Calvinism Everywhere, Part 19

Second Samuel 24 begins with God's anger burning against Israel, and so YHWH incites David against them (2 Sam. 24:1). I discussed this in the last post on Calvinism Everywhere. Here I want to direct your attention to what happened after David's heart struck him (for taking a census) and he confessed his sin (2 Sam. 24:10).

Through the prophet Gad YHWH speaks and gives David three options from which to choose. For his sin, God could send three years of famine upon the land; or God could make David flee before his foes for three months; or God could send three days' pestilence through the land (2 Sam. 24:12-13). Which will it be, David, from the hand of the sovereign Lord? David chooses pestilence; so YHWH sends pestilence (2 Sam. 24:14-15). And 70,000 die.

Now consider those three options again. They assume absolute sovereignty. God's total control over nature, wills, and disease is plain. And it is at these three points that we moderns routinely refuse to recognize the hand of God. Nature? Come on. We know famines occur due to natural, not supernatural, processes (hence nature). God doesn't interfere with such things, at least not ordinarily. Right? And being chased by foes would mean God would have to bring some pressure to bear upon the human will, since being chased by men or not involves free choice. And we know God doesn't interfere with free choice. Don't we? And pestilence? You've got to be kidding. This is just pure biology and pathophysiology. Germs happen. Cells dysfunction. We can even describe the mechanisms of many diseases. But God sending disease? Sounds really primitive, even mean-spirited and bad-tempered, and (of course) unloving. So God wouldn't do that. God couldn't do that.

But there you have it. It's in the text. God will send one of the three options before David: famine, foes, or disease. (And, incidentally then, he'll withhold the other two.) Now what sort of God are we talking about to be able to bring such to pass? With whom are we reckoning? With whom do we have to do? The God of the spirits of all flesh, the God of heaven and earth, the God of armies. YHWH is his name, Father, Son, and Spirit, working his wondrous will from all eternity. O bow low, soul, and do obeisance, and marvel, and adore! Adore the God of Calvinism, the God of this world, the God of the Bible. Holy is he! (Ps. 99:5,9).