Providence and Sovereignty

Providence - When God from heaven invisibly navigates human affairs on earth so that ultimately His purposes are accomplished.

Sovereignty - Means ultimate rule. One who has absolute power of over all things.

Although God is invisible, He is very much involved in the activities of men. Nothing escapes His eyes. God sees everything happening here on earth all at the same time. For most people that is an unnerving thought - that God is watching everything they do. That is why so many people claim to be atheists. If they determine that God does not exist, then they have no one to be accountable to. That gives them comfort. It is however the most deceptive assurance one can have. Wishing God out of existence is a fantasy.

Providence is a very powerful attribute of God. What is so amazing about this virtue is that all of mankind’s actions in the earth are somehow woven within the tapestry of God’s will. Through all the choices we make no matter how wicked they are, God knows about them before they happen and uses them ultimately for His glory. Now at this point someone may facetiously argue, “If my evil is woven into the fabric of God’s will, how can my actions be evil ? It was God’s will right?”

Not even close.

Just because God permits evil does not mean He approves it. God gives man the ability to make choices - good and bad. if He didn't, we would be wind up toys - doing only what we were programmed to do. That is a robot, a computer and not a free moral agent. In order for a choice to be real, there has to be an opposing choice. God gives us the freedom to choose, but at the same time He commands us always to choose what is good for that is to our benefit, and for His glory.

Since God is sovereign in heaven and earth - all the universe, nothing in this world happens by chance. In other words, we do not get lucky or unlucky. As painful as it may be to hear, when an innocent baby suffers and dies from a disease, God permitted it. It was not a case of bad luck or bad karma. It was sin that brought about the child's death. Not the sin of the infant, but the result of worldwide sin, death (Rom 6:23). All of us have an appointment with death like it or not (Heb 9:27).

The pain of death of the most vulnerable should grip us with fear and alarm. The reality of God permitting infants to die should let us all know how much He hates sin. The thought of our small children dying who committed no wrong is deplorable to us. It is a painful revelation that God shows to us all. Even some of the worst people in our society see the death of the innocent as a horrible miscarriage of justice on God's part. Once again, the wages of sin is death. Sin not only affects the person committing it, it affects those who are in our sphere of influence mainly the ones we love the most. Sin is not only personal evil, it is also familial and of course worldwide. The offenses of one person can affect many based on that person's influence over others.

The earth is God's theater. Mankind has a role to play in that theater. God providentially controls all things behind the scenes yet evidence of His power and presence cannot be denied. Psalm 19:1 tells us that the heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.

Point being is God is in control of everything that is happening here on earth. He operates through humankind and nature to accomplish His plans. Whether our choices are good or evil, God as the Master planner orchestrates all things according to His will and purposes (Psa 115:3; Rom 8:28). No human act of rebellion can stop it. Man thinks that he is getting away with evil because He's not immediately punished for it. But give it time - your sin will find you out (Num 32:23)!

In the final analysis, this world is not a cosmic accident. It was created by God on purpose. It was no surprise or shock that man would fall into sin. God predetermined that He would send Jesus to the earth to be a sacrifice for our sins and redeem us from eternal destruction. I realize those of us who are believers often wonder why God planned things this way. Answer? Because He wanted to. The Master of the universe answers to no one.

In the mind of God it makes perfect sense to create a world, fill it with life. Create man in His image. Command him not to eat the forbidden fruit. Allow man to choose to sin against Him because he has free will like God. Pronounce death on man as a universal curse for his rebellion. To send another Adam (i.e. Jesus 1 Cor 15:45) to give eternal life like in the beginning and reverse the curse of death.

It is the love and the wisdom of God to do all these things. That is what a sovereign and providential being is all about. Having the power to do things His way working His plan in history in the affairs of men.

