Can Prayer Change Prophecy?

            Quite a few Christians believe that [determined] prayers can alter a prophecy. Is this a tenable belief or not?

            God is the source of prophecy. The prophet bears God’s message. This message need not always be a prediction or foretelling of future events but this message can simply be instructional (Acts 21:4), warning (Jonah 3:4), etc.

            A presupposition to the notion that prayer can change a prophecy is that God is capable of changing HIS mind. But God cannot change HIS mind. This Divine Constancy contains various aspects: God cannot change quantitatively or qualitatively and God’s nature does not undergo modifications. Hence, God cannot change HIS mind.

            In an earlier blog entitled, “Could We Change God’s Mind?” I addressed this subject. Here’s a relevant excerpt:¹

Can God change HIS mind?

There are two diametrically opposite answers to this question. Some Christians believe that God can change HIS mind, whereas others assert that God does not and cannot change HIS mind.

Let us briefly study their assertions.

God Changes HIS Mind

Some Christians think that God can change HIS mind, “…advocates of a theory called open theism have argued that God can and does change and that we can cause that change. They find their support for this in passages such as Genesis 18, where Abraham intercedes before the Lord for Sodom and Gomorrah, and God seemingly changes His mind. They claim further support from passages like Jeremiah 18:7–10, Jonah 3:10, and Genesis 6:6, which speak of God repenting or relenting or being sorry.”1

These Christians, upon reading these verses, believe that God changes HIS mind:

 “The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.” (Genesis 6:6, NIV, Emphasis Mine).

 “And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do to his people.” (Exodus 32:14, RSV, Emphasis Mine).

 “If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it." (Jeremiah 18: 7-10, NIV, Emphasis Mine).

 “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.” (Jonah 3:10, NIV, Emphasis Mine).

God Cannot Change HIS Mind

Pastor, theologian, and author, R.C Sproul, unpacks this dilemma from the vantage point of God’s omniscience.2

There’s one sense in which it seems God is changing his mind, and there’s another sense in which the Bible says God never changes his mind because God is omniscient. He knows all things from the beginning, and he is immutable. He is unchanging. There’s no shadow of turning within him. For example, He knows what Moses is going to say to him in Numbers 14 before Moses even opens his mouth to plead for the people. Then after Moses has actually said it, does God suddenly changes his mind? He doesn’t have any more information than he had a moment before. Nothing has changed as far as God’s knowledge or his appraisal of the situation.

Is God confused, stumbling through all the different options—Should I do this? Should I not do that? And does he decide upon one course of action and then think, Well, maybe that’s not such a good idea after all, and change his mind? Obviously God is omniscient; God is all wise. God is eternal in his perspective and in his full knowledge of everything. So we don’t change God’s mind. But prayer changes things. It changes us. And there are times in which God waits for us to ask for things because his plan is that we work with him in the glorious process of bringing his will to pass here on earth.

Similarly, Dr. William Lane Craig explains this theme from the perspective of God’s foreknowledge and the need for us to understand the literary genre’s of the Bible and the literary devices used by the biblical authors for an effective narration. If we understand these details, we will be able to accurately interpret the Bible. Thus we would possess a proper understanding of God. Here’s William Lane Craig:3

I don’t think that God can change his mind, because as an omniscient being, he knows everything that will happen, including his own decisions. God has foreknowledge not only of everything that creatures will do, but also knowledge of his own acts…If God knows the truth value of all true future tense propositions — then he will know the truth value of propositions about his own actions — like God will part the Red Sea; he knows that. So, God would have knowledge of everything in the future, and therefore there could be no basis for changing his mind. An omniscient being cannot change his mind, it would only be an ignorant being, a being that is ignorant, that could acquire some new reason for doing something that would cause him to change his mind…

There are some Scriptures which, at least superficially to a layperson, looks like God’s changing his mind. Jonah and the whale and Nineveh where God was going to destroy the city unless something happened, and he seemed to change his mind.

It’s vital that we understand the literary genre, or type, of most of these biblical stories. The Bible is in the form of narratives. They’re stories about God told from the human point of view. And so, a good storyteller will tell his story with all the vivacity and color that he wants to enhance his narrative.

And so, you’ll find stories in the Bible about God, told from a human perspective where God not only lacks knowledge of the future, but even lacks knowledge of what’s going on presently. God comes down to Abraham and says, “I’ve heard the outcry in Sodom and Gomorrah. I’m going to go see if what I’ve heard is really happening there.”

