Introduction:

I want to speak on the subject of the Providence of God. This is a subject that is not often taught.  In all my years as a Christian, I have never heard someone speak specifically on this subject. There have been many who bring up various passages that deal with the Providence of God, but it is more often just an “aside” than a “specific”.  For instance, the teaching about Joseph and his ascendency to become second to Pharaoh, we have those who have taught on Esther and her rise to become the queen to Ahasuerus the King of the Persians and Medes, who ruled from India to Ethiopia, over 127 provinces. Yet even though these narratives are at the heart of the Providence of God, most never mention this, but use these epic narratives to talk about faith or the sovereignty of God. I’ve never heard a teaching devoted to the Providence of God.  There are areas of Scripture that relate to the idea of God working in the details of our lives to bring about our good and His Glory, yet not pointing to or elaborating on the Providence of God. So with that in mind, I would like to launch out in deeper waters to specifically describe this great mystery of God’s Providence and show that God’s hand is involved in directing all things.

Sovereignty and Providence:

This teaching should be familiar to most of you, because it will remind you of God’s sovereignty over good and evil and that we can be confident of His promises to bring good out of our lives. This I’m sure will bring your thinking to the place where you’ll be able to see how sovereignty and Providence are closely related. With that let me try to define for you Providence and Sovereignty. This won’t be the first time you will hear me define these Godly parameters in this series, because like I say they are closely related.  Providence is part of the Sovereignty of God. It’s hard to separate the two.

Definition of Providence and Sovereignty:

Remember this is a first pass and I’ll try to refine it more as we go. Providence is God’s loving care and provision.  Sovereignty is God’s supreme power and authority over His creation.

Refining definition of Providence:

With that in mind now let me refine the definition of Providence as that’s the subject I will be teaching.

The Providence of God is where He takes all of the Gazillions of life’s events and weaves them together for His plans and purpose. 

Providence is not spoken much in the modern church. The main reason is most of today’s churches are semi-Pelagius or Arminian and therefore even though they give lip service to the Sovereignty of God, they actually operate as though they are sovereign and God is the servant. Therefore, to talk specifically about the Providence of God becomes very difficult, as the modern church can’t conceive of God either allowing evil or creating evil.  Hence you don’t hear teachings on it that often. The reformed folks still teach on it from time to time, but it isn’t a major topic either, because it’s very difficult at times to try and explain certain aspects of these parameters.

Further refinement of the definition of Providence:

Providence is the exercise by God of His Sovereignty, thus Providence is within the realm of Sovereignty.  This concept is not well understood and is even less accepted. So an understanding of Sovereignty is essential.  Hopefully, I’m going to explain all of this through the Scripture.

To think of the Creator is to think of the Providential care of the Creator for His Creation. He made the Creation dependent upon Him; or, worded differently, because the Creation has been made, it is reliant upon the Maker. The one flows from the other. Initially, God created; and now, subsequently, He maintains and directs what He created. The creation is past and complete; the maintaining is present and continuing. In other words, Providence assumes Creation, and Creation is dependent upon Providence so that all of God’s plans and purpose are completed. That’s why in this relationship there is no place for a Deism that separates God from the world; or on the other end of the spectrum Pantheism that merges God with the world thereby removing Providential care by God of the world. A Creation without Providence would be a heavens and earth without meaning and direction; it would be devoid of an ultimate and concluding purpose. With no Providence, there would be no assurance of a tomorrow, no guarantee of continuity between the past and the present, with an anticipation of the future. We could have order today, but next week there could be anarchy. What ever structure we have could evolve into annihilation, with the race of man and beast being totally destroyed. Without Providence, Creation has no promise of the next day. That would be opposite of what Scripture teaches.  According to the book of Revelation, God has created and God has a plan for His Creation. That plan of the Creator will come to fruition; it will not be denied. And it is God’s Providence that assures the future.

More minutia:

The word Providence comes to us from the Latin, providentia (pro, “before” plus videre, “to see”), meaning, “to see before” or “foresight.” Within the etymology of the word is a forward looking, an anticipation, a seeing of what is ahead. The concept of Divine Providence relates to this sense of “knowledge of the future.” There is no specific word for Providence in the Scriptures. In the KJV and the NASB “providence” is used in Acts 24:2 to translate the Greek word pronoia, which literally means “forethought.”

