Reconcile Predestination With Human Free Will
Background
The debate about whether the Bible principally teaches predestination or free will has been ongoing since the 5th century. It heated up shortly after the Reformation. The principal proponents were John Calvin (1509-1564) and James Arminius (1560-1609). Their two opposing points of view came to be known as Calvinism and Arminianism. The following table shows key features of their five points of view.
Although some Protestant denominations tend more to one side than the other, I expect most believers fall somewhere more toward the middle. If you believe that the Bible is totally true and the inerrant word of God you likely see some of each in the Bible. This is not a salvation issue so it is not something we should get too hung up over. Personally I like to stay away from taking titles other than being a Jesus loving Christian. I tend to believe what I find as I study the Bible and not be bound by some human created creed. I do clearly see an extensive amount of both free will and Predestination in the Bible. I will point out a good bit of both as we go on with this study. You may be surprised at the amount of predestination that we find. In fact as we go on we will certainly conclude that it is God who is in charge and not us. You may be in for a surprise or two as we go on.
Does God Really Predestine Some Things To Happen?
We can answer that question with a resounding and absolute yes! The most obvious reason for that and the reason for our absolute certainty in our answer is the fact that prophecy is predestination. The Bible is full of fulfilled prophecies. There were over 300 specific prophecies of Jesus first coming in the Old Testament, and all were fulfilled with absolute accuracy. The Old Testament is also full of prophecies made and fulfilled all within the timeframe of the Old Testament period. Some obvious example areas follow:
Eph 1:11-12 and Rom 8:29-30 are two of the most often quoted scriptures on predestination. They express just what we are teaching in this paper. Let us read them:
Eph 1:11-12 11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.
Rom 8:28-30 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Why are both predestination and free will necessary? Why not just free will?
The simple answer to that question is that it was because God had a plan. The plan had a beginning, an end and many intermediate steps leading to the end. All of these steps and some of the situations surrounding the steps were fore-ordained. It seems the reason for the plan and all of the events involved in the plan was that God had decided sometime before the creation of the universe to give his Son, Jesus, a gift. At the highest level the plan called for Jesus to do the following:
To create the gift that the Father had designed,
to create the gift with a nature that could allow the gift to one day take on some of his own characteristics,
to create a scenario whereby the gift had the free will to choose between him and an opponent who could offer many things that would appeal to the gifts nature but were ultimately not good for the gift; this led to the requirement to create a being and in fact a whole set of beings who would offer this counter choice to the gift,
to interact with the gift just enough to give him a book that would explain who he was, what he wanted, and the consequences for not following the book, while not interacting with the gift enough to take away the free will that he had given to the gift,
to have to temporarily take on the nature of the gift and enter the abode of the gift,
to ultimately have to pay a very heavy price for the gift,
to have to wait for the gift to grow to just the right size,
to create a worldwide situation that would end up forcing God’s chosen people, the Jews, to finally recognize that Jesus is God and their Messiah,
to finally come to earth to claim his ultimate and eternal bride, the collective gift, to live with them on earth for 1000 years, and then after a final judgment of all of those not choosing him, to create an eternal place of paradise where he can live with his bride for eternity.
Six of these events have already taken place. They were fore-ordained and had to happen. The other three are either in the process of happening or will happen in the future with absolute certainty.
Once a person understands this dynamic, everything that happens on earth takes on a much different meaning. It is much easier to understand and answer the difficult questions that are associated with this life. Can you think of some of your questions that might have a very different answer or meaning under this dynamic?
We will next go back to our question; why not just free will? God’s original concept for the gift seemed to be that the gift was to be a bride of sorts for Jesus. This was to be an eternal bride. This concept involved a marriage, which always has a covenant associated with it. The covenant requires the following:
A proven two way love between the parties,
a proven level of honor and respect,
a willingness on both sides to make great sacrifices if necessary for the other,
a sense of obedience, one to the other,
a great desire to spend a large amount of time with the other party,
placing the needs of the other above one’s own needs,
just seeing, hearing the voice of, just thinking about the other brings feelings of great pleasure and joy.
Is that the way that you feel about your future husband, about Jesus?
One of God’s most important original decision points when he conceived of this gift may have been in determining how to separate those who would feel this way about Jesus from those who would not. He had to have a rather complex algorithm to use as a basis for making the proper judgment. This algorithm required creating the gift with a very complex set of senses, emotions, strong desires, basic needs, great intelligence and the ability to determine good from bad, the ability to make both wise and ignorant, harmful choices. Thus God had to have both purveyors of good and evil. Both had great power and the ability to influence the gift. The algorithm required the gift to have the ability to choose, to make free will choices. Knowing that the gift would ultimately stray away from him because of the powerful senses and cravings that he created within in the gift meant that God would have to pre-design several corrective forcing events that would get the gift closer to being back on track from time to time. Everyone that has ever lived has been a potential future part of the gift. However it was never God’s plan or desire to have everyone he created to be a part of the gift. It was only those who, against great odds, would go the extra thousand miles or so, give whatever was necessary under difficult circumstances, to demonstrate their great love for Jesus and desire to be as much like him as they could possibly be. Both free will and pre-determined events were necessary to make all of this happen as God desired.
Are there examples in the Bible that can help us understand the dynamic between predestination and free will?
The answer to that question is again a resounding YES! A prime example that I am thinking about took place in the period from about 750 to 445 BC. This was the period of the conquest and exile of first Israel in 719 BC by the Assyrians and then of Judah by the Babylonians in the period from 606 to 445 BC. To give us a good context I will list some of the Bible prophets/historians and their approximate dates and then some of the key events with their approximate dates. This is included in the table on the following table.
The specific example that we will present and discuss below has to do with the Babylonian exile and captivity. God had been very unhappy with both Israel and Judah since shortly after their origins. They had seriously fallen into idol worship and had largely left him. There would be periods of revival but they would last only a few years. God kept warning them through the prophets that he would seriously punish and exile them if they did not return to him in a lasting way. They refused. Israel had been the most serious violator so God punished them first. He allowed the Assyrians to capture them and take them into exile after several years of battles in 719 BC. By 606 BC God had gotten so fed up with Judah that he allowed the same thing to happen to them, only this time it was the Babylonians who conquered and exiled them.
The prophets had again warned them of what would happen if they did not listen. Jeremiah prophesied 70 years of exile. Some of the details are summarized in the chart at the end of this discussion. I will use this conquest and exile to demonstrate God’s use of predestination and free will.
We will start with quotes from Zechariah. He was prophesying and writing in the period shortly after the 70 year captivity had ended with the overthrow of the Babylonian Empire by the Persian Empire. Their first two kings after the overthrow were Cyrus the Great and Darius. Both were sympathetic to the plight of the Jewish people and freed them to go home as they wished.
The specific timeframe of the following verses is shortly before the rebuilding of the temple started in about 518-517 BC. Zechariah is quoting God in Zech 1:1-2 and we see that he was very angry with Judah. In fact he makes a conditional promise to them.
Zech 1:2-3``2 “The Lord was very angry with your ancestors. 3 Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty
In verse 12 we see that the angel of the Lord, who is always Jesus in the Old Testament, was visiting Zechariah on earth. Jesus is speaking to the Father in heaven and asking how long the Father would remain angry with Judah and withhold mercy from them.
Zech 1:12 12 Then the angel of the Lord said, “Lord Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah, which you have been angry with these seventy years?”
The angel of the Lord is still speaking in verse 15 and says that he was very angry with the nations that had conquered and exiled Judah because they had gone too far in their punishment of Judah. God had used the Babylonians to punish Judah; they had done what he wanted, but they had gone much too far and God was very angry about this.
Zech 1:15 15 and I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry, but they went too far with the punishment.
In verse 21 Jesus shows Zechariah a vision of what he is going to do to punish those who went too far in punishing Judah. In the vision we see four horns, likely the four principal kings during the captivity, being terrified and thrown down by four craftsmen. These craftsmen may be the four empires that would terrify and control the areas where the Babylonians and Assyrians live for the next several hundred years. This likely would be the Persians, Greeks, Romans and Parthians.
Zech 1:21 21 I asked, “What are these coming to do?”
He answered, “These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise their head, but the craftsmen have come to terrify them and throw down these horns of the nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter its people.”
In Zech 2:6 we see Jesus again speaking and saying that he was the one who had scattered the Jews around the world. He was also calling to them to return from Babylon to Judah.
Zech 2:6 6 “Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north,” declares the Lord, “for I have scattered you to the four winds of heaven,” declares the Lord.
Jesus is speaking again in verses 9-10 and repeating his promise to punish those who have treated the Jews so badly. He says that this will be a sign of who he is and he promises to return one day to live among them on earth.
