In article 12 we spoke about the creation, which was according to the will of God. It was in one moment that the Lord created the earth, which is called "the chaos". The dictionary gives us this definition of it – it is the confused, unorganized state of primordial matter before the creation of distinct forms. We must not misunderstand this, because it means that the world was without form and void. In the six days that followed, the Lord created all things, and so the world came into existence as we know it. He rested on the seventh day, not because He was tired of His work, but to rejoice in it.

But this was not the end of God's work for the creation. He continues to take care of it, and this we call God's providence. You must understand that providence and creation are not the same. Creation came to an end on the sixth day, but God's providence continued. Of this our present article speaks about, saying, "We believe that this same God, after He had created all things, did not forsake them, or give them up to fortune or chance."

We know that no creature can exist of itself; if God would not take care of the world, then it could not continue a moment longer. The word 'providence' cannot be found in the Holland Bible, but in the English Bible it is used once in Acts 24:2. However, in this instance it does not point to the care of God. Nevertheless, the sum and matter of this word can be found throughout the Bible. In Genesis 22 Abraham, in speaking to Isaac, says, "My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering." The word providence is derived from the verb. There are also other words used which have the same mean­ing when we read them in context, such as making alive, creation, work, taking care of, and God reigns. How necessary the providence of God is. With a simple example we may show this. When we build a house, then we must also keep it in good repair, for otherwise it will decay and become a heap of ruins. Likewise God's providence is the continual care of all that He created.

God's providence is in opposition to two different viewpoints which are widespread also in our time. There are those that speak of fate, while others speak of fortune or chance. The people who speak of fate declare that everything which happens is according to the laws of nature. The summer and winter, the fall and spring, come with a special regularity, which God cannot change. This of course is not true, as it would make God dependent upon His own creation, which is impossible. He would then not be the Almighty, but a slave of His own work. God rules over all things, and they must obey His command.

Others believe in fortune or chance. The word fortune is derived from the Latin word fortuna, which was a goddess of the Romans. She is portrayed with a helm in her hand, a horn of abundance in her arm, and the globe under her feet. All have a symbolic meaning, as the helm points to the power over men to rule which is given to this goddess, the horn of abundance points to her ability to give abundance to whomsoever she desires. Her standing on the globe, which is round and rolls readily, is a testimony of inconstancy – today she visits one place, and tomorrow another receives of her abundance, while on the third day both get nothing. In this way some believe that all things happen on earth by chance or fortune, and that whatever befalls us in our life has nothing to do with the government of God. They say that God does not interfere with all these small things on the earth. The fool says, there is no God…

We believe that the Lord governs all things, even the smallest things, just as our catechism explains it: "He upholds and governs heaven, earth, and all creatures; so that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, yea, and all things come, not by chance, but by His fatherly hand." All that happens on this earth is according to God's will. The laws of nature and the powers in nature are subjected to the Lord; they are His servants for fulfilling His will. Often we cannot comprehend the things which take place in our life, but they are directed by the Lord with great wisdom. Sometimes later on it is revealed to us, and then we must say that the ways of the Lord are wonderful.

Frequently the providence of God is divided into three parts, namely – preservation, coopera­tion and government. These three things are not disconnected from each other and belong together. Perhaps it sounds difficult, but preservation is also government, and government is also cooperation, and cooperation is also preservation. You will find elements of each in all three, which shows that they belong together.

Preservation is the almighty power of God whereby He continues all things in being. Hebrews 1:3 states this: "upholding all things by the word of His power." Oh, how marvellously great are the things which the Lord does. Even when we think only of natural things, we must say, God is great, and we under­stand Him not. We often say, it rains or it snows, but the Bible, which is God's Word, says it entirely different. It is God's work; (Job 36:27, "for He maketh small the drops of water.")

Preservation is either direct (immediately) or by means. To the Lord it does not make any difference, but to our observation it does make a great difference. If it is without means, then we speak of a miracle. It is in this way that the Lord preserves the sun, moon, stars, the world, the angels, and the souls of men. By use of means the living creatures are kept in existence. We need food and drink, and so do animals and plants, etc. God does not need the means to preserve life, but He uses them in His wisdom, power and goodness.

