上帝的護理關乎選民，也關乎被遺棄的人，也關乎被遺棄的人，也關乎被遺棄的人，也關乎被遺棄的人；撒但：在上帝掌管之下：在上帝掌管之下：在上帝掌管之下：在上帝掌管之下，按照上帝的預備，按照上帝的預備，按照上帝的預備，按照上帝的預備=旨運作；邪惡的勢力都在上帝的掌管之下：對信徒的安慰：對信徒的安慰：對信徒的安慰 ：對信徒的安慰
PROVIDENCE CONCERNS REPROBATE AS WELL AS THE ELECT SATAN – UNDER GOD’S COMMAND, OPERATES BY
GOD’S DECREE POWERS OF EVIL = AT GOD’S COMMAND: CONSOLATION TO BELIEVER
18.1
卷一 十八章
上帝利用惡人的行為和心思執行祂的審判，自己卻仍然純潔無損自己卻仍然純潔無損自己卻仍然純潔無損自己卻仍然純潔無損
Chapter 18 – God so uses the works of the ungodly, and so
bends their minds to carry out his judgments,
that he remains pure from every stain
上帝不僅容許事情發生
No mere “permission”! 1.18.1
在其它的經文中，有一個關於上帝按己意利用撒但與一切惡人的更困難問題。因為屬血氣的知識所難以明瞭，就是祂既利用他們做工具，怎能不沾染他們的罪惡，而且在祂和他們共同擔任的工作中，祂竟然完全沒有過失，而且還要譴責祂所利用的人。因此有人捏造了「實行」與「許可」之分；因為撒但和一切惡人都在上帝權能和管理之下，所以祂可以任意，所以祂可以任意，所以祂可以任意，所以祂可以任意支配他們的惡意，以達到祂的目的，又利用他們的惡行，以執行祂的審判，這在許多人看來乃是難以解說的。那些因這外表近似荒謬而起恐慌人，若不是想用謊言去維護上帝的正義，他們的好意也許是可原諒的。他們覺得一個人若受上帝的旨意和命令所蒙蔽，嗣後又因蒙蔽受罰，是極不合理的。他們為避免這個困難起見，於是推說這事之所以發生，是由於上帝的許可，而不是由於祂的旨意；但上帝自己毫不含糊地否認這樣的遁辭。無數精確的見證已經證明，若沒上帝事先的命令和冥冥中的指導，人就不能有所謀算和決定。我們以前所引詩人所說的，「上帝都隨自己的旨意行事」（詩115：3），無疑是指人的一切行為而言。那段經文肯定地說，上帝毫無例外地是戰爭與和平最高的決定者。這樣，誰敢說人被盲目的偶然勢力所支配，而祂竟毫不知曉，漠然無動於衷？
詩 115：3
3然而，我們的上帝在天上，都隨自己的意旨行事。
From other passages, where God is said to bend or draw Satan himself and all the
wicked to his will, there emerges a more difficult question. For carnal sense can hardly
comprehend how in acting through them he does not contract some defilement from their
transgression, and even in a common undertaking can be free of all blame, and indeed
can justly condemn his ministers. Hence the distinction was devised between doing and
permitting because to many this difficulty seemed inexplicable, that Satan and all the
impious are so under God’s hand and power that he directs their malice to whatever end
seems good to him, and uses their wicked deeds to carry out his judgments. And perhaps
the moderation of those whom the appearance of absurdity alarms would be excusable,
except that they wrongly try to clear God’s justice of every sinister mark by upholding a
falsehood. It seems absurd to them for man, who will soon be punished for his blindness,
to be blinded by God’s will and command. Therefore they escape by the shift that this is
done only with God’s permission, not also by his will; but he, openly declaring that he is
the doer, repudiates that evasion. However, that men can accomplish nothing except by
God’s secret command, that they cannot by deliberating accomplish anything except what
he has already decreed with himself and determines by his secret direction, is proved by
innumerable and clear testimonies. What we have cited before from the psalm, that God
does whatever he wills [Ps. 115:3], certainly pertains to all the actions of men. If, as is
here said, God is the true Arbiter of wars and of peace, and this without any exception,
who, then, will dare say that men are borne headlong by blind motion unbeknown to God
or with his acquiescence?
