(60) I now go on to my third point, and show from Scripture that the decrees
and mandates of God, and consequently His providence, are merely the order
of nature - that is, when Scripture describes an event as accomplished by
God or God's will, we must understand merely that it was in accordance with
the law and order of nature, not, as most people believe, that nature had
for a season ceased to act, or that her order was temporarily interrupted.
(61) But Scripture does not directly teach matters unconnected with its
doctrine, wherefore it has no care to explain things by their natural
causes, nor to expound matters merely speculative. (62) Wherefore our
conclusion must be gathered by inference from those Scriptural narratives
which happen to be written more at length and circumstantially than usual.
(63) Of these I will cite a few.

(64) In the first book of Samuel, ix:15, 16, it is related that God revealed
to Samuel that He would send Saul to him, yet God did not send Saul to
Samuel as people are wont to send one man to another. (65) His "sending" was
merely the ordinary course of nature. (66) Saul was looking for the asses he
had lost, and was meditating a return home without them, when, at the
suggestion of his servant, he went to the prophet Samuel, to learn from him
where he might find them. (67) From no part of the narrative does it appear
that Saul had any command from God to visit Samuel beyond this natural
motive.

(68) In Psalm cv. 24 it is said that God changed the hearts of the
Egyptians, so that they hated the Israelites. (69) This was evidently a
natural change, as appears from Exodus, chap.i., where we find no slight
reason for the Egyptians reducing the Israelites to slavery.

(70) In Genesis ix:13, God tells Noah that He will set His bow in the cloud;
this action of God's is but another way of expressing the refraction and