The Bible tells us much about God and His characteristics. One can study the Bible and see many of the attributes of God explained and defined. Scripture reveals that God is a Spirit (John 4:24); that He is sovereign (Psalm 103:19); He is unchanging (Malachi 3:6); He is self-existent (Gen. 1:1; Ps. 93:2); and He is holy (Ex. 15:11). These are just a few of the attributes and qualities of God that we can know and learn from Scripture.
Though the Bible is a rich resource to help us understand God, the Bible also shrouds many of God’s attributes in mystery. Our finite minds cannot know all there is to know about an infinite God. Scripture plainly says that, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD” (Isa. 55:8). Whether we like it or not, there are things about God that we will never understand until we reach our eternal reward, and even then we are not promised to know all the mysteries about God. That’s what makes Him who He is. However, what we can know about God leads us to faith in Him, and to trust Him.
When it comes to studying predestination and divine foreknowledge there is a level of mystery. What does God know? When did God know it? Are we able to change God’s mind? What role do I play in God’s plans? These are just a few of the head scratching questions that may not be easily answered. If we answer these questions incorrectly, then we do God’s character a grave injustice. Answering these questions incorrectly may also uproot one’s faith. On the other hand, if we answer these questions biblically, and leave tradition out, then we will glorify God and strengthen our faith. Some would rather not answer these difficult questions and leave it to mystery. But then there those, such as you dear reader, that will mine the depths of Scripture and seek God for the answers that best honor the Lord’s character and glorify who He is.
Human Freedom and Predestination
When one comes to certain portions of Scripture, whether it is in John’s Gospel, Romans or Ephesians then they could be led to believe there is a contradiction between human freedom and predestination. Does God’s foreknowledge intersect with human freedom?
First, God knows all things. We call this God’s omniscience. God is not ignorant of anything. God is never learning anything new. Unlike humans, God is not growing in knowledge or wisdom. God is all wise and all knowing. No conceivable future is unknowable to God. Since God is eternal and is present to all moments in time [past, present, and future] He already knows how humans will choose. But God’s foreknowing does not determine their choice. God can know all things, including human choices, without diminishing history’s significance or robbing humanity’s freedom.
St. Augustine wrote, “Just as you do not, by your memory of them, compel past events to have happened, neither does God, by His foreknowledge, compel future events to take place.” In other words, God foreknows all the things of which He is the author, but He is not Himself the Author of all that He foreknows. Origen wrote, “Divine foreknowledge means not that anything will happen because God knows that it will, but that, because it will happen, God already knows it.”
It is man’s will, and actions, that God foreknows. God’s divine foreknowledge does not abolish human freedom, but God knows what is in man’s heart before man acts out his will.
Theologian and church historian, Thomas Oden, wrote, “The fact that God (who sees all from the beginning in eternal simultaneity) foreknew what the believer’s response would be does not imply that God is coercing the act of belief, or irresistibly determining a particular response, but rather that God is emphatically foreknowing both the options that a particular person’s freedom will experience and how one will freely choose. The Spirit’s call intends to be efficacious, but not absolutely irresistible.”
Romans 9:11-18
The book of Romans is one of the greatest explanations of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the church in Rome, which was predominantly made up of Christian Gentiles (Rom. 1:6-7,13; 15:15-16). Claudius, the Roman Emperor, evicted the Jews (including Jewish Christians) in AD 49. However, by the time Paul wrote this letter many of the Jews and Jewish Christians had made their way back to Rome. However, the population of Jewish Christians paled in comparison to the Gentile Christians. Therefore, Paul writes with both Jews and Gentiles in mind. Paul’s treatise on sin and the depravity of human nature includes the Gentiles and Jews, making the gospel applicable to both peoples (Rom. 1:16-6:23). All are under sin, and therefore under God’s wrath (Rom. 1:18, 3:23).
