Judges
11: 30-31, 34-36, 39a
Jephthah
made a vow to the LORD and said, “If You will indeed give the sons
of Ammon into my hand, then it shall be that whatever comes out of
the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons
of Ammon, it shall be the LORD’S and I will offer it up as a burnt
offering. When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, behold, his
daughter was coming out to meet him with tambourines and with
dancing. Now she was his one and
only
child; besides her he had no son or daughter. When he saw her, he
tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me
very low, and you are among those who trouble me; for
I have given my word to the LORD, and I cannot take it
back
(Cp. Numbers
30: 2).”
So she said to him, “My father, you have given your word to the
LORD; do to me as you have said, since the LORD has avenged you of
your enemies, the sons of Ammon.”
At
the end of two months she returned to her father, who did to her
according to the vow which he had made.
NOTE:
Was the sacrifice of Jephtha's daughter random chance, bad luck,
fate, or was it her destiny?
1
Samuel 6: 9
"Watch,
if it goes up by the way of its own territory to Beth-shemesh, then
He has done us this great evil But if not, then we will know that it
was not His hand that struck us; it happened to us by
chance."
(Heb. miq'reh)
1
Kings 22: 29-34, 35b-37, 38
So
the king of Israel (Ahab) and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up
against Ramoth-gilead. The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I
will disguise myself and go into the battle, but you put on your
robes.” So
the king of Israel disguised himself
and went into the battle. Now the king of Aram had commanded the
thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, “Do not fight with
small or great, but with the king of Israel alone.” So when the
captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “Surely it is
the king of Israel,” and they turned aside to fight against him,
and Jehoshaphat cried out. When the captains of the chariots saw that
it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.
Now
a certain man drew his bow at random
and struck the king of Israel in a joint of the armor. So he said to
the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and take me out of the
fight; for I am severely wounded.” and the king was propped up in
his chariot in front of the Arameans, and died at evening, and the
blood from the wound ran into the bottom of the chariot. They washed
the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood
(now the harlots bathed themselves there),
according
to the word of the LORD which He spoke (Cp. 1
Kings 21: 19, 27-28).
NOTE:
Ahab's end was prophesied but was the manner that this event
happened to him by coincidence, bad luck, random chance, fate or was
it destined to conclude exactly like it did?
2
Kings 20: 1-2, 4-6a
In
those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the
son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Set
your house in order, for
you shall die and not live.’”
Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD.
Before
Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the LORD came to
him, saying, “Return and say to Hezekiah the leader of My people,
‘Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David, “I have heard
your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. On the
third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD.“ I will add
fifteen years to your life.
NOTE:
The “death sentence” was pronounced by the prophet but God
changed course; so, was King Hezekiah able to change his “fate”
or just delay it for a few more years? He was still “destined” to
die anyway??
2
Kings 13: 14-19a, 23b
Now
Elisha had been suffering from the illness from which he died.
Jehoash king of Israel went down to see him and wept over him. “My
father! My father!” he cried. “The chariots and horsemen of
Israel!”
Elisha said, “Get a bow and some arrows,” and
he did so. “Take the bow in your hands,” he said to the king of
Israel. When he had taken it, Elisha put his hands on the king’s
hands.“Open the east window,” he said, and he opened it. “Shoot!”
Elisha said, and he shot. “The Lord’s arrow of victory, the arrow
of victory over Aram!” Elisha declared. “You will completely
destroy the Arameans at Aphek.”Then he said, “Take the arrows,”
and the king took them. Elisha told him, “Strike the ground.” He
struck it three times and stopped. The man of God was angry
with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or
six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely
destroyed it.
NOTE:
This is very interesting because the actions of King Jehoash
determined the fate or was it destiny of Israel and his reign.
2
Kings 23: 29
While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went up to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to meet him in battle, but Necho faced him and killed him at Megiddo.
While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went up to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to meet him in battle, but Necho faced him and killed him at Megiddo.
2
Chronicles 35: 20-24a
After
all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Neco king of Egypt
went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out
to meet him. But he sent envoys to him, saying, “What have we to do
with each other, king of Judah? I am not coming against you this day,
but against the house with which I am at war. And God has commanded
me to hurry. Cease opposing God, who is with me, lest he destroy
you.” Nevertheless, Josiah did not turn away from him, but
disguised himself
in order to fight with him. He did not listen to the words of Neco
from the mouth of God, but came to fight in the plain of Megiddo. And
the archers shot King Josiah.
And the king said to his servants, Take me away, for I am badly
wounded.” So his servants took him out of the chariot and carried
him in his second chariot and brought him to Jerusalem. And he died
and was buried in the tombs of his fathers.
NOTE:
This is also interesting because King Josiah didn't have to die and
King Neco tried to talk him out of fighting against him. Why didn't
the Lord send word for him not to do this, and so, his actions sealed
his fate; or was it destiny?