God is the fountain of all life and preserves according to His will. This means that we need the blessing of the Lord, for otherwise all our labor is in vain. The work in the fields is a striking example – if the Lord does not give rain and sunshine, the wheat will not grow. He must also give an opportunity to harvest! Al­though it is not deserved by us, the Lord normally causes the seed to spring forth and grow up; thus we receive our daily bread by the preservation of the Lord. The Israelites in the desert were preserved in a different way; they received bread from heaven. This was a miracle!

The Lord usually works according to the laws of nature, and if He departs from the natural way, then we speak of a miracle. However, both the miraculous and the so-called natural way wherein we receive things are the revelation of God's will. Normally the Lord preserves men by means, but there are several exceptions known in Scripture and also in more recent days where the Lord performed special deliverances. Biblical examples are those of Moses who was on the mount for forty days without food, of Israel in the wilderness as was mentioned above, of the widow of Zarephath-Zidon who was also saved by a miracle, and of the three men in the furnace. They are examples of how the Lord can care for His people.

The Lord is still the same. I have read of a minister living during the eighty-year war in the Netherlands, who could speak of a special deliverance by the Lord. It was not in such a spectacular way, but the Lord's care was evident. During a field-sermon (in the open field) they were sur­prised by the Spanish soldiers and fled in all directions. The minister fled to an old barn and hid himself under the hay. The soldiers remained nearby, and he could not come out into the open. How could he stay alive? Every day a hen came and laid an egg within his reach. This happened for seven days and was just enough to keep him alive. The eighth day the hen did not come, which was a sign for him that the soldiers had gone. After he came forth from his hiding place, he found that this was true; the soldiers had gone away that day.

It is the same God Who preserves the world that gives His special care to His children. Do we, by God's grace, belong to them? That people have a future, because the Lord cares for them for eternity, but also during this life they are under His special care.

In writing about Divine providence in our last article, we made a division of it into three parts –preservation, cooperation, and government, and discussed the first of these.

Cooperation is the almighty power of God, whereby He influences all the motions and operations of His creatures. Thus there is written in 1 Corinthians 12:6, "but it is the same God which worketh all in all." By His preservation we continue in our existence, but in order to live and to move we cannot be without God's cooperation. As an example, the Lord must give us the strength to raise our arm; if the Lord does not help, does not cooperate, then we are not able to do so. If we are healthy, then we cannot believe this and will say, "I can do it myself." No, this is not true. Go to the hospitals and you will see many people who are paralyzed; it may have been caused by disease or an accident, but it is also in God's providence.

Likewise when seed is sown in the springtime – if the Lord does not bless the labor, then there will not be a harvest. How evident it is that we are dependent upon the Lord. He must give the strength and ability for us to do our work, although we remain responsible as to how we spend our time and strength. We must give an account of all our deeds, and the Lord knows exactly what we do and how we do it.

Cooperation is not that the Lord does something and man must do the rest. No, God is the first and supreme power of all things. Man is dependent upon the help of the Lord in all things. When the Lord commands us to convert ourselves, then it is impossible for us to do so. But the Lord has also said that the house of Jacob should ask Him for this. Thus this commandment of the Lord must become our prayer; and the Lord has promised, "I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh." In all things, but especially in our conversion, we need the cooperation of the Lord. He must be the first and the last; nevertheless, we have to do what the Lord requires of us. We may not neglect the use of the means of grace. As we use them, it must be with a prayer in our heart that the Lord will apply them to our heart. Has it ever become your prayer as you went to church or read His Word?

The third part of providence is government, which is the almighty power whereby He directs everything to a certain determinate end. In Psalm 93 we read, "The Lord reigns." He reigns over the heaven and the earth. As the sovereign owner He may do this and can do this; the whole creation is subjected to Him. This government of God is not arbitrary, but is according to His divine intention. We know that every government makes plans for the future, although so often they must change their plans. The Lord made His plans from eternity, and also fulfils them. He is never surprised by anything. The helm of this world is in His hand, and He never makes a miscalculation. All He does is always good. This does not mean that it is always according to our desire, or even according to the will of God's people, but at the end of this world all people shall acknowledge that the Lord did not make an error.

