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THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD
By Arthur W. Pink
Chapter 6
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD IN OPERATION
"For of Him, and thro’ Him,
and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen" (Romans
11:36).
Has God foreordained
everything that comes to pass? Has He decreed that what is, was to have
been? In the final analysis this is only another way of asking, Is God now governing the world and everyone and everything in it? If God is governing
the world, then is He governing it according to a definite purpose, or
aimlessly and at random? If He is governing it according to some purpose,
then when was that purpose made? Is God continually changing His purpose and
making a new one every day, or was His purpose formed from the beginning?
Are God’s actions, like ours, regulated by the change of circumstances, or
are they the outcome of His eternal purpose? If God formed a purpose before
man was created, then is that purpose going to be executed according to His
original designs and is He now working toward that end? What saith the
Scriptures? They declare God is One "who worketh all things after
the counsel of His own will" (Eph. 1:11).
Few who read this book
are likely to call into question the statement that God knows and foreknows all
things, but perhaps many would hesitate to go further than this. Yet is
it not self-evident that if God foreknows all things, He has also fore-ordained all things? Is it not clear that God foreknows what will be because
He has decreed what shall be? God’s foreknowledge is not the cause of
events, rather are events the effects of His eternal purpose. When God has
decreed a thing shall be, He knows it will be. In the nature
of things there cannot be anything known as what shall be, unless it is certain to be, and there is nothing certain to be unless God has ordained it
shall be. Take the Crucifixion as an illustration. On this point the
teaching of Scripture is as clear as a sunbeam. Christ as the Lamb whose
blood was to be shed, was "foreordained before the foundation of the
world" (1 Pet. 1:20). Having then "ordained" the slaying of
the Lamb, God knew He would be "led to the slaughter", and
therefore made it known accordingly through Isaiah the prophet. The Lord
Jesus was not "delivered" up by God fore-knowing it before it took
place, but by His fixed counsel and fore-ordination (Acts 2:23). Fore-knowledge
of future events then is founded upon God’s decrees, hence if God
foreknows everything that is to be, it is because He has determined in
Himself from all eternity everything which will be—"Known unto God
are all His works from the beginning of the world" (Acts 15:18), which
shows that God has a plan, that God did not begin His work at random
or without a knowledge of how His plan would succeed.
God created all things.
This truth no one, who bows to the testimony of Holy Writ, will question;
nor would any such be prepared to argue that the work of creation was an accidental work. God first formed the purpose to create, and then put forth the
creative act in fulfillment of that purpose. All real Christians will
readily adopt the words of the Psalmist and say, "O Lord, how manifold
are Thy works! in wisdom hast Thou made them all." Will any who
endorse what we have just said, deny that God purposed to govern the
world which He created? Surely the creation of the world was not the end of
God’s purpose concerning it. Surely He did not determine simply to create
the world and place man in it. and then leave both to their fortunes. It
must be apparent that God has some great end or ends in view, worthy of His
infinite perfections, and that He is now governing the world so as to
accomplish these ends—"The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the
thoughts of His heart to all generations" (Ps. 33:11).
"Remember the
former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and
there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from
ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall
stand, and I will do all My pleasure" (Isa. 46:9, 10). Many other
passages might be adduced to show that God has many counsels concerning this
world and concerning man, and that all these counsels will most surely be
realized. It is only when they are thus regarded that we can intelligently
appreciate the prophecies of Scripture. In prophecy the mighty God has
condescended to take us into the secret chamber of His eternal counsels, and
make known to us what He has purposed to do in the future. The hundreds of
prophecies which are found in the Old and New Testaments are not so much
predictions of what will come to pass, as they are revelations to
us of what God has purposed shall come to pass. Do we know from prophecy
that this present age, like all preceding ones, is to end with a full
demonstration of man’s failure; do we know that there is to be a universal
turning away from the truth, a general apostasy; do we know that the
Antichrist is to be manifested, and that he will succeed in deceiving the
whole world; do we know that Antichrist’s career will be cut short, and an
end made of man’s miserable attempts to govern himself, by the return of
God’s Son; then it is all because these and a hundred other things are
included among God’s eternal decrees, now made known to us in the sure
Word of Prophecy, and because it is infallibly certain that all God
has purposed "must shortly come to pass" (Rev. 1:1).
