Omnipotence, Omniscience, Fatalism, Free Will and Foreknowledge

You are reading in the appendix of the online book, Fellowship With God in the Sixth Path. To read the introduction to this free book and enjoy intimate fellowship with God, click here.

God is all powerful, all knowing, good and just. By His power, He controls the future to answer prayer, bless, protect, discipline, and execute judgement... all while justly preserving the free will of man. 

God controls

• Elections (Daniel 2:21, 4:17)
• Politicians (Proverbs 21:1)
• War (Proverbs 21:31)
• Health (Exodus 4:11)
• Decisions (Proverbs 16:1)
• Disasters (Amos 3:6)
• Satan (Job 1:12)
  
• 666 (Revelation 17:15-17, 13:18)
• and many other things

God even controls luck. Section d below explains the above scriptures.  But we will begin our study of God's omnipotence and omniscience with a brief study of luck. 

"The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from Yahweh."

Proverbs 16:33 

Yahweh is the personal name of God. In ancient times the lot was used in many ways. For example, the lot was cast to ascertain a decision from God or gods (Acts 1:26 and Esther 3:7 respectively). Another example is the use of the lot to settle disputes (Proverbs 18:18). The lot was even cast by Roman soldiers to determine who would get Jesus' clothing after His crucifixion (Matthew 27:35). Today's equivalent to the ancient lot would be to roll dice or flip a coin. 

Yes, God controls the lot. God controls every roll of the dice, every flip of the coin. But, according to Jeremiah 18:5-10, God often bases His decisions on our decisions. Thus preserving free will and invalidating fatalism. 

God knows what He is going to do before He does it. So, whatever God controls He also foreknows. Yes, in the invisible spiritual realm God is constantly at work, controlling and foreknowing events in the material realm, events which men typically refer to as... luck. There is no such thing as luck. Notice that Proverbs 16:33 said that God controls "every decision" of the lot:

"The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from Yahweh."

Proverbs 16:33 

The proverb says, 

"every decision"

Even the casting of lots by Haman to receive a decision from false gods as to the time to murder God's people (Esther 3:7). Even the casting of lots by the Roman soldiers to take property which did not belong to them, the garments of Christ at His crucifixion (Matthew 27:35). Yes, God controls events in the lives of the wicked.

If you were taught that the proverbs represent general truths of wisdom which don't always hold true, ask your teacher, "where in the book of Proverbs does it say that?" ... Click here to see that God's wisdom always works.  The proverb above says that every decision of the lot is from Yahweh. How can "every decision" of the lot be from God if decisions of the lot are only generally, but not always from God? 

The proverb says, 

"The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from Yahweh."

Proverbs 16:33 

The general but not always doctrine contradicts scripture.

God is omnipotent. When we say that God is omnipotent, we mean that He is all powerful. And God exercises His omnipotence continually to control the events of life to answer prayer, bring blessing, discipline and judgement. God controls what man attributes to chance in the every day occurrences of life to accomplish His will and nothing can stop Him. God is omnipotent. 

As I wrote earlier, scripture tells us that God controls elections, politicians, war, health, decisions, disasters, Satan, 666 and many other things which we will explore in this page. That statement may surprise you. But the scriptures are clear. You will see the truth of what I have written as you prayerfully experience those scriptures in section d below. 

What God knows about the future, how He uses His power to control the future... and the implications of these powers regarding free will and fatalism are the subjects of this page.

Since 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to "pray without ceasing", please pause for a moment to ask God to grant you understanding of His word.

(Pause for prayer)

After you have prayed, please prayerfully read on, praying "without ceasing".

God said,

^"I declare the end from the beginning" 

Isaiah 46:10

Isaiah 46:10 is one of the most popular scriptures for teaching God's exhaustive foreknowledge... that God has a mysterious, unexplainable, divine crystal ball into the future... so that before He created the world, He foreknew every future event and the eternal destiny of every person in the world.

If before God created the universe He knew everything that would happen thereafter... In other words, if God had exhaustive pre-creation foreknowledge... does that mean that every future event was fixed from creation, resulting in fatalism and the loss of free will? Prayerfully read on and you will see.

By the way, fatalism is a philosophy or belief that all events are predetermined so that any attempt by man to influence the present or future is futile. Free will is the ability of man to make choices. 

Now, lets explore Isaiah 46:10 more thoroughly.

Here is Isaiah 46:10 in its immediate context:

"⁹ Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there is none like me. ¹⁰ I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done. I say: My counsel will stand, and I will do all that I please. ¹¹ I call a ravenous bird from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. Yes, I have spoken. I will also bring it to pass. I have planned. I will also do it" (Isaiah 46:9-11).

By reading Isaiah 46:10 and the verses immediately before and after it, you have read Isaiah 46:10 in its immediate context. Isaiah 46:10 does show that God knew something about the future. God said "I declare the end from the beginning". However, verse 11 shows that He knew that future because He knew what He was going to do in the future. Verse 11 stated, "I will bring it to pass. I have planned. I will also do it." 

And, when God said "I will bring it to pass... I will do it", What did He mean by "it"? The "it" in verse 11 which God said that He would bring to pass was "the end" which He prophesied in verse 10. 

The end is “the bird from the east”.

The bird from the east which God promised to bring appears have been Cyrus, king of Persia, who God brought to conquer Babylon. I explain this scripture in greater detail in section f)3 below. God can cause one king to conquer another king because God controls the decisions of kings (Proverbs 21:1, section d)2 below). 

With this small amount of context, reading the verses immediately before and after Isaiah 46:10, it is easy to see that the verse does not present a divine crystal ball. God said "I declare the end from the beginning". But, the passage did not define "the beginning" as the beginning of the earth. It did not say that God knew every end. And it didn't say that God knew everything in between the end and the beginning. So, this verse does not prove an exhaustive, pre-creation, divine, crystal ball, or infer either fatalism or the loss of free will. 

So, instead of revealing a crystal ball, Isaiah 46:10-11 reveals that God knew at least some of the future, because God knew what He was going to do in the future. 

So, Isaiah 46:10-11 above shows that God knows some of the future because God knows what He is going to do in the future. Many, many predictions are found in scripture. And farther down this page, you will see in section b that Isaiah 48:3-5 presents a general statement that... God's predictions came true because God made them come true. 

I have declared the former things from of old. Yes, they went out of my mouth, and I revealed them. I did them suddenly, and they happened. 
Isaiah 48:3

God's predictions ("the former things"), came true because God did them ("I did them").  So, the source of this foreknowledge is through God's power, His omnipotence. We will discuss Isaiah 48:3-5 in detail later. But for now, lets return to Isaiah 46:10 which you read above.

By reading Isaiah 46:10 and just a verse before and after it, we saw more accurately what 46:10 meant... and just as importantly... what it didn't mean. 

Isaiah 46:10 is actually a case in point, to show:

• That we need to search the scriptures prayerfully to see if the scriptures really say what teachers say they say... 
• That we must read the scriptures in context... 
• That we must learn how to read scripture correctly, by prayer and meditation... reading each book of the Bible from beginning to end, talking to God about each sentence, word and phrase.. so that His Holy Spirit will teach us accurately about God. You can understand God better than preachers and seminary professors through meditation on scripture: David wrote, "I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation" (Psalm 119:99). So, through meditation on scripture, David had greater understanding than the priests and prophets who taught him. Click here to learn more.

Lets return to Isaiah 46:10 and the topic of God's foreknowledge. 

Please don't misunderstand me. Even though Isaiah 46:10 does not prove that God has exhaustive foreknowledge, I believe that the scriptures in this page do reveal God's Omnipotent, Conditional, Exhaustive, Foreknowledge (OCEF)... but it is a very different version of exhaustive foreknowledge than what I was taught, and possibly also different from what you were taught. OCEF is a scriptural understanding of God's foreknowledge and omnipotence which does not result in fatalism or the loss of free will.

Faint of Heart

The scriptures on this page are not for the faint of heart. 

I will now present to you two scriptures and two questions. Neither of these two scriptures speak directly to the topics of this page, but they are questions which I must ask and which you must answer before you continue reading this page.

Here they are; two scriptures and two questions:

"... Summoning the apostles, they beat them and commanded them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. They therefore departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for Jesus' name."

Acts 5:40-41

Will you rejoice after being beaten for your testimony for Christ? 

That was the first scripture and first question. Here is the second scripture and second question:

"They overcame him because of the Lamb's blood, and because of the word of their testimony. They didn't love their life, even to death."

Revelation 12:11

Will you hold to your testimony for Jesus, "even to death"?

If your answer to those two questions is "no", then you may be like those Christians in the Corinthian church who were not yet ready to receive spiritual teaching, but were instead babies in Christ: 

"Brothers, I couldn't speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly, as to babies in Christ."

1 Corinthians 3:1  

The remainder of this page is for those who are "full grown" in the faith, for those who can understand heavenly wisdom: 

"We speak wisdom, however, among those who are full grown, yet a wisdom not of this world.."  1 Corinthians 2:6

If your answer was "no" to those two questions, I prayerfully admonish you to ask God to increase your faith every day... until you have no fear. This is the Endorsed Prayer of Faith (4.3a). Read the introduction to this free online book and spend much time praying through the scriptures as introduced in subchapter 1.1. After a long time, perhaps years or decades... once you are able to praise God even while you are in intense pain, then come back here and prayerfully meditate on the scriptures in this page for weeks or months... for as long as it takes, until you can walk with your Lord in these verses.

Continue Reading if Your Faith is Strong...

Foreknowledge is to know of something before it exists or occurs... to know before. Omniscience means all knowing. Omnipotence means all powerful.

God said, “Who made man's mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Isn't it I, Yahweh?" (Exodus 4:11).

Yes, God is omnipotent. He is in control of our health… and even the day of our death is in His hands. So, our health is not an accident. He knows the future of our health, because He is the cause of our future health. He controls it. 

Again...

God said, "Who made man's mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Isn't it I, Yahweh?" (Exodus 4:11).

God makes some mute... makes some deaf... makes some seeing... makes some blind. And God does these things to bring about Good.

"As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. ² His disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' ³ Jesus answered, 'This man didn't sin, nor did his parents; but, that the works of God might be revealed in him'" (John 9:1-3). 

God's purpose in making the man blind was to provide a sign to mankind when Jesus healed the man's blindness. In sections 4.6f, 4.6g and 4.6h of subchapter 4.6 scripture reveals that God uses signs to bring people to faith in Christ for eternal life and to confirm the words spoken by the apostles after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. If God could have brought salvation to mankind without suffering, I am sure that He would have. Christ would have preferred to avoid the cross (Matthew 26:39). I would prefer to avoid suffering. But we must be humble (Micah 6:8). God has the right to create each of us as He chooses (Romans 9:20-21). And He does so in ways that are consistent with His love, mercy, holiness, perfection and justice.

So, we see from scripture that God controls our health, and therefore foreknows our future health. You will soon see from scripture that God also controls, and therefore foreknows, fourteen other things, like elections, war, disasters, decisions, Satan, 666 and...

As you prayerfully read here, you will see what you have not seen…

I have prayed that our Lord will multiply your faith 1000 fold and 1000 fold and 1000 fold, again and again and again… so that you will have no fear. When the doctor told me that I had cancer, I laughed. God, is in control. 

It was by asking God for faith every day for three years that my faith grew to the point that, I had no fear of cancer, so that... I laughed when the doctor told me the results of the biopsy. God changed me as I asked Him for faith, day by day.

Even if your faith is strong, it can be stronger. 

I prayerfully suggest that you ask God to multiply your faith, so you may receive His words, to walk in His presence, grace, love…  and in His power.

Now, please do not continue reading in this page until you have done as I asked. Please ask God to increase your faith 1000 fold.

Pause for prayer…

Once you have prayed, please continue to read prayerfully… so you may hear His words.

Again,

"Who made man's mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Isn't it I, Yahweh?" (Exodus 4:11).

Exodus 4:11, above, is just one of many scriptures about God’s omnipotence which will be explained in this page.

God knows what He is going to do before He does it. So, God can know what is going to happen before it happens. In other words, God’s omnipotence and omniscience are related to each other. One way that God knows the future is by controlling the future.

But God is infinitely good! 

And God is infinitely smarter than we are!

So you can be glad about what you have read so far in this page. 

Unless you want to live in a delusion, you must read the Bible for yourself, prayerfully meditating on the scriptures and trusting the Holy Spirit to reveal its meaning... instead of trusting religious leaders to tell you what the Bible says.

"… Cursed is the man who trusts in man… "

   Jeremiah 17:5

"... his anointing teaches you concerning all things..."

1 John 2:27

(His anointing is the Holy Spirit.)

