DIVINE INTERVENTION: TRUSTING GOD'S PROVIDENCE

Introduction

-{Matthew 2}

-There is a story about a young man named David who fell away from God and the church at a younger age, and he was finding that his life seemed so purposeless and directionless. One day, while rummaging through a box in a closet looking for something, he stumbled upon an old photo of his grandfather. David’s grandfather was a pastor who had dedicated his life to serving God, seeing many live changed through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Seeing this old photo inspired David to revisit the faith he once had, so he started attending church again.

~The more David attended church, the more he rededicated his life to Christ. And in the midst of rebuilding his faith, God also helped David find the purpose and direction he had always been looking for. David felt the call to ministry, and he ended up becoming a pastor just like his grandfather, continuing a legacy of gospel ministry that touched and changed many lives for a new generation. God’s redemptive work would continue through David unto others. And it all happened with God providentially moving David through an old photo.

-That is the thing about God’s providence, you don’t always see God working out in the open, and you don’t always know where things are headed, but God is moving us and the things around us and the people around us to get us where we need to be to fulfill the plan He always had for us. And even in times of pain and great sorrow, God is still at work.

-The idea behind the theological concept of God’s providence is that God purposefully provides for, sustains, and governs the world. God works things toward a purpose—His purpose. As the Westminster Larger Catechism describes it:

God’s works of providence are his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing of all His creatures; ordering them, and all their actions, to his own glory.

-There is no greater purpose or motivation for anything than God’s glory. And since we human beings are always wondering WHAT’S IN IT FOR US, God’s glory ends up being our greatest good. But it’s not always an easy path. And yet even in the most difficult of circumstances, God’s providence is working toward purpose. And even if we think that somehow we are too insignificant to be of any use, God uses the least of us to fulfill His great will.

-The passage that we are looking at today gives a wonderful demonstration of God’s providence in the early earthly life of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. What we find in our passage is that God will providentially work in our lives to move His redemptive plan forward. Yes, we all are part of His redemptive plan—not just our own redemption, but the redemption of much more. What I want to accomplish through this message is to lead us to trust God’s providence even when we cannot see Him at work or see the outcome that He is directing us toward.

-To give you the context of the passage, Mary gave birth to the Christ child in Bethlehem. God providentially placed a star in the sky that somehow indicated to magi in the East that the King of Israel had been born. They made their way to Bethlehem where they found the now roughly year-and-a-half old child in a house with Mary and Joseph. They gave their gifts and worshipped the Child, and made their way back home. And this is where we pick up the story.

Matthew 2:13–23 LSB

13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.” 14 So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and departed for Egypt. 15 And he remained there until the death of Herod, in order that what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” 16 Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had carefully determined from the magi. 17 Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying, 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, Weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; And she was refusing to be comforted, Because they were no more.” 19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, 20 “Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.” 21 So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being warned by God in a dream, he departed for the district of Galilee, 23 and came and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken through the prophets would be fulfilled: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

-{pray}

-In this passage we get to see behind the scenes how God moved things toward a purpose—saving the Child who would be our Savior. God used dreams. God used circumstances. God was at work. And whatever your flavor of Christian theology might be on the Reformed and Arminian scale, you rightly believe that God is providential.

-Now, providence is different from fatalism. We don’t believe that things are left to purposeless fate. What’s the difference? Let me read an extended passage from a sermon by Charles Spurgeon. Spurgeon said:

I believe that every particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or less than God wishes,—that every particle of spray that dashes against the steamboat has its orbit as well as the sun in the heavens,—that the chaff from the hand of the winnower is steered as surely as the stars in their courses,—that the creeping of an aphid over a rosebud is as much fixed as the march of the devastating pestilence, and the fall of ... leaves from the poplar is as fully ordained as the tumbling of an avalanche.

You will say, this morning, “Our minister is a fatalist.” Your minister is no such thing. Some will say, “Ah! he believes in fate.” He does not believe in fate at all. What is fate? Fate is this, Whatever is, must be. But there is a difference between that and Providence. Providence says, Whatever God ordains, must be; but the wisdom of God never ordains anything without a purpose. Everything in this world is working for some one great end. Fate does not say that. Fate simply says that the thing must be; Providence says that God moves the wheels along, and there they are.

If anything would go wrong, God puts it right; and if there is anything that would move awry, he puts forth his hand, and alters it. It comes to the same thing; but there is a difference as to the object. There is all the difference between fate and Providence that there is between a man with good eyes and a blind man. Fate is a blind thing; it is the avalanche crushing the villages down below the mountain and destroying thousands of lives. Providence is not an avalanche; it is a rolling river, rippling at the first like a rill down the sides of the mountain, followed by minor streams, till it rolls in the broad ocean of everlasting love, working for the good of the human race. The doctrine of Providence is not that what is, must be; but that, what is, works together for the good of our race, and especially for the good of the chosen people of God. The wheels were full of eyes; they were not blind wheels.

