Changing God's plan

          It is believed that God planned everything in advance so we just have to await till it all comes true. Indeed, if so, for what purpose He created us? Let’s have a look at how His plans were changing as the biblical narrative developed. 

         We will start from the very beginning. After Adam and Eve violated God’s covenant, He had to banish them from Eden. Why? Is it because they disobeyed the Lord and became sinners? Far from it, the Bible says that God banished them from the garden of Eden so they do not live forever: [Gen.3:22] And the Lord God said, Now the man has become like one of us, having knowledge of good and evil; and now if he puts out his hand and takes of the fruit of the tree of life, he will go on living for ever. [Gen.3:23] So the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to be a worker on the earth from which he was taken. [Gen.3:24] So he sent the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden he put winged ones and a flaming sword turning every way to keep the way to the tree of life.

           Please note that ‘God put winged ones to keep the way to the tree of life’. Whom did He did keep the way from? Obviously from us, people.

As we can see, the God’s plans were changed because Adam and Eve’s eyes were open now and they could find the eternal life despite the Fall. Soon I will provide insight concerning this matter.

Once in a while God has to correct His project and interfere in it. That’s the way it is, a fledgling mankind does not always grow the right way. We can call the Great Flood a global reformatting of the project ‘Human being’: [Gen.6:5] And the Lord saw that the sin of man was great on the earth, and that all the thoughts of his heart were evil. [Gen.6:6] And the Lord had sorrow because he had made man on the earth, and grief was in his heart. [Gen.6:7] And the Lord said, I will take away man, whom I have made, from the face of the earth, even man and beast and that which goes on the earth and every bird of the air; for I have sorrow for having made them.

Now pay attention to this: “I have sorrow for having made them.” It is about changing the plan and God actually decides to create a new mankind of Noah and his descendants.

At the same time He makes His first covenant with human: [Genesis 9:11] And I will make my agreement with you; never again will all flesh be cut off by the waters; never again will the waters come over all the earth for its destruction.

By the way, further than that God makes a decision to radically reduce a human lifespan:[Genesis 6:3] And the Lord said, My spirit will not be in man for ever, for he is only flesh; so the days of his life will be a hundred and twenty years. Again, we can see that the original plan was amended.

And here’s a reference to the new plan: [Genesis 18:17] And the Lord said, Am I to keep back from Abraham the knowledge of what I do; [Genesis 18:18] Seeing that Abraham will certainly become a great and strong nation, and his name will be used by all the nations of the earth as a blessing? And just a little down the page we witness the argument between God and Abraham concerning Sodom and Gomorrah and God was ready spare those cities for the sake of the righteous, but there were none. Then God gives Abraham a vision that his seed will be living in a foreign land as servants to a people who will be cruel to them for four hundred years, but they will come out from among those people with great wealth: [Genesis 15:13] And he said to Abram, Truly, your seed will be living in a land which is not theirs, as servants to a people who will be cruel to them for four hundred years; [Genesis 15:14] But I will be the judge of that nation whose servants they are, and they will come out from among them with great wealth. This is also the part of the plan.

What is the idea of this great plan? The divine intent will be revealed soon and I will also gradually reveal it to you. And for now I would only mention that God liked Abraham for his obedience: [Genesis 22:18] And your seed will be a blessing to all the nations of the earth, because you have done what I gave you orders to do.

So what does “your seed will be a blessing to all the nations of the earth” mean? The point of this is that a human, thrown out of Edem, cannot change himself. He needs a Lord’s guidance. Yet, in order for God to come down to earth and start providing this guidance He needs a place. Abraham’s seed had to become this place. God should haunt among people for we are the place He needs to live in.   

However, after this plan was already launched, God nearly destroyed the whole nation of Israel except for Moses: [Exodus 32:9] And the Lord said to Moses, I have been watching this people, and I see that they are a stiff-necked people. [Exodus 32:10] Now do not get in my way, for my wrath is burning against them; I will send destruction on them, but of you I will make a great nation.[Exodus 32:11] But Moses made prayer to God, saying, Lord, why is your wrath burning against your people whom you took out of the land of Egypt, with great power and with the strength of your hand? [Exodus 32:13] Have in mind Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you gave your oath, saying, I will make your seed like the stars of heaven in number, and all this land will I give to your seed, as I said, to be their heritage for ever. [Exodus 32:14] So the Lord let himself be turned from his purpose of sending punishment on his people.

So we can see that the Lord changes His opinion, His plans and that it is even possible to make God change His mind about the decision that He is going to make. What “predetermination” are we talking about then? In view of the Bible quote mentioned above, a few questions arise. Firstly, we can see the way that God follows if it goes not the way that He designed. What I mean is the holocaust reckoned by head except for the one chosen individual. Secondly, this quote clashes with another later statement: [Deuteronomy 32:8] When the Most High gave the nations their heritage, separating into groups the children of men, he had the limits of the peoples marked out, keeping in mind the number of the children of Israel. [Deuteronomy 32:9] For the Lord's wealth is his people; Jacob is the land of his heritage. [Deuteronomy 32:10] He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. What is “He found him”? He didn’t found, but created him with great miracles that start from miraculous conception, but yet He nearly destroyed Israel except for Moses. However, the authorship of Moses concerning the whole text of Pentateuch has long been in serious doubt.

