Coincidence
Are there such things as coincidences?”The word coincidenceis used only once in the New Testament, and it was by Jesus Himself in theparable of the Good Samaritan. InLuke 10:31, Jesus said, "And by a coincidence a certain priest was going down in that way, and having seen him, he passed over on the opposite side." The wordcoincidenceis translated from the Greek wordsynkyrian, which is a combination of two words:sunandkurios.Sunmeans "together with," andcurious means "supreme in authority." So a biblical definition ofcoincidencewould be
"what occurs together by God's providential arrangement of circumstances."What appears to us as random chance is in fact overseen by a sovereign God who knows the number of hairs on every head
Luke 12:7
7 And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.
Jesus said that nothing happens without God noticing it .Matthew 10:2929 What is the price of two sparrows-one copper coin[a]? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.InIsaiah 46:9ÔÇô11God states unequivocally that He is in charge of everything: 9 Remember the things I have done in the past.For I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me.10 Only I can tell you the future before it even happens.Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.11 I will call a swift bird of prey from the east-a leader from a distant land to come and do my bidding.I have said what I would do, and I will do it.When we consider life events, we tend to classify them as "important" or "unimportant." Many people have no problem believing that God is in charge of the "big things" but them they assume that such a big God would not trouble Himself with the seemingly unimportant or small events of our everyday lives. We tend to think that way but the Bible says different.For God, there are no unimportant events. He does not need to conserve His strength because His power is limitless. His attention is never divided. If the Lord God tracks every sparrow (Matthew 10:29), then nothing is too small for His attention. He is often referred to as the Almighty Genesis 17:1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, "I am El-Shaddai-'God Almighty.' Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life.Exodus 6:33 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El-Shaddai-'God Almighty'-but I did not reveal my name, Yahweh, to them.
Job 13:33 As for me, I would speak directly to the Almighty. I want to argue my case with God himself.
Almighty is a name denoting unrestricted power and absolute dominion.We look at coincidenceas unexpected events and surprise meetings. But just because we are taken by surprise does not mean that God is.
Scripture is clear that God allows sinful humans to make mistakes and reap the consequences of those mistakes, but only a sovereign God could also promise that He will make "all things work together for the good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose"(Romans 8:28).In ways known only to God, He takes even our mistakes and unplanned events and weaves them together to fulfill His purposes.In Old Testament times, God often used theUrim and Thummin, pieces of the high priest's ephod, to help give guidance and instruction
Exodus 28:30
30 Insert the Urim and Thummim into the sacred chestpiece so they will be carried over Aaron's heart when he goes into the Lord's presence. In this way, Aaron will always carry over his heart the objects used to determine the Lord's will for his people whenever he goes in before the Lord.
Leviticus 8:8
8 Then Moses placed the chestpiece on Aaron and put the Urim and the Thummim inside it.
1 Samuel30:7ÔÇô8.
7 Then he said to Abiathar the priest, "Bring me the ephod!" So Abiathar brought it. 8 Then David asked the Lord, "Should I chase after this band of raiders? Will I catch them?"
And the Lord told him, "Yes, go after them. You will surely recover everything that was taken from you!"
The Urim (“lights”) and Thummim (“perfections”) were gemstones that were carried by the high priest of Israel on the ephod / priestly garments. They were used by the high priest to determine God’s will in some situations. Some propose that God would cause the Urim and Thummim to light up in varying patterns to reveal His decision. Others propose that the Urim and Thummim were kept in a pouch and were engraved with symbols identifying yes / no and true / false.It is unclear whether the Urim and Thummim were on, by, or in the high priest’s ephod. No one knows the precise nature of the Urim and Thummim or exactly how they were used. The Bible simply does not give us enough information. References to the Urim and Thummim are rare in the Bible.
They are first mentioned in the description of the breastplate of judgment (Exodus 28:30; Leviticus 8:8). When Joshua succeeded Moses as leader over Israel, he was to receive answers from God by means of the Urim through Eleazar the high priest
Numbers 27:21
The Urim and Thummim are next mentioned in Moses’ dying blessing upon Levi
Deuteronomy 33:88 Moses said this about the tribe of Levi:
"O Lord, you have given your Thummim and Urim-the sacred lots- to your faithful servants the Levites.You put them to the test at Massah and struggled with them at the waters of Meribah.
More verses from Scriptures where we find the Urim and Thummim: Joshua 7:14-18; 1 Samuel 14:37-45; and 2 Samuel 21:1.
In the New Testament, we see the apostles trusting God's sovereignty when they cast lots to choose a new disciple to replace Judas
Acts 1:26
26 Then they cast lots, and Matthias was selected to become an apostle with the other eleven.Though each of these means of communication seems insignificant, God has shown throughout Scripture that He can use the smallest object or event for His purposes.
God does not seem to allow for "coincidence."
The administration of the universe is not based on chance, fate or destiny.
The Bible says that God's purposes will triumph and that He is in control of even the most random event Proverbs 19:2121 You can make many plans, but the Lord's purpose will prevail.
Proverbs 16:33says,33 We may throw the dice,[a] but the Lord determines how they fall."The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD." What may seem insignificant to us may be in fact a result of God's omniscient power working on our behalf to accomplish His will in our lives.