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God's partGod owns everything
God owns everything on earth
...and he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth; (Genesis 14:19)
But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, the Creator of heaven and earth, (Genesis 14:22)
So Moses said, “As soon as I go out of the city, I will spread out my hands to the Lord; the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, that you may know that the earth is the Lord’s. (Exodus 9:29)
Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. (Exodus 19:5)
Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, and the earth with all that is in it. (Deuteronomy 10:14)
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head over all. ... But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, and of Your own we have given You. For we are strangers before You, and sojourners, as were all our fathers; our days on earth are as a shadow, and there is no abiding hope. O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have prepared to build You a house for Your holy name comes from Your hand, and is all Yours. (1 Chronicles 29:11,14-16)
Who has preceded Me, that I should repay him? Everything under heaven is Mine. (Job 41:11)
The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. (Psalm 24:1)
If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world is Mine, and all its fullness. (Psalm 50:12)
Arise, O God, judge the earth; for You shall inherit all nations. (Psalm 82:8)
The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; the world and all its fullness, You have founded them. (Psalm 89:11)
In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land. (Psalm 95:4-5)
O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures. (Psalm 104:24)
For “the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.” (1 Corinthians 10:26)
Parable illustrating God’s ownership
For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went away. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made five more talents. Likewise he who had received two talents gained two more talents. But he who had received one talent went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the everlasting darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (Matthew 25:14-28)
Lord holds all things together
...who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, (Hebrews 1:3)
And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. (Colossians 1:17)
Specific possessions God owns
Land
...‘The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me. (Leviticus 25:23)
Gold and silver
You also took your beautiful jewelry of My gold and My silver, which I had given you, and made male images for yourself and played the harlot with them. (Ezekiel 16:17)
...‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts. (Haggai 2:8)
Animals
For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are Mine. (Psalm 50:10-11)
God controls every event
Lord controls all events on Earth
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, The power and the glory, The victory and the majesty; For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, And You are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, And You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; In Your hand it is to make great And to give strength to all. (1 Chronicles 29:11-12)
Whatever the Lord pleases He does, In heaven and in earth, In the seas and in all deep places. (Psalm 135:6)
The lot is cast into the lap, But its every decision is from the Lord. (Proverbs 16:33)
A man’s steps are of the Lord; How then can a man understand his own way? (Proverbs 20:24)
Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding. (Daniel 2:20-21)
Lord allows difficult circumstances to occur
Then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all those who had been his acquaintances before, came to him and ate food with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversity that the Lord had brought upon him. Each one gave him a piece of silver and each a ring of gold. (Job 42:11)
That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting That there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things. (Isaiah 45:6-7)
Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, When the Lord has not commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High That woe and well-being proceed? (Lamentations 3:37-38)
If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it? (Amos 3:6)
Lord uses every circumstances for a good purpose in the life of the godly
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)
Example of Lord allowing difficult circumstances for ultimate good
But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph: “God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. (Genesis 45:5-9)
A carnal person’s perspective of the control of events
I returned and saw under the sun that— The race is not to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor bread to the wise, Nor riches to men of understanding, Nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all. (Ecclesiastes 9:11)
Specific events and items Lord controls
Lord directs people’s hearts
The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes. (Proverbs 21:1)
Lord can give godly people favour with others
But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. (Genesis 39:21)
And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy; for the Lord had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel. (Ezra 6:22)
And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was upon me.... Then I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king’s words that he had spoken to me. So they said, “Let us rise up and build.” Then they set their hands to this good work. (Nehemiah 2:8, 18)
Example of Israelites plundering Egyptians
And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty-handed. But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, namely, of her who dwells near her house, articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.” (Exodus 3:21-22)
Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians. (Exodus 12:35-36)
Lord makes some people obstinate
And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he will pursue them; and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord.” And they did so. (Exodus 14:4)
But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as it is this day. (Deuteronomy 2:30)
Lord controls the coveting of the heart
...“Three times in the year all your men shall appear before the Lord, the Lord God of Israel. For I will cast out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither will any man covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.” (Exodus 34:23-24)
Lord controls the nations
And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, (Acts 17:26)
Now a man of God came to him, saying, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel—not with any of these Ephraimites. But if you go, be gone! Be strong in battle! Even so, God shall make you fall before the enemy; for God has power to help and to overthrow.” Then Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what shall we do about the hundred talents which I have given to the troops of Israel?” And the man of God answered, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this.” (2 Chronicles 25:7-9)
...“Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hand is My indignation. I will send him against an ungodly nation, And against the people of My wrath I will give him charge, To seize the spoil, to take the prey, And to tread them down like the mire of the streets. (Isaiah 10:5-6)