If you go down to Brecon today, you are sure of a big surprise.
If you go down to Brecon today, you had better go hide in a hide.
For every red kite that ever there was in the vicinity, will gather there for certain because
every day is the day the red kites get their picnic!

Back in the early 90s, at a time when there were only two breeding red kite pairs let in Wales, efforts were made to reintroduce them, and a local farmer began feeding these magnificent birds of prey. Today, up to 600 gather at Gigrin Farm every afternoon, awaiting the meat distributed for them.

Now what has that got to do with all the troubles going on in the world today?

It is this:

Throughout Scripture, the Lord is depicted as a summoning God. Asaph announces that,

The Mighty One, God the LORD,
speaks and summons the earth
from where the sun rises to where it sets. (Ps. 50:1)

He continues a few verses later:

He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that He may judge His people (Ps. 50:4)

Isaiah announces that His witness to the nations will,

“. . . summon a nation you do not know,
and nations who do not know you will run to you.
For the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel,
has bestowed glory on you.” (Is. 55:5)

Jeremiah prophesies that God is “. . . about to summon all the clans and kingdoms of the north,” declares the LORD. “Their kings will come and set up their thrones at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem. They will attack all her surrounding walls and all the other cities of Judah.” (Jer. 1:14)

And Zechariah hears Him tell how “He will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it.” (Zech. 14:2)

Our God is a gathering God. We love the idea of Him gathering people for power, and we know how much more of Him we experience when we are gathered together. But it is not only His people whom He calls together. The Bible reveals Him as a God who gathers nations, and even gathers then against His own beloved city. Why should He do such a thing?

In this post, I want to ask some questions, and I invite you to ponder what the answers might be.

Our vision and understanding of the sovereignty of God is far, far too small

In a discussion about the sovereignty of God, I once made the point once that Jesus’ death was clearly 100% the fault of Judas who betrayed Jesus, except that 100% of the blame could equally be placed on the Jewish leaders who had long been plotting do to away with Him, not to mention 100% of the responsibility being laid at the door of Pilate who sentenced Him – oh and, of course, 100% of the blame should also be allocated to satan himself.

That alone takes us into impossible areas of higher mathematics, but we have barely started. For did not Jesus deliberately provoke the powers that prevail in Jerusalem, by healing people on the Sabbath and making it clear that He was the Son of God? And was not the entire plan written into Creation from the start, by God Himself? He allowed His Son to be handed over to death by His own foreknowledge – so by that reckoning perhaps one could suggest that 100% of the blame was God’s Himself!! (Acts 2:22-24)

How is it that a holy God can apparently make use of evil? I am not going to attempt to answer that question, but I do want to offer some thoughts in the light of current events around the world, and invite you to ponder how you might answer it.

We are watching the nations gather, and there are some unlikely alliances amongst them. China, Iran, North Korea and South Africa are supporting Putin’s war in Ukraine, whilst Russia itself has switched sides in the conflict in Sudan. The US has traditionally aligned itself with Israel and, for the most part, continues to do so. There seems sometimes to be the metallic scent of blood and weaponry in the air, and the sound of war marching to engulf the whole earth. (Isaiah 24, and 34:1-3) But look at how closely the devil is involved in all this. John certainly says as much:

‘Then I saw three unclean spirits that looked like frogs. They were coming out of the mouth of the dragon, the mouth of the beast, and the mouth of the false prophet. They are the spirits of demons that perform miracles. These three spirits go out to all the kings of the world, to bring them together for the battle on the great Day of Almighty God . . . And the demonic spirits gathered all the rulers and their armies to a place with the Hebrew name Armageddon.’ (Rev 16:13, 14, 16)

And yet. . . and yet . . .

“I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat,” says the Lord. “I will enter into judgement with them there, on behalf of My people and My heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up My land.

Come quickly, all you nations from every side, and assemble there.

Call out your warriors, Lord! Let the nations stir themselves up and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. (Joel 3:2,11)

Is this not the Lord fulfilling His word to summon the nations so that He might usher in of the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ? In his New International Greek Testament Commentary on Revelation, G.K. Beale suggests that the purpose of the demonic deception referred to in Rev. 16:14 is to gather these evil kings together ‘for the war of the great day of God Almighty.’

I wonder if, just as that Brecon farmer summons the red kites by setting out a feast for them, the Lord’s ultimate purpose is not to gather together the nations in order to deal once and for all with those engaged in rebellion against Him?

Therefore, be patient,” says the Lord.
“Soon I will stand and accuse these evil nations.
For I have decided to gather the kingdoms of the earth
and pour out My fiercest anger and fury on them.
All the earth will be devoured
by the fire of My jealousy. (Zeph. 3:8 GNT)

For with fire and with His sword the Lord will execute judgment on all people, and many will be those slain by the Lord . . .
And I, because of what they have planned and done, am about to come and gather the people of all nations and languages,
and they will come and see My glory. (Isaiah 66:16, 18)

The summoning of the nations is certainly no picnic therefore. It is all about the fearsome, magnificent glory of our holy God.

Photo by Phil Robson on Unsplash