To ordain carries two distinct but related biblical meanings. First, at the cosmic level, God ordains — He sovereignly appoints, establishes, and decrees. "The LORD has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all" (Psalm 103:19). He ordains governments (Romans 13:1), the steps of the righteous (Psalm 37:23), and even suffering for the refinement of His people. Second, at the ecclesiastical level, human authorities ordain ministers — formally recognizing, setting apart, and commissioning those whom God has called for ministry (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5). Both meanings carry the weight of divine order being established in a world prone to chaos.
ORDAIN', v.t. [L. ordino, from ordo, order.] 1. To set in order; to arrange; to prepare. 2. To institute; to establish; to enact; to decree. "If he that ordains a law against nature is not the author of it." 3. To appoint; to prepare; to decree. "He hath ordained his arrows against the persecutors." Psalm 7. 4. To invest with ministerial or sacerdotal functions.
Two corruptions threaten the biblical meaning of ordain. The first is the theological flattening of divine sovereignty — the hesitation to say God ordains suffering, evil's defeat, or the structures of authority, lest He be blamed for human sin. Scripture does not flinch from this: God works all things according to the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11). The second corruption is the devaluation of ecclesiastical ordination into mere professional credentialing, divorced from community recognition and spiritual discernment. Ordination is not a diploma — it is the church's formal declaration that the Spirit has already set someone apart.
Jeremiah 1:5 — "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations."
Romans 13:1 — "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God."
Acts 14:23 — "And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord."
Ephesians 1:11 — "In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will."
Psalm 37:23 — "The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way."
G5021 – tassō (τάσσω) — to arrange, to appoint, to ordain; used of God appointing authorities (Romans 13:1) and people for eternal life (Acts 13:48)
G3724 – horizō (ὁρίζω) — to determine, to appoint, to ordain; root of "horizon" — defines the boundary of God's sovereign purposes (Acts 2:23)
H5414 – nātan (נָתַן) — to give, to appoint, to set; used of God ordaining (giving) Jeremiah as a prophet before birth (Jeremiah 1:5)
• God did not merely permit the Cross — He ordained it. "This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God" (Acts 2:23). This is not divine passivity; it is sovereign purpose.
• When a church ordains an elder, it is not granting him authority — it is recognizing authority already given by the Holy Spirit and submitting to God's choice.
• A soldier who has been commissioned understands the seriousness of ordination — you were not selected at random; you were appointed for a purpose that preceded your awareness of it.