WHAT DOES GOD TEACH US ABOUT CHANCE?

…The idea that there is something called chance is so firmly rooted in our culture that even Christians speak of it as real. Is the idea of chance taught in the Bible? Is there such a thing as "chance"? Let's see.

What is "chance" as it is used today? Chance is often associated with "the roll of the dice," or the turn of a slot machine. Statistically, when the results of a study are compared with a chance outcome, undirected events are compared with purposeful activities. As far as evolution goes, the definition of chance is clearly illustrated by Richard Dawkins' book The Blind Watchmaker. The sense is that the appearance of design by a purposeful Designer is simply the result of purposeless, unguided events ÔÇô design is an illusion.

So if we want to define "chance", perhaps the best definition we can find is that chance ├ö├ç├┤ where a(or more) unguided, purposeless event ├ö├ç├┤ produces some sort of result. …Is the reality of this "chance" taught in the Bible? What does Scripture say about the events in human experience?

One of the first passages that comes to mind is…Matthew 10:29-30…29 What is the price of two sparrows-one copper coin (Greek one assarion [i.e., one "as," a Roman coin equal to 1├ö├╝├ñ16 of a denarius])? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. 30 And the very hairs on your head are all numbered.…Let's say that you are driving down the open highway. All of a sudden a sparrow darts in front of your car and you hear the sickening sound of him hitting your grill.… Neither you nor, surely, the sparrow had purposefully designed this to be the outcome. …Yet, does Matthew 10:29-30 leave this event a matter of blind chance? Do we know what God's purpose was in allowing this to happen? Does our lack of understanding what God's purpose might be here make it a chance event?

We hear about, and sometimes experience, events for which we can understand no purpose which God might have. Think of one or two of these. Though these are very perplexing in light of a ruling, wise and loving God, doesour lack of understanding make them meaningless? Name some attributes (characteristics) of God which we don't have, which would account for our inability to find meaning in these perplexing events.

Acts 17:26-28.…26 From one man(Greek From one; other manuscripts read From one blood.) he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.

27 "His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him-though he is not far from any one of us. 28 For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your(Some manuscripts read our) own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'

Is it exactly accurate for men to take full credit for the rise and fall of nations and empires? Do nations rise and fall by chance? Here, things are less perplexing, for we are told God's purpose in determining these events. What is His purpose? Can you think of some historical examples of where this purpose is easy to see?

Let's make this even more personal. …Psalm 139:16…16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book.…Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.…Refer to the definition of chance again. Does this verse leave any room for chance in a person's life?

Scripture, in fact, never speaks of chance. However, the word "chance" does appear a few times in the King James translation. …Read 1 Samuel 6:9. Let's read the surrounding verses to see the context of this verse. …Who is speaking the words of verse 9? …Does this lead us to believe that the Philistines believed in chance? But did the unescorted Ark head toward Beth Shamesh or in another direction? …So what did the Philistines have to conclude ├ö├ç├┤ was chance or purpose involved in the consequences of their contact with the Ark?

The word "chance" appears in a more difficult context in a few other passages.…Ecclesiastes 9:11…11 I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn't always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn't always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don't always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time.…2 Samuel 1:66 The man answered, "I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul leaning on his spear with the enemy chariots and charioteers closing in on him.…… Without a little understanding of the Hebrew (and forgetting that the Bible elsewhere rules out "chance"), one might think that these verses are teaching that there is such a thing as chance. …Though each of these verses use different words, in both of these verses the sense is not that of today's meaning of chance. …The Hebrew words do not even hint of a purposeless, unguided event. …Rather, they suggest that the actual turn of events were not the events which were anticipated by the actors ├ö├ç├┤ not that the events were purposeless and/or meaningless chance.

The word "chance" is also found in the King James translation (and many others) in the New Testament. Compare the use of the word "chance", with the definition we looked at.…Luke 10:31…31 "By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by.(Can we say it was this priests' chance to show his love and affection to his fellow man?)

A second usage for the word "chance" is found in:…1 Corinthians 15:37…37 And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. (it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain KJV)

Ecclesiastes 9:11-12A…11 Again I looked throughout the earth and saw that the swiftest person does not always win the race, nor the strongest man the battle, and that wise men are often poor, and skillful men are not necessarily famous; but it is all by chance, by happening to be at the right place at the right time.12 A man never knows when he is going to run into bad luck. He is like a fish caught in a net, or a bird caught in a snare.…What familiar English phrase appears to compare with this usage? …The Greek here literally says "if it may be so," which compares to the English phrase: …"Oh, say, for example├ö├ç┬¬" or, as the New King James translates it, "perhaps." Does this usage teach chance as the modern world believes in the idea?

So we see that the idea of "chance," to which evolutionists ├ö├ç├┤ including many theistic evolutionists ├ö├ç├┤ attribute much of the form of today's life and world in general, is a figment of the imagination. …Many ancient peoples as well as modern believed in "chance." …They believed, as many still do, that there are factors a Creator is not directly guiding. This is an essential element of paganism. Chance is not a helpful scientific concept either.

The Bible and the example of God's people show us that there is no such thing as chance. No matter how small the event, God is personally involved in the entire thing in order to work out His purposes. …Science, then, seeks to find the way in which He usually works in repeatable situations.

Close this Bible Study with a prayerful reading of …Psalm 119:73-80.…73 You made me; you created me. Now give me the sense to follow your commands.…74 May all who fear you find in me a cause for joy, for I have put my hope in your word.…75 I know, O Lord, that your regulations are fair; you disciplined me because I needed it.…76 Now let your unfailing love comfort me, just as you promised me, your servant.…77 Surround me with your tender mercies so I may live, for your instructions are my delight.…78 Bring disgrace upon the arrogant people who lied about me; meanwhile, I will concentrate on your commandments.…79 Let me be united with all who fear you, with those who know your laws.…80 May I be blameless in keeping your decrees; then I will never be ashamed.