I dedicate this website to the memory of my dear mother Doris Harmon, seen here in one of her high school pictures.  I expect to see her again.

 AND

To my sweet wife Gloria who is a great source of joy to me every day.

Introduction to God's Eternal Plan


Past Eph. 1:4

A. Past

 

Old Testament

1. Isaac - Named before born -

 

And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, [and] with his seed after him. (Genesis 17:19)

And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, [that is] better than thou. (1 Samuel 15:28)

And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons. (1 Samuel 16:1)

And he sent, and brought him in. Now he [was] ruddy, [and] withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this [is] he. (1 Samuel 16:12)

And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee. (1 Kings 13:2)

And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that [were] there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned [them] upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words. (2 Kings 23:16)

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, [and] I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. (Jeremiah 1:5)

The following verses have to do with the time of Cyrus which was the end of the captivity.

For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. (Jeremiah 29:10)

In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. (Daniel 9:2)

Know therefore and understand, [that] from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince [shall be] seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. (Daniel 9:25)

 

New Testament

 

1. John the Baptist - Prophecied - Named before birth

 

For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. (Matthew 3:3)

But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. (Luke 1:13)

And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all. (Luke 1:63)

But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: (Acts 9:15)

But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called [me] by his grace, (Galatians 1:15)

 

B. Present

 

1. Joseph - sent out of Egypt to take care of his family.

 

5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.

6 For these two years [hath] the famine [been] in the land: and yet [there are] five years, in the which [there shall] neither [be] earing nor harvest.

7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

8 So now [it was] not you [that] sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. (Genesis 45)

19 And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for [am] I in the place of God?

20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; [but] God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as [it is] this day, to save much people alive.

21 Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them. (Genesis 50)

2. Ruth - her "hap"

 

And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field [belonging] unto Boaz, who [was] of the kindred of Elimelech. (Ruth 2:3)

 

3. David

 

And David enquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake [them], and without fail recover [all]. (1 Samuel 30:8)

And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives. (1 Samuel 30:18)

And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness: wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn thine hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am wounded. (1 Kings 22:34)

And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life, that, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this [is] the woman, and this [is] her son, whom Elisha restored to life. (2 Kings 8:5)

On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. (Esther 6:1)

 

C. Future

 

Eph. 2:6-7

6 And hath raised [us] up together, and made [us] sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus:

7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in [his] kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2)

Rom. 8:28-30

28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.

29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. (Romans 8)

 

Col. 3:1

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. (Colossians 3:1)

Phil. 1:6 "will perform it".

John 17:11 - "keep" with 22 and 27 "that they may be with me".

John 14:3 - "that where I am there ye may be also."

We walk by faith and not by sight - so don't worry about not being able to see how it all fits together.

 

- Just some verses that God will carry out His plan. (The word "perseverance" means to persist in a state in spite of all opposing influences.)

Heb. 6:9-20

 

 

 

 

 

 

(God's providence is rooted in His predestination) Note - see Weymouth's translation for good rendering of Eph. 1:11

7. Job - the action behind the scene

 

Verses - Prov. 3:5-6, Ps. 37:23, etc.

6. Esther

 

5. Gehazi

 

4. Jehoshaphat

 

 

(The Gr. word "separate" means to set apart for some purpose.)

 

Other verses - John 6:44, 65; 17:2, Acts 13:48, Rom. 9:11, IITh. 2:13, Heb.1:14.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- Verses show God's purpose being worked out according to His plan.

2. Paul - chosen, separated and called.

 

1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and [put it] also in writing, saying,

2 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which [is] in Judah. (Ezra 1)

5. Cyrus - An heathen king called by name before he was born. (Isa's. ministry dates about 740 -698 B.C. which was about 150 years before Cyrus was known. Cyrus overthrew Babylon in 538 B.C.)

 

1 Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;

2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:

3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call [thee] by thy name, [am] the God of Israel.

4 For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. (Isaiah 45)

4. Jeremiah - Ordained a prophet before he was born.

 

(O.T. references to Christ as the Son of David -- in fact all prophecy testifies to purpose being worked out)

 

3. Josiah - called by name about 350 years before he was born.

 

2. David - Chosen by God to be king -

 

14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully [and] wonderfully made: marvellous [are] thy works; and [that] my soul knoweth right well.

15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, [and] curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all [my members] were written, [which] in continuance were fashioned, when [as yet there was] none of them. (Psalms 139)

- Predestination

 

Present Eph. 1:11

Future Eph. 2:7

- Perseverance- Providence