God’s
providence is a manifestation of His omnipotence, unsearchable wisdom and
infinite goodness. Here is a very brief exposition of the Biblical teaching
on the providence of God. |
God is
called the Creator of all things for He “created all things” (Ephesians 3:9).
He is the One “who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the
earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are
therein”; (Revelation 10:6); by His will “they were created and have their
being” (Revelation |
God governs the inanimate creation
through the laws of nature (that is, His ordinances). Here are a few examples
taken from the Scripture which show that God governs the inanimate creation.
The sun rises at God’s command, for Jesus said that God “makes His sun rise
on the evil and on the good” (Matthew |
God governs the whole animal creation,
too, through His ordinances. Not only does He preserve all animals, by
providing food for the beast of the earth, as well as for the birds of the
air and the fish of the sea, - for God said to Job: “Wilt thou hunt the prey
for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions, When they couch in
their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait? Who provideth for the
raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat”
(Job 38:39-41); Jesus said to His disciples: “Behold the fowls of the air:
for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your
heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?” (Matthew |
God governs the affairs of nations.
The Holy Scripture teaches that God has determined the times set for the
nations and the exact places where they should live, as it is written: “And
hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the
earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of
their habitation” (Acts 17:26); and it teaches that He increases the nations
and destroys them, as it is written: “He increaseth the nations, and
destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again” (Job
12:23). I will give you a few examples taken from the Bible to confirm these
words. As for the exact places where the nations should live, God gave the
land of Canaan to the descendants of Abraham, that is, the Israelites
(Genesis 12:7); He gave Mount Seir to the descendants of Esau (Deuteronomy
2:5); and He gave Ar to the descendants of Moab as a possession (Deuteronomy
2:9). However, God can modify at pleasure the boundaries of a nation; for
example, God determined the boundaries of Israel (Genesis 15:17-21), but in
the days of Jehu king of Israel He reduced the size of Israel and in the days
of Jeroboam king of Israel He restored its boundaries (2 Kings 10:32; 14:25).
As for the times set for the nations which were determined by God, we learn
from the book of Daniel that the |
God governs the life of men.
The birth of each man, the length of his life, and all the events of his
life, are regulated and superintended by God, as it is written: “O LORD, I
know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to
direct his steps” (Jeremiah 10:23), and again: “A man's heart plans his way:
but the LORD directs his steps” (Proverbs 16:9 - NKJV) and also: “A man's steps
are of the LORD; how then can a man understand his own way?” (Proverbs |
In
conclusion, I want to say this. It is evident that since God controls the
universe and He has decreed all things that come to pass, even evil deeds are
decreed (or included in God’s decree). Is it not written in the book of
Lamentations: “Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord
commandeth it not? Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and
good?” (Lamentations 3:37-38)? And doesn't God state in the book of Isaiah:
“I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil [adversity]:
I the LORD do all these things” (Isaiah 45:7)? As you can see, God ordains
bad things, too, to occur. However, that does not mean that those who sin are
not responsible for their sinful deeds, for the Scripture clearly teaches
that God holds persons responsible for their sinful deeds. I give you a few
examples taken from the Bible: even though the Jews, by putting to death
Jesus Christ, did what the hand of God and His purpose determined before to
be done (Acts 4:28), God held them responsible for the crime they committed,
and He punished them by sending against them the roman army, which killed
thousands of Jews, destroyed the city of Jerusalem and led many Jews away
captive into all nations (Luke 21:20-24); even though Pharaoh refused to let
the Israelites go, for God had hardened his heart (Exodus 4:21), he was held
responsible for his refusal and God punished him for it (Exodus 8:1-6) by
striking Egypt with ten terrible plagues; even though Judas Iscariot betrayed
Jesus by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God (Acts 1:16, 20), God
held him responsible for his sin, for Jesus said: “The Son of Man indeed goes
just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is
betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born”
(Matthew 26:24 – NKJV); even though the Chaldeans destroyed the city of
Jerusalem and led away many Jews captive in obedience to God’s command
(Jeremiah 32:28-29; 2 Chronicles 36:17-20), God held the Chaldeans
responsible for all the evil they did in Jerusalem and at the appointed time
He punished them (Jeremiah 51:24); even though God incited David to number
Israel (2 Samuel 24:1), after David took the census God held David
responsible for that sin (1 Chronicles 21:7) and thus He struck Israel. Nor
does it mean that God takes pleasure in sin or is the doer of the evil deeds,
for God is absolutely pure and sinless. The prophet Habakkuk stated that His
eyes are too pure to look on evil, and He cannot tolerate wrong (Habakkuk |