When God Regrets

From a personal and a reader’s perspective it is essential that we pay close attention to when the Bible says that God repented or regretted a decision that He made regarding mankind. It’s not that God can make a mistake, but its important that we try as much as humanly possible try to probe closely into the scripture and try to experience how God feels when we rebel - it breaks His heart. God’s heart has been breaking now for thousands of years.

We know as parents the feelings we have when our children disobey us after numerous times of being warned not to do something, or they fail to do something we have told them to do. How many parents have had their hearts broken because of wayward children. And to be fair, how many children have been brokenhearted because of their parents bad behavior. The pendulum swings both ways. Well God’s pain over the evil of man is a grief we can never imagine. He sees this worldwide evil all at once. There should be no wonder why he destroyed the ancient world with the waters of a flood during the days of Noah. He could no longer endure the wickedness of man on the earth.

So He purged the evil by getting rid of him (Gen 6:6).

Well now the earth is more numerous than it ever has been in human history. There are over seven billion people here. Well that means there is even more evil now than there was back in Noah's day. God's judgement is not far away people! Many people question the goodness of God - wondering why does He allow evil to continue. Why doesn't He makes things right? God is long suffering and slow to anger which is a good thing for mankind. That is why He is with holding His judgement - for now.

Somehow in the mind of God there is harmony in both decisions - In delighting in creating Mankind, and then regretting and being grieved that He made them because of what man had become - a sinner. Both acts by God are part of His providence. There is no dichotomy. When man does what is right, it is to his benefit and it glorifies the Lord. When man commits evil, it is a curse to man and grief and anger with God. Believe or not evil is a servant of the Lord - an unwilling servant. God's plans are never ruined because of man's disobedience. Why? Because He is Lord of all and He navigates all decisions ultimately to serve His sovereign will and purposes (Rom 8:28).

Herein lies the difference. When man commits deeds of righteousness, He is really free and God's grace and mercy rests upon Him. When man is bent on evil, God's wrath is on Him (John 3:36). The Bible says that God is angry with the wicked everyday (Psalm 7:11)! A terrifying thought.

So I ask the question, "Is your life one that God delights in, or one that He regrets?" Only the person reading this article knows for sure. If one is honest with themselves, they know whether their life has been pleasing to God or regrettable. For those that are blind to the truth of your life, you need the divine revelation of Jesus Christ to invade your soul so that you're no longer walking in darkness of your sins, but you can be transformed into His marvelous light (2 Peter 2:9).

Why was Saul chosen as king? A second look.

In Isaiah 55:8-9 we read, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are my ways your ways”, declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Simply put, we as finite creatures can never comprehend an infinite being. God knew the nation would reject Him and want a human king like the nations surrounding them. God knew that He would reject Saul as king in favor of David due to Saul’s disobedience. Here’s the most intriguing element of the narrative. God tells Samuel that He Regretted He made Saul king (1 Sam 15:10, 35).

That is an interesting declaration from the Lord. From the language it almost seems as if God did not know what Saul would do. But of course He knew all along. The question is why did the Lord choose him? The best reason I can give is that God chose him because He exercised His sovereign right to do so (Psalm 115:3). Although Saul's reign became an epic failure due to his own disobedience, somehow it was wrapped up in the Lord's providential plan. Mysteriously you have these parallels truths: God choosing Saul on purpose to be king, and God regretting the choosing of Saul once He saw how disobedient he was. Saul did not have a genuine desire to serve God in as much as he wanted to serve and aggrandize himself. Not only did he not obey the voice of the Lord, he built a monument to honor himself for a bootleg victory against God's enemies the Amalekites (1 Sam 15:12). The writer believes at this point Saul became an apostate - it was no longer in his heart to serve the Lord. Saul's rebellious attitude hurt God to the core. Yes! God has genuine emotions. Where do you think we get them from (Genesis 6:6)? The Lord knew Saul would disobey His command to completely destroy the Amalekites  and tore the kingdom away from him and gave it to David who served the Lord faithfully his whole life. 

Saul was a man after Israel's rebellious heart. Looking at Saul for Israel was like looking in the mirror: prideful, vacillating, faithless, weak, blameworthy, evil and idolatrous. God chose a man Saul's complete opposite, David, a man after God's own heart (1 Sam 13:14; Acts 13:22): faithful, valiant, terrific and victorious in battle, reliable, praiseworthy, one that would exhibit justice and righteousness among God's people. Tenderhearted, merciful and wise, humble and fearless for God (1 Sam 15:28).

Just like Adam and Eve was given the command NOT to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, yet did it anyway, Saul was given the command of destroying God's enemies but did not obey proving he was unfit to be the leader of God's people. Removing Saul as king was an act of justice against Saul, and also and act of grace by God over Israel. The role of the king had to be one who executed righteousness and Saul miserably failed to meet that standard (Proverbs 16:12).

The Probation of Adam and Eve

Why couldn't Adam and Eve eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil?

God was establishing law and order for the human race. Although they were full grown, they had to develop mentally. It was important that God placed boundaries on them. To command them not to eat was a necessary prohibition. God placed them on probation - to test them to see if they would obey His command. 

God was sending a message to them that they could not do anything they wanted to do - they had a higher authority they were accountable to. 

The serpent comes and talks with Eve. He questions God's word to her so as to create doubt. Secondly, he lies to Eve - telling her that she would not surely die if she partook of the fruit (Gen 3:9). They would be like God knowing good and evil (Gen 3:5). Adam and Eve were made perfect without sin, yet they were temptable. When both of them ate the forbidden fruit, the Bible says their eyes were opened and they knew they were naked. It was at this point that mankind was first aware of what evil was. The result? They hid themselves because of their guilt and shame. They sewed fig leaves to cover themselves. Man was no longer innocent - he became a sinner.

Who were they hiding from?

It had to be God for there was no one else there in the garden. The act of sewing fig leaves to attempt to cover and hide their shame was insufficient. I'm certain in their minds that now they felt they had sufficiently covered their nakedness, all was well. Their nakedness was not the problem, their disobedience to God's command was the problem. When one obeys the Lord, sin is not a problem. We do not deny it's existence and power, but as the scripture say when we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Gal 5:16).

As God was walking in the cool of the day He asked Adam, “Where are you?” The Lord did not ask Adam’s whereabouts because He didn’t know. He was commanding Adam to reply to Him. Adam replied,”I heard the sound of you in the garden I was afraid because I was naked so I hid myself” (Gen 3:8-10). See what happens when we disobey? Shame sets in, then fear. That is why they tried to hide themselves from the presence of the Lord. 

Adam and Eve failed their probation miserably. The result of their sin brought about the fall of the human race. They heeded the devil’s word over God’s. They accepted a lie instead of the truth. Any wonder why it is man’s nature to run from God? We do not want to deal with the guilt and shame of having to face Him. Many people try to “rid” themselves of their guilt (they think) by denying the existence of God altogether. This way in their mind, they have absolved themselves of guilt. That is nothing but denial. Telling oneself that God does not exist does not deny His existence. 

Our fidelity to God is put to the test when there are options to rebel against Him. The Lord knew that evil lurked in the garden with the devil taking on the form of a serpent. Why did He allow the tempter to come, and why didn't God warn them ahead of time? God needed to test them for them to see if they loved Him with all their heart soul mind and strength. Sadly, they failed their first test of obeying God and resisting evil. 

The Bible tells us in 1 Tim 2:13 the Eve was deceived but Adam was not. He willfully disobeyed God. There should be no wonder where are rebellious spirit comes from - our first father. 

in the final analysis, Adam and Eve's actions toward God set the tone for how mankind would behave thereafter. Man's systemic wickedness to this day is the result of the original disobedience way back in paradise. Man has been sinning so long now that He loves it and is no longer ashamed of it (John 3:19). God being the loving Father He is planned our rescue by sending the Lord Jesus Christ to deliver us from the wrath to come (1 Thess 1:10).

