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What is the significance of Jeremiah 38:17–18, 20–21, 23?

The Lord prophesies to Zedekiah, “If you will only surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon” the city and his family would be spared, but “if you do not surrender” the city and his family would be destroyed. He then reiterates, “But if you are determined not to surrender” even Zedekiah himself would die.

What kind of God is it who states prophecies in conditional terms, giving free moral agents the choice between alternatives? As in 1 Chronicles 21:7–13, these choices are a charade if the particular outcome is exhaustively and eternally foreknown.

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