"I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation" 

Psalm 119:99

And what is God's testimony? According to the scriptures which you shall see in this page, God foreknew every event that has ever happened. 

But, according to scripture, when and how did He know?  

Does God know by a divine crystal ball? Or... something else? What does scripture tell us? Can God know all of the future by His power? What does scripture say? Does scripture say that God knew me before the foundation of the world? You will see in f)5 below that the scripture tells us exactly when He comes to know us. There are many questions.

And the answer to all of these questions reveals what scripture says about omniscience, freewill, justice, fatalism and how God controls the future.

Please give me just a brief moment to outline the topics covered in this page, and then you will see lots of scripture… scriptures which, regrettably, you have probably have never heard.

Prayerfully read on and you will see... what the scriptures say.

Topics Covered in this Page

This page has nineteen sections organized alphabetically as sections a-u. After a brief introduction of the possible sources of God's foreknowledge in section a, the source of God's foreknowledge according to scripture is presented in section b. Fifteen scriptures detailing exactly how God controls and therefore foreknows the future are quoted in section c with little explanation, then explained thoroughly in section d. 

Sections a through c may be read relatively quickly. But I prayerfully admonish you to prayerfully meditate on the life changing scriptures in section c for weeks or months... until they are incorporated into your daily walk with God. 

Exhaustive Pre-Creation Foreknowledge is briefly explained in section e and the seven scriptures commonly misrepresented to prove it are explained in section f. These five critical sections, b through f, contain the bulk of the scriptural message of this page. The remaining sections may be read quickly. They contain additional analysis arising out of the topics covered in b - f. 

I prayerfully admonish you to read sections a through f in the order presented. Then you may selectively read those topics of interest to you in sections g through u.

Here are the topics covered in this page:

a) Source of Foreknowledge

b) Omnipotence: The Source of God's Foreknowledge

c) Omnipotence: God's Absolute Control d) Omnipotent, Conditional, Exhaustive Foreknowledge e) Exhaustive Pre-Creation Foreknowledge f) Scriptures Used to Support Exhaustive Pre-Creation Foreknowledge

g) Clairvoyance as a Source of Foreknowledge

h) Logic and Clairvoyance into the Future i) Scope of Foreknowledge j) The Timing of Foreknowledge k) God Knows Every Event Before It Happens l) Fatalism m) Frozen Chosen n) Exhaustive Omnipotence o) Overstated Foreknowledge - Understated Control p) Free Will and Conditional Control q) Free Will r) What Foreknowledge Does God Have? s) How Far in Advance Does God Know the Future? t) Is God Outside of Time? u) Omniscience into the Present

This page primarily explains God's omnipotence and God's omniscience of the future. It explains foreknowledge... and how it relates to God's omnipotence, free will, justice, clairvoyance and fatalism. But the last section titled, "Omniscience of the Present" explains how God knows all of the present. This last section also rebuts misunderstandings of certain scriptures which some have claimed to indicate that God does not have exhaustive foreknowledge.

You will probably see many scriptures that you have never seen or heard... especially regarding God's omnipotence in sections b, c and d. 

a) Source of Foreknowledge

There are two alleged sources of foreknowledge: 

• Omnipotence
• Clairvoyance

Even though the word “clairvoyance” is not actually used, foreknowledge by clairvoyance is what I hear in church and see on the internet. Clairvoyance is a crystal ball type of foreknowledge (God just knows what is going to happen). But the scriptures revealing God's foreknowledge, which actually mention the source of His foreknowledge, proclaim that His foreknowledge comes by omnipotence. You will see those scriptures in the next two sections. Please read prayerfully.

b) Omnipotence: The Source of God's Foreknowledge

God knows the future because of His omnipotence, because He has unrestricted power to control the future. He has unrestricted access to our minds and hearts. Nothing can stop Him. I will provide two examples of omnipotence as a source of foreknowledge. Then I will move directly into the scriptures: 

1) God can cause an earthquake if He wishes, at any time He wishes. So, God can have foreknowledge of an earthquake which He is going to cause, because He knows that He is going to cause it, and nothing can stop Him. According to scripture, God clearly has this power.

2) One who has the power to read another's mind, can know what that person is going to do or say, immediately before they act or speak. According to scripture, God clearly has this power as well.

So, those are two examples of omnipotence as the source of foreknowledge. Scripture clearly reveals that God has foreknowledge based on His omnipotence. 

Scripture tells us how God knows the future:

God said,

"³ I have declared the former things from of old.
    Yes, they went out of my mouth, and I revealed them.
    I did them suddenly, and they happened.
⁴ Because I knew that you are obstinate,
    and your neck is an iron sinew,
    and your brow bronze;
⁵ therefore I have declared it to you from of old;
    before it came to pass I showed it to you;
    lest you should say, 'My idol has done them.
    My engraved image and my molten image has commanded them'" (Isaiah 48:3-5).

In verse 3, the "former things" He “declared” refers to previous events which God predicted ("revealed"). Verse 5 makes it clear that these revelations were prophecies, as God says that He "declared it... before it came to pass" so Israel wouldn't say that their idols did it. I will repeat verse 3:

^"I have declared the former things from of old.

    Yes, they went out of my mouth, and I revealed them.

    I did them suddenly, and they happened" (Isaiah 48:3).

Here,  God makes a general statement with regard to His predictions. He says that they came true because, "I did them suddenly, and they happened". "Them" refers to the "former things", the events "from of old", which God "revealed" and "did" suddenly. The passage is saying that all of God's prophecies, which were fulfilled up to that time, came true because God made them come true. 

In other words, one way that God knows the future is because He controls the future… by His omnipotence. 

God did not say that the source of His foreknowledge regarding His predictions was through a crystal ball type of foreknowledge. He said that He made His predictions come true by His omnipotence.

In summary, Isaiah 48:3-5 reveals that God's prophecies came true because He made them come true (by His omnipotence). 

And, unless there is a scripture written after Isaiah 48:3-5, which says that His predictions are made through clairvoyance instead of omnipotence, we have no right to claim that "God just knows it". In other words, we have no right to claim that God has clairvoyance.

Now, God also has foreknowledge by another type of omnipotence: At all times, God knows the present state of our hearts (Luke 16:15) and He knows our thoughts (Matthew 9:4). What one man knows of others is through hearing their words and seeing their actions. But God has the power to know our present thoughts and the present condition of our hearts without the limitations of human eyes and ears. One might consider this power to be clairvoyance into the present. That is fine as long as one remembers that what one may call scriptural "clairvoyance" into the present does not establish a scriptural "clairvoyance" into the distant future. By knowing our thoughts and hearts, God knows everything that we are going to do, shortly before we do it. To establish that God knows our distant thoughts by clairvoyance, rather than by His omnipotence, we need a scripture which states this. I do not know of such a scripture.

So, in the passage above from Isaiah, God attributes the fulfillment of His prophecies to His omnipotence, through which He CONTROLS the future. And we can see, from scripture, that God foreknows all of man's actions by His omnipotence... His power to know our hearts and thoughts.

In section c below, we will see fifteen scriptures which reveal specific examples of how God controls the future. Section d will explain those fifteen scriptures. 

c) Omnipotence: God's Absolute Control

God said, “… I am God Almighty… “ Genesis 17:1. In other words, God is all powerful. All power is in, comes from and emanates from Him. But, how does God use His power? The section above showed that God uses His power to control the future. But, how does God use His power to control the future?

Below, I have quoted sixteen scriptures. which prove God's absolute control of the significant events of the future. Fifteen of them show how God controls the future. One of them shows that God's use of His omnipotence is sometimes influenced by and even reversed conditionally... based on the actions of men… blessing the faithful or judging the rebellious.

The first verse shows that God’s power brings blessing in EVERY event of the lives of His children¹. The next fifteen verses reveal God’s control of kings², luck³, health⁴, works⁵, elections and coups⁶, Satan⁷, man's way⁸, answers of the tongue⁹, disasters¹⁰, the times¹¹, war¹², decisions¹³, 666^14, and lying prophets¹⁵ . The final verse reveals how God controls the future based on the actions of men¹⁶.

We can take comfort in God's absolute control, because God is good! In these fourteen verses, we see how God’s omnipotence is used to bring prosperity, suffering, blessing, discipline and judgement.

Please prayerfully consider God's words:

1)       "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

2)      "The king's heart is in Yahweh's hand like the watercourses. He turns it wherever he desires" (Proverbs 21:1). By the way, Yahweh is the personal name of God.

3)      "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from Yahweh" (Proverbs 16:33). Casting lots is an ancient version of rolling dice.

4)      "Yahweh said to him, "Who made man's mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Isn't it I, Yahweh?" (Exodus 4:11).

5) "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).

6)       "... the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever he will..." (Daniel 4:17). God decides who will rule nations.

7)       "Yahweh said to Satan, 'Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only on himself don't stretch out your hand.'" (Job 1:12). Satan is on a leash.

8)      "Yahweh, I know the way of man is not in himself.    It is not in man who walks to direct his steps." (Jeremiah 10:23).

9)      "The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from Yahweh" (Proverbs 16:1, See Gen 50:20).

10)   "Does evil happen to a city, and Yahweh hasn't done it?" (Amos 3:6b)

11)   Speaking of God, Daniel says, "He changes the times and the seasons. He removes kings and sets up kings" (Daniel 2:21). See Acts 17:26 (God decides who will rule each nation. By controlling the times we live in, He determines whether our days include peace or war, greater technology, frustrations and etc)

12)    "The horse is prepared for the day of battle; but victory is with Yahweh" (Proverbs 21:31).

13)   "Someone told David, saying, 'Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom." David said, "Yahweh, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness"' (2 Samuel 15:31). Result of this prayer is in 2 Samuel 17:14.

14)   "The ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the prostitute, will make her desolate, will strip her naked, will eat her flesh, and will burn her utterly with fire. ¹⁷ For God has put in their hearts to do what he has in mind, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God should be accomplished" (Revelation 17:15-17). Revelation 13:18 tells us that the beast is 666.

15) "¹⁹ Micaiah continued, "Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. ²⁰ And the Lord said, 'Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?' "One suggested this, and another that. ²¹ Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, 'I will entice him.' ²² "'By what means?' the Lord asked. "'I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,' he said. "'You will succeed in enticing him,' said the Lord. 'Go and do it.' ²³ "So now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster for you." (1 Kings 22:19-23).

These fifteen verses show how God controls the future. They provide a glimpse into the invisible spiritual realm... a glimpse into the world we interact with as we "walk by the Spirit". These verses reveal that God knows the future, not by clairvoyance, but because he causes the events of the future to come to pass.  

You may be uncomfortable with some of these verses: That for example, God causes blindness, appoints rulers, many of which are wicked, and causes disasters for cities. God may even determine the content of the lies which liars tell when they lie. But, would you prefer that these things be left to chance, imperfect men, wicked men or to Satan... instead of an infinitely wise, infinitely loving and just God? 

In section d, we will see in these scriptures that God does, at times, cause suffering, to achieve a Godly objective. I will say, that I have benefited greatly in an eternal sense, through suffering. Specifically through the loss of my health for several years, which God caused, according to verse 4 above.

But we are most accurately instructed about suffering from the book of Job. Job was a "blameless" man. God permitted Satan to inflict great suffering on Job in Job, chapters 1-3. God controlled what Satan could do to Job. In chapters 4 - 37, Job and his friends debated about the cause of Job's immense suffering. In those debates, Job presented his opinions about how God was handling Job's crisis. Then in chapters 38 - 42, God rebuked Job saying:

"Who is this who darkens counsel

    by words without knowledge?"

Job 38:2

In other words, God said that Job was obscuring wisdom by making ignorant statements about God.

Then Job responded with praise and repentance:

"Then Job answered Yahweh, "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be restrained. You asked, 'Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered that which I didn't understand, things too wonderful for me, which I didn't know. You said, 'Listen, now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you will answer me.' I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:1-6).

God did not tell Job why he was suffering. God did not justify His actions. But in Job 42:7-17 God restored all that Job had lost and much more. 

Since God did not tell Job why Job was suffering and rebuked Job for speculating, I will say no more. But, you may learn how scripture tells us to respond to suffering by clicking here.

Now, let's return to the scriptures which reveal God 's absolute control. The fifteen verses above which describe God's absolute control will be explained in the next section. But first, we must understand the sixteenth verse.

16)  "Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, "Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?" declares the Lord. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it' (Jeremiah 18:5-10).

According to Jeremiah 18:5-10, God may not execute His prophecy regarding a "nation or kingdom", based on the conduct of the nation or kingdom. God makes conditional, dual prophecies. God will do x if we meet His conditions but will do y if we don't. A conditional, dual prophecy. (For an in depth study of Jeremiah 18:5-10, click here and scroll down to "Conditional Dual Prophecy".)

