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 Deuteronomy 30:16–23?
The Lord tells Moses of his impending death and then prophesies that “this people will begin to prostitute themselves to the foreign gods in their midst…breaking my covenant that I have made with them” (vs. 16). The Lord will have to judge them accordingly (vs. 17–18). He then inspires Joshua to write a song for them to sing when trials come upon them (vs. 22–23).
The omniscient Lord perfectly knows the hearts of humans, the long range effects of sin, and all the spiritual variables at work in the world (viz. the activity of evil spirits). This perfect knowledge of the present gives God the ability to anticipate the future in ways we can hardly imagine. For, at any given moment, a great deal of the future has already been decided by past and present circumstances.
This prophecy illustrates this truth. Given the rebellious character that this nation had already demonstrated despite the fact that they had a strong leader like Moses, the Lord discerns that things will only get worse when Moses dies. Such foresight doesn’t require a crystal ball perspective into the future. It simply illustrates God’s perfect knowledge of the present.
On the other hand, the prophecy could be read as a conditional prophecy of what the Lord suspects might happen if things don’t change. But (as evidenced by his subsequent struggles with Israel) he hopes it doesn’t come to pass and he does everything possible to prevent it.
Category: Q&A
Tags: Open Theism, Q&A
Topics: Open Theism, Responding to Objections
Verse: Deuteronomy 30
Related Reading
A Calvinist and an Arminian walk into a bar…
Toby Bradbury via Compfight Roger Olson posted A Conversation between a Calvinist and an Arminian about God’s Sovereignty that we thought was dead on. In fact, we kind of wonder if Roger is bugging some of the conversations we’ve had. Déjà vu much? And since Roger has argued that Open Theism should be included under the broader umbrella of…
The Open View and Radical Suffering
Jessica Kelley spoke at Open2013 this morning, sharing her journey with tenderness and authority. Jessica began wrestling with her view of God a couple of years ago and embraced Open Theism prior to the diagnosis and eventual death of her four-year-old son, Henry. Everyone here at the conference was profoundly affected by her story and…
How do you respond to Acts 4:27–28?
“[B]oth Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.” This passage is very close in content to Acts 2:23 (see How do you respond to Acts 2:23?). While…
How Much of the Future is Settled? How Much is Open? (podcast)
Greg considers the mathematical nature of determinacy. Episode 566 http://traffic.libsyn.com/askgregboyd/Episode_0566.mp3
What is the significance of Isaiah 38:1–5?
God tells Hezekiah “you shall die: you shall not recover” (vs. 1). Hezekiah pleads with God and God decides to “add fifteen years” to his life. As we noted concerning 2 Kings 20:1–5, if God foreknew that he wasn’t going to end Hezekiah’s life, his declaration that he intended to do so and his decision…
What is the significance of Genesis 22:12 ?
Abraham passed God’s “test” (vs. 1) by being willing to sacrifice his son. The Lord says “…now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son…” If the classical understanding of foreknowledge is true, God’s statement “now I know” seems disingenuous. The meaning of God’s explanation for this knowledge — “since…