The pagan Philistines had captured the Ark of the
Lord. It’s presence not only seemed to
cause disparaging actions to their god, Dagon, but there was an outbreak of
boils. Was God really doing this? Or was
this chance?
“Now then, take and prepare a new cart
and two milk cows on which there has never come a yoke, and yoke the cows to
the cart, but take their calves home, away from them. And take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart and put in
a box at its side the figures of gold, which you are returning to him as a
guilt offering. Then send it off and let it go its way and watch. If it goes up
on the way to its own land, to Beth-shemesh, then it is he who has done us this
great harm, but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that struck
us; it happened to us by coincidence.”” (1 Samuel 6:7–9, ESV)
So they conceived of a test. The sent the Ark on a
cart pulled by two cows, separated from their calves. These cows had never been
yoked. They knew this: if God was truly behind all this those cows would leave
and go to Beth-shemesh. This was their
thinking: if the cows came back to their calves and refused to pull the cart,
this all happened by chance! The point
is that it was either God or chance!
My first blog covered that story. You can read it HERE.
The point that these people were making
was that this was either God or chance.
Many today would add other causes: Mother Nature, man’s free will,
etc. Although they were pagans, they
were profoundly correct. Why?
Why is it logical and defendable to conclude that
ultimately all events occur either by God or by chance? The answer to that possible objection is
answered by one question: is God “supernatural”? One dictionary[1] defines
supernatural as something "attributed to a power that seems to violate or
go beyond natural forces, or miraculous. Because God is supernatural then He
must exist above and in control of nature; and He is the primary cause of all
things. That is simple and plain
logic. The devotional book, Our Daily
Bread[2],
accurately noted:
A miracle is
generally thought of as something that contradicts nature. But a true miracle
is the introduction of God’s supernatural power into our world in a way that
suspends the laws of physics as we understand them.
There are secondary causes to the events of our world.
These include such things as the laws of nature, the will of man and even the
demonic initiatives of the Devil and his legions. But one must never believe for a moment that
these secondary causes are sovereign and capable of doing what they want, when
they want. It really ultimately boils
down to either things happen by chance or by God (that is, if God is supernatural!). Charles Spurgeon[3] summarizes
this problem well”
I see, in one
place, God in providence presiding over all, and yet I see, and I cannot help
seeing, that man acts as he pleases, and that God has left his actions, in a
great measure, to his own free-will. Now, if I were to declare that man was so
free to act that there was no control of God over his actions, I should be
driven very near to atheism; and if, on the other hand, I should declare that
God so over-rules all things that man is not free enough to be responsible, I
should be driven at once into Antinomianism or fatalism.
If God is not in control, as the Scriptures teach, we
are either driven to atheism or fatalism (God or chance)! The Bible teaches that the weather is in
fact, ultimately controlled by God (e.g. Job 37:6-13). Even animals are under His control (e.g.
Matthew 6:26; 10:29 [plus our story in this chapter!). We think in terms of
random events and we are brought to the conclusion that God even controls the
outcome of them (e.g. Proverbs 16:33). The rise and fall of nations, including
the affairs of political states are proscribed by God (e.g. Job 12:23; Psalm
22:28). The events of our personal lives are also ordained by God. Everything is under His sovereign control,
even evil. (e.g. Genesis 50:20).
When we view life we know there are secondary causes
including the laws of science, the will of mankind and even the Devil
himself. But if created order is beyond
God’s free and sovereign control, we are left without hope and without a god to
worship. In dealing with ultimate issues, a truly rational person must either
conclude a sovereign, free, omnipotent God is in control, or things just happen
by chance. It’s either sovereign design
or natural selection. There are no other rational, intelligent conclusions.
There is not a random dandelion seed in the
Universe. God controls everything. If he doesn’t the only other options is chance
– coincidence. The Philistines were profoundly correct and they learned the
answer: God!
[1] http://www.answers.com/topic/supernatural
[2] http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/our-daily-bread/2008/12/22/devotion.aspx
[3] http://www.spurgeon.org/calvinis.htm
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