In the NKJV and theNIV “foresight” is used in Acts instead of “providence.” Pronoia which appears in one other place, Rom. 13:14, is translated “provision” in both the KJV and the NKJV. The maintenance and sustenance of Creation is for the purpose of bringing it to a conclusion, the conclusion determined by God for eternity. What is the purpose of Providence? If the purpose of Creation is the glory of God which it is,   then it goes without saying that the purpose of Providence is the glory of God. Finally, all things exist and function for His glory, and His alone. Amen!   This concludes the introduction.

God governs all things in the universe through Divine Providence:

Divine providence is the means by and through which God governs all things in the universe. Ok let’s get into the Bible and prove from the Word of God what’s been said so far.  The doctrine of Divine Providence asserts that God is in complete control of all things. This includes the universe as a whole (Psalm 103:19) “The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.”

(Psalm 47:2) “For the LORD most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth.”

The physical world:

(Matthew 5:45), “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”

C. The affairs of nations

(Psalm 66:7) “He ruleth by his power for ever; his eyes behold the nations: let not the rebellious exalt themselves Selah.

Human birth and destiny

(Galatians 1:15) “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace,”

Human successes and failures

(Luke 1:52) “He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.”

Protection of His people

(Psalm 4:8) “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.”

So you can see that this doctrine stands in direct opposition to the idea that the universe is governed by chance or fate.

The purpose of Divine providence is to accomplish God’s will

The purpose, or goal, of Divine Providence is to accomplish the will of God. To ensure that His purposes are fulfilled, God governs the affairs of men and works through the natural order of things.

The laws of nature

The laws of nature are nothing more than a depiction of God at work in the universe. The laws of nature have no inherent power, nor do they work independently. The laws of nature are the rules and principles that God set in place to govern how things work. The same goes for human choice. In a very real sense we are not free to choose or act apart from God’s will.

Sinful choices in accordance to God’s will

Everything we do and everything we choose is in full accordance to God’s will—even our sinful choices (Genesis 50:20). “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”

That’s the classic one that most refer to in this understanding of God’s Providence, but there are many more that we’ll turn to before this series is over. The bottom line is that God controls our choices and actions. Let me give you a few more Scriptures that demonstrate this. (Genesis 45:5). “Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.”

This is where Joseph reveals himself to his brothers and they are troubled.   I think we all would be troubled. Here is a truly noble heart, Joseph  not only forgives and forgets, but he wishes even those who had wronged him to forget the injury they had done, that they might not suffer distress on this account. Then with deep piety he attributes the whole to the Providence of God; for, says he, “God did send me before you to preserve life.” On every word you’ve got to lay a strong emphasis. What do I mean by that? He’s telling them it isn’t you, but God; it isn’t you that sold me, but God who sent me. Egypt and Canaan would both have perished, had not a merciful provision been made.  You were to come down here, even though you didn’t know it. God sent me before you, and if not death would have been the consequence of this famine, God sent me here to preserve life.

Everything they have was given by the Providence of God.

(Deuteronomy 8:18) “But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.”   

This is recapitulation where Moses is reminding the Israelites how the Lord delivered them and fed them, clothed and shod them, and for them not to forget where they got their wealth and why. He wants them to continually call to mind that they owed all they had, and the increase of it, to the Lord and His almighty providence; without which they could never have gotten possession of this land, nor have prospered in it. God had a purpose and a plan … and what was it? That He may establish His Divine Covenant.

It’s not in the power of the king or any person.

Proverbs 21:1) “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.”

What does that mean?  Seemingly it looks like the kings have the power  either to do, or to design, what they please; however their very wills are subject to the great Lord of all –  that’s right. He can divert them from what they intend, that’s no problem for the Lord.  He can make them go against that which they had no intention to do.  He can do it.  It reminds me of the farms in the desert, where they use irrigation, and the gardener directs the flow of water through the trenches into which ever parcel of ground he thinks best.

God does not violate our responsibility as free moral agents

Yet He works in such a way that does not violate our responsibility as free moral agents, nor does it negate the reality of our choice. The doctrine of Divine Providence can be succinctly summarized this way:

God in eternity past, in the counsel of His own will, ordained everything that will happen; yet in no sense is God the author of sin; nor is human responsibility removed.

