Does 1Kings 13:1-3 presuppose Exhaustive Definite Foreknowledge (EDF)?
Our passage reads:
1Kings 13:1-3, “By the word of the Lord a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering. He cried out against the altar by the word of the Lord: “O altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who now make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.’ “That same day the man of God gave a sign: “’This is the sign the Lord has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out.’”
The above contains
some rather specific prophecies regarding a) the birth of Josiah b) the
destruction of the altars; it’s therefore not surprising that many see it as
demanding EDF.
First, whatever else we make of this passage, we
still need to consider the reality-depicting features of those portions of
Scripture narrating divine repentance and uncertainty. This would be in fact the standard response
to all ‘anti-openness’ views or passages:
How does one interpret God saying He will change His mind if it isn’t to
mean more or less that He does and will do so, (at least on occasion or in the
past)?
Secondly, the passage (1Kgs 13) seems to be a
WARNING to Jeroboam to shape up, repent and remove the pagan priests and golden
calves himself failing which God would do the job Himself (through
another king). 13:33-34 apparently shows Jeroboam ignoring this warning.
Also, it isn’t clear if God knew for sure (at least
initially) that Jeroboam would mess up as bad as he did. In fact, it seems to be the opposite. In
14:7-10, God's complaint against Jeroboam, "I raised you up from among
the people and made you a leader over my people Israel. I tore the kingdom from
the house of David and gave it to you, but you have not been like my servant
David...You have done more evil than all who lived before you...because
of this...I will bring disaster on your house, etc., etc."
What sense does it make to say that God raised up and made a leader whom He knew for certain would 'do more evil than all who lived before him' (14:9) and THEN complain, curse and judge him for doing so?! Theologically and apologetically it would be more credible and coherent to say that it was only possible (not actual), even to God, that Jeroboam became so evil.
Thirdly, if the question is, "Without EDF,
how did God fore-know that Josiah would be king and that he would do away
with the pagan priests?", I think we need to pose a counter-question:
"Must He know the future EXHAUSTIVELY to prophesy this?".
Are we sure we haven’t unsuspectingly limited God's resources and wisdom thus. Like, if Houdini released himself from 20 chains all around him, should we conclude that he MUST have had a key somewhere? Would we not, in fact, be closing ourselves to realizing how truly more amazing the person is if he could've done it WITHOUT a key? (smile)
Note, though, that
in 1Kgs the verse doesn’t say WHEN Josiah will become king(!).
Although I don't think EDF is entailed even if the timeline was
mentioned, I suspect that this 'open future' aspect of the prophecy gives God a
certain latitude in the timing of His prophecies which of course allows more
'space' for patience, flexibility, and contingency. Also, Josiah
demolished ALL the pagan high places and altars (2Kgs 23:8-16) as, no doubt,
part of God's objective during this revival. This, to reiterate the point
above, would make the prophecy of 1Kgs13:2 less a marvel of
'predictive ability' than a warning (to the many people gathered at the
festival, not only the king) of impending judgment. Given that God
will judge the nation's idolatry, how much 'foresight' is needed to see
that one PARTICULAR altar will be torn down? The
prophecy regarding Josiah is best understood as a national judgment, using
a specific unholy place as a model of destruction.
Finally, I believe God is more than capable of unilaterally 'engineering' projects to restore His people. That Josiah's reign was unique and not unlike a special candle in the darkness (23:22) and that Josiah himself was an extraordinary person (23:25) suggests that divine intervention was especially intense and present for this occasion. And although I can agree that no 'coercion' was involved in Josiah's case, it seems not implausible that some form of special anointing was present with him. Remember too that open theists still 'allow' (smile) God to act unilaterally but insist that such occasions are extremely rare and NOT His rule of thumb. Josiah’s reign fits very well into the pattern of occasional gifts of great blessing and intense providence to remind them of His presence, His commands, His love. That God can plan, implement and first tell people beforehand of all this seems secondary and almost trite.
Concluding (and repeating myself again and again,*smile*), the Bible shows that God knows some things ahead of time, but not all things. Some things are unconditional; others not. Some things are foreseeable 'far into the future' because God has decided that these things will happen EVENTUALLY; not every event are so ordained. And into some projects/occasions God can certainly add more 'divine pressure' for success. EDF was neither a necessity for the fulfillment of 1Kings 13:3 nor, I suspect, an issue at the time.
Alwyn