Is God In Control Of Everything?

When I first became a Christian, I thought that God was in control of everything. However, that view of mine was soon challenged by a popular atheist question, which I am you might have heard a lot: “If God is all-powerful and all-good, then why do bad things happen in this world?”

On the surface, their argument seemed to make a lot of sense. If God was really all-powerful as I believed, then he very well has the ability to prevent all these bad things from happening. If he was also really all-good as I also believed, then he would definitely want to prevent all these bad things from happening, right?

The problem is that bad things still continue to happen in this world which destroy many lives and cause great pain and suffering: from natural disasters like earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes, to human evil in the form of terrorist groups, and even entire governments! If God was all-powerful and all-good, then why do all these evil things still happen?

This question continued to disturb me for a very long time, until I heard a preacher say: “God has nothing to do with all the evil and bad things that happen in this world; they happen because God is not in control over everything.” This was a revolutionary idea to me. I have never heard it before, but it solves a lot of problems! By denying the all-powerfulness of God, I could still keep my belief that God is all-good, but at the same time, I could also God off the hook for all evil and bad things that happen in this world.

However, one thing I have noticed about teachers who say that god is not in control of everything is that they seldom go to the Bible to substantiate their beliefs. The most that they do is say something like: “But God is good/loving, and a good/loving God will never permit evil and bad things to happen!” But notice how that is an emotional argument rather than a biblical one. Amen, God is indeed good and loving as the Bible says, but who gets to define what “good” and “loving” means? You? According to what standard do you define “good” and “loving”? According to your subjective emotions? According to what you feel is good/loving and evil/unloving? No, we must understand the goodness and love of God according to the Bible.

So, as we come to the Bible together to see what God has revealed in his word about his sovereignty, I pray that we will come with a teachable heart; a heart open to God and open to correction by his word. I pray that every rebellion in our hearts would be crushed, so that when we see something in the Scriptures which contradicts what we believe, we would readily give up our traditions, no matter how precious they are, and submit in humble obedience to the truths of God in Scripture, no matter how uncomfortable they makes us feel.

The Biblical Doctrine of God’s Sovereignty

Our first passage begins with an acknowledgement that our God is a great God:

Psalm 135:5 For I know that Jehovah is great;
and our lord [is greater] than all gods.

I think all of us know that “Jehovah is great” and that he is “greater than all gods”—or do we really? How does the biblical writer demonstrate the greatness of God? Let us take a look at the next verse:

Psalm 135:6 All that Jehovah pleases he does;
in the heavens and in the earth;
in the seas and all depths.

So according to the biblical writer, the greatness of Jehovah is manifest in his ability to do whatever brings him pleasure; God is great because he can do whatever pleases him. Is this what we think about when we say that our God is a great God?

Where is he able to exercise this ability to do whatever he pleases? “In the heavens and in the earth; in the seas and all depths”; in other words, in every part of the world. Right here, from the words of Jehovah himself, we have an explicit affirmation of the absolute sovereignty of God. God is not just able to do only some of the things he pleases as some Christians claim, which is essentially what they are saying when they affirm that “God is not in control of everything.”

According to these Christians, there are some things which please God to do because he is good and loving—such as preventing evil and bad things from happening—but he cannot do it because “he is not in control of everything.” Such a god is not as great as the God of the Bible. No, the God of the Bible is great because he is able to do “all that he pleases.” If it pleases him to prevent an evil or bad thing from happening, he can and he will do it.

God is sovereign over historical events

In Isaiah 46, Jehovah speaks to the people of Israel, contrasting himself as the one and only true God in comparison to the many false gods which they are worshipping. In verses 1–7, Jehovah talks about these false gods:

Isaiah 46:1–2, 7 Bel bows down; Nebo stoops low;
their idols are on beasts and livestock;
...
They stoop low; they bow down together;
they are not able to save the burden;
but themselves have gone into exile.
...
it does not move.
If one shouts to him, he will not answer;
he will not save him from his trouble.

But what about Jehovah? How does Jehovah compare with all these false gods? Take a look at what Jehovah says in the next few verses:

Isaiah 46:8–11 Remember this, and be firm.
Return this, O rebels, to heart!
Remember the first things from eternity,
that I am God and there is no other god,
and none is like me;
telling the end from the beginning,
and [telling] from before things not yet done;
saying: My counsel shall stand,
and I will do all my pleasure;
calling the ravenous bird from the east,
[and calling] the man of my counsel from a far land.
Surely, I have spoken,
surely, I will bring it to pass;
I have formed it,
surely I will do it.