Since God chooses how to control the events of life based on the choices man makes, God's control does not eliminate man's free will or reduce man's existence to fatalism. God's control is to bring man into blessing, discipline or judgement for the free will choices man has made. 

The previous fourteen verses showed, at a minimum, God's absolute control of all significant events of the future. 

I did not say that God causes every event, because God does not cause sin. But God either causes or controls every significant event of the future.

If God controls kings, luck, health, works, elections and coups, Satan, man's way, answers of the tongue, disasters, the times, war, decisions, 666 and lying prophets… He has absolute control. He is omnipotent!

Since God knows what He is going to do before He does it, He knows the future regarding every event He plans to bring to pass. And judging from those fifteen verses, he brings to pass every significant event. And those scriptures will be explained in the next section. He knows the future by His power... by omnipotence. 

Clairvoyance into the future is not necessary for God to know these things, because He knows them by His power. Clairvoyance into the future will be thoroughly examined in section g. 

Many will be upset by the truth that God controls our health. So, you can see why religious leaders may water down this truth and only mention that God foreknew our health issues, without mentioning that God causes health issues. By teaching God's foreknowledge of suffering, while omitting God's role in causing suffering, leaders create the impression of a divine crystal ball. A teaching of divine foreknowledge without divine causation is a philosophy. It is not scriptural. Scripture clearly teaches that God causes suffering.

We are to rejoice in suffering:

"Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope: and hope doesn't disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us" (Romans 5:3-5). See also James 1:2-4.

Suffering produces good!

To respond properly to suffering, please read in chapter five, "Fellowship with God in Pain". To begin, open the table of contents in the top left corner of any page. Or, click here to open subchapter 5.1.

Are you a church member, seminary student or pastor? I prayerfully admonish you prayerfully meditate on the scriptures in this page... so that you will learn to think scripturally instead of philosophically. Do you remember Psalm 119:99?

"I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation." 

Psalm 119:99

Would you like to learn how to meditate on scripture? If you want to learn to meditate, click here to read the introduction and first chapter of this book.

d) Omnipotent, Conditional, Exhaustive Foreknowledge

God can control any part of the future He wants to control. In fact, controlling the future is one way in which scripture expressly states that God knows the future. Knowing the future, by controlling the future, is foreknowledge by omnipotence. 

We saw from Jeremiah 18:5-10, in verse 16 of section c above, that God also controls the future based on conditions. He makes His decisions based on conditions in His character and conditions in man. When these aspects of God’s foreknowledge are combined, the result is a doctrine of Omnipotent, Conditional, Exhaustive Foreknowledge. The other 15 scriptures in section c will be explained now. They reveal God's control of all significant events in our lives. They reveal Omnipotent, Conditional, Exhaustive Foreknowledge (OCEF).  Let's explore God's word:

1) "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).

God's omnipotence works conditionally. The condition is: Is one called according to God's purpose and does one love God?

If the answer for us is yes to both conditions, then God uses his omnipotence for our good. If we need food, He may put the idea into our mind of how to get it. If we need His peace, He may use suffering in our lives to create it in us. Or, God may increase our faith, so we have His peace, even during a disaster.

He knows the good things in our future, not by clairvoyance, but because he causes the good things of the future to come to pass. 

Since God works all for the good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose, God exercises conditional control of the future. The conditions being our love for Him and His calling. Since His control is conditional, He preserves our free will. God's children, who as such, are called according to God's purpose, can choose to love God, of their own free will. And we become God's children by faith (John 3:16).  Faith, also known as the fear of God, is a choice (Proverbs 1:29). To see that faith is the same thing as the fear of God, click here and scroll down to paragraph f of A7 in the Appendix.

2) "The king's heart is in Yahweh's hand like the watercourses. He turns it wherever he desires" (Proverbs 21:1). 

Yahweh is the personal name of God.

According to Acts 17:26–27, God decides when nations begin, when they end, and where their boundaries will be. According to Proverbs 21:1 above, God makes up the ruler's minds to accomplish these ends for the nations… to bring prosperity or disaster, victory, or defeat. The ruler probably does not know this. But God knows what the rulers will do because God has predetermined what the ruler will do. According to Jeremiah 18:5–10, God makes these decisions regarding nations based on the evil or obedience of the nation. So, this is God's conditional control of the future... the condition being, the behavior of nations. When does God make these predeterminations? Before the foundation of the world... before birth... after we rebel against God...? We don't know unless scripture expressly states the time at which a particular predetermination was made. 

But according to Proverbs 21:1 above, God controls the hearts of the rulers. So, He knows the future actions of rulers, not by clairvoyance, but because he causes the events of the future to come to pass. 

3) "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from Yahweh" (Proverbs 16:33). 

Proverbs 16:33 is in the book of Proverbs, in the Old Testament, of the inspired word of God, the Bible.

If you have been taught that the proverbs of God are generally true, but not always true, ask God to multiply your teacher's faith and then ask your teacher  this question: "Where does it say that?" The Bible makes no such statement about the proverbs of God in the Bible. How can "every decision" of the lot be from God if decisions of the lot are only generally, but not always from God?

The lot was cast to settle disputes (Proverbs 18:18), for profit (John 19:24) or to ascertain a decision from God or gods (Acts 1:26, Esther 3:7). Today's equivalent would be to roll dice or flip a coin. Some equate dice and the coin toss to luck. But, scripture precludes luck. God determines the result of so called devices of chance. As we have seen in other passages, God may determine the result, based on conditions in the participants, to bring consequences to some, blessing to others.

In roughly 1000 BC, it was prophesied in Psalm 22:18 that lots would be cast for Jesus' clothing. That occurred in John 19:23-24 in the first century. So, that casting of lots was an example of long term foreknowledge. Possibly God knew that they would cast lots for Jesus' clothing because God put it into their minds to do so.

God controls luck. So, He knows our future circumstances, not by clairvoyance, but because he causes the events of the future to come to pass. 

The scripture stated, "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from Yahweh" (Proverbs 16:33).

4) "Yahweh said to him, "Who made man's mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Isn't it I, Yahweh?" (Exodus 4:11).

Our physical characteristics are determined by God (Yahweh). He forms our parts in the womb (Psalm 139:14). Sickness may be a consequence of sin (1 Corinthians 11:27-32), or not (John 9:1-7). Healing in the Bible is primarily to provide a sign (subchapter 4.6f-g). The causes or purpose of suffering may be: sin, discipline, testing, God's plan, to provide a sign, persecution as a Christian or pressure by Satan to renounce God (subchapter 5.2).  Our appropriate response to suffering is presented in subchapter 5.1. We respond to suffering by praying the Endorsed Prayers. In them we can have purpose, relief and even abundant life in difficult circumstances.

God causes health issues. He causes them for our good, but He causes them.  So, He knows the future of our health, not by clairvoyance, but because he causes the events of the future to come to pass. 

God causes health issues conditionally, based on His character, divine plan or the actions of men.

5) "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).

There are works which God has prepared for us to walk in. The verse doesn't tell us when God prepared these works. But He clearly prepared them before we thought of them. By His power... His omnipotence, He reveals them to our minds.

God knows the works that He will draw us into.  He may lead us into those works by His Spirit, by closing or opening doors or by controlling our heart as He does with kings. So, He knows the future works we will do, not by clairvoyance, but because he causes the events, which draw us into the future works He has prepared for our future. 

If we are disobedient to God's leading, God knows the future in this case as well. He will lead such hard hearted souls into discipline. So, in this case as well, God knows the future hardships we will encounter, not because of clairvoyance, but because God will cause the future to come to pass. 

So, the condition of our heart will be considered by God as He determines the future which He will choose for us.

His actions of omnipotence and the future He brings to pass, are conditional, based on our obedience.

6) "... the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever he will..." (Daniel 4:17). 

So, God decides who will be king, president, dictator, senator or congressman. This is surprising to some, since so many rulers are evil. Let me explain.

Everything under heaven belongs to God. Jesus is King of Kings. But Satan is prince of this world (Ephesians 2:2, John 12:31, 1 John 5:19, Colossians 1:13). We saints are in the world but not of the world (John 17:11, 14-15). The kings of the earth take their stand against the Lord (Psalm 2:2). They are following their prince, Satan. Their kingdoms will eventually be taken from them and given to the saints (Daniel 7:23-27, 27). Their prince will be thrown into the lake of fire forever (Revelation 20:10). But until then, the saints are strangers and aliens on the earth, searching for a heavenly city... a city that will be established after the great judgement (Hebrews 11:10-15, Revelation 21:1-22:5). Then the bondservants of Christ will reign forever (Revelation 22:3-5). 

A prince only has the authority granted to him by the king. Why would God, the King, grant Satan the authority to be prince of this world? Perhaps there is a clue in micro-subchapter 5.2i from the book of Job. Possibly God is proving that his true children will worship Him even though they have great hardships in this life...  that they don't worship God because of His gifts... that we are not for sale to the highest bidder... being paid to worship God.  

The scriptures in subchapter 3.1 explain in detail what goes on in the invisible spiritual realm around us. God decides who will rule, even in Satan's princedom.

God does remove kings because of their sin. Saul and Ahab are examples. So, God does make some decisions regarding rulers based on conditions in the rulers.

God decides who will rule each nation. So, He knows who the future rulers will be, not by clairvoyance, but because he decides who the rulers of the future will be. 

7)      "Yahweh said to Satan, 'Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only on himself don't stretch out your hand” (Job 1:12).

Job was a righteous man (Job 1:8, 2:3). In chapters 1 and 2 of the book of Job, God and Satan spoke, had a disagreement and Job was tested to resolve their dispute. Satan had come before God and accused Job of worshipping God for God's rewards. Satan claimed that Job would renounce God if God took away Job's possessions and health. If Job had renounced God, it would have proved that Satan was right. The test would have proved that Job worshiped God because of God's gifts... that Job was for sale to the highest bidder... being paid to worship God. Satan was proved wrong by the test. 

Well, God allowed Satan to take Job's possessions and health (Job 1:12, 2:50). Job suffered, not because of sin, not for discipline, not as a judgement... but BECAUSE HE WAS BLAMELESS (Job 1:1).

Job was not in Satan's domain because he belonged to God. So Satan didn't have the authority to harm him without God's permission. With God's permission, Satan used people to steal and kill. Satan had sufficient control or influence over the Sabeans and Chaldeans to complete this persecution of Job, by theft and murder. Satan was also granted authority over nature. He sent fire and wind to destroy property and kill people. God allowed Satan to take away all of Job's possessions and kill his children. Later God allowed Satan to take Job's health. All of this is shown, from the scriptures in micro-subchapter 3.1L. Later in the book of Job, God restored all that Satan took from Job (Job 42:10-17).

So natural disasters, disease, murders and thefts can be the acts of Satan, performed with God's permission.

So, Job struggled with the "rulers of the darkness" (Ephesians 6:12). Micro-subchapter 3.1g, titled "Authority Structure in Satan's Realm" refers to "rulers of darkness". That section also presented the "domain of darkness" and that "the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving". These scriptures reveal Satan's control over those in his realm. His use of the Sabeans and Chaldeans to steal and kill may be examples of this control.

1 John 5:19 states "We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one." I believe that the Sabeans and Chaldeans who did Satan's work were "of the world", Satan's servants. I would be surprised if they were children of God who Satan tempted to do his work. The text doesn't tell us. We saints are not "of the world". We are "in the world" but not "of the world". We are not "in the power of the evil one". "For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son" (Colossians 1:13). All of these scriptures were presented in subchapter 3.1.

While Satan needs God's permission to act on those who are in God's kingdom, God does not need permission to act in Satan's realm." Jesus commanded Satan and Satan obeyed (Matthew 4:10-11). Jesus also commanded demons and they obeyed him (Mark 1:21-27, 5:1-15, Luke 14:11, Matthew 8:16).

Satan must ask God for permission to persecute God's children. 

So, God foreknows our future persecutions by Satan, not by clairvoyance, but because he allows the events of the future to come to pass. 

Have you considered the possibility that suffering in our day could be similar to Job's suffering? He suffered through tragedy in his family, business and health, not because of sin, but because he was loyal to God. Could you or someone you know be suffering in the same way? God may not reveal to us the cause of our suffering. Job didn't know why he was suffering. In the entire book of Job, 42 chapters, God never told Job WHY Job was suffering. But God will reveal the response required to "please him in all respects" (Colossians 1:9-10). The prayers we pray should include the Endorsed Prayers. We Turn, Turn, Turn and Behold the Lord, as in the Sixth Path. We spend a lot of time in His presence in fellowship with Him.

Click here to see the prayers endorsed by scripture when we are in pain.

