God oversees and preserves his creation, particularly you and me.

Let’s begin.

I.. God’s Providence

A.. Doctrine of creation

This biblical truth is closely connected to God’s creation. We have alluded to it in the post on creation, when we looked into God’s care for it, particularly humankind. Now we can go into more detail.

B.. Definitions

Williams:

Providence may be defined as the overseeing and guardianship of God for His creation. […] God’s constant care and guardianship in a multiplicity of ways stands at the heart of the doctrine of providence. […] He did not create a world and then leave it alone (p. 117).

C.. Preservation

God sustains, maintains and upholds his creation. If God did not sustain and uphold his creation, it would dissolve into chaos, so he holds everything up in their being, so it does not dissolve. It is true that things change and everything in creation is flux. For example, stars are born, they live and eventually die, and the same goes for plants and animals and humans. But sustains even those changes because he instilled in them the process of change. They are following their nature.

Speaking of the Son, Paul writes: “In him all things hold together” (Col. 1:17). Also speaking of the Son, the author of Hebrews writes: “sustaining all things by his powerful word” (Heb. 1:3). And to quote the phrase again from Nehemiah 9:6: “You give life to everything,” which means they could not exist without his sustaining life. “You care for the land and water in it” (Ps. 65:9).

God also sustains humans, too. “Lord you preserve both people and animals” (Ps. 36:6).

“He has preserved our lives” (Ps. 66:9). “If it were his intention and he withdrew his spirit and breath, ¹⁵ all humanity would perish together, and mankind would return to dust” (Job. 34:14-15).

He also preserves humanity and animals by offering them food and water. Genesis 1:30 says that God gave breath to living creatures and green plants for food. God gave to Adam all the trees for food (Gen. 2:9). “The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it” (Ps. 65:9).

¹⁵ The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food at the proper time.
¹⁶ You open your hand
and satisfy the desires of every living thing. (Ps. 145:15-16)

Jesus teaches us:

[…] your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matt. 5:45b)

Paul proclaims the same idea about nature:

¹⁷ Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” (Acts 14:17)

God gives rain and provides us with plenty of food. Man has to plow the field and hope for rain. God and man cooperate.

Matthew 6:25-34 says that Jesus told his disciples not to worry about their life and what they will eat or drink; and not to worry about the body and what to wear. Life is more than food and clothing. He provides for the birds of the air, yet they do not reap grain or store away their food in barns, yet God provides for them. Even more so, God will provide for the disciples.

³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matt. 6:33-34).

Let’s reflect. God is good, and he wants to meet the needs of his people and all people, even those who do not serve him. Without him, we would all perish, just like Job 34:14-15 says. But it is not his intention to withdraw his sustaining power, thankfully. He cares for his creation, particularly humankind, the highest of all physical creation.

In John 17:15 Jesus prays that the disciples would be preserved from the evil one. This looks very much like Matthew 6:13, where Jesus tells us to pray that God would not lead them into temptation but deliver them from evil or the evil one. And 2 Thessalonians 3:3 also promises that God will protect people from the evil one or evil.

D. Meticulous Sovereignty or Providential Sovereignty?

Jesus said God causes the sun to shine and sends the rain. Paul said God gives us rain and crops in their season and provides plenty of food. How literally should we take those verbs?

In God seeming to directly do those things, it is better to interpret those verbs in the semitic way, namely, what God is said to cause, he actually allows. So I don’t believe in omnicausality. Recall that omni– means all, and cause means to prompt, produce, or give rise to something (in this case weather). This doctrine is also called meticulous sovereignty, which teaches that even a molecule is not out of place. God orders everything in nature, even human nature, but that is another topic.