So, how does Jehovah demonstrate that he is the only true God over and against the false gods? If we only read the first two lines of verse 10, it may seem as if Jehovah is only claiming to know the future: “telling the end from the beginning... telling from before things not yet done.” However, when we read the the rest of verse 10 along with verse 11, we find that the reason why he is able to tell the future is because he gets to decide how the future will turn out: “I have spoken; I will bring it to pass; I have formed it; I will do it,” says Jehovah.

Notice that just like in Psalm 135:6, God also claims the ability to do what pleases him in verse 10: “My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.” The word “counsel” here refers to something a person intends to do. No matter who or what tries to topple what God intends to do, “his counsel will stand.” That is why Jehovah is the true God and no one else is: because Jehovah alone can do whatever he wants in this world and no one can hinder him. The surety of the counsel of Jehovah is also celebrated in Psalm 33:

Psalm 33:10–11 Jehovah breaks the counsel of the nations;
he frustrates the intentions of the peoples.
The counsel of Jehovah stands forever;
the intentions of his heart [stands] from generation to generation.

Notice the contrast being drawn here: the counsel and intentions of human nations versus the counsel and intentions of Jehovah. What is the difference between the two? One always overrides and overpowers the other. The human nations have a counsel; they have intentions to do things, but so does Jehovah! And if the counsel and intentions of the human nations conflict with Jehovah’s, then which one will prevail every single time? The counsel and intentions of Jehovah! Jehovah has the ability to break and frustrate the counsel and intentions of the human nations, but the reverse is not true. No matter how hard they try, the human nations cannot break or frustrate the counsel and intentions of Jehovah. What a mighty God we serve!

Do we believe what the Bible says here? Many Christians do not, since they believe that it is always the intention of God’s heart that only good things happens in the world. However, I cannot accept that, because what these Christians are essentially saying is that evil men and bad things routinely frustrate the intention of God’s heart. But that cannot be the case because of what the Bible says here: “the intentions of his heart stands from generation to generation”! Jehovah has a counsel and intentions which he pleases to fulfill, and nothing can stop him from bringing them to pass. In Ephesians 1:11, the Apostle Paul calls God “the one who works all things according to the counsel of his will.”

In the Book of Daniel, there is a story where Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, was struck insane by God for his pride, such that he behaved like an animal (Daniel 4:33). When his sanity finally returned to him and he came back to his senses, he acknowledged the absolute sovereignty of God in the world:

Daniel 4:34–35 His dominion is an eternal dominion,
and his kingdom with generation to generation.
And all the dwellers of the earth are counted as nothing,
and he does according to his pleasure,
with the host of heaven,
and the dwellers of earth.
And there is none who can hinder his hand,
and say to him: What are you doing?

Was Nebuchadnezzar wrong when he said that “he does according to his pleasure” and that “there is none who can hinder his hand”? Apparently, many Christians think so! They say that God always wants to do only good to the world, but bad and evil things keep happening because his hand is constantly being hindered. Mind you, this is the lesson that Nebuchadnezzar learned after his ordeal; why won’t these Christians learn it as well?

God is sovereign over randomness

So we see that according to the Bible, God is absolutely sovereign in the world; that is, he is in absolutely in control of absolutely everything; every event that happens in history. In fact, the Bible even tells us that God is even in control of things which may seem random to us:

Proverbs 16:33 The lot is cast in the lap, but its every decision is from Jehovah.

We do not know for sure what it means for “the lot” to be “cast on the lap” in the original cultural context in which this verse was written, but what is our modern and cultural equivalent? Well, that would be the six-sided die being rolled on the table. To us, the outcome of every roll is random; all things being equal, the die could land with any of its six sides facing upward with equal probabilities. However, according to the Bible, “its every decision is from Jehovah.” What is random to us is determined by God.

Actually, we consider something “random” because it depends on various factors which are more or less beyond our control, thus giving us the perception of randomness. Examples of this include: the trajectory of the die as it leaves the hand; the wind, air pressure, and temperature of the environment; the pitch, roll, and yaw of the die as it lands; the friction which it encounters as it makes contact with the table; etc. Thus, in order to be in control the random outcome as Proverbs 16:33 asserts, God has to be sovereign enough to manipulate each of these tiny details and get them all exactly right. The point is clear: God is absolutely in control of everything that happens; even those things that seem random to us—right down to the smallest detail.

God is sovereign over natural phenomena

Let us return to Psalm 135. We have just seen in verse 6 that God exercises his sovereignty in all parts of the world. But how does he exercise that sovereignty? Let us look at the next verse of our text:

Psalm 135:7 He raises clouds from the ends of the earth;
he makes lightning for the rain;
he brings out wind from his storehouses.

