How do we look at events today and in history in the light of God's blessing and curses? Can we look at the news with an open Bible next to it? This article looks at the hand of God in history.

Source: Reformed Perspective, 1993. 3 pages.

God's Hand in History

May we say that the horrors in Bosnia are God's judgment upon the idolatry of nationalism? May we say that widespread confusion and despair are punishments from God because man continues to trust in himself? May we say that God allowed Gorbachev to come to power in the mid 1980s to cause the downfall of a world power or to give freedom to the church behind the Iron Curtain? May we say that the growth of the Christian faith in Asia and Africa fulfils God's promise that Christ will return when the gospel is spread to the whole world? In short, may we speak in this way of God's hand in history?

I have a reason for asking these questions. In an article in the April 1992 issue of Transparant, the magazine of the Association of Christian Historians, Jac. Schaeffer writes about “journalism with an open Bible.” The historian Schaeffer compares the writing of P. Jongeling, the former chief editor of the Nederlands Dagblad, with my own approach to journalism. He notes that there is an obvious difference. Jongeling showed less restraint in pointing out concrete examples of God's dealings in everyday events.

For example, Jongeling did not hesitate to write that God uses Asian nations to curb the apostate West, and hostile Arabs to break down Jewish pride. Schaeffer points out that when I write about the rapid increase of hunger in Africa, I make reference to the black horse of Revelation 6 and, at the same time, emphasize the common plight of all people who have fallen into sin. I do not refer, however, to God's judgment upon a continent that to a large extent lacks any imprint of the Christian faith. Writing about the Gulf War, which I supported, I note that we do not know for sure whether it was in agreement with the righteousness of God.

These examples, which Schaeffer quotes in Transparant, are of too little significance to draw far-reaching conclusions. Even Schaeffer only uses them as illustrations in the context of a broader argument. But his article provides me with an opportunity to make my own position clear. My underlying reason lies in the importance of the question of God's hand in history. Surrounded by spiritual confusion, Christians hold on to faith and unwavering convictions. In spite of all those who say that God's actions are obscure, we still have a deep longing to see the great deeds of the LORD.

Continuous🔗

Christian journalism, as well as the writing of history, can easily and unintentionally become more secular. This happens when on Sundays we faithfully confess that Christ has been given all authority in heaven and on earth, but on Monday, in our daily work, we forget that confession. We would not think of contradicting Lord's Day 10 of the Heidelberg Catechism, which describes the providence of God, but at the same time it does not register with us that God's dealings with man form the core of history and current events. The pure doctrine then remains a cold theory.

What really is Christian journalism? Christian journalists must live according to Hebrews 11, on the basis of God's promises, with the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. In other words, what we believe must be permanently connected to what we say and write. God has not abandoned this world or given it over to itself. What a foolish thought! God so loved the world that He gave His only Son (John 3:16). That message is the core of the whole Bible. Should we not expect Good Friday, Easter and Pentecost to have continuous significance for everything that happens on earth?

Even people and nations who do not know God, who do not want to know Him, and who act against His commandments, are included in God's plan for this world. The Bible provides clear examples. Joseph's brothers were prompted by evil motives to sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites who brought him to Egypt. Later, however, Joseph tells his brothers,

God sent me before you … to preserve for you a remnant on earth.Genesis 45:5,7

Similarly, in the sixth century B.C., no doubt the Persian King Cyrus had his own reasons for sending groups of Jews from Babylon to Palestine. Maybe he wanted to form a buffer state to keep his rival Egypt under control. But what does the LORD say? “The LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, King of Persia” (Ezra 1:1). “Thus says the LORD to His anointed, to Cyrus … I gird you, though you do not know Me” (Isaiah 45:1,5).

It is still this way today; always and everywhere, each man's responsibility is a part of God's direction of this world to the Last Day. Thus it is incorrect to speak about the working of God's hand only in cases of outstanding happenings, when the laws of nature are broken. Of course, we are very much inclined to do so. The storm that destroyed the Spanish Armada in 1588 is a classic example. This natural event resulted in Spain's downfall as a naval power and the deliverance of the countries under its control. Was this not God's hand in history?

