Most people believe that God knows the future. However, I disagree with that idea.
Let me get one thing straight with you right away... I know this idea strikes fear and anger in the minds of many theist. I remember accusing people who believe that God doesn't know the future as committing blaspheme. I was wrong for such charges. I should have listened first, then judged. If this is a new idea for you, just hold back the "brimstone and damnation" for a bit and read what i have to say.
There are many good reasons that I think that God doesn't know the future, and I will outline as much as I can to show you why I think that.
1. The Bible does not say anywhere that God knows the future.
2. The idea that God knows the future is based entirely on a theological belief.
3. The Bible shows several instances where God displays his lack of knowledge of future events.
I am going to try to stay away from theology as much as I can. What I will show you will be purely scripture.
What I want to do first is take some scripture that seem to support the idea that God does know the future.
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Romans 8:28-30 "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren."
Revelation 17:8 "And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is."
Jeremiah 1: 5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.
John 21:17...."Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.
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Now, these verses seem to strongly say that God knows the future. And I do not intend to change the meaning of these verses at all. They mean what they say, however, do we know what they mean?
REVELATION 17:8
We will start with the Verse from Revelation 17:8. It and others like it imply that from the "foundations of the earth" a person's name is either written, or not written in the Book of Life. The Book of Life, for those who do not know, is a book that has a list of all the people who will spend eternity with God. If your name is not in this book, you will spend eternity apart from God.
Now it appears that from this verse, everyones name has been written from the very beginning of the world. So it would seem that God knew the future, saw who would follow him, and who wouldn't, and then wrote their names down in this book.
But we can't go on appearance. The verse does not say that. We have the tendency to add all of that as we read. Those thoughts are no where in that verse at all.
Actually, we can find verses that show that the Book of Life can be updated. Names can be added, names can be taken away. For example:
Rev 3:5,6 ?He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life..."
Psalm 69:28 May they be blotted out of the book of life and not be listed with the righteous.
Rev 20:15If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
So you have to be Righteous to be in the book of life. Jesus has the power to blot out names from the book that were added. The names unrighteous are removable from the book. if they weren't, Jesus wouldn't have said.
Also note that our original verse, Rev 17:8, is speaking of those whose names are NOT in the book. This is really important. It says, "...whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world..."
To paraphrase, "Everyone who ever lived, from the beginning of the world to now, if your name was never entered in the Book of Life and didn't stay there, you will go to Hell."
If you research this deeper, you will find that the scriptures never speak of anyone's names being written in the Book of the life from the beginning of the world. If the book of life is being updated every day, then it would stand to say that at the beginning of the world, it was actually empty. And one by one, as a person turned to God, his name was then added. No sooner, no latter.
So this subject actually has nothing to do with God knowing the future. It has only to do with the fact that some will go to be with God forever, some will not. It also shows that it is a case by case event, not predetermined.
ROMANS 8:28-30"
Romans 8:28-30 "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren."
Ok, now we are talking about God's foreknowledge. The scriptures we looked at from Revelation showed how there is the potential for a person to be removed from the roster for Heaven. So, now we are looking at people being predestined? How can the two exist side by side?
It isn't really a big deal, the two existing together. You have to look at the big picture to understand though. God created the world and gave people freewill to love him or not. He knew that there would be some people who would turn their back to him, simply because its bound to happen sooner or later. However, God knew that those who would remain with Him that they would be in the image of his Son, Jesus. He always knew that. That's how things were meant to be.
Also, God knew that he would still want those who turned his back to Him, to turn back to him. So from the very beginning, God had a plan that he would sacrifice Jesus in order that they may come back.
All this was in the master plan of creation. God knew some would be for him, and others would be against him. So to make sure that Justice would prevail, and that love could truly exist along side justice, Jesus' Death was always part of the plan for creation.
Say Adam and Eve never ate of the fruit. They lifed perfect lives. They start to have children. Their children have children, and so on. Before long, there are thousands of people, living perfect lives, all having the choice to follow God or not. Do you really think every single person would forever follow God? No. Someone will turn away sometime. That is common since. And God is wise enough to know that, with out being able to see into the future and know the persons name, address, and SSN before they were born.
So, yes, the verse is true. God knew all along that he would one day, there would be a Body of Christ. And he knew all along that those in that Body would be conformed into Jesus' image.
I think the problem with the verse that people have is that they assume it means that God knows before hand every single person who will be in the Body. But the verse never says "He knows every single person that will be in the Body before they were created". It just says he pre-knew that those in the Body would be conformed to be in HIS image. Thats all. No more.
And any other verse that is similar to this one, that talks about foreknowledge, is always referring to the "organization", not the individuals. What I mean is that God knew there was going to be a need for Christ's death some day. And he Knew that would mean there would be a Body of followers. But he didn't know who they would be until they decided to follow. So God's foreknowledge in this case was more of a plan than seeing the future.
There is a difference in planning the future, and knowing it.
JEREMIAH 1:5
Jeremiah 1: 5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.
This happens often in the Bible. Take John the Baptist for instance. God knew that one day John the Baptist would lead the way for Christ. But again, that was because God PLANED it.
God tells Jeremiah that "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you..." If you look this.. you may think "Wow, see God knew someone before they were alive. So he must know the future."
The disadvantage of speaking only english is that we must read a translation of the Bible. KNEW in this case can also be understood to be as CHOSEN. That stands true, because read the rest of the verse "...before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
God isn't expressing that he knew Jeremiah entirely 100% personally before he was created. Is saying that he knew, that before he was born, he knew Jeremiah would be a prophet. Thats all it says. Don't read more into it. God can chose people to do his work. But the sad truth is that those people can also chose to turn on God.
