WHY DID THE HEATHEN RAGE

Acts 4:23-25 And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?

Being dismissed by the Jewish judicial council, known as the Sanhedrin, with the warning not to preach or perform miracles in the name of Jesus, Peter and John returned to the body of Christians that had assembled together. And to them they reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. With these severe reprimands and warnings in mind, no doubt the question arose, what shall we do now? They did what all that are faced with the trials, tribulations, and persecutions of the world should do. They prayed for the righteous guidance of God.

They lifted up their voice to God with one accord. In the darkest of hours, when there seems to be no way out of impossible situations; when the world seems to be crashing down around a body of Christians, then it becomes necessary go to God in prayer. This they did. With one accord, they united their pleading voices together in prayer and asked for the unerring direction of God's wisdom. Oh, that all Christians would unite their minds and voices in prayer, and, with one accord, seek the righteous wisdom of God when faced with, what often appears to be, overwhelming problems that from time to time, arise in the church of Christ. As they did then, so now we must also go to our Heavenly Father in prayer - the omnipotent God that created all men and women of the earth, as well as all things that are known to exist within the universe in which we live. Our God governs all things with absolute power. There is no better source of universal knowledge, no higher governing authority, nor can there be found a greater, more venerate, and unlimited wisdom than that of our Creator, the Lord God of heaven and earth.

With this in mind, Luke now quotes the words of God that were, by inspiration, given to King David, which he preserved for us in Psalm 2:1 - Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? This is the prophecy of opposition to the will of God. It has existed during all dispensations of mankind. And here it was evidenced in the infancy of the first church of Christ in Jerusalem, by the members of the Sanhedrin. The rapid progress of the church resulted in thousands of men and women rushing to accept the promise of eternal salvation through Jesus Christ by obediently being baptized into His body. This same Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom the Sanhedrin condemned to die on the cross of Calvary, was now being kept alive by the inspired teaching of His apostles.

Rage against opposition and imaginations, or plans devised to resist and subdue it, are demonstrated when the authority of either secular or religious leaders are challenged and their influence is jeopardized. This is exactly what took place when Jesus Christ descended from heaven and was born into a human body. He lived on earth, preached the coming of His kingdom, was persecuted and put to death by the Jewish leaders, was buried, was resurrected from death, and was seen of hundreds of men and women of the world. He then ascended back into heaven, and was there crowned King by God and given total authority over all things in heaven on earth. Every knee must now or eventually bow to His power, authority, and judgment.

Many having earthly power are self-willed, are unwilling to surrender their authority to Jesus Christ, and will rage and imagine vain things against Him in order to destroy His influence. They will ridicule, deride, and mock Him. They will speak contemptuously and spitefully against Him. And they will demonstrate a deep-seated animosity, seek to harm Him, or, ultimately, they will conspire to take the lives of all that proclaim Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the Messiah, and the Savior of the world. These are the self-imposed, unscrupulous kings and rulers of the earth, the preachers and teachers that profess their own "religion" to fulfill their own selfish, covetous desires, and leaders and members of "religious" bodies that refuse to include the entire, inspired word of God as their doctrinal foundation. When and where the will of men and women of the world conflicts with that of God, the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things.