In more recent history, on March 11, 1985, the executive of the Central Committee of the Communist party of the Soviet Union decided to appoint Mikhail Gorbachev, not Victor Grishin, as its Secretary-General. God's hand in history? Indeed. But we must also remember that God also controls developments that are not written about in history books and newspapers. We may not cut history in fragments, as if the LORD only comes to earth once in a while to intervene. Even though we often do not see them, lines can be drawn from every event, connecting it to the Kingdom of God.

Open Book🔗

The fact that we cannot understand these connections is in full accordance with the teaching of the Bible. We have now switched to another question: can we conclude, on the basis of political events, what God's purpose is? Can we comprehend the deepest meaning of everyday events? This question relates to our ability to interpret: why did God do this? For what reason did He allow that? Here we must be humble and exercise great restraint. God asks,

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?Job 38:4

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways.Isaiah 55:9

We only know in part. Nowhere are we promised that the events of this world will be an open book for people to read. As Groen van Prinsterer warned:

Shortsighted mortals have not been allowed to anticipate the decrees of God, in vain delusion, and to lift the veil that God has put over the mysteries of the world's government.

What place did Auschwitz have in God's plan for this world? Why did the 1953 Flood hit, of all places, the Dutch province of Zeeland?

We know that in everything God works for good with those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.Romans 8:28

But what is His purpose for the suffering that Christian Armenians, South Moluccans and Papuas have endured? “I am dumb, I do not open my mouth” (Psalm 39:9).

At the same time we are not speechless. We do not stand empty-handed. We will never do that if we live with an open Bible. The Bible brings us to Jesus Christ and whoever has seen Him has seen the Father. In the Scriptures, God explains who He is and what He is like. He makes known to us what is good and what is evil. He tells us what receives His blessing and what receives His curse. Of course, we must not want to know more than what the LORD has revealed to us in the Bible. Yet neither should we desire to know less. At this time, the last danger may be more likely than the first. How often do we still say, “Look at what has happened here and there. Is that not typical of our God?” We still see Him working in Luther's striving towards “grace alone,” don't we? We recognize God in the fall of world powers, don't we? Or has God become the great unknown to us, not only in church history, but also in world politics?

We must definitely be careful. Some American televangelists make it appear as if God promises us success and prosperity if we just keep His commandments. But Groen van Prinsterer warned that the privileges that Holland still enjoyed in his time should not automatically be seen as divine evidence of good conduct. The Bible also includes the questions of Psalm 73: why do the wicked thrive, while the righteous must fight against all kinds of set-backs? At the same time, restraint differs from total silence. The words which Paul and John speak, inspired by the Holy Spirit, must be our confession.

They say that we cannot wilfully trample on God's love without facing the consequences. We cannot stubbornly substitute the truth for a lie without experiencing the results. We cannot be completely absorbed in gross sins without noticing the effects. When such hardening takes place, God may leave man to his own devices. Then man surrenders to everything that arises in his corrupted mind; he is at the mercy of his own impure desires. Read about it in Romans 1 or 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12.

They refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends upon them a strong delusion, to make them believe what is false.

Finally, the release from heaven of horsemen who sow death and destruction (Revelation 6) has everything to do with the sad earthly refrain, “and they did not repent.”

Of course, automatism is out of the question. God wanted to give Sodom and Gomorrah stay of execution if only there were ten righteous men. This points directly to our own responsibility as believers in a dechristianized country! The LORD really wants people to call upon Him. It does not follow inevitably that if men are righteous, then they will prosper. But just as a good tree bears good fruit, so a bad tree bears bad fruit. Groen van Prinsterer also professed that unbelief is like poison. It leads to nationalism, materialism, racism and egotism; to haughtiness and lovelessness. Sooner or later, you will die from bad fruits. But whoever goes to the cross will later have the right to the tree of life (Revelation 22:14). That is our gospel to a world in distress.

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