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Jeremiah 19:5
nor did it ever enter My mind
"and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the
fire as burnt offerings to Baal, a thing which I never commanded or
spoke of, nor did it ever enter My mind," (Jer. 19:5).
This verse is answered the same way as
Jer. 7:31.
Is the Lord
actually saying that He did not think of something? Even in open
theism, God knows all things actual as well as potential. That
means that God can know all things in the present tense as well as all
possibilities of things that could exist. Certainly God who knew
the past sins of Israel would have thought about them doing such sin --
as horrible as it was. So, it doesn't make sense to interpret this
as God admitting that He had never thought of something.
Furthermore, the NASB1 NIV,
the KJV, NKJV, RSV, and the 1901 ASV, translate this as "and it did not come into My mind." What is interesting is that the LXX2
uses the Greek word "kardia", "heart" instead of the
Greek word for mind. Since we
can conclude that God can contemplate all potential forms of rebellion,
we can then also conclude that God is addressing the issue of human
moral behavior instead of expressing ignorance since that is what God is
talking about. In other words, their sin did not enter the
intention of God's heart in His plans for Judah.
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1. The NASB has a marginal note of "heart."
2. The LXX, or Septuagint, is the Greek Translation of
the Hebrew Old Testament. It was translated by Jews around 200
B.C.
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