What then was the great
purpose for which this world and the human race were created? The answer of
Scripture is, "The Lord hath made all things for Himself" (Prov. 16:4). And again, "Thou hast created all things, and for
Thy pleasure they are and were created" (Rev. 4:11). The great end
of creation was the manifestation of God’s glory. The heavens declare the
glory of God and the firmament sheweth His handiwork; but it was by man, originally
made in His own image and likeness, that God designed chiefly to manifest
His glory. But how was the great Creator to be glorified by man? Before his
creation, God foresaw the fall of Adam and the consequent ruin of his race,
therefore He could not have designed that man should glorify Him by
continuing in a state of innocency. Accordingly, we are taught that Christ
was "fore-ordained before the foundation of the world" to be the
Saviour of fallen men. The redemption of sinners by Christ was no mere
after-thought of God: it was no expediency to meet an unlooked-for calamity.
No; it was a Divine provision, and therefore when man fell, he found
mercy walking hand in hand with justice.
From all eternity God
designed that our world should be the stage on which He would display His
manifold grace and wisdom in the redemption of lost sinners: "To the
intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might
be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the
eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Eph.
3:11). For the accomplishment of this glorious design God has governed the
world from the beginning, and will continue it to the end. It has been well
said, "We can never understand the providence of God over our world,
unless we regard it as a complicated machine having ten thousand parts,
directed in all its operations to one glorious end—the display of the
manifold wisdom of God in the salvation of the Church," i.e.,
the "called out" ones. Everything else down here is subordinated
to this central purpose. It was the apprehension of this basic truth that
the apostle, moved by the Holy Spirit, was led to write, "Wherefore I
endure all things for the elect’s sake, that they may also
obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory" (2
Tim. 2:10). What we would now contemplate is the operation of
God’s sovereignty in the government of this world.
In regard to the
operation of God’s government over the material world little needs
now be said. In previous chapters we have shown that inanimate matter and
all irrational creatures are absolutely subject to their Creator’s
pleasure. While we freely admit that the material world appears to be
governed by laws that are stable and more or less uniform in their
operations, yet Scripture, history, and observation, compel us to recognize
the fact that God suspends these laws and acts apart from them whenever it
pleaseth Him to do so. In sending His blessings or judgments upon His
creatures He may cause the sun itself to stand still, and the stars in their
courses to fight for His people (Judges 5:20) He may send or withhold
"the early and the latter rains" according to the dictates of His
own infinite wisdom; He may smite with plague or bless with health; in
short, being God, being absolute Sovereign, He is bound and tied by no laws
of Nature, but governs the material world as seemeth Him best.
But what of God’s
government of the human family? What does Scripture reveal in regard
to the modus operandi of the operations of His governmental
administration over mankind? To what extent and by what influences does God
control the sons of men? We shall divide our answer to this question into
two parts and consider first God’s method of dealing with the righteous,
His elect; and then His method of dealing with the wicked.
God’s Method of
Dealing with the Righteous:
1. God exerts upon His
own elect a quickening influence or power.
By nature they are
spiritually dead, dead in trespasses and sins, and their first need is
spiritual life, for "Except a man be born again, he cannot see
the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). In the new birth God brings us from
death unto life (John 5:24). He imparts to us His own nature (2 Pet.
1:4). He delivers us from the power of darkness and translates us into the
kingdom of His dear Son (Col. 1:13). Now, manifestly, we could not do this
ourselves, for we were "without strength" (Rom. 5:6), hence it is
written, "we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus"
(Eph. 2:10).
In the new birth we are
made partakers of the Divine nature: a principle, a "seed," a
life, is communicated to us which is "born of the Spirit," and
therefore "is spirit;" is born of the Holy Spirit, and
therefore is holy. Apart from this Divine and holy nature which is
imparted to us at the new birth, it is utterly impossible for any man to
generate a spiritual impulse, form a spiritual concept, think a spiritual
thought, understand spiritual things, still less engage in spiritual works.
