In my previous studies in the Book of Daniel, we, more or less, read and considered what historically occurred centuries before the coming of Jesus in the first century AD. Beginning with chapter seven to the end of the book, we will be studying the dreams and visions of Daniel, the prophet, and what that means for us today. That said, and before we get into the study of chapter seven, itself, we need to consider how foretelling the future affects man’s freewill or his free moral agency, which is a gift from God. In other words, is our behavior controlled by the Lord, if the Lord knows our future? One might say, if the Lord knows something is true in the future, then the thing God knows must occur in our timeline. Correct? If this is so, wouldn’t we be nothing more than puppets on a string, which God controls through his knowledge of what will occur? These questions have been asked before. Nevertheless, this ideology is false, because in order for free moral agency to exist at all, even God can’t know what we will do until we do it! At first, that statement sounds blasphemous, but let’s consider it for a moment and see where it takes us.
If we are free moral agents, that is, if mankind’s freewill exists at all, then God can’t force us to do something, if we don’t want to do it. Therefore, just because he knows the thing will occur cannot mean we don’t have a choice. If it does, then freewill doesn’t exist. The reality is that God simply knows what will occur in our timeline, only because God has no timeline. That is, God doesn’t live in time. He has no schedules to keep. He created time or the ages (Hebrews 1:2) for us to live in. Although God knows something will occur, he doesn’t control its occurrence. If he wishes to change the course something is taking in our timeline, because it may negatively affect how his plan for mankind would work out, he must in some manner enter our timeline to make the change. He could physically enter our timeline, like he did to instruct Noah to build an ark in preparation for his judgment upon mankind at that time (Genesis 6:11-14, 17-18), or when he confused men’s language in order to cause mankind to spread across the globe (Genesis 11:1-9). In either case, however, what God did didn’t affect mankind’s freedom to act in a self-ordained manner. On the other hand, and more to the point, when God wishes to change something in our timeline, he chooses a willing person, and puts it in his heart to do something that would affect how life would turn out for certain people, or even for a nation.
For example, during the course of human events, kings and kingdoms often become so strong and violent that changes must occur, if neighboring nations are to have an opportunity to develop as the Lord desires. Men will become bullies, given the opportunity, and bullies should be judged. In doing so, the Lord may place it in the heart of a king to challenge the bully the Lord wishes to judge, and, if the king does challenge the bully, the outcome will affect the future of many on a national level. Nevertheless, the king, whom the Lord chooses as his servant, always has the freedom to accept or reject the impetus the Lord offers, and he has the freedom to obey or disobey God, as that applies to his own kingdom as well. Nevertheless, the Lord knows how to cause things to work out for our good.
In the context of how this pertains to the Book of Daniel, God has judged his people, Israel, the northern kingdom, and Judah, the southern kingdom. What does this mean as far as his covenant with them is concerned? The Temple was destroyed, so the Mosaic covenant couldn’t be observed. All things, as far as God’s covenant was concerned, were in limbo! So, what does this mean in terms of the Lord’s relationship to the children of Abraham? Well, Daniel is an end of the age prophet, who makes known how long the Jews will be in limbo, when they will be permitted to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple, how long the gentile kingdoms will hold sway over the lives of the Jews and their prospects as a nation, and when the Messiah will come. The Book of Daniel is a record and a forecast of how the plan of God for his people will take place, which it does, without disturbing man’s free moral agency.
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