Take Israel for example. The entire Nation. He chose it to spread the word to the entire world that HE alone was God. But time and time again, the nation of Israel would turn to idols instead of the one true God. God Chose them. They declined from the job.
So Jeremiah could have grew up from this child in the womb, and looked at God and said, "No. Get someone else. I think i like making up my own Gods, like everyone else." But I am grateful Jeremiah was humble and did exactly what God asked.
Again, we can see there is a difference between God knowing the plan he has for someone, and knowing what they will really do. And again, the verse, in its entirety, says he chose Jeremiah, not that he knew him as a grown man before he was created.
JOHN 21:17
John 21:17...."Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.
God knows all things. I do not debate that or disbute that. But again, this does not say "Lord, you know the future" It says, he knows all things. And we automatically assume that TIME IS A THNG? But Time isn't a thing. We have the present, and that is all we have. Events happen as they do. Time isn't an all together mix of past, present, and future. Everything that happens, happens in the present, and that is all.
This very second.
I know this isn't going to be good enough to convince you that Time is only in the present. But what if I told you that God, in the Bible, predicted several events, and they didn't happen at all like he said?
If that happened in the Bible, If God Said one thing would happen, and another thing happened instead, what would that mean? Well it would mean that A, God lied, or B, God didn't know for sure, or C, God changed his mind about his plans.
A. God lied. God doesn't do that to his children. God is Truth. There is enough direct evidence to back that up.
B. God didn't know for sure the events. That is what I am arguing. No such thing as a future, nothing to know. God cant know what doesnt exist. The verse says "God knows all things.." not "God knows all non things". The Future is a "NON THING" Doesn't exist in any form.
C. God changed his mind. This is a logical result of B, God didn't know for sure. If God has planed to bless someone. That person, all of the sudden kills someone. God, as a result, can say, "No, I better not bless him now."
God Changes His Mind several times in the Bible. Just to name a few:
God told King Saul his son would be a king too. God didn't do this. He made David King instead.
God told David that all of his children through out the generations would rule Israel. This too didn't happen. God took the the throne away from David's genealogy after Solomon sinned.
God told Jonah that He was going to destroy Niniva in 40 days, and sent Jonah to warn them. Once they were warned they repented, and God didn't destroy them in 40 Days. Jonah was furious with God for changing his mind, he wanted to die he was so mad. Jonah told God "You always change your mind! That's why I didn't want to come here!"
God told Daniel about the Persian, Greek, and Roman Empire. He started to explain how a southern kingdom (Egypt) and a northern kingdom (Palestine) would battle. God named event after event, illustrating stories of Alexander the Great, not having kids and giving his empire to his 4 generals, and how they split the land into four parts, and how they fight, illustrating key battles, then going to illustrate how Hanukkah first happened. Then after that...he starts talking about an evil king that never existed. He nailed every other king, but the very last one, he didn't get? I guess something changed his mind.... perhaps the Death of His Son happening close to that time frame...? Who knows. Maybe that will happen later. But for now, God changed his mind. That king never did what God had planned for him to do.
God told Jeremiah that King Nebuchadnezzar would invade Egypt and destroy them. But it never happened. Egypt stood for another 400 some years, until Alexander the Great invaded and took over. God changed his mind. He even told Jeremiah about it. He said, "I told you that Nebuchadnezzar was going to invade Egypt. He didn't. So NOW he will invade Tyre instead. And he will win."
God told Moses that he was going to destroy Israel. He said he was tired of them always sinning. But Moses told God "No, don't do that! Everyone will think you are a God who doesn't take care of his own People!" So God changed his mind. God didn't lie to Moses. He really was going to do it. But he was talked out of it through a very wise prayer from Moses.
One king of Israel, Hezekiah, was told by God that he was going to die with in a matter of days. This very much so depressed the king. So the king pleaded with God "Please don't take my life." So God changed his mind that very hour. He told the King that he would live for another 15 years.
There are many examples where prophecies don't happen. Something happened that changed their outcome. And God didn't always know what the outcome would be.
Read these verses:
Isaiah 5:3,4 (God compares growing a vineyard to caring for Israel) "And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard. 4What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes?
Jeremiah 26:3 (God hopes, not knowing for sure, that everyone will change, and then he wont have to punish them) Perhaps everyone will listen and turn from his evil way, that I may relent concerning the calamity which I purpose to bring on them because of the evil of their doings.'
Hosea 11:8-11 (After pronouncing death and distruction upon the nation Israel, Ephraim, and Admah, God changes his mind and says:) 8 "How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused. 9 I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim. For I am God, and not man- the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath. 10 They will follow the LORD ; he will roar like a lion. When he roars, his children will come trembling from the west. 11 They will come trembling like birds from Egypt, like doves from Assyria. I will settle them in their homes," declares the LORD .
(but 1 verse later, God descides it will be best to punish Ephraim... Just read the rest of Hosea to see)
As you can see, we the world was created by a one on one God. He didn't have everything scripted out. Life happens, things change. The future is nothing more than a dream, and sometimes the good dreams come true.
This means that Gods Plans are not 100% etched in stone. God alone has the power to change his mind, and the right to do so. No mortal can tell God what to do. But God can listen. And he does, he heard prayers of many people and protected them from certain danger.
God is in the here and now. If he sets out to do something, he will get it done. But if he changes his mind, thats his choice.