Commentaries:
Notice that in Deuteronomy the focus is Israel, but in Acts it is on the Gentiles. We almost automatically accept that God is working among the descendants of Abraham, but Acts 17 extends the concept far beyond that. The natural and correct conclusion from this is that God exercises His will and purpose among unconverted heathens. He may not call them to salvation at this time, but He is certainly manipulating events to His own ends in their world as well as ours.
Paul says that God determines their preappointed times as well as where they will live. This means that He has predestined when they will rise to power, prosperity, and dominance, and when they will fade into weakness, poverty, and subjection. Many more billions of Gentiles than Israelites have lived during the 6,000 years of man's history.
God, then, has overseen the mighty angelic kingdom, the demons, the Israelite nations, the Gentiles, and the church over millennia and has kept all of them moving toward the successful conclusion of His purpose! What kind of God is this we serve? How awesome His mind, purpose, wisdom, and love!
Man does not merely owe His life to God's creative acts, but his movements across time are to some extent programmed by our Sovereign God—even down to the personal, individual level, as He sees fit. Almighty God works in this manner to the end that all might seek and find Him.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Sovereignty of God: Part Five
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