God’s control, King Sihon’s responsibility

Is God sovereign over (that means basically, ‘in control of’) human hearts? I believe the biblical answer is: yes. The writer of Proverbs tells us explicitly that God is in control of the heart of the king: ‘The heart of the king is like a watercourse in the hands of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will’ (Proverbs 21.1). When Paul was preaching the gospel in Philippi, God ‘opened the heart’ of a woman named Lydia, and she believed (Acts 16.14). So, yes, the Bible teaches that God is in control of human hearts.

But the next question that arises is: if God is in control of human hearts, why are we responsible for what we do? Aren’t we just programmed by God? (interestingly, the Apostle Paul imagines a similar question in Romans 9.19)

Rather than trying to reason this out for ourselves, let’s look at how the Bible thinks about these things. Let’s take a test case. One that comes to mind is Sihon, king of the Amorites (not that I think about Sihon all that often! It’s just that he appeared in our Bible reading this morning!).

Numbers 21 tells the story of Israel and Sihon. Israel is in the midst of their wilderness wanderings, and they send a message to King Sihon asking for passage through his land and assuring him of no hostile intent. ‘But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. He gathered all his people together and went out against Israel to the wilderness and came to Jahaz and fought against Israel’ (Numbers 21.23).

Now, who would not allow Israel to pass through this territory? The answer in Numbers 21.23 is clearly Sihon. Who gathered his people to fight against Israel? Again, the answer from Numbers 21.23 is clearly Sihon. Sihon is responsible for his actions. The result of his antagonism toward Israel is that he is defeated in battle by Israel, and they take possession of his land (Numbers 21.24). Israel’s defeat of Sihon echoes through the rest of the Bible (cf. Deuteronomy 3.6; 4.46; 29.7; 31.4; Joshua 2.10; Nehemiah 9.22).

Conclusion: King Sihon is responsible for his antagonism toward Israel, and pays a steep price for it.

But Numbers 21 is not the only passage in the Bible that tells the story of Sihon and Israel. Deuteronomy 2 recalls the same events. And listen to how Moses describes Sihon’s actions and the reasons for these actions. ‘But Sihon the king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as he is this day’ (Deuteronomy 2.30).

Moses says in Numbers 21.23 that King Sihon was responsible for actions. And he says in Deuteronomy 2.30 that God was the one who hardened Sihon’s heart and made his spirit obstinate. This suggests to me that God’s sovereignty (control) over the human heart does not remove human responsibility for the sinful inclination of the heart, and the sinful actions based on those inclinations.

How can these things go together? The Bible never explicitly tells us. It just affirms it. There are some possible answers for how these things fit together, and (I think) some of these possible answers are good. But the main thing is that we believe both Numbers 21.23 and Deuteronomy 2.30.

This matters for us today. It matters, because it is important to believe that we are responsible for what we will do today. We must live as men and women before God. Our actions matter. We must turn from sin and serve God.

It also matters, because it gives us great hope and confidence to serve a sovereign God, who is in control of the universe he created. ‘Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties upon him, because he cares for you’ (1 Peter 5.6-7).

Posted by Stephen Witmer on Apr 9, 09:48 AM