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PROPHECY CONDITIONAL

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Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jun 9, 1881

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 7, No. 22.

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PROPHECY CONDITIONAL.

By R. F. Cottrell

BY ELD. R. F. COTTRELL.

God's decrees concerning the destiny of men are conditional, because to men are given the liberty and power of choice; and therefore the conduct of men can change the decrees of the Almighty.
This doctrine is plainly declared in Jer. 18:6-10. A familiar example of the working out of this principle is found in the preaching of Jonah. The Lord said by Jonah, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown;" but the repentance of the Ninevites changed this decree. "God repented of the evil that he had said he would do unto them; and he did it not."
Another example is found in 1 Sam. 23:10-13: "Then said David unto the Lord, O Lord God of Israel, thy servant hath certainly heard that Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake. Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O Lord God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And the Lord said, He will come down. Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the Lord said, They will deliver thee up. Then David and his men, which were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go. And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah; and he forbore to go forth."
Though God had said, He will come down, and, They will deliver thee up, yet neither of these predictions came to pass. The decree was conditional. The act of David changed it.
Though some have held that the doctrine of unchangeable decrees, or predestination, is a "wholesome doctrine, and full of comfort," and have folded their hands in idleness, I deem it truly a comfort that, though God may have spoken against us, we may, by repentance and zealous and persistent reformation, avert the threatened evil, and have the favor of God, and life everlasting. Let those who have displeased the Lord and brought his frown, change the decree and enjoy his approbation.