God foreknows our future persecutions by Satan, not by clairvoyance, but because he allows the events of the future to come to pass. 

Satan must get God's permission.

8) "Yahweh, I know the way of man is not in himself.    It is not in man who walks to direct his steps." (Jeremiah 10:23).

This can not be understood in the context of New Covenant believers without understanding spiritual communication, as described in the scriptures (subchapter 4.2). In prayer, we ask God to reveal His will (Colossians 1:9, micro-subchapter 4.2c). We ask for words to explain the gospel (Ephesians 6:17-19, micro-subchapter 4.2b). We ask for wisdom (James 1:5-7, micro-subchapter 4.2a). God reveals into our minds His answers: His will, His words of the gospel and His wisdom. We obey by praying the prayer for obedience (1 Corinthians 13:7). God grants obedience in answer to our prayer. As we do these things, we walk by the Spirit... God directs our steps... by spiritual communication and by granting obedience into us. For man to know and follow God's will is not "in himself". The knowing and obeying comes directly from God. 

"We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). Yes, God directs our steps.

For the unbeliever, those who "didn't choose the fear of Yahweh" (Proverbs 1:29), they will come into disaster, calamity, distress and anguish (Proverbs 1:26-27), and God will not answer their cries for help (Proverbs 1:28-31). See Proverbs 1:20-33. God will direct their steps into judgement (Proverbs 16:4, Psalm 145:20). Remember how God hardened Pharaoh's heart to bring him into consequences. 

God may direct the steps of the believer who is disobedient into discipline. 

At the time we converted to Christianity, did God have a plan for our entire future? Or does God make plans for us as time passes? I don't know of any scripture which answers this question. From Ephesians 2:10, scripture 5 in this section, we know that He has prepared works for us. But the scripture doesn't say when He prepared them.

God directs the steps of man based on conditions, based on whether one is a believer, a disobedient believer and an unbeliever.  So, He knows the future steps we will take, not by clairvoyance, but because he directs us into the future steps we will take. 

9) "The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from Yahweh" (Proverbs 16:1).

God controls the answers we receive and the answers we give. This verse reveals that God controls the answers given and received by man in general... not just prophets and select individuals. So God controls answer of the doctor, research scientist, atheist and child of God. God controls the answer of the judge, jury and witness. He controlled the answer of my wife when I asked her to marry me. God controls the answers of Fathers to children and children to fathers, the answers of husbands to wives and wives to husbands, the answers of soldiers to generals and generals to soldiers, the answers of employers to employees and employees to employers, the answer of one nation to the aggression of another nation, the answer of the righteous to the  wicked and the wicked to the righteous, and etc, and etc, and etc...

That is a lot of control which God exerts in the affairs of man. 

Here is one specific example from scripture: 

The eleven sons of Jacob planned to rid themselves of their brother Joseph, by selling him to become a slave in Egypt (Genesis 37:18-27). But the answer of the tongue of Pharaoh made Joseph ruler of all Egypt (Genesis 41:42-43). Then Joseph, as ruler, said to his brothers, "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to save many people alive, as is happening today" (Genesis 50:20).

Yes, at the time that his brothers sold Joseph, God "meant it for good". The brothers thought that they were getting rid of their brother and making some money by doing it when they sold him into slavery. But, in that sale of Joseph, God was saving "many people alive". Scriptures 12, 13 and 14 below will provide three other examples where God has determined or will determine the thoughts of men, to control the answer of the tongue, to control history.

Those who hear and learn from the Father are destined by God to come to Christ, so that the answer of their tongue says "yes" to Jesus. Jesus said:

"everyone who hears from the Father and has learned, comes to me" (John 6:45).

Those who are disobedient to the word of the Father are destined by God to reject the Son of God, so that the answer of their tongue says "no" to Christ as we see in 1 Peter 2:8:

"...for those who are disobedient, 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,' ⁸ and, 'a stumbling stone and a rock of offense.' For they stumble at the word, being disobedient, to which also they were appointed" (1 Peter 2:7-8).

So, "those who are disobedient" are "appointed" to "stumble at" (reject) Christ.

So, God controls the correct answers and the incorrect answers, the righteous answers and the evil answers. Yes, the wicked do not have control of their wicked answers. They choose to rebel against God, but God controls how they rebel. The wicked do not control the destiny of mankind. God does. Regarding those who lie, God will determine which lie they tell. You will see this clearly in scripture 15. 

This ninth scripture, Proverbs 16:1, is a critical passage for understanding your time on earth and learning to walk by the spirit. If you walk through your days being unaware that God is determining the answers of the tongue, you are unaware of what God is doing. And if you are unaware of what God is doing, how can you walk with God? I prayerfully admonish you to prayerfully meditate on this scripture for as many months as necessary for it to become a part of your life. Here it is again:

"The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from Yahweh" (Proverbs 16:1).

God controls the answer of the tongue.  So, He knows the future answers we will give and receive, not by clairvoyance, but because he determines the answers we give and receive in the future. 

10) "Does evil happen to a city, and Yahweh hasn't done it?" (Amos 3:6b)

Instead of "evil", various translations read "affliction", "disaster" or "calamity". God is laying claim to every disaster which comes on cities. Jesus said, "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself" (John 12:32). He does that by shaking the foundations of life (Acts 17:26-27, micro-subchapter 5.2n). 

In 2 Samuel 12:19-23, especially 23, we see that David's son died and that David expected to go to be with his son after David died. In other words, David, a prophet, knew that he would be with his son in heaven. If children die in disasters, they get an automatic pass into the eternal paradise of heaven. It is good. When believers die in disaster, death has become the portal to paradise. It is good. When the wicked die in disaster, they can harm others no more and they wait for judgment. This is good. For those who don’t die, but suffer… God uses the suffering for good.

Would you prefer for natural disasters to be random... or under the control of a loving and just God?

I once wished that there was no suffering. Then I came to understand that suffering was the curse of the fall… that life without suffering will exist in the next age, forever.

Suffering is good: " It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn your statutes" (Psalm 119:67).

Since God causes all of the disasters, God foreknows all of the disasters.  So, He knows the future disasters, not by clairvoyance, but because he causes the future disasters. 

Not only does God cause disasters... He also causes prosperity.

Both prosperity and adversity are made by God: 

"In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider; yes, God has made the one side by side with the other, to the end that man should not find out anything after him" (Ecclesiastes 7:14).

Since God causes all prosperity and all adversity, God foreknows all prosperity and all adversity.  So, He knows all future prosperity and adversity, not by clairvoyance, but because he causes all future prosperity and adversity. 

11) Speaking of God, Daniel says, "He changes the times and the seasons. He removes kings and sets up kings" (Daniel 2:21). 

See Acts 17:26. God decides when nations begin and end.

As we saw in verse 7 above, God decides who will be king. He also "changes the times and the seasons". In addition to controlling the weather, God determines the character of the times we live in. "I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create calamity. I am Yahweh, who does all these things" (Isaiah 45:7). That is why we are admonished to pray for our rulers... so that we may "lead a tranquil and quiet life" (1 Timothy 2:1-4, 2). 

God may bring tranquility into the lives of His children because of the prayers of His children.  This is an exercise of His omnipotence conditionally, the condition being prayer. There are things which we don't have because we don't ask (James 4:2).

God decides if we have peace, calamity or tranquility. He knows our prayers. He controls the weather (Matthew 8:22-27). He determines whether our future will have peace or calamity. He knows what He is going to do. So, He knows the future, not by clairvoyance, but because he causes the events of the future to come to pass. 

12) "The horse is prepared for the day of battle; but victory is with Yahweh" (Proverbs 21:31).

God decides which nation will have military victory. He knows what He will do before He does it. So, He knows the future, not by clairvoyance, but because he causes the events of the future to come to pass. 

13)   "Someone told David, saying, 'Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom." David said, "Yahweh, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness"' (2 Samuel 15:31). 

When David's son Absalom executed a coup against David, taking the kingdom and starting a civil war, David prayed. David knew that Ahithophel had sided with Absalom. Ahithophel's advice was regarded "as if a man inquired at the inner sanctuary of God" (2 Samuel 16:23). He needed someone to take action so that Absalom and his followers would not follow the advice of Ahithophel. So, David asked God to "turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness". Then David sent Hushai to offer bad advice to Absalom (2 Samuel 15:32-34, 34). When Absalom and his followers heard the wise advice of Ahithophel and the unwise advice of Hushai, they all decided to follow the bad advice of Hushai, BECAUSE "Yahweh had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that Yahweh might bring evil on Absalom" (2 Samuel 17:14). So, God controlled the minds of Absalom and his followers to bring them into consequences for trying to overthrow God's anointed king, David.

God determined which advice Absalom would follow. Absalom was defeated and killed. God knew that He would bring defeat on Absalom before He did it. So, God knows the future, not by clairvoyance, but because he causes the events of the future to come to pass.

14) "The ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the prostitute, will make her desolate, will strip her naked, will eat her flesh, and will burn her utterly with fire. ¹⁷ For God has put in their hearts to do what he has in mind, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God should be accomplished' (Revelation 17:15-17).

The beast is also known as 666 (Revelation 13:18). The beast can not, in his own power, do what God has foretold he will do. God must give the beast his power. God will put it into the mind of the ten kings (ten horns) to give their power to 666. They chose evil. God will manipulate their minds to bring them into the judgement He has prophesied, to fulfill His prophecy, to bring justice (Revelation 19:20). Notice the word "For" at the beginning of verse 17. The reason that the ten horns and the beast attacked the prostitute (verse 16) is "For", because, God put it into their minds (verse 17).

So, God knows these future events regarding 666 and the prostitute, not by clairvoyance, but because God causes those events regarding 666 to come to pass.

15) "Micaiah said, "Therefore hear Yahweh's word. I saw Yahweh sitting on his throne, and all the army of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. ²⁰ Yahweh said, 'Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead?' One said one thing; and another said another. ²¹ A spirit came out and stood before Yahweh, and said, 'I will entice him.' ²² Yahweh said to him, 'How?'
He said, 'I will go out and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.'
He said, 'You will entice him, and will also prevail. Go out and do so.' ²³ Now therefore, behold, Yahweh has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and Yahweh has spoken evil concerning you."
" (1 Kings 22:19-23).

God has given us a glimpse into how He executes His will in the invisible spiritual realm, to bring about judgement, fulfill prophecy and answer prayer. His word said:

• "Yahweh has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets" (1 Kings 22:23)

Ahab was a wicked king in Israel. "Ahab the son of Omri did that which was evil in Yahweh's sight above all that were before him" (1 Kings 16:30). While Ahab was king, his queen killed God's prophets (1 Kings 18:13). God revealed through Elijah that Ahab would die for murdering Naboth and for leading Israel into sin (1 Kings 21:17-22). In 1 Kings 22:1-38, God revealed the entire account of His judgement. Ahab consulted false prophets.  Ahab's prophets told him what he wanted to hear (1 Kings 22:6, 8). Ahab's prophets were not God's prophets (1 Kings 22:7). 

God's prophet, Micaiah, told Ahab that God had instructed a spirit to put deceiving words into the mouths of Ahab's false prophets to lead him into a battle where he would be killed (1 Kings 22:19-23). Ahab ignored God's warning, put God's prophet in prison and went into battle. Even though Ahab disguised himself, he was killed (1 Kings 22:29-35). 

God can put ideas into the minds of wicked men to bring them into judgement.

God's words from 2 Thessalonians tell us that God sends a deluding influence into those who reject truth. God's deluding influence brings them into judgement. 

"...  they didn't receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. Because of this, God sends them a working of error, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be judged who didn't believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness"  (2 Thessalonians 2:10-13).

The "working of error" is delusion and many translations say "delusion" instead of "working of error". God decides when the wicked have had their last chance. I now see that rulers can take actions which are obviously foolish, because they are under a delusion, from God, to bring them into judgement. 

God reveals everything that is known about Himself to everyone (Romans 1:19-20). Those who exchange God's truth for a lie and don't retain knowledge of Him are given over to a depraved mind (Romans 1:25,26,28). Even so, they know that they deserve death but still continue in depravity (Romans 1:32, 1:18-32). But God grants understanding to those who turn to Him and ask for understanding (2 Corinthians 3:15-16). See micro-subchapter 4.2d for more information. 

God's justice and wisdom deserve all praise. God places His truth inside every man. Some love truth into salvation but others exchange God's truth for a lie. In the case of the later, God gives them the lie. God gives them what they want. And knowing the consequence of holding the lie, they continue to hold the lie. All of this is clear from all of these words from God's Holy Bible.

When the wicked choose to be wicked and false prophets choose to prophesy falsely, they are not free to exercise their sin in any way they choose. They can only do as God allows (Job 1:12). And for those who choose deception, God determines how they are deceived and how they deceive. Nothing escapes God's view. 

