Relevant Verses: Genesis 50; 1 Corinthians 13; Psalm 81; Deuteronomy 6; John 16

Theme: “Free Will, Love, and Divine Providence”

Leading Question: How does one tell if a particular event is “providential,” “natural,” or “demonic”?

Exploring the providential: A biblical story that reeks of providence is the story of Joseph. At the conclusion of the story, after the death of Jacob, Joseph’s brothers feared that he would be seeking revenge on him. Joseph’s comment to his brothers is remarkable for its forgiving spirit:

Genesis 50:15-21: 15 Realizing that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers said, “What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong that we did to him?” 16 So they approached Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this instruction before he died, 17 ‘Say to Joseph: I beg you, forgive the crime of your brothers and the wrong they did in harming you.’ Now therefore please forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18 Then his brothers also wept, fell down before him, and said, “We are here as your slaves.” 19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? 20 Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today. 21 So have no fear; I myself will provide for you and your little ones.” In this way he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.

C. S. Lewis on Providence. Lewis writes a tantalizing and outrageous description of providence that I suspect is partially true at least some of the time:

I will not believe in the Managerial God and his general laws. If there is Providence at all, everything is providential and every providence is a special providence. It is an old and pious saying that Christ died not only for Man but for each man, just as much as if each had been the only man there was. Can I not believe the same of this creative act – which, as spread out in time, we call destiny or history? It is for the sake of each human soul. Each is an end. Perhaps for each beast. Perhaps even each particle of matter – the night sky suggests that the inanimate also has for God some value we cannot imagine. His ways are not (not there, anyway) like ours. – C. S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm, 55.

Once in a conversation with a friend, my friend spoke of the value he found in “praying without ceasing.” But I have used the C. S. Lewis quote to give even more intense focus on prayers. My problem with praying without ceasing is that I have to remember to pray. If, however, I see everything as providential, it serves as a marvelous heuristic device. Whatever happens I am forced to ask what might be the providential aspect. If I lose something, for example, I am forced to ask what is providential about the loss. It could be that the loss provided the opportunity to find something I didn’t even know was lost. Thus I never need to ask whether a particular event is providential, natural, or demonic.

Question: Can you think of any biblical narrative that would counter or reinforce Lewis’s claim? Certainly Joseph was forced to evaluate every event in his life from that perspective.

C. S. Lewis on love and free will. Several weeks ago, the official study guide cited a C. S. Lewis quote that provides a bridge between love and free will:

“Free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of automata – of creatures that worked like machines – would hardly be worth creating. The happiness which God designs for His higher creatures is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to Him and to each other . . . . And for that they must be free.” – Mere Christianity (New York: Macmillan, 1960), p. 52)

Biblical narratives that reinforce the link between love and free will. Is there an element in the famous love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13, that reinforces the relationship between love and free will. Here is that chapter in its entirety to help focus our thinking:

1 Corinthians 13: If I speak in the tongues of humans and of angels but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all my possessions and if I hand over my body so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable; it keeps no record of wrongs; 6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9 For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part, 10 but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12 For now we see only a reflection, as in a mirror, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 And now faith, hope, and love remain, these three, and the greatest of these is love.

A Sovereign God that always gets his way? Those who have a strong desire to emphasize divine sovereignty, often overlook those passages in Scripture indicate that God often has not gotten his way. Here are a few lines from Psalm 81 to illustrate the point that God does not always get his way:

Psalm 81:11-14 But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me.12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels. 13 O that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes.

Question: What biblical narratives would be best to make the point that God does not always get his way? Choose from among these portions of Scripture

1. The patriarchal narratives in Genesis
2. The narratives describing the exodus from Egypt
3. The wilderness wandering
4. The narrative from Joshua and Judges
5. The narratives from Samuel-Kings
6. The prophetic narratives

A Divine attempt to win Israel’s love. The shema in Deuteronomy 6:4 and following indicates God’s great ideal for his people:

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. 7 Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. 8 Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, 9 and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Question: How successful was God in winning the hearts of his people?

God’s promise to be with his people even in their troubles. John 16:33 makes it clear that just as God is never universally successful in seeing his will being accomplished on earth, so we will have difficulties, but God will be with us:

John 16:33 “I have said this to you so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution, but take courage: I have conquered the world!”

Question: What practical methods can we adopt that will help us ride out the difficult times in a world that rarely follows God will?