The letter to the Romans can be divided into three major sections and one chapter of greetings:
- Romans 1-8: Doctrinal
- Romans 9-11: Past, present, and future of Israel
- Romans 12-15: Practical responsibilities of Christians
- (Romans 16: Personal greetings and conclusion)
Without getting too technical we have to understand the context of Paul’s thoughts within this letter. If we fail to consider the context, then we will misunderstand, and misapply Paul’s thoughts concerning Israel and predestination. Romans chapter nine has always been a polarizing section of Scripture within Christianity. There are two ends to the spectrum as to what Romans nine is about.
On one end of the theological spectrum there are those who believe Romans nine is about predestination and individual salvation. On the other end of the argument are those who believe that this is solely about Israel and the choice of nations, or people. I do not want to build a straw man, or a caricature of each argument. There are many valid opinions on this portion of Scripture. While there may be two arguments at two ends of a theological spectrum, between the two sides there include many valid arguments that can help shape a bible student’s understanding.
First, Paul states his great sorrow for Israel (Rom. 9:1-5). Next, Romans 9:6a states the thesis for this portion of Romans: “But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel (ESV).” Have God’s promises to Israel failed? Has the Word of God been nullified due to Israel’s unbelief? The answer to those questions is “no.” God’s Word was not ineffective. Many Jews did believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ. To be an heir of God’s promises meant more than being born as a physical descendent of Abraham. One needed to have the same faith as Abraham and Isaac. They needed faith in Christ.
Now, within Romans 9:6-13 we are met with a few challenging propositions. Remember, Paul is still dealing with Israel and their choice of rejecting Jesus Christ as their Messiah. Has their rejection of Jesus led to the Word of God, and more importantly the promises made to Israel as God’s people, been nullified? That is the question that Paul is seeking to clarify from Romans 9:6.
God sovereignly chose Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to be the channel of blessing for the world. Abraham had other children, but it was through Isaac that the blessing and promises would come (9:7-9). Next, we read that the channel of blessing will come through Jacob, the son of Isaac, and it will not be his twin brother, Esau. Again, God’s sovereignty is on display, because He chose Jacob over Esau not because of their good works or deeds, because God’s choice was while they were still in Rebekah’s womb (9:10-13). This prophecy was not strictly concerned with Jacob and Esau individually, but it was concerning their descendants. For we do not have any record of Esau actually serving Jacob. This is about nations and peoples, and not merely about individuals. Genesis 25:23 sheds more light on the subject:
And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.” (Gen. 25:23)
“Esau have I hated”
One of the most misunderstood portions of this text is Paul briefly quoting the Old Testament passage: “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, ‘How have you loved us?’ ‘Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?’ declares the Lord. ‘Yet I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert” (Mal. 1:2-3).
This Old Testament reference is dealing with Edom (Esau’s descendants). Malachi 1:2-3 is not about individual salvation. It is displaying God’s choice of choosing Jacob over Esau, and Edom (Esau’s descendants) who mistreated Israel during the Babylonian invasion. Of course, there are many other instances of Edom mistreating Israel in the Old Testament.
Did God hate Esau? Remember, God chose Jacob over Esau before they were born. New Testament scholar, William Greathouse, wrote, “Loving and hating in this context are Semitic ways of expressing a preference for one party and a rejection of another (Deut. 21:15). Importantly, nothing is said about the ultimate fate of either Esau or his Edomite descendants.” It should be noted that the Edomites could be saved too if they would have faith in Jesus.
The word “hated” does not mean, “to dislike or abhor.” It is a Hebrew phrase or idiom. When a Hebrew compares a less love with a greater love, the less love is referred to as hated, even though the person is not hated. Leah is an example of this truth too:
And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren (Gen. 29:31).
Jacob didn’t hate Leah. He just didn’t love her as much as Rachel. Just the same, God did not hate or abhor Esau, instead He chose Jacob to be part of the channel of blessing.
New Testament scholar, Douglas Moo, comments, “What seems clear is that none of these texts says anything directly about the spiritual fate of the individuals Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, and Esau. The Old Testament does not—at least in these texts—reflect on whether they were saved or not; it is concerned solely with the roles they would play in salvation history. God’s election of them is not election to salvation but election to play a certain role in the unfolding plan of God. If Paul is using these texts in accordance with their original intent, he, too, must be reflecting on the way God has chosen certain people, or nations, to play positive and negative roles in salvation history. Isaac, Jacob, and Israel contributed to God’s plan by carrying on his promise. Ishmael, Esau, and Edom contributed also to that plan by opposing God and his people and giving God the opportunity to display his glory.”