Ps. 115:3
3
Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.
但這個問題須有特殊的例證，然後才易於說明。從約伯記第一章我們知道，撒但到上帝面前接受祂的命令，與自動順從上帝的天使是一樣的。當然，牠與天使的方式不同，目的也是兩樣，但若沒有上帝的旨意，牠做不出什麼事來。雖然撒但似乎僅僅得了許可，而加害於聖潔的約伯，但「賞賜的是主，收取的也是主」（伯1：21）這句話既是實在的，我們就可以斷言，上帝是這試煉的發動者，而撒但，可惡的強盜和刺客等，都不過是祂直接的代理人而已，撒但想叫他因失望而變成瘋狂。示巴人貿然侵入，掠奪他人的財產。約伯承認他自己財產完全被剝奪，流為赤貧，都是上帝的旨意。所以人或撒但所行的一切事，仍然為上帝所操縱，藉他們所做的執行祂的審判。上帝要哄騙那不忠的亞哈王，魔鬼自願擔任這件工作，所以牠就被派在眾先知的口中作謊言的靈（王上 22：20-23）。假如亞哈王受蒙蔽和迷惑是上帝的責罰，那麼，許可的托詞就不能存在了。若一個法官只知許可職屬，而不明定要他們如何執行命令，這實在是笑話。
伯 1：6，21
6 有一天，上帝的眾子來侍立在耶和華面前，撒但也來在其中。21說：我赤身出於母胎，也必赤身歸回；賞賜的是耶和華，收取的也是耶和華。耶
和華的名是應當稱頌的。
伯 2：1
1 又有一天，上帝的眾子來侍立在耶和華面前，撒但也來在其中。
王上 22：20-22
20 耶和華說：誰去引誘亞哈上基列的拉末去陣亡呢﹖這個就這樣說，那個就那樣說。
22 耶和華問他說：你用何法呢﹖他說：我去，要在他眾先知口中作謊言的靈。耶和華說：這樣，你必能引誘他，你去如此行吧！
But particular examples will shed more light. From the first chapter of Job we know
that Satan, no less than the angels who willingly obey, presents himself before God [Job
1:6; 2:1] to receive his commands. He does so, indeed, in a different way and with a
different end; but he still cannot undertake anything unless God so wills. However, even
though a bare permission to afflict the holy man seems then to be added, yet we gather
that God was the author of that trial of which Satan and his wicked thieves were the
ministers, because this statement is true: “The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as it
has pleased God, so is it done” [Job 1:21, Vg. (p.)]. Satan desperately tries to drive the
holy man insane; the Sabaeans cruelly and impiously pillage and make off with another’s
possessions. Job recognizes that he was divinely stripped of all his property, and made a
poor man, because it so please God. Therefore, whatever men or Satan himself may
instigate, God nevertheless holds the key, so that he turns their efforts to carry out his
judgments. God wills that the false King Ahab be deceived; the devil offers his services
to this end; he is sent, with a definite command, to be a lying spirit in the mouth of all the
prophets [I Kings 22:20, 22]. If the blinding and insanity of Ahab be God’s judgment,
the figment of bare permission vanishes: because it would be ridiculous for the Judge
only to permit what he wills to be done, and not also to decree it and to command its
execution by his ministers.
Job 1:6, 21
6
One day the angels [a]
came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan [b]
also
came with them.
21 and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. [c]
The
LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised."
Job 2:1
1
On another day the angels [a]
came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan
also came with them to present himself before him.
I Kings 22:20, 22
20 And the LORD said, 'Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to
his death there?' "One suggested this, and another that.
22 " 'By what means?' the LORD asked. " 'I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths
of all his prophets,' he said. " 'You will succeed in enticing him,' said the LORD. 'Go
and do it.'
