In Genesis 18 Abraham is standing with God looking out at
the city of Sodom when God reveals to him that the cries of injustice coming
from Sodom are very serious and that he has decided to destroy the city because
of this.
But
Abraham, being ever so bold, argues with God saying, “It’s not like you to do
this, killing the innocent with the guilty as if there were no difference. It’s
not like you! Will the judge of all the earth not act justly?”
So God
changes his mind and tells Abraham that if there are just fifty innocent people
in Sodom then he will refrain from destroying the city. Still Abraham persists
to argue and eventually works God down to just ten innocent people being enough
to redeem the whole city.
In
Exodus 32 Moses is standing with God on a mountain and God reveals to him that
because the people of Israel have rejected the one true God for idols made of
gold he has decided to wipe them all out and start over new with Moses.
But
Moses responds, “Calm down your fierce anger. Change your mind about doing terrible
things to your own people,” and reminds God of Abraham and the promise God made
him. So, “Then the Lord changed his mind about the terrible things he said he
would do to his people.”
If, as
some presume, God knows the future then how can he change his mind? If God
changes his mind about something then wouldn’t that make the future he
previously thought he knew untrue? Or if God knew he would change his mind then
wouldn’t it be dishonest to say that he was going to do something that he knew
he wasn’t going to do? And what about all the times in the Bible when God is
genuinely surprised? How about when God is genuinely disappointed?
You
could say that the language about God changing his mind or being suprised is
just humans projecting onto God (It certainly wouldn’t be the first time that
happened). But let’s imagine for a minute that it’s not a projection.
This
would raise some really interesting questions about the future.
For
example, if people truly have free will and are free to change our minds, then
how can God know for sure what will happen? If the future is already foreknow
by God are we truly free to act in a way that is not in line with that?
If
people really can and do make actual choices then it seems that there must be
different possible futures? So it could be said that the future exists not as
actualities but as possibilities. But if the future exists only in the realm of
possibility then can God know the future?
Well
yes and no…
God
does not know one future but rather all of the possible futures. In this sense
God’s knowledge is not limited by the nature of the future, but rather expanded
by it.
But if
God only knows the future in the realm of possibility then how can God make
specific promises about the future? How could God have promised a Messiah to
the people of Israel without misleading them?
We
could say that God is very creative (as you might imagine the creator of the
cosmos would be). Not only does God know all of the possible futures but God
also knows a creative way to bring about his desired results in every potential
future. So if there are an infinite number of potential futures then God has an
infinite number of ideas of how to redeem each future into the future he is
creating. The example of Jesus then becomes a first fruit or a foretaste of the
way in which God is redeeming the brokenness of the world into new creation.
Still,
another question persists. If God knows all the possible futures is he
completely in the dark as to which possible future we will make actual?
We can
so no to this by remembering that God knows us in an intimate, relational way.
God knows us like a person knows a very close friend or sibling, like a teacher
knows their students or a parent knows their children to use just a few of the
examples found in the Bible. When we are with a very close friend we generally
know how they will react to certain things. We know what will make them happy
and what will make them angry and we know what not to say when they get upset.
We don't know these things in a
scientific sort of way, like we know that two plus two always equals four. We
have relational knowledge of the person, as opposed to empirical knowledge.
Likewise, God knows us very well and has relational knowledge of us in regards to
what possible future we will make actual.
This understanding allows for
humans to actually make choices as well as be in a genuine relationship with
God, as opposed to a manipulative one. It also allows for God to promise
specific things about the future and still be genuinely surprised when things
happen or change his mind in response to human actions, like Moses speaking up
for the people of Israel or any petitions of prayer.
Grace and Peace
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