“The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.” (Matt. 26:24)
If the question must be asked then, did Judas Iscariot have a choice, then that same question must be asked of Moses, for at the bush that burned but was not consumed, he offered excuses as to why he should not be chosen for the task set before him, yet the Almighty would not relent.
“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” (Jer. 1:5)
“For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;” (Romans 9:11)
Why Jacob and not Esau? For a cause He raised Pharoah up, John the Baptist, the list is almost endless.
It is quite easy to understand why we reject the acts of Pharoah and Judas and rejoice with those whom He chose to lift up His Holy name, but it does not answer the question, does it?
Many will say, and in a form, rightly so, that the Almighty already knew, that He is everywhere in all time, He is not limited in any fashion by His creation of time, yet that would leave man’s free will to determine the path of mankind, and we know that is not true.
“For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” (Romans 9:15)
“Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?” (Romans 9:20)
If we are to believe Proverbs 16:9 that God indeed directs the steps of man, as well as the previous verses and others like them in context, then the question is valid, did any of these mentioned have a choice?
Did you?
Here is where I should end this letter, for some have no desire to swim in the deep waters, and others whose faith is not yet strong enough to contemplate these truths may stumble because of what is offered here today.
This, in part, my friends, is how I seek the face of God, I ask questions that only the Living God can answer, not to test Him, not to test my own faith, and never to cause you to question His grace and mercy, His holiness and righteousness. I would throw my pen away, if He would let me, if that happened.
Questions of this nature reveal to me, and hopefully to you, the Sovereignty of the Most High, that nothing is impossible for Him, that He does as He wills to do in every part of His creation. It is never to question His will, but to seek His face.
“To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.” (Prov. 1:6)
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” (James 1:5)
There are, among many other things, two things that will happen as the Lord draws you closer to Himself, a joy incomprehensible to you, and the knowledge, the unmitigated truth, that we are never going to know Him fully, that there are things that we need to leave in His hands.
There are many chapters in the Book of Job, many words with only one real question behind them, “Why?” But when that whirlwind began to approach and the Almighty began to speak to Job, he knew the answer to his question.
“Thy will be done.”
Here is where these types of questions must be left, here is where the wise man understands his wisdom in nothing compared to the wisdom of the Creator and Sustainer of all reality.
In essence my friends, there is nothing wrong with contemplations of this nature, in fact, if you remain in the shallow water, never venturing out to where your feet cannot rest on solid ground, your faith can never really be put to the test.
“When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.” (Psalm 27:8)
Do so, seek Him every day, He will tell you when you have searched enough for that day, not in a whirlwind, but in that still small voice of the Holy Spirit. And those questions will be answered with love and assurance of His Sovereignty.
His grace will be sufficient for you.