Well, that would deny not only God’s foreknowledge, but his knowledge of the present. And there are other passages where God is spoken of in anthropomorphic terms of having nostrils and eyes and arms and other sort of bodily parts—wings. If you take all of these literally, God would be a sort of fire-breathing monster.

And so, these are anthropomorphisms. They are literary devices that are part of the storyteller’s art, and shouldn’t be read like a philosophy of religion or systematic theology textbook. There’s just a naïve view of the type of literature that Scripture is.

            To conclude, let us briefly consider two instances in the Bible that some Christians use to contend that God changes HIS mind.

            Consider the prophecy to King Hezekiah. The omniscient God knew that when Prophet Isaiah warned King Hezekiah (about putting his house in order else he would die), Hezekiah would pray earnestly to HIM, and that HE would extend Hezekiah’s lifetime by 15 years. Hence, if we consider the foreknowledge of God, wherein HE knows every future event, we cannot construe this instance to that of God changing HIS mind.

            Similarly, in Jonah’s case, God knew that the Ninevites would repent upon hearing Jonah’s preaching/prophesying. Therefore, it was not a change of mind that prompted the forgiveness of God. Rather the plan to forgive the Ninevites was always in God’s mind because of HIS foreknowledge of all future events.

            Therefore, a proper interpretation of every prophecy in the Bible would render the notion of God changing HIS mind as untenable. It’s not that God does not change HIS mind; it’s that you and I, however righteous our prayer may be, cannot force God to change HIS mind. So no amount of prayer can change a prophecy, unless God, according to HIS foreknowledge, has already determined another course of action based on the response to a particular prophecy.

Endnotes:

¹http://rajkumarrichard.blogspot.com/2017/10/could-we-change-gods-mind.html

Website last accessed on 31^st May 2019.

How Do Some Christians Tolerate Failed Prophecy?

            My previous blog, written in the form of a public letter to Dr. Paul Dhinakaran about his failed prophecy, elicited interesting responses. Intriguingly, a few well-meaning Christians were not as critical as I was about that failed prophecy.

            Some urged me to wait for a longer time. The prophecy, they contended, would be fulfilled if only we were to give it more time.

            Others pointed out a few prophecies from the Bible that were supposedly erroneous and used those prophecies to validate this failed prophecy. 

            My understanding of the term prophecy is defined by this verse, “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20-21, NIV, Emphasis Mine).

            Furthermore, my understanding of God complicates my position on (any failed) prophecy. As a classical theist, I subscribe to a position that God is the absolutely metaphysically ultimate reality and HE is immutable or changeless. Hence, God must be impassible (HE cannot be affected by anything external in the created order).   

            A word of caution would serve us well before we proceed any further. We should be unambiguously clear that our stand on prophecy does not determine our salvation. In other words, we could be poles apart on our comprehension of the gift of prophecy in the local church; yet, I believe our growth in Christ could be unimpeded.

            So we come back to our question, how do some Christians tolerate failed prophecy?

            Wayne Grudem’s exemplary work on Systematic Theology offers an interesting perspective. He begins by defining prophecy as “telling something that God has spontaneously brought to mind.” Do note that Grudem does not define the gift of prophecy as “predicting the future” or as “proclaiming a word from the Lord.”

            He goes on to add that the terms prophet and prophecy were used of ordinary Christians, who spoke not with absolute divine authority but simply to report something that God had laid on their hearts or brought to their minds.

            This ordinary gift of prophecy had a lesser authority than the Bible in the New Testament and even less than that of recognized Bible teaching in the early church. Grudem refers to the prophecy referred in Acts 21:4, Acts 21:10-11, 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21, and 1 Corinthians 14: 29-38, as a case in point. 

            Furthermore, in the New Testament, prophets from the local church spoke with less authority than the New Testament apostles or the Scripture. Nowhere does the New Testament command us to “obey the words of the Lord through your prophets.” So Grudem comes to the conclusion that the prophecies of today need not necessarily be construed as “the words of God.”

            The Charismatic churches accord much importance to prophecies today. Grudem refers to the Charismatic teachers who believe that contemporary prophecy is not equal to Scripture in authority. Grudem writes, “Though some will speak of prophecy as being the “word of God” for today, there is almost uniform testimony from all sections of the charismatic movement that prophecy is imperfect and impure, and will contain elements that are not to be obeyed or trusted. For example, Bruce Yocum, the author of a widely used charismatic book on prophecy, writes, “Prophecy can be impure — our own thoughts or ideas can get mixed into the message we receive — whether we receive the words directly or only receive a sense of the message.”

            However, complications arise when contemporary prophets preface their prophecies with the common Old Testament phrase, “Thus says the Lord.” Grudem asserts that even though it gives an impression that the words that follow this phrase are God’s very words, the charismatic spokesmen would not want to claim it for every part of their prophecies.

            So those Christians who hold to a similar position (as cited above) could tolerate a failed prophecy. Whereas Christians who believe that prophecies are the very words of God, especially if it is prefaced by phrases similar to “Thus says the Lord…” cannot tolerate a failed prophecy.

            But whatever be our position on the contentious topic of prophecy; even if we believe in Cessationism (the doctrine that spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues, prophecy, and healing ceased with the apostolic age.), please note that we can agree to disagree and yet, remain as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Endnotes:

Wayne Grudem’s quotes are taken from his work Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, Inter-Varsity Press, England.

Does God Kill Those Who Kill Christians? A Christian’s Thought to the Recent Church Bombing and Earthquake in Pakistan

On 22^nd September 2013, militants killed many Christians at a Church in Peshawar, Pakistan.¹ On 25^th September 2013, a powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit the Baluchistan region of Pakistan killing more.² Are these two events connected? Was this earthquake God’s response to the killing of HIS people?

Whenever Christian persecution is followed by a natural disaster, many Christians may think, “Is God punishing the persecutors of Christians?” We do not know God’s mind in any specific situation (unless HE reveals), but let us think if God punishes persecution. Only temporal punishment - punishment in this time and age - will be considered.  

The best starting place is the Bible; does the Bible contain narratives of God’s punishment of persecutors? Christ’s crucifixion is often considered the greatest crime in human history. Pontius Pilate released Barabbas the thief, and ordered Christ’s crucifixion. The Bible doesn’t mention any punishment upon Pilate by God for his gory crime. The soldiers mocked and abused Christ, yet the Bible doesn’t state God’s punishment upon these evil soldiers. Similarly, God didn’t punish those who persecuted Apostle Paul. The New Testament seems not to focus on God’s punishment on the perpetrators of evil. “Why are the evil unpunished?” seems to be the bewildered cry of the persecuted. In fact, the New Testament glorifies the persecuted (Matthew 5: 10-12), but the fate of the persecutors in God’s hands is not the focal point.

Is it then wrong for a Christian to ponder if natural disasters are God’s punishment of the wicked? A closer look at the Bible reveals certain pointers. The Lord ordained Queen Jezebel to a horrendous death for her propensity to evil (1 Kings 21: 23; 2 Kings 9: 30-33). Verses such as Proverbs 3: 33 could prompt anyone to contemplate that natural disasters are an entailment of evil perpetrated against Christians. A diligent Christian should however observe the ways of the immutable God. Cain, the first man to be born of humans, committed the first ever murder in human history and was cursed by God. Graciously, God protected him against murder (Genesis 4: 15). Therefore, while there is legitimacy in musing over the ‘persecution-punishment’ conundrum, one should not impetuously arrive at concrete notions without contextually adequate evidences.

Let’s retreat to the Holocaust. Hitler massacred millions of Jews - God’s chosen race. But he committed suicide when he was about to be captured.³ There is no evidence that Hitler’s suicide is God’s punishment. History does not indicate God’s punishment upon the murderous dictators – Pol Pot and Joseph Stalin. Just as the Bible does not unanimously declare God’s immediate punishment upon the perpetrators of evil against HIS people, history is silent about God’s punishment upon murderous dictators, who massacred millions. A pattern is established; evil seems to prosper, God’s children suffer, and God seems to be deafeningly silent amidst HIS children’s trials and tribulations.

Let us consider other natural disasters to observe if there were any antecedent Christian persecution(s) that prompted God to act through natural disasters. I don’t recollect any major Christian persecution in Japan before the tsunami in 2011. Thousands were killed in the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. This disaster adversely impacted Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. Once again, no significant Christian persecution can be identified as a probable cause for this disaster.

Some Christians could assert that God punished Japan since the Japanese did not seek God (Shinto and Buddhism are Japan’s major religions). One can employ the same principle in the case of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. If this was factual, one should posit the reason behind selective punishment of evil or reasons behind God’s permission of greater evils. Permit me to elaborate.

