Perhaps we first
heard people ask, regarding President Richard M. Nixon and Watergate, “What did
he know, and when did he know it?” The implication was, if he knew it early, he
may have caused it, endorsed it, or allowed it. In addition, if he knew it in
advance, he could have and should have prevented it!
Now we hear these
questions, not only about our current President, but about virtually everyone
else in Washington! And – what about the Russians? What did they know, and when
did they know it, and how did they interfere with it?” (Ha!)
Let’s ask now about
God. “What did he know, and when did he know it?”
We speak of God as
omnipotent (all-powerful), omnipresent (present everywhere) and omniscient
(infinite in knowledge). Very comforting, yet it can be a bit confusing, too.
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Reading: Ps 139
David prayed in Ps
139:4, “Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it
all.” He then called such knowledge “too wonderful for me. I cannot attain to
it!” Jesus said regarding prayer in Matt 5:8, “Your Father knows what you need
before you ask Him.” Let’s ask, “If God foreknows all things, are we really
free and responsible to choose?”
Your Questions
Does God know
everything? Everything?
Does He know the
future? All of the future?
Does His
foreknowledge cause all future events?
Does He predetermine
everything that we do?
Does God make
mistakes and later regret them?
Does God change His
mind when we respond?
Is 55:8 “For My thoughts
are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. 9
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your
ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.
As we begin, let’s be
perfectly clear. The Bible speaks clearly of God’s exhaustive, infinite
knowledge and foreknowledge. It speaks just as clearly of man’s freedom and
responsibility to choose. There is no conflict between the two. Nothing said
tonight should be taken to support Calvinism or determinism. Nor shall we run and
fall in the other ditch that suggests God’s knowledge is limited.
Let’s note also
that, always in our Bible study, we see first what the Bible actually says,
comparing Scripture with Scripture. Then we infer and draw conclusions, as best
we can. When we differ in judgment, it is just that. Only the Bible is the Word
of God! Let’s seek to understand it more fully!
God Knows Everything.
Heb 4:13 And there is no
creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the
eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
Lk 16:15 “God knows your
hearts …”
Ac 1:24 “Lord, You know the
hearts of all …”
John 1:47-48; 2:24-25
Jn 1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael
coming to Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is
no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus
answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the
fig tree, I saw you.”
Jn 2:24 But Jesus, on His
part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, 25 and
because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew
what was in man.
Matt 12:25; 22:18; Mark 2:8; Luke 6:8
Mt 12:25 And knowing their
thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste;
and any city or house divided against itself will not stand.
Mt 22:18 But Jesus perceived
their malice, and said, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites?
Mk 2:8 Immediately Jesus,
aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said
to them, “Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts?
Lk 6:8 But He knew what
they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and
come forward!” And he got up and came forward.
God Knows the Future.
Ps 139:1 O Lord, You have
searched me and known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar. 3 You scrutinize my path and my
lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even
before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all. 5
You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. 6
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
It’s a fact. Yahweh
knew what David would say before he said it (Ps 139:4)! Did that somehow mean
that God caused David to say everything David said? Of course not. The Lord
foreknew it, but He did not manipulate David’s mouth and predetermine and force
every word that came out of it.
We understand that. That is the primary purpose of this
message.
Ps 139:16 Your eyes have seen
my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were
ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.
Isa 44:24-45:7 Through Isaiah
(740-701 BC) God named Cyrus as the one to restore Jerusalem. So Cyrus did – in
539 BC, about 200 years later! Yahweh’s foreknowledge proved His deity, in
contrast with pagan idols:
Isa 42:8-9; 44:7-8; 45:20-21; 46:9-10; 48:3-7
Is 42:8 “I am the Lord,
that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven
images. 9 “Behold, the former things have come to pass, Now I declare
new things; Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.”
Is 44:7 ‘Who is like Me? Let
him proclaim and declare it; Yes, let him recount it to Me in order, From the
time that I established the ancient nation. And let them declare to them the
things that are coming And the events that are going to take place. 8
‘Do not tremble and do not be afraid; Have I not long since announced it to you
and declared it? And you are My witnesses. Is there any God besides Me, Or is
there any other Rock? I know of none.’ ”
Is 45:20 “Gather yourselves
and come; Draw near together, you fugitives of the nations; They have no
knowledge, Who carry about their wooden idol And pray to a god who cannot save.
21 “Declare and set forth your case; Indeed, let them consult together.
Who has announced this from of old? Who has long since declared it? Is it not
I, the Lord? And there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a
Savior; There is none except Me.
Is 46:9 “Remember the
former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and
there is no one like Me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And
from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be
established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;
Is 48:3 “I declared the
former things long ago And they went forth from My mouth, and I proclaimed
them. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. 4 “Because I know that
you are obstinate, And your neck is an iron sinew And your forehead bronze, 5
Therefore I declared them to you long ago, Before they took place I proclaimed
them to you, So that you would not say, ‘My idol has done them, And my graven
image and my molten image have commanded them.’ 6 “You have heard; look
at all this. And you, will you not declare it? I proclaim to you new things
from this time, Even hidden things which you have not known. 7 “They are
created now and not long ago; And before today you have not heard them, So that
you will not say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
Of course the very
idea of predictive prophecy presupposes and affirms God’s knowledge of the
future, even of the decisions that His creatures will freely make.
God Knows, but We Choose.
Jn 12:6 Judas, a thief,
stole from the moneybag.
Mt 26:14-16 Asked, “How much
will you pay?”
Jn 13:21-30 Judas took the
bread from Jesus.
