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NASB | Ecclesiastes 11:6 ¶ Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ecclesiastes 11:6 ¶ Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle with your hands in the evening, for you do not know whether morning or evening planting will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both alike will be good. |
Subject: Why don't you know for sure? |
Bible Note: As I write here I try to be careful. I want to be sure I don't say wrong things, because someone else is reading it and I don't want to lead anyone astray. When I am not sure about something, I say so. I am not sure I should say the following, so I hope everyone understands. I think we should all say what God has taught us and stop there. It is not true that "The Bible doesn't talk about man having free will". I can cite many passages where the Bible says he does. Genesis 2:17 is an example. Deuteronomy 30:19 is a classic. 1 Kings 18:21 says it. Isaiah 28:13 and Isaiah 30:15 prove it. Matthew 23:37 laments it. The fact that some who read this agree and some disagree renders it indisputable. Maybe there are other verses that seem to say the opposite, but to say the Bible never says it is a mistake. And there are others. It was not the tree of life that God said man should not eat of. It was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Check it out. As far as why God allowed sin to happen, that is a question that has been discussed many times and I would guess there is a record of it somewhere on this forum. Someone probably said that it is a matter of logic. There is no way God could have known it would happen and then prevented it, because that would mean it would not happen and God would have been mistaken to think that it would have happened. This type of reasoning can be confusing. It's of the type that ponders whether God can make a stone so large that he can't lift it. It is usually not useful to ask these questions. Someone else might have said that God is Sovereign and we should not question what he does. He knows best and we should accept what he does. In fact, we should be grateful that he reveals his will to us so we can do it. Someone else might have said that it does not matter if God allowed sin since he also gave us the antidote for sin. It's like saying it is OK that God allows us to be hungry and thirsty because he created food and water. There is sin, but Christ died for our sins. Now man, with the free will that God gave him, can choose to remain in his sin or he can repent and receive God's forgiveness. I say it is more useful to accept that than to argue with God. Some will say that God has not given us free will, but they will then exercise their free will to argue. Then someone will ask why God allows us to argue. The fact is we do not have to. We can submit to him. Sometimes I am not too sure about these things, but I will edit this before posting it, to make sure it squares the word of God. Will you also be careful how you answer? |