God did not prophesy Ahab's future using a crystal ball.  God knows the future, not by clairvoyance, but because he causes the events of the future to come to pass.

e) Exhaustive Pre-Creation Foreknowledge

Many are taught that...  before the foundation of the world, God knew every event that would take place. This is one form of exhaustive foreknowledge. It is exhaustive, pre-creation foreknowledge. 

I do see God's exhaustive near-term foreknowledge in the scriptures. We will explore that later. But, I have searched for a scripture which says that God knew every future event before the foundation of the world and found none. After asking many people, seminary graduates and professional Christians, not one has been able to provide scriptural proof for this doctrine. This crystal ball clairvoyance into the future is presented as a complement to God and I appreciate that. But, if it is not true according to scripture, we should not say it. We should speak the truth.

Typically, an explanation of the belief in exhaustive, pre-creation foreknowledge goes like this: 

God knows everything. So God knows the future. 

Well, premise of this argument assumes the conclusion, a logical fallacy. The premise is that "everything" includes future things and God knows everything. So, the argument is basically: God knows the future. So God knows the future. Other more complicated arguments are sometimes presented... in the form of philosophy... rather than scripture. Most are satisfied with a philosophical argument. But, scripture tells us that God does not like it when we take a philosophy, or man made doctrine and claim that it is a doctrine of God (Mark 7:7,13, Colossians 2:8,  and Isaiah 29:13). See subchapter 1.5.

As I wrote above, if scripture does not establish the existence of clairvoyance into the future, we should not attribute that power to God. We are not supposed to think beyond scripture:

"Now these things, brothers, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to think beyond the things which are written, that none of you be puffed up against one another" (1 Corinthians 4:6).

In the next section, I will present and explain scriptures which are claimed to prove exhaustive pre-creation foreknowledge. 

What scripture says that God knew every event before the foundation of the world?

There is none to my knowledge. But what does scripture say?

f) Scriptures Used to Support Exhaustive Pre-Creation Foreknowledge

In this section I will present scriptures used to support exhaustive pre-creation foreknowledge. This doctrine, which in my understanding is not supported by scripture, is different from a doctrine of exhaustive foreknowledge. The fifteen verses in section d are the best verses I know of to prove that. The following have been presented by some to prove that God knew all of the future before the foundation of the world. They all fall short of proving that doctrine. Seven scriptures will be presented.

Why is this important? 

If God knew every future event before the creation of the world, then every future event is predetermined. 

The reality resulting from that scenario would be fatalism, the lack of free will. If every event is predetermined, then none of our actions can change anything about the future... because all of the future is predetermined. If you are interested, I present a deeper analysis of fatalism in sections l and m. 

The doctrine of exhaustive foreknowledge, which is presented in this page, can be conditional, conditioned on the character of God AND actions of men. Therefore, it does not result in fatalism, the loss of free will. Please don't confuse my definition of exhaustive foreknowledge with the definitions others may use.

In section d I presented scriptures which establish the doctrine of Omnipotent, Conditional, Exhaustive Foreknowledge (OCEF).

Now, here are the scriptures which some claim as proof that God has exhaustive pre-creation foreknowledge, which results in fatalism:

1) "... because if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things" (1 John 3:20).

God could have used the word "foreknew" as He did in Romans 8:29 which is discussed below. But He didn't. He wrote "knows" instead of foreknew. Foreknew means to know before. Knows does not mean to know before. The context of this passage has nothing to do with the future. It has to do with God's knowledge of our heart. Some say that "all things" includes the future. Well it doesn't. Look below.

 ^"I myself am also persuaded about you, my brothers,  that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish others" (Romans 15:14).

If "all" in the 1 John passage pertains to the future, then the Romans passage does too.  Some presume that "all" in the 1 John passage includes the future since it is talking about God. But that is assuming the conclusion. God's exhaustive foreknowledge is only a possibility until a scripture is found which proves it. 1 John 3:20 doesn't prove that God knew all future events. And, even if it did, it certainly didn't prove that God knew them before the foundation of the world.

2) "The beast that you saw was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss and to go into destruction. Those who dwell on the earth and whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel when they see that the beast was, and is not, and shall be present' (Revelation 17:8).

Because our names are "written in the book of life from the foundation of the world", some believe that this verse teaches God's exhaustive foreknowledge of the eternal destiny of every individual. But this "name" is not necessarily the "name" given to us by our parents at birth. Revelation 2:17 states that him "who overcomes" will receive a "new name". This "new name" may be the "name" which God wrote before the foundation of the world. According to 1 John 5:5, the one who overcomes is one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. Revelation 3:12 and 22:4 state that Jesus will write names on us (God's name, Jesus' new name and the name of the New Jerusalem). Acts 15:17 states that we are called by His name. If we are called by God's name, then the name we are called by was possibly the name written before the foundation of the world since, God certainly knew His own name before the foundation of the world. God may also have determined and therefore known Jesus' new name and the name of the New Jerusalem before the foundation of the world. One or all of these names could be the names referring to us, that were written in the Book of Life before the foundation of the world. 

So, Revelation 17:8 doesn't prove any foreknowledge regarding particular individuals being in the book of life. 

Revelation 17:8 doesn't prove that God knows all future events. It certainly didn't prove that God knew them before the foundation of the world.

3) "Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there is none like me. ¹⁰ I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done. I say: My counsel will stand, and I will do all that I please. ¹¹ I call a ravenous bird from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. Yes, I have spoken. I will also bring it to pass. I have planned. I will also do it" (Isaiah 46:9-11).

The beginning of verse 10, "I declare the end from the beginning", has been understood by many to indicate God's pre-creation, exhaustive foreknowledge of all future events.  But, after reading this passage in its immediate context and in the context of the whole book of Isaiah, verse 10 does not indicate any clairvoyance into the future, but attributes this foreknowledge to the fact that God is going to bring the "end" to pass by His power. Verse 11 states "I will also bring it to pass"... "I will do it". So, instead of proving clairvoyance regarding the future, this passage proves God's CONTROL of the future. 

The bird from the east which God promised to bring appears have been Cyrus, king of Persia, who God brought to conquer Babylon.  See Isaiah 41:2, 44:28, 45:1 and  45:1-47:15.

Verse 11 shows that God knew that future because He knew what He was going to do in the future. Verse 11 stated, "I will bring it to pass. I have planned. I will also do it." So, instead of revealing a crystal ball, Isaiah 46:10-11 reveals that God knows at least some of the future, because God knows what He is going to do in the future. 

Isaiah 46:9-11 doesn't prove that God knew all future events. The fifteen verses in section d appear to prove that He does, but this passage from Isaiah doesn't. And, even if it did, it certainly didn't prove that God knew them before the foundation of the world. It says that God knows the end from the beginning. But it doesn't say that He foreknew everything in between. It also does not define which beginning. It could be the beginning of the world, the beginning of the Old Covenant, the beginning of any particular chain of events and etc.

4)  "Your eyes saw my body. In your book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there were none of them" (Psalm 139:16).

Psalm 139:16 does not say that ALL days were ordained. Instead, it states that the days that were ordained were written in God's book before the ordained days occurred. So, Psalm 139 establishes that God knows some of the future… because God ordained some of the future, not by clairvoyance. Some of our days may be ordained by God before we were born ("when as yet there were none of them").

Psalm 139:16 doesn't prove that God knew all future events before the foundation of the world. But it does show that certain aspects of certain peoples lives were pre-ordained by God, before birth, "when as yet there were none of them", (before the first day of the person's life).

5) "For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers" (Romans 8:29).

Setting aside what men have said about these words, what does the word "foreknew" mean? Lets take a parallel example we can understand and compare it to Romans 8:29: 

"whom he foreknew, he also predestined"

Whom I foreknew, I also married. 

The second sentence means that I knew my wife before I married her. The parallel scripture means that God knew us before He predestined us. It's that simple. There is nothing in the word "foreknew" that indicates that I knew my wife before the foundation of the world. "Before the foundation of the world is not implied or suggested in the word "foreknew". The second sentence merely means that I knew her before I married her. I didn't meet her at the alter. The scripture states, "whom he foreknew, he also predestined". So, God knew us before He predestined us. 

Some believe that this passage teaches that God knew the saints before the foundation of the world. But the passage does not say that God knew the saints before the foundation of the world. The passage does state that God knew the saints before ("foreknew", Greek word proginosko). But before what? The only clue in the passage is that He knew us before He predestined us to be conformed to the image of His son. It stated, "whom he foreknew, he also predestined". So, God  knew us before He predestined us. When did God come to know us? Galatians 4:6-9 states that God came to "know" us at conversion. 

To claim that God knew us before the foundation of the world is to assert that God knew us before He knew us. 

The only fact regarding foreknowledge that is revealed in Romans 8:29 is that He foreknew the saints before He predestined them to be conformed to the image of His Son. So, after God came to know us at conversion, God predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son.

Romans 8:28 doesn't prove that God knew us before the foundation of the world.

Romans 8:28 doesn't prove that God knew all future events before the foundation of the world.

By the way, here is the passage from Galatians 4:6-9 which shows that God came to know us at conversion, rather than before the foundation of the world:

"⁶ And because you are children, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, "Abba, Father!" ⁷ So you are no longer a bondservant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. ⁸ However at that time, not knowing God, you were in bondage to those who by nature are not gods. ⁹ But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, why do you turn back again to the weak and miserable elemental principles" (Galatians 4:6-9).

The phrase from verse 7, "God sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts", tells us that the time of conversion is the time in question. They didn't know God in their past when they "were in bondage" before they received the Spirit (verse 8). They came to be "known by God" (verse 9). "Now" is when they came to know God (present tense, verse 9).

So, it is clear that we come to know God, to be known by God, when the Spirit comes into us. That occurs at conversion in the current age.

Romans 8:29 does not state that God knew us before the foundation of the world.

6) "In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full" (Genesis 15:16).

Instead of proving that God knew that the Amorites would become more sinful, the passage may merely mean that God will let them sin more before He judges them. This passage states that God knows something about the future iniquity of the Amorites, but it does not state that God knows everything about their future. It does not state that this foreknowledge existed before the foundation of the world. It also does not state why God had this foreknowledge. Matthew 11:23 showed that God could have changed something in the Sodomites through "might works". GOD CHOOSES how much of Himself to reveal to each nation. Each is only responsible for the revelation received (Acts 17:30, 1 Timothy 1:13). "sin is not imputed when there is no law" (Romans 5:13). Summary: Genesis 15:16 may be an example of omnipotence, rather than foreknowledge. God can reveal whatever He wants, to whoever He wants, whenever He wants and will judge justly based on the revelation granted. He could have known what the Amorites would do, if He withheld revelation. He could have allowed them to be successful and knew that they would react with arrogance. As far as God's justice to the people of Sodom, If God chooses to secretly reveal the Christ to each dying person one moment before death, God can do that. Much is required from those whom much is given (Luke 12:48)

Genesis 15:16 doesn't prove that God knew all future events before the foundation of the world.

7) "even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without defect before him in love" (Ephesians 1:4).

Does Ephesians 1:4 present God's Pre-Genesis, unconditional, individual, choice for eternal life? If it does, it would mean divine predetermination & foreknowledge of the eternal destiny of every individual who has ever lived. However, a close examination of the words reveal a Pre-Genesis, conditional, group choice to be “holy and without defect”. The group is those who are "in Him". The condition of being "in Him" is belief (see v 13). Ephesians 1:4 does indicate God's pre-Genesis foreknowledge of what God is going to do for a group, those who are "in Him". It does not present God's Pre-Genesis foreknowledge regarding individuals. To illustrate the difference, the Mayor can chose the Police for a particular future duty without deciding who is "is a Policeman". Click here to read a more thorough explanation of this verse. 

Similarly, God can make a choice before the foundation of the world, of a group, "us in him", to "be holy and without defect" in the future, without deciding which future individuals will be in that group, except that the future individuals must meet the criteria for entering that group, faith in Christ.

Ephesians 1:4 doesn't prove that God knew all future events before the foundation of the world. It doesn't prove divine pre-foundation of the world knowledge of specific future individuals who will be converted to Christ.

None of these passages do.

g) Clairvoyance as a Source of Foreknowledge

Some believe that God has clairvoyance into the future. Clairvoyance into the future is a crystal ball type of foreknowledge. It is an alleged foreknowledge which is not based on omnipotence. The fortune teller claims to know the future, not because the fortune teller is omnipotent, but because of an alleged mysterious power to know the future. To my knowledge, scripture does not prove that clairvoyance into the future exists at all. Scripture does prove that God, who has the absolute power to control the future, may reveal His plan to a human, who would then know the future. But this is foreknowledge through a revelation from one who is omnipotent. Foreknowledge sourced in omnipotence is not clairvoyance. Clairvoyance into the future, if there was such a thing, would be knowledge which does not have omnipotence as its source. 

