GOD'S TINKERING WITH MEN

GOD’S TINKERING WITH MEN

Psalms 148:8 Fire, and hail; snow, and vapours; stormy wind fulfilling his word.

Jer. 51:16 When he utters his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth: he makes lightning’s with rain, and brings forth the wind out of his treasures.

As we view our world now we see more and more national and international disasters happening. As our nation has thrown God out of the equation, He gets little or no credit for His attempt to get our attention. In the end He predicted that would be our state of mind. Matt. 24:4  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. (They know He said He was coming again.)

6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All providential, secondary things going on so no credit to God is given.

The Divine Control in the Universal Kingdom Is Generally Providential in its exercise.

        By the term "providential" we mean control by means of second causes; for example, the accomplishment of God's purpose at the Red Sea by using a "strong east wind" to sweep aside the waters from the path of Israel (Exod. 14:21). Such a providential method of control applies especially to the operation of the Universal Kingdom with reference to the earth. Because God is in the operations of what men are pleased to call "natural law," He is able to "tip the scales" of nature in ways indiscernible to the eyes of men. For a long time scientists were greatly intrigued with what they called the reign of law in a "closed system" of nature, excluding the possibility of any "divine tinkering" with the system on the part of a sovereign God.

        Today they are not so sure. To the Bible writers, of course, there is no problem. Since God not only created the system of nature but also sustains the operation of its so-called laws, there can be no question about His ability to manipulate the system from within as well as from without. It is fairly well recognized today by some reputable scientists that, in the system of nature, there is room for unlawful events without interfering seriously with the statistical averages which we call "laws." Some investigators, hoping to keep as far as possible from the realm of theology, have named the "out-law" variant a "cheater'." Having no compunctions of this kind, the Bible writers may at times attribute to God directly what happens in the world of nature. Where men would normally say, "It thundered," the psalmist does not hesitate to say, "The God of glory thundereth" (Ps. 29:3).

        Because in His Universal Kingdom God controls the processes of material nature, He is able by such means to control the circumstances of human existence and thereby direct the stream of history. There are many instances of such divine control. In some cases we are not told what the circumstances were or just how they were divinely used, but are only brought immediately into the presence of the accomplished fact. Thus the Assyrian monarch is spoken of as a "rod" in the hand of Jehovah to be used in the infliction of divine judgment upon Jerusalem, though the king knows nothing about God's purpose and certainly has no intention of serving Him. So complete is God's control in the situation that Isaiah multiplies terms of divine irony to describe it: The Assyrian is not only a mere "rod"; he is also a "staff " an "axe," and a "saw"; all wielded by the hand of a King who is greater than he (Isa. 10:5-15). Likewise, the king of Babylon is God's chosen "servant" for the accomplishment of His will against the people of Jerusalem (Jer. 25:9). Furthermore, in the long sequence of the rise and fall of world empires, it is Jehovah who raises up and prepares the "kings of the Medes" for the destruction of Babylon (Jer. 51:11, 28-37). And again, long before his birth, the great Cyrus is named prophetically and "anointed" by Jehovah to fulfill His purpose in rebuilding the temple (Isa. 44:28-45:4).

        In other Biblical events the veil of providential control is drawn aside and the determining circumstance is openly declared. The Book of Esther dramatically records such an event in the days when the nation of Israel stood in mortal danger of its very existence. Serving in the palace of Ahasuerus, the Persian king, there was a Jew named Mordecai through whom two important happenings were brought to pass: first, he had counseled his cousin Esther in her conduct leading to her selection by the king as his queen; and second, he had saved the king's life by exposing a plot to kill him (Esther 2:5-23).

        But there is a villain in the palace, Haman by name, who hated Mordecai because of the latter's stiff-necked refusal to bow before him. And so there was hatched a scheme to destroy not only Mordecai but also the total nation of the Jews throughout the entire Persian kingdom. The decree of destruction had been signed by Ahasuerus, the date had been set, and copies had been sent to all parts of the empire, the king not knowing that his queen was a member of the people thus callously doomed to death. Haman, well satisfied that the thing was as good as done, sat down with the king to "drink" to the success of his nefarious purpose (Esth. 3).

        For those who have eyes to see, it was one of the most critical points in all human history. At stake in a very real sense was the entire divine program for the ages. If Israel perished, there would be no Messiah, no redemption, no Church no future Kingdom of God among men. With such issues in jeopardy, we might not have been too much surprised to see the arm of Deity breaking forth into the affairs of men with some great supernatural intervention; perhaps something like the deliverance of Israel from the hand of the Egyptian Pharaoh. But nothing of the kind happens. There is not even any mention of God. The writer of the Book of Esther merely records what might be regarded as the master understatement of all time: "On that night could not the king sleep" (Esth. 6:1). Strange, why he could not sleep, we are not told; but more likely from a troubled indigestion than a troubled conscience. At any rate, turning to the ancient and well-known remedy, the king called for something to read; in this case the "records of the chronicles" of his kingdom; probably dry enough in spots (like our own Congressional Record) to induce the sleep he could not imperiously command. And in the course of the reading, the attendants came to the record of Mordecai's good deed in uncovering the plot against the king's life. The remarkable sequel may be read in the Book of Esther: as the outcome of this fit of regal insomnia, and also the chance opening of the "chronicles" at exactly the right place, the nation of Israel is rescued from extermination and the world was saved from all the irreparable losses which such a disaster would have entailed (Esth. 8).

        It may be true, as Cicero once observed, that "kings do not trouble themselves with insignificant affairs"; which is one reason for the oft failure of their purposes and plans. It is otherwise in the Universal Kingdom of God, where things too small to merit human attention may be used to change the course of history. In fact, "God must care for the least, or He cannot care for the greatest." Thus He does concern Himself with small affairs, because the fall of a rain-drop or the sleeplessness of a king may, under God, have momentous consequences. As the Book of Proverbs reminds us, "The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD" (Prov. 16:33).

        It would be hard to think of a simpler event than the fall of a coin that has been carelessly tossed in the air. The outcome can be only one of two clean-cut possibilities. Yet the material factors that contribute to the end-result of such an event are complicated beyond the understanding of the wisest men. And in this complex of causation we as Christians must never forget the unseen "finger of God" whose touch always brings the final decision in the affairs of the universe. This is the providential factor, for the most part overlooked or ignored by men, which confounds at last all the Hamans and the Hitlers and wrecks their well-laid schemes. As the prophet Isaiah put the matter, it is the LORD who "frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish; that confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited" (Isa. 44:25-26).

God is never out of the picture regardless of what men might think in the bringing of this universal kingdom to the Kingdom of God.