How God uses people who don't believe in Him to fulfill his Word.

Precept Acts Part 1

Lesson 6 - Acts Chapter 8

So, I was doing my homework for Acts Chapter 8 (lesson 6) and I had an "a-ha" moment.   When I read the verse in Acts 8 that talks about how Saul was persecuting the church, I realized that even though Saul was not a believer at that time (obviously),  God still used him to fulfill Jesus' command in Acts 1:8.

 

Command or Prophecy	Fulfilled by
In Acts 1:8, Jesus told his disciples "but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”	Acts 8:4 - "But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.  Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word."

After this "A-ha" moment, it brought to mind a few other times when God used unbelievers to carry out His Word.

 

Command or Prophecy	Fulfilled by
Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for 400 years.” (Genesis 15:13)	We know from later Scripture in Exodus that the Israelites did leave Egypt.  We’re all familiar with the facts of the Exodus, Pharaoh wouldn’t let them go, Moses was the deliverer.  Pharaoh eventually did let them go, even though he was not a Jew. Ex 12:29-32
Isaiah 44:28: “It is I who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd! And he will perform all My desire.’ And he declares of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built,’ And of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’” (Note: This was written by the prophet Isaiah about 740-700bc)	This fulfillment is recorded in 2 Chronicles 36:22-23, Ezra 1:1-8, Ezra 3:7, Ezra 4:3.  Cyrus the Great became king of Persia in 559bc and conquered the Medes in 550bc.  In 538bc, Cyrus granted to the Jews (whom King Nebuchadnezzar had taken to Babylon in captivity in 586bc) to return to Palestine and rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. So this prophecy was roughly 150 years before Cyrus was even born.  That’s why Bible skeptics claim that Isaiah was written much later than it actually was.
In Acts 2, Peter gives a sermon to the crowd who had gathered on the day of Pentecost.  He states very eloquently about Jesus: “Men of Israel, listen to these words:  Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— 23this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. 24“But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.” So God had a predetermined plan, before the creation of the world, to bridge the gap between himself and man that happened during the first sin in the Garden of Eden.  God knew He had to sacrifice His Son, Jesus, the Messiah, to die for our sins.  By Jesus dying, a perfect white lamb without spot or blemish, to be our Passover Lamb.  But this plan, was in fact, carried out by the Jews and Roman rulers, who were not believers in the Son of God.

 

 There are obviously, many hundreds and probably thousands of times in Scripture about when God used those who did not believe to carry out His will.  These were just a few that came to mind while we've been studying Acts.