DIVINE CONCURRENCE IN GOOD AND EVIL ACTIONS

By Gary Ray Branscome

The words, “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men,” tell us that God opposes and condemns all of the evil done by men (Romans 1:18). It is man, not God, who brought evil into the world, and all of the bad that happens is in the world because of sin (Rom. 5:12).

Because of sin, believers make foolish decisions that sometimes get them into a predicament. One such predicament is described in the words, “Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, you are a dead man, because of the woman that you have taken; for she is a man’s wife. But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord… in the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands have I done this. And God said to him in a dream, Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart; and I also kept you from sinning against me: for that reason I did not allow you to touch her” (Genesis 20:2-6). In this case, God stepped in to protect Sarah and prevent an evil act from occurring. And, we pray for such protection when we pray, “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13).

However, even though God does not cause men to do evil, He sometimes controls it, using it to bring His will to pass by causing all things to “Work together for good for those who love God” (Romans 8:28). One example of that is seen in the way God controlled and guided the brothers of Joseph. The words, “Judah said to his brothers, What do we gain if we kill our brother, and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let our hand not harm him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brothers agreed,” tell us that the brothers of Joseph had planned to kill him (Genesis 37:26). However, the words, “You planned evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring about that many people should be kept alive, as they are to this day,” tell us that God prevented them from killing Joseph, yet used their anger to send Joseph to Egypt (Genesis 50:20). And, God’s words to Jacob, “Do not be afraid to go down into Egypt; for there I will make of you a great nation,” tell us that God used the sojourn of the children of Israel in Egypt to weld them into a nation (Genesis 46:2-3). A nation through which He would provide a Savior.

If man had never sinned, everything that God created and pronounced “very good” would work together in harmony (Genesis 1:31). The words, “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually,” reflect the fact that the sin of Adam destroyed that harmony (Genesis 6:5). From God’s point of view, He gave Adam and Eve exactly what they wanted; the freedom to act contrary to His will. But, from our point of view, that freedom has brought untold suffering into the world.

The words, “His [God’s] work is perfect: for all His ways are just: a God of truth without iniquity, just and right is He,” // “The LORD is just: my rock, in whom there is no unrighteousness,” tell us that even though God sometimes makes the evil that men do work to accomplish His will, He is not the cause of that evil (Deuteronomy 32:4, Psalm 92:15). And, in many cases God causes an evil act to bring about the opposite of what the evildoer intended. We see one example of that in the account of Joseph and his brothers. Those brothers sold Joseph into slavery in order to prevent him from ruling over them, but what they did led to his rise to power, and put him in a position to rule over them.

"There are two consequences in history; an immediate one, which is instantly recognized, and one in the distance, which is not at first perceived. These consequences often contradict each other; the former are the results of our own limited wisdom, the latter, those of that wisdom which endures. The providential event appears after the human event. God rises up behind men. Deny, if you will, the supreme counsel; disown its action; dispute about words; designate, by the term, force of circumstances, or reason, what the vulgar call Providence; but look to the end of an accomplished fact, and you will see that it has always produced the contrary of what was expected from it, if it was not established at first upon morality and justice." (From Chateaubriand's Posthumous Memoirs, quoted in “That Which Is Seen, And That Which Is Not Seen”, By Frederic Bastiat”.)

The words, “You are not a God who has pleasure in wickedness: nor will evil dwell with you. The foolish will not stand in your sight: you hate all who do evil. You will destroy those who tell lies: the LORD will detest the bloody and deceitful man,” tell us that even though God does not always punish evildoers immediately, that punishment is coming (Psalm 5:4-6). The words, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance,” tell us that God is not tolerant of sin, but is giving us time to repent. (2Peter 3:9). Therefore, the words, “The living God… Who in the past allowed all nations to go their own way,” are not telling us that God permitted those nations to sin, or condoned their sin, but that He refrained from destroying them so that millions could later be brought to repentance (Acts 14:15-16). At the same time, the words, “God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: For they changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creation more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up to vile affections: for even their women exchanged the natural use for that which is contrary to nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men doing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error that was fitting. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things that are not right,” tell us that even though God does not immediately destroy a nation that rejects Him, that rejection does have consequences (Romans 1:24-28). As long as a nation worships God He works to bring its people to repentance, but once they reject Him their own innate depravity is unrestrained. As it is written, “They did not want any of my advice: they rejected all my correction. Therefore they will eat of the fruit of their own way, and be fed with their own schemes” (Proverbs 1:30-31).