Of the principles of God's intervention which come out here, and of which all such interpositions of His bear witness, more than one may be noticed. One very remarkable principle is that whenever God intervenes in a crisis there is a seeming delay that allows the enemy to go to the farthest extremity of his power before He Himself steps in. “Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee; the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain” (Psa. 76:1010Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. (Psalm 76:10)). He makes the wrath of man to praise Him; but it is the remainder of wrath, the overplus, that which would go beyond this, that He restrains over and over again has this been seen in God's dealings. It is nothing else than this timely intervention which Psa. 75:22When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly. (Psalm 75:2) when correctly read, speaks of— “When I shall reach the set time I will judge uprightly.” This is Messiah's utterance in response to the faith of His elect as expressed in verse 1, where the fact that His name is near, a signal manifestation of His power on their behalf anticipated, become occasion even then for thanksgiving. “We give thanks to thee, O God. We give thanks; and near [is] thy name; thy wonders declare [it].” This confidence is not misplaced; for, when the proper season has arrived, declares their Messiah, He Himself shall come in to perform the looked-for work of judgment. Paul tells us “He hath determined the times before appointed” (Acts 17:2626And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; (Acts 17:26)). And here the time for God to arise and have mercy upon Zion is come. “The time to favor her, yea the set time, is come.” A set time for mercy, there is also a season of ripeness for judgment. And who can judge of that save He in Whose hand all issues lie. With perfect knowledge of all that is involved, shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
Now this consideration corrects the mistake many make in looking for, and demanding, the active intervention of God to-day. Nothing is more common than to hear the exclamation “Why does not God step in and put a stop to all this.” And prayer is continually being made asking for such divine interference. It is generally on the plea that, if God is sovereign, it is surely to be expected that He will do so. Perfectly true it is that in His wise and holy providence He at all times marks all things, over-rules all happenings, and works throughout all history the counsel of His will. But His government to-day is not immediate, or in any sense direct. The character of our times, and the general course of events show that it cannot be so. Operative in providence He ever is; actively intervening in history He is emphatically not, to-day. He cannot be so regarded, nor appealed to on that ground. “When God ariseth to judgment” there will be no dubiety or mystery about His actions. It will be no indirect, unseen, control that He exercises. The time for His active participation in events will have arrived, and the shaping of their course taken directly into His own hands. We cannot say what are the features that determine the stage of maturity when God will so interfere. It is not for us to know the times and seasons which the Father hath put in His own power. But as showing that it is more than a simple question of it being open to God at any time, in His providence, to intervene, let us remember that there are other factors in the situation, factors very commonly not taken account of at all.
It may be quite confidently stated of all history that there are at least three factors to be recognized as going to its constitution. Particularly is this true of the crisis of history, when momentous issues hang in the balance, and epoch-forming events are in the making. There are then to be seen the wrath of man (Psa. 76:1010Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. (Psalm 76:10); James 1:1010But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. (James 1:10)); the working of Satan (2 Thess. 2:99Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, (2 Thessalonians 2:9)); and the over-ruling government of God (Psa. 76 to; Dan. 2:19; 4:32, 34, 3519Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. (Daniel 2:19)
32And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. (Daniel 4:32)
34And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honored him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: 35And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? (Daniel 4:34‑35)). The latter is not to be considered apart from the two former, any more than are these two in themselves, man's wrath and the great adversary's activity (large as they bulk) to be allowed to monopolize the field of vision. It is well to be reminded of all the agencies at work; a situation cannot be understood otherwise. There is no question but that men are apt to forget all but the immediately visible. The wrath of man all can see. The fact remains that behind and beyond all the activities of men, in war as in peace, there are forces and actors concerned, too often neglected. Take the greatest crisis of history ever known, the crucifixion of the Lord of glory. It was in truth the act of man (Acts 4:26, 2726The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. 27For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, (Acts 4:26‑27)). It was none the less an action in which the prince of darkness had his part, inciting to it, and cooperating in it (John 13:27; 14:3027And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly. (John 13:27)
30Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. (John 14:30); Luke 22:5353When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness. (Luke 22:53)). Yet, withal, was it the determinate counsel of God (Acts 2:23; 4:3023Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: (Acts 2:23)
30By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. (Acts 4:30)). The greatest event in history as it is, most fruitful in issues that determine the course of events ever afterward, what is true of that in this respect is true of all. Man acts, Satan works, God disposes of all that happens, causing each detail to fall into line with the working out of His own purposes and plans. Only thus can we understand the very evident fact already referred to that God in choosing His own time to intervene rather than coping with opposition at an early stage, and nipping it in the bud, always seems to delay His own action until antagonism has reached its height, and the enemy gone to the full extremity of his power.