猶太人設計陷害基督；彼拉多和他的士兵順從暴行；但門徒在懇切禱告中承認，那些惡人所做的都是「上帝的手和祂的旨意所預定必有的事」（徒 4：28）。這看法與彼得所傳的相合，「祂既按著上帝的定旨先見，被交與人……把祂釘在十字架上殺了」（徒 2：23）這好像是說，上帝在最初即預知一切，以明確的認識和堅決的意志指定猶太人所執行的。正如他在另一處地方說過：「上帝曾藉眾先知的口，預言基督將要受害，就這樣應驗了」（徒 3：18）押沙龍犯了亂倫的罪，沾污了他父親的床第，但上帝明說，這是祂的工作，「你在暗中行事，我卻要在以色列眾人和太陽的面前去行」（撒下 12：16，16：22）。凡迦勒底人在猶大所行的一切殘暴的事，耶利米都認為是上帝的工作（參耶 50：25）；因此，尼布甲尼撒常被稱為上帝的僕人。上帝常常說，祂以嗤聲，號聲和命令激動惡人作戰；比方說，祂稱亞述人為他的震怒之棒，和手中所揮的杖。祂將聖都的毀滅與殿的傾頹都稱為祂自己的工作（參賽 5：26；10：5；19：25）。大衛對上帝不發怨言，反而承認祂是公正的審判官，且認定示每的咒詛是出自上帝的吩咐。他說：「主吩咐他說『你要咒駡』」（撒下 16：10）。聖史中常有這樣的記載，凡發生的事都是出自主。例如十支派的背叛，如以利兒子之死（王上 11：31；撒上 2：34），以及很多同樣的事。凡稍識《聖經》的人都不難明白，我所舉的見證不過是九牛之一毛，但這已足夠證明那些僅以「許可」代替上帝「旨意」的人是何等無聊；仿佛上帝坐在瞭望臺上期待偶然發生的事，而祂的決定，是以人的意志為轉移的。
徒 4：28
28成就你手和你意旨所預定必有的事。
徒 2：23
23他既按著上帝的定旨先見被交與人，你們就藉著無法之人的手，把他釘在十字架上，殺了。
徒 3：18
18但上帝曾藉眾先知的口，預言基督將要受害，就這樣應驗了。
耶 1：15
15耶和華說：看那，我要召北方列國的眾族；他們要來，各安座位在耶路撒冷的城門口，周圍攻擊城牆，又要攻擊猶大的一切城邑。
耶 7：14
14所以我要向這稱為我名下、你們所倚靠的殿，與我所賜給你們和你們列祖的地施行，照我從前向示羅所行的一樣。
耶 50：25
25耶和華已經開了武庫，拿出他惱恨的兵器；因為主─萬軍之耶和華在迦勒底人之地有當做的事。
耶 25：9
9我必召北方的眾族和我僕人巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒來攻擊這地和這地的居民，並四圍一切的國民。我要將他們盡行滅絕，以致他們令人驚駭、嗤笑，並且永久荒涼。這是耶和華說的。
耶 27：6
6現在我將這些地都交給我僕人巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒的手，我也將田野的走獸給他使用。
賽 5：26
26
他必豎立大旗，招遠方的國民，發嘶聲叫他們從地極而來；看那，他們必急速奔來。
賽 10：5
5亞述是我怒氣的棍，手中拿我惱恨的杖。
賽 7：18
18那時，耶和華要發嘶聲，使埃及江河源頭的蒼蠅和亞述地的蜂子飛來；
賽 28：21
21耶和華必興起，像在毘拉心山；他必發怒，像在基遍谷，好做成他的工，就是非常的工；成就他的事，就是奇異的事。
撒下 16：10，11，22
10王說：洗魯雅的兒子，我與你們有何關涉呢﹖他咒罵是因耶和華吩咐他說：你要咒罵大衛。如此，誰敢說你為什麼這樣行呢﹖
11大衛又對亞比篩和眾臣僕說：我親生的兒子尚且尋索我的性命，何況這便雅憫人呢﹖由他咒罵吧！因為這是耶和華吩咐他的。
22於是人為押沙龍在宮殿的平頂上支搭帳棚；押沙龍在以色列眾人眼前，與他父的妃嬪親近。
王上 11：31
11對耶羅波安說：你可以拿十片。耶和華─以色列的上帝如此說：我必將國從所羅門手裏奪回，將十個支派賜給你。
撒上 2：34
34你的兩個兒子何弗尼、非尼哈所遭遇的事可作你的證據：他們二人必一日同死。
馬 3：10
10現在斧子已經放在樹根上，凡不結好果子的樹就砍下來，丟在火裏。
番 2：1
1不知羞恥的國民那，你們應當聚集！趁命令沒有發出，日子過去如風前的糠，耶和華的烈怒未臨到你們，他發怒的日子未到以先，你們應當聚集前來。
何 8：1
1你用口吹角吧！敵人如鷹來攻打耶和華的家；因為這民違背我的約，干犯我的律法。
The Jews intended to destroy Christ; Pilate and his soldiers complied with their mad
desire; yet in solemn prayer the disciples confess that all the impious ones had nothing
except what “the hand and plan” of God had decreed [Acts 4:28; cf. Vg.]. So Peter had
already preached that “by the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, Christ had been
given over” to be killed [Acts 2:23; cf. Vg.]. It is as if he were to say that God, to whom
from the beginning nothing was hidden, wittingly and willingly determined what the
Jews carried out. As he elsewhere states: “God, who has foretold through all his prophets
that Christ is going to suffer, has thus fulfilled it” [Acts 3:18; cf. Vg.]. Absalom,