Scripture declares that God is sovereign (Job 9:12; Ps. 29:10). God’s decisions and choices are based on God’s holiness and perfect justice. What may seem unfair, or illogical, are in fact just because God is sovereign. Remember, God’s ways are not our ways and neither are His thoughts like our thoughts (Isa. 55:8).
With that said, let’s look at Romans 9:11-18. Bible commentator, J Sidlow Baxter, writes, “This passage is about God’s dealings with men and nations historically and is not about individual salvation and men’s destinies beyond the grave.”
Romans nine is a summary of Israel’s history as God’s chosen people and has little to do with salvation, eternal life or death of individuals. God chose the descendants of Isaac and Jacob to be the channel of blessing and service to mankind. Jacob was chosen over Esau before birth, not because of any deeds or works (9:11-12). God chose Jacob’s family tree to be the channel of blessing to the world. The Gospel came to the Jew first. Because the Jews have rejected the Gospel and Christ, God has chosen to use the Church, with both a remnant of believing Jews and Gentiles, as the channel of blessing to the world. Is God done with Israel? No! The Church, with the revelation that Jesus Christ is Messiah, has now been elected to be the channel of blessing to the world.
God does not choose people to be saved and others to be lost. If someone goes to hell it is on the basis of his or her rejection of Jesus Christ, and his or her refusal to do God’s will. What is God’s will? “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
Scripture repeats over and over again that God does not desire that any perish, but that all would come to repentance:
- John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
- 1 Timothy 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
- 1 Timothy 2:6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
- Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.
- 2 Corinthians 5:15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
God elected a plan of salvation, which He accomplished in Jesus Christ. Humanity can accept or reject His plan. God also elected a people to make known His elected plan of salvation, the Church. He chose Israel first and now the Church. Man has the will and the choice to believe or reject. The renowned American evangelist, DL Moody, wrote, “The elect are the whosoever wills and the non-elect are the whosoever won’t.”
Pharaoh’s Hard Heart
The next question has to do with Paul’s reference to Pharaoh’s hard heart. What does it mean that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart? Bible commentator Rod Mattoon wrote, “According to Romans 9:17-18, God preserved Pharaoh in the plagues and used Pharaoh to demonstrate His power and glory. God knew Pharaoh was stubborn. He knew what Pharaoh would choose to do. He did not cause Pharaoh to sin. God arranged events knowing how Pharaoh would respond.”
Paul shifts from the Patriarchs of Israel to Moses and the exodus. The nation of Israel was under the bondage of Egyptian slavery. Pharaoh refused to let Israel go, despite Moses’ warnings. Pharaoh refused to let God’s people go, and refused to do God’s will. The word “harden” in the Greek refers to being in a state of insensitivity to God, his Word, and his work. Pharaoh was making his own decisions and his heart was being hardened as a consequence. Mattoon continues, “If Pharaoh was totally depraved, why would the Lord later on have to harden his heart as a judgment upon Pharaoh? Pharaoh was not created to be “hardened.” Pharaoh hardened his own heart after each of the first five plagues. Each time he could have chosen to obey the Lord. He disobeyed and refused to give in to the Lord and got harder and harder. After the sixth plague, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart as a judgment upon him. After the seventh plague, Pharaoh was given a choice to repent. Pharaoh hardened his heart.”
Pharaoh could have obeyed God and let Israel go, instead his heart was hardened. If we continue to act in rebellion as Pharaoh did then our hearts too will be hardened.
The doctrine of predestination and foreknowledge are sensitive topics that must be taken with upmost seriousness. However, we must allow Scripture to guide our understanding instead of letting Christian developments and ideas hundreds of years removed from Scripture’s original writing influence our interpretation. We can glean and learn from others, but we must allow Scripture to speak on its own terms, and always allow context to be the most important factor.