God's Will Part Three.
Notes
Transcript
Handout
God’s will is identical with his being, his wisdom, his goodness, and with all his attributes. And it is for this reason that man’s heart and mind can rest in that will, for it is the will not of blind fate, incalculable fortune, or dark energy of nature, but of an omnipotent God and merciful Father” (Doctrine of God, 235).
Let’s recap what we have observed so far.
First, God is Creator and therefore does what he wills.
Second, God sometimes uses pagans to accomplish his will.
Third, God calls humanity to do his will, expressed through belief and obedience.
The fourth is God’s choice demonstrates his favour.
The fifth God is in favour of salvation.
The sixth is God shows favour to those who demonstrate obedience.
The seventh is God decides who he shows favour to.
The eighth is God removes favour from the unrepentant.
There is no one-to-one equivalent for the word “will” in the Hebrew language. There are nine Hebrew words that express the idea of “will”. The nouns are “ḥēp̱eṣ” -“delight” or “pleasure”, “rāṣôn” -“favor”. The verbs are “ʾḥāp̱ēṣ”- “desire” or “take pleasure in”, “rāṣâ” - “be pleased with”, “āḇâ” - “consent,” or “be willing”, the hiphil of “yā’al” - “begin,” “intend”, “bāḥar”- “choose”, “ʾāhaḇ”- “love”, “”ḥāšq” - “love,” or “desire”.
This time we are going to take a look at “aba” meaning to consent or be willing.
The first time we see God as the subject of “aba” is Deuteronomy 10:10.
10 “I myself stayed on the mountain, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights, and the Lord listened to me that time also. The Lord was unwilling to destroy you.
Moses reminds Israel that through his intercession Yaweh was unwilling to destroy them in Exodus 32:9-14.
9 And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people.
10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.”
11 But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people.
13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ”
14 And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.
This reminds me of Christ’s intercession through the cross, and therefore we are not destroyed.
What is God unwilling to do and why is he unwilling to do it?
God is unwilling to destroy because of his covenant.
The second and third time we see God as the subject is 2 Kings 8:18-19; 13:22-23.
18 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
19 Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah, for the sake of David his servant, since he promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever.
22 Now Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.
23 But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion on them, and he turned toward them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, nor has he cast them from his presence until now.
What is God unwilling to do and why is he unwilling to do it?
Here Yaweh is unwilling to destroy Judah because of his covenant.
The fourth time we see God as the subject is in Deuteronomy 23:5.
5 But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam; instead the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loved you.
Why would God not listen to Balaam?
He would not listen because of his love for Israel.
So in these four passages what guides God’s will?
God’s will is guided by his covenantal love.
The fifth and sixth occurence with God as subject is in Deuteronomy 29:16-20; 2 Kings 24:1-4.
16 “You know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed.
17 And you have seen their detestable things, their idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold, which were among them.
18 Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit,
19 one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.’ This will lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike.
20 The Lord will not be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger of the Lord and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and the curses written in this book will settle upon him, and the Lord will blot out his name from under heaven.
1 In his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him.
2 And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldeans and bands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servants the prophets.
3 Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the Lord, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done,
4 and also for the innocent blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord would not pardon.
Why is Yaweh unwilling to forgive?
He is unwilling to forgive because the individual decides to walk in the stubbornness of his own will. He is unrepentant of his sin.
May we be wise and walk in repentance, embracing the new covenant made valid by Jesus’ blood shed on the cross.
The seventh and eight occurrences are when God affects the will of individuals in Exodus 10:27; Deuteronomy 2:30.
27 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go.
30 But Sihon the king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as he is this day.
What do we see God doing?
He is hardening rulers’ will.
Why is he hardening their wills?
He is doing it to accomplish his purposes for the nation of Isreal.
Let’s recap what we learned about the usage of “aba” when God is the subject.
First, he unwilling to destroy because of his covenantal love.
Second, he is guided by his convenantal love.
Third, he is unwilling to forgive those who forsake his covenant.
Fourth, he hardens rulers’ hearts / wills to accomplish his purpose.