foreknowledge

God knows the future.

God knows the future.

Isaiah 13

If there’s one thing I had to become quickly accustomed to as a new parent, it was driving around in the car with my daughter strapped into her car seat behind me—facing backwards. Since I was often driving with no other adults in the car, I wasn’t crazy about the requirement of a rear-facing seat for babies since it meant I wouldn’t be able to see Caroline at all while I was behind the wheel. A thousand wild ideas of what could “happen” to her while I couldn’t see her used to go through my head. So, before I could drive myself crazy, my husband bought a mirror that attached to the seat she was facing so at least I could see her reflection. Problem solved.

God is in control, part 2.

God is in control, part 2.

Ecclesiastes 9

Just in case we didn’t get the message in chapter 8 yesterday, Solomon continues to drive home the point about having little control over the things that happen to us in life: “The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.” (vs 11)

God wants us to surrender.

God wants us to surrender.

Nehemiah 13

For Nehemiah, this must have been a shocking end to his story. He had devoted his life to overseeing the rebuilding of the Jerusalem walls and ushering in a new era of spiritual revival for the Israelites. The dramatic rebuilding of the wall—which had survived numerous attacks and intended detours by political enemies—had been topped off by a spiritual celebration in the temple, culminating in a signed covenant made by the people.

God works with small groups.

God works with small groups.

Ezra 1

The book of Ezra begins with the decree, made by Cyrus king of Persia in 538 B.C., that gave the Jewish exiles the right to finally return home to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple of the Lord. (Here’s an interesting side note to that story. Many scholars believe that Daniel was instrumental in stirring the heart of the king by sharing with him the prophecies in Jeremiah 25 and 29 regarding the return of the exiles from Babylon. Incidentally, these prophecies mention King Cyrus of Persia by name—even though they were written 150 years before his birth.)

God knows everything.

God knows everything.

2 Kings 23

One of the things about God that confounds me is how He can know the future yet leave us free to make choices. This is a subject I’ve gone back and forth on in the past, and I still don’t feel "settled" into a position (and I may never). On the one hand, it is very clear that God knows specific details about the future, including people and events. On the other hand, the Bible is also clear that God gives us freedom to make choices, and I sympathize with people who argue that if a choice is made freely, how can it be known ahead of time?

God knew you before you were born.

God knew you before you were born.

JUDGES 13

When it comes to God, one of the hardest things to wrap my finite, little mind around is the fact that He stands outside of Time. As creatures who are so attached to linear time, it is nearly impossible to discuss this aspect of God, because even the words we use to talk about it—past, present, and future—are all words that are irrevocably linked to linear time. God is outside of and above all of these things.

God is never caught off guard.

God is never caught off guard.

GENESIS 37

And so now we come to the story of Joseph, the son whom Jacob loved more than all the others, the son who began having dreams. Joseph and his brothers had grown up in an environment where they were exposed to jealousy and rivalry, so it’s no surprise that Joseph’s brothers don’t much like the dreams he tells them about. Even Jacob takes a little offense: "Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?" (vs 10)

God knows.

God knows.

GENESIS 25

Stories like this one fascinate me. In Genesis 25:23, the Lord informs Rebekah that the older of her two sons would "serve the younger." Of course, this wasn’t the normal course of events in Rebekah’s culture. The firstborn son was the heir to everything, the one responsible to carry on the family. Thus, it was customary for all the younger children to "serve" the oldest.