The tent which He had pitched among men, And gave up His strength to captivity, And His glory into the hand of the adversary. He also delivered His people to the sword, And was filled with wrath at His inheritance. Fire devoured His young men; And His virgins had no wedding songs. His priests fell by the sword; And His widows could not weep. 
	The nations surrounding the Tribes of Israel were the means by which the Lord God Almighty caused His people to seek some place of refuge. As is the evident manner of humanity, the People of the Lord would find themselves enjoying the goodness and the blessing of God for a season. Then they would begin to lose sight of to Whom they belonged. They would turn to the idols and the activities of the defiled nations surrounding them and would very soon be caught up in the worst of apostasies and adulterous behavior. They would treat God treacherously and completely abandon their covenant promise to be His Holy people. God would then bring His retribution and His punishment upon that people who had so callously rejected their relationship with Him. 
	Again, in Ps 106:34-48, we find the Lord using those severe means of enabling the enemies of the nation to be the instrument to cause His people to call out to Him for deliverance and for release from their captivity and their torment. They would turn back to the Lord as He would deliver them. 
Then they would once again begin the cycle of decline and disparagement against God. They, the people of the Lord, would act so vilely, often making the pagan nations look tame and mild in their idolatrous iniquities. Yet the Love of the Lord, and His Grace and His Compassion would flow forth unto the faithful remnant of the Children of Israel showing that He, The Only True and Living Lord God, was Alone worthy of all praise and adoration and glory.
	Ps 106:34-48, They did not destroy the peoples, As the Lord commanded them, But they mingled with the nations, And learned their practices, And served their idols, Which became a snare to them. They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons, And shed innocent blood, The blood of their sons and their daughters, Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; And the land was polluted with the blood. Thus they became unclean in their practices, And played the harlot in their deeds. Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against His people, And He abhorred His inheritance. Then He gave them into the hand of the nations; And those who hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, And they were subdued under their power. Many times He would deliver them; They, however, were rebellious in their counsel, And so sank down in their iniquity. Nevertheless He looked upon their distress, When He heard their cry; And He remembered His covenant for their sake, And relented according to the greatness of His lovingkindness. He also made them objects of compassion In the presence of all their captors. Save us, O Lord our God, And gather us from among the nations, To give thanks to Thy holy name, And glory in Thy praise. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, From everlasting even to everlasting. And let all the people say, "Amen." Praise the Lord! 
	The Prophet Isaiah, in Isa 10:15+16, gives a very concise declaration as to the means of the Lord using the nations of the world to bring about His plans and His purposes within the lives and the hearts and the commitment of His people. Those so called heathen nations were as tools in the mighty and victorious hands of the Lord. They accomplished that which the Lord chose to do with them in the building of the House of God within the hearts of those whom He had chosen to fit together into His own, divine Temple. 
	Isa 10:15+16, Is the axe to boast itself over the one who chops with it? Is the saw to exalt itself over the one who wields it? That would be like a club wielding those who lift it, Or like a rod lifting him who is not wood. Therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, will send a wasting disease among his stout warriors; And under his glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame. 
	Think back in our lives to how the Lord would use situations and circumstances, people who hated us, and those who would simply ignore us to cause us to be chiseled and shaped and formed and smoothed and fit together with the rest of the living stones of His Church. We are in the hands of the Master Craftsman and Carpenter Who sets us into the place that He has determined for our being part of the greater temple which will bring glory to His name. He wields those tools, be they other people, or illness, or financial ruin, or rejection, or humiliation of our self-centered attitudes, as but only a few items in the heavenly toolbox, so to speak. We are brought through flood and fire and torrential storms and violent gales in order to be absolutely prepared to show forth His glory and His praise in the placement of His choosing for our lives on this earth.
	One of the great examples of how the Lord used the enemies of the People of the Lord is detailed, by Isaiah, in Isa 37:18-29. Here we have the great distress of His people, as voiced by King Hezekiah, as they were being besieged by Sennacherib, King of Assyria. 
