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THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD

THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD. THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD. "The foresight and forethought of the infinite God who planned the creation of man and a world in which to place him—. THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD.

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THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD

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  1. THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD

  2. THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD "The foresight and forethought of the infinite God who planned the creation of man and a world in which to place him—

  3. THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD "a world in which He could control the destiny of the inanimate creation and direct man to the consummation of His purpose." (Homer Hailey, Prayer and Providence, p. 123)

  4. THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD "General providence" concerns God’s support, care and supervision of His material creation from beginning to end.

  5. THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD "Special providence" concerns God’s support, care and supervision of His spiritual creation.

  6. THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD God is able to provide for both His material and spiritual creations, without violating either "the laws of nature" or the free will of man.

  7. Providence and Nature Nature exists by the will of God. Nature was ordered by the will of God. Nature is balanced by the will of God. Nature is regulated by the will of God.

  8. Providence and Free Will As the crown of creation, man exists on two planes - physical and spiritual. Man alone, of all physical creatures, was given free will. This means that he may choose his actions and has very few instincts.

  9. Providence and Free Will As a result, man has the ability to obey or disobey commands. Adam, for example, could choose to eat from any of the trees of the garden but was forbidden to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Thus, freedom to sin is not license to sin.

  10. Genesis 2:8 The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.

  11. Genesis 2:9 And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

  12. Genesis 2:16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;

  13. Genesis 2:17 "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

  14. Providence and Free Will Two historical accounts demonstrate God’s ability to use the free choices of human beings to accomplish his will for His people.

  15. Genesis 15:13 Then He said to Abram: "Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years."

  16. Genesis 15:14 "And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.

  17. Genesis 15:15-16 "Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete."

  18. Providence and Free Will God accomplished this through a series of decisions that were made by a number of people who were seemingly unaware of their part in fulfilling God’s promise.

  19. Providence and Free Will 1. Jacob decided to make Joseph a coat of many colors. 2. Joseph decided to tell his dreams to his brothers. 3. Joseph’s brothers decided to move the flock from Shechem to Dothan.

  20. Providence and Free Will 4. They decided to put Joseph into a pit, rather than kill him. 5. Some Ishmaelites decided to pass by on their way to Egypt. 6. The brothers decided they would sell Joseph into slavery.

  21. Providence and Free Will 7. Potiphar decided to purchase Joseph as a slave. 8. Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce Joseph and then decided to frame him. 9. Potiphar decided to put Joseph into prison.

  22. Providence and Free Will 10. The jailer decided to make Joseph a trustee. 11. Pharaoh decided to put his butler and baker into prison. 12. The butler and baker decided to tell Joseph their dreams.

  23. Providence and Free Will 13. Joseph decided to interpret their dreams. 14. Pharaoh decided to mention his dreams to the butler. 15. The butler decided to mention Joseph to Pharaoh.

  24. Providence and Free Will 16. Pharaoh decided to release Joseph. • Joseph decided to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams. 18. Pharaoh decided to appoint Joseph as Secretary of Agriculture.

  25. Providence and Free Will 19. Jacob decided to send Joseph’s brothers to Egypt for food. • Joseph decided to keep things in their proper perspective. • Jacob decided to move his family to Egypt.

  26. Providence and Free Will There is no reason to think God forced them to make the decisions they made. Of course, He could have influenced some or all of those decisions. But the decisions were theirs to make.

  27. Providence and Free Will There was the miraculous element in the form of dreams. But those who were given the dreams decided to discuss those dreams with others.

  28. Providence and Free Will Joseph’s dreams seem to have increased his brothers’ hatred of him. This could have been part of God’s intended purpose in giving Joseph those dreams.

  29. Providence and Free Will Of this series of events, Joseph later said to his older brothers, "But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life." (Genesis 45:5)

  30. Providence and Free Will Of this series of events, Joseph later said to his older brothers, "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive." (Genesis 50:20)

  31. Providence and Free Will This inspired account demonstrates the truth that "all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)

  32. Providence and Free Will Consider, also, the case of Esther.

  33. Providence and Free Will • King Ahasuerus decided to show off his beautiful wife, Queen Vashti. • Queen Vashti refused to be displayed. • Ahasuerus decided to replace her.

  34. Providence and Free Will • Ahasuerus decided to gather many virgins to see whom he would make queen. • Ahasuerus decided to make Esther his queen not knowing she was Jewish. • Mordecai decided to reveal to Esther his discovery of a plot to kill the king.

  35. Providence and Free Will • Esther decided to relate the plot to the king. • Mordecai decided not to bow down to Haman. • Haman decided to ask for permission to destroy all Jews.

  36. Providence and Free Will • Haman decided to build a gallows in his own house on which to hang Mordecai. • After learning that Mordecai had not been rewarded for foiling the assassination plot, the king decided to ask Haman what honor should be paid a great man.

  37. Providence and Free Will • Haman suggested the great man should be paraded in front of the people on the king’s horse. This was done for Mordecai. • Esther decided to petition the king (at risk of death) that her people be given the right to defend themselves.

  38. Providence and Free Will • The king decided to pass a law guaranteeing them that right. • The king decided to hang Haman on the gallows Haman had built for Mordecai.

  39. Providence and Free Will Through this series of free will decisions the Jews were providentially preserved.

  40. Providence and Free Will God gave man the ability to make free will decisions. But He may influence* those decisions in any number of ways. * "to produce an effect without using force."

  41. Providence and Free Will This should not be difficult for anyone to grasp, since God has all nature at His disposal.

  42. Providence and Free Will Remember, nature exists by His will, was ordered by His will and is both balanced and regulated by His will.

  43. Providence and Free Will The respective dreams of Joseph, the butler, the baker and Pharaoh, which proved to be prophetic, were surely not coincidental.

  44. Providence and Free Will They certainly could have been caused by God in order to influence the free will decisions of Joseph and others.

  45. Providence and Free Will God could have produced more rain at Dothan than at Shechem so the grazing lands of Dothan would be more lush. This would influence the decision of Joseph’s brothers to move the flock.

  46. Providence and Free Will God could as easily have influenced the decisions of Potiphar, Potiphar’s wife and the jailer. "There is nothing too hard" for God (Jer. 32:17).

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