Did God Know?
The post for this week was developed by Mark Hathaway.
God create the Adam and Eve with a free will. He then gave them an instruction. Based on these two facts, we can reasonably conclude that God certainly knew that Adam and Eve had the potential to sin (or disobey God). So God knew that they couldsin, but did He know that they would sin?
Sometimes we answer questions like this too quickly. When we do that, our answers can be based on opinion instead of biblical fact. Let’s see if we can reach a reasonable conclusion based on what the Bible says about God.
I could find no Biblical reference that specifically states that God knew Adam and Eve were going to sin. So are we stuck? I don’t think we’re stuck, we may just have to work a little harder to discover the facts. Let’s consider Psalm 139:16.
Before we were born, God knew how many days we would live.
“Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.“ Psalm 139:16
I see this verse as a strong statement that God knows the future.
We could spend countless hours proving that God did indeed know that Adam and Eve would sin, but I think we need look no further than prophecy, more specifically fulfilled prophecy, to see that God indeed knows the future. Not only does He know the future, but God knows it in great detail. I think Psalm 22 demonstrates this clearly.
Psalm 22 was written by King David, somewhere around one thousand years before Christ, and yet it perfectly states the details of Christ’s crucifixion. The Psalm begins with the very words Christ formed while in agony upon the cross. Let’s consider just a few similarities between Psalm 22 and Matthew 27.
| Psalm 22 | Matthew 27 |
| My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning? Psalm 22:1 |
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is,“My God, My God,why have You forsaken Me?”Matthew 27:46 |
| 7All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head,8 saying,“He trusted in the Lord, let Himrescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”Psalm 22:7 & 8 |
43 He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him nowif He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” Matthew 27:43 |
| They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots. Psalm 22:18 |
Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: “They divided My garments among them,And for My clothing they cast lots.” Matthew 27:35 |
This comparison is by no means exhaustive, but I think it demonstrates clearly that the psalmist, inspired by God, predicted with uncanny accuracy the crucifixion of Jesus.
The book of Isaiah is a book packed full of prophecy about the coming Messiah, Jesus. It details thing like:
- How the Messiah would be born
- Where the Messiah would be born
- What the Messiah would do
- How the Messiah would die
- And that the Messiah would return
This study can quickly become a vast one. The book of Daniel records prophecy concerning both near and far future events. Some of the events prophesied in the book of Daniel actually give specific details concerning Alexander the Great!
God repeatedly told individuals the future. He told Abraham he would be the father of many nations. God Showed Joseph that a famine was coming and that He would use Joseph to lead His people through it. God gave Daniel details concerning the future of the nation of Israel, and on and on the list goes.
After gathering all of the scriptural clues, the evidence that God knows the future, I think the strongest evidence that He knew Adam and Eve would disobey Him, is found in the New Testament. Although this next verse is talking about unbelievers worshipping the beast during the tribulation, what we are interested in for the purposes of this study, is the last phrase. “All who dwell on the earth will worship him [the beast], whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Revelation 13:8
Notice the phrase “slain from the foundation of the world”? God had decided that Jesus (the lamb) would be slain before the world was even created! God did not react to Adam and Eve’s act of disobedience, rather He had a plan to redeem mankind before the “in the beginning” of Genesis 1:1.
God is truly amazing! Concerning Israel God told the prophet Jeremiah, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11
God has those same thoughts toward you. Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
How will you respond to God’s plan of salvation? Will you receive it, or will you reject it? God has left the decision up to you.
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