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Where is God When Tragedy Strikes? (Endnotes)

1. God is “sovereign” in the generic sense, that is, He does possess ultimate power and authority, and He will bring to pass His overall goal of a family living happily ever after. But He is not the sovereign ruler in the affairs of man to the end that His will is always done. For example, 1 Timothy 2:4 says that God wills that all men be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth, but obviously this is not happening. Robert Forster and Paul Marston develop this thought in God’s Strategy In Human History (Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis MN, 1973), pages 35, 36. In The King James Version, God is never called “sovereign.” A brief study of the words translated “sovereign” in the NIV will show that, considered in its theological usage, “sovereign” is not an accurate translation of adon (lord, master), adonai (lord), shalliyt (ruler, officer), malkow (rulership, kingship), and despotes (master, lord). Also, a brief look at a dictionary will show that it is quite possible to be “sovereign” without having absolute control over everything within your domain. Independent kings and queens were known as “sovereign,” and we often speak of an independent country as being a “sovereign state” without thinking that everything done in it is under its absolute control. Close

2. “Omnipotent”— God does not have “all” power. Satan has a great deal; angels and evil spirits have some; Christians have some. But God is the most powerful One in the fight, and that is why He will eventually win. Close

3. The last verse of the song says: “He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove the glories of his righteousness...” Not now He doesn’t, though He certainly will in His Millennial Kingdom. Close