Providence extends over all things: (1) over the lifeless or inanimate creation, such as wind and water; (2) over the irrational creation, as we can see when in Egypt the Lord said, "Against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue" (Consider also Elijah and the ravens, Jonah and the great fish, and Daniel in the lions' den); and (3) over the rational creatures, the human race. Thus in the birth of each person – our parents, but also the time and place are decreed by the Lord; likewise our abode upon earth, with adversity and prosperity. Joseph was in prison, but became the second in Egypt. Also the time and the way of our death is known to the Lord.

Certain events in God's Word make it so clear that wonderful ways are used to fulfil God's providence. Think of Jacob, who gave Joseph a coat of many colors. It worked envy in the hearts of his brothers so that he was sold into Egypt as a slave, but there he must also save Israel. There Israel became a great and mighty nation, which later received Canaan as an inheritance. Moses was laid in the river Nile, but was found by the daughter of Pharaoh and thus came to the palace. There he received the education which was necessary in order to become the leader of Israel. Think of Ahasu­erus, who on a certain night could not sleep; his servants read to him in the history books, where the name of Mordecai was men­tioned. It was the beginning of the downfall of Haman and the exaltation of Mordecai, but was also in order that Israel could be saved.

We must also mention Caesar Augustus, who decreed that the whole world should be taxed, and this was necessary so that the prophecy of Bethlehem could be fulfilled. God's providence is there clearly displayed! In more recent history there was a man who cut a letter in wood which fell to the ground, and this became the beginning of the invention of printing. There is no end to all the examples which can be given, and all these things make it clear that the Lord in His providence rules over every­thing, both small and great.

In the Heidelberg Catechism providence is especially ascribed to God the Father; in the doctrine of providence we see that the Father is able to help His children. What a blessing it would be for the church if they gave more attention to and believed more of the providence of God. So often we hear it said, "My way is hidden from the Lord and my judgment is passed over from my God." Then faith is not in exercise, and we try to help ourselves. By doing this we go to other gods and expect it from them. But the Lord has advised, cast all your cares upon Me; for I care for you. As the Almighty God He is able to do so, and as a faithful Father He will do so. If we may believe this, then there is comfort and strength to be found in the doctrine of providence for God's church.

I believe that the many insurances of our time tend to make the Lord superfluous. With all forms of insurance coverages, from cradle to grave, we make it impossible for the Lord to per­form miracles. What can the Lord do then? There is no room left for Him. Yet I know examples of how God's children, without insurance, may live from His hand and were richly blessed. He has the power to give what they need.

The Lord governs over all things, also over sin. Brakel says that if sin is outside of God's providence, then the human race would not be under God's government, for all their deeds are sinful. We know that the Lord tolerates sin to a certain extent, and that it is not outside of His providence, but God can never be the author of sin. We take the example of Joseph who was sold into Egypt; it was a sinful deed of his brothers, but at the same time the Lord used it to save Israel. No, God does not work sin; as a Holy God He cannot be the origin of sin, but hates and punishes it.

Many do not believe in the providence of God, but I would advise them to read the newspa­pers and compare them with God's Word. Then you will see how that the Lord rules the world and executes His plan. When we believe in God's providence, we can be patient in adversity. Job could say, "The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; blessed be the Name of the Lord." Then we will also be thankful in prosperity. We have merited nothing, but have sinned time and again, and yet the Lord has given so many benefits. And for the future? The Lord is faithful and all instruments against us will not succeed.

This article concludes with the words, "And therefore we reject that damnable error of the Epicureans, who say that God regards nothing, but leaves all things to chance." Epicurus was a Greek philosopher who lived about 300 B.C. He taught that God did not interfere with man at all. What a blessing that this learned man was wrong, and that the Lord still cares for this world!