THE OMNISCIENCE OF GOD
Elder Adam Green
The omniscience of God, or His all-encompassing knowledge, is a subject of great delight to the child of God. There is an unspeakable comfort to us in recognizing that we serve a God who is not limited by time or chronology to know and see the outcome, but is already in tomorrow and knows what we will stand in need of in that time.
Surely we can step out boldly into tomorrow recognizing that our God is there ahead of us! It is important that we understand the omniscience of God and its relationship to events, and the Biblical perspective of this great attribute of Jehovah God.
As with all the attributes of God, His omniscience is perfect. The psalmist in Psalm 139 exclaims with joy that “such knowledge is too wonderful for me,” and goes on to tell how that God knows every hidden and every open detail of our lives and persons, even down to our thoughts. There is no one that is God’s teacher or counselor, as stated in Romans 11:34; and Isaiah 40:14 clearly shows that no one has ever taught God anything.
His knowledge is perfect and it is self-sufficient. God’s omniscience is above our ability to define or understand. As Isaiah 40:28 says, “There is no searching of his understanding.”
God’s knowledge is limitless. Not only does he know all the thoughts, actions and events of His creation, but “known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world” (Acts 15:18). “Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them” (Isa. 42:9). “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done” (Isa 46:10). There is no event or circumstance but that is already known to God and has been known by Him from all eternity.
Some may ask, “Is God’s omniscience the cause of an event? Could it be other than how God knows that it will be?” To those questions we reply that God’s knowledge is certainly NOT the cause of an event, and the Scripture plainly shows that many outcomes could have been different than what they were, although God knew what outcome would result.
Remember, dear reader: God’s knowledge is not limited to what events actually come to pass, but He knows all the endless scenarios and what “could have been” or “could be” in any situation or any event. Psalm 147:5 says that “His understanding is infinite.” While it is true that God knows all events and nothing will take place that “surprises” God or is different than He knew it would be, yet it is also true that God has given us exercise of choices and judgments in this life so that events could have had different outcomes.
God knows what events or outcomes could be as well as knowing what will be. His knowing the outcome is not what determines the outcome, but He knows the outcome because it is what it is. If we made different choices or took different actions, then there would be different outcomes. Let us turn to the Scriptures to prove this point.
II Kings 13 tells the story of Elisha’s sickness and King Joash’s visit to him in a time when Israel was oppressed by the Syrians. Elisha was a man of God, a prophet, and he received his wisdom from the Fountain of All Wisdom, the Lord God. Elisha told the king to take a bow and arrow and to shoot out of the window, and then to take the bundle of arrows and strike them on the ground. When the king struck the ground three times and stopped, Elisha was angry with him. He told the king that this action determined how many times the king would defeat his enemies in battle, and that if Joash had struck the arrows on the ground many times then he would have defeated the Syrians in battle until he had broken their oppression; but now he would defeat them only three times.
Notice that there was a different outcome that could have been! The king’s action caused the outcome, and God knew both outcomes and revealed them both to his prophet.
Now, let us look at an even clearer example in Scripture found in I Samuel 23. In this passage, David and his men went to the city of Keilah to rescue the threshingfloors from the Philistines. King Saul, who was still attempting to capture David, heard that David was in Keilah and prepared to besiege the city. In verses 9-13, we find that David asked the Lord whether Saul would come to Keilah and whether the men of Keilah would deliver David into his hands.
The Lord told David that Saul would come up and that the men of Keilah would deliver David into Saul’s hand. As a result of this information, David and his men left Keilah and the Scripture records that Saul “forbare to go forth.”
So then, was the Lord wrong or confused? Did the omniscient God tell David what would come to pass and then was mistaken? No, God told David what would come to pass (if he stayed in the city of Keilah) and David then took actions that caused a different outcome. God knows what will come to pass and what could come to pass.
God’s knowledge of what Saul and the men of Keilah would do DID NOT cause this to come to pass – since it did not come to pass. God’s omniscience is still true.
One final example is found in comparing Matthew 26:21 with John 13:2. Christ knew beforehand that Judas would betray Him, but the Scripture is plain that Christ’s knowledge was not the cause or the motivation for Judas’ sin.
Psalm 94:11 tells us that God knows the thoughts of men, that they are vanity. Does God’s knowledge of our vain thoughts cause those vain thoughts? No, the Lord God does not cause our evil and vain thoughts. In Lamentations 3:37, does God command and cause those things that He does not approve of?
No. In fact, Jeremiah 19:5 lists the awful and ungodly acts of the people in sacrificing their children to Baal, which He then says that He “commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind.” This is not to say that these events were outside the knowledge of God, but it certainly means that God was in no way the author or cause of their sin. God’s omniscience or knowledge is not the cause of an event.
There are events that God causes, or that God has positively and causatively decreed to come to pass, and they will come to pass and cannot be any other way. An example of such an event would be the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and the great day of Resurrection and final executing of His judgments. But there is a difference in God decreeing or causing an event or action, and His knowledge of an event.
We need to recognize that difference. God’s omniscience is wonderful, and we should praise Him for this and all of His great and marvelous attributes. Truly, we serve a great God!