Subject: Is God subject to change? |
Bible Note: John The verses you quote say the outcome was ordained not the path or every step of the way. By making God control or ordain every miniscule thing you transform Him from a loving Father God into a controlling taskmaster God. Look at the life of Joseph. God ordained that he would use Joseph to open the door of Egypt to the Children of Israel. Do you think God forced Joseph instead of being humble to bragged to his brothers so they would get jealous? Do you credit God with the jealously of each of Joseph’s brothers? Do you credit God with the lie they told their father to cover up what they did to Joseph? Do you charge God with the ruthlessness of the Ishmaelites that would take Joseph slave? Do you credit Potiphar’s wife’s adulterous desires to God? Do you credit the lack of integrity of the cupbear to God? Saying God controlled this step by step is also saying he had to author the acts. Or could this be a lesson in God’s sovereignty? God ordained as I said that Joseph would one day open the door of Egypt to the Children of Israel. Everyone’s action from there on is nothing more than their free will being exercised and God dealing with each as they occurred accomplishing His goal. None of these actions on the part of any the various people involved surprised God. However I do think in many cases God was sadden because they weren’t God’s highest and best but again they weren’t surprises. Did God have this all worked about before hand? I don’t think so since saying before hand implies time is a factor to God and it isn’t. Does this say God has many options and he chooses which to use per situation? I don’t think so that would contribute some degree of lack of knowledge to God since He had to have options. Does that say God directed them? No that would imply God was manipulating or controlling rather than loving and just. WELL THEN WHAT EXACTLY DOES IT REPRESENT? To me it represents another side of God we can not conceive of. A God that is able to put a plan in place, have people that obey or disobey at their will partake in the plan and be able to make the plan accomplish exactly what God desired the plan to accomplish with no surprises, hesitations, or complications. You can couch that in all kinds of theories, terminology, philosophy whatever you want but the fact is you can’t explain it, understand it or label it. You have to accept it as a child would and trust God for the rest. EdB |