The primary means by which God accomplishes His will is through secondary causes (e.g., laws of nature, human choice). In other words, God works indirectly through these secondary causes to accomplish His will.

God can work directly to accomplish His will

God also sometimes works directly to accomplish His will. These works are what we would call miracles (i.e., supernatural events as opposed to natural). A miracle is God’s circumventing, for a short period of time, the natural order of things to accomplish His will and purpose. Two examples from the book of Acts should serve to highlight God directly and indirectly working to accomplish His will. In Acts 9 we see the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. In a blinding flash of light and in a voice that only Saul/Paul heard, God changed his life forever. It was God’s will to use Paul to further accomplish His will, and God used direct means to convert Paul.

Talk to anyone who converted to Christianity, and you will more than likely never hear a story quite like Paul’s. Most of us come to Christ through hearing a sermon preached or reading a book or the persistent witness of a friend or family member. In addition to that, there are usually life circumstances that prepare the way—loss of a job, loss of a family member, failed marriage, chemical addiction. Paul’s conversion was direct and supernatural.

Acts 16:6-10  “Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, after they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not. And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.”

Here we see God accomplishing His will indirectly. This takes place during Paul’s second missionary journey. God wanted Paul and his company to go to Troas, but when Paul left Antioch of Pisidia, he wanted to go east into Asia. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit forbade them to speak the Word in Asia. Then they wanted to go west into Bythinia, but the Spirit of Christ prevented them, so they ended up going to Troas. This was written in retrospect, but at the time there were probably some logical explanations as to why they could not go into those two regions. However, after the fact, they realized that it was God directing them where He wanted them to go—this is providence. Proverbs 16:9 speaks to this: “The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”

On the other hand, there are those who will say that the concept of God directly or indirectly orchestrating all things destroys any possibility of free will. If God is in complete control, how can we be truly free in the decisions we make? In other words, for free will to be meaningful, there must be some things which are outside of God’s sovereign control—e.g., the contingency of human choice. Let us assume for the sake of argument that this is true. What then? If God is not in complete control of all contingencies, then how could He guarantee our salvation? Paul says in Philippians 1:6 “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus.” If God is not in control of all things, then these promises, and all other biblical promises, are invalid. We could not have complete security that the good work of salvation that was begun in us will be brought to completion. Furthermore, if God is not in control of all things, then He is not sovereign, and if He is not sovereign, then He is not God. So, the price of maintaining contingencies outside of God’s control results in a God who is no God at all. And if our “free” will can supersede Divine Providence, then who ultimately is God? We are. That is, obviously, unacceptable to anyone with a Christian and biblical view. Divine Providence does not destroy our freedom. Rather, Divine Providence is what enables us to properly use that freedom.

Ok, hopefully you all have a better handle on Divine Providence, now let’s launch out a bit deeper.

PROVIDENCE AND EVIL

Evil is the Achilles heel of the Christian faith, at least in the minds of many. The humanist uses the reality of evil to invalidate the claims of those who follow Christ. It is not a new problem; the problem is this: on the one hand, a good and powerful God; and, on the other hand, the existence of evil. These two realities are inconsistent, or so it seems, and the fact that both are part of the Christian teaching nullifies for many the Christian religion itself. There was an atheist philosopher who said, “If God is good and powerful, then why does evil plague the earth?” The rationale is as follows: If God is good and benevolent, then He must not be powerful, because a good God who is powerful would not allow evil. If God is powerful, then He must not be good and benevolent, because a powerful God who is good and benevolent would not allow evil. Perhaps it is appropriate to admit that this is not just a problem for the unbeliever, it is also a problem for many Christians. For most believers the question is simply worded in this manner: Why did God allow sin? For the deeper thinker who would be more reflective, the issue is what the philosopher stated. Thus there is a dilemma facing the believer: the God of the Bible and the presence of evil, both natural and moral evil. How does the believer respond to the skeptic? For that matter many Christians have trouble satisfying themselves, never mind the skeptics. How does the Christian defend the faith? Is there a final answer? We need to examine some of the observations.

