The Devil and his demons

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He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them . . . Colossians 2:15

These demonic forces are . . . superhuman, personal, intelligent forces led by a great mastermind implacable in hatred, unwearying in scheming, and terrifying in ferocity.

Wherever there is evil, it is his work. Wherever there is good, it provokes him to fury.

Sometimes he is violent as a lion, sometimes wily as the serpent, and sometimes as plausible as an angel of light. But though he and his demons are infinitely adaptable, his strategy remains ever the same: victory over the Maker, whatever the cost; the destruction of the church, however long it takes; the establishment of hell on earth.

This was the adversary that Christ had to confront and conquer, and he emerged victorious in his every encounter: in the three great temptations in the wilderness; in the poor demonized men and women who accosted him regularly throughout his ministry; in those ‘works of the devil’ (disease, disability, and death) which posed him a challenge at every turn; and, above all, in the last great conflict on the cross of Calvary.
Here, once and for all, Christ overthrew the dominion of Satan.

–Donald Macleod, Christ Crucified: Understanding the Atonement (IVP, 2014), 241

Meticulous Providence

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decree“Whether God has decreed all things that ever come to pass or not, own that He knows all things beforehand. Now, it is self-evident that if He knows all things beforehand, He either doth approve of them or doth not approve of them; that is, He either is willing they should be, or He is not willing they should be. But to will that they should be is to decree them” – Jonathan Edwards

In an article entitled “How Involved Is God in the Details of Your Life?” Jon Bloom writes:

Why does God give us more details about Joseph’s life than any other individual in Genesis?

Genesis has an interesting structure. It zooms over the creation account like a rocket (about 3% of the book), soars over the millennia between Adam and Abraham like a jet (about 15% — dropping speed and altitude over Noah), and cruises over Abraham (21%), Isaac (8%), and Jacob (23%) like a helicopter, hovering here and there. Then it sort of drives down the road of Joseph’s life, devoting to it nearly 30% of its content.

God is always intentional in his proportionality. More does not necessarily equal more important in God’s word economy. The epistle to the Ephesians is much shorter than the narrative of Joseph’s life, but it is not less important. However, more does imply take note. There are crucial things God wants us to see.

God has many reasons to drive us through Joseph’s life, some more obvious than others. Let’s look at one perhaps lesser obvious reason.

Sightings of Sovereignty in the Life of Joseph

On this drive, if we’re paying attention to the scenery out the windows, we see a startling and unnerving level of God’s providential involvement in the details of Joseph’s life. Here are some of the scenes (warning: some of these scenes you may find disturbing).

Joseph’s place in the Patriarchal birth order was part of God’s plan (Genesis 30:22–24).
This means Rachel’s agonizing struggle with infertility was part of God’s plan (Genesis 30:1–2).
Jacob’s romantic preference of Rachel and therefore his (probably paternally insensitive) favoritism shown to Joseph was part of God’s plan (Genesis 29:30, 37:3).
Joseph’s prophetic dreams were (obviously) part of God’s plan (Genesis 37:5–11).
His brothers’ jealously (note: sibling rivalry and family conflict) was part of God’s plan (Genesis 37:8).
His brothers’ evil, murderous, greedy betrayal of him, and Judah’s part in it, was part of God’s plan (Genesis 37:18–28, 50:20).
His brothers’ 20-plus year deception of Jacob regarding Joseph was part of God’s plan.
The existence of an evil slave trade at the time was part of God’s plan (Genesis 37:26–27).
Potiphar’s complicity with the slave trade and his position in Egypt was part of God’s plan (Genesis 37:36).
Joseph’s extraordinary administrative gifting was part of God’s plan (Genesis 39:2–4).
Joseph’s favor with Potiphar was part of God’s plan (Genesis 39:4–6).
Potiphar’s wife’s being given over to sexual immorality was part of God’s plan (Genesis 39:8–12, Romans 1:24).
Potiphar’s wife’s dishonesty was part of God’s plan (Genesis 39:14–18).
Potiphar’s unjust judgment of Joseph was part of God’s plan (Genesis 39:19–20).
The particular prison Joseph was sent to — the one that would receive the cupbearer and the baker — was part of God’s plan (Genesis 39:20).
Joseph’s favor with the prison warden was part of God’s plan (Genesis 39:21–23).
The high-level conspiracy and its exposure resulting in the imprisonment of Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker were part of God’s plan (Genesis 40:1–3).
Joseph being appointed to care for them was part of God’s plan (Genesis 40:4).
The dreams the cupbearer and baker had were (obviously) part of God’s plan (Genesis 40:5).
Joseph’s compassionate care for their troubled hearts was part of God’s plan (Genesis 40:6–7).
Their trusting Joseph’s integrity enough to confide their dreams in him was part of God’s plan (Genesis 40:8–20).
Joseph discerning the meaning of their dreams was part of God’s plan (Genesis 40:12–13, 18–19).
The Egyptian judicial processes that exonerated the cupbearer and condemned the baker were part of God’s plan (Genesis 40:20–22).
The cupbearer failing to remember Joseph for two years was part of God’s plan (Genesis 41:23–42:1).
The timing of Pharaoh’s dreams was part of God’s plan (Genesis 41:1–7).
The inability of Pharaoh’s counselors to discern his dreams was part of God’s plan (Genesis 41:8).
The cupbearer remembering Joseph and having the courage to remind Pharaoh of a potentially suspicious event was part of God’s plan (Genesis 41:9–13).
Pharaoh’s being desperate enough to listen to a Hebrew prisoner was part of God’s plan (Genesis 41:14–15).
Joseph having discernment of Pharaoh’s dreams was part of God’s plan (Genesis 41:25–36).
The miraculous amount of immediate trust that Pharaoh placed in Joseph’s interpretation and counsel was part of God’s plan (Genesis 41:37–40).
Joseph being given Asenath (an Egyptian) for a wife was part of God’s plan (Genesis 41:45).
Joseph’s two sons by Asenath, Manasseh and Ephraim, were part of God’s plan (Genesis 41:50–52, 48:5).
The complex confluence of natural phenomena that caused the extraordinarily fruitful years followed by the extraordinarily desolate years, with all the resulting human prosperity and suffering, and the consolidation of Egyptian wealth and power in Pharaoh’s hands were part of God’s plan (Genesis 41:53–57; 47:13–26).
The threat of starvation that caused terrible fear and moved Jacob to send his sons to Egypt for grain was part of God’s plan (Genesis 42:1–2).
The brothers’ safe journey to Egypt and Benjamin’s non-participation was part of God’s plan (Genesis 42:3–4).
The brothers’ bowing to Joseph in unwitting fulfillment of the dreams they hated was part of God’s plan (Genesis 42:6).
Joseph’s whole scheme to test his brothers was part of God’s plan (Genesis 42:9–44:34).
Simeon’s being chosen to remain in Egypt was part of God’s plan (Genesis 42:24). Jacob’s refusal to release Benjamin to return to Egypt causing the delay of the brothers’ return and Simeon’s bewildering experience in custody was part of God’s plan (Genesis 42:38).
The relentless threat of starvation that prompted Judah to make his personal guarantee of Benjamin’s safe return and forced Jacob to finally allow Benjamin go to Egypt was part of God’s plan (Genesis 43:8–14).
The success with which Joseph was able to continue to conceal his identity and pull off the framing of Benjamin for thievery and all the anguish the brothers experienced as a result was part of God’s plan (Genesis 43:15–44:17).
Judah’s willingness to exchange his life for Benjamin’s out of love for his father, and thus initiating his own sale into slavery like he initiated Joseph’s sale into slavery, was part of God’s plan (Genesis 44:18–34).
Joseph’s timing in revealing himself to his brothers was part of God’s plan (Genesis 45:1–14).
Jacob being told by his sons of Joseph’s survival and position in Egypt (and the exposure of his sons’ 20-plus-year deceit with all the accompanying pain) was part of God’s plan (Genesis 45:25–28).
God directing Jacob to move to Egypt was (obviously) part of God’s plan (Genesis 46:2–4).
The relocation of the entire clan of Israel to Egypt, where they would reside and grow for 430 years and eventually become horribly enslaved, thus fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 15:13–14, was part of God’s plan (Genesis 46:5–47:12).