So was it with the Lord Jesus Christ in the solemn event already spoken of. Crucified and slain by hand of lawless men, He had reached a point where the enemy could pursue no farther. They had done their worst. Human hate and Satanic malice could do no more. And just there did God come in. “He trusted in God that he would deliver him,” was the taunt with which they derided Him on the cross. “Let him deliver him now if he will have him,” was a challenge virtually to God now to intervene on His behalf. It was thus they jeered at Him as one for whom, spite of His claims, God had done nothing in the way of interference or protection. But your challenge, proud Pharisees, shall be answered. God will interfere, and that to some purpose, in His own wise time and season. Into death itself Christ descends; yet wherefore, but that by death He might destroy him that had the power of death, and from the dead He is brought again by the power of God. He, the Son of God, was manifested for this purpose that He might destroy the works of the devil, and thus is it accomplished. He, the first, and last, and living One, became dead, but now is alive for evermore and has the keys of death and of hades. “Him whom ye have taken and by hands of wicked men have crucified and slain, God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.” The malice of men and the adversary's hatred are allowed to go far, in this instance, to fully expend themselves. Then does God come in, and, making it all to praise Him, He puts a period to all that man and Satan can do, and carries forward His great purpose.
Again, if in lesser degree, do we observe the same principle in the illustrative case of Hezekiah, also already referred to. To what lengths are Sennacherib, Rabshakeh, and the Assyrians allowed to proceed in their attack on Judah. With a great host they come up against Jerusalem. Their investing of it seems complete, and no escape possible. What fury against God's people they manifest! What boastings of former victories they make! What blasphemy and railing against God they are permitted to utter! “Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.” Effectual intervention of God on His people's behalf they plainly scoff at, and prepare to carry forward their terrible designs to fullest execution. But just then God does interfere. The angel of the Lord went forth and in the night smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand. The slain of the Lord were many. “Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed?” said God,”... even against the Holy One of Israel.” “Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back.” Ungoverned as was their rage, and unbridled as seemed their fury, God still retained control, and in His own time reined them in, “The remainder of wrath,” does He restrain.
Then also in that still future and incomparably greater crisis, in view of which Psa. 75 and 76 were penned, and to which in full their true application is, the same principle shall be observed. Throughout the different phases of that crisis, and, in regard to the different actors in it, for of antagonists there are to be more than one in that day—nothing is more clearly to be observed, as the prophetic word makes plain, than the fearful extremities to which, ere God interposes, all are allowed to proceed. The attack of Zech. 12 may be the particular one Psa. 76 refers to here. If so, the fact is very plain once more that only on the verge of his triumph, to all appearance, is the enemy pulled up, and God's power re-asserted against him. Vast forces of men evidently, a gigantic hostile confederacy of nations, arrayed against Jerusalem and full preparations made for the overthrow and annihilation of God's restored earthly people, such is the picture set before us in this prophecy. Once again God intervenes just when opposition had fully blossomed out, and rage had reached its height. “In that day, saith Jehovah, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness.” “And Jehovah shall go forth and fight against those nations as when he fought in the day of battle.” “And this shall be the plague wherewith Jehovah will smite all the peoples that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet.” “A great tumult from Jehovah shall be among them, and they shall lay hold everyone on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor.” “And Jehovah shall be king over all the earth” (Zech. 12:4; 14:3, 12, 13, 94In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness. (Zechariah 12:4)
3Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. (Zechariah 14:3)
12And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. 13And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor. (Zechariah 14:12‑13)
9And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one. (Zechariah 14:9)). “The remainder of wrath,” that which would, in its vehemence and ruthlessness, run past what God sees fit to allow as its measure, He restrains.
[J.T.]