In reply, however, the Scripture does not teach that God micromanages every single molecule or atom or raindrop; he does not perform omnicausality or meticulous sovereignty, in his providence. Instead, Genesis 1 and Psalm 148:5-6 imply that God spoke the universe into existence and built into it certain parameters. This theology is called providential or general sovereignty. It is a fair deduction that nature operates by secondary causes, and his Son sustains it (Heb. 1:3), as it moves forward through time until new creation (Rev. 21-22). Within those parameters, the cosmos (all the universe) has latitude to maneuver on her own. Nature does her thing, even when she is destructive. God does not directly cause destruction.

Does God Cause Natural Disasters to Punish People Today?

So no to meticulous sovereignty and omnicausality and yes to providential or general sovereignty.

II. Active Presence of God in Creation

A. Brief intro.

This active presence is particularly beneficial for people.

B. Early chapter in Genesis

Let’s begin at the beginning. God was close and intimate with the first human when God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (2:7). Like a craftsman or potter, he worked with his creation, to shape and mold it to provide for humankind (1:2-3:6). God walked in the garden, s humankind could enjoy his presence (3:8). He gave the human the capacity to name the animals of the ancient Near East and then took a suitable help from his side (2:8-25). When mankind and womankind sinned God still provided for them and did not forsake them (3:21). Even gave birth to Cain with the help of the Lord (Gen. 4:1). After Cain murdered his brother Abel, God even protected Cain with a mark, so no one would kill him (4:5). Cain fled away from the presence of the Lord, but he was still under God’s providential care, for he had children (4:13-17).

C. Noah

In the story about Noah God was with humanity. God’s Spirit was about to be withdrawn just before the flood, but this only shows that God’s Spirit was there with people, until their rebellion was too great (Gen. 6:3). But after eliminating the world of humanity, God taught the survivors how to live righteously and to eat.

D. Patriarchs

In the long narratives about the patriarchs, God called Abram to be a blessing to the world, and Galatians 3 teaches us that this blessing is ultimately found in the Ultimate Descendant of Abraham: the Messiah, the Son of God. Only he launched the gospel of the kingdom, and only he sends his Spirit into all those who put their total trust and faith in him, surrender to his Lordship and are born again.

E. Even in sheol

But God also offers his presence when they are in sheol (the place of the dead in the OT).

⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. (Ps. 139:7-8)

And when God’s people are going through tough times he will be with them:

² When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze. (Is. 43:2)

Both of those passages promise God’s active presence among mere humans.

F. New Testament

Moving briefly to the New Testament, let’s focus on God’s highest creation, humans, and specifically the church. Jesus’s name was Immanuel, which means “God with us” (Matt. 1:23). He promised his New Covenant people that he would be with them, even to the end of the age (Matt. 28:20), so we have two great book ends to Matthew’s Gospel promising God being with them. (These bookends are called an inclusio).

The verses are numerous about God’s presence in his church. The Holy Spirit lives in each born-again believer.

Here is one sample, in the context of church discipline:

For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them. (Matt. 18:20)

I believe the truth of the verse can be expanded to include any small gathering of believers for any reason other than discipline. It’s a great promise.

III. God’s Active Presence with Unbelievers

A. Brief intro.

But God’s presence with his people does not mean that God has ceased to be with those who do not (yet) know him. Here is a short list of examples:

B.. Old Testament

1. Melchizedek

He was priest of the Most High God (Gen. 14:17-24). He may be an exception to being an unbeliever. He was a believer.

2. Pharaoh

God spoke to Pharaoh in a dream to rescue pagan Egyptians: “Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, […] ‘God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do'” (Gen. 41:25).

3. Balaam

God revealed himself to Balaam (Num. 24).

4. Rahab

Rahab the prostitute had faith (Josh 2:1-11; Heb. 11:31).

5. The Ninevites

Jonah preached to Nineveh, and they repented in sackcloth and ashes. After he left, did some of them experience lasting salvation, even though they were not part of the covenantal chosen people (Jonah 3-4)? Jonah preached in the early to mid 700’s and Nineveh was sacked in 612 B.C., but maybe at the time of Jonah some experienced a level of salvation.

