Today's Scripture Reading (August 23, 2026): Jeremiah 26
Isaac Asimov postulated in his "Foundation"
series that the future could be mathematically discovered. While the individual
future actions of a single person might be forever enshrouded in mystery,
Asimov hypothesized that the future of large groups could be plotted fairly
accurately. That was, unless there was an anomalous person who stood outside of
the process and had the power to change the future. For Asimov, the future was
more analogous to the movement of a river; you may not be able to predict the
exact movement of each drop of water. However, you can know with remarkable
accuracy the path that the river is going to take.
One of the open questions in theology is this:
how much do our actions move God? It is a question that impinges on so many
other issues. Does God know everything about the future? Does God ever change
his mind? How much do our prayers influence God? And if there is an area of
theology in which I stand with the minority, this is probably the issue. I
believe that the one we address as "Our Father" is a very passionate
and responsive God. Every story in the Bible seems to carry a promise for those
who dare to follow him and a warning for those who don't. I believe that prayer
is effective. I know that prayer often changes me; that prayer has a very real
effect on my priorities, but I also believe that sometimes my prayers change
God. And sometimes God even changes his mind. Does that mean that maybe God
doesn't know the future? I suspect that Asimov's thoughts on this subject might
be appropriate. But in the case of God, I think it is possible that he not only
knows the path of the river, but he also knows all of the possible paths each
drop of water could take. However, maybe God does not know the precise path
that each drop will eventually take because, in the case where we are the
drops, God allows us to make our individual decisions; freedom to choose is
very real, and we ultimately choose the path we will take.
That seems to be the direction that this
passage takes. God indicates in a conversation with King Josiah that his mind
is made up. Despite the good things that the King had done, God was going to
send Judah into exile. However, in this communication between God and Jeremiah,
God seems to be genuinely unsure of what was going to happen next. The
likelihood is still that Judah's exile was on its way. That is definitely the
way that the river was flowing. But maybe there was still a chance that the
nation would respond to Jeremiah's words and that the future could be changed.
Maybe Jeremiah could be one of the special ones who could change the course of
a raging river. And maybe Judah would turn from her ways and return to the ways
of God. And if they would do that, then God says that he would turn from the
course of action that he had decided to take with the nation.
For me, passages like this one indicate the
depth of God's passion. Our actions move him, and he is even willing to change
his mind. There is nothing wrong with that. It in no way limits God. It does
stand as a testimony of how much God cares for us, and the influence that we
have with our Creator.
Tomorrow's
Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 27
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