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Time & Chance

October 20, 2008

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Dear Friends,

On October 10, a sister wrote to me with the following suggestion. She said “I’m wondering if you would consider an article on one of your favorites ‘time and chance’ maybe with input from others like you did with dreams.” I would be glad to oblige. I’ll put out a survey soon so people can share their ideas and opinions on this topic. In the meantime, let’s start taking a look at this interesting concept.

The phrase “time and chance” occurs in Ecclesiastes 9:11 and states,

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

This verse is often used to prove that there are certain things that are “providential” (i.e. divinely guided) and other things that are “time and chance” (i.e. God has no real hand in them). This dichotomy is very much intertwined with the idea that God set up natural laws and systems in which to govern the universe (gravity, thermodynamics, the water cycle, etc.) and that the world essentially runs according to these principles without Divine intervention. On occasion, He does intervene “providentially” to counter the natural course of things. The most commonly held perspective in this view suggests there are very few things that God actually is involved with and most of these things are of historic proportions such as prophetic fulfillments concerning Israel and the alignment of the nations bringing about Christ’s return.

I reject this idea that I have just outlined for you. I believe that God is involved in everything. Here are a few of the reasons that I reject the notion of “time and chance.”

  1. The phrase “time and chance” in Ecclesiastes is a bad translation.
  2. The context of Ecclesiastes precludes the notion of “chance.”
  3. Chance or randomness is always associated with paganism in the Bible.
  4. The Bible clearly speaks of God’s involvement in things we would otherwise consider part of the natural workings of the world.
  5. God testifies to His working in all things.
  6. God’s nature itself precludes God not being present and active.
  7. Many of God’s promises are rendered irrelevant if “time and chance” exists.
  8. It nullifies the blessing of God’s involvement and therefore much of the believer’s comfort and confidence.

For me, this topic is a big deal. It is not a big deal because I think this is an important doctrine for the sake of the doctrine; it is a big deal because of the implications for how believers face life on a day to day basis. Are you out there basically on your own facing a world full of random acts of meaningless chance or are you out in a world with God’s protective arms around you at all times and nothing—nothing—is going to happen to you that God is not using for good in your life? This is the vital question to be answered here. It has major implications for our attitude, our faith and our perspective on events, does it not? In the end, though, as good Bible students we must go to the Word to see what God tells us and make our decision based on the facts, not on what we want the facts to be. Lord willing, we’ll take the next few weeks to entertain these concepts.

Have a great week,

Comments»

1. Sherry Johnson - October 20, 2008

Hi Kyle,

I have always felt that the phrase, “time and chance” does not belong in a believer’s vocabulary. It defies all logic when you look at all the times that God wants us to rely on him for EVERYTHING, and all the times He says he will never forsake us. Romans 8:28 “We KNOW that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.” If we truly believe this statement, then we need to toss out “time and chance” in our lives. I remember the class you gave at GLCBS where you talked about God being in everything, even the minute (or what we may consider minute) details of our lives. He has chosen us, thereby we belong to him and His Son, Jesus. Does God purchase one of us with the blood of His Son then let us sit on a shelf. By no means!!! Thanks always for your thoughts. They help to generate a lot of self-examination.