Reference: Providence
American
Ac 24:2, a superintending and forecasting care. The providence of God upholds and governs every created thing. Its operation is coextensive with the universe, and as unceasing as the flow of time. All his attributes are engaged in it. He provideth for the raven his food, and satisfieth the desire of every living thing. The Bible shows us all nature looking up to him and depending upon him, Job 38:41; Ps 104; 145:15-16; 147:8-9; and uniformly declares that every occurrence, as well as every being, is perfectly controlled by him. There is no such thong as chance in the universe; "the lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord," Pr 16:23. Not a sparrow, nor a hair of the head, falls to the ground without his knowledge, Isa 14:26-27; Mt 10:29-30; Ac 17:24-29. Nothing that was not too minute for God to create, is too minute for him to preserve and control. The history of each man, the rise and fall of nations, and the progress of the church of Christ, reveal at every step the hand of Him who "worketh all things after the counsel of his own will."
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Who provides food for the raven, when its young ones cry to God and wander about without food?
The heart of the wise teaches his mouth, and adds learning to his lips.
This is the purpose that is purposed on all the earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out on all the nations. For Jehovah of Hosts has purposed, and who shall reverse it? And His hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
Are not two sparrows sold for an assarion? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of Heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is served with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives life and breath and all things to all. read more. And He has made all nations of men of one blood to dwell on all the face of the earth, ordaining fore-appointed seasons and boundaries of their dwelling, to seek the Lord, if perhaps they might feel after Him and find Him, though indeed He is not far from each one of us. For in Him we live and move and have our being, as also certain of your own poets have said, For we are also His offspring. Then being offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like gold or silver or stone, engraved by art and man's imagination.
Easton
literally means foresight, but is generally used to denote God's preserving and governing all things by means of second causes (Ps 18:35; 63:8; Ac 17:28; Col 1:17; Heb 1:3). God's providence extends to the natural world (Ps 104:14; 135:5-7; Ac 14:17), the brute creation (Ps 104:21-29; Mt 6:26; 10:29), and the affairs of men (1Ch 16:31; Ps 47:7; Pr 21:1; Job 12:23; Da 2:21; 4:25), and of individuals (1Sa 2:6; Ps 18:30; Lu 1:53; Jas 4:13-15). It extends also to the free actions of men (Ex 12:36; 1Sa 24:9-15; Ps 33:14-15; Pr 16:1; 19:21; 20:24; 21:1), and things sinful (2Sa 16:10; 24:1; Ro 11:32; Ac 4:27-28), as well as to their good actions (Php 2:13; 4:13; 2Co 12:9-10; Eph 2:10; Ga 5:22-25).
As regards sinful actions of men, they are represented as occurring by God's permission (Ge 45:5; 50:20. Comp. 1Sa 6:6; Ex 7:13; 14:17; Ac 2:3; 3:18; 4:27-28), and as controlled (Ps 76:10) and overruled for good (Ge 50:20; Ac 3:13). God does not cause or approve of sin, but only limits, restrains, overrules it for good.
The mode of God's providential government is altogether unexplained. We only know that it is a fact that God does govern all his creatures and all their actions; that this government is universal (Ps 103:17-19), particular (Mt 10:29-31), efficacious (Ps 33:11; Job 23:13), embraces events apparently contingent (Pr 16:9,33; 19:21; 21:1), is consistent with his own perfection (2Ti 2:13), and to his own glory (Ro 9:17; 11:36).
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And now do not be grieved, nor angry with yourselves that you sold me here. For God sent me before you to preserve life.
But as for you, you thought evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save a great many people alive.
But as for you, you thought evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save a great many people alive.
And He hardened Pharaoh's heart so that he did not listen to them, as Jehovah had said.
And Jehovah gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and they granted their request, and they plundered the Egyptians.
And behold! I am about to harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. And I will get honor for Me upon Pharaoh, and upon all his army, upon his chariots and upon his horsemen.
Jehovah kills and makes alive. He brings down to Sheol, and brings up.
And why do you harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had worked wonderfully among them, did they not let the people go, and did they not depart?
And the king said, What have I to do with you, sons of Zeruiah? Let him curse, because Jehovah has said to him, Curse David. Who then shall say, Why have you done so?
And again the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, Go count Israel and Judah.
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice. And let them say among the nations, Jehovah reigns.
He gives greatness to the nations, and destroys them. He spreads out the nations, and leads them away.