polluting his father’s bed by an incestuous union, commits a detestable crime [II Sam.
16:22]; yet God declares this work to be his own; for the words are: “You did it secretly;
but I will do this thing openly, and in broad daylight” [II Sam. 12:12 p.]. Jeremiah
declared that every cruelty the Chaldeans exercised against Judah was God’s work [Jer.
1:15; 7:14; 50:25, and passim]. For this reason Nebuchadnezzar is called God’s servant
[Jer. 25:9; cf. ch. 27:6]. God proclaims in many places that by his hissing [Isa. 7:18 or
5:26], by the sound of his trumpet [Hos. 8:1], by his authority and command, the impious
are aroused to war [cf. Zeph. 2:1]. The Assyrian he calls the rod of his anger [Isa. 10:5
p.], and the ax that he wields with his hand [cf. Matt. 3:10]. The destruction of the Holy
City and the ruin of the Temple he calls his own work [Isa. 28:21]. David, not
murmuring against God, but recognizing him as the just judge, yet confesses that the
curses of Shimei proceeded from His command [II Sam. 16:10]. “The Lord,” he says,
“commanded him to curse.” [II Sam. 16:11.] We very often find in the Sacred History
that whatever happens proceeds from the Lord, as for instance the defection of the ten
tribes [I Kings 11:31], the death of Eli’s sons [I Sam. 2:34], and very many examples of
this sort. Those who are moderately versed in the Scriptures see that for the sake of
brevity I have put forward only a few of many testimonies. Yet from these it is more
than evident that they babble and talk absurdly who, in place of God’s providence,substitute bare permission – as if God sat in a watchtower awaiting chance events, and his
judgments thus depended upon human will.
Acts 4:28
28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.
Acts 2:23
23 This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with
the help of wicked men,[d]
put him to death by nailing him to the cross.
Acts 3:18
18 But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his
Christ[a]
would suffer.
II Sam. 16:10, 11, 22
10 But the king said, "What do you and I have in common, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is
cursing because the LORD said to him, 'Curse David,' who can ask, 'Why do you do
this?' "
11 David then said to Abishai and all his officials, "My son, who is of my own flesh, is trying
to take my life. How much more, then, this Benjamite! Leave him alone; let him curse,
for the LORD has told him to.