Zech 2:9-10 9 I will surely raise my hand against them so that their slaves will plunder them. Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me. 10 “Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,” declares the Lord.
Jesus repeats his promise to one day return to earth, choose Israel as his home, and bless them greatly. He finishes by saying that he had come from his holy dwelling in heaven to bring this message to them.
Zech 2:12-13 12 The Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem. 13 Be still before the Lord, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.”
Daniel was taken to Babylon with the first wave of exiles soon after the original conquest in 606-605 BC. He was a young boy of about 15 at the time. He wrote the whole book of Daniel while he was in Babylon. His prophecies are some of the most amazing in the Bible. In chapter 9 he presents his famous 70 7’s prophecy.
In the verses leading up to this prophecy Daniel knows that the 70 years of exile prophesied by Jeremiah was nearing its end, Dan 9:1-2, so he is praying to God to bring the exile to an end. Daniel was earnestly praying for forgiveness for the sins of Judah that had led to the exile and in verses 7-8 he mentions to God that he realized that God was behind the scattering of the Jews as punishment for their sins.
Dan 9:7-8 7 “Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you.
Jer 25:8-14 is one of the places that Jeremiah is given a prophecy that the exile will last for 70 years. He also gives the reasons for the captivity and exile again and gives specific details about some of the devastations that will take place. God is again clear in saying that he is behind this action. He then says that after the exile is completed he will punish the Babylonians for what they have done in exceeding his desires.
Jer 25:8-14 8 Therefore the Lord Almighty says this: “Because you have not listened to my words, 9 I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy[a] them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. 10 I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 “But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt,” declares the Lord, “and will make it desolate forever. 13 I will bring on that land all the things I have spoken against it, all that are written in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations. 14 They themselves will be enslaved by many nations and great kings; I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”
In Jer 1:9 we get a clear picture of how the prophets made their prophecies, and really about how the whole Bible was written, when God said “I have put my words in your mouth.”
Jer 1:9 9 Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth.
2 Kings 20:17 gives a prophecy made by Isaiah to King Hezekiah, the king of Judah when Israel was conquered and exiled by the Assyrians. The timeframe of this prophecy was sometime in the period 700-720 BC, some 100 years before the Babylonian captivity of Judah. Isaiah was telling the king that the same type of thing would happen to Judah one day and that it would be the Babylonians who would do it, not the Assyrians. How did Isaiah know that Babylon would conquer Assyria just a few years before they would also conquer Judea? God had revealed it to him as we see.
So, what can we learn about the dynamic between predestination, foreknowledge and free will from the events we have been studying above? Let us summarize a few key insights that we have gained:
God has a plan and he sometimes reveals key parts of it to his people through prophets before they happen.
God reveals just enough so that his people should heed what he says and follow his will, but not so much that it will interfere with or violate free will.
God uses both forces for good and evil in accomplishing his goals. God called Nebuchadnezzar his servant in Jer 25:9. Was he a force for good, for evil or both?
In doing these things God is predestining certain things to happen.
God lets those who he has chosen to accomplish his purposes use their own free will in making decisions about how they will accomplish the thing they are being led to do.
If the chosen ones make bad and evil choices in accomplishing God’s goals he will then punish them. He will do this in spite of the fact that he knew ahead of time that they would choose to do so. We refer to this as foreknowledge.
We might ask ourselves, “Is this really fair of God to do this?” My answer would be that it is divinely fair. God has a plan, it is a fair plan, it will certainly be fulfilled, we will be a part of that plan and it is a divinely perfect plan.
This example should make it much easier for us to get our minds around the concepts of predestination, foreknowledge, free will and how God uses them interactively to accomplish his purposes. His purposes are much greater and wiser than our purposes. As Jer 30:24 says, we should be able to look back on these events and see what God was doing and how he was doing it.
Jer 30:24 The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart. In days to come you will understand this.
In finishing let us go back to page 1 and read Eph 1:11-12 and Rom 8:28-30 again and see if we understand these passages any better than we did before doing this study.
The Biblical Prophets & Historians Of The Assyrian, Babylonian, And
Another example of the interaction between predestination and free will is presented in whole of Matthew Chapter 23. There we see Jesus has a particular desire for the Jewish people and verse 37 indicates that the Jewish people were not willing to let this happen, as a result of their own free will decisions.