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What does the Bible say about coincidence?



    
    

Clarify Share Report Asked January 21 2014 Mini Anonymous (via GotQuestions)

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My picture Jack Gutknecht Supporter ABC/DTS graduate, guitar music ministry Baptist church
There are at least 2 clear mentions of "coincidence(s) in the Bible:

The AMP Version (Amplified Version)) of Luke 10:31 has this:

"Now by coincidence a certain priest was going down along that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side."

This was the parable (the story) Jesus told of the Good Samaritan. 

The other one is the NLT verse, 1 Samuel 6:9 --

"If they cross the border of our land and go to Beth–shemesh, we will know it was the LORD who brought this great disaster upon us. If they don’t, we will know that the plague was simply a coincidence and was not sent by the LORD at all."

Warren Wiersbe said about 1 Samuel 6:1-9 "Man proposes (vv. 1–9). , The Philistine wise men came up with a scheme that would test the God of Israel one more time. If Jehovah, represented by the ark, was indeed the true and living God, let Him take the ark back to where it belonged! The lords set up a plan that would absolve them of responsibility and blame. They would take two cows that had calves and separate them from the calves. They would hitch the cows to a new cart, put the ark on the cart, and turn the cows loose. If the cows didn’t move at all, or if they went to their calves, it would be 'proof' that the God of Israel wasn’t in control and the Philistines had nothing to fear. If the cows meandered all over without any sense of direction, the lords could draw the same conclusion. The situation being what it was, the cows would probably head for their calves, because that was the natural thing to do. The cows needed to get rid of their milk and the calves needed the nourishment.

"But that wasn’t all. The wise men decided that the nation had to send 'appeasement gifts' to Jehovah in the form of golden models of the mice and the tumors. The Philistines could always reclaim their gold if the cows didn’t head for Israelite territory. [Rephrased sentence]. If the cows went over the border into Israel, the Lord would be appeased and wouldn’t send Philistia any more plagues. This plan enabled the Lord to receive glory without the lords of the Philistines being embarrassed. When you consider that the cows were nursing their calves and lowing for them and that the cows had never drawn a cart before, the odds were that they wouldn’t go down the road that led from Ekron to Beth-Shemesh. The five lords and their wise men had it all figured out.

God disposes (1 Sam. 6:10-18). But they were wrong. The lords of the Philistines didn’t know the true and living God, but the cows did, and they obeyed Him! “The ox knows its owner and the donkey its master’s crib” (Isa. 1:3 NKJV). They crossed the border and came to the priestly city of Beth-Shemesh (Josh. 21:13-16) where the men were working in the fields harvesting the wheat."

April 15 2024 5 responses Vote Up Share Report


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Mini Tim Maas Supporter Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army
https://ebible.com/questions/2202-what-does-the-bible-say-about-luck

April 17 2024 0 responses Vote Up Share Report


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