Hi there,

I have a question for you

If a neighbour of yours took his son up to a mountain, tied him down, took out a knife to sacrifice him - but just before he strikes the knife the police get to him and stop him - in his defence he tells the judge that God told him to do it... if you were on the jury would you not find him guilty?

Jon,

It would largely depend on whether his claim that God told him to do it was convincing. Since God is opposed to human sacrifice, and, per your question, it was the police and not God that stopped him, I would definitely be inclined to believe that God did not order the sacrifice, so I would vote guilty.

Of course, it's possible that God would have called it off two seconds after the police arrived, but God, being omniscient, would have known when the cops would get there, so if He wanted to be the one to stop the sacrifice, He would have either delayed the police or, more likely, called it off before the police arrived.

Of course, I don't know everything, so it's possible that God was behind this with a purpose I can't even fathom (perhaps the child would have grown up to be another Hitler). Of course, if God actually needed the man to go through with it, He would have made sure the kid died before the police arrived.

But let's say hypothetically that what happened there was what God wanted to happen, for whatever reason. Let's say that God did order the man to kill his son, and God intended all along for the police to stop it and save the boy's life. And God allowed me to be on the jury, gave me no convincing evidence that He was truly involved, thus leaving me inclined to vote guilty. Then I'd say that my guilty vote against the guy was also part of God's plan. After all, God allowed Daniel to be thrown into the lion's den, allowed Jesus to be unjustly crucified, and allowed the apostles and other early followers to face terrible prosecution under Rome, all as part of a greater plan. If God holds back on giving me some kind of indication that this truly was part of His plan, then my guilty vote, even if it's unjustified, must be part of such a plan. Perhaps this man is supposed to go to jail in order to witness to other inmates and lead them to Jesus. Either way, if this man was truly doing God's will, to the extent that He would sacrifice his son on God's orders, then his incarceration is only a temporary thing, but His going to Heaven when he dies would be eternal, so I don't think this guy would be getting off too badly in the deal. I think the man would take comfort in knowing, first of all, that God never really intended for his son to die, and also that whatever happens to him as a result of this situation is what God knew would happen all along, and that however bad it is, he will end up in Heaven after it's all done.

Not everything that happens is God's will, but everything that happens is allowed by God to happen, even if it is in opposition to His will, because God, unlike us, sees the big picture. I believe that following God's will can be difficult and sometimes lead to bad things happening to us in this world. God never promised that following Him would be easy, only that it would be worth it.

David