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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadJames Hastings Dictionary of the Bible: Providence
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PROVIDENCE.—1. The word is not found in the OT. In the NT it is used only once; in the exordium of his address to Felix, the orator Tertullus says: ‘By thy providence evils are corrected for this nation’ (Act_24:2). Here ‘providence’ simply means ‘foresight,’ as in 2Ma_4:6 ‘the king’s providence.’
2. The first appearance of the word ‘providence’ (Gr. pronoia) in Jewish literature is in Wis_14:3, where God is represented as making for a ship ‘a way in the sea’; the Jewish author, borrowing the expression from the Stoic philosophers, says: ‘Thy providence, O Father, guideth it along.’ In a later passage, recognizing the sterner aspect of the truth to which the OT also bears witness, he contrasts the destinies of the Israelites and Egyptians and describes the latter, when they were ‘prisoners of darkness,’ as ‘exiled from the eternal providence’ (Wis_17:2).
3. Although the OT does not contain the word ‘providence,’ it is a continuous and progressive revelation of Him ‘whose never-failing providence ordereth all things both in heaven and earth.’ Historians narrate the gradual accomplishment of His redemptive purpose concerning the Chosen People and the world at large (Gen_50:20, Exo_8:22, Deu_32:8 ff.; cf. Psa_74:12 ff.); poets delight to extol Him ‘whose tender mercies are over all his works’ (Psa_145:9; cf. Psa_29:3 ff., Psa_104:1-35; Psa_136:1-26); prophets point to the proofs of God’s guidance in the past in order that the people may gain wisdom for the present and courage for the future (Deu_32:7 ff., Hag_2:9, Isa_51:2, Mal_4:4 ff.). The Book of Job has been called ‘the book of Providence,’ because it not only gives the author’s solution of perplexing problems, but also ‘furnishes reasons for believing in the righteous providence of God from the consideration of His character and His dominion over nature’ (Oehler, Theology of OT, ii. 474; cf. Job_27:1-23; Job_34:10; Job_36:22; Job_37:21).
4. Belief in Providence stands or falls with belief in a personal God. It is incompatible with mechanical or pantheistic theories of Creation. Ancient problems which perplexed Greek philosophers and Hebrew sages press heavily upon the modern mind as it strives to reconcile its trust in Divine providence with the reign of law in the universe and with the existence of pain and evil. Jesus Christ taught that the laws of nature are the established methods of His Heavenly Father’s working, and that they fulfil as well as reveal His will (Mat_6:25 ff; Mat_10:29 ff., Joh_5:17). Belief in Providence means to the Christian, trust in the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has so clearly revealed His will in His Son as to make it plain to His children that natural laws may not only subserve moral and spiritual ends in this present time, but may also further His unerring purposes which are not bounded by this mortal life (Rom_8:28, 2Co_4:11 ff., 1Pe_1:6 ff.).
J. G. Tasker.