The question I am raising is this:

Does scripture state that God has clairvoyance into the future? 

In other words, does any scripture state that God had or has foreknowledge of any future event, stating that such foreknowledge came from clairvoyance? 

To my knowledge, the answer is no. 

Does any scripture state that God had or has foreknowledge of any future event, stating that such foreknowledge does not come from His omnipotence?

To my knowledge, the answer is no. 

I you know of such scriptures, please let me know by clicking the question icon in the top right corner of any page.

Sections b, c and d revealed many scriptures which expressly state that God knows events of the future because He plans to bring those event to pass in the future (He knows them by His omnipotence). Some scriptures state that God foreknows certain events of the future without revealing the source of this foreknowledge. Many presume that this foreknowledge is based on a power of clairvoyance. But scripture does not establish that there is a power of clairvoyance into the future. 

To my knowledge, all of the scriptures which reveal the source of God's foreknowledge of an event, identify omnipotence as the source. In other words, if omnipotence is not revealed as the source of God's foreknowledge, no source is revealed.

And if no source is revealed, we do not have the right to presume that the source is clairvoyance, a source not established in scripture.  In cases of foreknowledge in scripture where the source of God's foreknowledge is not revealed, we should limit the possible sources for this foreknowledge to those sources which are established by scripture. We should not presume a source like clairvoyance, which is not established in scripture.

And Isaiah 48:3-5, as explained in section b, shows that all events which God has both foreknown and revealed to men, were foreknown by His omnipotence.

So, in the case of foreknowledge revealed in scripture, the source of which is not revealed in the scripture, we should presume omnipotence, if we presume anything.

I have never seen proof in scripture for a crystal ball type of divine foreknowledge. By crystal ball, I mean clairvoyance. I believe that clairvoyance into the future is make believe, a fairy tale. We should not turn fairy tales in to doctrines of God.

If scripture does not establish the existence of clairvoyance into the future, we should not attribute that power to God. We are not supposed to think beyond scripture:

"Now these things, brothers, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to think beyond the things which are written, that none of you be puffed up against one another" (1 Corinthians 4:6).

h) Logic and Clairvoyance

Logically speaking, clairvoyance into the future is not possible. One can not know something that isn't. The future isn't. It isn't a thing. Therefore, the future can't be known. Joy is a thing. Grief is a thing. Money in my pocket at the present moment is a thing. Money in my pocket tomorrow is not a thing. You may claim that money in your pocket tomorrow is a thing. If it is then prove it. You can't. You can't prove it because you can't prove a thing that isn't. Money in my pocket tomorrow does not exist, for me to know it. I can not know today, that I will have money in my pocket tomorrow. Everyone understands this. Man can not know a thing that isn't.

But one may say, "But God is different. He is God." 

To that I would say,  what scripture states that God is different is this regard? What scripture states that God has foreknowledge which does not have His omnipotence as its source? In other words, what scripture states that God has clairvoyance into the future?

Can you tell me? 

Ask your pastor. Let me know if your pastor can prove this doctrine from scripture.

In strict logic-speak, I could say that God doesn't know the future clairvoyantly, because one can't know something that isn't. He can know the future, because He knows what He is going to do, because He knows His plan. Since His plan is a thing, it is. Therefore He can know it, the plan. Because He knows His plan, He can tell us about that part of the plan which will take place in the future, by His omnipotence.

We all know that no person possesses clairvoyance into the future, but many attribute this power to God. But scripture does not establish this doctrine. The source of this doctrine is something other than scripture.

Remember, we are not supposed to think beyond scripture:

"Now these things, brothers, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to think beyond the things which are written, that none of you be puffed up against one another" (1 Corinthians 4:6).

i) Scope of Foreknowledge 

Exhaustive foreknowledge is to know all things before they exist or occur. It is comprehensive, unlimited in scope. Partial foreknowledge is to know some things before they exist or occur. It is limited in scope. 

j) The Timing of Foreknowledge

As I wrote above, foreknowledge is to know of something before it exists or occurs... to know before. Timing is also an element in foreknowledge which is seldom acknowledged. To know what a person is about to say just before the person speaks is short term foreknowledge. If I could read your mind, I would know what you are going to speak, just a moment before you spoke it. This is an example of short term foreknowledge. There is also long term foreknowledge. For example, to know something about a person before that person is born would be pre-birth foreknowledge. For God to know something about a man before the earth was created is pre-creation foreknowledge. Both pre-birth and pre-creation foreknowledge would be long term foreknowledge. 

It is important to recognize the difference between long term and short term foreknowledge. Many arguments regarding foreknowledge draw unscriptural conclusions about God's long term foreknowledge because they are basing their conclusions on scriptures which only present God's short term foreknowledge. 

k) God Knows Every Event Before It Happens

Scripture indicates that God knows everything that is present. Scripture also indicates that He knows everything before it happens. Scripture actually states that God's involvement is necessary for every event that happens.

"... in him all things are held together" (Colossians 1:17)

So, since He is involved in everything and therefore every event, He must know everything as it happens, and actually just a moment before it happens. So, I would say that scripture does indicate that God has exhaustive near-term foreknowledge... because of His omnipotence ("in him all things are held together").

Sections b, c and d revealed that God knows every significant event before it happens because God causes every significant event that happens. But, since God chooses how to control the events of life based on the choices man makes, God's control does not eliminate man's free will or reduce man's existence to fatalism (section c 16). God's control is to bring man into blessing, discipline or judgement for the free will choices man has made. 

But, as far as anyone has been able to show me, scripture does not say that God knew every event of history before the foundation of the world.

l) Fatalism

Fatalism is a philosophy or belief that all events are predetermined so that any attempt to influence the present or future is futile. If God knew every future event before the creation of the world, then every future event is predetermined. Some may say, "Just because God foreknew all events doesn't mean that He predetermined them." In response, I ask, "If God foreknew all events before the foundation of the world, is it possible that any event which God foreknew will not come to pass?" The answer is "no". In response I say, "then all the foreknown events are predetermined. There is zero chance that they will not come to pass". 

One may argue that God knew but did not predetermine them. However, even if this could be proved scripturally or logically, it would not change the fact that any event which is foreknown is predetermined... because there is zero chance that it will not come to pass. At this point, to obscure the connection between exhaustive pre-creation foreknowledge and fatalism, some proclaim that "God is outside of time". That God is outside of time is not defined by or proven from scripture. But the mere statement of "God is outside of time" creates a distraction, which changes the subject and obscures the perception. "God is outside of time" appears to be an artful use of obfuscation. I recognize obfuscation in theological discussions because I saw its use by lawyers and witnesses in the court room. But most of those who say that God is outside of time are not intending to obfuscate. They can not resolve the doctrinal problems created by their teachers and use the method they have been taught, which they don't really understand, "God is outside of time". The "God is outside of time" philosophy is addressed in section t.

Continuing from my initial statement in this section...  If God knew every future event before the creation of the world, then every future event is predetermined. The reality resulting from that scenario would be fatalism, everything would be predetermined, we would not have free will. If every event is predetermined, then none of our actions can change anything about the future... because all of the future is predetermined. We are merely playing a part in a play which was entirely scripted before we were born. If we believe that God totally and unconditionally controls every event in the future and also that God is good, we can feel good about fatalism. (Conditional control was explained from Jeremiah 18:1-5, in c)16 above.)

But, if God only knows all future events a few moments before each event comes to pass, that would not be fatalism. This is short term foreknowledge. For example, as a three year old child sees her favorite cookie on the kitchen table, God knows what the three year old is thinking and controls all events in the three year old's environment. So, God knows that the three year old is going to eat the cookie. Short term foreknowledge allows man's decisions to affect outcomes. Exhaustive pre-birth foreknowledge precludes man's decisions from impacting life and therefore results in fatalism. 

Short term foreknowledge allows our actions to have temporal and eternal consequences for others, both positively and negatively... unless we also believe that God will send others to do what we failed to do, until His will is done, thus removing the negative consequences to others resulting from our failures. 

But, if God has pre-birth foreknowledge with regard to some events of life and short term foreknowledge with regard to other events of life, then we do not live in fatalism... because our decisions can impact our future and determine which things God will have short term foreknowledge of.

Remember, once the future is known, it is determined. 

Sections b, c and d revealed that God knows every significant event before it happens because God causes every significant event that happens. But, since God chooses how to control the events of life based on the choices man makes, God's control does not eliminate man's free will or reduce man's existence to fatalism (section c 16). God's control is to bring man into blessing, discipline or judgement for the free will choices man has made.  

m) Frozen Chosen

According to some definitions of predestination, the eternal life or eternal damnation of every individual was predetermined before birth... not merely foreseen, but predetermined. But bear in mind that, any event which is foreseen is also predetermined. Advocates of this unscriptural doctrine of predestination will say that the unchosen are still responsible for their destiny and deserve damnation even though, by their false doctrine, God created those unchosen with an inability to receive eternal life. 

This false doctrine presents God as being unjust and evil. They say that God created the unchosen with no ability to receive eternal life, and then sends them to hell forever because God didn't save them from their sin. In this false doctrine, God damns people because of what God did. The unchosen were frozen before they were born. They were unable to change their eternal destiny. The chosen, according to this false doctrine, are also unable to change their eternal destiny, since it too was set before they were born. Both groups are unable to change their destiny. They are frozen. To learn more about the unscriptural doctrine of pre-birth, unconditional, individual predestination to either eternal life or damnation, click here.

The unscriptural doctrine of exhaustive pre-birth foreknowledge, also leaves all of us frozen from birth. In exhaustive pre-birth foreknowledge, every event is foreknown, therefore every event is predetermined. No one can change anything about anything. All are frozen in the doctrine of exhaustive pre-birth foreknowledge. All of us are the frozen chosen in this false doctrine. 

This is comforting to some. Since we can't change anything, we can't mess anything up. It's all predetermined. I'll have another desert.

n) Exhaustive Omnipotence

God is powerful enough to do anything He wants, other than commit a logical fallacy like... make a red bird that is blue, make a true statement which is false or make a rock which is too heavy for Him to lift. God can save or deliver anyone, anytime He wishes.

o) Overstated Foreknowledge - Understated Control

It appears to me, that God's foreknowledge is overstated by many, but that God's control of the future is understated by many as well. 

My Lord's foreknowledge is overstated to the extent that all of the future is claimed to be predetermined, unconditionally and before the foundation of the world... therefore presenting God as unjust. Unjust, because according to this false doctrine, He supposedly creates individuals whom He foreknows that they have no destiny but eternal hell and He creates them anyway. 

God's control of the future is understated by others so that it hides God's intricate involvement in protecting the saints, answering prayer, judging the wicked, causing disasters and causing His will to prevail. It is arrogant to think that God does not have the right to cause suffering, and use suffering to accomplish good or execute judgement and discipline.

I believe that many like the idea of a magical God who knows all future events by clairvoyance. So, when God announces through the prophets that disaster is coming, the adherents of divine clairvoyance into the future can attribute His foreknowledge to clairvoyance and not omnipotence. Therefore, this unscriptural doctrine allows them to avoid the very scriptural doctrine that God not only allows suffering, but causes suffering. Actually, for the omnipotent one to allow, is to cause. The doctrine of God's clairvoyance into the future, though not scriptural, when accepted, makes this incorrect prosperity gospel possible: God will prevent your suffering.

Sometimes God will terminate our suffering but sometimes He won't. Click here to learn what scripture says about having fellowship with God in pain.

p) Free Will and Conditional Control

If God were to bless one and curse another for no reason, His actions would be arbitrary. These actions would be arbitrary because they are not based on a condition. I am thankful that God is not arbitrary.

God has reasons for His actions, so he exercises His will conditionally. His actions are conditional because they are based on a condition or conditions. He controls some events out of  His character, love, justice, and etc. Those are conditions within himself, on which he might control our future. But He also controls some events based on the obedience of men. For example:

When Abraham obeyed God, God said, "'I have sworn by myself,' says Yahweh, 'because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷ that I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your offspring greatly like the stars of the heavens, and like the sand which is on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the gate of his enemies. ¹⁸ All the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring, because you have obeyed my voice.'" (Genesis 22:16-18)

Even though many say that the Abrahamic blessing was unconditional, it was obviously and expressly, conditional. "because you have done this thing... All the nations of the earth will be blessed".

So, according to scripture, God sometimes decides to control the future of men based on the condition of obedience in men. This is the exercise of conditional control of the future by God. He blessed all nations through Abraham's offspring because of Abraham's obedience, thousands of years ago.

