Chapter 25
Chapter
XXV
The
(Concluded)
In the preceding chapter
we sought to define and explain Divine Providence, and to show that God is
reigning in every place and over everything.
God rested from His work of creation, not because He was tired, but because He
was satisfied with His work and could pronounce everything good.
“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on
the seventh day God ended
his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work
which he had made,” (Gen. 2:1-2). His rest did not
mean cessation from work, but satisfaction with His work. Since creation He has
been at work in sustaining and administering the
affairs of His creation. “And
he is before all things, and by him all things consist,”
(Col. 1:17); “Who
being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and
upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our
sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high,”
(Heb. 1:3); “In
whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the
purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,”
(Eph. 1:11).
The Two
Alternatives Considered
If God is not running
the world, it is either because He does not wish to or because He is not able
to. Let us examine these two alternatives separately.
1.
If God does not wish to run the world it means that He has lost interest in it,
and the world may be considered an abandoned project.
To such a premise no believer can subscribe.
The voice of Scripture
is against such an idea. God would not give His Son to die for a world He had no
interest in.
2. The view that God is
not able to run the world is also unreasonable in the light of Scripture. We
believe, however, this to be the position many people take, and it is because
they do not know or do not believe in the God of the Bible. How often we hear
people talk about God trying to do this and trying to do that! This view puts
God in the position of a boy with a pair of runaway horses. Any boy who has had
horses to run away with him knows what a feeling of helplessness came over him.
Now the Scriptures do not at all, in any sense, represent God as distracted and
helpless. “He is able,” is the happy refrain of Scripture.
The three Hebrew worthies, when facing the wrath of a heathen king, said: “If
it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery
furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king,”
(Dan. 3:17).
“And
when he (Darius)
came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king
spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom
thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?” (Dan.
6:20). And from the den of lions, Daniel answered and said, “My
God hath sent his
angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as
before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done
no hurt,” (Dan. 6:22).
To
those Jews who thought natural kinship to Abraham was all they needed, the Lord
Jesus said, “And
think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say
unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham,”
(Matt. 3:9).
To
the Ephesian elders at
James tells us that: “There
is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest
another?” (
In
beautiful benediction Jude says; “Now
unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless
before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our
Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen,” (Jude
24,25).
Either of the two
alternatives makes prayer useless. There is no use praying to a God who has no
interest in His creation, nor to a God who is helpless to deliver us.
How is
God Governing the World?
In
running the world God is not openly and publicly
manifesting Himself. He is running the world in
providence and providence is secret and mysterious.
1.
In running the world God is giving the devil an opportunity to reveal himself
and to show what he would do if he could. What would the devil do if he were
able? He would do exactly what he has tried to do. He has tried to usurp the
place and prerogatives of God in government. In the long ago, he said, “For
thou hast said in thine
heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God:
I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north,”
(Isa. 14:13). Satan was perhaps the most beautiful and most exalted being in the
original creation. If anybody should have been satisfied with his place and
position it was he. But he was lifted up with pride because
of his beauty and craved more authority. He had a
lust for power and sought to seize the reins of government in his own hands.
2.
In Providence God is allowing man to reveal himself and show what
he would do if he had the power. What has man tried
to do? He has followed the example of Satan and has tried to be like God in the
matter of authority. In the garden of Eden there were two trees which stood as
symbols of two very important truths. There was the tree of life,
“And the LORD God
said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now,
lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live
for ever,” (Gen. 3:22),
symbolizing the truth that man is not self
sufficient, that he is dependent upon God for everything; and there was the tree
of knowledge of good and evil,
“But of the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die,” (Gen.
2:17),
symbolizing the truth that man is not sovereign, that he
is not allowed to do as he pleases, that he
cannot determine for himself what is right and what is
wrong, but that God’s word is to determine that.
That
tree stood as a solemn reminder that God is Lord of
creation. God determined what Adam and Eve could have, not they themselves. God
had said, You may have this, but you must not
eat that. Your life and happiness will depend upon
obedience to my word.
Now, Satan came into the garden and told Eve that God had lied;
“Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God
had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of
every tree of the garden?” (Gen. 3:1); that the
truth was, that to do what God had forbidden would mean their good, that to eat
the fruit would mean opened eyes (eyes of the understanding), so that they could
know for themselves what was right and what was wrong. They would no longer be
tied to God’s word about the question of good and evil. He told Eve they would
become as gods, knowing (determining) what is good and what is
evil.
