1. THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD
The root word here is “provide.” Thus we are studying what the Bible says about the fact that God provides for His creation.

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—
Providence defined by Homer Hailey

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 organized by God.
Nature is balanced by God.
Nature is regulated by God.

8. Providence and Free Will
As the crown of creation, man exists on two planes - physical and spiritual.
As a result, man is subject to both physical laws and spiritual laws.
God uses man to achieve His purposes.

9. Providence and Governments
God ordained civil government.

10. 1 Peter 2:13-14
Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good.

11. 1 Peter 2:15-16
For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men-- as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God.

12. 1 Peter 2:17
Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.
This does not mean, however, that any government has absolute authority over Christians. The same Peter who wrote this said that God ought to be obeyed first and foremost.

13. Acts 5:27
And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them,

14. Acts 5:28
saying, "Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man's blood on us!"

15. Acts 5:29
But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: "We ought to obey God rather than men."

16. John 19:10
Then Pilate said to Him, "Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?"
Jesus also indicated that any authority man has was delegated to him by God.

17. John 19:11
Jesus answered, "You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin."
But just when did God ordain civil government?

18. Genesis 9:1
So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.

19. Genesis 9:2
"And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand.

20. Genesis 9:3-4
"Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.

21. Genesis 9:5
"Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man's brother I will require the life of man.

22. Genesis 9:6
"Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man."

23. Providence and Governments
God ordained civil government.
In that statement God implicitly authorized at least two branches of government - executive and judicial.

24. Providence and Governments
God ordained civil government.
The executive branch would have the twofold responsibility of investigating any and all suspicious deaths and of executing those convicted of murder.

25. Providence and Governments
God ordained civil government.
The judicial branch would be responsible for determining the likely guilt of murder suspects.

26. Providence and Governments
God ordained civil government.
God influences* civil governments.
Inasmuch as all civil governments are ruled by some man or group of men, God can easily influence civil governments by influencing those who rule them.
* "to produce an effect without using force."

27. Providence and Governments
God ordained civil government.
God influences civil governments.
He can also influence civil governments by influencing those who are governed.

28. Providence and Governments
God ordained civil government.
God influences civil governments.
By influencing Pharaoh’s butler, for example, He influenced Pharaoh.

29. Providence and Governments
God ordained civil government.
God influences civil governments.
And by influencing Pharaoh, He influenced all of Egypt.

30. Providence and Governments
God ordained civil government.
God influences civil governments.
God sets up rulers and puts down rulers.

31. Daniel 2:20
Daniel answered and said: "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His.

32. Daniel 2:21
"And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding."

33. Romans 9:17
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth."
Ex. 9:16

34. Providence and Governments
God ordained civil government.
God influences civil governments.
Pharaoh was responsible for his actions.

35. Exodus 8:32
But Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also; neither would he let the people go.

36. Providence and Governments
God ordained civil government.
God influences civil governments.
God uses civil governments.
He used Egypt to put fear into Canaan.

37. Joshua 2:1
Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, "Go, view the land, especially Jericho." So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there.

38. Joshua 2:2
And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, "Behold, men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country."

39. Joshua 2:3
So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, "Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the country."

40. Joshua 2:4
Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, "Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from.

41. Joshua 2:5
"And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them."

42. Joshua 2:6
(But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.)

43. Joshua 2:7
Then the men pursued them by the road to the Jordan, to the fords. And as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate.

44. Joshua 2:8-9
Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, and said to the men: "I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you.

45. Joshua 2:10
"For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.

46. Joshua 2:11
"And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.

47. Joshua 2:12
"Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father's house, and give me a true token,

48. Joshua 2:13
"and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death."

49. Providence and Governments
God ordained civil government.
God influences civil governments.
God uses civil governments.
God promised to bless Jeroboam if he would simply do the right thing.

50. 1 Kings 11:37
"So I will take you, and you shall reign over all your heart desires, and you shall be king over Israel.

51. 1 Kings 11:38a
"Then it shall be, if you heed all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments,

52. 1 Kings 11:38b
"as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you."

53. Providence and Governments
God ordained civil government.
God influences civil governments.
God uses civil governments.
But Jeroboam did not do the right thing.