"Without holiness no man shall see the Lord," but the natural man
has no desire for holiness, and the provision that God has made he does not
want. Will then a man pray for, seek for, strive after, that which he
dislikes? Surely not. If then a man does "follow after"
that which by nature he cordially dislikes, if he does now love the One he
once hated, it is because a miraculous change has taken place within him; a
power outside of himself has operated upon him, a nature entirely different
from his old one has been imparted to him, and hence it is written,
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old
things are passed away, behold all things are become new" (2 Cor.
5:17). Such an one as we have just described has passed from death unto
life, has been turned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan
unto God (Acts 26:18). In no other way can the great change be accounted
for.
The new birth is very,
very much more than simply shedding a few tears due to a temporary remorse
over sin. It is far more than changing our course of life, the leaving off
of bad habits and the substituting of good ones. It is something different
from the mere cherishing and practicing of noble ideals. It goes infinitely
deeper than coming forward to take some popular evangelist by the hand,
signing a pledge-card, or "joining the church." The new birth is
no mere turning over a new leaf, but is the inception and reception of a new
life. It is no mere reformation but a Complete transformation. In short, the
new birth is a miracle, the result of the supernatural operation of God. It
is radical, revolutionary, lasting.
Here then is the first
thing, in time, which God does in His own elect. He lays hold of those who
are spiritually dead and quickens them into newness of life. He takes up one
who was shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin, and conforms him to the
image of His Son. He seizes a captive of the Devil and makes him a member of
the household of faith. He picks up a beggar and makes him joint-heir with
Christ. He comes to one who is full of enmity against Him, and gives him a
new heart that is full of love for Him. He stoops to one who by nature is a
rebel, and works in him both to will and to do of His good pleasure. By His
irresistible power He transforms a sinner into a saint, an enemy into a
friend, a slave of the Devil into a child of God. Surely then we are moved
to say,
"When all Thy mercies O my God
My wondering soul surveys,
Transported with the view I’m lost
In wonder, love and praise."
2. God exerts
upon His own elect an energizing influence or power.
The apostle prayed to
God for the Ephesian saints that the eyes of their understanding might be
enlightened in order that, among other things, they might know "what is
the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe" (Eph.
1:18), and that they might be "strengthened with might "by His
Spirit in the inner man" (3:16). It is thus that the children of God
are enabled to fight the good fight of faith, and battle with the adverse
forces which constantly war against them. In themselves they have no
strength: they are but "sheep," and sheep are one of the most
defenceless animals there is; but the promise is sure—"He giveth
power to the faint, and to them that have no might He increaseth
strength" (Isa. 40:29).
It is this energizing
power that God exerts upon and within the righteous which enables them to
serve Him acceptably. Said the prophet of old, "But truly I am full of
power by the Spirit of the Lord" (Micah 3:8). And said
our Lord to His apostles, "Ye shall receive power after that the
Holy Spirit is come upon you" (Acts 1:8), and thus it proved, for of
these same men we read subsequently, "And with great power gave the
apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was
upon them all" (Acts 4:33). So it was, too, with the apostle Paul,
"And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s
wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power" (1 Cor. 2:4).
But the scope of this power is not confined to service, for we read in 2
Peter 1:3, "According as His Divine power bath given unto us all
things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of
Him that hath called us to glory and virtue." Hence it is that the
various graces of the Christian character, "love, joy, peace,
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance," are
ascribed directly to God Himself, being denominated "the fruit of
the Spirit" (Gal. 5:22). Compare Ephesians 5:9.
3. God exerts upon His
own elect a directing influence or power.
Of old He led His
people across the wilderness, and directing their steps by a pillar of cloud
by day and a pillar of fire by night; and today He still directs His saints,
though now from within rather than from without. "For this God is
our God for ever and ever: He will be our Guide even unto
death" (Ps. 48:14), but He "guides" us by working in us both
to will and to do of His good pleasure. That He does so guide us is clear
from the words of the apostle in Ephesians 2:10—"For we are His
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath
before ordained that we should walk in them." Thus all
ground for boasting is removed, and God gets all the glory, for with the
prophet we have to say, "Lord, Thou wilt ordain peace for us: for
Thou also hast wrought all our works in us" (Isa. 26:12).
