Did The Disobedience And Rebellion Of Idolatry Of Israelites Gave A Surprise To God, Just Because He Never Thought That They Would Disobey Him?
Question: Here we see in the following Scriptures which says, "4 “Because they have forsaken Me and made this an alien place, because they have burned incense in it to other gods whom neither they, their fathers, nor the kings of Judah have known, and have filled this place with the blood of the innocents 5 (they have also built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or speak, nor did it come into My mind), 6 therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “that this place shall no more be called Tophet or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. 7 And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hands of those who seek their lives; their corpses I will give as meat for the birds of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth. 8 I will make this city desolate and a hissing; everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of all its plagues." (Jer 19:4-8), a place in the 5th Verse where God says that "it [i.e. disobedience by His people to His command and words spoken to keep] did not come in to His mind", seems to suggest that God was caught by surprise and off guard when people disobeyed against Him and followed idolatry rather than His way? Is it right or are we understanding it wrongly? What is your take on it?
Answer: Greetings in Jesus wonderful name!
Here is the verse you are pointing to, it is in Jer 19:5, "They have built high altars to Baal, and there they burn their sons in sacrifice--a thing I never commanded them nor even thought of!" (Living Bible), here in the above Scriptures we see how God was expressing His frustration with his people in the language they understand as humans. In other words, when a father of a son hears that his son has disobeyed the traffic rules and have caught up in a accident, the first thing he will say is that, "Ohhh I never thought this will happen to my son," which is a statement that makes his son realize the love of his father towards him and also mainly shows the fathers love towards his wayward son. No father will think evil to happen for the son they love, but rather will want him to succeed in life and that is why they want to command them and speak with understanding to make them understand the importance to obey their words which will bring great blessing to them personally. In the same way, as the Israelites who were people of Judah and its capital city Jerusalem was like a son to God Jehovah personally, they were commanded to keep the way of the Lord and not to indulge in to idolatry which God hates and brings His judgment upon them (Ex. 4:22), God expresses his surprise in a human way for his people to understand the pain that He was feeling for them and the love that He has for them. This is why immediately with a parental authority over them, God declares after that, He is going to bring judgment upon them and chastise them for their wrongdoings of following after idols in idolatry which God hated for them to ever be involved in. And also the children who are given to them as a gift from God (Psa 127:3-4; Mal 2:15; Prov 22:6), they got so perverted in their thinking because of idolatry, that they "built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal" which was not the instruction of Jehovah God but rather the perversion of Baal that they were fulfilling in rebellion to the command of God to not to kill any humans (Exo 20:13), let alone their children whom God wanted to use to be a blessing to humanity and to the country of Israel (Deut 12:31; 18:9-12). God already warned them not to follow the way of worship the Canaanites were cruelly following to please their so called god, which included child sacrifice which He hated, but exactly in disobedience to His command, they were involved in the same thing that Jehovah God hated.
Is Israel not taken out of Egypt to worship Jehovah God (Ex. 4:23) or sacrifice their children to please Baal the demon god of Canaan? In other words, who brought Israelites out of bondage to live in liberty? Jehovah God or Baal? Were they brought out to worship the true God Jehovah or continue in slavery to idols of Baal in their mind and behavior? Why does God sanctify Israel?
God sanctified Israel because He wanted to dwell with his people (Ex. 25:8), and make them all a living witness of his goodness, mercy and grace to all nations of the world. Therefore the people must be sanctified by the temple service, and they were not to follow the idolatry of Baal which led them to rebellion against the holiness of the Jehovah God who has always been the spiritual father to them. Therefore the praise to God as father of all the goodness is the pivot on which everything hinges. How does God dwell in Israel? He is enthroned on the praises of Israel when they worship Him and none other in their thoughts and actions which always can only bring Glory to the Jehovah God who has separated them all for HIS NAME sake (Psalm 22:3).
So Israel was kept by God to proclaims God’s name among the nations. It bears God’s name (Numb. 6:27). This counts especially for Jerusalem. God’s name dwells there (Deut. 12:11 and many other places). God’s name is God’s revealed presence. Jerusalem becomes the place where the nations, too, will call on the name of God seeing God's holiness that sets him apart from all other so called gods of the earth which are of no value when it comes to eternal salvation and redemption of soul (Isa 45:22).