-What Spurgeon is driving at is that fate is purposeless blind luck. God’s providence is His working toward a purpose. The overall grand purpose as far as we humans are concerned is His plan of redemption. And that plan of redemption centered on this Child who was born over 2000 years ago in Bethlehem. But there were forces already at work at that young age that desired to cut His life short before He fulfilled His purpose. Yet in God’s providence, God was not going to allow that to happen. So, we see God at work. And His work of providence here gives us some food for thought about His providence in our lives as well. So, today, our first lesson is we see God’s:

1) Providence to make a path (vv. 13-15)

-The magi from the East first approached King Herod asking where the newborn King could be found because they wanted to worship Him. Herod and all of Jerusalem were startled at such a proclamation. Could the long-awaited Messiah have finally arrived? After inquiring of the scribes and religious leaders where the Messiah was to be born, Herod asked the magi to find the Child and report back to him under the guise of wanting to worship Him as well. Of course, Herod meant no such thing.

-After the magi found the child and gave their gifts and worshipped Him, they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod because Herod meant the child harm. So, it says, that they went back home on a different route that did not take them through Jerusalem. This bought Joseph, Mary, and Jesus a little time. But Joseph and Mary were probably unaware of the potential danger to the Child.

-So, God sent an angel to appear in a dream to Joseph. This wasn’t the first time Joseph had such an experience. After finding Mary pregnant and contemplating divorce, God sent an angel in a dream to tell Joseph to wed Mary because this was God at work. And Joseph obeyed.

-Now Joseph has another dream from God telling him to take the Child and Mary to Egypt because they are in mortal danger. There was a decent Jewish population in Egypt at the time, but this was not the path that Joseph would have chosen for his young family. And yet, despite the uncertainty that this involved, Joseph followed the directions that he was given.

-Here’s the thing about God’s providence—at times it sends us on unknown paths. And even though God’s providence includes His provision and protection, there is still an element of cooperation on our part—will we obey the voice of providence? Will we trust the voice of providence? If we choose doubt or disobedience, God in His providence already took that into account, and yet there is an element of responsibility to listen and follow God’s direction.

-Joseph knew he needed to obey God’s direction, and they went and they remained there until Herod died. But through God’s providence and Joseph’s obedience, at Jesus’ return to Israel He fulfilled prophetic words and types and shadows. Matthew, who uses His gospel to demonstrate that Jesus is the Messiah, quotes from the prophet Hosea, saying, “OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON.”

-In its original context, God is talking about the nation of Israel (metaphorically God’s adopted son) saving them from the Egyptians, leading them to Mt. Sinai where He established a covenant with them. But now, God’s only-begotten Son by nature, will be brought out of Egypt just as Israel was, but He will establish a new covenant that will be for all people who would believe in God’s redemptive work.

-Jesus was fulfilling what the Exodus foretold, God’s ultimate plan of redemption through Jesus’ death and resurrection. And it was by God’s providence leading Joseph in this direction that allowed for this fulfillment. And God in His providence might lead us in (what appears to us) to be an uncertain direction, and yet in His providence he will fulfill our part of the plan for His purposes. We merely obey and follow His direction. Then we find a second lesson when we look at God’s:

2) Providence amid the pain (vv. 16-18)

-At some point King Herod realizes that the magi aren’t coming back. So, he has no way of pinpointing which of the children of Bethlehem this King could be. Fearing a rival to his throne, Herod plots an unimaginable evil. In his conversations with the magi he could guesstimate how old this Child would be, and if he couldn’t kill the one Child who was a threat, he would kill them all and hope the real King would be amongst their number. That is how power-hungry and paranoid Herod was.

-He sends his henchmen to Bethlehem who kill all the male children two years and under. Scholars estimate the population of Bethlehem to be about 400-500 people, and then estimate that maybe 20 or so children were murdered by that madman. No other historical account of this event was given by Jewish or Roman historians, but it might be because Herod committed so many atrocities that it was impossible to list them all.

-To understand how vile this man was, when he was close to death, Herod made arrangements for the prominent Jewish leaders and distinguished men to be rounded up in an arena. His instructions were that once he died all these people in the arena were to be slaughtered. He was afraid that no one would mourn his death, so he wanted to ensure that there would be real mourning in the land of Israel. So, these people were gathered in the arena, but thankfully the plan was not carried out. But that gives you a peek into how wicked this man was. So, the killing of innocent children to ensure he remains in power was definitely within his character.

