The external [impulsive cause].
The external [impulsive cause].
The external impulsive cause [προκαταρκτικὸν αἴτιον] is the miserable condition of the human race into which mankind would have been hurled headlong by the deceit of the devil and would have become liable to eternal death unless the decree of the Gospel had been made and, after the fall, revealed to man. Here again the marvelous balance of divine zeal and kindness must be considered. For since man, the wretched creature of God, had been deceived wickedly by the devil, God thus burned with a very righteous wrath against the devil but revealed Himself to man as kind and benevolent. “Jehovah saw that there was no man and wondered that there was no one to intervene; so His own arm brought Him victory, and His justice confirmed Him. He put on justice as a breastplate and a helmet of salvation upon His head; He put on the garment of vengeance and put on zeal as a mantle. As though because of retributions, as though to repay wrath to His adversaries, He will come to Zion as Redeemer” (Isa. 59:16–18, 20). “The zeal of Jehovah of hosts will do this,” (Isa. 9:7).