God's Bizarre Plans

Predestination can be a real problem for real believers. What is it? What does it mean? How does it work? There are lots of questions, lots of opinions, and lots of mistakes. One thing we can't do is dismiss it. It's clearly in Scripture (e.g., Eph 1:4-5; Rom 8:28-30; John 15:16; John 6:44; 2 Tim 1:9; Prov 16:4; Eph 1:11; Acts 2:23; Acts 4:27-28). To disregard this you will require the latest Ronco Eraseable Bible so you can erase the parts you don't like and write in what you do. It's foggy and odd and hard to fathom, but it's in there. Predestination refers not just to Election, but to all of God's plans -- things He intends to accomplish. Some of them seem ... bizarre. Is it just a matter of interpretation, just opinion, just personal ideas?

We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Rom 8:28)

There, that's something we can know. Not question. Not come up with an opinion about. We know this. But ... what is His purpose? Great! Now we're back into questions and opinions. Sigh!

Well, not quite. You see, for this verse we get an actual answer to the question in the next.

For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren. (Rom 8:29)

Okay, so His purpose is stated clearly: to conform us to the image of His Son. Still, we're not really clear on God's plans and sometimes, in all honesty, we aren't sure we concur. Take, for instance, God's plan in the Exodus.

According to Scripture, God wanted to free Israel from slavery in Egypt. But, that was not His only plan. If it was, He could have done it in a second (Exo 9:15). Kill the slavers and release the slaves. He didn't because that was not His primary plan. He knew that "the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him" (Exo 3:19), so He planned to ... compel him. But wait! Even that wasn't His primary plan. God specified to Moses, "Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you so that My wonders may be multiplied in Egypt." (Exo 11:9) What followed was ten plagues interspersed with Pharaoh's hardened heart. In the account, Scripture gives 15 references to Pharaoh's hardened heart (Exo 7:13, 14, 22; Exo 8:15, 19, 32; Exo 9:7, 12, 34, 35; Exo 10:1, 20, 27; Exo 11:10; Exo 14:8). Early on it appears to be Pharaoh doing it but as time passed the hardening is explicitly attributed to God. That isn't really a surprise since God stated at the outset, "I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go." (Exo 4:21) Paul considers this good and right. He is not apologetic when he quotes Exodus (Exo 9:14).

For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH." So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. (Rom 9:17-18)

God claims to have hardened Pharaoh's heart and He claims to have done it so that Pharaoh would not let God's people go and He claims to have done it to multiply His wonders and that His name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth. Putting it another way, Pharaoh hardened his heart for evil, but God hardened his heart for good.

Obviously this is going to cause us problems. "Hang on! Does that mean that God made Pharaoh sin? Does that mean that God caused evil? How is it fair for God to hold Pharaoh responsible for what God did?" That last one, in fact, is biblical. When Paul quotes Exodus and answers that God "hardens whom He desires," he offers that very objection.

You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?" (Rom 9:19)

Paul's answer to the objection is our first question for ourselves when we encounter God's "bizarre" plans.

On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? (Rom 9:20-21)

Is our first response to God's "bizarre" plans "Whatever God does is good" or are we going to submit His plans to the court of public opinion and see if we concur? Do we let God be true though every man a liar (Rom 3:4), or do we put God on trial? Is He truly the Potter and we the clay, or do we demand our own values be recognized and followed?

God's plans will certainly appear bizarre to a sinful world, including sinful believers. And there are right and reasonable considerations and answers to why He does what He does, even if we don't know all of them. If we start with "Whatever God does is good," we still have room to move on to "How does this fit in with the rest of Scripture and God's character?" I'm pretty sure that this approach will also end up correcting our own thinking that we didn't even know was amiss. On the other hand, if we choose to force God into patterns and plans that we approve, we will miss out on God. Surely that's not a good thing.