- Prophetic Opposites
Of the four divine options presented in two mutually opposite sets in Deuteronomy 30:15, two are positive (“life and good”) and two are negative prophecies (“death and evil”). Can opposite prophecies emanate from the same God? Does God contradict Himself? Is God so unsure of the future as to leave so wide a window open? Is He not in control of the world? Four verses later, in verse 19, the earlier list of four options is extended with the addition of four more possibilities.
- “life and death” – one set of two mutually opposite options on the one side,
- “blessing and cursing” – another set of two mutually opposite possibilities on the other side.
God said,
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live (Deuteronomy 30:19).
Two of the four options listed in the verse (life and death) had appeared in verse 15, so we actually have only two new items (blessing and cursing), but the verse is powerful as a reinforcement of the first offers, and powerful in its compelling juxtaposition of two sets of opposite individual parts: “life and death,” then “good and evil.” I think now of Jesus, described in Revelation 5:5-6 as a Lamb and a Lion – two completely opposite natures.
Notice that in each case in Deuteronomy 30:19, the positive or blessed option is first offered, before the negative possibility: “life” before “death,” and “blessing” before “cursing,” as if to warn that the second would become the inevitable consequence of rejecting the blessed first options. Accordingly, the list of divine possibilities would continue thus:
- Blessing – the favour of God, the goodness and mercies of life, etc.
- Cursing – divine execration, woes, tribulations and calamities, all with a divine and supernatural potency to their expression.
Is it possible for God to say to a people, “Mr A would be your President,” and declare through another credible vessel, “Mr B could be your President”? Sometimes, yes, especially when the element of obedience and righteousness, of right or wrong choice, is integral in the prophecy. In Deuteronomy 30:19, for example, God not only presents the multiple possibilities to the people, He also tells them for which of the options to vote, as well as the consequences of their choice: “therefore CHOOSE LIFE, that both thou and thy seed may live.”
From The Preacher’s diary,
January 26, 2023.
(to be continued)
