William J. Wolfe has called Abraham Lincoln “one of the greatest theologians of America.” He added that Lincoln’s theology was profound, “not in the technical meaning of producing a system of doctrine, certainly not as the defender of someone denomination, but in the sense of seeing the hand of God intimately in the affairs of nations.” ¹ The hand of God is seen among the nations and is seen in the well-known verse in Proverbs 21:1. In today’s Light on Life, we will look at the phrase the ‘hand of the Lord’ and how it applies to the rulers of the nations.

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Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put into operation.
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Our God is a consuming fire, that’s a Bible fact. Walking in reverence, humility, and obedience to His plan is a safe shelter and a solid rock to build a life.

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Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony. Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11).
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Question: What experience have you had with the hand of God? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 40 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 35 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is both the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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Podcast Notes

Proverbs 21:1 (NKJV) 1 The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.

• The kings heart is in the hand of the Lord.
• That means all the kings, not just the good ones, not just the righteous ones

The Hand of the Lord

• The Bible speaks of the ‘hand of the Lord’.
• It speaks of the ‘right hand of God.’

Colossians 3:1 (NKJV) 1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.

• It speaks of the ‘finger of God.’

Luke 11:20 (NKJV) 20 But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.

• ‘Finger of God’; He doesn’t even need the whole hand.
• God’s little pinky finger is enough to knock the devil completely out of commission.
• It speaks of the arm of the Lord.

John 12:38 (NKJV) 38 that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?”

• But here, in Proverbs twenty-one verse one, we have hand of God, not arm or finger.

What Is the Hand of Lord?

• The phrase ‘the hand of the Lord’ or the phrase ‘the hand of God’ occurs fifty-five times in the Bible.
• What is the hand of the Lord?
• Is it a good thing or a bad thing?
• Is it something you want to experience or something you don’t want to experience?
• Let’s take a look.

The Hand of the Lord As Judgment

Exodus 9:3 (NKJV) 3 behold, the hand of the LORD will be on your cattle in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the oxen, and on the sheep—a very severe pestilence.

• God is talking here to Pharaoh and the Egyptian nation.

Exodus 16:3 (NKJV) 3 And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

• The children of Israel understood the hand of the Lord as judgment.

Judges 2:15 (NKJV) 15 Wherever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for calamity, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed.

• Here’s the context to this portion of scripture.

Judges 2:11–14 (NKJV) 11 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals; 12 and they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the LORD to anger. 13 They forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. 14 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.

• Israel sinned gravely in following false gods and denying the Lord.
• Judgment came against them by the hand of the Lord.
• How did the hand of the Lord work in judgment?
• He delivered them into the hand of plunderers.
• He sold them into the hands of their enemies.

1 Samuel 5:6 (NKJV) 6 But the hand of the LORD was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and He ravaged them and struck them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory.

1 Samuel 12:15 (NKJV) 15 However, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you, as it was against your fathers.

2 Samuel 24:14 (NKJV) 14 And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

Psalm 75:8 (NKJV) 8 For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, And the wine is red; It is fully mixed, and He pours it out; Surely its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth Drain and drink down.

Acts 13:11 (NKJV) 11 And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.” And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

Deuteronomy 2:15 (NKJV) 15 For indeed the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp until they were consumed.

• Here the scripture refers to the children of Israel who had wandered in the wilderness for forty years.
• The hand of the Lord was against them to destroy or bring about their demise.
• The English phrase ‘against them, to destroy’ is all one verb in the Hebrew and it means to do away with, cause the destruction or undoing of.
• There can be a destructive element to the ‘hand of the Lord’.
• So, I was having a conversation with a good friend and we were talking about ‘racism in the church’ and he made the statement ‘maybe we need more of the Presence of God’ in our churches to help people overcome the sin problem.
• More Presence does NOT always bring the answer to the sin problem like you think it might.
• Some have lost their lives in judgment because of strong Presence.
• That solved the sin problem alright, but not like you might have expected.
• Now don’t be afraid of Presence.
• But this verse is just as true as any other in the Bible.

Hebrews 10:31 (NKJV) 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

• Why?

Hebrews 12:29 (NKJV) 29 For our God is a consuming fire.

• The word ‘consuming’ means to destroy or expend utterly. It is conceived of as using up or consuming something utterly and completely.

• Light annihilates darkness.
• Light does not negotiate with darkness.
• It doesn’t consider it at all
• When light shows up, it’s over.
• If there is darkness in you, well, you can do the math.

1 John 1:5 (NKJV) 5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

What About Ananias and Sapphira

Acts 5:1–5 (NKJV) 1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. 2 And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? 4 While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.” 5 Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things.

• Ananias and Sapphira made heaven no doubt but they got there a lot sooner than they expected.
• Okay, so you’ve read or heard this story.
• Does this fill you with confusion or wonderment?
• Does this sound harsh to you?
• Like God is really being overly sensitive here?
• If you are, it’s may be because of one of the following reasons.

• One, you don’t think lying is such a big deal.
• So then this verse is not real to you.

Proverbs 6:16–17 (NKJV) 16 These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: 17 A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood,

• Lying is right up there with pride and murder.
• The Hebrew word ‘hates’ gives us a clue as to the depth of God’s displeasure with these certain sins.
• The word means to dislike with intensity.
• You should understand from this definition that God has a strong aversion to lying.
• It’s no different to Him than murder.
• Do you put a difference between the two?
• The second reason you may think God was harsh with Ananias and Sapphira is that you know people who have flat out engaged in the sin of lying and are still living to talk about it.
•  Since judgment has not fallen, it seems like no big deal to you.
• Why exactly did judgment fall in this case?
• Is God uneven in His judgments?
• Does He have a different standard for some as opposed to others?
• Or could there have been something else going on which factored into what happened to these two people in Acts five?
• Just a few verses later, we get a clue.

Acts 5:12–17 (NKJV) 12 And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch. 13 Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. 14 And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. 16 Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed. 17 Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with indignation,

• Through the hands of the apostles, the hand of God was moving.
• You can tell from reading this passage that the Spirit of God was moving in unusual ways.
• A move of God was happening at the exact moment this ‘judgment’ incident occurred.
• Signs and wonders were occurring.
• The anointing was so strong that the shadow of Peter was healing people.
• In other words, he was just walking by people and they were being healed.
• And not just that, the scripture goes on to proclaim the magnitude of what was happening in these words.
• ‘And they were all healed.’
• It’s not just that they lied.
• They lied right in the presence of the move.
• They lied in the Presence of the move of God.
• Which means they lied right in the Presence of God.
• Lying in the presence of God is lying directly to God’s face.
• They lied at the wrong time.
• But, the hand of the Lord is not just judgment, it’s also blessing.

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