Since our sluggish minds rest far beneath the height of Divine
Providence, we must have recourse to a distinction which may assist them
in rising. I say then, that though all things are ordered by the
counsel and certain arrangement of God, to us, however, they are
fortuitous, - not because we imagine that Fortune rules the world and
mankind, and turns all things upside down at random, (far be such a
heartless thought from every Christian breast;) but as the order,
method, end, and necessity of events, are, for the most part, hidden in
the counsel of God, though it is certain that they are produced by the
will of God, they have the appearance of being fortuitous, such being
the form under which they present themselves to us, whether considered
in their own nature, or estimated according to our knowledge and
judgement. Let us suppose, for example, that a merchant, after entering a
forest in company with trust-worthy individuals, imprudently strays
from his companions and wanders bewildered till he falls into a den of
robbers and is murdered. His death was not only foreseen by the eye of
God, but had been fixed by his decree. For it is said, not that he
foresaw how far the life of each individual should extend, but that he
determined and fixed the bounds which could not be passed, (Job 14:5.)
Still, in relation to our capacity of discernment, all these things
appear fortuitous. How will the Christian feel? Though he will consider
that every circumstance which occurred in that person's death was indeed
in its nature fortuitous, he will have no doubt that the Providence of
God overruled it and guided fortune to his own end. The same thing holds
in the case of future contingencies. All future events being uncertain
to us, seem in suspense as if ready to take either direction. Still,
however, the impression remains seated in our hearts, that nothing will
happen which the Lord has not provided.
In this sense the term "fate" is repeatedly used in Ecclesiastes (ch.
2:14-15; 3:19; 9:2-3,11), because, at the first glance, men do not
penetrate to the primary cause which lies concealed. And yet, what is
taught in Scripture of the secret providence of God was never so
completely effaced from the human heart, as that some sparks did not
always shine in the darkness. Thus the soothsayers of the Philistine,
though they waver in uncertainty, attribute the adverse "fate" partly to
God and partly to chance. If the ark, say they, "Goes up by the way of
his own coast to Bethshemish, then he has done us this great evil; but
if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us, it was
a chance that happened to us." (1 Sam. 6:9.) Foolishly, indeed, when
divination fails them they flee to fortune. Still we see them
constrained, so as not to venture to regard their disaster as
fortuitous. But the mode in which God, by the curb of his Providence,
turns events in whatever direction he pleases, will appear from a
remarkable example. At the very same moment when David was discovered in
the wilderness of Maon, the Philistines make an inroad into the
country, and Saul is forced to depart, (1 Sam. 23:26,27.) If God, in
order to provide for the safety of his servant, threw this obstacle in
the way of Saul, we surely cannot say, that though the Philistine took
up arms contrary to human expectation, they did it by chance. What seems
to us contingence, faith will recognise as the secret impulse of God.
The reason is not always equally apparent, but we ought undoubtedly
to hold that all the changes which take place in the world are produced
by the secret agency of the hand of God. At the same time, that which
God has determined, though it must come to pass, is not, however,
precisely, or in its own nature, necessary. We have a familiar example
in the case of our Saviour's bones. As he assumed a body similar to
ours, no sane man will deny that his bones were capable of being broken
and yet it was impossible that they should be broken, (John 19:33,36.) ...God made the bones of his Son frangible, though he exempted them from
actual fracture; and thus, in reference to the necessity of his counsel,
made that impossible which might have naturally taken place.
- John Calvin (Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1.16.9)
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