Have you ever considered Scripture was not given to us apart from the stories, actions, decisions, words, thoughts, and characteristics of real people? More importantly, Scripture is given to us through God’s dealings through and with these people?
If God’s Word is eternal, was Scripture written to merely record history or was it written to define history and God’s decrees established before the foundation of the world?
Could that which is in Scripture not have happened? Could Saul not have persecuted Christians? Could Matthew not have been a tax collector? Could the thoughts and intentions of man’s heart not been so wicked that God would not have sent a great flood? Could Joseph’s brothers not have sold him into slavery? Could David not have been pursued by Saul? Could Daniel not have been thrown into the lion’s den? Could Lydia not have been from Thyatira and present in Philippi to hear Paul preach the Gospel? Could Herod not have ruled at the time of Christ? Could Stephen not have been stoned? Could Judas not have betrayed Christ? Could John the Baptist not have been beheaded? Could Peter not drawn his sword? Could the Centurion not have beheld the Son of God at the foot of the cross?
Consider this:
Nebuchadnezzar could not have raised a golden image, could not have thrown the three Jewish men in the fiery furnace, could not have declared to his people not to oppose the Jewish God, could not have gone mad until he recognized the sovereign hand of God, and could not have declared what he did in Daniel 4:34-35 that God would record as His Word to reveal of Himself:
At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; 35 all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”
God did not merely use Nebuchadnezzar’s experience to reveal Himself, rather He ordained Nebuchadnezzar’s experience to reveal Himself. As such, he has sovereignly ordained the experiences of all men that they would fulfill His purposes in His unfolding plan of redemption for His glory alone (just read Ephesians chapter 1 to see that this is true).
In closing, have you ever pondered the wisdom, power, and sovereignty of God that every single word in Scripture was decreed before the foundation of the world, and nothing that is in Scripture could have not been written? Every detail of Scripture, whether of man or angels or animals or natural phenomena or any other created thing, God established before He said “let their be light”, and every detail of Scripture is for us today and has been since the beginning.
Oh the glories and infinite wisdom of the Most High God, who works all things according to the counsel of His will!
airō 
Michael A. Coughlin
March 21, 2013
When considering the “could” and “what if” comments I draw people to God’s PERFECTION.
The argument goes like this:
If God could have done anything different than He did, that is, if it were possible – then that would mean that God did not choose the alternative. Because all that God does is perfect, then, in a sense, He really couldn’t have done the alternative.
Therefore, there is no such thing as “God could have….”
Just like God could not have lied. There is no sense that God chooses honesty. God’s nature is not to lie.
It is also his nature to “be perfect” and make perfect decisions. There’s no “God could have kept Adam and Even from sinning,” for example. For to consider that, we find a contradiction in what He actually did –>> meaning that our supposed “other idea” is not perfect, and thus not possible for our God.
Ultimately this leads us to the conclusion, albeit a bit trite, that we “live in the best of all possible worlds.” Certainly this idea is corrupted by many man, but for the Christian, it is the comfort of knowing in whose hands the world and our soul dwells.
It is knowing that our suffering, our pain, our sin, our being sinned against, our joy and our loss are all part of the Sovereign plan of the Holy One.
So (in essence), No, God could not have prevented the Columbine shooting nor the holocaust nor the death of my two babies nor even the crucifixion of His son as that would then make a scenario where He is different from what He is and has decreed.
What do you think? Make sense?
Justin Edwards
March 21, 2013
Perfect sense, thanks, brother. It seems you and I both are addressing the faulty doctrines of free will and molinism (especially your comment regarding the latter). God did not choose the best of choices, He decreed what was and what is and what will be according to the counsel of His own will and purposes for His glory alone.
072591
March 22, 2013
Michael:
I disagree with your theory because it presumes that in every single event, there was only one “perfect action” and everything else would have been wrong – and further, that the perfect action is sin in many of those cases.. It would also require that God is actively causing every single event, including sin. This would make His Kingdom a house divided, something that Jesus Christ adamantly said it was not.
gracealone1
March 23, 2013
So, 072591, to follow your theory to it’s only logical conclusion, one is forced to say that the future is not set, that it can be changed by an act of man in innumerable ways, not to mention when God throws His hat into the ring. The end result of such thinking leaves God out in the cold, He is not all powerful nor all knowing and as such could not possibly be sovereign in any respect. What little sovereignty He may desparately cling to would have to be ceded to the man or men of action on earth. It would totally negate Rev. 13:8; 2Tim. 1:9; Tit. 1:2; 1Pet. 1:20 and other verses that speak directly to God’s fore-ordination of events with the necessary preparation in the lives of all mankind to make said events occur. By the way, there are hundreds of verses that speak directly to Sovereignty of God in all things and these are only the ones that I have discovered.
Got to hand it to you though, you gave a valient attempt at discrediting the Word of God and the Lord Jesus Himself, all the while elevating man to the highest postion in the universe. That would be the same one sought by the father of lies as decribed in Isa. 14. Can’t pull a fast one on the Holy Spirit
072591
March 23, 2013
Since I did not say ANY of that, I am curious as to whether or not you actually read what I wrote; you did not address the single point I made, which was why I disagreed with Michael’s theory that God was incapable of doing anything except for what He did or even incapable of not allowing events to happen that have happened.
As for my “valient [sic] attempt”, I did not make any attempt at anything. A theory was suggested and the person asked for feedback. I gave feedback on where I saw the flaw in it. This has nothing to do with anything that you mentioned. Honestly, I suspect that you didn’t actually READ what I wrote, but you know my number from somewhere else (though I don’t remember you) and are here to refute a claim that you think I must have been making. In the future, when you wish to make accusations against my character, I request that 1) you spell correctly, and 2) you actually mention what I said.
gracealone1
March 23, 2013
Oops, almost forgot, there would never have been the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, if it were not all planned out in advance to the minutest detail, including the sins of the men that put Him on the Cross. [I’m glad to see that you didn’t reference any Scriptures to support your wishful thinking theology].