How do clouds form? We learned early in school that clouds are formed when water evaporates from the earth and condenses in the sky as clouds. Yet, according to the biblical writer, how do clouds form? “He [God] raises clouds from the ends of the earth.”

How does lightning occur? By electrical energy flowing from somewhere in the sky to a conductor on the earth. Yet according to the biblical writer, how does lightning occur? “He [God] makes lightning from the rain.”

How does wind occur? When there is a difference in air pressure between two adjacent places, air moves from the place of greater pressure to the place of lesser pressure, the moving air thus being wind. Yet, according to the biblical writer, how does wind occur? “He [God] brings out wind from his storehouses.”

These are all mundane day-to-day natural phenomena which occur by natural processes, yet the Bible ascribes to God an active role in the natural processes which bring about these natural phenomena: God raises clouds; God makes lightning; God brings out wind.

This is very much like what we find in the Book of Jonah: “Jehovah threw a great wind to the sea” (Jonah 1:4), which troubled the ship which Jonah was on. When Jonah was thrown into the sea, “Jehovah appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah” (Jonah 1:17). When Jonah was sulking outside the city of Nineveh, “Jehovah God appointed a plant and made it rise over Jonah to be a shade over his head” (Jonah 4:6). The next morning, “God appointed a worm... to strike the plant, and it withered” (Jonah 4:7). Then after that, “God appointed a hot east wind” (Jonah 4:8). Again, all these natural phenomena came about by natural processes, but according to the biblical writer, God was the one who actively brought about these natural phenomena.

So we see here that the sovereignty of God extends to natural phenomena which we take for granted. Every night, the sun goes down, and we fully expect the sun to come back up the next morning; and when it does, we do not think much about it, because that is what is supposed to happen, right? It is only natural! But look at what Jesus says: God “makes the sun to rise upon evil ones and good ones” (Matthew 5:45).

This does not simply mean that God created the earth to rotate so that the sun rises and sets continually, and then he left it to run like clockwork. The Bible says that Jesus as God is “upholding all things by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:3), and that “in him, all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17). Even right now, the earth is rotating upon its axis by the active upholding of God, and the moment he stops doing that upholding, our entire world would fall apart. That is how he “makes the sun to rise.” God is so sovereign over the rising and setting of the sun such that he is able to, at his will, stop the sun from setting (Joshua 10:13).

When we sow a seed into the ground and give it water, we fully expect it to grow into a plant because that is what is supposed to happen, right? It is only natural! But again, what does the Bible say? Consider the following passage:

1 Corinthians 3:6–7 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was making to grow, such that neither the one who plants is something, nor the one who waters, but God who makes to grow.

In context, this passage is about the effectiveness of the Christian ministry, but the Apostle Paul uses the natural phenomenon of plant growth to illustrate how Christians play their respective roles, but all their effort depends on God for effectiveness. The growth of the plant ultimately depends on God to make it grow. We can sow the seed and we can water, but if God does not make the plant grow, it will not grow. I think this should be our attitude towards all of our endeavours. What usually happens? We put in our efforts into the endeavour, and when it succeeds, what do we think? “Well of course it succeeded; it is supposed to! I did everything that was required for it to succeed; it is only natural that it did!”

No, what we need to realize is that it is “God who makes to grow.” So what should our attitude be? We plant, and we water, and we depend on God to make it grow. In other words, we put in all the effort that is required to make the endeavour successful, realizing all the while that whether or not it works out in the end depends ultimately on God. This is why we thank God for our successes, even though we were the ones who put in the blood, sweat, and tears into the endeavour. Only we who believe in God’s absolute sovereignty can truly thank God for our successes.

Do we believe what the Bible says here, that God is in control of natural phenomena, and that he actively causes the natural processes which bring about these phenomena? Many Christians believe that, and that is why they would readily thank God for good weather, yet many of them still say: “Yes, God is in control of natural phenomena, but he is not in control when bad things happen!” No, that does not make sense, since natural disasters like earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes are all results of natural processes. Therefore, if God is in control of natural processes and actively causes them, then he is ultimately responsible for the natural disasters that they give rise to, and all the death, pain, and suffering that result.

God is sovereign over bad happenings

Speaking of death, pain, and suffering, let us take a look at the next two verses:

Psalm 135:8–9 Who struck the firstborns of Egypt;
from man unto beast.
He sent signs and wonders among Egypt;
on Pharaoh and all his servants.