54. 1 Kings 12:25-26
Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and dwelt there. Also he went out from there and built Penuel. And Jeroboam said in his heart, "Now the kingdom may return to the house of David:

55. 1 Kings 12:27
"If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah."

56. 1 Kings 12:28
Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!"

57. 1 Kings 12:29-30
And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan.

58. 1 Kings 12:31
He made shrines on the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi.

59. 1 Kings 12:32
Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar.

60. 1 Kings 12:32
So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And at Bethel he installed the priests of the high places which he had made.

61. 1 Kings 12:33
So he made offerings on the altar which he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had devised in his own heart.

62. 1 Kings 12:33
And he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered sacrifices on the altar and burned incense.

63. Providence and Governments
God ordained civil government.
God influences civil governments.
God uses civil governments.
So God used the kingdom of Israel as an example to other nations.

64. Isaiah 9:8-9
The Lord sent a word against Jacob, And it has fallen on Israel. All the people will know-- Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria-- Who say in pride and arrogance of heart:

65. Isaiah 9:10-11
"The bricks have fallen down, But we will rebuild with hewn stones; The sycamores are cut down, But we will replace them with cedars." Therefore the Lord shall set up The adversaries of Rezin against him, And spur his enemies on,

66. Isaiah 9:12
The Syrians before and the Philistines behind; And they shall devour Israel with an open mouth. For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still.

67. Isaiah 9:13-14
For the people do not turn to Him who strikes them, Nor do they seek the Lord of hosts. Therefore the Lord will cut off head and tail from Israel, Palm branch and bulrush in one day.

68. Isaiah 9:15-16
The elder and honorable, he is the head; The prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail. For the leaders of this people cause them to err, And those who are led by them are destroyed.

69. Isaiah 9:17
Therefore the Lord will have no joy in their young men, Nor have mercy on their fatherless and widows; For everyone is a hypocrite and an evildoer, And every mouth speaks folly.

70. Isaiah 9:17
For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still.

71. Isaiah 9:18
For wickedness burns as the fire; It shall devour the briers and thorns, And kindle in the thickets of the forest; They shall mount up like rising smoke.

72. Isaiah 9:19
Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts The land is burned up, And the people shall be as fuel for the fire; No man shall spare his brother.

73. Isaiah 9:20
And he shall snatch on the right hand And be hungry; He shall devour on the left hand And not be satisfied; Every man shall eat the flesh of his own arm.

74. Isaiah 9:21
Manasseh shall devour Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh; Together they shall be against Judah. For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still.

75. Isaiah 10:1
"Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, Who write misfortune, Which they have prescribed

76. Isaiah 10:2
"To rob the needy of justice, And to take what is right from the poor of My people, That widows may be their prey, And that they may rob the fatherless.

77. Isaiah 10:3
"What will you do in the day of punishment, And in the desolation which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? And where will you leave your glory?

78. Isaiah 10:4
"Without Me they shall bow down among the prisoners, And they shall fall among the slain." For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still.

79. Providence and Governments
God ordained civil government.
God influences civil governments .
God uses civil governments.
God used both Rome and Israel to bring His eternal purpose to its final consummation.

80. Acts 4:24
So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: "Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them,

81. Acts 4:25
"who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: 'Why did the nations rage, And the people plot vain things?

82. Acts 4:26
'The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the Lord and against His Christ.'

83. Acts 4:27-28
"For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done."

84. Providence and Governments
God ordained civil government.
God influences civil governments.
God uses civil governments.
But God does not cause nations to do evil.

85. Jeremiah 18:7
"The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it,

86. Jeremiah 18:8
"if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it.

87. Jeremiah 18:9-10
"And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it."

88. Proverbs 14:34
Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people.

89. Providence and Governments
God ordained civil government.
God influences civil governments.
God uses civil governments.
God rules in the kingdom of men.

90. Daniel 5:17
Then Daniel answered, and said before the king, "Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another; yet I will read the writing to the king, and make known to him the interpretation.

91. Daniel 5:18
"O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father a kingdom and majesty, glory and honor.

92. Daniel 5:19a
"And because of the majesty that He gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him.

93. Daniel 5:19b
"Whomever he wished, he executed; whomever he wished, he kept alive; whomever he wished, he set up; and whomever he wished, he put down.