If we wished, there are more sightings we could include from this drive. But these give us a lot to chew on. Continue reading →

Superstition

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Stephen Witmer (PhD, University of Cambridge) is the pastor of Pepperell Christian Fellowship in Pepperell, Massachusetts and teaches New Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He is the author of Eternity Changes Everything and the forthcoming Revelation volume in Crossway’s Knowing the Bible series. In an article entitled “Are You a Superstitious Calvinist?” he writes:

John Calvin uses a surprising term to describe our neglect of the doctrine of God’s providence in the course of our everyday lives. He calls it superstition.

Superstitious people wrongly attribute supernatural power to things that do not actually possess that power: a black cat, a broken mirror, a ladder overhead, salt thrown over your shoulder, the chalk of the third base line.

But what does superstition have to do with providence? The classical Reformed view of providence teaches that God is in ultimate control of everything in the universe, including the free choices and actions (good and bad) of all people. If this understanding is correct, it is superstitious to think and feel and act as though other human beings possess ultimate causality in what they do. We’re ascribing God’s role to them.

But isn’t this how we often think, feel, and act — even those of us who are Calvinists? We live as though the people who hurt and harm us are writing their own damaging scripts rather than fulfilling the sovereign plan of God.

Seeing the Bad Fruit of Superstition

In his Institutes of the Christian Religion, Calvin exposes the bad fruit of our superstition:

We are superstitiously timid, I say, if whenever creatures threaten us or forcibly terrorize us we become as fearful as if they had some intrinsic power to harm us, or might wound us inadvertently and accidently, or there were not enough help in God against their harmful acts. (1.XVI.3)

Our superstition makes us timid and afraid. Early in my pastoral ministry, one woman with influence in the congregation was regularly critical of my preaching and leadership. Even her occasional affirmations were backhanded put-downs; she once complimented one my sermons by saying it was much better than another subpar sermon I had recently given.

Over time, I developed a prickly sensitivity toward her. I realize now I was being superstitious, ascribing to her a power she didn’t actually possess, forgetting God’s sovereignty over the words she spoke and his intention to work something good in my life through them. I didn’t need to fear what she said. As Calvin says, “there is no erratic power, or action, or motion in creatures, but . . . they are governed by God’s secret plan in such a way that nothing happens except what is knowingly and willingly decreed by him.” The fruit of my failure to live in light of this knowledge was fear.

Symptoms of a Superstitious Calvinist

Calvin’s use of the category of superstition isn’t perfect. It could wrongly be interpreted to imply that humans have no real agency. But I think it’s a helpful way of expressing a widespread problem. Many of us are superstitious Calvinists. We believe in God’s exhaustive, meticulous providence, but in our actual experience of daily life, we don’t live from that conviction. Our superstition makes us into:

1. Avoiders of People

Superstitious people avoid black cats, broken mirrors, ladders, and Friday the 13th. Superstitious Calvinists avoid people who intimidate us with their words and actions. Continue reading →