One of the great stories of faith that comes from the Hebrew text is the story Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who refused to bow before a statue of the Nebuchadnezzar the king. The three replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up,” (Dan 3:16-18).
The response of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego angered the king so he gave orders to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. So hot was the furnace that the warriors carrying the Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego perished and the three fell into the furnace still tied up. To Nebuchadnezzar’s astonishment, the three faithful men survived and there appeared a “fourth like a son of the gods” (Dan 3:25), walking in the midst of the fire with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Many great lessons that have been given from the pulpit based on the miracles contained in this story.
One aspect of the miracle that makes it unique in the Hebrew mind, God intervened to override the free determination of an individual, King Nebuchadnezzar. To quote the Artscroll commentary on the Book of Daniel,
“Alshich cites the view of Zohar that even though God intercedes to save someone endangered by the forces of nature – e.g., drowning or wild animals – He does not interfere if the person is threatened by another human being. To do so is to tamper with the principle of free determination, the cornerstone of God’s purpose for this world; it is His intention that humans, with their gift of their own, should recognize His Presence in the world and submit to His will.” (Artscroll Tanach Series – Daniel, page 122)
CREATED WITH FREEWILL
When the LORD made man, He could have preprogrammed man to operate in a robotic condition, performing only the will of the creator. In this condition, man would be obedient to the LORD out of obligation, not out of love. Instead, the LORD made man with a freewill, sometimes referred to as “Free determination.” Free determination is a fundamental principle in Judaism as expressed in the words the first century historian Josephus, “It has pleased God to mix up the decrees of fate and man’s will, so man can act virtuously or viciously,” (Antiq. Xviii.i.3).
According to Abraham Cohen author of Everyman’s Talmud,
“The conviction that man’s will is unfettered is therefore seen to be the foundation of Rabbinic ethics. The nature of his life is molded by his desires. He can misuse life’s opportunities if he so wishes; but in no circumstance would it be agreed that he must misuse them. The evil impulse constantly tempt him; but if he fall, the responsibility is his and his alone,”
Scripture is filled with passages where individuals are seen as having the opportunity to act righteously or wickedly, apart from providence. The LORD held Cain as responsible to control his own behavior, saying, “Sin is crouching at your door and its desire is for you, but you must master it,” (Gen 4:7). Other often-quoted examples of scripture that support freewill include:
“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them,” (Deut 31:1)
“Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD,” (Josh 24:15)
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age,” (Matt 28:19-20)
“In Judaism, ‘choosing life’ refers to the free-will choice to keep God’s commandments, including the commandments of holiness, which leads to (eternal) life in the world to come.” (Everyman's Talmud, page 95). The believer’s ability to respond to the Spirit, the calling to preach the gospel to the world, the accountability of those who hardened their hearts, the opportunity to earn merit through righteous actions, and the future judgment of mankind are all consistent with the concept of freewill that operates within the boundaries of the providence of God.
Freewill offers the best explanation as to why bad things happen to good people. Bad things happen as the consequence of sinful acts perpetrated by the freewill actions of individuals. These actions may seek deliberate harm against another, such as that by Nebuchadnezzar, or more often result from the general and cumulative sinful acts of individuals and communities that effect the world at large, i.e., drunk drivers. Why did God permit terrorists to crash planes and kill innocent people on September 11, 2001? God has given men freewill and commanded them to “choose life,” but there are people who “love death” because they hate God, (Prov 8:36).
Choice, consequences, and judgment go hand-in-hand with freewill. If freewill does not exist, then we must conclude that God creates individuals predetermined for destruction. Creating individuals for destruction runs counter to the word of God Who said, “’As I live!’ declares the LORD GOD, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live,’” (Ezek 33:11). Paul wrote that “God our Savior…desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth,” (1 Tim 2:4). Further, Paul’s statement that salvation “appeared to all men” (Titus 2:11), would seem to preclude that any individual is predestined for damnation at birth. The statement of Paul appears to allude to the events in the wilderness when God appeared in the cloud and fire before the entire nation. Nevertheless, “the LORD, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe,” (Jude 1:5).
Scripture holds the concept of freewill in tension with the acknowledgment of God’s providence. For example, no individual chooses his parents, the day he was born, the nature of his physical attributes, or the country of his birth. Further, the greater plan of God’s will for the redemption of the world, His coming kingdom, and the judgment of mankind at the end of days are not subject to the freewill of individuals, but will be accomplished in the “times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority,” (Acts 1:7). This tension is expressed in the often-quoted Jewish Talmudic saying, “Everything is in the power of Heaven except the fear of Heaven,” (Ber. 33b). This statement is interpreted to indicate that God determines the fortunes of the individual, but not whether or not he will be God-fearing.
The Hebrew sages did not attempt to resolve this tension between God’s providence and man’s freewill, but offered this perspective, “Everything is foreseen (by God), yet freedom of choice is given,” (Aboth III.19).
The opposite of permitting individual choice would be to predestine the actions of every individual. Many believers hold this position, but when scripture talks of predestination it is based on the foreknowledge of God. “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son,” (Rom 8:29). God’s predestination comes from His foreknowledge of an individual’s free will, not a predetermination of an individual’s will. In the words of John, the Father seeks individuals that out of freewill worship the Father “in spirit and truth,” (John 4:23).
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