Imagine the pain felt by families all over the land of Egypt, as they discovered each of their firstborn children dead on that Passover night. According to the biblical writer, who killed the firstborn children of Egypt? God himself. But some Christians might protest: “No, God did not kill the firstborn children of Egypt; it was the destroyer!” And indeed, when we read the biblical account of Passover night in Exodus 12, we see in verse 23 that “Jehovah... will not allow the destroyer to come to your house to strike.” Yet, throughout the same chapter, Jehovah is the one doing the killing of the firstborn.

Take a look at verse 12, where Jehovah says: “I will pass through the land of Egypt in this night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from man and unto beast, and against all the gods of Egypt I will do judgement. I am Jehovah.” Was Jehovah lying here when he says that he himself will do the killing of the firstborn? Of course not! He even seals it with his name: “I am Jehovah!” In verse 29, which records the actual event of the killing of the firstborn, we read that “Jehovah struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt.”

Even in verse 23, where the text says that “Jehovah... will not allow the destroyer to come to your house to strike,” the verse begins by saying that “Jehovah will pass through to strike Egypt.” The same Hebrew word for “strike” (nāḡaph) is used to denote the activity of both Jehovah and the destroyer in the killing of the firstborn. Furthermore, the fact that Jehovah could disallow the destroyer to kill anyone means that he has control over this destroyer. Therefore, if the destroyer did kill anyone, then it is because God made a conscious decision to allow him to!

It is important to keep in mind the biblical principle of agency: the indirect cause is as responsible for the effect as the direct cause. Yes, “the destroyer” may be the one who actually did the killing of the firstborn of Egypt, but because Jehovah was the one who made a conscious decision to allow the destroyer to do what he did, knowing full well what would happen as a result, then biblically speaking, Jehovah was equally the one who did the killing of the firstborn of Egypt. We find this also in the next few verses:

Psalm 135:10–12 Who struck many nations,
and killed mighty kings.
Sihon, king of the Amorites,
and Og, king of Bashan,
and all the kingdoms of Canaan,
and he gave their land as an inheritance;
an inheritance to Israel his people

Who struck the Canaanite kingdoms and killed kings Sihon and Og? Well, if we read the Book of Numbers, we would find that it was the Israelites who did that: “But Sihon did not let Israel pass through his border... and he came to Jahaz and fought against Israel. And Israel struck him [Sihon] with the edge of the sword” (Numbers 21:23–24). “And Og king of Bashan came out to meet them [the Israelites], he and all his people at the battle in Edrei... And they [the Israelites] struck him and his sons and all his people” (Numbers 21:33–35). But according to the writer of Psalm 135, who struck the Canaanite kingdoms and killed kings Sihon and Og? Jehovah himself.

This is not a contradiction in the Bible. Again, we need to keep in mind the biblical principle of agency. On one level, the Israelites were the ones who struck the Canaanites, in that they were the ones who personally did the actual physical fighting. But on another level, because God commanded the Israelites to fight these nations, and then caused them to win by his sovereignty, God was ultimately the one who struck the Canaanites. I do not think that the Israelites actually had the military prowess to defeat these nations by their own strength. It is no wonder Jehovah says to the Israelites about King Og: “I have given him into your hand” (Numbers 21:34).

So, the defeat of kingdoms and the destruction of cities are most certainly done by direct causes. In the case of Sihon, Og, and the other Canaanites, the direct cause of their defeat was the Israelites. Many other cities were destroyed by direct causes like earthquakes, floods, hurricanes. Yet, behind all these direct causes is the ultimate indirect cause: Jehovah, the one true God of the world, the God of the Bible, who made conscious decisions to cause or allow these direct causes to take their courses, knowing full well exactly what would happen as a result. Amos 3:6 summarizes this well:

Amos 3:6 Will evil happen in a city but Jehovah did not do it?

The answer to this rhetorical is obviously: “No; evil does not happen in a city unless Jehovah has done it.” Or to put it another way: there is no evil that happens in a city that Jehovah has not done; the only evil that happens in a city is what Jehovah has done, whether actively (by causing it) or passively (by permitting it). Do we believe what the Bible says here? Many Christians do not. They say that God only causes good things to happen, and he does not in any way cause bad things to happen. Yet, the Bible in many places affirms that it is God who causes both good and bad things to happen. Previously, we looked at Isaiah 46, where Jehovah demonstrates his “Godness” by asserting that he is sovereign over everything that happens in history. Turn back a chapter to Isaiah 45, where Jehovah is likewise demonstrating his “Godness”:

Isaiah 45:5–7 I am Jehovah, and there is none else;
besides me there is no god.
I have girded you, but you have not known me;
so that they may know,
from the rising of the sun and from its setting,
that none is beside me;
I am Jehovah, and there is none else;
forming light, and creating darkness;
making peace, and creating evil.
I am Jehovah, making all these.

