A little study in how predestination and prophecy (fulfilled & unfulfilled) are inextricably linked.

And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, what doest thou? Dan.4.35.

The words of Nebuchadnezzar! yet seven years earlier before being abased by the Almighty;

The king spake, and said, is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power and for the honour of my majesty? Dan. 4.30.

Can you imagine being in the king's immediate presence and saying to him, "er, no, actually, my lord, the king, for you are nothing but a puppet in the LORD God of the Hebrews hands, bringing His purposes to pass!" He would put such a one in the same furnace that he tried to annihilate Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego with; but only ten times hotter! In Acts 12:23, we read of a similar situation with Herod when he gave God not the glory: and he was eaten up of worms, and gave up the ghost. Is not the world presently brimming to overflowing with would be Nebuchadnezzar's at this present moment? The so-called "great and the good" of the world, the kings, presidents, prime-ministers, businessmen, entrepreneurs/inventors, and such like (whom we may call the wise, mighty, and noble of 1 Cor. 26), they would quite naturally ascribe their greatness to themselves, they would never think of thanking the Great Arbiter Himself for their present portion! But, in a soon coming day, they will know the truth and unless God should grant them repentance unto life, their lot will be as the rich man in Luke 16, who was told, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things! Oh eternity! how long it is! endless! yet men cling to this short parenthesis of time as if it will never end!

And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh. Jer. 45:5a. Worldly ambition is what then? utter folly! to embark on any venture without uttering words akin to Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? (Acts 9:6) as Paul asked, is then to tread the path of uncertainty! But, how can one ask God to be a light unto my path (Ps.119:105b) if he doesn't believe? He cannot! Yet, of the times of this ignorance ,God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. Acts 17:30. The paradox is; that repentance unto life (Acts 11:18) is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8), it is a gift, yet it is also the act of man! 

Every thought and action of the small and great alike comes from where, but the Master Puppeteer! a quite humbling thought is this! for how can predestination work apart from the Almighty ordering our steps? Can action flow, without the thought being first implanted in a man's mind? It is said that The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, Ps. 37.23 a. The translators have inserted good in italics for the word good is not in the Hebrew, although in the context of this verse, we can clearly see why they have done so. The RV reads; A man's goings are established of the LORD, which is the correct reading. The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: He turneth it withersoever He will. Prov. 21.1. Of the Assyrian, who was (and will yet be, in the coming Antichrist) the rod of mine anger, used by God to bring His purposes to pass, the Almighty said Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so. Is. 10:7!

Throughout Scripture we read of adversaries being raised up (by God!) to afflict God's people, a notable example being David, who was told by God through Nathan the prophet, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house (2 Sam. 12:11a). Was it ever right that Amnon, Absalom, and Adonijah, went awry, only on account of the sin of their father, David? Absalom assassinated Amnon, Joab killed Absalom, and Solomon slew Adonijah. How can these things be? The "what iffers" (or free-willers) would say; "If David didn't sin then this bloodshed within his own household would never have taken place." But, clearly it was God's plan for these events to take place, otherwise they wouldn't have come to pass! Did not these sons of David die for the sins of their father? Clearly, God's written word says that they did (nevertheless they still died for their own sins!). A few hundred years hence God reveals to the prophet Ezekiel that The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father. Ez. 18:20a. (my emphasis). The sons of David that perished as a direct result of his sins were what? unlucky? Most assuredly God doesn't play dice! John Wesley in his notes on 2 Sam. 13:39 writes; "He can almost find in his heart to receive into favour the murderer of his brother. How can we excuse David for the sin of Eli, who honoured his sons more than God?" I find this a strange thing to say as Eli's sons hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the LORD would slay them, and David knew the whole sorry saga (for want of a better description!) was entirely due to his sin, he brought this bloodshed about in his house. Granted, there is no forgiveness without repentance, and we see none of that coming from Absalom. nevertheless, I would have no doubt that David yearned for this, considering his words in 2 Sam. 18:33; Would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son! 

We cannot go beyond what is written, for who can say unto Him, What doest thou? Dan. 4:35b. Nebuchadnezzar (at that time) had the understanding that all His works are truth, and His ways judgment, and those that walk in pride He is able to abase. Dan. 4:37b.

Many today (even among professing Christians) still harbour the notion that the generational curse syndrome, as it were, is still in force. And no doubt, to those names not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Rev. 13:8, this is true? yet, sons and daughters of believers, and unbelievers, alike, will, and will not, have their names written in the book of life. In our own day, circumcision and baptism alike are steeped in superstition of a kind; for those who put their trust alone in these fleshly rites will indeed reap what they sow. Unless God has put one's name into His book of life, then, none will be there. A "hard pill to swallow" this? What, unless God has put the names of the "saved" (the elect) into His book of life, none will be there? But! some will exclaim, what of all those who "accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour" those who "invited Jesus into their hearts" through the so-called "sinners prayer"? Well, this is where the "rubber hits the road" so to speak. I have absolutely no doubt, that since the sinners prayer has been utilized in these latter days, that those who have prayed it sincerely will no doubt be saved, but only with the proviso that their names were written in God's book of life! Is not this junction the very point where man's 'free-will' and  God's predestination meet? Who is sufficient for these things? (2 Cor 2:16).

Can a prophetic word come to pass in all its fullness, unless it wasn't predestined by God to do so? Many today, (believers and unbelievers alike) talk of "cause and effect", those who do so, know that absolutely nothing can happen unless there be a causative force behind it; how much more so from the Creator God in whom we live, and move, and have our being, Acts 17.28? The Old Testament abounds with prophesied events which came to pass in that dispensation, being fulfilled to the last jot and tittle, and if we believe the sixty-six books of the entire Bible to be God breathed in the original tongues, then the unfulfilled prophecies in the Old Testament and New Testament alike, will also come to pass in like manner.

'Divina predestinatio' says he, (Melanchthon)  'libertatem homini adimit: Divine predestination quite strips man of his boasted liberty; for all things come to pass according to God's fore-appointment, even the internal thoughts of all creatures, no less than their external works. Therefore, Eph. i. the apostle gives us to understand that God performeth all things according to the counsel of His own will.