                                                                                                                                                  

Hophni and Phinehas

Hophni and Phinehas appear in the beginning of the book of 1 Samuel. Who are they? They were priests, and they were the sons of the High Priest Eli in Shiloh in the land of Ephraim. The Bible says the Lord desired to kill them. Why? 

They both showed contempt or disrespect for the Lord's sacrifice. When a person came with their offering, and the meat was boiling in the pot, Hophni and Phinehas would take a three pronged fork and take whatever portion came on the fork from the pot and claim it for themselves. When the one offering the sacrifice protested, the two sons would say that their father (the High Priest) will not accept boiled meat only raw. The problem with this is that the fat of the animal was supposed to be burned on the altar. The evil sons said if the one sacrificing would not listen to them, they would take the offering by force - thus stealing what belonged to the Lord. In addition, Hophni and Phinehas were also sleeping with the women who would bring their sacrifices (1 Sam 2:12-17,22).

It is important that we do not miss the import of what is going on here. These men are despising God and the office they are in. To be in leadership and engage in gross sin is a very serious matter. It would be just as heinous as if this were a Pastor or elders
at your local Church were stealing the money and sleeping with the women in the Church. Because these men were evil and unwilling to repent after being warned by their father Eli explains why God wanted to put them to death (1 Sam 2:25).

 Eli was a poor example to his sons. He knew what they were doing and did nothing about it other than to verbally rebuke them. At best he should have removed them from their holy office. At worst, they should have been sentenced to death. Eli did neither. Neither son listened to their father proving their disdain for his instruction, leadership and authority. In hating their father’s instruction, they were ultimately hating God, the most serious offense of all. At the end of the chapter an unnamed prophet pronounced the death of Hophni and Phinehas. The “man of God” as he is called also rebukes Eli for stating that he honored his sons above the Lord. When the sons were robbing the sacrifices of the people, Eli benefited too (1 Sam 2:29). Eli was somewhat complicit in the evil of his sons - he was eating the meat from their stolen sacrifices. As a result, the man of God told him that he and his father’s house would be cut off from the priesthood. That prophecy came true once Eli’s sons were killed by the Philistines (1 Sam 4:11). When Eli heard the news that the Ark of the Covenant had been captured by the Philistines, he fell out of his chair, broke his neck and died (1 Sam 4:18).

What should we learn from this tragic account? 1) That we should take the Lord seriously and fear Him. Eli, Hophni and Phinehas were priests because they were from the tribe of Levi. Their responsibility was to lead and teach the people in the ways of the Lord (Lev 10:9-10). You cannot do that when you are worse than the ones you’re supposed to be leading. Also. 2) If we are in constant rebellion against the Lord, we should be very afraid. Not to be afraid is far worse. Why?

To be unafraid of the consequences of your sin is to be deceived by it. Our sin if allowed can seduce us into thinking that we are somehow impervious to its effects. One does not realize how egregious their sin is and how it is an affront to God Almighty. The writer is guilty of this often. When one is judged by their sins, they do not see it coming from far away to avoid it. Judgement comes swiftly and unexpectedly like a mighty rushing wind.

In the case of Hophni and Phinehas, they had hardened themselves so deep in their sin that they became incorrigible. Their consciences had been seared (1 Tim 4:2). God decided that it was time for them to face ultimate justice, death (Lev 10:1). When men are in leadership and are supposed to be the instruments of the Lord's reformation and righteousness yet you corrupt God's holy priestly office by living wickedly on purpose with no contrition, how can there be any hope for them? Only death awaits (Rom 6:23). That ended up being the fate of Hophni and Phinehas.

God loves the sinner but hates the sin

I have written and spoken about this matter on a few occasions. I need to discuss the matter again. I want to for your consideration, present another angle to this subject. As most people know, sin is rebellion against God and man. The Bible says the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23). Would the writer be out of line if he said, “God hates the sinner because of their sin?” I would say no because the Bible supports that phrase.

