We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.
How do you respond to Isaiah 14:24, 27?
The Lord of hosts has sworn:
As I have designed,
so shall it be;
and as I have planned,
so shall it come to pass…
For the Lord of hosts has planned,
and who will annul it?
his hand is stretched out,
and who will turn it back?
The fact that Scripture frequently speaks of God’s will being thwarted and his Spirit being grieved should prevent us from interpreting this passage as a universally applicable, absolute law. The fact that Scripture provides teaching and illustrations of the Lord modifying his “designs” in response to what humans do—even after he’s publicly declared what they are (e.g. Jer. 18:1-10)—should caution us against this interpretation as well.
The point of this passage is not to instruct us about the way God operates at all times and in all places. The context makes it clear that it is simply teaching that when God irrevocably decides to bring judgment upon a nation (in this case, Assyria, vs. 22, 25), no one can stop him. A careful reading of similar passages that speak of God fulfilling his “purposes” and “plans” reveals that they too invariably “have in view a particular event or a limited series of events” (e.g. Isa 25:1; 46:10; Mic 4:12; Jer 23:20).* They do not warrant the conclusion that God determines all things.
Note
*See D. Clines, “Predestination in the Old Testament,” in Grace Unlimited, ed. C. Pinnock (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 1975), 116.
Category: Q&A
Tags: Q&A, Responding to Calvinism
Topics: Providence, Predestination and Free Will, Responding to Objections
Verse: Isaiah 14
Related Reading
How do you respond to Proverbs 16:4?
“The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.” Calvinists often cite this verse to support the conclusion that some people are created wicked for the expressed purpose of being sent to hell. Since Scripture teaches that God is love (1 John 4:8, 16), that God loves all…
Does your “dispositional” ontology avoid substantival categories?
Question: In Trinity and Process you argue against a “substantival” ontology and instead advocate a “relational,” “process” and/or “dispositional” ontology in which being, being-in-relation and being-in-process are one and the same. In your view, entity x is its relation to entity y (and all other relations) and is the disposition to interact with y (and…
How do you respond to Genesis 49:10?
“The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations be his.” In Exodus 32:10-14 God threatens to destroy the Israelites and start over with Moses. But Moses intercedes and God changes his mind. For Open…
Is There Room for Doubt in Faith?
Many Christians today assume that faith is the antithesis of doubt. In this view, a person’s faith is thought to be strong to the extent that they don’t question their beliefs or struggle with God in whom they believe. As widespread as this view is, I believe it is unbiblical and profoundly unhelpful. My experience…
How do you respond to the book of Revelation?
“The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place…” (1:1). Because many modern evangelical readers consider almost everything in the book of Revelation to be a sort of “snap shot” about what shall occur at the end of history, it will prove more beneficial to deal…
