God’s Sovereign

Providence

Ruth 1:1-5
1
 In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land,
and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of
Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man
was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of
his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites
from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab
3
and remained there.  But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died,
4
and she was left with her two sons.  These took Moabite wives;
Jehovah Jireh - God who
 Days of the Judges

• 11th or 12th century BC

• Israel’s settlement in Canaan >>>>> monarchy
• Everyone did what was right in his own eyes (Judg.
17:6, 21:25)
• Two important realities
•

• Israel’s unfaithfulness
 The Sovereign Providenc

• Are God’s providences limited only to the good things of life?

• Is He not the provider of famine? Or takes away the life of a loved
on? Or the one who makes cancer cells grow?
• Is he still there when we lose our job, our health, wealth?

GOD controls everyt

 Heidelberg Catechism

Question 27. What dost thou mean by the providence of God?

Answer: The Almighty and everywhere present power of God;

whereby, as it were by his hand, He still upholds heaven, earth,
and all creatures; and so governs them that herbs and grass, rain
and drought, fruitful and barren years, food and drink, health and
sickness, riches and poverty, yea, and all things come, not by
chance, but by His fatherly hand.
 Light Shining Out of Dark
by William Cowper

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,

God moves inThe
a mysterious
clouds ye so way,
much dread
His wonders
Are bigtowith
perform;
mercy, and shall break
He plants his footsteps in the
In blessings onsea,
your head.
And rides upon the storm.
Judge not the LORD by feeble sense,
Deep in unfathomable mines
But trust him for his grace;
Of never failing
Behind skill,
a frowning providence,
He treasures up his
He bright
hides adesigns,
smiling face.
And works his sovereign will.
 Underlying Cause of Elimelech

• It’s not easy to move one’s home

• Cycle: disobedience - repentance -
deliverance
•

A. God has failed

B. God abandoned them
C. God was not powerful enough
 Background of God’s Covenant

1. Israel was the apple of God’s eye.

2. Israel was God’s prized possession.
3. Consequences of disobedience
4. God’s promised restoration
 Right and Wrong Theology of God

Wrong - God is not the provider of famine and sickness.

Right - God is the provider of sickness and famine, yet
behind a frowning providence, He hides a smiling face.
Results of an Erroneous Theology of the
Providence of God

When one rejects the goodness

and power of God, to whom does 1. Other gods
he turn to? 2. Faith healer
3. Themselves
4. Walls of security
Looking Back and Looking F