Ok so here's my latest thought. Free will. Basically I don't understand the concept. There was a time when I thought I did, but that time has come and gone. Bear with me while I attempt to explain this conundrum.
Let's flip back in our story books to Exodus 4:21. The Israelites are captive in Egypt and good old Moses is being given instructions on what to do when he visits Pharoah.
The Lord said to Moses, "When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharoah all the wonders I have given
you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go."
Ok so how is that possible. If God was changing Pharoah's heart so that he would refuse to let the Israelites go, then it was no longer Pharoah who was making the decision it was God making it for him. To me this means that Pharoah did not have free will, it was taken away so God could show his power and make a point. This gives me such a warped and twisted picture of God it's unnerving. Nothing I know or have experienced with God has shown him to be manipulating me like a marianette. So why this story of ultimate control? I know that God is sovereign and that he has no boundaries, so where is the balance between him and us? If he is in control, then am I really making my own choices? Perhaps we are given free will in only one decision, the choice of following God or turning away and everything else he just takes over. Perhaps I can merely disregard this account by saying that the real meaning of God's words have been lost in translation, but then I've punched holes in the Bible with an excuse that is unreasonable and very flimsy. I understand that I have the choice of deliberately surrendering my control and free will to God, because I trust him to do what is best for me, but Pharoah doesn't fit into that. Pharoah didn't follow God, he had his own set of beliefs to follow. So where does he fit in? Do only those who have a relationship with God get to make their own decisions? Do only Christians have free will?
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7 comments:
I think the Pharoah DID have free will, but God knew what his choice would be. If God knows the outcome to our lives, which I'm pretty sure He does, then he knows the future decisions that we make. I think God only told Moses what Pharoah's reaction would be to prepare Moses to make the unexpected not so much of a surprise so that Moses would have time to prepare something like a rebutle. Or maybe I'm just crazy. Which wouldn't surprise me.
This is my idea, feel free to shoot it to sunshine but perhaps, God may alter your free will if he knows the ends will justify the means.
Like as a basic minor example, say you have a choice to drive down road A or B, now normally you would have chosen road A but God alters your will to go down road B because you would get into a big accident if you went down road A.
Does that make any sense? i hope so
Thanks for the comments guys, they are both good but neither of them really answer my question.
Kim, if it was Pharoah's own choice then why did God use the words: "I will harden his heart." you know? God didn't say, "Pharoah will say no" He said that he would make him stubborn so that he was more likely to say no.
Matt, I totally agree with what you are saying, but it was different in this story because instead of preventing something bad from happening, God changed the course of things so that a whole crap load of children were killed. What I'm wondering is if God alters the free will of those who don't know him for the sake of those who do. I'm also wondering how it is that God can change people's minds and hearts and choices without completing destroying their free will. Does free will even exist if God is ultimately in control?
Wouldn't it be the same then regarding God softening the hearts of people? Yet we always pray that God would soften the hearts of those we know who aren't Christians...I don't think that God made up Pharoah's mind for him...I think it's a little more complicated than the whole 'we are God's robots' theory. Free will and what God knows about our decisions is a massively difficult topic. I took an intro philosophy class a few years ago, and we wrestled with the free will topic for a few days. I one of the main points I got out of it was that there is free will as long as you can trust that you could have always chose the other option...the option of choosing not to is our proof of free will. It's an arguement that begs the question (goes in circles) a little, because you could say that well, how will you ever know you could choose the other option, when you can only choose one option at the time? I don't pretend to know anything about free will...just sharing a few thoughts.
Wow, I need to start reading your blog during the day when I still have a brain to think with. I love you Hetaher and currently have nothing to add from the mush in my head I call a brain.
Hetaher! HETAHER!
haha. just bugging you Patti. Love you too.
Hey sis. I love those sorts of stories in the Bible, it's incredible how many of these "conundrums" you can find.
Personally I never like any answer people give; maybe that's just because I've become one of those wishy-washy christians I used to hate! Perhaps it is true that we only have free-will in the sense that a person is always given the ultimate decision in salvation and once that conclusion has been reached we are either given over to the devil or given to God. However, I don't personally believe that. I tend to think of God in the analogy of an ant and a human. When I go for a walk and run over an ant hill, those ants have no idea that I exist; all they see is the fact that their ant hill was destroyed and they had to run for the lives to avoid the rather large objects crashing down on them. An ant cannot even see enough to discipher my foot, let alone a complex understanding of my personality and motives. I sometimes think our understanding of God mirrors that somewhat. Granted we have the bible, but that in particular, is extremely vague and prone to spiritual insight. I may spend a month on a few select verses and pick up a new twist on them every other day. I also know that historically the bible has always been misinterpreted by christians and we seem to be under the impression that it is not the case with us...
I also wanted to take issue with something you said. Towards the bottom of your second paragraph you mentioned that you have the choice to deliberately surrender your free-will to God. Has that ever worked for you? I realize I'm just nit-picking here, but I don't find I can ever surrender my free-will; even to God! I just choose to follow Him. In your defense, my spiritual journey seems to be composed of chosen mistake after chosen mistake until He seems to step in and motivate my through conviction.
So I'm sure I haven't contributed anything in my completely ambling comments, but I thought I would give it a shot:p
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