God's Foreknowledge, Pt. 2

February 14th, 2025
by Dr. D. Lance Waldie

Romans 11:2 God has not rejected His people whom he foreknew.

Since God is omniscient, knowing all things, He has foreknowledge of the future. This does not simply mean that He knows the future; it means that He has decreed it. The foreknowledge of God thus distinguishes Him from all other beings. God Himself said, “I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning” (Isa. 46:9-10). In fact, all the prophecies in the Bible point to God who knows all things and brings all things He has decreed to pass.

Some point to the occasions in the Bible where God regrets an action or repents. But these instances only reveal God’s grief over man’s actions. And when God repents, the only changes that occur come through in His relationships and actions with humanity. But neither God’s nature (Mal. 3:6) nor His plan (Ps. 33:10-11) ever change. If divine repentance truly signaled a change in God’s plans, then God could not know even His own future actions with certainty.

Some point to Genesis 22 as an example of how God learns—increasing in knowledge through Abraham’s actions. After Abraham obeyed God by taking his son Isaac to be sacrificed at God’s command, God said, “Now I know that you fear God” (Gen. 22:10-12). But since the term “know” (Heb. yada) can refer to intimacy in relationships (cf. Gen. 4:1; 18:19), the example of Abraham speaks not of God learning about Abraham but coming into a deeper union with him as a result of Abraham’s faith in being willing to offer up his son Isaac.

There are numerous examples of God’s foreknowledge in Scripture. God verified His foreknowledge at the inception of His covenant with Abraham (Gen. 12:3; Gal. 3:8). Also, in the exodus from Egypt, God told Moses before Moses ever approached Pharaoh that Pharaoh would not release Israel until God struck Egypt with plagues, to include the death of Pharaoh’s son (Exod. 3:19-20; 4:21-23). Even in the NT, at the heart of the gospel, is the declaration that Christ’s death and resurrection took place “according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3-4; cf. Acts 2:23). Clearly God’s foreknowledge is at the heart of the gospel (cf. Rom. 8:28-30).

God knows the future for one reason: He decreed it before time began. And He will providentially execute His decree in His way and in His time. Again, note God’s words concerning Himself: “I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure” (Isa. 46:9-10). God’s “counsel” (‘etsah) is His divine, ancient, wise plan (25:1; 28:29). He knows the future because He knows His own sovereign will.

So how can God declare the end from the beginning? Answer: He has planned it, and nothing can stop Him from completing it (Isa. 14:26-27). Whether He spoke of the Israelites’ conquest of Canaan or their restoration to the land after being expunged, God declared that He had spoken it and would bring it to pass. Christ’s suffering and death happened “as it has been determined” (Luke 22:22)—“by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23).

So what about our actions? Does God dictate our actions yet hold us accountable when we fail? Not at all! Man’s choices have consequences that he himself causes. The human will is a reality, but we subordinate it to God’s infinitely greater will. Charnock said, “God’s knowledge is not, simply considered, the cause of anything… But how comes it to be knowable by God? …He first willed, and then knew what He willed; He knew what He willed to effect, and He knew what He willed to permit.”

So God decrees His sovereign and perfect will, yet He permits man to sin and attempt to thwart His will. That second phrase is thus part of the first phrase, for it is God’s perfect will to permit man’s obstinate will. Those whom God foreknew are those God knew intimately long before they were ever formed in their mother’s womb. These He will glorify (Rom. 8:29-30).