6. King Hiram

King Hiram acknowledged God (2 Chron. 2:11-12).

7. General Naaman of Aram

Naaman acknowledged God (2 Kings 5:15).

8. Ruth the Moabite

She accepted her new life in Israel, even though a Moabite could not enter the assembly of the Lord to the tenth generation (Deut. 23:3); she was an ancestor of David and Jesus.

9. Neco, king of Egypt

God spoke through Neco, king of Egypt (2 Chron. 35:20-24).

10. Egypt “my people”

After God through Isaiah prophesied judgment on Egypt, he promised that Egypt would be God’s people, and so would Assyria (Is. 19:19-25). Egypt is called “my people.”

11. Nebuchadnezzar

Nebuchadnezzar spoke words of faith (Dan. 2:46-47, 3:28, 4:34-37, 6:25-27).

12. Cyrus

The Lord moved on the heart of Cyrus, the Persian king, to allow the temple to be rebuilt (Ezra 1:1; Is. 45:1).

B. New Testament

1..Canaanite woman

As Jesus was currently ushering in the kingdom of God: A pagan Canaanite woman sought him and had great faith (Matt. 15:21-28). Admittedly, she may have had this faith because she had observed Jesus in action or had heard of him before she approached him.

2. We are his offspring

Paul proclaims that humankind exists by the breath of God to the council of Athens::

²⁷ God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ²⁸ ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring. (Acts 17:27-28)

3. God’s creation provides

God causes the sun to rise and rain on the just and unjust (Matt. 5:45).

4. Patience and forbearance

God shows kindness and forbearance to unrepentant people, so that they could come to repent (Rom. 2:2:4)

C. Summary

Those passages indicate that God spoke through and to these pagans; they had a certain kind of faith and knowledge of God, and he approved of them. It seems God overlooked some things and his judgment was not as severe, as they walked in the light that moral law offered them.

I believe these are just samples of what he actually did, outside of recorded history. We will never know, nor can we deny for sure whether God revealed himself in the same way around the globe, just because he loves people.

IV. Manifest Presence in Creation

A.. Brief intro.

God is immanent in his creation and is everywhere or omnipresent. But he also chooses to powerfully and often tangibly manifest his presence in particularly places and at special times.

B.. Scriptural examples

Jacob had a dream, and the text goes on to say: “When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, […] ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it’” (Gen. 28:16).

When Moses spoke with God, the prophet’s face was so radiant that he had to put a veil over his face.

³³ When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. ³⁴ But whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, ³⁵ they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord. (Exod. 34:33-35)

Paul says we have a more permanent glory on us, which does not fade (2 Cor. 3:7-18)

At the dedication of the tabernacle, the glory of the Lord came down in its manifest presence.

 ³⁴ Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. ³⁵ Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. (Exod. 40:34-35)

At Solomon’s dedication of the temple, the priests were unable to carry out their duties because of the manifest presence of God.

¹⁰ When the priests left the holy place, the cloud filled the Lord’s temple, ¹¹ and the priests were unable to carry out their duties due to the cloud because the Lord’s glory filled the Lord’s temple.  (1 Kings 8:10-11)

Jesus and the three disciples, Peter, James, and John, experienced the glory of God on the Mt. of Transfiguration, in a bright cloud, which speaks of God’s manifest presence and glory.

⁵ While he was still speaking, look, a bright cloud overshadowed them. A voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son whom I dearly love. I am very pleased with him. Listen to him!” ⁶ Hearing this, the disciples fell on their faces, filled with awe. (Matt. 17:5-6)

            Jesus experienced the power of the Lord at a time of healing.

¹⁷ One day when Jesus was teaching, Pharisees and legal experts were sitting nearby. They had come from every village in Galilee and Judea, and from Jerusalem. Now the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal. (Luke 5:17)

We can be sure that the power of the Lord was present at other times.

The one hundred and twenty experienced the powerful wind of God and flames of fire were appeared above their heads.

