Is God and His Providence Machiavellian?

What does the Bible say about providence? Providence is like God's invisible hand, making sure that He is glorified. Matthew 10:29-31 paints a great picture of the doctrine of providence. “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear, you are more valuable than many sparrows.                      If God cares about the death of two tiny birds, how much more does He care about the lives of those who He created in His own image? In our fallen self-centered minds, having our life already planned out for us makes us seem like robots. However, it is comforting to know that God will make everything right for those who trust Him. (Romans 8:28; Revelation 3:21)

This was my original view of providence, taken from my blog “Popology.” I used the example of Blaise Pascal and J.R.R. Tolkien, by way of Peter Jackson, to back up my view. But by studying Bible Doctrine, my view of providence has been challenged and has expanded, especially in regards to evil in the world.

For example, God’s providence is for everyone, not just believers. This brings up a paradox. If God is the ultimate cause of everything in this world, is he the ultimate cause of evil? For example, God told Pharaoh, “I will harden his heart (Exodus 4:21). But God didn’t directly do evil through Pharaoh. He used Pharaoh’s evil of slavery to bring a greater good: the liberation of the Israelites from slavery. Joseph clearly states this in Genesis 50:20, “You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good.” Joseph was wrongfully sold into captivity by his brothers and lived a gloomy existence in an Egyptian prison after he was yet again wrongfully accused of adultery. Even his friend, Pharaoh’s butler, didn’t vouch for his release. However, in the end, Joseph became one of the most powerful men in Egypt and saved his brother from Egypt.

However, taken at face value, God seems Machiavellian. In his pamphlet The Prince (which is sandwiched between John MacArthur and C.J. Mahaney’s Humility on my bookshelf), Niccolo Machiavelli wrote about the ends justifying the means. He used the example of corrupt Italian cardinal Cesar Borgia, who used the church treasury to carve out an empire in North Italy for his father Alexander VI. Despite the actions of those who claim to be Christians, God doesn’t operate by these principles.

If God was an earthly king, Machiavelli would love Him because he is a ruler that is both feared and loved (52). Proverbs 1:7 says that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” This kind of fear is not cowering before a merciless tyrant, like Nero, who killed his wife and mother. Fearing God is willingly submitting to His will and leaning on Him for guidance in daily life. God is our father (Galatians 1:4), but He is also Lord of the universe who has power over both the hills and plains, unlike the weak deities of Israel’s Syrian neighbors (I Kings 20:28).

But tyrants can be fathers too. Julius Caesar adopted his nephew Octavian to succeed him after his death and be his son. But Octavian had merits; he was a descendant of the Julii, one of the most prestigious families in Rome. When God adopted us as sons and daughters, we had no merits (Romans 3:23; Isaiah 64:6). Paul writes, “ For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps even for a good man someone would even dare to die” (Romans 5:7). A lot of people would die for their family or friends but not for a stranger without a hint of charisma.

However, God’s love is called agape in Greek. There are three words for love in Koine Greek. Eros means lustful desire and comes from the name of the son of Aphrodite, goddess of love and sex. Adelphos means brotherly love. This is love for a family member or someone close to you. Agape love is unconditional and is exemplified in 1 John 4:10, “ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” We have to power to make choices that have real consequences (Romans 1:27; 6:23), but God calls us to be saved because we have a sinful nature (Romans 3:10). “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20). This verse shows that election wasn’t an invention of Paul because God initiates the saving process by “knocking.”

God doesn’t use evil ends to bring about good means. He can’t sin or tempt anyone (James 1:13). But he gives humans free will to do both good and evil after Adam and Eve ate the fruit in the garden (Genesis 3:7; Isaiah 66:3). This free will is under God’s providence, which controls even “chance events”, like rolling a die (Proverbs 16:33). When we sin, it’s our faults, not God’s, and we have to confess our sins and ask for his forgiveness (1 John 1:9).

In conclusion, there can be no crystal clear explanation for why there is evil in the world. But if we had a God that could be placed in a box and explained away, would He really be God? We must trust in God’s sovereignty and wisdom because “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).