There was no evident manner in which the few inhabitants of Jerusalem could withstand the brute force and overruling numbers of the devastating army arrayed against them. Jerusalem was utterly surrounded and besieged. 
Sennecherib had utter distain in his heart for any of the gods of the nations that he had conquered and thus felt exactly the same about the Lord God Jehovah of Israel. Just as the Assyrian king had utterly annihilated all those people who had trusted in their idols, such was his distain for this meager people and their God.
	  The Lord had given Sennacherib the leeway to go so far, but no further. That Assyrian king had done much to bring the people of the Lord to their knees in abject horror at their situation. In despair, they humbled their heart and called out to God for salvation. Sennacherib could go only thus far before the Lord turned him back, despite the power of his army and the boast of his former victories. Because the people humbled their hearts and prayed for God to show Himself victorious over the seemingly insurmountable forces arrayed against Zion, the Lord turned the Assyrian army away as if by the use of a hook in the nose or a bridle and bit in the mouth of a horse.  
	Isa 37:18-29, "Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated all the countries and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. "And now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that Thou alone, Lord, art God." Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, this is the word that the Lord has spoken against him: "She has despised you and mocked you, The virgin daughter of Zion; She has shaken her head behind you, The daughter of Jerusalem! "Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? And against whom have you raised your voice, And haughtily lifted up your eyes? Against the Holy One of Israel! "Through your servants you have reproached the Lord, And you have said, 'With my many chariots I came up to the heights of the mountains, To the remotest parts of Lebanon; And I cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypresses. And I will go to its highest peak, its thickest forest. 'I dug wells and drank waters, And with the sole of my feet I dried up All the rivers of Egypt.' "Have you not heard? Long ago I did it, From ancient times I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, That you should turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps. "Therefore their inhabitants were short of strength, They were dismayed and put to shame; They were as the vegetation of the field and as the green herb, As grass on the housetops is scorched before it is grown up. "But I know your sitting down, And your going out and your coming in, And your raging against Me. "Because of your raging against Me, And because your arrogance has come up to My ears, Therefore I will put My hook in your nose, And My bridle in your lips, And I will turn you back by the way which you came. 
	The Prophet Isaiah also records the words of the Lord that were spoken in regard to Cyrus the Great, king of the First Persian Empire, as he was gathering together the realms of his conquest. Please note, as we read Isa 44:28 - 45:7, the reason that Cyrus was able to make such a kingdom through the means of being the Lord’s anointed tool. This would show the whole known world of that day the fact that Jehovah is the Lord God Almighty. Despite the manner of men to create their own deities, the Lord shows Himself mighty against every imagination of mankind.
	Isa 44:28 - 45:7, "It is I who says of Cyrus, 'He is My shepherd! And he will perform all My desire.' And he declares of Jerusalem, 'She will be built,' And of the temple, 'Your foundation will be laid.'" Thus says the Lord to Cyrus His anointed, Whom I have taken by the right hand, To subdue nations before him, And to loose the loins of kings; To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut: "I will go before you and make the rough places smooth; I will shatter the doors of bronze, and cut through their iron bars. "And I will give you the treasures of darkness, And hidden wealth of secret places, In order that you may know that it is I, The Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name. "For the sake of Jacob My servant, And Israel My chosen one, I have also called you by your name; I have given you a title of honor Though you have not known Me. "I am the Lord, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me; That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other, The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these. 
	Daniel, the prophet of the Lord in the captivity did not hesitate to declare to three different kings the truth of Who God is and all that He has done and will do. Please open to Dan 4:22-26 and hear the voice of the Lord through this prophet to King Nebuchadnezzar, who would learn for himself the reality of the Living Lord God Jehovah.
