Originally posted by Lion Ahhhhh So sowwy Solly: Grasshopper-I would not agree with drdeutsch in this statement;
What if God installs in each person a wire connected to a button, and whenever God pushes that button, the person does exactly what God wants? Now, imagine that the configuration is changed, and whenever God pushes that button, it gives the person the desire to do what God wants...
God nowhere in scripture shows any ability to throw a switch and get us to do what He wants. God is far more powerful than that. God shows us exactly how He gets people to do what He wants. He also shows us numerous examples of humans thwarting His will.
When God hardens Pharaoh’s heart, He doesn’t sprinkle hardening agent into Pharaoh’s chest, or flick a switch. God knows Pharaoh, (knows his mind and his heart). Knows the pride that is the fiber of Pharaoh’s being. And God uses that to Harden his heart. And is it really God that makes that happen? Yes and no.
Yes in that knowing just how to push the arrogant Pharaoh’s buttons (not the hard wired buttons spoken of before). God knows that by shoving His power into the man’s face, he will react in a certain way
And no, because Pharaoh also hardens his own heart, in that he could chose not to be arrogant and instead humble himself. And if he did that, if instead of refusing to allow the Hebrews to leave, he suddenly accepted God as God and bowed down before Him in love and awe, would God have been upset? NO WAY! God would have loved him. And the Bible would show a different record of the Exodus account. And the world would marvel at the fact that mighty Egypt allowed the slaves to leave and became a God fearing nation.
And in the same way God hardens a proud man’s heart, he softens the hearts of the humble. I know the example has been used many times, but it is still one of the best, so I will use it again.
A ball of wax and a ball of clay on a windowsill. The same sun beats down on both of them. One melts, the other hardens. The sun was the active agent, but it only brought out the nature of the substance being worked on.
I have no problem stating that God has been thwarted by man in the past, because God states it Himself over and over again. But God is the most powerful entity there is and He can use any measure of that power He chooses to gain His goals, so long as they do not go beyond the limits He has placed on Himself in the creation of the universe and the eternal free will souls of man.
I know of no example of God ever removing
free will from a man, although there are many instances of God taking away
freedom of choice from men. Especially His chosen.
Jonah had the
free will to reject God’s command to go to Nineveh. He even ran away and God used no buttons or special powder to change his heart. Instead He had him swallowed by a big fish and made the circumstances unbearable to the point where Jonah gave in. But did his will change? No! Not a bit. He was angry with God and continued that way to the end of the story.
Freedom of choice was taken away, but free will remains. And God didn’t need to know the future to do it.
That is the all-powerful God of the Bible. And if He says He will
make something happen at a certain time, He can
make it happen. And nothing can stand in His way if He chooses to do it. He is that strong! He is even powerful enough to make His plans happen without controlling each and every dust mote and atom in the universe, or by cheating and looking ahead so that He knows how things will turn out if this and that happens.
Believe it or not, He is even powerful enough to win against Satan and the flesh without knowing where I will place my pen in the next few seconds. ZOUNDS! Scary but true.