22 So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he lay with his father's concubines in
the sight of all Israel.
Jer. 1:15
15 I am about to summon all the peoples of the northern kingdoms," declares the LORD.
"Their kings will come and set up their thrones in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem;
they will come against all her surrounding walls and against all the towns of Judah.
Jer. 7:14
14 Therefore, what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears my Name, the temple
you trust in, the place I gave to you and your fathers.
Jer. 50:25
25 The LORD has opened his arsenal and brought out the weapons of his wrath,
for the Sovereign LORD Almighty has work to do in the land of the Babylonians.
Jer. 25:9
9
I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon," declares the LORD, "and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants
and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy [a]
them and make them
an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin.
Jer. 27:6
6 Now I will hand all your countries over to my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; I
will make even the wild animals subject to him.
Isa. 7:18
18 In that day the LORD will whistle for flies from the distant streams of Egypt and for bees
from the land of Assyria.
Hos. 8:1
1
"Put the trumpet to your lips! An eagle is over the house of the LORD because the people
have broken my covenant and rebelled against my law.
Isa. 5:26
26 He lifts up a banner for the distant nations, he whistles for those at the ends of the earth.
Here they come, swiftly and speedily!
Zeph. 2:1
1
Then I looked up—and there before me was a man with a measuring line in his hand!
Isa. 10:5
5
"Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath!
Matt. 3:10
3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the
desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.' "[a]
Isa. 28:21
21 The LORD will rise up as he did at Mount Perazim, he will rouse himself as in the Valley
of Gibeon— to do his work, his strange work, and perform his task, his alien task.
I Kings 11:31
31 Then he said to Jeroboam, "Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the LORD, the
God of Israel, says: 'See, I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon's hand and give
you ten tribes.
I Sam. 2:34
34 " 'And what happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be a sign to you—they
will both die on the same day.
1.18.4 上帝是公義的；惡人不會「順服」；他們違背上帝的吩咐
GOD IS JUST; WICKED DO NOT “OBEY”, BUT
VIOLATE GOD’S COMMAND
就算上帝使用無上帝者的作為來成就祂的旨意，祂還是無可指責 ，祂還是無可指責，祂還是無可指責 ，祂還是無可指責
Even when God uses the deeds of the godless for his purposes, he does
not suffer reproach 1.18.4
我們要同樣答覆或消除另一種異議，即：若上帝不但利用惡人做祂的工具，而具管制他們的計畫和情感，祂就是一切罪惡的發動者；人若執行祂的命令，服從祂的旨意，就不應該受責罰。他們這樣說，乃是把祂的旨意和祂的教訓混為一談；其實有無數例子證明這兩者間的大差別。因為雖然押沙龍污辱他父親的妃嬪是上帝的旨意，藉此懲罰大衛犯姦淫的罪（撒下 16：22），祂卻沒有吩咐那不孝子亂倫，除非他所行的，是如大衛所說，示每對他的侮辱是上帝的吩咐一樣（撒下 16：10-11）。當大衛承認示每的咒詛是出自上帝的吩咐，他決不是贊許示每的順從，仿佛那魯莽而無價值的人是履行上帝的教訓；他承認示每的舌即是上帝的鞭，所以他耐性地接受這責駡。我們應當記得，上帝雖利用惡人完成祂暗中的命令，但他們既故意違犯祂的教訓，所以他們還不能算是順從教訓而獲得原諒。
撒下 16：10，22
10王說：洗魯雅的兒子，我與你們有何關涉呢﹖他咒罵是因耶和華吩咐他說：你要咒罵大衛。如此，誰敢說你為什麼這樣行呢﹖
11大衛又對亞比篩和眾臣僕說：我親生的兒子尚且尋索我的性命，何況這便雅憫人呢﹖由他咒罵吧！因為這是耶和華吩咐他的。
22於是人為押沙龍在宮殿的平頂上支搭帳棚；押沙龍在以色列眾人眼前，與他父的妃嬪親近。
In this way, also, the other objection is solved, or rather vanishes by itself: if God not
only uses the work of the ungodly, but also governs their plans and intentions, he is the
author o all wickedness; and therefore men are undeservedly damned if they carry out
what God has decreed because they obey his will. His will is wrongly confused with his
precept: innumerable examples clearly show how utterly different these two are. For
even though, when Absalom committed adultery with his father’s wives [II Sam. 16:22],
God willed to punish David’s adultery with this shameful act, yet he did not for this
reason bid the wicked son commit incest, unless perhaps with regard to David, as he
speaks concerning Shimei’s railings. For when he confesses that Shimei curses him at
God’s command [II Sam. 16:10-11], he does not at all commend his obedience, as if that
impudent dog were obeying God’s authority. But recognizing his tongue to be a scourge
of God, he patiently bears the chastisement. We ought, indeed, to hold fast by this: while
God accomplishes through the wicked what he has decreed by his secret judgment, theyare not excusable, as if they had obeyed his precept which out of their own lust they
deliberately break.