God is good and God is powerful.

Undeniably this is the teaching of Scripture; it is not one or the other, but both characteristics belong to God and these facts must be accepted by the believer— the book of Revelation requires it. Compromise or modification of these attributes cannot be entertained if one is true to the text.

Sin is real.

Not only are we confronted daily by things we perceive to be evil, the Bible affirms the existence of evil; but its existence does not make invalid the existence of God who is totally good and powerful. Because tension is created by affirming both God and evil, it is not, therefore, proper to deny one or the other. Both are present realities. Rejection of either does not solve the problem. Perhaps the problem cannot be solved, but denial of either that God is good and powerful or the reality of evil does not bring resolution to philosophical and theological aspects of the issue.

What is evil? I’m not sure we have a consensus answer within the Church. We know it didn’t exist in eternity prior to Creation.

We also know that it wasn’t a part of original Creation—all that God made was “very good” (Gen. 1:31).  So there was a “time” when evil was not in the existence. The problem of evil should not be. It does not seem that it ought to exist. It is that which is inconsistent with God’s good Creation. Evil is an intruder, an interloper; it does not fit—it is something alien. It is so alien that it is difficult to define; leading some believers, like Augustine, to deny that evil has reality and must be spoken of as a negation of the good. That almost sounds like Christian Science. While this may safeguard the association of God and evil for some, it seems to minimize the seriousness of evil. It seems that evil must be accepted as a “something”, because we can see the reality of it all around us.  There are some who would argue that’s not sin that we see. Yet what ever label you put on it there is evil in the land and the description of evil must be summed up and its essence is that it’s illegitimate.  It should not be. Ok, let’s move out a little deeper.

Evil is consistent with the will of God

It must be maintained that God’s ultimate plan for His Creation includes evil, even though evil is an illegitimate thing. To affirm this does not impugn God so as to make Him guilty of sin, for God does not commit sin. Sin is according to His will—this is something one could say He’s managing; however, He is not guilty of sinning in His willing of sin. Whatever He does is right. He is God! In our belief and acceptance of Scripture we find this following verse: “I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things” (Isa. 45:7). “Calamity” in the NKJV is “disaster,” as well as the NIV and “evil” in the KJV). The Hebrew word is “ra”, it’s a word appearing over 600 times in the Old Testament.

Now according to Young’s Analytical Concordance, “ra” is translated “evil” 444 times in the KJV.  It is used in the following verses: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (ra) (Gen. 2:9); the children of Israel did evil (ra) in the sight of the Lord (Jud. 2:11); he saw that evil (ra) was determined against him by the king (Esth. 7:7); the face of the Lord is against those who do evil (ra) (Ps. 34:16); Against You . . . have I sinned, and done this evil (ra) in Your sight” (Ps. 51:4); the fear of the Lord is to hate evil (ra) (Prov. 8:13); you who hate good and love evil (ra) (Micah 3:2). From these seven verses out of the 444 verses, the meaning of ra should be apparent. The word cannot be limited to natural catastrophe (“calamity” or “disaster” as in theNKJV or NIV); the word may include that, but mostly the word is used to identify that which we usually associate with the concept of evil. And plainly in Isaiah God says: “I create (ra) evil.” “Create” is bara, the same word used in Genesis 1:1. Should not the conclusion be reached that God must have “willed” the existence of evil or it would not exist? If the answer is in the negative, then it seems that there is something that arose that is outside of God’s plan and not under His control, something that is in existence that was not created by Him.

Evil events that were caused by God are reported in the Bible. Numerous examples could be stated, but I’ll give you one from each Testament.

In the New Testament speaking on the Day of Pentecost, Peter discourse concerning “Jesus of Nazareth”; of Him, he says that He was “delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23). In Peter’s epistle he adds: “He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world” (I Pet. 1:20). The most despicable act of all, the crucifixion of the Son of God by the sons of men, was “foreordained” and “determined” by God, determined before God made anything. It was not possible that this act of evil would not occur, for it was His purpose that it occurred.  In the Old Testament repeatedly in connection with Pharaoh, God affirms to Moses that He would harden his heart so that he would not let the Children of Israel leave their captivity in Egypt. Before Moses returned to Egypt, God declares to him: “But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go” (Ex. 4:21; see: 7:3; 9:12; 10:20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 8). Therefore the intransigence or the stubbornness of Pharaoh was God’s doing. It should be noted that Pharaoh hardened his own heart (Ex. 8:15, 32; 9:34), but this was after the initial hardening by God.

