Sermon Tone Analysis

Genesis 11:10-32

Looking at the current news, one is left wondering what God is doing in the world.

Earlier this week there was a major earthquake in Turkey and 20K have lost their lives.

This is actually the part of the world where the ark that kept Noah and his family safe had come to rest (just a little farther to the east) and they proceeded SE to settle in the Mesopotamian valley where they began to construct the tower of Babel under the ungodly leadership of Nimrod.

We wonder what God is doing?

We see other natural disasters—the south is already experiencing deadly tornados.

Under the curse, nature acts violently toward humanity, often without warning.

Alongside the convulsions of the natural realm, there are disasters that are man-made—like war.

The war b/t Russia and Ukraine is quickly amplifying with Russia “massing 1,800 tanks, 700 aircraft & 500k men for new Ukraine assault in 10 DAYS” (according to newspapers).

We ask what is God doing in the world?

There are violent crimes committed against other people, mass shootings and the like.

Add to this the increasing perversions of the created order and it is apparent that the world under the direction of “the god of this world” (Satan) is attacking righteousness fiercely—demonstrating the reality of spiritual warfare that every believer is engaged in—What is God doing in the world?

As I was growing up, I didn’t pay much attention to the condition of the world…but I distinctly remembering my mother saying on a number of occasions “the Lord may not return in my lifetime but He might in yours.”

Now, as I’ve grown I’m much more aware of the progression of evil and the fulfillment of what Paul said:

Just before that Paul wrote:

It is not difficult at all to imagine that JC could come back at any moment—and we come to this conclusion b/c of the condition of the world today—so we pray Maranatha (O Lord Come!) and with John

Well, what we see God doing in the world in light of imminent coming of LJC, is identical to what God was doing in the world prior to the 1st coming of the Messiah.

In Genesis, we see the hand of God at work 1000s of years ahead of the birth of JC—during those years, God is working to accomplish all His good pleasure (Is 46:10).

We see Him governing His creation, directing the affairs of the world—bringing everything to His intended purpose for that creation.

The Providence of God

Theologians refer to this as “the providence of God.” Now, providence is not a word you find in your English translations (like Trinity, biblical, discipleship, exposition).

But providence is the word that describes God’s continued relationship with His creation.

The word comes from the Latin pro-vide (spelled just like “provide”) and literally means “to see forward”, “to foresee” or “to see toward.”

We have an expression in English that helps us understand this “to see to it.”

To see to something is to make sure it happens.

This is what we mean we applying providence to God—He sees to it that everything happens according to His purpose.

He says “I will pro-vide (provide).”

Very simple definition: Divine providence is God’s preserving his creation, operating in every event in the world, and directing the things in the universe to his appointed end for them.

All 3 parts of this definition are crucial to understanding God’s on-going relationship to His creation.

Just a footnote: Providence is different from Sovereignty.

Sovereignty expresses God’s inherent right and power to do all that He decides to do (Job 42:2).

This doesn’t explain why God does all that He decides to do—only expresses the right and power.

Providence includes what sovereignty doesn’t—namely, the wise and purposeful activity of God.

Providence would incorporate the truths of wisdom, justice, righteousness and grace.

John Frame The Doctrine of God discusses the scope of Divine Providence by stating “we should remember that God controls all things: inanimate creatures, the detailed course of nature, events of history, human lives, free human decisions, and even human sins.”

Frame, J. M. (2002).

The doctrine of God (p.

275).

P&R Publishing.

It is that last part “free human decisions, and even human sins” that has troubled most people concerning providence.

No one has a problem with God’s preservation of all that He has created.

God preserves all things...as long as he wills them to exist.

God preserves what he created.

We can affirm this—heartily.

It is the idea that God operates in every event of the world to bring about His intended purpose that has some people up in arms.

Ephesians 1:11 (NASB95)

11 [God] works all things after the counsel of His will,

Wayne Grudem Systematic Theology “no event in creation falls outside of His providence.”

