THE FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY
How could God foretell the future if He did not have absolute control of His creatures? How could there be a millennium if He allowed each Israelite to choose whether to serve Him or not? If they had this choice, and had not His law written on their hearts, what would keep them from repeating their sad history of declension and rebellion? If God does not determine beforehand just what His creatures shall do, prediction would be impossible, and prophecy mere guess-work. It would be futile to talk about future bliss, and there would be no consummation but chaos. It is not that men may turn against God and refuse to fall in line with His purpose, but that they will do this if left to themselves. Even in the millennium those nations which are not under the direct control of God turn against Him at its close.
Now read this:
GOD MAY DELEGATE SOVEREIGNTY BUT NOT HIS SUPREMACY
In the course of the out-working of this purpose, God has at times allowed some to exercise a certain amount of sovereignty and control over others, but never to the extent of undermining, even to the slightest degree, His own supremacy.
This is shown most forcefully in His dealings with Satan, for in the book of Job, God drew clear lines of demarcation over which the Adversary might not trespass. In Job 1:12, Satan was permitted to touch all that Job had but not the man himself; later, in 2:6, he was permitted to afflict Job himself but not to take his life. The fact that God could erect such barriers over which His chief opponent might not pass is a clear demonstration of the deity of God.
AEK wrote both of the above quotes but we think the second one makes more sense. What do you think?
