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THE DOCTRINE OF CONCURRENCE MAY BE SEEN IN A manifold number of cases in sacred Scripture. We see it, for example, in the work of Judas, whose treachery resulted in the betrayal and subsequent execution of Christ. His evil deed was a fulfillment of prophecy as he became the human instrument through whom Jesus was delivered to the Gentiles for judgment. Though Caiaphas, Herod, and Pontius Pilate all had roles in this, the greatest drama of human history, it is Judas who shoulders the lion's share of the blame.
Can Judas stand at the last judgment and demand a reward for his contribution to the Atonement? Cannot he say, "Without me Good Friday would be Bad Friday"? That we mark the anniversary of the death of Christ by the designation "Good" Friday reveals that we view the events of that day, as diabolical as they were in their human inception, as the most salutary day in human history. Had Judas attempted to claim virtue for his heinous crime because God used it for redemption, he would most surely have failed in the attempt. Though God, in His saving providence, wrought ultimate good out of this act, this does not exonerate Judas from his crime.
The same could be said for Pharaoh. Without the hardened heart of Pharaoh there would have been no Exodus. Could the Egyptian monarch then claim a reward in heaven for his contribution to the Exodus? To ask the question is to answer it.
Grand Schemes of Concurrence
Could the Chaldeans who stole Job's livestock at the instigation of Satan claim credit for Job's passing of his supreme trial? The story of Job is a drama with a large cast of characters. The cast includes Job, the Sabeans, the Chaldeans, Satan, and God. Who was it that afflicted Job? Was it God? Satan? The Chaldeans? It was all of them together in a grand scheme of concurrence.
Let us consider the culpability of the Chaldeans. Can we not hear them at the bar of God's justice blaming Satan for their attack against Job? "The devil made us
do it" is their plea. Attention then turns to the devil, who pleads, "God made me do it." This type of buck-passing was first heard in the Garden of Eden when Adam blamed Eve for his transgression and Eve blamed the serpent. The serpent had no one left to blame except God.
In reality Satan did not coerce the Chaldeans to steal Job's livestock. It was not as if the Chaldeans were pristine, pure, moral virgins who were suddenly forced against their wills to steal from Job. They were cattle rustlers from the beginning. God had put a hedge around Job, protecting him from the assaults of men and of Satan. When the hedge was removed Satan seized the opportunity to unleash his assault against Job. He made use of the wicked desires of the Chaldeans, who had undoubtedly coveted Job's livestock all along. God's purpose in Job's trial was to vindicate Job against the slander of Satan and to demonstrate His own power and glory. Satan's purpose was to mock God and prove that when left to themselves men will serve Satan rather than God. The Chaldeans had their own agenda. They weren't interested in the cosmic drama that left Job vulnerable to them in the first place. They were interested in the cattle and their own commercial profit. We have here multiple players with various motives, all working together to accomplish the will of God. This coworking, or synergism, is an example of the mystery of concurrence.
Perhaps the clearest example of concurrence in Scripture is found in the narrative history of Joseph. Joseph's problems began in his youth when he was but seventeen years old. Because he was the child of Jacob's old age, the patriarch showed favoritism toward Joseph. This provoked profound jealousy and anger among Joseph's brothers. Their hatred toward him was exasperated by Joseph's relating to them of his mysterious dreams: Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.
Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. So he said to them, "Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also
stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf."
And his brothers said to him, "Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?" So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, "Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me."
So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, "What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?" And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind. (Gen. 37:3-13) While Jacob was annoyed by the matter of Joseph's dreams, the brothers were more than annoyed. They began to plot his removal from their midst: Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. Then they said to one another, "Look, this dreamer is coming! Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, 'Some wild beast has devoured him.' We shall see what will become of his dreams!"
But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, "Let us not kill him." And Reuben said to them, "Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him"—that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father. (Gen. 37:18-22) When the discussion led to plans of murder, Reuben intervened to suggest an alternative plan. He advised them not to kill Joseph outright but to leave him stranded in a pit. Reuben planned to secretly return to the pit and rescue Joseph.
But this plan was scrapped when another alternative presented itself with the passing of a caravan headed for Egypt:
So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.
And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. So Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh." And his brothers listened. Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt. (Gen. 37:23-28) Judah was the third-eldest brother; Reuben was the eldest, the brother destined to receive the patriarchal blessing and the promise of the kingdom. Yet Reuben schemed with his brothers to not only get rid of Joseph but to gain a profit from doing so.
The events that followed in Joseph's life resemble a shortened version of Alexander Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo. First Joseph was sold as a slave to Potiphar, a high-ranking official in the Egyptian government. But in exile and in slavery Joseph did well, gaining the praise of his master for the excellent service he rendered to him. Then Joseph was falsely accused by Potiphar's wife when he spurned her sexual advances. The scorned woman demanded vengeance against Joseph, and Joseph was thrown into prison and held there for years. He was in a foreign country, removed from the culture where the God of his fathers was worshiped, isolated from everything that was precious to him.
We can't help but wonder how he was able to maintain the integrity of his faith in those lost years. But he did. It was his faith that had led him to resist the illicit invitations of Potiphar's wife: So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had in the house and in the field. Thus he left all that he had in Joseph's hand, and he did not know what he had except for
the bread which he ate.
Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.
And it came to pass after these things that his master's wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, "Lie with me."
But he refused and said to his master's wife, "Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand.
