Have I any pleasure at all that
the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from
his ways, and live? (Ezek. 18:23).
(I)
[Source: The Christian’s Reasonable Service, trans. Bartel Elshout,
vol. 1 [Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria, 1992], p. 117; emphasis added]
When
God is said to desire something which does not occur, such as when He states, ‘O
that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear Me ... that it might
be well with them, and with their children for ever!’ (Deu. 5:29), or, ‘O that
thou hadst hearkened to My commandments! then had thy peace been as a river’
(Isa. 48:18), He is speaking in the manner of men. Strictly speaking, such can
never be said concerning the omniscient, omnipotent, immovable, and most perfect
God. Rather, it indicates God’s displeasure against sin and how He delights in
holiness. It indicates that sin is the reason why those blessings are withheld
from them—blessings which they, according to His promise, would have received
as a reward upon godliness. The promises are made upon condition of obedience
which is granted to the elect according to God’s immutable purpose. When God
says, ‘Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord
God: and not that he should turn from his ways and live?’ (Ezek. 18:23), this does not suggest that God’s will is
impotent. Rather, it indicates that God has no pleasure in the
destruction of men, inasmuch as they are His creatures. He has pleasure in the
exercise of righteousness and godliness, and in blessing the godly.
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