And He includes inanimate creation, animals, seemingly random events, the affairs of nations, all aspects of our lives.

The Bible is full of examples of this:

Genesis 45:5–8 (NASB95) It was God not his brothers that sent Joseph to Egypt

5 “Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.

6 “For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.

7 “God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.

8 “Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

Joshua 11:6 (NASB95) God promised to deliver the enemies of Israel but they still had to attack and the Lord gave the victory

6 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow at this time I will deliver all of them slain before Israel; you shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.”

Ezra 6:22 (NASB95) Lord turned the heart of the king of Assyria to help the people in building the temple

22 And they observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the Lord had caused them to rejoice, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them to encourage them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

2 Samuel 16:11 (NASB95) God has ordered evil acts, such as when he moved Shimei to curse David

11 Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, my son who came out from me seeks my life; how much more now this Benjamite?

Let him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has told him.

Isaiah 10:5 (NASB95) He used Assyria to chastise his people

5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hands is My indignation,

1 Kings 22:23 (NASB95) He “put” a lying spirit in the mouths of Ahab’s prophets

23 “Now therefore, behold, the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and the Lord has proclaimed disaster against you.”

This speaks of Divine “concurrence”, God’s cooperation with created things, causing them (whether acting directly or ordaining them through secondary causes), through their properties, to act.

But note: this does not implicate Him in sin—for God cannot sin and He Himself does not do evil.

He is not responsible for the sin of men.

Men sin according to God’s predetermination in his decree but by secondary causes, so God does not directly and effectively cause the acts of sin

So God is truly in control—He directs the actions of 2nd causes (created things) to His intended end…but not so as to violate or coerce the human will.

Louis Berkhof “This divine activity accompanies the action of man at every point, but without robbing man in any way of his freedom.

The action remains the free act of man, an act for which he is held responsible.”

An example of this would be Judas Iscariot…prophesied that he would betray the Messiah for 30 pieces of silver (Zech 11:12).

That was going to happen, but Judas was not forced to take the payment for betrayal but willingly choose to take it according to the predetermined plan of God.

Judas was therefore held accountable for his own actions b/c he was completely free in regards to his actions.

I know this is a lot to chew on.

In 1563, a professor of theology at Heidelberg university (Germany) developed a catechism for instructing the youth and guiding pastors and teachers.

It contained 129 questions divided into 3 parts.

Question 27:

Question: What do you understand by the providence of God?

Answer: The almighty, everywhere present power of God, whereby, as it were, by his hand, he still upholds heaven and earth with all creatures and so governs them that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, indeed, all things come not by chance, but by his fatherly hand.

That really is the key to understanding providence: all things come…by his fatherly hand.

That intimates the character of God expressed in

Divine providence is God’s preserving his creation, operating in every event in the world, and directing the things in the universe to his appointed end for them.

This should be greatly encouraging to you today.

God has every detail of your life under His providential care and sovereign control.

God has ordered the day of your birth into this world.

He has ordered the day of your departure, the means of that departure…so Jesus:

God has determined who your parents would be—for some you were born into Xn families who loved Christ.

For others, you were3 brought up by godless parents and didn’t come to know the Lord until later in life.

All of this has been part of the providential purpose of God—under His almighty control—not 1 thing is left to chance.

We see this in Gen 11.

We see providence in the unfolding story of redemptive history.

We see it in vv 10-32 (the link b/t Noah and Abram).

We see it later on in the Messianic line—ultimately fulfilled in LJC.

Even the Lord’s family tree has knots on it—Abram is born into a polytheistic family of moon worshipers.

But this is the roadmap by which God would bring Messiah into the world and thru which the King of glory would descend from heaven into the world, taking the form of a bondservant (Phil 2).

It actually began:

Gen 3—born of the seed of a woman

Gen 16—born of the seen of Abraham