II. Although, in relation to the foreknowledge and decree of God, the first Cause, all things come to pass immutably, and infallibly;[h] yet, by the same providence, He orders them to fall out, according to the nature of second causes, either necessarily, freely, or contingently.[i]
[h] Acts 2:23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.
[i] Genesis 8:22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
Jeremiah 31:35 Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The Lord of hosts is his name:
Exodus 21:13 And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee.
with Deuteronomy 19:5 As when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbour to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbour, that he die; he shall flee unto one of those cities, and live:
1 Kings 22:28 And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in peace, the Lord hath not spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, O people, every one of you. ver.34 And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness: wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn thine hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am wounded.
Isaiah 10:6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. ver.7 Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.
III. God, in His ordinary providence, makes use of means,[k] yet is free to work without,[l] above,[m] and against them,[n] at His pleasure.
[k] Acts 27:31 Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved. ver.44 And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land.
Isaiah 55:10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: ver.11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Hosea 2:21 And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; ver.22 And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.
[l] Hosea 1:7 But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.
Matthew 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Job 34:10 Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.
[m] Romans 4:19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb: ver.20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; ver.21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
[n] 2 Kings 6:6 And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim.
Daniel 3:27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.
IV. The almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and infinite goodness of God so far manifest themselves in His providence, that it extends itself even to the first fall, and all other sins of angels and men;[o] and that not by a bare permission,[p] but such as has joined with it a most wise and powerful bounding,[q] and otherwise ordering, and governing of them, in a manifold dispensation, to His own holy ends;[r] yet so, as the sinfulness thereof proceeds only from the creature, and not from God, who, being most holy and righteous, neither is nor can be the author or approver of sin.[s]
[o] Romans 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. ver.33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! ver.34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
2 Samuel 24:1 And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.
with 1 Chronicles 21:1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
1 Kings 22:22 And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so. ver.23 Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee.
1 Chronicles 10:4 Then said Saul to his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. So Saul took a sword, and fell upon it. ver.13 So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it; ver.14 And enquired not of the LORD: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse.
2 Samuel 16:10 And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the Lord hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so?
Acts 2:23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
Acts 4:27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, ver.28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
[p] Acts 14:16 Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways.
[q] Psalm 76:10 Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.
2 Kings 19:28 Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
[r] 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.
Isaiah 10:6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. ver.7 Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few. ver.12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.
[s] James 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: ver.14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. ver.17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Psalm 50:21 These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.
For Further Study:
Should the Government Give Thanks to the God of the Bible?
God's Providence, Man's Coercion - Providence in the Founding of America.
Gordon Clark Commentary on the Confession, Chapter 5
The Story of Joseph in Egypt
Capitalism and the Division of Labor: "The Invisible Hand"
By What Standard An Analysis of the Book of Job
Baalism vs. Providence
God Sends Evil
Posts
In sec.II of the chapt on providence, let's talk about the nature of second causes as illustrated in the proof texts. Gen 8:22-seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease. Those relatively fixed variations of our earth- are they the second causes or the result of the second causes and are they "falling out" either necessarily or freely or contingently? Ditto with Jer 31:35. Ex. 21:13- if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand--is the man committing manslaughter the second cause? and either necessarily or freely or contingently? Deut. 19:5 - the man swinging the axe here, is his action the second cause? and which of those three kinds of cause is it? and then the part where he flees into a city of refuge-- is this characterized as a second cause, and if so of what sort? in the 1 Kings 22 verses is the random bowman killing the disguised king the second cause? And is this a contingent second cause? in the Isaiah 10 verses, the Assyrian king is the second cause agent-right?
ReplyDeleteI think the answer is "yes" to all these questions. One verse will say God did it while another verse identifies the secondary cause.
ReplyDeleteIn the audio file by Gordon Clark, Jerome Zanchius is quoted as saying that things happen "necessarily" from God's perspective, while from man's position of incomplete knowledge, things are observed to happen "contingently." If the secondary cause is human, the actor feels he acts "freely." But it was God who was working in the human actor both to will and to do (Philippians 2:12-13.)
In Isaiah 10, God judged Israel. It happened "necessarily" from God's perspective (Isaiah's prophecy could not fail to come to pass), but from our perspective the judgment was "contingent" on Assyria's invasion, which Assyria "freely" undertook. God was the cause of Israel's destruction, Assyria was the secondary cause.