There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" (Gen. 39:5-9) One of the characteristics of the Old Testament is that it portrays the heroes of the faith with warts and all. Many of these heroes are described in terms similar to Shakespearean heroes who display fatal moral blemishes. But we need a microscope to find any such flaw in Joseph. He appears in almost Christlike virtue throughout the narrative of his life. When he refused the advances of Potiphar's wife, he said he could not sin against his master, Potiphar, and violate the trust he had received from him. Beyond that he realized that to acquiesce to her desires would mean that he would have to sin against God. He was unwilling to do that. Because of his obedience to God, Joseph ended up in prison. There he made friends with his fellow prisoners: Then Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison. But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing.
The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph's authority, because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper. (Gen. 39:20-23) Even in prison Joseph excelled. He was a model prisoner and earned the respect of his jailer. The salient point of his incarceration was that while he was in captivity God was with him and sustained him by His tender mercy. Joseph had
been abandoned by his brothers and abandoned by Potiphar, but he was not abandoned by God. The friends Joseph made in prison also let him down: And they said to him, "We each have had a dream, and there is no interpreter of it."
So Joseph said to them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, please."
Then the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, "Behold, in my dream a vine was before me, and in the vine were three branches; it was as though it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes. Then Pharaoh's cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand."
And Joseph said to him, "This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days. Now within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your place, and you will put Pharaoh's cup in his hand according to the former manner, when you were his butler. But remember me when it is well with you, and please show kindness to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house. For indeed I was stolen away from the land of the Hebrews; and also I have done nothing here that they should put me into the dungeon."
(Gen. 40:8-15) After Joseph interpreted the dreams of the butler and the baker, the butler was restored to the service of Pharaoh. But he forgot about Joseph. Joseph was left to languish in prison. It was not until a long time elapsed before Pharaoh himself was disturbed by a troubling dream that none of his wise men were able to interpret. Finally the butler remembered Joseph and commended his skills to Pharaoh.
When Joseph successfully interpreted Pharaoh's dream, he was rewarded by being elevated to the second-highest position in the land. All of this transpired to set the stage for Joseph's later reunion with his brothers. When the drama reached its climax and Joseph's true identity was revealed to his brothers, they cowered in terror, fearing Joseph's revenge:
When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him." So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, "Before your father died he commanded, saying, 'Thus you shall say to Joseph: "I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil to you.'" Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father." And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, "Behold, we are your servants."
Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. (Gen. 50:15-20)
God's Higher Purpose in Mysteries of Concurrence
Joseph forgave his brothers according to the wishes of his father. He did not minimize their guilt but called attention to the higher purpose of God in the matter. He said, "You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive." This is the locus classicus, the very heart, of the biblical doctrine of concurrence. God in His providence was involved in the whole life of Joseph. It was by His hand that Joseph was brought into Egypt. This did not exonerate the brothers from their wicked actions, but God worked through the evil machinations of men in order to accomplish His purpose.
Joseph stressed the difference in the intent of God and of his brothers. The concept of intentionality lies at the heart of human personality and volition.
Voluntary actions involve intent. The action of my beating heart is involuntary; though I want my heart to beat, it does not beat because I intend it to. In contrast, moral actions are actions done for a reason, by intent. They are actions that are meant to be done. Indeed, we have provisions in the law for culpability in the case of "accidents." That culpability stretches as far as our intent. Perhaps we did not plan to smash our car into somebody else's, but we did mean to drive as fast as we were driving. If we hit another car while we are speeding, we are
responsible for our negligence.
God's intentions are always good. There is no shadow of turning in Him, no lapses into negligence. He clearly intended for Joseph to be sold into slavery; His purpose in this was altogether holy. The means He used to accomplish this end were the wicked wills of His creatures. They intended something altogether different from God's intent. They meant evil. They committed evil. They were responsible for that evil.
We have seen already how the cry of a baby changed the course of history. Just as God exercised His providential care of the infant Moses, so He governed all things that occurred in the life of Joseph. If we play the "what if?" game with Joseph, we go back to the tech-nicolored coat. If there had been no coat, perhaps there would not have been so much envy and jealousy among his brothers. No jealousy, no selling to the Midianite traders. And if the Midianite traders had been headed in the opposite direction, Joseph would never have gone to Egypt.
No Egypt, no selling to Potiphar. Had someone else purchased him, there would have been no encounter with Potiphar's wife. No Potiphar's wife, no prison. No prison, no meeting with the baker and the butler. No meeting with the butler, no meeting with Pharaoh to interpret his dream. No meeting with Pharaoh, and Joseph never would have become prime minister.
The game goes on. If Joseph had never become prime minister then the Jews would never have settled in the land of Goshen. Had that not occurred, there would never have been an enslavement of the Jewish people in Egypt. No slavery, no need for the rescue of a crying baby named Moses. No Moses, no Exodus. No Exodus, no Law . . . And the game continues all the way to Jesus and His redemption on the cross.
If we telescope this collection of "what ifs?" we conclude that if it were not for Joseph's technicolored coat there would be no Christianity, and every chapter of human history would have a different ending. Herein is the mystery of providential concurrence. Because God meant it for good, His servant Joseph was the victim of the envy and jealousy of his brothers.
Obviously it is conceivable that God could have worked out a different plan of
salvation. He did not require Joseph's coat to get the job done. Our game of "what if?" is precisely that, a game. It makes for interesting speculation, but that is the extent of it. God doesn't play such games with human history. His providential government is serious business. What remains is that the events of Joseph's life did take place as they are written. They took place ultimately because of the perfect intentionality of God. Whatever God meant to take place, took place within the context of the mystery of concurrence.