But He is in one mind, and who can turn Him? Yea, what His soul desires, He does it.
As for God, His way is perfect; the Word of Jehovah is tried; He is a shield to all those who trust in Him.
You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; and Your right hand has held me up, and Your gentleness has made me great.
The counsel of Jehovah stands forever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations.
From His dwelling place He looks on all the people of the earth. Together He forms their hearts; His understanding is to all their works.
For God is King of all the earth; sing praises with understanding.
My soul follows hard after You; Your right hand upholds me.
Surely the wrath of man shall praise You; the wrath that is left, You shall bind up.
But the mercy of Jehovah is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness is to sons of sons; to those who keep His covenant, and to those who remember to do His Commandments. read more. Jehovah has prepared His throne in the heavens; and His kingdom rules over all.
He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for the service of man, to bring forth food out of the earth,
The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their food from God. The sun rises; they are gathered, and go to their dens to lie down. read more. Man goes out to his work and to his labor until the evening. O Jehovah, how many are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your riches. This is the great and wide sea, in which are creeping things without number, both small and great animals. There the ships go; You made this great sea animal to play in it. These all wait on You, that You may give them their food in due season. You give to them, they gather; You open Your hand; they are filled with good. You hide Your face, they are troubled; You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
For I know that Jehovah is great, and our LORD is above all gods. Every thing Jehovah pleased, He did in the heavens and in earth, and in the seas and all deep places. read more. He causes the vapors to rise from the end of the earth; He makes lightnings for the rain; He brings wind out of His storehouses.
The ordering of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from Jehovah.
A man's heart plans his way, but Jehovah directs his steps.
The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing of it is from Jehovah.
There are many purposes in a man's heart, but the counsel of Jehovah shall stand.
There are many purposes in a man's heart, but the counsel of Jehovah shall stand.
Man's steps are of Jehovah; how can a man then understand his own way?
The king's heart is in the hand of Jehovah as the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He will.
The king's heart is in the hand of Jehovah as the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He will.
The king's heart is in the hand of Jehovah as the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He will.
And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and sets up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.
They shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the animals of the field, and they shall make you eat grass like oxen. And they shall wet you with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He will.
Behold the birds of the air; for they sow not, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feeds them; are you not much better than they are?
Are not two sparrows sold for an assarion? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
Are not two sparrows sold for an assarion? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. read more. Therefore do not fear, you are of more value than many sparrows.
He has filled the hungry with good things, and He has sent away the rich empty.
And tongues as of fire appeared to them, being distributed; and it sat upon each of them.
The God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His son Jesus, whom you delivered up, denying Him in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to let Him go.
But those things which God before had shown by the mouth of all His prophets, that Christ should suffer, He fulfilled in this manner.
For truly, against Your holy child Jesus, whom You have anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the nations, and the people of Israel, were gathered together
For truly, against Your holy child Jesus, whom You have anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the nations, and the people of Israel, were gathered together in order to do whatever Your hand and Your counsel determined before to be done.
in order to do whatever Your hand and Your counsel determined before to be done.
And yet He did not leave Himself without witness, doing good, giving rain and fruitful season to us from heaven, filling our hearts with food and gladness.
For in Him we live and move and have our being, as also certain of your own poets have said, For we are also His offspring.
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "Even for this same purpose I have raised you up, that I might show My power in you, and that My name might be declared throughout all the earth."
For God has shut up all in unbelief, so that He might show mercy to all.
For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things; to Him be glory forever! Amen.
But the fruit of the Spirit is: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law. read more. But those belonging to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.
For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.
If we do not believe Him, yet He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
who being the shining splendor of His glory, and the express image of His essence, and upholding all things by the word of His power, through Himself cleansing of our sins, He sat down on the right of the Majesty on high,
Come now, those saying, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city and spend a year there, and we will trade and will make a profit, who do not know of the morrow. For what is your life? For it is a vapor, which appears for a little time, and then disappears. read more. Instead of you saying, If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.
Fausets
Foresight, Greek pronoia "forethought" (Ac 24:2). As applied to God, it expresses His never ceasing power exerted in and over all His works. It is the opposite of "chance," "fortune," and "luck." It continues creation. In relation to all things it is universal, and nothing is too minute for its regard; to moral beings special; to holy or converted beings particular. Each is an object of providence according to its capacity. God's providence is concerned in a sparrow's fall; His children are of more value than many sparrows, and therefore are assured of His providential care in all their concerns. Its acts are threefold; preservation, co-operation, and government. He controls all things for the highest good of the whole, acting upon every species conformably to its nature: inanimate things by physical influences, brutes according to instinct, and free agents according to the laws of free agency. Providence displays God's omnipresence, holiness, justice and benevolence.