So the crux of the matter is, when God says that He never thought of that something will happen in a particular way means, He did not expect them to choose evil but they chose evil because of their own will under the influence of Satan and his demons. As we know that God is omniscient, which means He knows all things even before it ever happens (Isa 48:5), nothing is actually a surprise to God, as in a Almighty sense, He is the one who allows something to happen even when it is evil, destructive and self-destructive as humans have been given the right to choose and rule over the earth (Gen 1:28; 3:22). As a Almighty God, He is able to turn all the evil in to something good for humankind at the end of it all through the appointed One the Messiah Jesus the Christ (Gal 3:8; Rom 8:28; Gen 50:20), if man chooses to trust God and walk in His way which He has commanded and spoken (1 Pet 3:10-12).
GOD IS LIKE A MOVIE DIRECTOR WHO WATCHES THE MOVIE OF HUMAN LIVES BUT DOES NOT INFLUENCE THE HUMANS DIRECTLY TO DO ANYTHING EVIL, BUT ONLY GOOD to fulfill His own script that He has written beforehand to make it a success. Then who influences humans to act as a animal in a evil way? Satan does these things by sowing thoughts of evil through tempting humans and making them rebel against the authority of the God who created them for Himself (Isa 43:7; Matt 13:25, 24-30, 36-43). The people who are sold to do evil by the influence of Satan will be judged by God, along with their god Satan who has instigated the whole rebellion against God at the end of the script when good will overcome evil supernaturally by the Hero who is God, and the villains who are Satan and his demons along with his human followers will all then be sent directly to hell fire soon (Matt 25:41, 45-46; Rev 19:20-21; 20:10; 11-15; 2 Cor 4:4).
So was God was caught by surprise and off guard when His own people disobeyed him and followed idols?
Not at all and He will never be as He knows the end from the beginning (Isa 46:10), as He is the one who designs the history as His-Story (Isa 45:7). A all knowing God who is omniscient, cannot ever be taken by surprise and off guard, even if that happens for a single moment of time, He will cease to be the Almighty God He is for eternity (Gen 17:1). So in the above verse of Jer 19:5, God relates to the people of Israel as their father and them as his first-born son in the language they understand in their day to day life. God's anguish, sorrow and love need not be restrained because of his Divine attributes of holiness, but rather it is revealed because God has chosen to become one among humans with their attributes and understand them from the beginning of time in Christ Jesus to finally make them be with Him and dwell with them for eternity ahead because of His love for them all (John 14:7-11; 1:10-11, 14; 1 Tim 2:5; 1 Cor 15:28; Rev 21:1-4). Praise the Lord!
Much Blessings....
Answer: Greetings in Jesus wonderful name!
Here is the verse you are pointing to, it is in Jer 19:5, "They have built high altars to Baal, and there they burn their sons in sacrifice--a thing I never commanded them nor even thought of!" (Living Bible), here in the above Scriptures we see how God was expressing His frustration with his people in the language they understand as humans. In other words, when a father of a son hears that his son has disobeyed the traffic rules and have caught up in a accident, the first thing he will say is that, "Ohhh I never thought this will happen to my son," which is a statement that makes his son realize the love of his father towards him and also mainly shows the fathers love towards his wayward son. No father will think evil to happen for the son they love, but rather will want him to succeed in life and that is why they want to command them and speak with understanding to make them understand the importance to obey their words which will bring great blessing to them personally. In the same way, as the Israelites who were people of Judah and its capital city Jerusalem was like a son to God Jehovah personally, they were commanded to keep the way of the Lord and not to indulge in to idolatry which God hates and brings His judgment upon them (Ex. 4:22), God expresses his surprise in a human way for his people to understand the pain that He was feeling for them and the love that He has for them. This is why immediately with a parental authority over them, God declares after that, He is going to bring judgment upon them and chastise them for their wrongdoings of following after idols in idolatry which God hated for them to ever be involved in. And also the children who are given to them as a gift from God (Psa 127:3-4; Mal 2:15; Prov 22:6), they got so perverted in their thinking because of idolatry, that they "built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal" which was not the instruction of Jehovah God but rather the perversion of Baal that they were fulfilling in rebellion to the command of God to not to kill any humans (Exo 20:13), let alone their children whom God wanted to use to be a blessing to humanity and to the country of Israel (Deut 12:31; 18:9-12). God already warned them not to follow the way of worship the Canaanites were cruelly following to please their so called god, which included child sacrifice which He hated, but exactly in disobedience to His command, they were involved in the same thing that Jehovah God hated.
