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.
What is the significance of Exodus 3:18–4:9?
The Lord tells Moses that the elders of Israel will heed his voice (vs. 18). Moses says, “suppose they do not believe me or listen to me…” (4:1). God performs a miracle “so that they may believe that the Lord…has appeared to you” (vs. 5). Moses remains unconvinced so the Lord performs a second miracle and comments, “If they will not believe you or heed the first sign, they may believe the second sign. But if they will not believe even these two signs or heed you, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground; and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground” (vs. 8–9).
If the future is eternally settled in God’s mind, God would have known exactly how many miracles, if any, it would take in order for the elders to believe Moses. The meaning of the words he chose (“if,” “may”) could not be sincere. If we believe that God speaks straightforwardly, however, it seems that he didn’t know exactly how the elders would respond to Moses.
This verse demonstrates that God is confident in his ability to achieve the results he is looking for (e.g. getting the elders of Israel to listen to Moses) even though he must work with free agents who are, to some extent, unpredictable. He relies on his infinite wisdom and a degree of providential guidance in order to accomplish his goals. We have difficulty fathoming such a wise, gentle yet powerful sovereignty, which is perhaps why many are inclined to believe that God needs something like a “crystal ball” vision of what is coming in order to accomplish his purposes. If we simply allow the text to say what the text says, however, we are led to embrace the beautiful truth that God is omni-resourceful and thus doesn’t need to have everything in the future settled. He is confident he can persuade the elders of Israel to listen to Moses, though he is not sure how many miracles he’ll have to perform in order to achieve this goal.
Category: Q&A
Tags: Open Theism, Q&A
Topics: Open Theism
Verse: Exodus 3
Related Reading
How do you respond to Galatians 1:15–16?
“…when God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me…I did not confer with any human being…” As with Jeremiah (Jer. 1:5), John the Baptist (Luke 1:13–17) and other God-ordained prophets, Paul was aware that God had decided on a…
How do you respond to Genesis 25:23?
The Lord told Rebekah, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples born of you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the elder shall serve the younger.” (cf. Rom. 9:12–16) Old Testament scholars agree that the author (and later, Paul in Romans 9) has the descendants of Jacob and…
How do you respond to Psalm 139:16?
“In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed.” Psalm 139 is a beautiful poetic expression of God’s personal moment-by-moment involvement in our lives. So intimate is his involvement that he knows our thoughts before we utter them (vs. 2–4). His loving presence surrounds…
How do you respond to Isaiah 46:9–11?
The Lord says, “I am God, and there is none other; I am God, and there is no one like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying ‘My purpose shall stand, and I will fulfill my intention.’” To distinguish himself from the dead idols Israel was…
Last Minute Preparations
We’re all busy here at ReKnew making last minute preparations for the Open2013 conference here in St. Paul, MN. It’s our first ever event of this kind and there’s a nervous energy and anticipation. I wonder if you’ll hold this up in prayer if you weren’t able to join us? We have a last minute…
Free Will: Are studies that demonstrate genetic determinism a threat to free will?
Greg shares his continuing thoughts on free will with a thought experiment (and a hand-drawn graph!) granting that we are largely determined by forces outside of our control. If we grant this presupposition, does that mean that free will is an illusion or insignificant? Find out!