If the telescope reveals the immense magnitude and countless hosts of worlds which He created and sustains, the microscope shows that His providence equally concerns itself with the minutest animalcule. Nothing is really small with God. He hangs the most momentous weights on little wires. We cannot explain fully why evil was ever permitted; but God overrules it to good. If no fallible beings had been created there could have been no virtue, for virtue implies probation, and probation implies liability to temptation and sin. Sin too has brought into view God's wisdom, mercy, and love, harmonized in redemption, and good educed from evil; yet the good so educed by guilt does not exculpate sinners, or warrant the inference, "let us do evil that good may come" (Ro 3:8).
Proofs of providence.
(I) We can no more account for the world's continued preservation than for its original creation, without God's interposition.
(II) He sustains because He originally made it (Ps 33:6,13-16; Col 1:17); as one may do what one will with his own, so God has the right to order all things as being their Maker (Isa 64:8; Ro 9:20-23). God's interest in His own creation is Job's argument for God's restoring him (Job 10:3,9-12; 14:15).
(III) God's power, wisdom, knowledge, and love all prove a providence. "He that denies providence denies God's attributes, His omniscience which is the eye of providence, His mercy and justice which are the arms of providence, His power which is its life and motion, His wisdom which is the rudder whereby providence is steered, and holiness the compass and rule of its motion" (Charnock).
(IV) The prevailing order in the world proves providence (Ge 8:22). The Greek word for world and order is one and the same, kosmos, Latin, mundus; and modern science has shown that the very seeming aberrations of the planets are parts of the universal order or law which reigns. "All discord harmony not understood, All partial evil universal good." (Isa 40:22,26.) The plagues, earthquakes, drought, flood, frost, and famine subserve ends of providence which we only in part see; and they also suggest to us the need of a providence to control them within appointed bounds, and that without such a providence all nature would fall into disorder (Jer 5:22; Job 26:7-11; 38:4-14).
(V) The present moral government of the world. Conscience stings the wicked, or civil punishments or the consequences of violating nature's laws overtake them.
(1) The anomalies apparent now, the temporary sufferings of the righteous and prosperity of the wicked, the failure of good plans and success of bad ones, confirm the revelation of the judgment to come which shall rectify these anomalie.s (See JOB.)
(2) The godly amidst affliction enjoy more real happiness than the ungodly, whose prosperity is "shining misery"; (1Ti 4:8; Mr 10:29-30).
(3) The sorrows of godly men are sometimes the result of their running counter to laws of nature, or even of revelation; as Jacob's lying to Isaac, repaid in kind retributively in Jacob's sons lying to him, etc., David's adultery and murder punished retributively by Absalom's lying with his father's concubines and by the sword never departing from David's house (2 Samuel 12).
(4) Yet even so they are overruled to the moral discipline of the saint's faith, patience, and experience (Ro 5:3-4; 1Pe 1:6-7); David's noblest qualities were brought forth by Saul's persecutions, and even by Absalom's punitive rebellion (2Sa 15:25-26; 16:10-12).
(5) There is sin even in men sincere before God; they need at. times to be brought, as Job at last was, to abase themselves under God's visiting hand, and instead of calling God to account to acknowledge His ways are right and we are sinful, even though we do not see the reason why He contends with us (Job 40:4-5; 42:2-6; contrast Job 10:2; 33:13).
(6) The issue of wickedness is seen even in this life generally, that though flourishing for a time (Jer 12:1) the wicked are "set in slippery places, and brought into desolation as in a moment" (Psalm 73; Ps 37:35-37; Job 20:5).
(VI) History vindicates providence. The histories of Israel, Judah, and Gentile nations show that "righteousness exalteth a nation" (Pr 14:34). The preparations made for the gospel of our Saviour indicate a providence (Ga 4:4), the distinctness of prophecy waxing greater and greater as the time for the evangelization of the Gentiles approached (Lu 2:32). The translation of the Jewish Scriptures into the language of a large part of the civilized world, Greek, by the Septuagint (by it the history of providence and the prophecies of Messiah became accessible to the learned everywhere; all possibility of questioning the existence or falsifying the contents of the prophecies was taken away; the closing of the canon just before proved that the Scriptures, so translated, supplied complete all that God revealed in Old Testament times); the expectation throughout the East of a great King and Deliverer to arise in Judaea; the increasing light of philosophy; the comprehension of most of the known world by the Roman empire, breaking down the barrier between E. and W., establishing a regular police everywhere, and the universal peace which prevailed at the coming of the gospel of peace; the multiplication and settling of Jews in Egypt, Asia, Greece, Italy, and western Europe (Horace, Sat. i., 9:69-71; 4:140): all paving the way for promulgating the gospel.