I Sam. 16:10-11, 22
10 Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, "The LORD
has not chosen these."
11 So he asked Jesse, "Are these all the sons you have?" "There is still the youngest,"
Jesse answered, "but he is tending the sheep." Samuel said, "Send for him; we will
not sit down [a]
until he arrives."
22 Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, "Allow David to remain in my service, for I am
pleased with him."
上帝在暗中支配壞人的行為，可以耶羅波安被選為王一事為例（王上 12：20）；因為眾百姓擅自更改上帝所立的王統，和背叛大衛家，所以他們的魯莽和昏迷受到嚴厲的責備（何 8：4）；但我們知道，這宗事正是上帝的旨意。何西阿的記載似乎也有矛盾：因為在某處上帝說，以色列王國的成立未經祂的允許，而且與祂的旨意相反；但在另一處說，祂在忿怒中立耶羅波安為王（何 13：11）。耶羅波安為王既非上帝的旨意，然而上帝又要叫他為王，這兩宗事如何調和呢？是這樣的：當然是因為眾民若背叛大衛的家，是解脫上帝所加於他們的束縛，同時，上帝也有懲罰那忘恩負義的所羅門的背叛。所以我們可以看出，上帝一面恨不忠的人，一面卻很公正地為了另一目的而註定了以色列人的背叛。耶羅波安意外地被上帝膏為王；同樣，《聖經》也說，上帝興起仇敵，剝奪所羅門之子的一部份王國（王上 11：23）。
王上 12：20，23
20以色列眾人聽見耶羅波安回來了，就打發人去請他到會眾面前，立他作以色列眾人的王。除了猶大支派以外，沒有順從大衛家的。
23你去告訴所羅門的兒子猶大王羅波安和猶大、便雅憫全家，並其餘的民說：
何 8：4
4他們立君王，卻不由我；他們立首領，我卻不認。他們用金銀為自己製造偶像，以致被剪除。
何 13：11
11我在怒氣中將王賜你，又在烈怒中將王廢去。
Now the choice of King Jeroboam [I Kings 12:20] shows clearly that what men do
perversely is of God, and ruled by his hidden providence. In this choice the rashness and
insanity of the people is condemned for having perverted the order sanctioned by God,
and having faithlessly fallen away from the house of David. And yet we know that he
willed him to be anointed. Accordingly in Hosea’s statements there likewise occurs acertain appearance of contradiction: for God complained in one place that that kingdom
had been established without his knowledge and against his will [Hos. 8:4]; yet elsewhere
he proclaims that in his anger he had given King Jeroboam [Hos. 13:11]. How will these
statements agree: that Jeroboam did not reign b God’s will and yet was appointed king by
the same God? The answer is obviously that the people could neither revolt from the
house of David without shaking off the divinely imposed yoke, nor was God himself
deprived of the freedom to punish Solomon thus for his ungratefulness. Therefore
we see how God does not will a breach of faith, yet with another end in view, justly wills
defection. Hence likewise, contrary to expectation, he compelled Jeroboam with sacred
anointing to become king. In this way the Sacred History says that an enemy was raised
up by God [I Kings 11:23] to divest Solomon’s son of part of his kingdom.
