GOD’S ways are not our ways nor His thoughts our thoughts. This great truth is exemplified in an extraordinary manner in the accomplishment of the divine purposes. The Lord has made known some of His purposes and made them clear as the light shining from the sun at noonday, but in the carrying out of these purposes the whole course of His providence seems at times to go right in the face of the way in which men would expect these purposes to be accomplished. So seemingly opposed do the purpose and the manner of its fulfilment appear at times that to the human onlooker it looks as if the purpose is certain to miscarry, and yet in the end it will be seen “that the counsel of the Lord standeth forever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations” (Ps. xxxiii. 11). This feature of the divine procedure is worthy of our serious attention, as failure to recognise it as part of the divine plan has time and again brought many a sincere believer to his wits’ end and opened a door for unbelief which was taken full advantage of to the distress and perplexity of many of the heirs of glory. The Scripture has many outstanding illustrations of this striking feature of the divine procedure and in the study of these, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, a new light is cast on the Apostle’s words, filling them with a fresh significance and meaning hitherto unrealised—”For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Rom. xv. 4). The certainty of the fulfilment of the divine purposes is a cardinal truth of Scripture which stands like an unchanging rock through all the vicissitudes of life and the changing circumstances of time, and anything that shakes our confidence in this truth produces the feeling that the foundations which we firmly and fondly believed were unshakeable are crumbling beneath our feet. Hence Satan takes full advantage of the mysterious and at times dark unfoldings of the divine purposes that make the believer such an easy prey to the lying suggestions of unbelief and produces that feeling of perplexity that too often has as its attendant companions Despondency and Inactivity. A careful study of the Scriptures, however, will reveal that the whole explanation of what is to us so dark and staggering is to be found in the divine announcement:—”My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Is. lv. 8,9). Another feature in connection with the accomplishment of the divine purpose that has often proved a mystery and a stumbling-block to the believer is the unaccountable opposition with which it is met, and that this opposition at times comes from His own people, who through misunderstanding or ignorance may be actively engaged in doing all they can, quite unknown to themselves, to thwart the divine purpose. What we have been endeavouring to bring before our readers is exemplified with more or less clearness in the cases of Joseph, David and our Lord and Saviour.
1. Joseph.
That God purposed to promote Joseph to a high position is clearly brought out in the dreams that were vouchsafed to him. These were not idle dreams, the erratic imaginings of a vagrant mind, but were revelations to him from heaven. When Joseph made known his dreams his brethren, we are told, said to him: “Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us?” They were quite determined that they would never submit to anything of the kind, and the divine record tells with what Satanic purposefulness they set about thwarting the divine purpose. Even Jacob, we are told, rebuked him, saying: “Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?” But the sacred historian draws a distinction between the attitude of Joseph’s brethren and Jacob to him—”His brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.” Evidently Jacob, after rebuking Joseph, began to think that there was something in what Joseph was saying after all. Be that as it may, the series of providences from the time that his brethren placed him in the pit until he, through the lie of Potipher’s wife, found himself in prison in Egypt all seemed to point to the utter impossibility of God’s purpose being fulfilled, but the God whose counsel is to stand can over-rule lies, hatred, and every form of opposition, human and Satanic, in order that His purpose shall stand. Then came the famine in Palestine, not regarded, we may be sure, as a blessing by Jacob, yet, it was this famine that was to bring about one of the happiest meetings Jacob ever had in this world—the meeting with his long-lost and beloved son Joseph, and it was by this famine Joseph’s brethren were to come down to Egypt and bend before Joseph. Altogether unknown to themselves, and long years after their cruel treatment of Joseph, these proud, cruel, and rebellious men were bowing before the great Egyptian prince, their own brother Joseph, and fulfilling what God had purposed. The story of Joseph’s promotion in spite of all the opposition it met with is an illustration of God’s marvellous way of fulfilling His purpose in face of the most adverse circumstances.
2. David.
Similarly the life story of David, chosen by God to be king over Israel, illustrates the same truth. It was not Samuel nor the people that made choice of David but Jehovah Himself—”I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him” (Ps. lxxxix. 20). If the choice had been left to Samuel or Jesse, David would never have been chosen King of Israel, and if the choice had been left to the people it is not David that would have been King of Israel. This is clearly seen in Samuel, the Lord’s prophet—thinking that Eliab was the right man and in Jesse not having called David with his other sons—all of which go to show how little even good men at times understand God’s purposes, and how they would set them aside if the Lord did not circumvent them. Then there came the demonic opposition of Saul, pursued with a relentlessness that tried the patience and magnanimity of David to the uttermost until in the bitterness of his soul he cried out: “I shall one day fall into the hand of Saul.” But no Saul that ever existed could keep God’s purpose from being fulfilled. Then when Saul was out of the way came the opposition of Ishbosheth splitting the tribes of Israel into two. It was a master stroke of Satan acting on the principle—divide and conquer—but after reigning seven and a half years at Hebron the northern tribes joined with Judah in acknowledging David as King of all Israel and God’s purpose was fulfilled. In all this David was a type of His Son and Lord. It is a daring thing on the part of men to oppose God’s purpose, and it is particularly sad when the thoughts and ways of God’s people run counter to God’s thoughts and ways. Never did a king get such a clear call as David did, except One, and never did a King chosen by God meet with such unaccountable opposition except One.
3. Our Lord and Saviour.
David, as has been noticed, was a type of the Lord Jesus alike in the clearness of his call to the throne and the opposition he encountered. God’s decree proclaimed that His Son was to sit upon His throne. He no sooner appeared in this world than men and devils joined together to keep Him from sitting upon the throne God had appointed for Him, but that opposition was in vain. It is of special interest to notice that in this case also the accomplishment of God’s purpose and the manner in which God’s over-ruling providence accomplished the end He had in view seemed to be in direct antagonism as far as human foresight could discern. It was by the way of humiliation, the cross, and the grave that God’s purpose was to be accomplished, and as Peter looked on his love to his Master prompted him to say: “Far be it from thee Lord to suffer these things.” Yet, if Peter’s wish had been granted it would have shattered the hopes of the countless number given to Christ. It was necessary that He should die for their redemption, and it was through that death He was to reign on His throne for evermore. No opposition from men or devils in hell could thwart the divine purpose. In all things He was to have pre-eminence, and it was the divine purpose that He must reign until all things were put under His feet. But between the announcement of the decree and its fulfilment what strange and mysterious happenings there were—happenings that seemed to say God’s purpose will never be accomplished, yet in the end how truly were the words fulfilled—”that the counsel of the Lord standeth forever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations.”
I have observed that where there hath been a work to do upon sinners, there the devil hath begun to roar in the hearts, and by the mouths of his servants,— Bunyan’s Grace Abounding.