Hello Peggy,
God, through Ray, gives us so much understanding as to who is behind all things .
To every thing there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven. Ray’s writing below from the myth of free will part D
EVERYTHING HAS A PRECISE APPOINTED TIME
God Almighty is responsible for everything and He brings about everything only at its precise "APPOINTED SEASON AND TIME." Let's read it:
"To every thing there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven" (Ecc. 3:1).
The implications of this verse are staggering. The very foundation of human psychology and theology crumbles under the weight of this declaration of God’s Word. This is undoubtedly one of the ten most profound Scriptures in the entire Bible.
If we are to be honest and believe this verse, then we must concede that absolutely NOTHING is left out God’s profound declaration except man’s anti-scriptural theory of "free will."
The word "season" in the KJV is translated from the Hebrew word, z[e]man, and is defined in Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary as: "APPOINTED season, occasion, time." And "purpose" is defined as: "pleasure, desire, matter." Sometimes rendered as "purpose" or "event."
Here’s a second witness to this grand declaration:
"Because to every purpose [matter or event] there is time and judgment..." (Ecc. 8:6).
And a third witness:
"…for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work" (Ecc. 3:17).
Here are a couple translations that make this verse a little clearer:
"...for He has appointed a time for every matter, and for every work..." (The New Revised Standard Version).
"For He has set a season for every event and for every deed..." (The Concordant Literal Old Testament).
There is no wasted motion in God's creation, purpose and plan. Everything has an appointed time, and everything includes: "every purpose, every work, every matter, every event, and every deed." Where pray tell does "free will" fit into all this? It doesn’t. It clearly DOESN’T. Man has no free will. There is no such thing as free will. It is but the phantom of an "obscured heart" as we learned in Part C from Ecc. 3:11.
Again we ask, since "EVERY work, purpose, matter, deed and event" under heaven must happen at an "APPOINTED TIME," how can there be such a thing as human, uncaused, "free-will?"
Is any man free to do anything other than what God HAS "appointed time" for? No.
Is any man free to do anything that God HAS NOT assigned an "appointed time" for? No.
Is any man free to do or not to do anything that God HAS or HAS NOT assigned an "appointed time" for? No.
Then how can man have a free will?
Man’s will is predicated on previous circumstances and causes, all of which originate in God’s preordained plan and purpose.
Christendom and her fabled doctrine of "free moral agency" is trapped and completely book-ended between:
[1] "To every thing there is a season [appointed time],and a time to every purpose [matter or event] under the heaven" (Ecc. 3:1).
AND:
[2] "I know that, whatsoever God does...NOTHING can be put to it, nor ANYTHING taken from it: and GOD does it" (Ecc. 3:14).
Someone might see a contradiction in God’s teaching. If the two above Scriptures are true, then why does God warn against "adding to or taking away from His word?" Well, like everything else that is beyond the realm of carnal comprehension, all of these things too, have been foreordained and pre-determined to happen only at their "APPOINTED TIME." God has appointed a time for false prophets to add and God has appointed a time for false prophets to take away from His word.
This is truly awesome stuff, it literally helps me understand everything is arranged through circumstances by God for our learning and understanding of all this evil we are put through for the purpose of becoming the children of God being made in His image.
In God’s love.