We
are told that Eve was deceived by Satan. She believed his lie and trespassed on
God’s authority. She believed that great benefit would come from eating the
forbidden fruit. Here is the divine record of the first human sin: “And
when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to
the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit
thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat,”
(Gen. 3:6). From this simple but tragic story we get a definition of sin. Sin is
entering into competition with God for authority. John says that sin is the
transgression of the law of God, and the law of God is His word on any and every
subject. Sin is setting God’s word aside as the law of my life, and doing what I
please. After the fatal step had been taken by Adam and Eve, “And
the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know
(determine)
good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of
life, and eat, and live for ever:” (Gen. 3:22).
This can only mean that man had become like God in spirit and aim. He had the
spirit of independency and aimed to compete with God for sovereignty and do that
which was right in his own eyes; moreover, he would determine for himself what
was right.
How often we hear some person ask, “What is the harm of it?” or say, “I do not
see any harm in it,” when the thing referred to is expressly forbidden in God’s
Word. Why was it wrong for Adam and Eve to eat of the fruit of the tree of
knowledge of good and evil? Only because God had said
“thou shalt not eat of
it.” What harm was there in Moses striking the rock
at Kadesh? It was wrong only because God had told him to speak to the rock.
“And the LORD
spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together,
thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and
it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of
the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. ...And
Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the
water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also,” (Num.
20:7,8,11).
What was wrong with Uzzah putting forth his hand to
stay the ark, and
keep it from falling off the cart?
“And when they came to
Nachon’s threshing floor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took
hold of it; for the oxen shook it. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against
Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of
God,” (2 Sam. 6:6-7).
It was wrong only because God had said that only
the priests were to carry the ark, and no human hands were to touch it. What was
the harm of King Saul sparing Agag, and the best of the sheep when he destroyed
the Amalekites?
“But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the
oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not
utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they
destroyed utterly,” (1 Sam. 15:9).
It was wrong only because God had commanded
otherwise. And so when Saul offered the excuse that he had saved
the sheep and oxen to sacrifice unto the Lord, “And
Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
and to hearken than the fat of rams,” (1 Sam.
16:22). Insofar as assigning any reason for them, many of God’s commandments are
arbitrary, that is, they have their source in the sovereign pleasure of God. To
be sure, God has a reason for all He commands, but as an absolute Sovereign He
is under no necessity to make them known to His creatures.
Providence is Preventive
In
governing the world God prevents much sin which would otherwise be committed.
When we think about the awful amount of sin, and the terrible degree to which
sin has gone, and the awful effects of sin, we are apt to think that it would be
impossible to draw any more or any worse sins from the heart, the fountain of
sin. But God does exert a restraining influence on the wicked so that they do
not commit all the sins possible to them.
“Surely the wrath of
man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain,” (Ps.
76:10).
To Abimelech He said, “And
God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity
of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore
suffered I thee not to touch her,” (Gen. 20:6). If
this heathen king had been left to his own heart’s lust, he would have harmed
Sarah. A young man, holding an important position and handling much money, was
tempted to take a large sum with seemingly no danger of detection; it would be
the perfect crime. But on the very day he planned to take the money he found a
card on his desk, saying “Lay
not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt,
and where thieves break through and steal,” (Matt.
6:19). He was stopped cold in his
plan, and always regarded the incident as an act of
Providence is Permissive
God permits sinful men to manifest the evil of their hearts. In 2 Chronicles
32:31, we are told that God left Hezekiah: “Howbeit
in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of
Providence is Directive
God directs the sinful acts of evil men to the accomplishment of His own
purpose. When God permits the evil in the human heart to come out, He directs
its flow in one direction
rather than another for the fulfillment of His purpose. In
this way sinful acts of men become the holy acts of God. Joseph’s brethren
sinned in selling him into slavery, but because of an overruling
Providence is Determinative
God determines the bounds reached by the evil passions of His creatures and the
measure of their affects. God set the bounds to which Satan could go in
afflicting Job. “And
the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon
himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the
LORD,” (Job 1:12). And to Satan’s second challenge
concerning Job, God said, “Behold,
he is in thine hand; but save his life,” (Job 2:6).
This illustrates what we have in 1 Corinthians 10:13: “There
hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful,
who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the
temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
The
Divine Objective
What is the Divine objective or purpose in administration? To what end is God
running the world? For whose pleasure and
profit is the world being governed? What will be
the ultimate and manifest results of God’s government?
Negatively
1.
The objective in Divine Providence is not the pleasure and profit of the devil.
If we take a short sighted view of the happenings of this world we might think
that God is catering to the devil; that His policy toward the devil is one of
appeasement. The devil does seem to have a lot of power. Peter likens him to a
roaring lion in search of prey.
