Our Unavoidable Destiny

Does God know when we will die? How about other details, such as how and where?

Most people try to prolong our lives, such as through health and safety measures. Does this have an impact on our unavoidable destiny?

Please support with Scripture.

Ultimately, yes, but our choices have something to do with it.

For example, we can die before our time.

Ecc 7:17
Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?

We can also extend our lives through repentance.

Isa 38:4
Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying,
Isa 38:5
Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years. He knows that too.

Regarding the how:

Jhn 21:18
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.
Jhn 21:19
This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.

Regarding the where:

Deu 34:5
So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.

Hello @MsMediator, since I believe that God ordains whatsoever comes to pass in this world long before it happens (in eternity past), yes, I believe that He knows all of the details about our deaths.

As far as Scripture goes concerning this, Psalm 139 came to mind first, especially the following passage and half-verse,

God bless you!!

~Deuteronomy (David)
p.s. - when talking to God about a man's death, Job said this (in part),
Also, if you'd care to read the above verse both plainly stated and in modern English, I don't believe that you will find a better place to do so than here:

in the NLT Bible (instead of in the NASB).

Yes, God knows when we will die.

“All the days ordained for us were written before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139:16

What if someone engages in risky behavior like rock climbing, drunk driving, etc.? Do you believe our actions have no impact on our time to go?

Yes, I tend to believe this way as well. I believe God has a plan for us, but we may not follow it and that impacts our course.

Deuteronomy 32:39: "I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand"
1 Samuel 2:6: "The LORD brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up"
Acts 17:25, 28: God is the author and sustainer of life
Job 1:21: "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord"
Psalm 139: "All of your days were written before you were born"

Do you think no matter what one does, it doesn't impact when one passes away? What about a very senior citizen driving? I think many Christians are risk averse and do not really believe that.

unavoidable destiny = irresistible grace?
(PHP 3:19)

Ecclesiastes 3
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a timeto pluck up that which is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; ...

I, personally have died at least 10 times so far, I am 68 now. I never begged to live or to die, I accepted it whether I live or die I am God's so are many other people as well as I suspect you are also
Romans 14:8
For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.
1 Thessalonians 5:10
who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

God through Son as risen overcame death for us all. We all die one day physically, yet we get to live in (Inn) Father's Spirit forever, the Holy Spirit
Revelation 12:11
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
John 16:33
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
John 15:11
These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
John 16:25
These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.

Son is risen, for the new pathway to Father to go to, in confidence and ask and trust if told or not told, there is a perfect reason, for it, not yet understanding Daddy's mysterious ways as we now do about Son for us in Genesis 3:15-16

Now, My eldest Brother knew inside himself he was going to go to the Lord and be dead physically three days before it happened
I did not understand it at that time, yet have been learning from it ever since. I have come to understand God just loves us all, yes all people
Whether or not another one responds to this love they know is in them from God to them is each persons free choice to choose to be willing for Father, Daddy, Papa to lead the only true love and mercy given them as reconciled first by the one time willing death of Son for us all (Hebrews 10:10)
Ever since the death on that cross of reconciliation to all, new life gets installed in those that believe God that Son is risen, God then imputes 1 Cor 13:4-7 to them and these are new in Father's Spirit and Truth, the Holy Spirit for them to trust in Daddy's, PaPas lead, at least for me as where I am at now in my growth of this unconditional love given me to see it, now just standing in Thanksgiving and praise over it
trusting Daddy, Father knows best even whenever in. adversities as well. And boy I have been there as well.

I believe that God's foresight and foreknowledge supersede human stupidity.

What does that mean? Does it mean, for example, that He knows ahead of time that we will try to swim in the ocean without knowing how to swim? Does our end date factor in stupid decisions we'll make?

In short, yes. I believe that God is capable at least of foreseeing our entire lives… both the wise and the unwise choices, and everything between.

Everything the Lord has created has a purpose. I believe that nothing enters in or leaves this earth without the Lords knowledge.
Far be it from me and anyone else to explain upon the ways of the Lord.
I've seen people live through terrible sicknesses, yet my friends father died choking on his supper. My 2 brothers are passed on, one was murdered the other of suicide. My daughter passed by overdose. My mom passed at 70 by cancer yet I talked just the other day to a dear friend who is in her 80s and lives with her cancer for 40 yrs. My niece pass on at the age of 3.
The Lord ask us to count the days he has given us.
He gives and he takes. I believe our days are numbered.

For it is appointed to all to die...then the judgement. Interesting word appointed.

How does free will exist if God already knows what happens before it happens?

I believe that God is capable of seeing what we will do; that's different from determining what we will do.

