Why did prophecy foretell Judas' betrayal if Judas had a choice?
Prophecy foretold Judas’s betrayal because God, in His foreknowledge, knew what Judas would freely do when given the opportunity. Judas was not created to betray and was not left without a choice; he had the same choice as the others. Yet once prophecy foretold it, it had to happen, or Scripture would be false.
Les explains that Judas was not placed in a situation where he had no choice. Judas had just as much choice as the other disciples, but God in His foreknowledge knew what Judas would do when given the opportunity, and so prophecy foretold it. Judas had been with them the whole three years, was one of the officers, and was the treasurer who held the bag. He had a part in the ministry, though he never had a spiritual part of it; Jesus said he was a devil or demon from the beginning. He completely fooled the other eleven, but never fooled Jesus. David by inspiration prophesied it. People suggest poor Judas never had a chance and that God created him to be the betrayer, but Les says never take away Judas’s free will. He had full opportunity of accepting had he wanted to, but the psalmist foretold that he would betray and fall by transgression. When prophecy foretells something, it has to happen, otherwise the book becomes a lie. Judas later purchased the field with the reward of iniquity; he took his thirty pieces of silver back to the priest at the temple and threw it at their feet because of his own guilt, and the priest knew it was blood money.