Can God do anything?

The passages

Jeremiah 32:27

“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?”

Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?

Matthew 19:26

“With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”

But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Judges 1:19

The Lord was with Judah, who took the hill country “but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron”.

And the Lord was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.

Judges 2:1–3

Because Israel made covenants with the Canaanites, the Lord says, “I will not drive them out from before you”.

And an angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.

Joshua 17:18

Joshua promises Joseph’s tribes, “thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots”.

But the mountain shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong.

Mark 6:5–6

In Nazareth Jesus “could there do no mighty work”, apart from healing a few, and marvelled “because of their unbelief”.

And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.

The objection

God asks, “is there any thing too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27), and Jesus said, “with God all things are possible”. Yet Judges 1:19 reads, “the Lord was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron”, as if iron chariots were too much for God. And Mark 6:5 says that in Nazareth Jesus “could there do no mighty work”.

The answer

Judges 1:19 is about Judah, not about the Lord. In context, ‘he drave out’ and ‘could not drive out’ continue the account of Judah’s campaign in verses 2–18, and the BSB makes the subject plain: “they took possession of the hill country; but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the plains”. The failure was Judah’s, and the next chapter says why: because Israel had made covenants with the Canaanites and disobeyed, the Lord said, “I will not drive them out from before you” (Judges 2:1–3). God had told Judah, “I have delivered the land into his hand” (Judges 1:2), and Joshua had assured Joseph’s tribes that they would drive out the Canaanites “though they have iron chariots” (Joshua 17:18); the chariots limited a faltering people, not God. An ancient Aramaic paraphrase, quoted by Adam Clarke, says that Judah could not drive them out once they had sinned.

Mark 6:5 explains its own ‘could not’: Jesus “marvelled because of their unbelief” (6:6), and Matthew says that “he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief” (Matthew 13:58). His miracles were signs given to faith, not displays for those who had already rejected him, and even so he healed some sick people there. As Gill noted, Hebrew idiom often says a thing ‘cannot’ be done when it is not fitting to do it. In the same way God “cannot lie” (Titus 1:2): almighty power does not include acting against his own character.

From the classic commentators

This is the turn given to the verse by Jonathan ben Uzziel, the Chaldee paraphrast: "And the Word of Jehovah was in the support of the house of Judah, and they extirpated the inhabitants of the mountains; but afterwards, When They Sinned, they were not able to extirpate the inhabitants of the plain country, because they had chariots of iron."Adam Clarke, Commentary on Judges 1:19 (1810–26), at Bible Hub

not that Christ had no power in himself to work miracles … it is an usual way of speaking with the Hebrews, when either it is not "fit" and proper that a thing should be done, or they "will" not do it, to say it cannot be doneJohn Gill, Exposition of the Bible: Mark 6:5 (1746–63), at Bible Hub

The passages

The objection

The answer

From the classic commentators

Sources

Further reading