There are many other examples showing that God controls our future conditionally, not arbitrarily, that He controls our future for reasons… CONDITIONALLY:  He shakes our foundations to cause us to seek Him (Act 27:26-27, Appendix A7e). This action of God is conditional, based on God's character (love and justice). He grants faith to those who seek His wisdom (Appendix A7f). So, God's future granting of faith to men occurred because men sought God's wisdom. And man's seeking occurred because God shook man's foundations. He grants eternal life to those who have faith (John 3:16). So, eternal life comes because of actions God has taken… and He has reasons for His actions. Reasons conditioned in His character… and reasons conditioned in the actions of man.

Here are some additional examples of God's conditional control of our future:

He reveals His will to those who pray for knowledge of His will (Colossians 1:9). He grants obedience to those who pray for obedience (2 Corinthians 13:7). Since knowing and obeying His will are conditioned on prayer, walking by the Spirit is conditioned on prayer (Subchapter 4.7). So, if you come to walk by the Spirit in the future, it will be because of your prayers for knowledge of His will and prayers for obedience.

In this way, God controls your future obedience, conditioned on your prayers.

But, God's control does not turn us into robots. If God's control was not conditioned on any trait or action of man, then we would be robots. But since he executes control of our present and future conditionally, we are not robots. Since God exercises His control of the future conditionally, conditioned on our free will decisions, His control of the future does not remove our free will. His control of the future is a blessing, disciple or judgement based on our free will choices.

If you have wondered how God could control the future actions of people without removing their responsibility and their free will… now you know. 

Men choose to oppose God, then God causes them to take actions which draw them into the judgement which God has designed for their sin. Other men chose to trust and follow God, and God grants them obedience, draws them directly into blessing... or draws them into suffering, through which God brings blessing.

So, God controls the future conditionally, not arbitrarily. 

q) Free Will

Free will is the ability to make choices. One does not need to be free of pressure to possess free will. One may ask, "But if someone puts a gun to my head, do I really have a choice?" Yes you do. You can choose death. Even though a gun is pointed at my head, I still have free will. 

According to scripture, free will does exist:

"When a man offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord to a fulfill a special vow or for a freewill offering" (Leviticus 22:21).

We choose whom we will serve (Joshua 24:14-15). We also choose whether to fear the Lord or not. (Proverbs 1:29). Based on those choices, God choses and controls our responses.

God chose God's response based on Abraham's obedience (Genesis 22:16-18, section p). He also controls our responses:

"The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from Yahweh" (Proverbs 16:1, See Genesis 50:20).

Yes, God will control your tongue, putting words in your mouth, to accomplish His will.

In this way, when we walk by the Spirit in our daily life, He controls our Godly response to life's circumstances. 

God also chooses to let us choose sin, but if we do, He controls our sinful response.  "The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from Yahweh" (Proverbs 16:1). So, He controls even our sinful responses.

God considers our choices when He makes His choices (Jeremiah 18:5-10, section c) .

The fact that God controls our responses does not mean that we have been denied free will. On the contrary, God controls our responses based on our free will decisions.

When we sin, we exercise our free will to sin. We are unable to escape God's control of our future to bring us into consequences for that free will sin. This inability to escape the consequences of our free will sin does not mean that we have lost our free will. The ability to control our future is not a prerequisite for the existence of free will. For example, a man may commit a murder out of free will.  But, his inability to keep himself from going to prison does not mean that he does not have free will. Prison is the consequence of his free will decision.

Remember, God hardened Pharaoh's hard heart, to refuse to let Israel go… to refuse to obey the Lord… But before God hardened Pharaoh's heart, Pharaoh chose not to serve God or fear God. So, after Pharaoh's free will choice to not fear God, God hardened Pharaoh's heart to bring a particular destruction on Pharaoh. Both the later hardening and the destruction were consequences of Pharaoh's free will choice to disobey God. Click here to see how the hardening of Pharaoh's heart, was an act of redemption for Egypt, Pharaoh and Israel. God is good! God is just!

The unscriptural doctrine of foreknowledge by clairvoyance creates a contradiction with free will. But foreknowledge by conditional control of the future through omnipotence does not. If God chooses to bring financial hardship on those who are disobedient, the hardship is merely the consequence of the free will sin. The consequence is a conditional exercise of God's omnipotence and was not predetermined before the free will sin. God saw the sin and chose to bring future financial hardship. After the free will sin, the consequence was predetermined. And consequences of free will sin do not remove free will. 

But in the unscriptural doctrine of foreknowledge by clairvoyance, the financial hardship is predetermined. God just mysteriously knows it, like a crystal ball. Since it is known, it is predetermined. It is fixed. In foreknowledge by clairvoyance, God doesn't cause the events. He just foreknows the events. Since the financial hardship is predetermined, no decision of man can have avoided it. So, free will is eliminated.

One may say, "What if God foreknows all of our free will choices? That wouldn't contradict free will." 

Well, that would be true if the meaning is that God can read our minds by His omnipotence and therefore knows what we will do shortly before we do it. But if one means that God foreknew all of our free will choices before the creation of the universe, the argument is a fallacy because it assumes the conclusion. It relies on exhaustive pre-creation clairvoyance, which is the matter in dispute. One can not win a debate on the possession of long term clairvoyance of God by stating that, God has long term clairvoyance. That is assuming the conclusion. If God had pre-creation foreknowledge of our free will choices, by clairvoyance, that would not eliminate free will. But the existence of God's pre-creation foreknowledge of our free will choices is not proven by scripture. 

And without a scripture which states that God foreknows our free will choices by clairvoyance, a doctrine of pre-creation exhaustive foreknowledge is fantasy. Or at best it is a philosophy, the product of human logic. It is essentially a faith in clairvoyance, which is not proved by scripture. There are four occurrences of the phrase "free will' in the Bible. None of them state that God foreknows our free will choices

Prayer

Have you wondered how God answers prayer? Any prayer for a particular decision of man can only be answered if God controls the answer. This could apply to a decision of a congressman, judge, employer, parent, spouse, child or request for a visa, permit scholarship, etc. And we are to pray "without ceasing... at all times... in everything... continually" (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18, Ephesians 6:18, Philippians 4:6 and Hebrews 13:15). 

So, there are many things that we are to pray about... and many responses of man for God to control in order to answer them. But the congressman, judge, employer, parent, spouse, child or other government official did not lose free will because God controlled their response. Each is allowed by God to make free will decisions. Some of those decisions may be controlled by God to bring blessing on the decision maker, if the decision maker has been obedient... or discipline or judgement on the decision maker if the decision maker has not been obedient. Other decisions may be controlled by God to bless, discipline or judge some one else, based on that persons obedience or disobedience. Regarding the decision of a decision maker, making an evil freewill decision to persecute you, not knowing that the decision was placed into his or her mind by God, the decision maker believing the decision would harm you… the decision will actually be good for you if you meet the conditions of Romans 8:28 (section d1 and d9). There is no loss of the decision maker's free will even though the decision maker's answers are controlled by God.

"The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from Yahweh" (Proverbs 16:1).

r) What Foreknowledge Does God Have?

God knows everything that is going to happen, before it happens, even to the tiniest detail. God knows every future event that He plans to bring to pass by His power. If you consider the sixteen scriptures I have presented in sections b,  c and d above regarding God’s omnipotence, He appears to determine the outcome of every significant event, or chain of events, and therefore He foreknows all of those outcomes, by His omnipotence. As far as I have seen in scripture, there are three ways that God knows the future and all of them are known by His omnipotence:

• He knows that part of the future which He will bring to pass by His power.
• Since God knows our thoughts and our heart, He knows what we are about to do. 
• God Sustains the Universe: Since God holds all things together, nothing can take place without Him (Colossians 1:17). He knows everything that is happening and everything that is about to happen, since He holds together everything that is happening. He not only sees everything that happens, He is a part of causing every event to come to pass.

Whether God knows years in advance or one second in advance, He has enough time to act, by His omnipotence. He doesn't need time to figure out what to do like we do. 

s) How Far in Advance Does God Know the Future?

Regarding those future events which God knows because He is going to bring them to pass, He may know them from before the foundation of the world:

"... just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before him " (Ephesians 1:4). 

This is long term foreknowledge. If you click "Ephesians 1:4" above in gold text, you will see that this verse does not create individual, unconditional predestination to eternal life or eternal damnation. So Ephesians 1:4 does not establish fatalism.

From Ephesians 1:4 and other scriptures, we can see that God had foreknowledge about many, but not all things before the earth was created and before each of us were born. Other scriptures prove that, after the birth of people, God had foreknowledge of their lives from knowing their heart and also from omnipotence, from what He has decided to bring to pass in their lives by His power, sometimes because of their actions.

But, He knows all things before they happen, even if He only comes to know them a moment before they occur. That is the timing we can prove from scripture.

Here is an example of an event which could have been foreknown by His omnipotence,  reflecting short term foreknowledge:

“The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from Yahweh” (Proverbs 16:33).

God’s decision regarding the lot may have been determined by your obedience or disobedience on the previous day… Short term foreknowledge.

Regarding those future things which God knows as the sustainer of the universe and because he knows our thoughts and hearts... I don't know how far in advance He knows the future. I don't know of a scripture that defines this knowledge. We have scripture which says that at the time particular individuals were alive on the earth, that God knew their hearts (Luke 16:15). I have seen no scripture which states that God knew the hearts of all individuals before they were born. So, I have no basis for a belief that He has this foreknowledge. No one has a right to declare that doctrine to be a doctrine of God unless they have such a scripture. I don't and I am not supposed to think beyond scripture:

"Now these things, brothers, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to think beyond the things which are written, that none of you be puffed up against one another" (1 Corinthians 4:6).

God has a pre-birth, preordained future for select individuals. John the Baptist is an example. Many have claimed that all have a preordained future because of select cases like John. But scripture doesn't say that what applied to John applies to all. And since John was filled with the Holy Spirit in the womb (Luke 1:15), and the rest of us are not, it appears clear that the preordination of certain individuals to a particular future can not be applied to all. The same may be said about the apostle Paul and the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah (Galatians 1:15, Isaiah 49:1-5, and Jeremiah 1:5 respectively). All were ordained for certain tasks before birth.

I should not accept a theology which scripture does not clearly state. 

And neither should any one else.

"Now these things, brothers, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to think beyond the things which are written, that none of you be puffed up against one another" (1 Corinthians 4:6).

Click here and scroll down to 1.5h2 to read more about 1 Corinthians 4:6.

t) Is God Outside of Time?

Last week, my wife talked to our six year old grandson over the phone and said, "we are coming to visit you tomorrow". He said, "Not until then?... That's foreeeeeeever!" Well, the perception of time for one in her sixties is quite different from that of a six year old.  But does that mean that my wife is outside of time?

"one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day" (2 Peter 3:8).

Does this verse prove that God is outside of time? Some say that it does. The verse does prove that time passes for God. Time passes very differently for God than for us, but time passes for God. 2 Peter 3:8 proves it. Time passes "as a thousand years" for God. Time passes "as one day". Since time passes for God, time did not have a beginning, because God had no beginning. He has always existed. Time does pass for God. 

Our perception of time is determined to a great extent by how much time we have experienced. A day is "foreeeeeeever" for a six year old. It may be all to soon for my wife who is in her sixties. God is much older than my wife. God had no beginning so He has always existed. That means that God has lived for an infinite period of time. That is a long time. Infinite years is longer than a billion trillion years. Its longer than a billion trillion times a billion trillion. So, God's perception of time must be very different from ours. By the way, a billion trillion years would be written this way: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years. A billion trillion times a billion trillion is: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. God has lived longer than that. So, His perception of a thousand years would be very different from a 6 year old or a 66 year old.  

Perceptions of time can be compared to perceptions of money. For a six year old who has a grand total of $2.29 in his piggy bank, there is a lot of difference between ten cents and $10,000. But a person who had a billion trillion dollars might say, "One cent is like $10,000 and $10,000 is like one cent". Such a person could have 100,000,000,000,000,000 bank accounts containing $10,000 each. That would be a billion trillion dollars. Yes, such a person might say,  "One cent is like $10,000 and $10,000 is like one cent".  Both figures are insignificant to one who has a billion trillion dollars. In the same way, possibly both a day and a thousand years are insignificant to God, so that it may be said of God:  "one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day" (2 Peter 3:8).

Later in this section, I will explain a verse which some present as evidence that time had a beginning. But regardless, 2 Peter 3:8 is clear. Time does pass for God.

