In the story of David and King Saul, twice Saul slept in a cave and David went up to him and took his things but didn't kill him. David wanted to prove to Saul that he was close enough to kill him but didn't because God anointed him. The Bible says that God made Saul sleep deeply so not to hear David.
God hardened the Pharoah's heart toward the end of the 10 plagues so he wouldn't let His people go.
This tells us that God has made certain do certain things for certain reasons. Does this mean that God has and can mess with our free-wills? We have free-wills but these things happened according to God's will. Why did He make the Pharoah's heart harden and made King Saul sleep deeply?
And how can I tell when an event that happens in my life is due to my will or God's will? I am looking for faith based answers from Christians. I am Catholic. Thank you!
2007-03-01 15:38:20 · 9 answers · asked by cartman 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
no, God hasn't. Israel was God's people. they made choices for themselves, whether God approved or not. Saul was made to sleep to protect David, or maybe as a test of his character. because David could have killed Saul at any time, but David understood things before his time.
and sometimes when it says "hardened it's heart" it can mean "allowed his heart to get harder", as Hebrew has non-English grammar.
how can you tell? the Holy Spirit usually reveals that to you. As a Catholic, you may or may not be taught this, but as Christians, we are to be continually led by the Holy Spirit (filled by Him) so we always walk in His will. God's will and word always match up, so if Jesus said no, and you think it's yes, you're not walking in God's will.
2007-03-01 15:45:04 · answer #1 · answered by Hey, Ray 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Nope. That is His first and best gift, and He does not take back what he gives (which is not the same as firing someone from a job for incompetence, like He did to King Saul).
To your "examples": God made Saul sleep because God wanted David to live. Can God stop us from doing something we have decided to do? Oh yeah. He's made people step in front of a bus before He lets them do something. He's God. He both can and may do that. Note that these people already had their many opportunities to openly display their choices. How many soldiers with Saul knew Saul and David and knew their king was being evil and stupid? It was an "open secret."
As for Pharaoh, go read Exodus again and note how many times Pharaoh says, "The Lord, He is righteous." or "Pray for me." Yet he still followed the Israelites into God's trap. What God meant by "hardening his heart" was that God was going to do what God was going to do, and this guy was not going to repent, EVAH. God was simply being God and telling Moses ahead of time to not be surprised. Question to you: how much is your heart like Pharaoh's?
2007-03-01 15:45:33 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Take a look at the link below for a more detailed answer to your question...
As I understand it, causing Saul to "sleep deeply" was not an infringement upon the choices available to Saul, therefore not a manipulation of his free will.
And as for Pharaoh, the text in the original Hebrew suggests that the hardening was either of his own making, or that it was enhanced by God. Why would God "enhance" such a malicious feeling? There are many precedents throughout scripture wherein God blinds those who refuse to be enlightened by Him and hardens the hearts of those who refuse to soften - to make a point.
By allowing or enhancing the hardening of Pharaoh's heart, many new opportunities for God's glory to be known were created. In this way, God strengthened His enemy for the purpose of showing that He was more mighty still.
2007-03-01 15:58:13 · answer #3 · answered by andalorn 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
David and Moses were both humble enough to know that they had no power to change the circumstances. But God can and does, according to His will and good purpose. He works in mysterious ways and can change the hearts of Kings, but still they make their choices thus receiving blessings or suffering the consequences. Many Kings were all for God but then turned away from Him. Others were against Him and then turned to Him. The Pharaoh's heart was already turned away from God, and God kind of said, Okay if that's the way you want to play this game then I'll take you there all the way. So Pharaoh brought it upon himself.
2007-03-01 16:02:37 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
well there are certain things u just cant control which some believe to be god's will. or sometimes people cant understand or just choose not too and say it was god's will. its funny u ask about this too because global warming is caused by humans not by god which might end the world. i thought we had free will because of this but then again there are influences and then there is the question of prayer what is it really for. and why do we ask god to help us when he cannot mess with our free will. god may not even be able to hear us from wherever he is at because to the north pole, down there means the south pole and vice versa
2007-03-01 15:52:11 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think God most definitely "plays with" our free will, if you look at free will as coming from a mankind that has a sinful nature anyway and leads to only one destination. That's Calvinism, though, and I won't get into that. You also have to look at things from a middle-Eastern perspective, where things that occur go "one back" and things often get "blamed" on God. This can account for the "evil spirit from the Lord" and even Jesus' "lead us not into temptation" verses. this mindset still exists today in that part of the world.
2007-03-02 01:14:54 · answer #6 · answered by ccrider 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
God Certainly has the power to intervene at will for His purposes to either prove a point or to cause an effect and also to do what He pleases to the ungodly such as destroying the seven nations that the Israelites encountered from their Exodus from Egypt to their promised land for they all had freewill will but we see the effects of the abuse of freedom and punishment due
Humanity will soon see I suspect.
Gods will should be your will if you are strong in the Lord. You will recognize Him working around you in what would seem a natural way. He takes care of those who love Him
2007-03-01 15:57:18 · answer #7 · answered by Gods child 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
That is an intelligent and excellent question.
The best answer in a nutshell is this. Man is a finite being and can never know what is in God's mind. The challenge for believers is to make sure whatever circumstances God allows to happen in our lives, we acknowledge it and allow God to have control of it. And always strive to live the best we can for him during those times.
Why are we doing this again? Because we don't know what is in the mind of God. Let him run the universe and everyone life. That's not our concern.
We can pray and ask God to do things and that is what enables God's will to continue.
Your best example is Jesus Christ. If you will remember a lot of times Jesus said and did what he saw his father say and do. He never did anything of or by himself. Remember?
Jesus Christ was very surrendered to the will of God in his life. He even prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane not my will, but thine be done. And Jesus is our example of our reliance on God our father for living a life of belief and faith.
2007-03-01 16:01:23 · answer #8 · answered by Uncle Remus 54 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
God is interpreted differently today, He used to control all things, now people believe they are in control, with insurance and seatbelts and being safe, savings... etc..... God from a mystic perspective, brings all lifes experiences to us for a lesson, designed to teach us to love each other more...... as pain does quite well....
2007-03-01 15:42:53 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