I Kings 12:20, 23
20 When all the Israelites heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to
the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained
loyal to the house of David.
23 "Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to the whole house of Judah and
Benjamin, and to the rest of the people,
Hos. 8:4
4
They set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval.
With their silver and gold they make idols for themselves to their own destruction.
Hos. 13:11
11 So in my anger I gave you a king, and in my wrath I took him away.
讀者應當仔細考慮這兩件事：上帝的心願原是要眾百姓受一個王的統治，所以把國分裂為二，是違反祂的旨意；然而這分裂卻是導源於祂的旨意。先知以預言和塗油式，在那從無做王之念的耶羅波安心裏引起了繼承王國的希望，那麼，若是上帝不知道或是不願意的話，這事決無成功的希望，因為這事的成就是出於上帝的吩咐。但眾民的背叛也受了公正的斥責，因為他們叛離大衛的後代是違背上帝旨意的。以後又說，羅波安藐視人民的原因是出於上帝，為的是要應驗祂藉祂的僕人亞希雅而說的話（參王上 12：5；代下 10：15）。試想，以色列十二支派的聯邦因違反上帝的旨意而分裂，然而十支派和所羅門的兒子疏遠，也是由於上帝的旨意。我們可以再舉一個相似的例子：亞哈的眾子被殺與後代被滅絕是有人民的同意和援助的（參王下 10：7-10）。耶戶知道「主的話一句也沒有落空，」而且「祂藉著祂僕人以利亞所說的話都完成了。」然而祂同時很公正地斥責撒瑪利亞的人，因為他們在殺戮亞哈子孫的事上有份；他說：「你們都是公義的嗎？看啊，我背叛了我的主人，將他殺了；可是，這些人卻是誰殺的呢？」假如我沒有看錯的話，我想我現在已經解釋明白，一件事怎樣能夠同時表現人的罪惡，和上帝的公義。
王上 12：5
5羅波安對他們說：你們暫且去，第三日再來見我。民就去了。
王下 10：7-10
7大衛聽見了，就差派約押統帶勇猛的全軍出去。
8 亞捫人出來，在城門前擺陣；瑣巴與利合的亞蘭人、陀伯人，並瑪迦人，另在郊野擺陣。
9約押看見敵人在他前後擺陣，就從以色列軍中挑選精兵，使他們對著亞蘭人擺陣。
10其餘的兵交與他兄弟亞比篩，對著亞捫人擺陣。
Let my readers weigh both these things with care. Because it had please God that his
people be governed under the hand of one king, when the nation is split into two parts, it
is done against his will. And yet the beginning of the separation came from the will of
the same God. For surely when the prophet both by word of mouth and by the token of
anointing stirred Jeroboam, who was thinking of no such thing, to the expectation of the
kingdom, this was not done without the knowledge or against the will of God, who so
commanded it to be done. And yet the rebellion of the people is rightly condemned
because against God’s will they revolted from David’s descendants. For this reason, also,
it is afterward added that Rehoboam haughtily despised the petitions of the people and
that this was done by God to establish the Word which he had proclaimed through the
hand of Ahijah his servant [I Kings 12:15]. Note how it is against God’s will that the
sacred unity is broken, and yet how by his same will the ten tribes are estranged from
Solomon’s son. Besides this, there is another similar example, where with the people’s
consent – indeed, with them lending a hand – the sons of King Ahab are murdered, and
all his posterity exterminated [II Kings 10:7]. Indeed, Jehu rightly repots that “nothing of
God’s words has fallen to the ground, but he has done what he said by the hand of his
servant Elijah” [II Kings 10:10 p.]. And yet not without cause did he rebuke the citizens
of Samaria because they had given assistance. “Are you righteous?” he asks; “if I
conspired against my master, who killed all these?” [II Kings 10:8; II Kings 10:9; Vg.] I
have, unless I am mistaken, already clearly explained how in the same act as man’s evil
deed shows itself, so God’s justice shines forth.
