providence
Definition
Providence (providentia) is the theological concept for God’s continuing involvement in and direction of creation after its beginning. God is not merely the Creator who has withdrawn, but the active Governor who leads history toward his goal. In Stephen Jones’s corpus, providence receives a distinctive formulation: God’s governmental activity operates through fixed time-cycles and numerical patterns recorded in Scripture.
Uses per Author
Stephen Jones
Jones treats providence as the governance of history through 414-year cycles (“cursed time”). God’s action in history is not arbitrary but precisely timed:
“The flood came upon the earth in the year 1656, when Noah was 600 years old. The year 1656 fell at the end of four periods of cursed time (414 × 4 = 1656 years)… The sentence of the law was pronounced in Gen. 3:17-19, but that sentence was not executed until 1656 years later.”
(Secrets of Time, ch. 4; Gen. 3:17-19 cited)
“Everything is orderly. Nothing happens by chance. People do not determine history; God does. Nations rise and fall according to His decrees.”
(Secrets of Time, Foreword; cf. Dan. 4)
Jones states the purpose of his study of time-cycles as a portrait of divine providence:
“The general purpose of this book is to portray the sovereignty of God in history. If that purpose is achieved, you should be saying at the conclusion of your reading: ‘What a great God we have!‘”
(ibid., Foreword)
God’s patience is part of his providence: judgments are delayed to allow for repentance:
“Because God is a God of grace and mercy, He never executes a death sentence immediately. He always gives people time to repent.”
(Secrets of Time, ch. 4)