Journal: Bible and Spade (Second Run)
Volume: BSPADE 25:3 (Summer 2012)
Article: Beneath The Surface: The Editorial Comment The End From The Beginning
Author: Henry Boynton Smith

Beneath The Surface: The Editorial Comment
The End From The Beginning

Henry B. Smith, Jr.

Set forth your case, says the LORD; bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob. Let them bring them, and tell us what is to happen. Tell us the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, that we may know their outcome; or declare to us the things to come. Tell us what is to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods...

- Isaiah 41:21–23a, ESV

The fulfillment of prophecy in the Bible is one of the most powerful evidences of its divine origin, serving as a devastating apologetic against unbelieving arguments against the existence of God and the authority of the Bible. The prophet Isaiah’s taunt in the face of demonic idols should engender confidence in our hearts that God is, indeed, in control of all things.

We ought to expect those presently outside the faith to have negative and wholly erroneous attitudes towards God and the Bible. Liberal scholars and skeptics distort and misconstrue prophetic texts to attempt to demonstrate that the Bible is in error. Thoughtful investigation into the text of Scripture and history illustrates that these attempts are in vain. Unfortunately, recent decades have seen the proliferation of so-called “open theism” in some evangelical circles, the notion that God cannot see and does not control future events in history. These vain attempts by the finite, fallible and fallen human mind to fully reconcile sovereignty and free will, and/or the omnigood character of God and the presence of evil presently in creation, end up relegating our Lord to the worthless pantheon of pagan idols. This is especially disconcerting when such an unbiblical conception of God is being promulgated by professing Christians. The Bible knows of no such notion of God, and Isaiah would certainly have been aghast at such a proposition. Instead of capitulating to human arrogance and trying to wrap our puny minds around the infinite mind of Yahweh, the Apostle Paul’s doxological declaration ought to move us to bow in worship:

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen! (Ro 11:33–36, ESV)

In this issue of Bible and Spade, you will find a number of important articles bearing on the subject of prophecy. Dr. Paul Ferguson’s excellent research on Tyre untangles secular attempts to throw You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
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