94. Daniel 5:20
"But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him.

95. Daniel 5:21a
"Then he was driven from the sons of men, his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys.

96. Daniel 5:21b
"They fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till he knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and appoints over it whomever He chooses."

97. Providence and Governments
God has used civil governments in the accomplishment of His eternal purpose.
He worked among them, indirectly ruling them through their several kings.

98. Providence and Governments
He used Israel to disseminate the knowledge of God and to preserve the seed of Abraham until the fullness of the times.

99. Providence and Governments
He used other nations to punish Israel when they deserved to be punished, though He never violated the free will of any ruler.

100. Providence and Governments
While men and nations are free to choose their actions, they are not free to choose the consequences of their actions.

101. Providence and Governments
God certainly can and has brought about the defeat of kingdoms through miraculous intervention.

102. Providence and Governments
Such is not necessary, however, for the course of history has been changed time and time again by seemingly insignificant events.

103. Providence and Governments
The following nursery rhyme illustrates this point.
For want of a nail
the shoe was lost.

104. Providence and Governments
The following nursery rhyme illustrates this point.
For want of a shoe
the horse was lost.

105. Providence and Governments
The following nursery rhyme illustrates this point.
For want of a horse
the rider was lost.

106. Providence and Governments
The following nursery rhyme illustrates this point.
For want of a rider
the battle was lost.

107. Providence and Governments
The following nursery rhyme illustrates this point.
For want of a battle
the kingdom was lost.

108. Providence and Governments
The following nursery rhyme illustrates this point.
And all for the want
of a horseshoe nail.

109. Providence and Governments
Solomon sinned against God by both practicing and encouraging idolatry.

110. 1 Kings 11:11
Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, "Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.

111. 1 Kings 11:12
"Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son.

112. 1 Kings 11:13
"However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of my servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen."

113. Providence and Governments
But how did God tear the kingdom away from Solomon?
He did it through the free-will decision of Rehoboam to raise taxes and the free-will decision of the northern tribes to rebel.

114. 1 Kings 12:1
And Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king.

115. 1 Kings 12:2
So it happened, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard it (he was still in Egypt, for he had fled from the presence of King Solomon and had been dwelling in Egypt),

116. 1 Kings 12:3
that they sent and called him. Then Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying,

117. 1 Kings 12:4
"Your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you."

118. 1 Kings 12:5
So he said to them, "Depart for three days, then come back to me." And the people departed.

119. 1 Kings 12:6
Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived, and he said, "How do you advise me to answer these people?"

120. 1 Kings 12:7
And they spoke to him, saying, "If you will be a servant to these people today, and serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever."

121. 1 Kings 12:8
But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him.

122. 1 Kings 12:9
And he said to them, "What advice do you give? How should we answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, 'Lighten the yoke which your father put on us'?"

123. 1 Kings 12:10
Then the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, "Thus you should speak to this people who have spoken to you, saying,

124. 1 Kings 12:10
'Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter on us'--thus you shall say to them: 'My little finger shall be thicker than my father's waist!

125. 1 Kings 12:11
'And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!'"

126. 1 Kings 12:12-13
So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had directed, saying, "Come back to me the third day." Then the king answered the people roughly, and rejected the advice which the elders had given him;

127. 1 Kings 12:14
and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, "My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!"

128. 1 Kings 12:15
So the king did not listen to the people; for the turn of events was from the Lord, that He might fulfill His word, which the Lord had spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

129. 1 Kings 12:16
Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying:

130. 1 Kings 12:16
"What share have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Now, see to your own house, O David!" So Israel departed to their tents.

131. 1 Kings 12:17
But Rehoboam reigned over the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah.

132. Providence and Governments
No doubt God could have done this by a direct operation but He did it indirectly – not by miracle but by providence.
We do not always know how He influences the free will decisions of men. But He certainly can do it and has done it without exerting force.

133. Daniel 5:21
"the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and appoints over it whomever He chooses."

134. Providence and Governments
However, there has only been one theocracy, only one nation ruled by God through a systematic law – ancient Israel.