The remarkable working of providence secretly (for God's name never occurs in the book) is apparent in the case of Esther, whereby the fate of the whole Jewish nation hung upon a despot's whim, acted on by a favorite. (See ESTHER.) The providential preparations for the appointed issue, Ahasuerus' feast, Vashti's womanly pride, Mordecai's informing the king of the design against his life, the choice of Esther as queen, Haman's plot, laid so cleverly yet made to recoil on himself, so that after having himself to thank for dictating the honours which he had to pay to the very man whom he wished to destroy he was hanged on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai.
So in the case of Joseph; the brothers' wicked and seemingly successful plan for defeating God's will of elevating him above them, as revealed in his dreams, was overruled to being made the very means of accomplishing it. So "Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel,were gathered together against Christ, for to do whatsoever God's hand and God's counsel determined before to be done" (Ac 4:27-28; compare Ge 42:6; Pr 19:21; 21:30). Fighters against the truth have been by providence made, in spite of themselves, instrumental in spreading it, by calling attention to it and to its power in ennobling believers' lives. "They that were scattered abroad" by persecutors "went everywhere preaching the word" (Ac 8:4), the storm that would rend the oak scatters its seed in every direction.
(VII) Belief in providence is the basis of religion, especially of revealed religion: "the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will" (Da 4:32), So minute is His providential care that "the very hairs of our head are all numbered" (Mt 10:30; Ac 27:34; Lu 21:18; Da
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While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
And Joseph was the potentate over the land. He was the one selling to all the people of the earth. And Joseph's brothers came and bowed down themselves before him, their faces to the earth.
They did not see one another, nor did any rise from his place, for three days. But all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings.
And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more. But against any of the sons of Israel not even a dog shall move his tongue, against man or beast, so that you may know that Jehovah puts a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.
And the king said to Zadok, Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I shall find favor in the eyes of Jehovah, He will bring me again and show it to me, and its dwelling place also. But if He says this, I have no delight in you; behold me, and let Him do to me as seems good to Him.
And the king said, What have I to do with you, sons of Zeruiah? Let him curse, because Jehovah has said to him, Curse David. Who then shall say, Why have you done so? And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, Behold, my son, who came forth from my bowels, seeks my life; and surely now this Benjamite? Let him alone and let him curse, for Jehovah has spoken to him. read more. It may be that Jehovah will look on my affliction, and that Jehovah will repay me with good for his cursing this day.
I will say to God, Do not condemn me; make me know why You contend with me. Is it good to You that You should press down, that You should despise the work of Your hands, and shine on the counsel of the wicked?
Remember, I beseech You, that You have formed me as the clay; and will You bring me into the dust again? Have You not poured me out like milk, and curdled me like cheese? read more. You have clothed me with skin and flesh, and have fenced me with bones and sinews. You have granted me life and favor, and Your providence has preserved my spirit.
You shall call, and I will answer You; You shall have a desire to the work of Your hands.
that the exulting of the wicked is short, and the joy of the ungodly is for a moment?
He stretches out the north over the empty place, and He hung the earth on nothing. He binds up the waters in His thick clouds; and the cloud is not torn under them. read more. He covers the face of His throne, spreading His cloud on it. He has described a circle on the surface of the waters to the boundary of light with darkness. The pillars of the heavens tremble and are astonished at His rebuke.
Why do you fight against Him? For He does not give account for any of His matters.
Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell if you have understanding! Who has set its measurements, for you know? Or who has stretched the line on it? read more. On what are its bases sunk, or who cast its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth as it came from the womb? When I made the clouds its robe, and darkness its navel-band, and set My limit on it, and set bars and doors, and I said, You shall come to here, but no further; and here your proud waves shall stop. Have you commanded the morning from your days, and caused the dawn to know its place, that it might take hold of the ends of the earth; that the wicked might be shaken out of it? It is turned like clay under a seal; and they stand forth like a garment.
