![]() The prophet knew the fact right well, and lie clearly descried the means else, why should he look into It was absolutely foretold that Hazael would be king of Syria. Doth not the very fact of foreknowledge imply a certainty? Is not that which is foreknown certain? Is not the fact sure to be when God foreknows that it will be? How could it be foreknown conditionally? How could it be foretold conditionally? In this instance, there was no stipulation or contingency whatever. I believe, my brethren, that it is quite as easy to see how God’s predestination and man’s responsibility are perfectly compatible, as it is to see how divine foreknowledge and human free agency are consistent with one another. He foresaw the event with absolute certainty, yet did Hazael act with perfect freedom when he went and fulfilled the prophecy of Elisha. What wonder is it that Hazael easily puts his master out of the way, and then mounts the vacant seat? None of us will imagine for a moment that he was under constraint, unless it was Satanic and yet, while he acted as a free agent, is it not quite clear that God foreknew what he would do, and that it was perfectly certain that he would destroy his master? The prophet speaks not as one who hazarded a conjecture. He has but to select one that shall be thicker than usual, and take care, in spreading it over his face, to place it so that the man is suffocated, and, lo! he comes to the throne. Nothing stood between him and the kingdom but the life of his master. ![]() The glittering prospect of wearing the crown of Syria was before his eyes. No one, surely, would dare to suggest that any constraint was put upon him. I SUPPOSE that none of us can doubt that Hazael acted with perfect freedom when he became the murderer of his master. *“This date is an approximation of when this sermon was delivered.” And Hazael said, But what, is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing?” - 2 Kings viii. “And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord? And he answered, Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel.
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