Foreknowledge by Joel Hayes - Library of Theology
Foreknowledge by Joel Hayes - Library of Theology
Foreknowledge by Joel Hayes - Library of Theology
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We have pro<strong>of</strong> from God's word that there were some things that God did not foreknow. He did not<br />
know, for instance, whether the Children <strong>of</strong> Israel would obey his commandments or not. In pro<strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong> this,<br />
notice the following explicit statements <strong>of</strong> Scripture: "And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord<br />
thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble three, and to prove thee, to know what was<br />
in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no." (Deut. 8:2) "If there arise among you<br />
a prophet, or a dreamer <strong>of</strong> dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come<br />
to pass, where<strong>of</strong> he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and<br />
let us serve them; thou shalt not hearken unto the words <strong>of</strong> that prophet, or that dreamer <strong>of</strong> dreams: for the<br />
Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your<br />
soul." (Deut.13:1-3) "Now these are the nations which the Lord left, to prove Israel <strong>by</strong> them, even as many<br />
<strong>of</strong> Israel as had not known all the wars <strong>of</strong> Canaan... And they were to prove Israel <strong>by</strong> them, to know whether<br />
they would hearken unto the commandments <strong>of</strong> the Lord, which he commanded their fathers <strong>by</strong> the hand<br />
<strong>of</strong> Moses." (Judges 3:1, 4.) "And the anger <strong>of</strong> the Lord was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this<br />
people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my<br />
voice; I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them <strong>of</strong> the nations which Joshua left when he<br />
died: that through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way <strong>of</strong> the Lord to walk therein, as<br />
their fathers did keep it, or not." (Judges 2:20-22) "Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread<br />
from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them,<br />
whether they will walk in my law, or no." (Ex. 16:4.) "Howbeit, in the business <strong>of</strong> the ambassadors <strong>of</strong> the<br />
princes <strong>of</strong> Ba<strong>by</strong>lon, who sent unto him to inquire <strong>of</strong> the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to<br />
try him, that he might know all that was in his heart." (2 Chron. 32:31.)<br />
Now, if these statements were made in any other book than the Bible, or with reference to any other<br />
being than the Lord Almighty, they would be thought to mean that that being could not without trial know<br />
what was in the hearts <strong>of</strong> the Children <strong>of</strong> Israel; that his design was to find out <strong>by</strong> trial what he did not and<br />
could not know before the trial. Were there not some things, then, which God did not foreknow? It has been<br />
said, however, that God knew what the Children <strong>of</strong> Israel would do, but wished to know <strong>by</strong> trial. But<br />
evidently, if he already knew whether they would keep his commandments or not, he could not know it <strong>by</strong><br />
trial; for certainly trial could not be a means <strong>of</strong> coming to a knowledge <strong>of</strong> something already known.<br />
Mr. Benson gives the following exegesis <strong>of</strong> Deuteronomy 8:2: "To know what was in thy heart--That<br />
thou mightest discover thyself, and manifest to others, the infidelity, inconstancy, hypocrisy, and<br />
perverseness which lay hid in thy heart; the discovery and manifestation where<strong>of</strong> God saw would be <strong>of</strong><br />
182<br />
peculiar use, both to them and to his Church in all succeeding ages." Also <strong>of</strong> Deuteronomy 13:3: "To<br />
know--Or make known publicly and openly, namely, that both you and others may know and see it, in order<br />
that the justice <strong>of</strong> his dispensations toward you, whether in judgment or mercy, may be evident and<br />
glorious." 183<br />
To this exegesis we have two objections: 1. The word in its Kal form is properly translated to<br />
know; it means to make known only in the Hiphil form. There are more than seven hundred and ninety other<br />
places in which the Kal form <strong>of</strong> this word is used, in all <strong>of</strong> which it is properly translated to know, and in all<br />
but two or three <strong>of</strong> which to make known would not make sense; while to make known is evidently the proper<br />
meaning <strong>of</strong> the Hiphil form in all the seventy places in which it occurs. It would be in order for Mr. Benson<br />
to mention just one place in which the Kal form <strong>of</strong> this word certainly has the meaning which he here<br />
attributes to it. The Spirit seems especially to guard against such an interpretation <strong>of</strong> Deuteronomy 8:2, <strong>by</strong><br />
using the Hiphil form <strong>of</strong> the verb in the very next verse, where, with its object, it is properly translated, "He<br />
might make thee know." 2. Such an exegesis <strong>of</strong> Deuteronomy 13:1-3, if so understood <strong>by</strong> the Children <strong>of</strong><br />
Israel (and we cannot suppose that the Lord used a word which he intended them to misunderstand),<br />
182<br />
Benson's Commentary, in loco.<br />
183<br />
Benson's Commentary, in loco.<br />
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