² Suddenly a sound from heaven like the howling of a fierce wind filled the entire house where they were sitting. ³ They saw what seemed to be individual flames of fire alighting on each one of them. ⁴ They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them to speak. (Acts 2:2-4)

Finally, the whole place where the apostles and early church met was shaken by an earthquake, and everyone was filled with the Holy Spirit again, to be empowered for ministry: “After they prayed, the place where they were gathered was shaken. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking God’s word with confidence” (Acts 4:31).

C. Summary

Yes, God’s presence is everywhere, but he also chooses to manifest his presence so powerfully that people react bodily. This represents his providential care over his creation and his highest creation–you and me.

V. Application

A. God honors seekers around the globe.

Second Chronicles 9:16 says: “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” Surely the implication is that he found some who were committed to him after a fashion. It does not seem the eyes of the Lord found no one.

B. God spoke to pagans.

Those passages indicate that God spoke through and to these pagans; they had a certain kind of faith and knowledge of God, and he approved of them. It seems God overlooked some things and his judgment was not as severe, as they walked in the light that moral law offered them. These are just samples of what he actually did, outside of recorded history. We will never know, nor can we deny for sure whether God revealed himself in the same way around the globe, just because he loves people.

And so God’s active presence does not forsake his creation but is involved in it, particularly his highest earth-bound creation: humankind.

Moving briefly to the New Testament, Jesus’s name was Immanuel, which means “God with us” (Matt. 1:23). He promised his New Covenant people that he would be with them, even to the end of the age (Matt. 28:20), so we have two great book ends to Matthew’s Gospel promising God being with them. (These bookends are called an inclusio).

C. Moral law

He gave humanity moral law. Some people followed it and can be called righteous, and other people did not follow it and can be called wicked. Clearly the righteous are judged by a different set of standards than the wicked. This is general or universal revelation.

Living far away from the gospel of Christ or before his gospel came, some people lived exemplary moral lives. How did they know to do this? Moral law is a gift of God. Many of these people followed it as closely as humans could. There is a strong probability that God will judge them by good or bad works as they walked in the light of the moral law that he gave them.

However, moral law can be malleable and often unclear, open to a variety of interpretations, so ultimately we need the Scriptures and the life of Christ. This is special revelation. So be warned about depending too heavily on general revelation and not enough on special revelation.

But no one can deny that God communicated with these pagans.

But I cannot claim that these communications from God were enough to save the recipients, but the revelations may lessen the sentencing phase of final judgment, when they obeyed God.

D. Questions about judgment

It is natural that the question of final judgment will come up.

Let’s look at the clearest teaching of all about God’s judgment before the law of Moses was sent down from heaven. This is relevant because the people listed above lived outside Israel, where revelations were the clearest.

In Gen. 18:23-25, Abraham asks God, before the law of Moses, about punishing righteous and wicked people together, as if God would get them mixed up.

Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen. 18:23-25, emphasis added)

Yes, God will judge righteously in answer to the question in v. 25. So whatever happens to the righteous and wicked before or outside the law of Moses was thundered from on high at Mt. Sinai, God will not be confused. Everyone who is outside of Christ and biblical revelation will face the great white throne judgment (Rev. 20:11-15). Whatever happens to them, he is perfectly loving and perfectly just, so he will judge them with perfect justice and perfect love.

We can trust him in that.

E.. God’s providential care for his creation

God has not created the heavens and the earth and left it behind. He cares for and is involved in it. He particularly cares for people—you and me. Let’s realize this when we go through tough times.

F.. The universe is heading in a clear direction.

Everything will be summed up in Christ and in the church. We need to be in him and in his Body, his church, so can share in the final glory. If not, we will be forever separated from him and his eternal kingdom, living with our unredeemed memories, good or bad.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

I depend on J. Rodman Williams, Renewal Theology, vol. 1, chapter 6.

Works Cited