-Matthew, again pointing to the Old Testament to demonstrate its fulfillment, quotes from Jeremiah about the weeping and mourning that would come to the land. In its original context, Jeremiah was talking about the death that would ensue from the Babylonian captivity. But here, looking at Rachel as the mother of the nation, Matthew indicates how just as in the days of Jeremiah, here the nation would mourn greatly for the loss of life.

-So, in one sense this part of the passage again reminds us that in God’s providence the Messiah was spared, and His redemptive plan remained intact despite the presence of evil. And yet, there is something that we need to wrestle with here. If God’s providence encompasses everything that happens, that at minimum means that God allows evil things to happen. God, in His providence, allowed the murder of these children and the grief of the parents and nation. God, in His providence, allows the things that happen to us and happen around us. How do we reconcile this?

-We have to walk carefully because we are not eternal like God is. We don’t see the big picture like He does. We don’t know the end from the beginning as He does. This is a mystery that Christians have wrestled with since the birth of the church. So, while there are many things we don’t understand, there are some things that we do.

-First, there is no evil in God. The Bible tells us that God cannot be tempted to do evil and does not tempt others to do evil. So, God does not cause the evil to happen. God is good and our circumstances do not change that or argue against that.

-And second, the world in its cursed state allows for free, evil choices of humanity to occur. God in His providence can actually work around and work through the free choices of man. We see that in the story of Joseph being sold into slavery. We see that in the story of Jesus—humans killed Jesus on the cross and God used that as the means of salvation for all who believe.

-And so, we reconcile God’s providence with evil remembering what Paul tells us in Romans 8 that nothing separates us from the love of God, and God can use these things for our ultimate good and His plans of redemption. God’s providence in the midst of pain gives us comfort knowing that while we don’t know the answer to why, He does, and He will use our pain for something of eternal value. And then one final and quick lesson as we consider God’s:

3) Providence fulfilling promises (vv. 19-23)

-After Herod died God sent another angel in another dream to Joseph telling Him to leave Egypt and return to the land of Israel because the child is now safe. Joseph planned to return to Bethlehem because they had just started a new life there at the time before they had to uproot to avoid Herod’s wrath. But when they returned they found another threat. After Herod’s death, his territory was split by the Romans amongst three of his sons. Judea and Samaria were placed under the authority of Archelaus. Galilee and Perea were ruled by Antipas. And Philip ruled over the northeast territories.

-Archelaus was known to be just as wicked and vile as his father. He ruled so wickedly that a contingent of prominent people went to Rome to complain, and he was exiled. Judea and Samaria were then placed under the governance of Roman procurators. Then, again in a dream, Joseph is warned to avoid Judea for the safety of the child. So, Joseph took the family to the territory of Galilee where Antipas was known to be a competent ruler.

-They went to the small village of Nazareth which, according to the gospel of Luke, seems to be where Mary and Joseph resided before their trip to Bethlehem. Matthew says that this is according to several prophets that HE SHALL BE CALLED A NAZARENE. There is not one particular verse from which this is a quotation. Most likely, it refers to verses that indicate that the Messiah would not come from prominence or be recognized as coming from a prominent place. As in Isaiah 53:2 that says “He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should desire Him.”

-Nazareth was such a nondescript little village, that even people like Nathan in the gospel of John ask CAN ANYTHING GOOD COME OUT OF NAZARETH? We might refer to it as a backwards, redneck little town. And yet, the Savior of the world was a Nazarene.

-But in his generalities of prophesies being fulfilled here, and his constant reminders throughout his Gospel that these events were in fulfillment of Old Testament Scriptures, Matthew reminds us that God uses His providence to fulfill His promises, no matter how obscure or mysterious they might be.

-And it reminds us that whatever promises belong to us in Jesus Christ, God in His providence will fulfill them. We might be going through some painful things, but God’s promises to us remain sure.

Conclusion

-There was a story of a single mother who was struggling to make ends meet. She always taught her children to cling to the Scripture. In a particularly desperate time she told her family that God says to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all the other needful things would be added on to them. So, they prayed in this way. Later that day she put on a coat she hadn’t worn in months and in the pocket found a $100 bill that would help feed them.

-The world calls such things coincidence or luck. But if we believe in a sovereign God, we know there is no such thing. God provides in His providence toward His purposes. He did so to protect His Son from wicked men, and His providence works in our lives as well.

-Christian, come to the altar and thank God for His providence and lay your needs before Him.

-But if are not a Christian, God in His providence provided for the only means of forgiveness of sin...