Job
20: 24
He
may flee from the iron weapon, But the bronze bow will pierce him.
NOTE:
Does this mean you might be able to effect, alter, or escape your
“fate” but your “destiny” is unalterable?
Isaiah
65: 11
"But
because the rest of you have forsaken the LORD and have forgotten his
Temple, and because you have prepared feasts to honor the
god of Fate
and have offered mixed wine to the
god of Destiny,
NLT
NOTE:
Gad is the Babylonian god of Fortune and Meni is the god of Destiny.
Amplified Bible
Jeremiah
15: 2
And
it shall be that when they say to you, 'Where should we go?' then you
are to tell them, 'Thus says the LORD: "Those destined
for
death, to death; And those destined
for the sword, to the sword; And those destined
for famine, to famine; And those destined
for captivity, to captivity.
NOTE:
The Hebrew translator used the word “asher” (who), which I think
he didn't want to consider the word “destiny.”
Job 20: 24-25
24 He
shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike
him through.
NOTE: Is this Destiny or Fate?
Ecclesiastes
9: 11
I
again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift and the
battle is not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the wise nor
wealth to the discerning nor favor to men of ability; for time and
chance
overtake them all.
NOTE:
This seems to say that one cannot escape the unavoidable grip of
“destiny.”
Luke
13: 1-3
At
that time, some of those present told Jesus about the Galileans whose
blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. To this He replied, "Do
you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other
Galileans, because they suffered this fate?
(Heb. Kadabar) No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will
all perish.… Berean
Study Bible
NOTE:
You can change your “fate” by repentance through the choice of
freewill, but that doesn't necessarily make you immune from destiny
Acts
1: 23-26
So
they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as
Justus) and Matthias.Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s
heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen
to
take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he
belongs.”
Then
they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias;
so he was added to the eleven apostles.
NOTE:
The voice of the Lord or the Holy Spirit did not command the Apostles
to choose Matthias but they left the decision up to “Fate”
(casting of lots/ or chance??)
Acts
25: 8, 10, 11b-12; 26: 32
while
Paul said in his own defense, “I have committed no offense either
against the Law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.”
But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I
ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the
Jews, as you also very well know. I appeal to Caesar.” Then when
Festus had conferred with his council, he answered, “You have
appealed to Caesar, to Caesar you shall go.” Agrippa said to
Festus, "This
man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar."
NOTE:
Paul would have been released and not have had to make the trip to
Rome at this time, but along the way he was “destined” for other
experiences (Cp. Acts 27: 1 – 28: 16).
Acts
28: 4-6a
When
the islanders saw the snake
(Heb. 'eph'`eh) hanging from his hand, they said to each other, "This
man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, the
(Spirit)/goddess
Justice
(Heb. w'ruach naqam) has not allowed him to live.
However
he shook the
creature
(Heb. ha sherets) off into the fire and suffered no harm. But they
were expecting that he was about to swell up or suddenly fall down
dead. But after they had waited a long time and had seen nothing
unusual happen to him.
NIV
Romans
9: 22
In
the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his
power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are
destined
for destruction. NLT
John
17: 12
I
have kept those whom you gave me,
and no man among them has perished, except The Son of Destruction,
that the scripture should be fulfilled.”
John
18: 9
This
was to fulfill the word He had spoken: "I
have not lost one of those You have given Me."
COMMENTARY:
I wanted to conclude this study with the passages from the gospel of
John as a challenge to understanding fate and destiny. Did Judas
Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus, really have a “choice”
(Cp.
Mark
14: 21).
The Bible makes it clear that God is All-Powerful and All-Knowing but
there are passages that also reveal that chance, circumstance, fate,
and destiny are part of reality as well. Adam and Eve were told about
the tree of the knowledge of “Good and Evil” but their conscience
was a blank slate until they experienced what it meant. Was this
their “destiny?” And what if God had not made this prohibition
known about that one particular tree, or what if the Serpent didn't
ask a 'negative' question to Eve, would she and Adam have partaken of
the forbidden fruit? There are people who believe that God is
actively involved in human affairs, but in what way; or rather, if God
is, then why do certain events happen to some and not to others? God
does not show partiality (Cp. Matthew
5: 45b;
Romans
2: 11),
so if this is not the case, then our exercise of freewill sets in motion,
like the tumbling over of dominoes arranged in an infinite set of
patterns, which go this way or that way, and the result is what we
call-either; fate, bad/dumb luck, chance, or circumstance. I think
that an event can be “predestined” but not a person, and at the
end of the day, God controls “Destiny” because no matter what we do, we can't escape or outrun it.
Robert
Randle
776
Commerce St Apt 701
Tacoma,
WA 98402
January
28, 2018