I Kings 12:15
15 So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the LORD, to
fulfill the word the LORD had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the
Shilonite.
II Kings 10:7, 8, 9, 10
7
When the letter arrived, these men took the princes and slaughtered all seventy of them.
They put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu in Jezreel.
8 When the messenger arrived, he told Jehu, "They have brought the heads of the
princes." Then Jehu ordered, "Put them in two piles at the entrance of the city gate
until morning."
9
The next morning Jehu went out. He stood before all the people and said, "You are
innocent. It was I who conspired against my master and killed him, but who killed all
these?
10 Know then, that not a word the LORD has spoken against the house of Ahab will fail.
The LORD has done what he promised through his servant Elijah."
對謙虛的人，奥古斯丁的答覆常是足夠的；他說：「既然上帝交付了基督，基督交付了祂自己的身體，而猶大又交付了主；在這交付中，為什麼上帝是公義的，而人是有罪的呢？因為他們的行為雖同，動機卻不同。」關於我們所說，人雖在祂公義的支配之下做非法的事，與上帝的意旨還是不能一致。如果有人覺得這意見更難接受，那麼，要解答這個矛盾，就當記得奥古斯丁在別處所說的：「上帝雖在惡人的心中隨意而行，然而還是按他們的罪報應他們，所以，誰能不恐懼那些審判呢？」祂雖令猶大出賣他的兒子，以致兒子受死，但是，把猶大的不忠歸之於上帝，正如把救贖的歌頌歸之於猶大一樣，都是不合的。所以奥古斯丁在別處又告訴我們，上帝在審查中所追究的，不是人可能做了什麼，也不是他們已經做了什麼，乃是他們企圖要做什麼，為的是要察看人心中的計畫和意志。
And for modest minds this answer of Augustine will always be enough: “Since
the Father delivered up the Son, and Christ, his body, and Judas, his Lord, why in this
delivering up is God just and man guilty, unless because in the one thing they have done,
the cause of their doing it is not one?” But if some people find difficulty in what we are
now saying – namely, that there is no agreement between God and man, where man does
by God’s just impulsion what he ought not to do – let them recall what the same
Augustine points out in another passage: “Who does not tremble at these judgments,
where God works even in evil men’s hearts whatever he wills, yet renders to them
according to their deserts?” And surely in Judas’ betrayal it will be no more right,
because God himself both willed that his Son be delivered up and delivered him up to
death, to ascribe the guilt of the crime to God than to transfer the credit for redemption to
Judas. Therefore the same writer correctly points out, elsewhere, that in this examination
God does not inquire into what men have been able to do, or what they have done, but
what they have willed to do, so that purpose and will may be taken into account.
凡覺得這種作法近於苛刻的人，當想一想自己的頑固是何等的不可容忍，因為他們對《聖經》多次很明白證實的真理，為著超過了他們的理解而橫加反對；可是他們所反對的這種真理，若不是上帝明知是對我們有益的話，就不會吩咐先知和使徒們宣揚出來。我們若能虛懷若谷地接受《聖經》上所交付的一切教訓，不容稍有例外，就有智慧了。但那些存心驕傲狂妄，反對這教義的人，顯然是反對上帝，所以不值得多加駁斥了。
Let those for whom this seems harsh consider for a little while how bearable their squeamishness is in refusing a thing attested by clear Scriptural proofs because it exceeds their mental capacity, and find fault that things are put forth publicly, which if God had not judged useful for men to know, he would never have bidden his prophets and apostlesto teach. For our wisdom ought to be nothing else than to embrace with humble teachableness, and at least without finding fault, whatever is taught in Sacred Scripture. Those who too insolently scoff, even though it is clear enough that they are prating against God, are not worthy of a longer refutation.
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