He does seem to be enjoying much success. But look at his
latter end and it will be seen that God is not governing for his pleasure and
profit. Go to a farm and look at a pen of fattening hogs. It might seem that the
whole farm is being run for the benefit of those hogs. They have nothing to do
but eat and rest, they have all that a hog can want. But follow those same hogs
to the abattoir [slaughterhouse; Ed.] and your view will be corrected.
2.
Nor is the world being run for the good of humanity as such. God is making all
things work together for the good of His people, but not for the sake of
humanity as a whole. Let us face some facts: millions of people are born in
poverty, live in poverty, die in poverty, and will spend eternity in the poverty
of hell. And again: millions are born in sin, live in sin,
die in sin, and will spend eternity in the hell of
sin. We make so bold as to say, that if God is running the world for the good of
humanity, He is a colossal failure. Think of the millions of young men under
arms today, not of their own choosing, but because of circumstances beyond their
control. God’s objective is not human happiness. If it were there would be no
bombed and burning cities; there would be no wailing women, starving and crying
children, bleeding and dying men on a thousand battlefields.
Positively
God is governing the
world for the highest good; for the greatest and noblest objective. What is the
highest good? What is the greatest objective possible? What is the most
important thing in the universe? Who is the most important being in the
universe? These questions will put us on the right track for the answer to our
query, or search for the Divine objective.
(1) The highest good is not the pleasure and profit of the
devil. He is the enemy of God and of
the good. He is not the most important person, and his
welfare is not even a part of the Divine objective.
(2) The highest good is not the welfare of the human race. Man is the acme of
creation, but as compared with God “And
all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according
to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and
none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” (Dan.
4:35). Paul, speaking of himself and Apollos as workmen of God, confessed they
were nothing: “So
then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God
that giveth the increase,” (1 Cor. 3:7).
(3) The highest good, the greatest possible objective in Divine government is
the glory of God. We
reach this conclusion by following two lines of approach: first, the duty of
man, and second, the testimony of Scripture.
(a) The chief duty of man must be the same as the Divine objective. What God
demands of man is
equal to what He aims at in government. God would not require one thing from man
and pursue another end or objective in His administration. To illustrate: Our
government demands from its citizens an all out effort for victory in this war,
and what the government demands from its subjects is exactly what the government
has for its objective: the winning
of the war. Now the chief duty of man is to glorify God. “Whether
therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God,”
(1 Cor. 10:31). “And
whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men,”
(Col. 3:23); “For
ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your
spirit, which are God’s,” (1 Cor. 6:20). We are to
put God first in our prayers. His glory comes before our needs. “After
this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy
name,” (Matt. 6:9).
(b) The Scriptures declare the Divine objective in running the world to be the
glory of God. “Thou
art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created
all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created,”
(Rev. 4:11), tells us that all things exist for the pleasure of God. “For
of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever.
Amen,” (Rom. 11:36) gives us this truth in
marvelous language.
God is the one and only person in all the universe who has the right to act for
His own glory. His glory is the rule of all His actions,
and His glory is the
rule of human conduct. Yes, the chief duty of man
is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
Salvation is not primarily for our good, but for His glory. In Ephesians 1:6 we
read, “Having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself,
according to the good pleasure of his will.” And in
Ephesians 1:11,12: “In
whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the
purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.
That we should
be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.”
God is saving sinners that He might exhibit the trophies of His grace to an
onlooking universe in the ages to come: “That
in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his
kindness toward us through Christ Jesus,” (Eph.
2:7).
If
the writer knows his heart at all, there are two things he is eminently
satisfied with. First, he is satisfied with what Jesus Christ did at
“God
holds the key If all unknown,
And I am glad,
And I am glad.
If other hands should hold the key,
Or if He trusted it to me,
I might be sad,
I might be sad.
“What if tomorrow’s cares were here
Without its rest,
Without its rest?
I’d rather He’d unlock the day,
And, as the hours swing open, say,
My will be best,
My will be best.
“The very dimness of my sight
Makes me secure,
Makes me secure.
For, groping in my misty way,
I feel His hand; I hear Him say,
My help is sure,
My help is sure.
“I cannot read His future plan,
But this I know,
But this I know:
I have the smiling of His face,
And all the refuge of His grace,
While here below,
While here below.
“Enough this covers all my need,
And so I rest,
And so I rest;
For, where I cannot, He can see,
And in His care I safe shall be,
Forever blest,
Forever blest.”