How true then that "A man’s heart deviseth his way: hut the Lord directeth
his steps" (Prov. 16:9)! Compare Psalm 65:4, Ezekiel 36:27.
4. God exerts upon His
own elect a preserving influence or power.
Many are the scriptures
which set forth this blessed truth. "He preserveth the souls of His
saints; He delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked" (Ps. 97:10).
"For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not His saints; they are preserved
for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off" (Ps. 37:28).
"The Lord preserveth all them that love Him: but all the wicked
will He destroy" (Ps. 145:20). It is needless to multiply texts or to
raise an argument at this point respecting the believer’s responsibility
and faithfulness—we can no more "persevere" without God
preserving us, than we can breathe when God ceases to give us breath; we are
"kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to
be revealed in the last time" (1 Pet. 1:5). Compare 1 Chronicles 18:6.
It remains for us now to consider,
God’s Method of
Dealing with the Wicked:
In contemplating God’s
governmental dealings with the non-elect we find that He exerts upon them a
fourfold influence or power. We adopt the clear-cut divisions suggested by
Dr. Rice:
1. God exerts upon the
wicked a restraining influence by which they are prevented from
doing what they are naturally inclined to do.
A striking example of
this is seen in Abimelech king of Gerar. Abraham came down to Gerar and
fearful lest he might be slain on account of his wife he instructed her to
pose as his sister. Regarding her as an unmarried woman, Abimelech sent and
took Sarah unto himself; and then we learn how God put forth His power to
protect her honor—"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). Had not God interposed, Abimelech would have grievously
wronged Sarah, but the Lord restrained him and allowed him not to carry out
the intentions of his heart.
A similar instance is
found in connection with Joseph and his brethren’s treatment of Him. Owing
to Jacob’s partiality for Joseph, his brethren "hated him," and
when they thought they had him in their power, "they conspired against
him to slay him" (Gen. 37:18). But God did not allow them to
carry out their evil designs. First He moved Reuben to deliver him out of
their hands, and next he caused Judah to suggest that Joseph should be sold
to the passing Ishmaelites, who carried him down into Egypt. That it was God who thus restrained them is clear from the words of Joseph himself, when
some years later he made known himself to his brethren: said he, "So
now it was not you that sent me hither, but God" (Gen.
45:8)!
The restraining
influence which God exerts upon the wicked was strikingly exemplified in the
person of Balaam, the prophet hired by Balak to curse the Israelites. One
cannot read the inspired narrative without discovering that, left to
himself, Balaam had readily and certainly accepted the offer of Balak. How
evidently God restrained the impulses of his heart is seen from his own
acknowledgment—"How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how
shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied? Behold I have received
commandment to bless: and He bath blessed; and I cannot reverse it"
(Num. 23:8, 20).
Not only does God exert
a restraining influence upon wicked individuals, but He does so upon whole
peoples as well. A remarkable illustration of this is found in Ex. 34:24—"For
I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither
shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before
the Lord thy God thrice in the year." Three times every male Israelite,
at the command of God, left his home and inheritance and journeyed to
Jerusalem to keep the Feasts of the Lord; and in the above scripture we
learn He promised them that, while they were at Jerusalem, He would guard
their unprotected homes by restraining the covetous designs and
desires of their heathen neighbors.
2. God exerts
upon the wicked a softening influence disposing them contrary to
their natural inclinations to do that which will promote His cause.
Above, we referred to
Joseph’s history as an illustration of God exerting a restraining influence
upon the wicked, let us note now his experiences in Egypt as exemplifying
our assertion that God also exerts a softening influence upon the
unrighteous. We are told that while he was in the house of Potiphar,
"The Lord was with Joseph, and his master saw the Lord was with
him," and in consequence, "Joseph found favor in his sight and he
made him overseer over his house" (Gen. 39:3, 4). Later, when Joseph
was unjustly cast into prison, we are told, "But the Lord was with
Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favor in the sight of the
keeper of the prison" (Gen. 39:21), and in consequence the
prison-keeper shewed him much kindness and honor. Finally, after his release
from prison, we learn from Acts 7:10 that the Lord "gave him favor
and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him
governor over Egypt and all his house."
