I came across this in my Bible reading today:
There was not a city that made peace with the people of Israel except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. They took them all in battle. 20 For it was the Lord‘s doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be devoted to destruction and should receive no mercy but be destroyed, just as the Lord commanded Moses. – Joshua 11:19-20
This is during that strange part of the Bible where God has ordered Israel’s army to destroy foreign armies, and forcibly take over the land of Canaan. God continually reminds them that he is with them and will give them into their hand. The only time this fails is when the Israelites go their own way and act according to their own wisdom, and don’t trust the Lord. It is helpful to see this as an enduring metaphor for all of life – Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your path.” We’ve made clear a number of times that this is not how God operates through the church in today’s stage of redemptive history, but we must acknowledge this is how he chose to operate in that era, with Israel meant to be a demonstration of the power, faithfulness, and reality of the one true God in the earth.
But we also see here another principle at work: the Lord hardened the hearts of these nations against Israel, in order that they might fight, in order that those rebel nations would be defeated, and God’s plan come to fruition. This is similar to when we read of the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart in the book of Exodus. It is true absolutely that people sin of their own free will, and that has never been false at any point in the gospel story, and yet, God is using rebellious hearts for his purposes – he did that with Pharaoh, with these rogue nations, and with Judas Iscariot. He is in control of human history – and we cannot avoid that reality. He is orchestrating things to his will – and he does that not as some maniacal ruler twisting his mustache – he is a loving and faithful God, who loves to save sinners. He has orchestrated reality to save you – and that is no exaggeration – all things must together for good for those who love him – and it’s not just you, but humanity in general – come to the Lord, the offer is there for you and his whole world whispers his name with the purpose of bringing you to trust in him. The Egyptians saw it in his power in the plagues – and those plagues were done so that both Israel and Egypt would see him as Lord!