God the Chess Master

This morning as I was sitting with the Lord (as my friend, Richard, used to say) the Lord showed me a colossal chessboard before His Throne. The enormous board represents the earth and the pieces are the kings, rulers, nations, and peoples—even the devil. God was playing both sides of the board. Even though God was moving the piece around, each piece thought it was in control. I watched as some pawns became kings.

These can be fear-filled times. I know many people, even some of God’s people, awaken in the night with a sense of dread. Earth’s newsrooms are only the natural perspective of a very spiritual dynamic on the earth. And when we look at the earth’s stage naturally, yes it looks dreadful. But the proper vantage point is from a spiritual/Heavenly position. “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”

The Book of Revelation is the finale of this age. Chess pieces are moving around the board. Nations and leaders and peoples are rising and falling. Chaos and darkness ensue. But, let us not miss the name of the book: The Revelation of Jesus Christ! The Bible clearly shows that God is in absolute control of Earth’s events and the Book of Revelation is no different. Many people when reading Revelation focus on the End-time events and completely miss the backdrop of the whole book—Jesus Christ is Lord, ruler over the kings of the earth.

Daniel puts it this way, “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever…” “He removes kings and raises up kings.” And Isaiah, “He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless. Scarcely shall they be planted, Scarcely shall they be sown, Scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth, When He will also blow on them, And they will wither, And the whirlwind will take them away like stubble.” This is the story of Pharaoh too. Romans 9 says, “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.”” Pharaoh was a chess piece. An evil tyrant that God used for His purpose—a type of the anti-christ, the man of sin, the son of perdition (2 Thessalonians 2).

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The pawns who became kings are like King David. He started out as a nobody. Nothing about his family would have made him king. Except God found in David a man after His own heart. David spent his pre-king days, unbeknownst to him, in preparation for the throne. He did what did to protect his sheep…and he worshiped; he engaged with God. How many times I wonder, when he was ruling Israel did he wish he was out there…in the pasture…alone with God? His worship—his whole-hearted devotion—prepared him for kingship. The pawn became king.

God can and will move the progression of the End-time events without us, but that isn’t what He wants to do. He wants us to be engaged. He will always have those who will partner with Him. However, the stirring you feel, even the fear, is an invitation to be a part of what He is doing. Do not think God is even for a second out of control or at a loss as what to do next. Take heart! He is the chess Master and He controls both sides of the board.

Isaiah 24:21-26 “Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless. Scarcely shall they be planted, Scarcely shall they be sown, Scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth, When He will also blow on them, And they will wither, And the whirlwind will take them away like stubble. “To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, And see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, By the greatness of His might And the strength of His power; Not one is missing.”