An equally striking
evidence of God’s power to melt the hearts of his enemies, was seen in
Pharaoh’s daughter’s treatment of the infant Moses. The incident is well
known. Pharaoh had issued an edict commanding the destruction of every male
child of the Israelites. A certain Levite had a son born to him who for
three months was kept hidden by his mother. No longer able to conceal the
infant Moses, she placed him in an ark of bulrushes, and laid him by the
river’s brink. The ark was discovered by none less than the king’s
daughter who had come down to the river to bathe, but instead of heeding her
father’s wicked decree and casting the child into the river, we are told
that "she hod compassion on him" (Ex. 2:6)!
Accordingly, the young life was spared and later Moses became the adopted
son of this princess!
God has access to the
hearts of all men and He softens or hardens them according to His sovereign
purpose. The profane Esau swore vengeance upon his brother for the deception
which he had practiced upon his father, yet when next he met Jacob, instead
of slaying him we are told that Esau "fell on his neck and kissed
him" (Gen. 32:4)! Ahab, the weak and wicked consort of Jezebel, was
highly enraged against Elijah the prophet, at whose word the heavens had
been shut up for three years and a half: so angry was he against the one
whom he regarded as his enemy that, we are told he searched for him in every
nation and kingdom, and when he could not be found "he took an
oath" (1 Kings 18:10). Yet, when they met, instead of killing the
prophet, Ahab meekly obeyed Elijah’s behest and "sent unto all the
children of Israel and gathered the prophets together unto Mount
Carmel" (v. 20). Again; Esther the poor Jewess is about
to enter the presence-chamber of the august Medo-Persian monarch which, said
she, "is not according to the law" (Est. 4:16). She went in
expecting to "perish," but we are told "She obtained favor
in his sight, and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter"
(5:2). Yet again; the boy Daniel is a captive in a foreign court. The king
"appointed" a daily provision of meat and drink for Daniel and his
fellows. But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself
with the allotted portion, and accordingly made known his purpose to his
master, the prince of the eunuchs. What happened? His master was a heathen,
and "feared" the king. Did he turn then upon Daniel and angrily
demand that his orders be promptly carried out? No; for we read, "Now
God had brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the
eunuchs" (Dan. 1:9)!
"The king’s
heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: He turneth it
whithersoever He will" (Prov. 21:1). A remarkable illustration of this
is seen in Cyrus, the heathen king of Persia. God’s people were in
captivity, but the predicted end of their captivity was almost reached.
Meanwhile the Temple at Jerusalem lay in ruins, and, as we have said, the
Jews were in bondage in a distant land. What hope was there then that the
Lord’s house would be re-built? Mark now what God did, "Now in the
first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth
of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king
of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put
it in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of
heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and He hath charged me
to build Him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah" (Ezra 1:1, 2).
Cyrus, be it remembered, was a pagan, and as secular history bears witness,
a very wicked man, yet the Lord moved him to issue this edict, that His Word
through Jeremiah seventy years before might be fulfilled. A similar and
further illustration is found in Ezra 7:27, where we find Ezra
returning thanks for what God had caused king Artaxerxes to do in completing
and beautifying the house which Cyrus had commanded to be erected—"Blessed
be the Lord God of our fathers which hath put such a thing as this in the
king’s heart, to beautify the house of the Lord which is in
Jerusalem" (Ezra 7:27).
3. God exerts upon the
wicked a directing influence so that good is made to result from
their intended evil.
Once more we revert to
the history of Joseph as a case in point. In selling Joseph to the
Ishmaelites, his brethren were actuated by cruel and heartless motives.
Their object was to make away with him, and the passing of these travelling
traders furnished an easy way out for them. To them the act was nothing more
than the enslaving of a noble youth for the sake of gain. But now observe
how God was secretly working and over-ruling their wicked actions.
Providence so ordered it that these Ishmaelites passed by just in time to
prevent Joseph being murdered, for his brethren had already taken counsel
together to put him to death. Further; these Ishmaelites were journeying to
Egypt, which was the very country to which God had purposed to send
Joseph, and He ordained they should purchase Joseph just when they
did. That the hand of God was in this incident, that it was something more
than a fortunate co-incidence, is clear from the words of Joseph to his
brethren at a later date, "God sent me before you to preserve
you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great
deliverance" (Gen. 45:7).