So Judas chose his
actions. But …
Jn 6:64, 71 Jesus knew from the
beginning who would betray Him, what Judas would choose.
His knowing
it did not cause it or force it.
Let’s use a simple
analogy. Many of us parents can relate to it.
Long before your
teenager reached driving age, you knew whether or not he or she would want to
drive and would want a car at the appropriate age. Because you knew that in
advance, you decided how you would respond when the time came.
Let’s say you saved
up and set aside funds to buy them whatever brand-new SUV they might want. (I’m
just using this as an example to keep our young people’s attention!)
You knew your teen
would want it. You knew your teen would ask for it. You knew how you would
respond.
None of that foreknowledge changed the fact that your
teen was free to want to drive or not, and free to ask for a car or not. If the
teen asked, you knew he would! If he did not ask, you knew that he would not
ask!
If he did not ask, he did not get the car! And you knew
it all along!
So with God.
God is Not Surprised or Mistaken.
Gen 6:6 Yahweh was grieved
(nacham) that He had made man. Not surprised by man’s sin or ignorant
that man would sin. Cf. King Saul, etc.
Gen 22:12 To Abraham re:
Isaac: “Now I know that you fear God!” Was this new news to God?
No! Note His prior fear – Gen 17:1-3; 18:27, 30. Note also
God’s prior promises to Abraham, which anticipated and required his fear of
God.
“God did
not know whether or not Abraham would actually offer Isaac.”
One may quote:
Ge 22:11 But the angel of
the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said,
“Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad,
and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not
withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
First we note that
this was the angel of the Lord speaking, but certainly as the mouthpiece of
Yahweh Himself. Note, “not withheld from
Me.”
So … did God not
know until this point that Abraham feared Him?
Ge 17:1 Now when Abram was
ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God
Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless. 2 “I will establish My
covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly.” 3 Abram fell on his face, and God talked
with him, saying, 4 “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, And you
will be the father of a multitude of nations.
Ge 18:27 And Abraham
replied, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am but dust and ashes.
Ge 18:30 Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I
shall speak; suppose thirty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it if
I find thirty there.”
Of course God knew
Abraham feared Him!
But through
Abraham’s offering Isaac, God confirmed that fear. Now He came to “know” that
fear through observation and experience.
So … was God unaware
of what Abraham would do?
Did Abraham’s
obedience surprise God, give Him new information?
Of course God knew
Abraham feared Him!
But through
Abraham’s offering Isaac, God confirmed that fear through Abraham’s specific
behavior in this case.
God “Changes” Outcomes.
Jer 18:7-10 He threatens to
bring the judgment that would result without the people’s repentance.
(E.g., Jonah)
Yet He knows whether
such will occur.
When we choose
repentance, He responds as He always knew He would. He is not surprised.
When we refuse
repentance, He responds as He always knew He would. He is not surprised.
You noted, “The Bible says several times that God
changed His mind.”
In over 20 OT texts
God is the subject of the Hebrew word nacham.
In each case the KJV says that God “repented.” For example:
Ge 6:6 The Lord was sorry (KJV,
“repented”) that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
Key point: nacham does not necessarily imply a
change of mind based on ignorance. The fact that God was sorry (or grieved)
that something happened does not mean that He was surprised that it happened.
Or that He was unaware or ignorant that it would happen.
The word nacham sometimes connotes the idea of
strong feelings, especially grief.
1 Sa 15:11 “I regret that I
have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not
carried out My commands.” And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the Lord
all night.
1 Sa 15:35 Samuel did not see
Saul again until the day of his death; for Samuel grieved over Saul. And the
Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.
The fact that God
regretted making Saul king does not mean that He was ignorant of what Saul
would do.
2 Sa 24:16 When the angel
stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the calamity and said to the angel who
destroyed the people, “It is enough! Now relax your hand!” And the angel of the
Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
1 Ch 21:15 And God sent an
angel to Jerusalem to destroy it; but as he was about to destroy it, the Lord
saw and was sorry over the calamity,
and said to the destroying angel, “It is enough; now relax your hand.” And the
angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
The word can even
refer to God’s compassion.
Jdg 2:18 When the Lord
raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge and delivered them from
the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because
of those who oppressed and afflicted them.
God Knows the Saved and Lost.
He knows who will
respond and how. Who will persevere, quit, return, etc. Note Jesus’ words to
Simon Peter as an example.
Lk 22:31 “Simon, Simon,
behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; 32 but I
have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have
turned again, strengthen your brothers.” 33 But he said to Him, “Lord,
with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!” 34 And He said,
“I say to you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied
three times that you know Me.”
2 Tim 2:19 The Lord knows those
who are His.
He is not surprised
when one chooses to obey, chooses to sin, chooses to be saved, or chooses to
fall away and be lost.
Rom 8:29 Those He foreknew
He predestined.
Some have said that
God does not foreknow our ultimate destination. That is unthinkable! I cannot
imagine God being surprised to see someone enter heaven that He was not
expecting! Can we hear God saying to anyone, “Welcome! I did not know you were
coming!”
Such a response –
denying God’s omniscience regarding – often results from one’s reaction against
Calvinism. Such a person thinks, “If God knows it, that settles it, and we have
no choice.”
Glory to Him!
Ro 11:33 Oh, the depth of
the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His
judgments and unfathomable His ways! 34 For who has known the mind of
the Lord, or who became His counselor? 35 Or who has first given to Him
that it might be paid back to him again? 36 For from Him and through Him
and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
Possible hymns:
Sing to the Lord a
New Song
I Stand in Awe
Oh the Depth and the
Riches
How Great Thou Art
The Providence of
God
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