Proof of Divine Providence

The noun form of the Greek word for providence or provision is pronoia. The verb form is pronoeo which means consider in advance, look out for beforehand, provide beforehand, foreknowing, predetermine, or consider in advance. These words may not be found a lot of times in the New Testament, but the Lord is on the throne and the apostle Paul deals with the subject—especially in Acts 24. Read that chapter.

Without Divine Providence there would be no fear of God, no reverence for Him, and no adoration of Him. When multitudes accommodate themselves to the wishes of their rulers, it becomes easy for human nature to drift with the crowd. Light and feeble things can travel this way because all manner of refuse goes with the tide. There is something to be feared in a popular cry. Paul said, “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (II Thess. 2:7-14).

Micaiah valued truth. He said, “As the LORD lives, what my God says, that I will speak. When he came to the king, the king said to him, Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I refrain? He said, Go up and succeed, for they will be given into your hand. Then the king said to him, How many times must I adjure you to speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD? So he said, I saw all Israel Scattered on the mountains, Like sheep which have no shepherd; And the LORD said, These have no master. Let each of them return to his house in peace. Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?” (II Chr. 18:13-17).

The prophet Jehu pronounced judgment upon Jehoshaphat: “Then Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned in safety to his house in Jerusalem. Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD and so bring wrath on yourself from the LORD? But there is some good in you, for you have removed the Asheroth from the land and you have set your heart to seek God. So Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem and went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and brought them back to the LORD, the God of their fathers” (II Chr. 19:1-4).

The warning of Jehu stirred up the King to make some amends in Jerusalem. This was the brave prophet that reproved Baasha (I Kings 16), and here he rebuked Jehoshaphat. Jehu delivered his message with better success than his father (II Chr. 16:7). It has been said, “One does not trust God at all unless he trusts Him over all.”

Asa also exposed himself when he laid the good prophet by the heels in prison, and God laid Asa by the heels in his bed. Asa did his best at the first, but the end of a thing should be better than the beginning (II Chr. 16:10-14). What a lesson for us! His evening was clouded, and his sun set in tempest. Our model is Proverbs 4:18—“But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day.” God sees the whole of a thing; we see the surface. It is not material things that interest God most; it is His own. Everything is held in place for the good of His own. God is the true Judge. Our judgment by others is either too favorable or too severe. How can finite understanding prescribe measures and methods to infinite wisdom? To question providence is to question wisdom. Man sees only the present, the external; but God sees the whole and the internal. On the basis of due consideration, the inequality is not great at all; but the complaint is great. Solomon said, “Why is there a price in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom, When he has no sense?” (Prov. 17:16). No man of God would be willing to exchange his worst afflictions for a wicked man’s prosperity (Ps. 73).

There is a difference between providence as sustenance and providence as government. The word providence also comes from the Latin provideo meaning to see something beforehand—pro meaning beforehand, video meaning to see something. The meaning of sustenance and government must never be separated because they refer to the two aspects of the one act of the sovereign God. Paul said, “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Col. 1:16, 17). Solomon said, “The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps” (Prov. 16:9).

Who can deny that God sustains the life of the sinner while he is sinning. Christ said to those who were preparing Him for His crucifixion, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin. As a result of this Pilate made efforts to release Him, but the Jews cried out saying, If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar….The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar” (John 19:11, 12, 15).

Admonitions make depraved men worse. If sense (the faculties of sight, hearing, etc., as a whole) only was to be considered, we would seldom think of God in the most trying circumstances. What about Joseph being sold (Gen. 45:4), David being cursed (II Sam. 16:5-8), and Paul being harassed by Alexander (Acts 19). The natural man would ascribe the things mentioned to human agency without God’s intervention, but the Christian rises above what appears on the surface, and sees the hand of God in the cases mentioned.

One must not say that God merely permits the actions of men—either good or evil. That would be assuming that man is capable of operating independently of God. The relation between God’s sovereignty and man’s acts is such that on God’s part it is one of absolute sovereignty; and on man’s part, it is one of total dependence (Acts 17:28). Man’s freedom is never sovereign, because it is creaturely freedom and therefore totally dependent.

Who can contradict that God is governing the sinner while he is being sustained? God turns the king’s heart wherever He wishes. Solomon said, “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes” (Prov. 21:1). Some rulers may consider themselves absolute and unaccountable to any other person, but they are overruled by God who is higher than the highest. Kings are ruled and overruled by God. God makes the wrath of man to praise Him (Ps. 76:10). God does according to His will not only in the host of heaven, but also among the inhabitants of earth. “All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, What have you done?” (Dan. 4:35).

Who can refute the providence of God fulfilling His purpose? There is no contradiction between the relation of sin to God’s providence and His holy character. God’s creatures are second causes whom God uses to fulfill His purpose. Both Satan and the unregenerate are not devoid of power to act for themselves, but their hardness caused by their respective falls caused their affections to be misplaced. God’s entrance into second causes neither destroys responsibility nor makes Him an accomplice by concurrence in sin.

In providence, it is proper to distinguish between a good act and an irregular act which is caused by the good act. The following are examples: (1) God gave the holy Law; but sin, taking opportunity through the Law, produces every kind of sinful desire (Rom. 7:8). (2) God sent His eternal and impeccable Son into the world, and He became a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence (I Pet. 2:8). (3) God sends the good news concerning Christ’s Person and Work, but to the ones perishing the good news is foolishness. Thus, they not only stumble over the Person of Christ, but they despise His message. God places in the way of persons things that are good in themselves, but they become the occasions of drawing out the corruptions of the hearts of people (John 3:19-21; II Cor. 2:14-16).

The sun is the cause of the foul odor coming from the dunghill, but it is not the cause of the dunghill. The sun is only the occasion of the scent being drawn forth. Only that which is holy can reveal the unholy. In God’s providence of government, He sometimes punishes sin with sin. On the other hand, God overruled sin for good in Adam’s sin for his perfection in grace, the brothers of Joseph’s sin for the saving of many alive, and Christ’s death by wicked hands for the redemption of the elect.

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The NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE—UPDATED EDITION is the source of all Scripture quotations in this message, unless otherwise noted.