Another equally
striking illustration of God directing the wicked is found in Isaiah
10:5-7—"O Assyrian, the rod of Mine anger, and the staff in their
hand is Mine indignation. I will send him against a 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. 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." Assyria’s
king had determined to be a world-conqueror, to "cut off nations not a
few." But God directed and controlled his military lust
and ambition, and caused him to confine his attention to the conquering of
the insignificant nation of Israel. Such a task was not in the proud king’s
heart—"he meant it not so"—but God gave him this charge
and he could do nothing but fulfill it. Compare also Judges 7:22.
The supreme example of
the controlling, directing influence, which God exerts upon the wicked, is the
Cross of Christ with all its attending circumstances. If ever the superintending providence of God was witnessed, it was there. From all eternity God had
predestined every detail of that event of all events. Nothing was left to
chance or the caprice of man. God had decreed when and where and how His
blessed Son was to die. Much of what He had purposed concerning the
Crucifixion had been made known through the Old Testament prophets, and in
the accurate and literal fulfillment of these prophecies we have
clear proof, full demonstration, of the controlling and directing influence
which God exerts upon the wicked. Not a thing occurred except as God had
ordained, and all that He had ordained took place exactly as He
purposed. Had it been decreed (and made known in Scripture) that the Saviour
should be betrayed by one of His own disciples—by His "familiar
friend"—see Psalm 41:9 and compare Matthew 26:50—then the apostle
Judas is the one who sold Him. Had it been decreed that the betrayer should
receive for his awful perfidy thirty pieces of silver, then are the chief
priests moved to offer him this very sum. Had it been decreed that this
betrayal sum should be put to a particular use, namely, purchase the potter’s
field, then the hand of God directs Judas to return the money to the chief
priests and so guided their "counsel" (Matt. 27:7) that
they did this very thing. Had it been decreed that there should be those who
bore "false witness" against our Lord (Ps. 35:11), then
accordingly such were raised up. Had it been decreed that the Lord of glory
should be "spat upon and scourged" (Is. 50:6), then there were not
found wanting those who were vile enough to do so. Had it been decreed that
the Saviour should be "numbered with the transgressors," then
unknown to himself, Pilate, directed by God, gave orders for His crucifixion
along with two thieves. Had it been decreed that vinegar and gall should be
given Him to drink while He hung upon the Cross, then this decree of God was
executed to the very letter. Had it been decreed that the heartless soldiers
should gamble for His garments, then sure enough they did this very thing.
Had it been decreed that not a bone of Him should be broken (Ps. 34:20),
then the controlling hand of God which suffered the Roman soldier to break
the legs of the thieves, prevented him from doing the same with our Lord.
Ah! there were not enough soldiers in all the Roman legions, there were not
sufficient demons in all the hierarchies of Satan, to break one bone in the
body of Christ. And why? Because the Almighty Sovereign had decreed that not
a bone should be broken. Do we need to extend this paragraph any
farther? Does not the accurate and literal fulfillment of all that Scripture
had predicted in connection with the Crucifixion, demonstrate beyond all
controversy that an Almighty power was directing and superintending everything that was done on that Day of days?
4. God also hardens the
hearts of wicked men and blinds their minds.
"God hardens
men’s hearts! God blinds men’s minds!" Yes, so Scripture
represents Him. In developing this theme of the sovereignty of God in
Operation we recognize that we have now reached its most solemn aspect of
all, and that here especially, we need to keep very close indeed to the
words of Holy Writ. God forbid that we should go one fraction further than
His Word goes; but may He give us grace to go as far as His Word
goes. It is true that secret things belong unto the Lord, but it is also
true that those things which are revealed in Scripture belong unto us and to
our children.
"He turned
their heart to hate His people, to deal subtly with His
servants" (Ps. 105:25). The reference here is to the sojourn of
the descendants of Jacob in the land of Egypt when, after the death of the
Pharaoh who had welcomed the old patriarch and his family, there "arose
up a new king who knew not Joseph;" and in his days the children of
Israel had "increased greatly" so that they outnumbered the
Egyptians; then it was that God "turned their heart to hate His
people."
