Divine Providence vs. Human Sin

They provoke the Lord, so will there not be an examination of them? He teaches that even if someone mocks the righteous and overpowers him, he will not be innocent, even if he conquers him by appearing to do so. For such a person provokes God. For there will be an examination of the things done, through which judgment is hinted at, just as Paul says: 'For it is necessary for us all to appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive for what he did through the body' (2 Corinthians 5:10). It also suggests to understand that 'even if those who made claims are acting wickedly by taking authority over me, these are not innocent, having become instruments and vessels of wrath, even if they do this while acting against a sinner' (Romans 9:22). For they rejoice in such service.

To whom indeed is it said: 'I gave them into your hands, but you did not give them mercy' (Psalm 78:49) and 'I was angry with them a little, but they persisted in evils' (Psalm 78:49)? For God does not hand them over so that they may use mercy without restraint; but they, doing this with much eagerness, act without mercy; and Pharaoh toward the sons of Israel is such. Such is the saying: 'Giants come to fill my wrath, rejoicing and insulting at the same time.' For they rejoice in the things they serve.

But 'ask the four-footed, if they tell you; and the birds of heaven, if they announce to you; command the earth, and it will explain to you; and the fish of the sea will explain to you' (Job 12:7-9). He wishes to show the depth of judgments and the value of man here, saying that the judgments are incomprehensible, of which man receives knowledge only 'in part' (1 Corinthians 13:12). But it is not appropriate to take it quite this way, that one must ask the four-footed as if to receive an answer from them, but 'inquire of the four-footed, and in the birds, and of the creation in the earth, and judgments, and examine, if it is possible to grasp the deepest things in these words.'

He says these things desiring to have them know that the providence of God is concealed, and it is not proper for them to be permitted to it while being ignorant, just as they were overcome by him as if he were suffering through sin, not knowing the judgment. For in reality, the existence of animals at hand does not present the reasonable; indeed, the things that wander about seem to many not to have a reasonable origin. But the Holy One says: 'All things were created for their need' (Psalm 104:30).

But he presents the hidden part of them: '...of his works it is in secret' (Job 28:24). For it is like a medical case to observe the doctor approaching with skill and science, while the patient is often displeased by many medicines imposed by the doctor.

Who then has not known in all these things that the hand of the Lord made these? Having said that the reason for each of the things that happened is hidden, through which he taught his friends to understand, and claiming that for the sake of sin it happens to him as something hidden and not readily available, he presents something else as instruction: that the general reason is manifest, even if the other part happens to be hidden. I say, indeed, that 'the hand of the Lord has done these,' so that they might show the other cause, that even if it is not because of sin, it happens by the hand of the Lord when they are coming together.

For if he had not been the one who requested and received the commission from God, he would have been able to do nothing. From these things, those who introduce the automatic must be rebuked, for everything is governed by order and providence. For the shared breath of the whole is sufficient instruction to stand firm toward all things that are under the providence of God.

Is not the soul of all living things and the spirit of every man in his hand? He who teaches them the things of instruction confirms this, that everything is under the hand of God, both the life of men and death—this is similar to that in the Gospel: 'Are not two sparrows sold for an ass's coin? And will not one of them fall into a snare without the Father of him who is in heaven?' (Matt 10:29)—constructing nothing else through this except to make them understand their own intellect regarding the judgments of God, and not to say unrighteously that he has suffered through sin.

For the mind distinguishes words, but the larynx tastes grain. Understand, if these things are given toward those: 'But ask the four-footed, if they tell you' (Job 12:2). It is clear from the sequence that knowing the judgments of providence is not irrational or soulless, but of the mind. And he takes a paradigm: just as the larynx is a critic of foods, so the mind is of the things spoken and of the things contained in the nature of the whole. 'Discern therefore also you,' he would say to his friends, 'these things, and you will find my way.'