Does God Know Everything?
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Main Question for Today...
Does God know everything?
This may seem like a silly or unimpressive question, but it is important to ask for a few specific reasons.
If you answer yes, Then this could lead one to believe that our faith and our salvation is predetermined. If God knows the past, present, and future, then God knows who is and who is not saved. If God knows who is/will be saved, then God may have pre-determined who is saved. This can lead heavily towards Calvinism and Predestination.
If you answer no, then how can we be sure that God's will for history will end the way He wants? If God does not know all of the past, present, and future, then how can we be certain that His will will be completed at the end of days?
Think about some of the implications of both a "yes" and a "no" answer. Write some of your thoughts down before we dig into the biblical text.
As you read through the following passages, I want you to draw out a spectrum from "yes" "maybe" to "no" on where these passages may fall for you. Something like this:
No Maybe? Yes
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Pause
The purpose of this conversation is not to try and get a "yes" or "no" answer out of the group. This discussion is in response to what we commonly believe to be true/logical/sound reasoning versus what the Bible has to say about God and His truth. The point for this conversation is not to shake people's faith or beliefs in God, but it is meant to ask a hard question that we may encounter in our everyday lives and how we should respond.
So long as you can pick a position, defend and explain it, and realize that God is a complex creator and His Word gives us truth, then the goal of this discussion has been met.
Consider this...
Consider the following passages
The following passages would say "Yes! God knows everything."
1 John 3:20
John 21:17
Luke 12:7
Psalm 147:5
Job 37:16
Job 21:22
Where would you place these passages on the spectrum?
These passages would call God's knowledge into question for a few reasons:
1) God searches. If God knows everything, then why does He search for an answer? Why would God be "astonished, surprised, or grieved" if He knew with 100% certainty that a certain event would happen? If God knew everything, nothing would surprise him and he would know all of the answers, right?
Genesis 11:5
Psalm 14:2
Jeremiah 8:21
Deuteronomy 1:33
Jeremiah 17:10
1 Chronicles 28:9
2) God Tests in order to know something. If God knows everything, then why does he test people or groups in order to learn of a certain response or level of faithfulness? Shouldn't He know this already?
Genesis 22:11-12
Deuteronomy 8:2
Genesis 18:20-21
3) God regrets/gets angry. Why would God be upset, or angry, or regret something if he knew with 100% certainty that something was going to happen?
Genesis 6:7
Jeremiah 15:6
2 Samuel 6:7
4) God asks questions. On its face, why would God ask a question if he already knew? Doesn't he already know the answer?
Genesis 3:9-11
Job 1:7; 2:2
Exodus 14:5-25
Note this...
Sometimes God does ask questions as a rhetorical device. For example:
Exodus 4:2-9: God knows that Moses is holding a staff in his hand, but God says it this way to show Moses what God is about to do.
Ezekiel 37:1-14: God knows that a valley of dry bones cannot come alive, but God asks the questions in order to display His power and what He is about to do.
Focus
Focus on the fact that even though the Bible presents God's knowledge as something that may or may not be in question, the Bible is absolutely clear when it comes to God's power. God is all-powerful and is in complete control of History. God's will will come about as He sees fit and we can trust that his plans for us and for creation will definitely be fulfilled.
Ask yourself this...
What do we make of all of this biblical evidence?
How does all of this influence your trust in God?
How do we know that God is all-powerful?
How will this discussion influence our thinking in the future?