How faithful are the nations?

The role of the nations was ambiguous in the Old Testament stories and prophecies. On the one hand they were often denounced as God’s opponents by the prophets of Israel, as both idolatrous and oppressive. On the other hand they were sometimes announced as God’s agents by the prophets of Israel, to discipline Israel when she had become idolatrous and oppressive! And then there were other prophecies that pointed to a great conjunction, of the nations one day being blessed through Israel. Should we not therefore be cautious in making absolutely positive or absolutely negative assessments of nations today? Can we sure sure our nation’s enemies aren’t acting as God’s agent? Israel couldn’t. Can we sure sure our nation is acting as God’s agent? Israel couldn’t. Surely a more faithful assessment is to expect our nation to have a mixed performance, just as Israel experienced, often falling short. Surely such track records should temper our pride.