Freedom
“Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish.” Jonah 3:9 NASB
Who knows – Does God change His mind? The king of Nineveh certainly hoped so. So should we. What hope can we have if the will of God is inflexibly fixed from eternity past? Mi-yodea, says the king. Who knows? The answer is no one and any one. The answer is the difference between freedom and fate.
“In a real sense, then, freedom extends to more than our ability to choose between alternative futures. It includes the freedom to reshape our understanding of the past, healing some of its legacy of pain.”[1]
“If we can change, then the future is not destined to be an action replay of the past. Repentance is the proof that we can change.”[2]
Freedom is the ability to change God’s mind, and as a result, change the universe. Freedom is not simply choice. Freedom has eschatological consequences. Freedom is a radical cosmic idea. Until the Hebrews invented history, freedom was a myth. Since the invention of history, freedom has become man’s greatest burden, joyfully embraced as the pathway to an open future. We make the world by what we do, and we can unmake the world by what we no longer do. Freedom and repentance are two sides of the same coin. One cannot exist without the other. Any man who thinks he is free but refuses to repent of those past harmful choices is not really free at all. He is still a slave to the inexorable chain of cause and effect. The chain can only be broken when the past is redeemed by a new future.
Much Christian theology is derived from the Greek idea of perfection, an idea that reiterates the ancient pagan notion of a fixed course of cosmic events. According to Aquinas, if God is perfect then no change is possible since any change would mean that either God wasn’t perfect before and some change was necessary or that God isn’t perfect after since a perfect being never needs to change. This is a theological expression of the ancient concept of eternal return. Nothing ever really changes. Even Qohelet understood the terror of such an idea. But apparently the early Church fathers were fearless in their Greek logic. As a result, we have inherited a “perfect” God, a God who is utterly different from us and removed from every heartbeat of human existence. That God is an idol far more dangerous than one made of wood, stone or gold. That God is an idea who chains men to fate, a God who makes real repentance impossible.
What kind of God do you serve? Is He the God who knows your beginning and end or is He the God who spoke to Nineveh—and might, just might, change His mind?
Topical Index: foreknowledge, perfection, repentance, history, future, Jonah 3:9
[1] Jonathan Sacks, Not In God’s Name, p. 157.
[2] Ibid.
“Freedom and repentance are two sides of the same coin. One cannot exist without the other. Any man who thinks he is free but refuses to repent of those past harmful choices is not really free at all. He is still a slave to the inexorable chain of cause and effect.”
This is worth meditation. I want to put the word “forgiveness” in there, because it seems like it should fit between repentance and freedom. But, would that be assigning it a time?
Here is my conundrum: On the one hand, I do agree that YHVH can change — your examples of Nineveh and our being forgiven are proof. On the other hand, when we discuss His Torah, commands, judgements, etc, we hold to the belief that He does NOT change. So, if he can change, then the Christian system of YHVH changing His mind about His Torah (no longer applies) holds some weight?
Depends on what we mean by change, doesn’t it. If I change my mind about my actions, does that entail that I change my character? Am I a different person because I choose one thing instead of another? Look at Exodus 34:6-7 where God describes who He is. Then ask yourself if any of those things change when He determines not to destroy Ninevah.
It’s my understanding that God sees all ends from the beginning, but His foreknowledge is not causative nor overrides the power of choice. No matter what you do, what choice you make, God has prepared a path fulfilling His Plan. Had Ninevah not repented, it would have been destroyed. As it ultimately was. God does not change His Mind, He is aware of all choices you might make and has a path of blessing or lesson prepared for you. No matter what way you go.
We were made to choose.
That’s the great gift of our loving Father.
He tells us His wish is that none of us choose to stay in sin and perish.
But that free choice is completely ours. And it’s always constantly in front of us.
Oswald Chambers writes: “Realize that the Lord is here NOW, and the freedom you receive
is immediate.”
Freedom. It’s just a choice away.
His word never changes, his word is truth , our father is one who forgives when we ask sincerely, and yes he is a God who knows the beginning and the end
Do all roads really lead to Rome… Is there anyone without sin… Is Torah reading, thinking or living the blessing…
Skip so true…
Choices reveal what we believe, actions determine what we trust in…
God has already done both… decided and created. Whatever we do will only affect God’s end results. If it is not on target He can wipe the slate (me, mankind, generation, concepts erc.) clean… but was that His intetion…
Think of it this way we are the wet paint to be used on His canvas… some of us are water paint, others pastel, others wall, others wood, etc. God knows when to use us correct. We want to be used as we believe is best… A smudged picture.
What will you do… remove the paint, paint over the smudged area or just start afresh… This is the only way I think we can influence the universe.
We are nought our attempts nothing. What did Skip say earlier be patient. Is sin maybe not the result of our impatience rather than our choices. To do good yes, be the paint and colour God intended you to be, your talent. Make the talent a necessity to bring colour and joy into others lives, do not use it to mix things up…
Nineveh, Sodom, Babel inhabitants instead of Jerusalem inhabitants dwelling in the temple of Solomon.
God knows me but do I know Him. He appreciates my weaknesses. As in them is His strength… Do I only put my best foot forward and continue walking in circles and mixing the painting up or do I accept who I am and use my handicapped foot to move steadily but sure as He desired.
Repent daily, and sustain God’s creation or rather His purpose…
YES! “He (IS) the God who spoke to Nineveh—and might, just might, change His mind.”!
Brings these verses to mind-
Isa 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together,” says the LORD: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
יָכַח yakach Definition-
to prove, decide, judge, rebuke, reprove, correct, be right
(Hiphil) to decide, judge, to adjudge, appoint, to show to be right, prove, to convince, convict, to reprove, chide,
to correct, rebuke
(Hophal) to be chastened
(Niphal) to reason, reason together
(Hithp) to argue
Abraham reasoned/ contended with God concerning the city of Sodom, and as a result God promised He would not destroy it if there were only ten righteous people there. Gen 18: 16-33
IF ONLY there were ten!
When we seek forgiveness through repentance, we will be delivered from the consequences of the bad choices made in the past, we are truly free indeed. That is freedom.