We have been all through this before, but for the sake of being faithful to the Bible I will repeat this again:
Sometimes God does not know how things will turn out.
Exodus 33:5: For the LORD had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments and I will decide what to do with you.’”
Or Jeremiah 26:3: “Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from their evil ways. Then I will relent and not inflict on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done.” It is the word “Perhaps” that reveals that either God is deceiving us and playing some sort of word games or God doesn’t know whether or not they will listen. But a literal reading of the text knows that “perhaps” implies contingency.
And then there's Exodus 4:8 Then the LORD said, “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second. But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.” God does not know what they will do, only what they may do.
Sometimes things turn out differently from God’s expectations. And he is surprised. In Isaiah 5 we find a song about a vinedresser and a vineyard, and it tells us that God expected/hoped for justice and righteousness but that’s not what happened. God was surprised. See also Jeremiah 3:6-7, 19-20; Isaiah 63:8-10.
Dake's many comments regarding God's self-limited omnipotence and omniscience can handle these things perfectly well, and show how the religious viewpoint that God is some all-knowing all controlling Being is, in fact, unscriptural. It is a figment of man's religious imagination but not the teaching of the Word of God. It's simply cannot stand up against Scriptures such as these, but comes crashing down.
Dake Bible Discussion Board ⇒ Who says you can't backslide?
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Ironman
- Fast the Chosen Fast of God... Then Shalt Thou Be Like a Spring of Water, Whose Waters Fail Not
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Re: Who says you can't backslide?
Hi mate, and many will disagree with this as well, God does change His mind at times when He feels the need to!
Galatians 4: 16, Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?
Re: Who says you can't backslide?
Quite right! As I have been working through the Book of Exodus again, I see this often. For example when Moses pleads with God to change his mind in chapter 32.Ironman wrote:Hi mate, and many will disagree with this as well, God does change His mind at times when He feels the need to!