Psalm 11:5 reads, “the Lord tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.”

David declared in Psalm 139:21-22, “do I not hate them O Lord that hate You? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with perfect hatred. I count them my enemies.” David is showing his righteous zeal for the Lord. Anyone who opposes the Lord is not only God’s enemy, but his enemy as well. David’s hate in this sense is justified. You cannot be friends with those who hate God. As a believer if they are God’s enemies, they HAVE to be ours too!

It is important that a distinction is made. God hates all sin, but because God’s overarching virtue is His love, He shows compassion to sinners. But I also believe those who are overtly, bloodthirsty and impenitent in their wickedness God will show them no mercy. They arouse God’s righteous anger, and in due time, God will punish them to satisfy His justice.

Here is the new wrinkle I want to put into this discussion.

God is symmetrical I believe when it comes to rewards and punishment. What I mean is that when someone does well, the person is rewarded not the good that they do. You cannot reward the good without the person right? The good deed could never exist without the person performing it.

Also, negatively speaking, we cannot punish sin without punishing the one who committed the sin. Sin could never exist unless someone consciously commits an act of sin.

The title phrase can be misleading. What I mean is that we cannot divorce a person from their sin. We as believers have to lovingly confront it. Just like we do not sever a person from their good deeds, we cannot sever a person from their bad ones. My point, loving the sinner and hating the sin means we do not ignore the sin, we expose it to the sinner.  Because if we ignore it, we are actually doing the opposite, we are hating the sinner and loving the sin! That means we are in sin ourselves. We are  not doing the person a favor by claiming we love them by covering up their sin. It is not a popular idea, but the greatest thing you can do for a sinning brother or sister is to lovingly confront their sin so that they can confess it to God, forsake it and receive deliverance for therein lies true freedom.

The kindness of the Father clearly revealed in scripture is that God loves sinners and despises their sin at the same time.  It is also undeniably true that God hates evildoers – meaning He does not love them at all. They are his enemies.

For the record, the Bible never records the phrase, “God loves the sinner but hates the sin.” But it is indeed true. God loves sinners. If He didn’t, He never would have sent Jesus Christ to earth to save them from their sins (Matt 1:21; John 3:16).

Who are the Palestinians?

The word Palestine is the Greek form of the Hebrew word Philistine. The Philistines are ancient enemies of the Hebrews dating back to around the 12th Century B.C. The Philistines are descendants of Egypt (ancient name is Mizraim) through his son Casluhim. Egypt was a son of Ham (Genesis 10:6-14). Ham was a son of Noah (Genesis 10:1). Simon Bar Kokba led the second Jewish revolt against Rome from 132-135 AD When Emperor Hadrian defeated the Jews in 135 AD, He renamed Jerusalem Aelia Capitolina. He built a temple dedicated to his chief deity Jupiter on the temple mount.

Hadrian also renamed the region of Judah/Judea Syria Palestina, The province of Syria in Palestine. Why did he do this? So that the name of Israel would be remembered no more (Psalm 83:4). Hadrian removed the Jews from the land and made it a Roman province. History declares that they were able to return under the Roman Emperor Constantine who supposedly converted to Christianity in 336 AD. The name Palestine has remained in the region for nearly 2,000 years.

So now one sees where the term Palestinians comes from. But who are they? To call a Jew a Palestinian is an insult. Palestinians are not an ethnic group or a race of people. Palestine actually does not exist. The words Palestine or Palestinians never appear in the Bible. Palestinians are Arab Muslims who occupy the West Bank and the Gaza Strip near the Mediterranean. The land of Israel (not Palestine) was a grant God promised to Abram (later Abraham) in Genesis 15:18. Although Israel has been removed from the land several times because of their disobedience, God promised it to them forever. They will in the future own all what was promised: from the River Egypt to the great River Euphrates.