Does God know that you are about to sneeze? Does God know that in five minutes you are going to hit the fly on the wall? Does God know what pair of shoes you are going to put on for work tomorrow? Is God a know-it-all—does He really know everything—as some may assume? No, not necessarily!
Let’s put things into perspective. God is the Designer, Lawgiver, Creator and Sustainer of all principalities, powers and all life. The earth is His and the heavens are His. Isaiah questioned, “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, Measured heaven with a span and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?” (40:12). Notice everything God knows as listed in Job 39. And imagine that this great earth we humans live on is God’s mere footstool (Isa. 66:1); yet, we are also told how intricate God can be as noted in Matthew 10:30, “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” Yes, God is all-knowing and all-wise.
However, in this context, God explicitly commands through Moses: “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live” (Deut. 30:19). Therefore, God does not know what you are going to choose in a few hours or even tomorrow. He doesn’t know because it hasn’t been decided yet. And God does not decide it. You do!
Many people confuse this issue with the subject of predestination. Mr. Herbert Armstrong, our late Church leader once conveyed a story in this regard:
Several years ago, a man, quite worried over the subject of predestination, went to a certain minister. "Do you believe in predestination?" he asked. "The Bible teaches it, brother," was the minister's reply. The minister tried hard to explain. "But that doesn't really mean," he said, "that you have nothing to do with your own salvation. It doesn't mean that it is all set -- your decision and eternal fate all determined for you in advance. You are to make your own decision. But God knows all things, even in advance. And so He knows beforehand how you are going to decide." This didn't satisfy the troubled man at all. "If God knows beforehand how I am going to decide," he reasoned, "then it is all predetermined. If He knows in advance I am to be LOST, then that's the way I'll have to decide in the end. And since I'll lose out anyway, why try? On the other hand, if He knows now I'm going to repent and accept Christ and be saved, I'll have to do it in the end anyway, whether I try or not. Then my ultimate fate is predetermined. Isn't that what predestination means -- that the ultimate fate of each one is Predestined -- destined, or determined, in advance? And if that's so, then we simply are not free moral agents, and we have nothing to say about it." The poor man was more discouraged than ever.
And no wonder. Neither could convince the other, because both were arguing from a false premise -- that predestination has to do with whether each individual shall be lost, or saved.
No, the Bible does not teach that your ultimate fate is pre-determined. The Bible does not teach that God has plotted an un-changeable course for your life that is beyond your control. Of course, some will insist on this premise based on scriptures such as Luke 12:16-20 and James 4:13-15, which states, “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”
Yes, the Bible shows that God has considerable influence and decision-making power to decide what happens in the future. Regarding God, Isaiah also records: “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure” (46:10). Prophecy certainly details what God knows and it shows that God reserves the right to override a person’s plans. Historically, God has intervened a number of times in world events—making certain that the right people are in the right place at the right time for the overall fulfillment of His master plan for mankind (e.g. Isaiah 44:28, 45:1).
We see three remarkable examples of this in the Bible: 1—Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations” (Jer. 1:5), 2—John the Baptist, “And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit” (Luke 1:41) and 3—Jesus Christ, “Listen, O coastlands, to Me,
And take heed, you peoples from afar! The Lord has called Me from the womb” (Isa. 49:1).
However, overwhelmingly, this is the exception to the rule—this is not God’s usual way. The vast majority will not have such an experience of having the role of a prophet or a Savior—with a personal mission or performing earth-shaking miracles. In fact, most people are “average Joes” placed into a body—into a collective work (1 Cor. 1:26-31; 12:1-31).
We are told in John 6:44, 65 that some few people are now being called to understand the plan and purpose of God as revealed through His Holy Days. In that sense, God has intervened. However, if God’s overall plan is to succeed, He cannot plot out every decision of your life (i.e. swatting a fly). God does not know you’re every decision—He doesn’t know what you are going to decide tomorrow, but He would like to. What does this mean?
Jesus is referred to as our Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4). A shepherd’s job is to care for and protect. It is God’s desire that “all men be saved” (1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9). However, those whom God is now calling represent His flock—Jesus Christ takes seriously His responsibility of watching over God’s people. He takes great strides in not losing even one sheep (John 10:27-29; 17:12). Think of the great pains the God Family experienced to make this possible—and it required learning something previously unknown.