Behold, I am vile! What shall I answer You? I will lay my hand on my mouth. Once I have spoken; but I will not answer; yea, twice, but I will go no further.
I know that You can do all, and not any purpose is withheld from You. Who is he who hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have spoken what I did not understand; things too wonderful for me; yea, I did not know. read more. Hear, I beseech You, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You will cause me to know. I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye has seen You. Therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
By the Word of Jehovah were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.
Jehovah looks down from Heaven; He beholds all the sons of mankind. From His dwelling place He looks on all the people of the earth. read more. Together He forms their hearts; His understanding is to all their works. The king is not saved by a great army; a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.
I have seen the wicked ruthless, and spreading himself like a luxuriant native tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not; and I looked for him, but he could not be found. read more. Watch the perfect and behold the upright one; for the end of that man is peace.
Righteousness lifts up a nation, but sin is a shame to any people.
The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing of it is from Jehovah.
There are many purposes in a man's heart, but the counsel of Jehovah shall stand.
There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against Jehovah.
It is He who sits on the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in;
Lift up your eyes on high, and behold, who has created these, who brings out their host by number? He calls them all by names by the greatness of His might, for He is strong in power; not one is lacking.
But now, O Jehovah, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are our Former; and we all are the work of Your hand.
Do you not fear Me? says Jehovah. Will you not tremble at My presence, I who have placed the sand for the boundary of the sea by a never-ending decree, so that it cannot pass it? And though they toss themselves, yet they cannot prevail; though its waves roar, yet they cannot pass over it?
Righteous are You, O Jehovah, that I might contend with You; yet let me speak with You about Your judgments. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are all those happy who deal treacherously?
And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's advisers gathered and saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power (and the hair of their head was not scorched, nor were their slippers changed, nor had the smell of fire clung on them).
And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the animals of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen, and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He will.
For lo, I will command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations, as one shakes with a sieve, yet not a grain shall fall to the earth.
And they said, each one to his fellow, Come and let us cast lots, so that we may know who has caused this evil to occur to us. And they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.
But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
And Jesus answered and said, Truly I say to you, There is no man that has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake and the gospel's sake, but he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions, and in the world to come, eternal life.
a light for revelation to the nations, and the glory of Your people Israel.
But there shall not a hair of your head perish.
For truly, against Your holy child Jesus, whom You have anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the nations, and the people of Israel, were gathered together in order to do whatever Your hand and Your counsel determined before to be done.
Then, indeed, the ones who had been scattered passed through, preaching the gospel, the Word.
For in Him we live and move and have our being, as also certain of your own poets have said, For we are also His offspring.
Therefore I beg you to take some food, for this is for your deliverance. For not a hair of your head shall perish.
And not rather, (as we are wrongly accused, and as some affirm that we say), Let us do bad things that good may come? Their condemnation is just.
And not only this, but we glory in afflictions also, knowing that afflictions work out patience, and patience works out experience, and experience works out hope.
No, but, O man, who are you who replies against God? Shall the thing formed say to Him who formed it, Why have you made me this way? Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel to honor and another to dishonor? read more. What if God, willing to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction; and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy which He had before prepared to glory;
But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, coming into being out of a woman, having come under Law,
And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.
And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.
For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable to all things, having promise of the present life, and of that which is to come.
who being the shining splendor of His glory, and the express image of His essence, and upholding all things by the word of His power, through Himself cleansing of our sins, He sat down on the right of the Majesty on high,
Hastings
1. The word is not found in the OT. In the NT it is used only once; in the exordium of his address to Felix, the orator Tertullus says: 'By thy providence evils are corrected for this nation' (Ac 24:2). Here 'providence' simply means 'foresight,' as in 2Ma 4:6 'the king's providence.'
2. The first appearance of the word 'providence' (Gr. pronoia) in Jewish literature is in Wis 14:3, where God is represented as making for a ship 'a way in the sea'; the Jewish author, borrowing the expression from the Stoic philosophers, says: 'Thy providence, O Father, guideth it along.' In a later passage, recognizing the sterner aspect of the truth to which the OT also bears witness, he contrasts the destinies of the Israelites and Egyptians and describes the latter, when they were 'prisoners of darkness,' as 'exiled from the eternal providence' (Wis 17:2).