The Bible affirms that God does not commit evil

Scripture abounds with testimony to this fact: “A God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He” (Deut. 32:4);

“…far be it from God to do wickedness, and from the Almighty to commit iniquity.” (Job. 34:10)

“You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with you.” (Ps. 5:4);

“…for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.” (Jam. 1:13);

“…the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” (Jam. 1:17);

“God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” (I Jo. 1:5).

The cause of evil is not with God but with man, for man does the sinning. Man is the cause of his own sin, a cause which is determined by God through the use of secondary causes that lead man to make the decisions he makes. Consequently God’s plan comes to pass, but God Himself is not culpable. God is not the immediate cause of man’s individual sin; the Bible teaches that humans are responsible for the evil they do. To begin to think that sin is God’s responsibility in the sense of accountability is to begin to think incorrectly about the fact of sovereignty. This is something I’ve been studying and I’ve learned.  This is not an easy subject and most of the churches who are Arminians take a different tact that violates Scripture. “God must be viewed as the One guaranteeing the act, but man is the one who commits the act. If God does evil, then He is not God. God is the cause of no man’s sin.  It is true God has a hand in the action where sin is, but no hand in the sin of the action.”
(Thomas Boston, A Body of Divinity, 122).

Evil is used by God to accomplish His purpose

In fact, evil is part of His purpose; “The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.” (Prov. 16:4).

To Pharaoh, God announces: “For this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you” (Ex. 9:16);

The man affected by the evil of blindness, Jesus indicates that he was in this condition “that the works of God should be revealed in him” (John. 9:1).

The psalmist attests: “Surely the wrath of man shall praise You” (Ps. 76:10)

Seeking to calm the fear of his brothers after the death of their father, Joseph tells them that even though “you sold me,” it was “God who sent me before you to preserve life” (Gen. 45:5). Evil is neither a problem nor dilemma for God, but is one of the instruments whereby He accomplishes His will. It is right for Him to do so, because He is God. But what is right for God is not understood by man, because man is not God. If God is not in control of evil, then there is an essence in the universe that is outside of His control; and this would bring into question God’s ability to accomplish His will. If God did not intend for evil to exist and allowed it to be, then He is not in control of all things; now if this is the case, then how can He be God? Think about it, if God didn’t intend for evil to exist and allowed it to be, then He can’t be sovereign and if He’s not sovereign He’s not God. Let me put it this way, He can’t be the God of the Bible, maybe some sub-god, but not our awesome, glorious, infinite God of the Bible.

Evil will be judged by God

“He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained” (Acts 17:31).

He has reserved “the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment” (II Pet. 2:9).

The dead will be raised and judged, and “anyone not found written in the book of Life” will be cast into the lake of fire”(Rev. 20:15).

“The Lord is a God of justice” (Isa. 30:18) and “true and righteous are His judgments” (Rev. 19:2).In conclusion of part 1, it should be pointed out that the Bible does not deal with the question of the existence of evil and the holiness of God—how both can exist; you can’t find that in the Scriptures directly. In the Scriptures the reality of Providence and the presence of evil never pose a problem. From the perspective of the book of Revelation it is not a dilemma. Both are affirmed by God’s Word, and the inspired writings do not seek to defend God or justify God in the face of the existence of evil. It is a problem in man’s thinking; the problem has no foundation in the Divine Essence. I guess for the believer who is searching for a definitive explanation, the problem of God’s relation to sin remains a mystery Deut 29:29.  If you just listen to what I have to say and don’t study this on your own, you’ll probably not retain much that was said. The teachings you hear are meant to encourage you to take what you’ve heard and go in to the Scriptures and other sources and put this together yourself. If you do this you’ll truly be a Berean and you won’t have a dilemma on your hands.  May the Lord bless His word to your heart Amen!

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One Response

1. Matthew

   August 21, 2012 at 11:17 pm � Reply

   Outstanding article!