Why were Stalin, Pol Pot and the likes allowed to live and kill many? Why did God not punish Nietzsche early enough to prevent the holocaust? Since Hitler was impacted by Nietzsche’s ideologies, one can reasonably posit a Nietzschean fingerprint on the horrendous holocaust. Presently, why is the bulldog of Atheism, Richard Dawkins, allowed by God to malign HIM and in the process lead others? Please read Dawkins’ view of God in his book ‘God Delusion,’ “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.” Isn’t this quote sufficient for God to purge Dawkins? If we proclaim that God punishes the perpetrators of evil, such as in Pakistan, we should also be able to proclaim the reasons behind selective punishment of God and the wisdom behind God allowing the Dawkins’ of today. Theodicy offers reasonable answers. But the scope of this blog is limited to ‘persecution-punishment’ conundrum.

If the persecution (Church bombing) occurred in Peshawar, shouldn’t the punishment also have occurred at Peshawar? What’s the merit in punishing the residents of Baluchistan for the persecution at Peshawar? Or did the dead in Baluchistan play a role in the church bombing at Peshawar? In the absence of concrete evidence that convicts the affected people in Baluchistan of architecting the church bombing, we would be wise in not proclaiming even a thought analogous to punishment.

But people mutate as puzzling prophets! A case in point is the proclamation of Congresswoman Michele Bachman that God brought about the earthquake to intervene in Pakistan.⁴ (I have nothing for or against this lady, but permit me to use her as a tool for thought.) Is her verdict a subjective conviction or a definite revelation of God?

The Bible portrays prophets under two categories: True and False. A case in point was that of Jeremiah and Hananiah, the former bowing under the yoke symbolizing servitude, and the latter breaking the yoke symbolizing liberation (Jeremiah 28). Thankfully, the Bible affirmed Jeremiah as the true prophet. Today we struggle to distinguish the truth from false, especially when a dubious prophet proclaims that God brought about a natural disaster in response to a moral failure.

God who created life and all that is, is sovereign to eliminate anything from existence. Nothing occurs without God’s knowledge, and the sovereign God can prevent anything from occurring. Thus, the earthquake in Pakistan or any natural disaster is brought about or allowed by God (cf. Isaiah 45: 7; Daniel 9: 14; Matthew 24: 7b). But did God unleash an earthquake as a punishment to the church bombing? There are no valid answers, other than a proclamation from a subjective perspective.

Is Congresswoman Michele Bachman a credible prophet whose prophecies have been fulfilled in the past? Unless we observe evidences we need not consider her seriously.

Prophecy should either predict the future or expose the sinfully dark past with a view to bring about a transformation. Deuteronomy 18: 21-22 is outside our context, since Congresswoman Michele Bachman didn’t predict the earthquake, but spoke after the devastation. The mould of Prophet Nathan’s prophecy to King David is also outside our context, since he exposed the true sinful intent behind the murder of Uriah, which was a cover-up to the adultery between David and Bathsheba. Unaware of the incident before it occurred, Prophet Nathan challenged King David with truth from God. David recognized God in Nathan. In our context, a similar prophecy could be to expose the intricate details about the masterminds of the church bombing (reason, names, clues leading to their arrest etc.). This would not only authenticate the prophet but also help the investigators to nail the criminals. Such is not the case with Congresswoman Michele Bachman. She has simply uttered that God is teaching Pakistan a lesson through the earthquake. This may or may not be true.

As sinners, we can cognize every positive and negative occurrence as God’s intervention. But this should apply to all, not a select few! So any broadcast of God contextual intervention in Pakistan without any objective evidence should be relegated to the realm of a presumptuous utterance. It’s ok for her to speak (freedom of speech), and it’s ok for us to hear her thoughts. But let us place her thoughts in the backburner of our minds and move forward.

In conclusion, deficiency of evidences of God’s wrath upon Pakistan should motivate Christians towards a godly and a legitimate reaction. First, pray for those affected whose lives are changed rather irreparably. Second, if we are able, we should offer material assistance, for we are mandated to love our neighbor. Third, if we cannot corroborate our inner convictions with objective evidences, we should refrain from uttering derogatory statements that adds more pain to a burning wound. Many lives need our moral and physical support, so let us be agents of love and comfort in this situation. May God bless us all. Amen.

References:

¹ http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/23/world/asia/pakistan-church-bombing.html and http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24193734

² http://earthsky.org/earth/powerful-7-8-magnitude-earthquake-strikes-pakistan-today

³ http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/people/adolf_hitler

⁴ http://www.newslo.com/michele-bachmann-says-god-used-earthquake-to-shake-up-pakistan/