The consequence of the
Egyptians’ "hatred" is well known: they brought them into cruel
bondage and placed them under merciless taskmasters, until their lot became
unendurable. Helpless and wretched the Israelites cried unto Jehovah, and in
response, He appointed Moses to be their deliverer. God revealed Himself
unto His chosen servant, gave him a number of miraculous signs which he was
to exhibit at the Egyptian court, and then bade him go to Pharaoh, and
demand that the Israelites should be allowed to go a three days journey into
the wilderness, that they might worship the Lord. But before Moses started
out on his journey God warned him concerning Pharaoh, "I will harden
his heart that he shall not let the people go" (Ex. 4:21). If it be
asked, Why did God harden Pharaoh’s heart? the answer furnished by
Scripture itself is, In order that God might show forth His power in
him (Rom. 9:17); in other words, it was so that the Lord might demonstrate
that it was just as easy for Him to overthrow this haughty and powerful
monarch as it was for Him to crush a worm. If it should be pressed further,
Why did God select such a method of displaying His power? then the
answer must be, that being sovereign God reserves to Himself the right to
act as He pleases.
Not only are we told
that God hardened the heart of Pharaoh so that he would not let the
Israelites go, but after God had plagued his land so severely that he
reluctantly gave a qualified permission, and after that the first-born of
all the Egyptians had been slain, and Israel had actually left the land of
bondage, God told Moses, "And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of
the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get Me honor upon
Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall
know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten Me honor upon Pharaoh, upon his
chariots, and upon his horsemen" (Ex. 14:17, 18).
The same thing happened
subsequently in connection with Sihon king of Heshbon, through whose
territory Israel had to pass on their way to the promised Land. When
reviewing their history, Moses told the people, "But Sihon king of
Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the Lord thy God hardened his
spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into thy
hand" (Deut. 2:30)!
So it was also after
that Israel had entered Canaan. We read, "There was not a city that
made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites the inhabitants of
Gibeon: all other they took in battle. For it was of the Lord to harden
their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that He
might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favor, but that He
might destroy them, as the Lord commanded Moses" (Josh. 11:19,20). From
other scriptures we learn why God purposed to "destroy utterly"
the Canaanites—it was because of their awful wickedness and corruption.
Nor is the revelation
of this solemn truth confined to the Old Testament. In John 12:37-40 we
read, "But though He had done so many miracles before them, yet they
believed not on Him: that (in order that) the saying of Isaiah the
prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our
report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore
they could not believe, because that Isaiah said again, HE hath
blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see
with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I
should heal them." It needs to be carefully noted here that these whose
eyes God "blinded" and whose heart He "hardened," were
men who had deliberately scorned the Light and rejected the testimony of God’s
own Son.
Similarly we read in 2 Thessalonians 2:11, 12, "And for this cause God shall
send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all
might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness". The fulfillment of this scripture is yet future. What
God did unto the Jews of old He is yet going to do unto Christendom. Just as
the Jews of Christ’s day despised His testimony, and in consequence, were
"blinded," so a guilty Christendom which has rejected the Truth
shall yet have sent them from God a "strong delusion" that they
may believe a lie.
Is God really governing
the world? Is He exercising rule over the human family? What is the modus
operandi of His governmental administration over mankind? To what extent
and by what means does He control the sons of men? How does God
exercise an influence upon the wicked, seeing their hearts are at enmity
against Him? These are some of the questions we have sought to answer from
Scripture in the previous sections of this chapter. Upon His own elect God
exerts a quickening, an energizing, a directing, and a preserving power.
Upon the wicked God exerts a restraining, softening, directing, and
hardening and blinding power, according to the dictates of His own infinite
wisdom and unto the outworking of His own eternal purpose. God’s decrees are being executed. What He has ordained is being accomplished. Man’s
wickedness is bounded. The limits of evil-doing and of evil-doers has
been Divinely defined and cannot be exceeded. Though many are in ignorance
of it, all men, good and bad, are under the jurisdiction of and are
absolutely subject to the administration of the Supreme Sovereign.—"Alleluia:
for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth" (Rev. 19:6)—reigneth over all.
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