There are a lot of Bible Quotes to begin this piece - feel free as always to skip them, but they are important to me to have here for the sake of the story
Zechariah 11:12: “And the LORD said unto me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the LORD.”
Exodus 4:21 “And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, so that he shall not let the people go.”
Psalm 41:9: “Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me.”
Matthew 26:14-15: “Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him 30 pieces of silver.
Much like my initial curiosity over Satan’s eternity, I also found questions in Judas Iscariot as the Betrayer of Jesus. There was also Pharaoh of the story of Exodus. Both of these raised questions as it relates to the concept of Free Will
Free Will is a core element of the Christian mythos. In essence, Free Will is the ability to make decisions independently, without external coercion or predetermination. Through Free Will the human becomes responsible for their choices.
Let’s explore two documented cases of Free Will being taken away.
The story of Exodus tells how Moses leads the slaves of Israel out of Egypt, and the control of Pharaoh. God told Moses to go into Egypt, and was able through god’s assistance call down mighty plagues; rivers of blood, frogs, locusts, eventually the death of the first born son of each family.
All Pharaoh had to do to stop these plagues was to release the people to Moses. And he would have, but Exodus 4:21 shows us god taking that choice away from him.
That night god struck down dead the first born son of every family in Egypt, both human and animal alike. Pause to examine the enormity of that statement.
One example is hardly a strong case. But it happening more than once? Let’s look at Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus.
It is probably safe to say the name Judas has been scorned greater than modern day connotation of “Karen” or “Chad”. Because after all, Judas is the bad guy. He betrayed the son of god who was performing miracles, quelling storms, walking on water, water into wine. So why would he do this to this awesome dude?
Along with Free Will comes the counterparts called Omniscient & Omnipotent. In a nutshell, it states that God is all knowing inclusive of future actions, and all powerful. Jeremiah 1:5 states in summary “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” If we accept that god is Omniscient we accept that before Judas was born, god knew the outcome and decided to create Judas simply to suffer anyway.”
He knew that Satan would literally possess his body (John 13:27), and make him commit the betrayal. Once the deed was done, “Satan” left his deed having been accomplished. And Judas was struck with grief and remorse, you know – as he is no longer possessed by who we are told is the ultimate evil?
So Judas then goes and hangs himself, overcome with remorse and despair. Where, if my upbringing taught me anything, he suffers currently and shall do so until the end of all. It would seem infinitely more loving to simply utilize Omnipotence to create a solution that doesn’t predetermine Judas to hell.
If Pharaoh and Judas had no choice, what confidence do any of us have in our moral agency? How do I have any idea right now that god isn’t controlling my actions to fulfil some prophecy?
Questions for consideration: