RPG Adults
LESSONS ON PROVIDENCE (3)
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25
Jeremiah 27:1-13
Psalm 94
“…that nation will I punish,
saith the LORD, with the sword,
and with the famine…”
LESSONS ON PROVIDENCE (3)
According to the Heidelberg Catechism on Providence, the answer given to Question 27 states that, “The Almighty and everywhere present power of God; whereby, as it were by his hand, 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.” The doctrine of providence thus affirms the authority and sovereignty of God over all that He has created, to order, direct, and use them as He wills for His glory.
“I have made the earth, the man and the beast…by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me” (Jer 27:5). The same power, wisdom and capability by which God made all things is the same power and wisdom that God uses to preserve and govern all things too. Here in Jeremiah, it is metaphorically presented as an “outstretched arm” which is mentioned also in Deuteronomy 26:8 and Jeremiah 21:5. Thus in Jeremiah, the message sent to the nations was one that enjoined and demanded their submission to the king of Babylon, as he by God’s providence had been given the kingdoms of men, as affirmed also in the vision given to Nebuchadnezzar when it was said: “this matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will…” (Dan 4:17). William G. T. Shedd in his “Dogmatic Theology” affirmed this when he noted that: “According to the Scriptures, preservation is the immediate operation of God as a distinct and different Being, upon, in, and with the creature as a different and distinct being, and always in accordance with the nature of the creature. In the material world, God immediately works in and through material properties and laws. In the mental world, God immediately works in and through the properties and faculties of mind. Preservation never runs counter to creation. God does not violate in providence what he has established in creation.”
THOUGHT: (Read Acts 17:28.)
PRAYER: (Read Psalm 31:1-5.)