3. Although the OT does not contain the word 'providence,' it is a continuous and progressive revelation of Him 'whose never-failing providence ordereth all things both in heaven and earth.' Historians narrate the gradual accomplishment of His redemptive purpose concerning the Chosen People and the world at large (Ge 50:20; Ex 8:22; De 32:8 ff.; cf. Ps 74:12 ff.); poets delight to extol Him 'whose tender mercies are over all his works' (Ps 145:9; cf. Ps 29:3 ff., Ps 104; 136); prophets point to the proofs of God's guidance in the past in order that the people may gain wisdom for the present and courage for the future (De 32:7 ff., Hag 2:9; Isa 51:2; Mal 4:4 ff.). The Book of Job has been called 'the book of Providence,' because it not only gives the author's solution of perplexing problems, but also 'furnishes reasons for believing in the righteous providence of God from the consideration of His character and His dominion over nature' (Oehler, Theology of OT, ii. 474; cf. Job 27; 34:10; 36:22; 37:21).
4. Belief in Providence stands or falls with belief in a personal God. It is incompatible with mechanical or pantheistic theories of Creation. Ancient problems which perplexed Greek philosophers and Hebrew sages press heavily upon the modern mind as it strives to reconcile its trust in Divine providence with the reign of law in the universe and with the existence of pain and evil. Jesus Christ taught that the laws of nature are the established methods of His Heavenly Father's working, and that they fulfil as well as reveal His will (Mt 6:25 ff; Mt 10:29 ff., Joh 5:17). Belief in Providence means to the Christian, trust in the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has so clearly revealed His will in His Son as to make it plain to His children that natural laws may not only subserve moral and spiritual ends in this present time, but may also further His unerring purposes which are not bounded by this mortal life (Ro 8:28; 2Co 4:11 ff., 1Pe 1:6 ff.).
J. G. Tasker.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
But as for you, you thought evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save a great many people alive.
And in that day I will cut off the land of Goshen, in which My people live, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, so that you may know that I am Jehovah in the midst of the earth.
Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you. When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the sons of Israel.
The voice of Jehovah is on the waters; the God of glory thunders; Jehovah is above many waters.
For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth,
Jehovah is good to all; and His tender mercies are over all His works.
Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you; for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.
The glory of this latter house shall be greater than that of the former, says Jehovah of Hosts. And in this place I will give peace, says Jehovah of Hosts.
Remember the Law of Moses My servant, which I commanded to him in Horeb for all Israel, the statutes and judgments.
Therefore I say to you, Do not be anxious for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
Are not two sparrows sold for an assarion? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
But Jesus answered them, My Father works until now, and I work.
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
and greetings from Jesus, who is called Justus, those being of the circumcision. These alone are my fellow-workers for the kingdom of God, who became a comfort to me.
in which you greatly rejoice, yet a little while, if need be, grieving in manifold temptations;
Watsons
PROVIDENCE, the conduct and direction of the several parts of the universe, by a superior intelligent Being. The notion of a providence is founded upon this truth, that the Creator has not so fixed and ascertained the laws of nature, nor so connected the chain of second causes, as to leave the world to itself, but that he still preserves the reins in his own hands, and occasionally intervenes, alters, restrains, enforces, suspends, &c, those laws by a particular providence. Some use the word providence in a more general sense, signifying by it that power or action by which the several parts of the creation are ordinarily directed. Thus Damascenus defines providence to be that divine will by which all things are ordered and directed to the proper end: which notion of providence supposes no laws at all fixed by the author of nature at the creation, but that he reserved it at large, to be governed by himself immediately. The Epicureans denied any divine providence, as thinking it inconsistent with the ease and repose of the divine nature to meddle at all with human affairs. Simplicius argues thus for a providence: If God does not look to the affairs of the world, it is either because he cannot or will not; but the first is absurd, since, to govern cannot be difficult where to create was easy; and the latter is both absurd and blasphemous. In Plato's Tenth Dialogue of Laws, he teaches excellently, that (since what is self-moving is, by its nature, before that which moves only in consequence of being moved) mind must be prior to matter, and the cause of all its modifications and changes; and that, therefore, there is a universal Mind possessed of all perfection, which produced and which actuates all things. After this he shows that the Deity exercises a particular providence over the world, taking care of small no less than great things. In proving this he observes "that a superior nature of such excellence as the divine, which hears, sees, and knows all things, cannot, in any instance, be subject to negligence or sloth; that the meanest and the greatest part of the world are all equally his work or possession; that great things cannot be rightly taken care of without taking care of small; and that, in all cases, the more able and perfect any artist is, (as a