	Dan 4:22-26, it is you, O king; for you have become great and grown strong, and your majesty has become great and reached to the sky and your dominion to the end of the earth. 'And in that the king saw an angelic watcher, a holy one, descending from heaven and saying, "Chop down the tree and destroy it; yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground, but with a band of iron and bronze around it in the new grass of the field, and let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him share with the beasts of the field until seven periods of time pass over him"; this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king: that you be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place be with the beasts of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whomever He wishes. 'And in that it was commanded to leave the stump with the roots of the tree, your kingdom will be assured to you after you recognize that it is Heaven that rules. 
	As we know, Nebuchadnezzar was driven out into the wilderness as a beast of the field for seven years. Then the Lord restored him to his place as ruler over Babylon. The result of all this is recounted in the words of Nebuchadnezzar as recorded in verses 34-37.
	Dan 4:34-37, "But at the end of that period I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward 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. "And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, 'What hast Thou done?' "At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me. "Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise, exalt, and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride." 
Again, in Dan 5:18-22, Daniel dealt with the next king, Belshazzar, the son of Nebuchadnezzar, and Daniel made it very clear and evident unto Whom all men need to bow and do homage. Everyone will have to acknowledge that God, the Lord God Almighty, Yahweh, is the only true and living God. He uses men and nations according to His Sovereignty. He, Alone, chooses who is exalted as a ruler and who is removed from that place of human honor.
	Dan 5:18-22, "O king, the Most High God granted sovereignty, grandeur, glory, and majesty to Nebuchadnezzar your father. "And because of the grandeur which He bestowed on him, all the peoples, nations, and men of every language feared and trembled before him; whomever he wished he killed, and whomever he wished he spared alive; and whomever he wished he elevated, and whomever he wished he humbled. "But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit became so proud that he behaved arrogantly, he was deposed from his royal throne, and his glory was taken away from him. "He was also driven away from mankind, and his heart was made like that of beasts, and his dwelling place was with the wild donkeys. He was given grass to eat like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he recognized that the Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind, and that He sets over it whomever He wishes. 
	The third king with whom Daniel presented the truth of the Lord was Darius. This was the one who had been tricked into throwing Daniel into the Lion’s Den. It was after that episode that Darius made the following declaration throughout the entirety of his dominion, as declared in Dan 6:25-27.	
Dan 6:25-27, Then Darius the king wrote to all the peoples, nations, and men of every language who were living in all the land: "May your peace abound! "I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom men are to fear and tremble before the God of Daniel; For He is the living God and enduring forever, And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed, And His dominion will be forever. "He delivers and rescues and performs signs and wonders In heaven and on earth, Who has also delivered Daniel from the power of the lions." 
	Much later, in the divine history of God’s ruling and overruling we come to Jesus, when He was being judged by Pilate. Jesus made it very clear that neither Pilate, nor Caesar, nor any living man had any power over Him. He was constrained to do the will of the Father, Alone. He submitted Himself to His trial and eventual crucifixion because the Father had ordained for His Only Begotten Son to accomplish such an end and such a salvation through His perfect life, His sacrificial death, and then His glorious resurrection!
	John 19:10+11, Pilate therefore said to Him, "You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?" Jesus answered, "You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me up to you has the greater sin."
	We tie up this morning with the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatians. In Gal 6:7+8 is a summary of the fact that we cannot get away from the course of the decisions that we make on this earth. Just as the Children of Israel chose to disavow their covenant with God and seek after the gods and the idols of their day, so are we instructed as to the outcome of that action in our current time. The Lord will use whatever means, created and maintained by Him, for the fulfillment of His plan and His purpose in us, His people. 
	Gal 6:7+8, Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life. 
	If we sow those seeds of righteousness, we will find that our harvest is one of righteousness, joy, and peace through the work of the Holy Spirit. However, if we think that we can turn our backs on the Lord, if we think that it will not matter what choices we make and what gods of this age we pursue, we will find that God will bring forth His just and righteous judgment upon us! This will be through even those enemies and those people who are against us. God will use those situations and circumstances that will force us to call out to Him to save us from our sin and from our folly. It will all bring forth His glory in our lives and throughout the whole of His creation! So be it!
Now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. Amen.

This morning’s benediction is Ps 136:1. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Amen.