Providence is mysterious in such a way that we shortsighted souls are not able to catch the spectacle of God’s distant ends. God does not focus on the present advantage for himself and his creatures, but his eye is to his own glory in all, even to the very last ages of the world. God discloses grand designs in small things, and noble mysteries are hidden in the least of his acts.

For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
1 Corinthians 1:21

Because the ways of God are beyond human comprehension, much of what he does seems counterintuitive to us—yet it is always right. His grand designs are disclosed in small things, and noble mysteries are hidden in the least of his acts. We rarely understand the process, but God never fails to bring the results that are required for his glory and for our good.

As providence is universal, so it is mysterious. God’s throne is in the dark. Who can trace the motions of his eyes as they race? In moving about the earth, “he makes the clouds his chariot” (Ps. 104:3), and as he rides on the wings of the wind, his providential speed makes it too quick for us to understand. His ways are beyond all human reason and wisdom. His most diligent servants cannot decipher the full extent of his works because the swift motion of God’s eyes is too quick for ours.

John the Baptist is so astonished at the strange condescension of his Savior to be baptized by him that he forbids it at first: “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” (Matt. 3:14). Men and women are weak creatures and cannot trace or comprehend the wisdom of God.

The mystery and darkness of providence cast a luster on it, just as precious jewels are set in ebony so that the stark contrast of the dark background heightens their brilliance and beauty.

God’s Ways Are above Our Ways

Providence is mysterious because God’s ways are above our human methods. Dark providences are often a smoldering groundwork laid for some excellent design that God is about to reveal.

God keeps Sarah childless and then brings forth the root of countless descendants from her womb. He makes Jacob a cripple and then a prince to prevail with God, first wounding him and then giving a blessing. God sends Christ and the gospel at a time of high intellectual achievements to confound the reason and the wisdom of the world, which is not able to discern the knowledge of God: “Since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe” (1 Cor. 1:21).

God’s Ends Are Higher Than Our Aims

God’s ends have a higher objective than human aims. Who would have thought that the military forces of Cyrus, which he ignited against Babylon to satisfy his own ambition, would be a means to deliver the Israelites and restore the worship of God in the temple? This was God’s end, which Isaiah prophesied and Cyrus never imagined: “I am the Lord . . . who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose’; saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid’” (Isa. 44:24, 28). This was spoken long before Cyrus was born.

Pharaoh sent Israel away at the end of four hundred and thirty years, the time appointed beforehand by God. He could not keep them any longer because of God’s promise, and he would not keep them because of God’s plagues. God’s aim was to glorify his truth by fulfilling his word. Pharaoh had no desire to accomplish God’s will but only to be delivered from God’s judgments.

We can easily observe how God’s ends are far different from human ways by looking at Augustus and his plan to tax the world (Luke 2:1–4). Acting out of pride, Augustus was eager to count those under his reign. In Tarragona, Spain, in 26 BC, he proclaimed that a census would be taken of the whole empire. Soon after his announcement, resistance arose from various groups, and Augustus deferred his resolution to a more suitable time—the very time of the birth of Christ. Now we see God’s wise disposal of things in changing Augustus’s resolution and deferring it until Christ was ready to come into the world!

Christ, the seed of David, was to be born at Bethlehem, the town where Jesse had lived and David had been born. The census decreed by Augustus made it necessary for Joseph and Mary to come from Nazareth, where they lived and where Jesus had been conceived, and to journey to Bethlehem. Mary, being great with child, likely would not have made this journey for any reason short of the emperor’s edict. How wisely does God order human ambition and pride to fulfill his own prophecies and to publish the truth of Christ’s birth, for the names of Joseph and Mary were found in the records of Rome in Tertullian’s time.

God’s Actions Have Multiple Ends

God accomplishes multiple outcomes through a single action. Jacob is oppressed by famine, while Pharaoh is enriched with plenty. Joseph’s imprisonment is intended for his father’s relief and Pharaoh’s wealth. Joseph is wrongly accused, and his chastity is rewarded with incarceration. This later serves to further his advancement: he moves from being imprisoned to being highly favored and honored by Pharaoh.

What is God’s end in all this? To preserve the Egyptian nation, yes, and also Jacob and his family. But this was not his only purpose. By these means, God lays the foundation for his future designs to be carried out in an age to come. Jacob is brought into Egypt and leaves his posterity there, making a way for God to be glorified as he works future miracles for the deliverance of Jacob’s descendants. This is such an act that it should continuously ring throughout the world as a type of spiritual deliverance by Christ for all to remember.

God’s Ends Are for His Glory

Providence is mysterious in such a way that we shortsighted souls are not able to catch the spectacle of God’s distant ends. God does not focus on the present advantage for himself and his creatures, but his eye is to his own glory in all, even to the very last ages of the world. God discloses grand designs in small things, and noble mysteries are hidden in the least of his acts.

Though intended to die, Isaac was delivered from his father’s sword and thus set forth to the world a type of Christ’s resurrection. Meanwhile, God caused a ram to be entangled in the thickets, appointing it for the sacrifice, and thus it set forth a type of Christ’s death.

God uses the captivities of the people to increase the boundaries for the spread of the gospel. The wise men were guided by a star to find Christ, King of the Jews, and pay homage to the infant. Where was the foundation of this remarkable event laid? Probably in Balaam’s prophecy: “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel” (Num. 24:17). This was likely handed down through tradition to the wise men, perhaps renewed by Sibilla Chaldea, and further confirmed in their minds by the Jews as they spoke with the Babylonians while in captivity. Thus the mystery of providence stands.

Many ages before, God purposed to prepare his people for the coming of Christ and determined when he should be born. Scripture does not tell us what the wise men were seeking, but their gifts were a means to preserve our Savior, Joseph, and Mary from the rage of a tyrant by allowing them to support themselves in Egypt, where God ordered them to flee for security.

When an officer of the king scoffed at God’s promise of miraculous provision, the prophet Elisha assured him that he would indeed see the provision come to pass but would not taste it (2 Kings 7:1–2). The next day, the king put his captain in charge of the gate, and when food prices dropped as dramatically as promised, the people, hungry and crowding through the gate for provisions, trampled the officer to death, thus carrying out the prophecy without any intentions of doing so. See how God orders second causes naturally to bring about his own decree!

Study Questions

1. Why can’t human beings fully understand God’s providence?
2. Read 1  Corinthians 1:18–30. What distinction is there between God’s providence and the “wisdom” of the world?
3. Charnock uses Joseph as an illustration of how God can accomplish multiple ends with a single event. Can you think of other examples from Scripture that illustrate this point?

Excerpt taken from Chapter 4: The Mystery of Providence, Divine Providence: A Classic Work for Modern Readers by Stephen Charnock and edited by Carolyn B. Whiting. A new edition will be released on September 21, 2022 by P&R Publishing. Used with permission.