The following blog post isn't going to be a long one as I
don’t think it really needs much explaining! The verse within the post is short
and is self explanatory to all who read it. But I am here to look at the verse
and how it applies to the determinist Calvinists view on the sovereignty of
God.
First of all I feel it is important that I address what I
mean by the determinist Calvinist! I mean a Calvinist who believes that humans
have no free will, that God turns the heart irresistibly, and God causes all
things to happen. The all encompassing determinist is thankfully still rare;
however the classic Calvinist isn't far from the group I am addressing in this
blog post.
The verse:
Jeremiah 19:5 (KJV)
They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their
sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor
spake it, neither came it
into my mind:
There are some who believe that this verse teaches that God
didn’t know what was going to happen in this situation, the problem with this
view is that it does not consider the whole counsel of scripture. For example
we are told crystal clearly that God knows the end from the beginning:
Psalm 139:4 (ESV)
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
Scripture cannot contradict scripture, therefore we can say
with confidence that the interpretation that this verse is Jeremiah is speaking
of God not knowing something is false. Therefore we can explore other possible
interpretations of the passage.
The determinist has real trouble with this verse; their view
of the all encompassing God who determines everything to come to pass suddenly falls apart. Here we have a
verse that is crystal clearly saying that God did not:
A) command
what happened at Baal,
B) did
not speak it,
C) it
didn’t come into his mind.
God cannot be saying here that He didn’t know something was
going to happen for that would contradict Psalm 139:4, so what does Jeremiah
19:5 actually mean? It means that God did not desire or cause what happened at
Baal.
Why did the people at Baal do what they did? Is it because a
sovereign God determines absolutely all things that happen in each individuals
life and therefore causes all things (without exception) to occur? Well according
to this verse absolutely not, God did not determine this to happen, He did not
want it.
Soon I will be looking at the story of Jesus and Jerusalem in Matthew 23,
so for now I will leave you with that verse to ponder until the next blog post:
Matthew 23:37 (KJV)
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the
prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens
under her wings, and ye would not!
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