         According to the original plan Israel should have been guided by the High One Himself through the prophets. It was a necessary measurement because God couldn’t be there personally: [Exodus 33:2] And I will send an angel before you, driving out the Canaanite and the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite: [Exodus 33:3] Go up to that land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, for you are a stiff-necked people, for fear that I send destruction on you while you are on the way. I draw a particular attention to “I will not go up among you…for fear that I send destruction on you while you are on the way”. These words mean a lot in order to understand the relationship between God and man. Later I will explain what it means.

         However, Israelis needed a king: [I Samuel 8:6 ] But Samuel was not pleased when they said to him, Give us a king to be our judge. And Samuel made prayer to the Lord. [I Samuel 8:7] And the Lord said to Samuel, Give ear to the voice of the people and what they say to you: they have not been turned away from you, but they have been turned away from me, not desiring me to be king over them.[I Samuel 8:8] As they have done from the first, from the day when I took them out of Egypt till this day, turning away from me and worshipping other gods, so now they are acting in the same way to you. As the result, Israelis were given what they wanted and started to live just like other nations. The direct government collapsed and even though the plan still existed, its realization was postponed on an indefinite period of time. I’d remind you of this plan one more time. The Lord confirmed that the people He created of Abraham are stiff-necked, mischievous and headstrong. That is why He could not directly guide them the way it was originally planned. But the plan still existed. It is very important to understand this in order to get involved into what I will write later.

         The seeds of the future plan are scattered in different places of the Bible. For example, there is an outline here: [Jeremiah 32:37] See, I will get them together from all the countries where I have sent them in my wrath and in the heat of my passion and in my bitter feeling; and I will let them come back into this place where they may take their rest safely.[Jeremiah 32:38] And they will be my people, and I will be their God: [Jeremiah 32:39] And I will give them one heart and one way, so that they may go on in the worship of me for ever, for their good and the good of their children after them: [Jeremiah 32:40] And I will make an eternal agreement with them, that I will never give them up, but ever do them good; and I will put the fear of me in their hearts, so that they will not go away from me.

         Do focus on the action plan: “I will get them together, I will let them come back, they will be my people, I will give them one heart and one way, I will make an eternal agreement with them and I will put fear of me in their hearts so that they will not go away from me”, - step by step till the eternal agreement.

         This plan should have come to life just in the days of Jesus. Remember “The Lord’s Prayer”:[Matthew 6:10] Let your kingdom come. Let your pleasure be done, as in heaven, so on earth. The Kingdom was supposed to come within the bounds of Israel, which was frequently mentioned by God through the prophets. [Matthew 10:5] These twelve Jesus sent out and gave them orders, saying, Do not go among the Gentiles, or into any town of Samaria, [Matthew 10:6] But go to the wandering sheep of the house of Israel,

         That’s right, that is exactly why Jesus was sent to people. I will take the situation concerning him to pieces in the later chapters.

However, at that time this plan was not meant to come true due to the number of reasons. And we have witnessed the birth of the new plan – the emission of light on the gentiles [Acts 15:13]And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: [Acts 15:14] Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. [Acts 15:15] And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, [Acts 15:16] After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: [Acts 15:17] That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.

 That’s just the point: “the words of the prophets” do not agree to this! This quote from the New Testament has been corrupted like many others. There was no initial plan to develop the nation from gentiles. But de facto this was exactly what happened; the gentiles accepted the God of Israel and the winners can’t be judged, as they speak. Upon that we shan’t forget that the God’s Light was spread without involving Israelis. Hundreds of millions of people accept the God of Israel as their own. The tale is complete – fundamental change of the plan and thorough reformatting of faith in God, earlier available only to one remote nation. The Lord is worn out with placing all the eggs in one basket and the plan of worshiping Him encountered a fierce competition.

Christianity which appeared as a compulsory decision on account of betrayal of Jesus and backsliding of Israel was a “lame horse” from day one. The worship of a Jew as a god, binding to the Bible, the major part of which was addressed to Israel, made it impossible to reformat this religion without pain. That is why God takes another decision – plan “B”. He creates Islam. Islam is void of the disadvantages that are incidental in Christianity like polytheism, worship of idols etc. whilst Islam, unlike Christianity, does not relate to Judaism. It has its own Holy Scripture, its prophet and even its own name of God. Islam professes pure monotheism just as Israel. That is why it doesn’t need Israel and its Bible. Islam is all-sufficient; it has got everything. In the place where Islam appears everything becomes Islamic. 

Does it mean that the God’s plans were changed and He is ok with Islam? Of course, not. The God’s plan is to become the king on earth, among people. And Islam is bloodthirsty, bursting with hatred and murder. In its current state Islam is no good for the kingdom of God and its maturation will last at least for several centuries. However, plan “B” may be supported by those who were born on its basis or the basis of dying Christianity. But this question is of distant future.