Israel was constantly turning to idols instead of trusting in the Lord. Trusting in idols was what all the other nations did. We too are tempted to trust in the things that the world around us trusts in. This is not a wise thing to do. God is God. He created everything, He knows everything, He is more powerful than everything. Here He reminds Israel again that He alone knows the future. We need to remind ourselves constantly who God is. We are not following a teaching, we are not following a set of ideas, we are not following a man-made religion. We are following the living God, the one true Lord.
Now when we read of God foretelling the future we need to be careful that we do not read this as fate, or as meaning that nothing can be done to change the future. It is equally clear from the Bible that whenever people respond to God, things change. So how can this be and at the same time God know what is going to happen? Well, God is outside of time, beyond time. He has already seen everything happen. We need to take heart from the fact that He is in control, and we also need to know that we do matters. The decisions that we make count, it is always worth responding to God.
Now when we read of God foretelling the future we need to be careful that we do not read this as fate, or as meaning that nothing can be done to change the future. It is equally clear from the Bible that whenever people respond to God, things change. So how can this be and at the same time God know what is going to happen? Well, God is outside of time, beyond time. He has already seen everything happen. We need to take heart from the fact that He is in control, and we also need to know that we do matters. The decisions that we make count, it is always worth responding to God.
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