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1 Samuel 2:29-30
I did indeed say...but now the Lord declares
"Why do you kick at My sacrifice and at My offering which I have
commanded in My dwelling, and honor your sons above Me, by making
yourselves fat with the choicest of every offering of My people
Israel?’ 30“Therefore the Lord God of Israel declares, ‘I
did indeed say that your house and the house of your father should
walk before Me forever’; but now the Lord declares, ‘Far be it from
Me—for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me
will be lightly esteemed," (1 Sam. 2:29-30).
These verses demonstrate how God works and communicates in our time
frame. There is no reason here to deny God's omniscience.
Cannot God know exactly what the future will be (since it is His nature
to be all knowing) and yet allow us the freedom to be able to make
choices? I see know reason why not. Our choices would be
known by God ahead of time. God's knowing doesn't restrict our
ability to make such choices anymore than me knowing that my daughter
will choose to eat ice cream over broccoli means that my knowing it
denies her the freedom to make a choice when it is time for her to
choose which to eat.
Here in 1 Samuel 2:29-30, there is no reason to deny
that God knew ahead of time that He would tell them that His action
would change when they became unfaithful. The reason is because
God works in time and through time when dealing with us. That is
what God is doing even when Jesus, God in flesh, became a man. He
had to wait until He was in His 30's before He began His ministry and
was finally crucified. God didn't just zap Jesus into existence on
the cross and have Him die right away. Instead, He worked in time
and through time all the while using people -- even though God knew what
the outcome was going to be.
God knows that if we do one thing, one thing will
happen. If we do another thing, another thing will happen.
God was working with Israel, urging them to faithfulness and telling
them to avoid disobedience. During their faithfulness, He tells
them that they will be blessed. He also tells them that if they
stop being faithful, there will be consequences. Therefore, during
times of faithfulness, God tells them that they will be blessed just as
He should -- even though God knows they will fall in the future.
That is why when the people freely choose to disobey God, He then
appropriately tells them that beforehand He would have blessed them, but
since they have disobeyed, He will now punish them. This isn't
denying God's omniscience at all.
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Matthew J. Slick, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
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