“Forming light and creating darkness” alludes to the Creation-act of God in Genesis 1: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” That is verse 1. What does verse 2 say? “And the earth was formless and empty, and darkness was on the face of the depth.” Oh, where did the earth come from? I did not recall God saying “Let there be earth!” Where did darkness come from? They were already there when God created the heavens and the earth in verse 1. It is only in verse 3 that God said, “Let there be light!” and light came into existence. But in Isaiah 45:7, God is clear about the origins of both light and darkness: both are created by Jehovah and no one else.

Then comes the next line: “making peace, and creating evil.” The words “peace” and “evil” here function in contrast to one another, just like the words “light” and “darkness” in the previous line. The word translated “peace” here is the famous Hebrew word shālōwm, which means “welfare,” and the word for “evil” here is raʿ, which in this context means the opposite of “welfare”: i.e., “calamity; bad happenings.” Think about what God is saying here: just as both light and darkness was created by Jehovah alone and no one else, so also are both “peace” and “evil” created by Jehovah alone and no one else!

The God of the Bible claims sole ultimate responsibility for both good and evil happenings in the world, and he does so zealously; he even makes sure to emphasize: “I am Jehovah, the one making all these”! Now, how does that square with the beliefs of some Christians, who insist that God only gives people welfare, but never gives anyone calamity and bad happenings? Would they argue with what God says about himself here, that he is the one who “makes peace, and creates evil”?

By the way, the word translated “to create” in the expressions “creating darkness” and “creating evil” is the Hebrew verb bārāʾ, which is the same word found in Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Interestingly, whenever the verb bārāʾ occurs in the Hebrew Bible, its subject is always God. In other words, bārāʾ is exclusively the activity of God; only God does bārāʾ and no one else. I find it significant that when expressing his responsibility for both “darkness” and “evil,” the Lord intentionally chose a verb which denotes an action exclusive to himself. His point is clear: Jehovah alone is ultimately responsibility for all the evil that happens in the world!

In the story of Moses and the Burning Bush, when God commanded Moses to speak to Pharaoh, Moses declined on the basis that he was “not a man of words” and that he was “heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue” (Exodus 4:10). Look at how the Lord rebuked Moses:

Exodus 4:11 And Jehovah said to him: Who gives a mouth to man, or who gives dumbness, or deafness, or sight, or blindness? Is it not I, Jehovah?

“Is it not I, Jehovah?” The answer to Jehovah’s rhetorical question is obviously, “Yes, Jehovah, it is you who gives man a mouth, or dumbness, or deafness, or sight, or blindness.” Yet even here, many Christians will disagree with God. If God were to ask them the same question: “Who gives a mouth to man, or who gives dumbness, or deafness, or sight, or blindness? Is it not I, Jehovah?” They would answer: “No Lord, it is not you; it cannot be; I will not believe it. You only give man a mouth or sight; you do not give men dumbness, deafness, or blindness!” My dear friend, if you are able to even argue with God, then I cannot argue with you!

Deuteronomy 32:1–43 contains what is known as the Song of Moses. Let us take a look at what Jehovah says in verse 39:

Deuteronomy 32:39 See now that I, I am he,
and there is no God beside me.
I kill and I make alive;
I wound and I heal;
and there is none who delivers from my hand.

Verse 39 begins with “See now,” which is an exhortation for the people to pay attention to what he is about to say. The words rendered “I am he” in the original Hebrew text is ʾăniy hūwʾ, which is designation of Jehovah for himself, emphasizing that he is the one true God of the world. The next line makes this clear: “and there is no God beside me.” How does he demonstrate this? By claiming sole ultimate responsibility for everything that happens in the world, both good and bad: “I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none who delivers from my hand.”

I do not understand how many Christians can read this verse and yet still insist: “No! God does not kill; he only makes alive. God does not wound; he only heals.” That is not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible says: “I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal,” and uses that as the basis for his claim to sole and absolute Godness. Jehovah alone is God because he alone does all these things: both kill and make alive, both wound and heal. The reverse implication is that if he does not do any of these things, then he is not God. In other words, if we say that God does not kill and he does not wound, then what are we really saying? He is not really God.

There are many teachers who say that God wants to heal you, but the reason why he cannot is because you do not have enough faith. Again, that is not the God of the Bible. Take a look at the last line: “and there is none who delivers from my hand.” This means that if God wants to keep someone alive, then nothing in the world can kill that person; and if God wants to heal someone, then there is no force in the universe which can prevent that person from being healed—not even that person’s own lack of faith. Is that not encouraging? The God of the Bible is not limited by our lack of faith; he is more powerful than our lack of faith!