We looked at the first three of the characteristics of the Counsels of God in our last post. God’s counsels are Great, they are Wonderful and they are immutable.
We fourthly[1] observe that they are Sovereign. In the midst of a discourse on the nature of God, Isaiah comments of the this aspect of God’s counsels in Isa 40:13,14:
13 Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord,
Or as His counselor has taught Him?
14 With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him,
And taught Him in the path of justice?
Who taught Him knowledge,
And showed Him the way of understanding?
After his humbling time crawling on his belly and eating grass like an animal, Nebuchadnezzar came to know about the wisdom of bowing to the counsels of the God of heaven. In Daniel 4:35 we hear him say:
All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing;
He does according to His will in the army of heaven
And among the inhabitants of the earth.
No one can restrain His hand
Or say to Him, “What have You done?”
The control of God exercised over His creation is both an encouragement and a consolation. Looked at from either side of an event, the truth of the sovereign hand of God is essential to a proper, Christian view of life. From the “before” side, it can encourage us to to look at events with hope the assurance of God’s positive involvement. From the “during” and “after” side, it can calm and reassure use that the is a controlling hand at the controls and life is not random. This too is encouraging.
Fifthly, the Counsels are Eternal. Paul says in Ephesians 3:10-12:
10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, 11 according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.
Dr. MacArthur has said:
“The supreme purpose of the church is to glorify God, which includes the displaying of His wisdom (v. 10) before the angels, who then honor Him with even greater praise.” [2]
If this is the supreme purpose of the Church (and it surely is) then those purposes must be eternal. The highest purposes of God must also be the ones that He will seek to serve for the “longest” time, thus for all eternity.
Further, sixth, the Counsels of God are proved to be faithful and true. Isaiah said in Isa 25:1:
O Lord, You are my God.
I will exalt You,
I will praise Your name,
For You have done wonderful things;
Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
This passage begins a section in Isaiah of praise for God concerning His final judgment of the world as laid out in Chapter 24. The praise is because God ahs planned all of His actions ahead of time, and will act in righteousness and faithfulness to His plan, to His counsel given long ago.
It is interesting that this affirmation is very personal on Isaiah’s part. Note the use of personal pronouns and very individual nature of the application of the truth here. This is fairly typical of the way that Isaiah responds to the revelation of God. It is not a dry and academic truth for him, but something that seizes his mind and his emotions and propels his him forward into the midst of what God is doing.
Seventh, The counsels of God cannot be frustrated, they shall be performed. Many of these ideas are certainly related, but it is good to consider them separately I believe. Men seek to frustrate the plans and counsels of God by various means, what means they can think of really. But the plans and schemes of man come to naught. God’s counsels are sovereign and will be performed. Isaiah said in Isaiah 14:26-27:
26 This is the purpose that is purposed against the whole earth,
And this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.
27 For the Lord of hosts has purposed,
And who will annul it?
His hand is stretched out,
And who will turn it back?” .
This is obviously an rhetorical question, the implied answer being “no one! We must note that the emphasis here is the power lies with the decree of God. It is not that God figures out a way to make it work. The decree is, in and of itself, unable to overcome. It is the arrogance and sinful pride of man that leads him to set himself against it, but that does not make the decree breachable. The possibility of it being frustrated does not have to exist in order for this statement to have meaning!
Our free-will buddies, those who argue for a libertarian free will, that in order for the will to be truly free there must be the possibility to contravene the the final desire of God, could take a lesson from this example.
Just before that statement Isaiah had said in verse 24:
The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying,
“Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass,
And as I have purposed, so it shall stand:
The verb here is in a form that means “to swear an oath”. It is coupled with the Name of God, “Lord of Hosts” that traditionally is associated with the might of God, His power and ability to do as He has decreed.
“As I have thought” is translated in that fashion because it is an infinitive, an active sense for the verb “to say”. God has no verbal ability, no tongue with which to speak in the normal way in which in this verb would be used and thus the translator uses the idea of thinking or purposes in this context for God. The idea is active, ongoing, not passive and looking backward at a finished act.
The grammar of the phrase is a simple statement, very emphatic and thus the use of “surely. As I am “thinking” or “saying”, so it shall be. There is no question that what I purpose will come to pass!
Isaiah 46:11 repeats the idea:
Calling a bird of prey from the east,
The man who executes My counsel, from a far country.
Indeed I have spoken it;
I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it;
I will also do it.
Here God speaks more of a settled purpose, and declares that it will be accomplished – it will be done. But the idea is the same nevertheless. God has declared, He has purposed it – and those purposes will come to pass!
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[1] Torrey, R. (1995, c1897). The New Topical TextBook : A scriptural text book for the use of ministers, teachers, and all Christian workers. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos research Systems, Inc.
[2] MacArthur, J. J. (1997, c1997). The MacArthur Study Bible (electronic ed.) (Eph 3:11). Nashville: Word Pub.
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