The Apostle Paul, as inspired by God sheds considerable light on this previous statement. First is Hebrews 2:17, “Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” Paul further explains: “though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered” (5:8). We now have a great High Priest who can empathize and sympathize with us because of what He learned—what a remarkable sacrifice.
Therefore, to those who are called now, you can imagine that God is surveying every aspect of your life carefully. And truth be told, you may even be giving God some anxious moments in various circumstances of your life. For this reason, God would like to know what you’re future decisions are going to be. What are you going to do tomorrow—as this indicates what you will do in His Kingdom.
Now, let’s face it, human beings are fairly predicable creatures—or creatures of habit. Of course, God has a fairly good idea of what you are probably going to do in several given circumstances. David reiterated this numerous times throughout the book of Psalms:
You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me…For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well (139:2-5, 13-14).
As human beings, we often follow certain patterns or we get into certain “ruts.” We wake up, we get out of bed, we fix our breakfast, we go to work, we come home, do our chores, we go to bed and the next day we start it all over again. Generally, we are the same person day-in and day-out—a radical transformation doesn’t take place while we are sleeping. Of course, that could also be the problem, which could be causing God some anxious moments.
It is imperative that God gets to know us and that we get to know God. This is primarily accomplished through prayer and Bible study. Someone may ask, “What’s the big deal?” Simply this: someday God is going to offer us immortality (1 Cor. 15:51-54)—“we shall be like Him” (1 John 3:2). When we are like God, we will be given immense authority and power. However, before God can relinquish such power He must know what we will do with it and how we will use it. God does not want and will not have another Satan in His kingdom and we can all thank God for that. The question then becomes, “Will we follow the perverted way of Satan or the footsteps of our elder brother, Jesus Christ” (John 10:10)?
God wants to know and He will know what we are going to do and how we are going to act once He shares with us everlasting life. The whole basis of this prediction—of what we will do in the future—is what we do today.
Human beings are free moral agents, which means we have freedom of choice—God designed it that way so that He can come to know us for who we really are. He observes the kind of choices we make concerning right and wrong and good verses evil. God wants to grow His family—He wants “sons and daughters” (2 Cor. 6:18) who obey Him because they choose to obey Him. Otherwise, the kingdom would be full of automatons and pre-programmed robots, in which case, God could simply raise up stones for that purpose (Matt. 3:9).
God gives us freedom of choice so that He can predict what we are doing to do. He gave the patriarch Abraham freedom of choice. God told Abram to get out of his country, he did. Abram was promised an inheritance of land. He was promised a son and multiplied descendants. He was told to be circumcised, though painful, and he did. However, it wasn’t until the final and tremendous test of sacrificing the “son of promise” that God finally stated, “And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me” (Gen. 22:12). He now knew that He could ultimately predict what Abraham would do with the joys of everlasting life in the Kingdom of God.
Jesus said, “Therefore by their fruits you will know them” (Matt. 7:20). In other words, what you do—what you decide—whether good or bad. Are you practicing God’s way in your life—praying and studying regularly? Or is it the great intention that almost was? Perhaps you are one who says, “I’ll do it tomorrow;” yet, tomorrow never comes. However, if you are diligent in following God today, you will most likely keep doing it tomorrow. And the longer you yield to God, the more predictable you will be—obeying will become your habit and habits become a nature within themselves.
If you obey God Sunday through Friday, you will probably also obey God on Saturday, but the point is, you still don’t have to. We are still free moral agents with the freedom of choice. Many people have been Christians for most of their lives, but after many years they gave up—the same could happen to you if you decide to do it. And the Bible explicitly teaches that the beginning of our walk is not what counts, but how we end (Ezek. 18:21-24).
Does God know-it-all? Does He know everything? No, not necessarily! Yet, based on what you’ve done so far with what you have been given, God has a fairly good idea, but you could surprise Him. Why? God doesn’t know what hasn’t been decided yet and He doesn’t decide—you do!
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