Is Israel not taken out of Egypt to worship Jehovah God (Ex. 4:23) or sacrifice their children to please Baal the demon god of Canaan? In other words, who brought Israelites out of bondage to live in liberty? Jehovah God or Baal? Were they brought out to worship the true God Jehovah or continue in slavery to idols of Baal in their mind and behavior? Why does God sanctify Israel?
God sanctified Israel because He wanted to dwell with his people (Ex. 25:8), and make them all a living witness of his goodness, mercy and grace to all nations of the world. Therefore the people must be sanctified by the temple service, and they were not to follow the idolatry of Baal which led them to rebellion against the holiness of the Jehovah God who has always been the spiritual father to them. Therefore the praise to God as father of all the goodness is the pivot on which everything hinges. How does God dwell in Israel? He is enthroned on the praises of Israel when they worship Him and none other in their thoughts and actions which always can only bring Glory to the Jehovah God who has separated them all for HIS NAME sake (Psalm 22:3).
So Israel was kept by God to proclaims God’s name among the nations. It bears God’s name (Numb. 6:27). This counts especially for Jerusalem. God’s name dwells there (Deut. 12:11 and many other places). God’s name is God’s revealed presence. Jerusalem becomes the place where the nations, too, will call on the name of God seeing God's holiness that sets him apart from all other so called gods of the earth which are of no value when it comes to eternal salvation and redemption of soul (Isa 45:22).
So the crux of the matter is, when God says that He never thought of that something will happen in a particular way means, He did not expect them to choose evil but they chose evil because of their own will under the influence of Satan and his demons. As we know that God is omniscient, which means He knows all things even before it ever happens (Isa 48:5), nothing is actually a surprise to God, as in a Almighty sense, He is the one who allows something to happen even when it is evil, destructive and self-destructive as humans have been given the right to choose and rule over the earth (Gen 1:28; 3:22). As a Almighty God, He is able to turn all the evil in to something good for humankind at the end of it all through the appointed One the Messiah Jesus the Christ (Gal 3:8; Rom 8:28; Gen 50:20), if man chooses to trust God and walk in His way which He has commanded and spoken (1 Pet 3:10-12).
GOD IS LIKE A MOVIE DIRECTOR WHO WATCHES THE MOVIE OF HUMAN LIVES BUT DOES NOT INFLUENCE THE HUMANS DIRECTLY TO DO ANYTHING EVIL, BUT ONLY GOOD to fulfill His own script that He has written beforehand to make it a success. Then who influences humans to act as a animal in a evil way? Satan does these things by sowing thoughts of evil through tempting humans and making them rebel against the authority of the God who created them for Himself (Isa 43:7; Matt 13:25, 24-30, 36-43). The people who are sold to do evil by the influence of Satan will be judged by God, along with their god Satan who has instigated the whole rebellion against God at the end of the script when good will overcome evil supernaturally by the Hero who is God, and the villains who are Satan and his demons along with his human followers will all then be sent directly to hell fire soon (Matt 25:41, 45-46; Rev 19:20-21; 20:10; 11-15; 2 Cor 4:4).
So was God was caught by surprise and off guard when His own people disobeyed him and followed idols?
Not at all and He will never be as He knows the end from the beginning (Isa 46:10), as He is the one who designs the history as His-Story (Isa 45:7). A all knowing God who is omniscient, cannot ever be taken by surprise and off guard, even if that happens for a single moment of time, He will cease to be the Almighty God He is for eternity (Gen 17:1). So in the above verse of Jer 19:5, God relates to the people of Israel as their father and them as his first-born son in the language they understand in their day to day life. God's anguish, sorrow and love need not be restrained because of his Divine attributes of holiness, but rather it is revealed because God has chosen to become one among humans with their attributes and understand them from the beginning of time in Christ Jesus to finally make them be with Him and dwell with them for eternity ahead because of His love for them all (John 14:7-11; 1:10-11, 14; 1 Tim 2:5; 1 Cor 15:28; Rev 21:1-4). Praise the Lord!
Much Blessings....
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