I have long been impressed by this short phrase. Many years ago, in the very dawn of computer-aided Bible study, a young pastor and faculty colleague said he was doing a Bible study on this phrase. He was using the dominant search tools of day – a paper concordance, and was cross referencing all occurrences of “but” with those of “God”. It was clear that this could well turn into a life long project (but occurs over 4000 time and God over 4700 times). So I pulled up the search on my new Bible search software on my IBM PC and discovered 48 verses in the English Standard Version.

This past weekend, my Pastor delivered a powerful sermon from Genesis 21:12 where God tells Abraham to send away Hagar and her son and that he (God) promised to make a nation from him. This phrase “but God” is a great way to find places in history in which God has intervened in a special way in order to accomplish his purposes in the world. I think one of the greatest occurrences of this phrase is Ephesians 2:3-5 which says “among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved.”

I decided it was time to put all these occurrences in a single place. So here they are, unedited (other than bolding the phrase) and without comment. Read them, meditate on them, and consider the greatness of our God to control the events of history in a way that ultimately brings him glory. Even in the midst of a world filled with death, disease, pain and suffering! To God be the glory. The Bible is HIStory!!

1. Genesis 3:3
but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
2. Genesis 8:1
[ The Flood Subsides ] But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.
3. Genesis 20:3
But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.”
4. Genesis 21:12
But God said to Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named.
5. Genesis 31:7
yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. But God did not permit him to harm me.
6. Genesis 31:24
But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”
7. Genesis 45:8
So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
8. Genesis 48:21
Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers.
9. Genesis 50:20
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
10. Genesis 50:24
And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”
11. Exodus 13:18
But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle.
12. Exodus 21:13
But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee.
13. Numbers 22:22
[ Balaam’s Donkey and the Angel ] But God’s anger was kindled because he went, and the angel of the LORD took his stand in the way as his adversary. Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him.
14. 1 Samuel 23:14
And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.
15. 2 Samuel 14:14
We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God will not take away life, and he devises means so that the banished one will not remain an outcast.
16. 1 Chronicles 21:7
But God was displeased with this thing, and he struck Israel.
17. 1 Chronicles 28:3
But God said to me, ‘You may not build a house for my name, for you are a man of war and have shed blood.’
18. 2 Chronicles 20:15
And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the LORD to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s.
19. Psalm 49:15
But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,for he will receive me. Selah
20. Psalm 52:5
But God will break you down forever;he will snatch and tear you from your tent;he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
21. Psalm 64:7
But God shoots his arrow at them;they are wounded suddenly.
22. Psalm 68:21
But God will strike the heads of his enemies,the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways.
23. Psalm 73:26
My flesh and my heart may fail,but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
24. Ecclesiastes 5:7
For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear.
25. Jonah 4:9
But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.”
26. Mark 2:7
“Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
27. Luke 5:21
And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
28. Luke 12:20
But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’
29. Luke 16:15
And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
30. Acts 7:9
“And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him
31. Acts 7:42
But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: “‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices, during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
32. Acts 10:28
And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.
33. Acts 10:40
but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear,
34. Acts 13:30
But God raised him from the dead,
35. Romans 5:8
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
36. Romans 11:22
Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.
37. 1 Corinthians 1:27
But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
38. 1 Corinthians 3:6
I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.
39. 1 Corinthians 12:24
which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it,
40. 1 Corinthians 15:38
But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.
41. 2 Corinthians 7:6
But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus,
42. Galatians 3:18
For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.
43. Galatians 3:20
Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.
44. Ephesians 2:4
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
45. Philippians 2:27
Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
46. 1 Thessalonians 2:16
by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But God’s wrath has come upon them at last!
47. 1 Thessalonians 4:8
Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
48. 2 Timothy 2:19
But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”