But does 2 Peter 3:8 mean that God is not outside of time? Well, I don't know. There is a problem. And the problem is a symptom of a larger problem. The smaller problem is this…

The phrase "God is outside of time" does not appear anywhere in scripture. So, scripture doesn't define the phrase. Therefore, there could be a thousand versions of "God is outside of time". 

My writings are typically very dense with scripture. But, since the phrase "God is outside of time" is not found in scripture, I can bring no words from scripture to define it. 

When I hear the phrase "God is outside of time" and ask, "What does that mean?", I typically hear silence. After thinking a while, the person typically says that they don't understand it... but God created time... so God is outside of it. Instead of defining the phrase, people try to construct an argument to prove it. I'll rebut this argument later in this section. But for now I will focus on the fact that the phrase "God is outside of time" does not appear in scripture.

One must define the phrase "God is outside of time" before attempting to argue for its existence. And one must know what it is to define it. 

If scripture actually used the phrase, by God's grace I could understand it. But, even if I didn't understand it, I would know that it was true, because it was in scripture. Then I could honor God by quoting the scripture, even if I didn't understand it. But, since scripture doesn't use the phrase... and if those who do use the phrase can't tell me what it means... they don't honor God by proclaiming it as a doctrine of God, a doctrine which they can't explain. 

Going a step further, if I proclaim that x is true but I don't know what x is... I am speaking gibberish.

During my years in contract negotiation, I would not approve an agreement with one who promised something he wouldn't define... Such persons were typically charlatans. Only incompetent negotiators would agree to pay for services which were not defined.

If God used the phrase "God is outside of time" I would believe it. But it is not God who is saying it. It is men who say it.

Since scripture doesn't use the phrase, the phrase can not be defined from scripture. So, the various definitions of "God is outside of time" are philosophies. I say this because they are the conclusions of lengthy arguments, which some believe are logical. Even though some scripture may be used in the arguments, the conclusion "God is outside of time", is still philosophy, since it is not a clear statement from scripture, but rather a conclusion derived through of human reasoning. That is what philosophy is... an argument for truth, arising from human reasoning. 

One may say... "then many current day doctrines of the church are philosophy, rather than true doctrines of God". I agree. Scripture tells us "not to think beyond the things which are written" (1 Corinthians 4:6). And in connection with that verse, scripture also says, "For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God" (1 Corinthians 3:19). Click here to learn how to read scripture. Click here to learn the conditions for understanding the word.

Here is what I see happening in the church. Scripture says x. Men deduce y from x and proclaim y to be a doctrine of God. Since y was deduced by logic, it is philosophy. Is y true? Maybe. The only way to know is to find a scripture that says y. The problem is that, without finding a scripture saying y, y is taught profusely and everyone can quote y, which is often flawed... But almost no one can quote scripture, which is always perfect. Y is what is in people's minds, instead of scripture. This is true of church goers, preachers and seminary students. These minds are full of partial truths... which contradict each other and contradict scripture. So, when the seeker attempts to read scripture, he can't understand it, because it contradicts the philosophies he has accepted. This is also true of church goers, preachers and seminary students. False doctrine is in their minds. We should be able to answer questions by quoting scripture. How many can? Do you know anyone who can? Can your preacher? If you are a preacher, can you?

The doctrine "God is outside of time" is philosophy. If that is what is in your mind, I prayerfully admonish you to meditate on scripture instead of philosophy. Then you may have greater understanding than the preachers and teachers.

"I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation." 

Psalm 119:99

God being "outside of time" appears to be a doctrine of obfuscation, a doctrine created to obscure the fatalism created by the doctrine of exhaustive long term foreknowledge, a philosophy, a version of foreknowledge which ignores Jeremiah 18:5-10 (Explained in c15). The light of philosophy may be appealing but the light of scripture is authoritative. When a man made doctrine is created by thinking "beyond what is written" (1 Corinthians 4:6), a second man made doctrine must be created to resolve or obscure the problems created by the first man made doctrine. Hence, one man made doctrine demands another.

"Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, 

that compass yourselves about with sparks: 

walk in the light of your fire, 

and in the sparks that ye have kindled. 

This shall ye have of mine hand; 

ye shall lie down in sorrow. " 

Isaiah 50:11 KJV

Even though we don't have a scriptural definition of "God is outside of time", scripture does tell us that time does happen to God... 

God has a past

The word (Jesus) "became flesh" (John 1:14). Jesus "was the word' (John 1:1, 14-18) and Jesus is God (Hebrews 1:8). So God "became flesh". There was a time in which God was not flesh, in His past. There was a time in which God "became" flesh, that "he might become a merciful and faithful high priest" (Hebrews 2:17). This is His present, which is different from His past. The Father became the Father of the Son (Hebrews 1:5) and made the Son "lower than the angels" temporarily (Hebrews 2:9). During this time Jesus, God, was strengthened by angels (Luke 22:43). As a person of flesh, something about God the Son changed, so that He could be strengthened by an angel. But after the resurrection He became "much better than the angels" (Hebrews 1:4) with "all rule and authority" (Ephesians 1:20-21). 

One may say, well... that was the humanity of Jesus. But the scriptures say that He was not flesh until He became flesh. God the Son has a past.

Scripture is clear. God the son has a past. God the Father became the Father of the Son. So, God the Father has a past as well. 

Below are some descriptions or explanations of "God is outside of time":

1) God exists outside of space and time.

Comment: This doesn't define the phrase. It just restates the phrase.

2) "one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day" (2 Peter 3:8).

Comment: This actually proves that time passes for God. But time passes in a different way for Him than for us. 

3) God has always been and exists forever.

Comment: Always and forever mean a long time. That means that time passes for God. Never ending doesn't mean that time does not pass for Him. Believers in Christ live forever too. But that doesn't mean that believers are outside of time. 

4) God dwells in the Spirit realm. There is no time in the Spirit realm. 

Comment: Revelation 8:1 says that when Jesus broke the seventh seal in the throne room in heaven that "there was silence in heaven for about half an hour". Note that this is silence in heaven. Heaven is in the spiritual realm and heaven had silence for half an hour. Time clearly passes in the heaven, the spiritual realm.

5) God's timeless existence

Comment: This actually means that God never existed. Literally speaking, timeless means zero time. Metaphorically speaking, the word timeless is a figure of speech describing events when it seems as if time is not passing. The figure of speech does not mean that time is not passing. It just feels that way.  Dictionaries define timeless as having no beginning or end. That means a LOOOOOOONG time... not the absence of time.

6) God created time, so God is outside of time.

Comment: Well scripture does not specifically state that God created time. Time may not be a created thing. It is merely a measure of duration with respect to events and things. God existed and time passed as He existed. God didn't create Himself. But time passed as He existed. To say that God created time means that God had to create the duration in which He existed. It seems that God's continued existence automatically resulted in the duration of His existence without God needing to create duration or time. God made the way we measure time, days determined by the rotation of the earth. But that doesn't mean that God created His duration... doesn't mean that God created time. To say that God created His duration would mean that God created Himself, making God a created being... not correct according to scripture.

In the creation account, God described what He created and time was not listed. You may have heard that some translations render Titus 1:2 as "before time began", indicating that time had a beginning. Well, the word "began" is not in the Greek text. The text is kronos aionion... kronos (times, Strong's 5550) aionion (age-long or eternal, Strong's 166). Various translations render the passage as "long ages ago" (NASB) or "before the ages" (ESV). There are a number of possible meanings, but the passage does not establish that time had a beginning. 

Colossians 1:16 and John 1:3 do state that God created all things. We must be careful with the word "all". Does that verse mean that God created sin? I would not say so. But some argue that God created time and that He existed for a period of time before He created time. Therefore time had a beginning. But no scripture says this. Scripture doesn't say that God existed for a period of time before He created time. The statement "God existed for a period of time before He created time is a contradiction in its self. No. If time is a created thing, who is to say that God didn't create time during every moment of His existence, so that time had no beginning? 

Conclusion

"one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day" (2 Peter 3:8).

This proves that time passes for God. 

Time passes differently for God than for us, but time passes for God. 

Since time passes for God, time did not have a beginning, because God had no beginning.

Towards the beginning of this section I said that the absence of a scriptural definition of the phrase "God is outside of time" was a symptom of a larger problem. The larger problem is that theologians deduce philosophies from the scripture, using human logic, and proclaim those philosophies to be doctrines of God. 1 Corinthians 4:6 is being ignored.

"Now these things, brothers, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to think beyond the things which are written, that none of you be puffed up against one another" (1 Corinthians 4:6).

Click here to read about 1 Corinthians 4:6.

u) Omniscience Into the Present

Scripture establishes that God possesses exhaustive knowledge of the present. God knows our words and actions (Psalm 139:1-4), our hearts (Luke 16:15), our thoughts (Matthew 9:4), our most minute physical features and every event in the universe (Matthew 10:29-30). 

Testing to Know 

There are scriptures which, at first glance, appear to say that God doesn't know our hearts until He tests us... that He learns information about us as He tests us. So, in the remainder of this section I will refute that doctrine. The issue lies in the correct understanding of the Hebrew word yada, which is often translated as "know" or "find out". Yada can mean more than the acquisition of information. It can mean to know intimately.

There are many passages containing the word "yada" which have been used to support the idea that God doesn't know what is in our hearts and therefore didn't have short term foreknowledge of our actions: Genesis 22:11-12, Judges 3:1-4, 2 Chronicles 32:24-31, Deuteronomy 13:1-3 and Deuteronomy 8:2. Instead of proving that God does not possess knowledge of our hearts and therefore does not possess short term foreknowledge based on knowledge of our hearts, these passages reveal that God comes to know us intimately by testing us. I will use the two passages from Deuteronomy to explain.

• "You shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not" (Deuteronomy 8:2).

• "If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, "Let's go after other gods" (which you have not known) "and let's serve them," 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams; for Yahweh your God is testing you, to know whether you love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul" (Deuteronomy 13:1-3).

What is meant by the word "know" in the two passages above? Do these passages indicate that God uses testing to acquire information about what is in our hearts? Or does "know" in these passages refer to intimate experience? 

Prayerful Observations:

The Hebrew word translated as "know" is yada. It is the same word used in Genesis 4:1 "The man knew Eve his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Cain, and said, "I have gotten a man with Yahweh's help." The Hebrew word yada, which is translated as "know" can indicate a very personal and intimate experience with another person. So intimate and personal in fact,  that in this passage from Genesis, the conception of a child was the result. The word yada is also used to indicate intimate personal experience in Genesis 19:5 and Numbers 31:17. Yada can be used in other ways as well. The important thing to understand is that yada (know) can be used to indicate intimate experience rather than fact finding.

Now, lets return to the two passages about testing to know from Deuteronomy. I believe that these two passages use the phrase "to know" to refer to knowing by experience, whether favorable or unfavorable.

So, God experiences greater intimacy with us through testing. This seems reasonable, since I also experience greater intimacy with God in testing. The subject of both passages is the relationship between God and His people. So, it appears more reasonable to interpret "know" as entering intimacy rather than fact finding. To posit that God gains information about the heart through testing would indicate that there are things about the heart that God doesn't know until after a test is completed.

This contradicts Luke 16:15, "God knows your hearts". According to this passage, God knows everything that is in our hearts. If God didn't know what was in our hearts until He tested us, then before He tested us, He did not know what was in our hearts. The Israelites in the passages above from Deuteronomy included adults. To say that God didn't know what was in their hearts would mean that He didn't know what was in the hearts of young and old adults, a clear contradiction of Luke 16:15.

To posit that these passages indicate that Israel came to know about their own heart through testing would be to contradict and deny the passage. Yahweh is the subject in both sentences. It is the subject in each sentence who comes "to know".

I will repeat the passages here for your convenience:

• "You shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not" (Deuteronomy 8:2).

• "If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, "Let's go after other gods" (which you have not known) "and let's serve them," 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams; for Yahweh your God is testing you, to know whether you love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul" (Deuteronomy 13:1-3).

Summary and Conclusion: 

I believe that "know" reflects intimate experience that Yahweh has with His children when they are tested. 

It is noteworthy that Yahweh was intimate with Israel in their failures. Israel's history of keeping God's commandments was full of failures. I shudder to think of a Holy God choosing to be intimate with man in man's sin. But, that is exactly what Jesus did (Isaiah 53:6, 1 Peter 2:24). 

"He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness. You were healed by his wounds" (1 Peter 2:24).

Note: 

The book of Deuteronomy is in the part of the Bible which is called the law. We as Post-Pentecost Christians are not under law (Appendix, A3). But the law was a shadow of the good to come. So, we will respond to it as... a shadow of good to come.

God has chosen to have intimacy with His children, even as they fail test after test. When we fail, He is always standing at the door, knocking to reestablish fellowship (Revelation 3:20, subchapter 2.7).

God Bless!