The Movements of the Peoples and the Sovereignty of God (Video)

Here’s a quick rundown of the video you’re seeing from Fast Company:

In 2001, tens of thousands of refugees fled conflict in Afghanistan, while others fled civil war in Sudan (including the “Lost Boys,” orphans who in some cases were resettled in the U.S.). By 2003, the genocide in Darfur pushed even more people from Sudan. In 2006, war drove Lebanese citizens to Syria; Sri Lankans fleeing civil war went to India. In 2007, as conflict worsened in Colombia, refugees fled to nearby countries such as Venezuela. After leading demonstrations in Burma against dictatorial rule, Buddhist monks and others fled to Thailand. In 2008, a surge of Tibetan refugees fled to India, while Afghan, Iraqi, and Somali refugees continued to leave their home countries in large numbers. By 2009, Germany was taking in large numbers of refugees from countries such as Iraq. In 2010, another surge of refugees left Burma, while others left Cuba. By 2012, the civil war in Syria pushed huge numbers of refugees into countries such as Jordan. Ukrainian refugees began to flee unrest in 2013, and in greater numbers by 2014.

By 2015, the greatest number of refugees were coming from Syria, though mass movement from African countries such as South Sudan also continued–and because most of those refugees went to neighboring countries rather than Europe, the migration received less media attention. In 2015, the U.S. resettled 69,933 refugees; Uganda, with a population roughly eight times smaller, took in more than 100,000 people. Developing countries host nearly 90% of the world’s refugees. [1]

So what do these stats have to do with the Great Commission? What do the movements of the peoples have to do with the spread of the gospel? According to Acts 17:26–27, these trends are not outside of God’s sovereign plan:

A Biblical View of the Refugee Crisis by David Platt

God is in control, and Satan is subordinate to him in every page of the Bible and on every page of history, including the refugee crisis that currently surrounds us. Acccording to Acts 17:26–27, God determines the periods and boundaries of all the peoples of the earth, and he leads and guides them so that they might seek him.

Again, this is all over the Bible. Across the Old Testament, God raises up groups of people and sends them here, disperses nation and scatters them there. At God’s appointed time, he sends Israel to Egypt, and at God’s appointed time, he brings Israel out of Egypt. God orchestrates the exile from Jerusalem as well as the return to Jerusalem. Even in the New Testament, God uses suffering like the stoning of Stephen in Acts 7 to scatter the church from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria and eventually the ends of the earth.

Consequently, when we see the migration of people in the world due to a multitude of different reasons, we can be confident it is all ultimately occuring under the sovereign governance of God. Moreover, as Acts 17 makes clear, God is ultimately working in all of this, even the worst suffering, so that people might find him. [2]

________

[1] Taken from Fast Company (https://www.fastcompany.com/40423720/watch-the-movements-of-every-refugee-on-earth-since-the-year-2000)
[2] Taken from Counter Culture, 230.