Why Do the Heathen Rage?

“Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?”  Psalm 2:1

I am currently studying the book of Nehemiah who was the courageous Judean who desired to leave his place of service as a cupbearer to king Artaxerxes of Persia in order to rebuild the walls and gates of Jerusalem which Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian army had destroyed.  King Cyrus, prior to king Artaxerxes, had allowed captives of Judah, led by Zerubbabel, to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple.  Later, more Judeans were allowed to travel to Jerusalem led by Ezra, the priest.  Nehemiah was the third leader allowed to take materials with which to rebuild the walls and gates.

As usual, there were people who did not desire to see the people of God prosper.  There were three men, Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, all Gentiles, who were greatly dismayed at the prospect of God’s people being blessed with a wall and gates to protect them from enemies.  My Dad used to say that there is always a smart aleck in the crowd.  Or, in this case, there were those who opposed the efforts of God’s people to restore the holy city.  It is no different today.  At the time of this writing, Hamas, a terrorist organization made up of Palestinians, who attacked Israel and killed over 1,000 people, have a goal of killing all Jews and Americans.  There are also groups inside the U.S. who are supporting Hamas, mostly because they have no clue as to Israel’s history.  What it boils down to is a hatred of God by these terrorists and by those who support them.  I believe that their hatred comes from envy of nations whose God is the Lord, and thus those who worship and serve the God of Israel have been blessed by Him.  All one has to do is to look at how Israel and America have been blessed with prosperity and freedom in comparison to the nations who do not honor God.  Unrest, poverty, hatred, bondage, and a lack of joy are found among the people of those nations.

As Matthew Henry pointed out in his commentary, even though the heathen raged, Nehemiah and the others were successful in their endeavor because they saw themselves as the servants of the God of heaven and trusted in Him to prosper them.  Mr. Henry stated, “They (the Judeans) considered also that the reason why these enemies did so malign them was because they (the enemies) had no right in Jerusalem but envied them their right in it”.  Envy is a dangerous emotion.  As we have just witnessed, the envy of Israel’s enemies has caused the deaths of many Israelis.  However, as the Psalmist wrote, the enemies of the Lord have set themselves against Him, believing they can defeat Him and defeat His people.  He goes on to say that “He that sits in the heavens shall laugh: the LORD shall have them in derision”, that is, will hold these evildoers in contempt.

Jesus is “waiting in the wings”, so to speak, for His return to earth when He will rid the earth of every evildoer, every terrorist, every abortionist, every child molester, every hate filled person who has no regard for Him or for His people.  We don’t know when Christ will return, but it sure looks like it could be not that far off.