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QUESTION 73:
In Isaiah 14:26 we read, "this is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations." Is not this verse saying that things are only going to be as God wants them to be?

ANSWER:
There must be a distinction made between God's purposes and His will. His purposes are what He has decreed. That is, He has predetermined them to come to pass. "God is not a man,, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it..." Numbers 23:19. He has a purpose for man and the earth. These will He work out and none shall hinder. A good Bible example of this is in Romans 9:11. "For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the PURPOSE of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of Him that calleth." Now the purpose of God here, is not whether Jacob would be saved and Esau lost, but which of the two would be the head of the nation of Israel. And who would give us the Scriptures and bring the promised Seed of the woman into the world to die for sin. God has purposes and He was going to depend on man to accomplish them.

On the other hand, the will of God is what He desires. This will never be accomplished because it depends on the will of man, as well. His will is clear in 1 Timothy 2:4 "Who will have all men to be saved..." This will never be accomplished because many have already died lost. What about you? Have you responded to His call? Trust Him and be saved today.

All comments and questions to: Harold Smith

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Updated July 2009, by Shelly Allen