The free will is in what Joshua declared......chose today whom you will serve........Blessings or cursings.

Hello again MsMediator, on the one hand/from ~our~ POV, what we do can certainly determine when we die (for instance, we can stick a gun in our mouth and commit suicide). However, on the other hand/from ~God's~ POV, no, even our choice to commit suicide changes nothing (it's not like we can pull a "fast one" and surprise Him by doing so, because He is already aware of what we are going to do in each and every moment of our lives long before we are born).

As the Bible tells us, a sparrow cannot fall to the ground and die apart from God's will, and neither can we.
God bless you!!

~Deuteronomy (David)

Since much of this thread touches on the Providence of God, I thought that the following article might be useful to post.



“God’s works of providence are His most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all His creatures, and all their actions” (Westminster Shorter Catechism Q.11).

If Creation was a unique exercise of divine energy causing the world to be, providence is a continued exercise of that same energy whereby the Creator, according to His own will, (a) keeps all creatures in being, (b) involves Himself in all events, and (c) directs all things to their appointed end. The model is of purposive personal management with total “hands-on” control: God is completely in charge of His world. His hand may be hidden, but His rule is absolute.

Some have restricted God’s providence to foreknowledge without control, or upholding without intervention, or general oversight without concern for details, but the testimony to providence as formulated above is overwhelming.

The Bible clearly teaches God’s providential control (1) over the universe at large, Ps. 103:19; Dan. 4:35; Eph. 1:11; (2) over the physical world, Job 37; Ps. 104:14; 135:6; Matt. 5:45; (3) over the brute creation, Ps. 104:21, 28; Matt. 6:26; 10:29; (4) over the affairs of nations, Job 12:23; Ps. 22:28; 66:7; Acts 17:26; (5) over man’s birth and lot in life, 1 Sam. 16:1; Ps. 139:16; Isa. 45:5; Gal. 1:15–16; (6) over the outward successes and failures of men’s lives, Ps. 75:6, 7; Luke 1:52; (7) over things seemingly accidental or insignificant, Prov. 16:33; Matt. 10:30; (8) in the protection of the righteous, Ps. 4:8; 5:12; 63:8; 121:3; Rom. 8:28; (9) in supplying the wants of God’s people, Gen. 22:8, 14; Deut. 8:3; Phil. 4:19; (10) in giving answers to prayer, 1 Sam. 1:19; Isa. 20:5, 6; 2 Chron. 33:13; Ps. 65:2; Matt. 7:7; Luke 18:7, 8; and (11) in the exposure and punishment of the wicked, Ps. 7:12–13; 11:6. (L. Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 4th ed.)

Clear thinking about God’s involvement in the world-process and in the acts of rational creatures requires complementary sets of statements, thus: a person takes action, or an event is triggered by natural causes, or Satan shows his hand—yet God overrules. This is the message of the book of Esther, where God’s name nowhere appears. Again: things that are done contravene God’s will of command—yet they fulfill His will of events (Eph. 1:11). Again: humans mean what they do for evil—yet God who overrules uses their actions for good (Gen. 50:20; Acts 2:23). Again: humans, under God’s overruling, sin—yet God is not the author of sin (James 1:13–17); rather, He is its judge.

The nature of God’s “concurrent” or “confluent” involvement in all that occurs in His world, as—without violating the nature of things, the ongoing causal processes, or human free agency—He makes His will of events come to pass, is mystery to us, but the consistent biblical teaching about God’s involvement is as stated above.

Of the evils that infect God’s world (moral and spiritual perversity, waste of good, and the physical disorders and disruptions of a spoiled cosmos), it can summarily be said: God permits evil (Acts 14:16); He punishes evil with evil (Ps. 81:11–12; Rom. 1:26–32); He brings good out of evil (Gen. 50:20; Acts 2:23; 4:27–28; 13:27; 1 Cor. 2:7–8); He uses evil to test and discipline those He loves (Matt. 4:1–11; Heb. 12:4–14); and one day He will redeem His people from the power and presence of evil altogether (Rev. 21:27; 22:14–15).

The doctrine of providence teaches Christians that they are never in the grip of blind forces (fortune, chance, luck, fate); that all that happens to them is divinely planned, and that each event comes as a new summons to trust, obey, and rejoice, knowing that all is for one’s spiritual and eternal good (Rom. 8:28).

~Packer, J. I. (1993). Concise theology: a guide to historic Christian beliefs (pp. 54–56). Tyndale House.

Jeremiah 29:11

King James Version

11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

I'm not sure, but it does say this, from www.biblegateway.com.