physician, an architect, or the ruler of the state,) the more his skill and care appear in little as well as great things. Let us not, then," says he, "conceive of God as worse than even mortal artists." The term providence, in its primary signification, simply denotes foresight; and if we allow the existence of a supreme Being who formed the universe at first, we must necessarily allow that he has a perfect foresight of every event which at any time takes place in the natural or moral world. Matter can have no motion, nor spirit any energy, but what is derived from him; nor can he be ignorant of the effects which they will, either separately or conjointly, produce. A common mechanic has knowledge of the work of his own hands: when he puts the machine which he has made in motion, he foresees how long it will go, and what will be the state and position of its several parts at any particular point of time; or, if he is not perfectly able to do this, it is because he is not perfectly acquainted with all the powers of the materials which he has used in its construction: they are not of his making, and they may therefore have qualities which he does not understand, and consequently cannot regulate. But in the immense machine of the universe there is nothing except that which God has made; all the powers and properties, relations and dependencies, which created things have, they have, both in kind and degree, from him. Nothing, therefore, it should seem, can come to pass at any time, or in any part of the universe, which its incomprehensible Architect did not, from the moment his almighty fiat called it into existence, clearly foresee. The providence of God is implied in his very existence as an intelligent Creator; and it imports not only an abstract foresight of all possible events, but such a predisposition of causes and effects, such an adjustment of means and ends, as seems to us to exclude that contingency of human actions with which, as expectants of positive rewards and punishments in another world, we firmly believe it to be altogether consistent.
By providence we may understand, not merely foresight, but a uniform and constant operation of God subsequent to the act of creation. Thus, in every machine formed by human ingenuity, there is a necessity for the action of some extraneous power to put the machine in motion: a proper construction and disposition of parts not being sufficient to effect the end: there must be a spring, or a weight, or an impulse of air or water, or some substance or other, on which the motion of the several parts of the machine must depend. In like manner, the machine of the universe depends upon its Creator for the commencement and the conservation of the motion of its several parts. The power by which the insensible particles of matter coalesce into sensible lumps, as well as that by which the great orbs of the universe are reluctantly, as it were, retained in their courses, admits not an explanation from mechanical causes: the effects of both of them are different from such as mere matter and motion can produce; they must ultimately be referred to God. Vegetable and animal life and increase cannot be accounted for, without recurring to him as the primary cause of both. In all these respects the providence of God is something more than foresight; it is a continual influence, a universal agency; "by him all things consist," and "in him we live, and move, and have our being." Much labour has been employed to account for all the phenomena of nature by the powers of mechanism, or the necessary laws of matter and motion. But this, as we imagine, cannot be done. The primary causes of things must certainly be some powers and principles not mechanical, otherwise we shall be reduced to the necessity of maintaining an endless progression of motions communicated from matter to matter, without any first mover; or of saying that the first impelling matter moved itself. The former is an absurdity too great to be embraced by any one; and there is reason to hope that me essential inactivity of matter is at present so well understood, and so generally allowed, notwithstanding some modern oppugners of this hypothesis, that there can be but few who will care to assert the latter. All our reasonings about bodies, and the whole of natural philosophy, are founded on the three laws of motion laid down by Sir Isaac Newton, at the beginning of the "Principia." These laws express the plainest truths; but they would have neither evidence nor meaning, were not inactivity contained in our idea of matter. Should it be said that matter, though naturally inert, may be made to be otherwise by divine power, this would be the same with saying that matter may be made not to be matter. If inactivity belong to it at all, it must belong to it as matter, or solid extension, and therefore must be inseparable from it. Matter is figured, movable, discerptable, inactive, and capable of communicating motion by impulse to other matter; these are not accidental but primary qualities of matter. Beside, matter void of inactivity, if we were to suppose it possible, could produce no effects. The communication of motion, its direction, the resistance it suffers, and its cessation, in a word, the whole doctrine of motion cannot be consistently explained or clearly understood without supposing the inertia of matter. Self-moving matter must have thought and design, because, whenever matter moves, it must move in some particular direction, and with some precise degree of velocity; and as there is an infinity of these equally possible, it cannot move itself without selecting one of these preferably to and exclusively of all others, and therefore not without design. Moreover, it may be plainly proved that matter cannot be the ultimate cause of the phenomena of nature, or the agent which, by any powers inherent in itself, produces the general
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They do not toil, nor do they spin,