Light travels faster than sound," wrote H. A. Gordon in discussing Bible prophecy. "You can see the flash of fire from the cannon's mouth, a mile away, considerably before the noise of the discharge reaches the ear. God flashed the light of prediction upon the pages of His Word, and we see it. Wait a little and we see the event itself."
The Advent Movement is a fulfillment of "the light of prediction," and the prophetic word is fulfilled also in the age-long history of church and state. But prophecy and its fulfillment is seldom discussed by Adventists in the setting of divine prescience, or God's foreknowledge of man's free moral choice, and of the motives that prompt human acts, good and evil.
Does the Omniscient One have pinpoint preknowledge of the moral choices of individuals as well as foreknowledge of the great events of history? If God has such knowledge, does it follow that freedom of choice is an illusion? These two questions asked by theologians for long centuries raise two fundamental questions in response. One, on what grounds, scripturally speaking, is it possible to limit or restrict the foreknowledge of God? Two, in what way would the divine foreknowledge of individual human activity, moral or immoral, interfere with man's free moral agency?
A. H. Strong insisted upon "God's perfect and eternal knowledge of all things which are objects of knowledge, whether they be actual or possible, past, present, or future."—Systematic Theology, p. 282. This same theologian, arguing against the doctrine of what he called "the divine nescience [lack of knowledge," urged what he called "our fundamental conviction of God's perfection" which he said was supported by the "constant testimony of Scripture." Strong argues that "in Is. 41:21, 22, God makes his foreknowledge the test of his Godhead in the controversy with idols. If God cannot foreknow free human acts, then 'the Lamb that hath been slain from the foundation of the world' (Rev, 15:8) was only a sacrifice to be offered in case Adam should fall, God not knowing whether he would or not, and in case Judas should betray Christ, God not knowing whether he would or not. Indeed, since the course of nature is changed by man's will when he burns towns and fells forests, God cannot on this theory predict even the course of nature. All prophecy is therefore a protest against this view.
How God foreknows free human decisions we may not be able to say. but then the method of God's knowledge in many other respects is unknown to us.—Ibid., p. 285.
In Psalm 56:8 the inspired writer declared, "Thou tellest my wanderings." 1 Samuel 23:12 reads, "Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the Lord said, They will deliver thee up." The gospel prophet wrote, "that saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure" (Isa. 44:28). These texts reveal that God is not only the "watcher of men" (Job 7: 20, R.S.V.) but also the Omniscient God with divine prescience and foreknowledge of men's actions. "All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do" (Heb. 4:13). "With God all things are possible" (Matt. 19:26).
No good purpose would be served by God's limitation of knowledge of future events, good or evil, great or small. Who would be disposed to worship a half-ignorant god, a deity with a sort of quasi-foreknowledge, a being capable of announcing in advance through the Bible prophets the rise and fall of world empires, but incapable of foreknowledge concerning the actions of people, particularly the sins of the actors on the stage of history?
Our knowledge of the fact that God has perfect foreknowledge is an inspiring cause of true reverence and adoration. Adam Clarke gives us further cause for true reverence when he says:
"God has a double knowledge of his universe. He knows it as it exists eternally in his mind, as his own idea; and he knows it as actually existing in time and space, a moving, changing, growing universe, with perpetual process of succession. In his own idea, he knows it all at once; but he is also aware of its perpetual becoming, and with reference to events as they occur he has foreknowledge, present knowledge, and knowledge afterwards. . . . He conceives of all things simultaneously, but observes all things in their succession."—Quoted by A. H. Strong in Systematic Theology, p. 284.
Tennyson wrote of "that eye which watches guilt and goodness, and hath power to see within the green the mouldering tree, and towers fallen as soon as built."
If man can foresee intuitively, and perhaps dimly, certain decisions and actions, blessings and judgments, on the part of a just and good God, certainly God can foresee certain actions on the part of unjust and fallen men. And while God's foreknowledge does not interfere with God's own free agency, neither does God's foreknowledge of human activity interfere with man's free moral choice.
The God whom we serve and adore is the Creator and sustainer of all things. He made the infinitely large suns and the stars, the great planets and the satellites, the vast out-stretching universe of endless swirling galaxies. The same Creator made the tiny atoms found in the material world with which we are surrounded, each a little solar system of its own, in constant movement with protons, neutrons, electrons also in endless movement.
The omnipotence and omniscience of God are seen in the perfection of the atom, the infinitely small device of God, as well as in the greatness and vastness of His larger works, worlds tumbling over and on and on in endless procession. It would be inconsistent to have faith in God's mind and power as revealed in the infinitely great Creation but not in the infinitely small. Are not the benign attributes of God revealed with equal forcefulness by the miracle of atoms as much as by the majesty of worlds? And shall we limit God's foreknowledge concerning the destiny of men and nations and accuse Him of impotent nescience regarding the actions of the individual characters in life's drama who actually make history? What good purposes would be served if we did this? The Scriptures do not support this view.
Did Jesus our Lord have pinpoint foreknowledge of the moral choices of men? What does the New Testament say? and the Old? Here are a few instances.
Peter's Denial
In the account of Jesus' foreknowledge of Simon Peter's denial: "And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. . . I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me" (Luke 22:31-34).
The denial of Peter was a sin. Christ knew so well what Peter would do that He made bold to say that the denial would be a triple denial, a triple sin. Did Christ's foreknowledge of Peter's sin affect Peter's conduct? No. Peter's cowardly denial of Christ was simply an expression of faulty character, uninfluenced by divine foreknowledge. Peter simply acted out his own perversity, which was prompted by straightened circumstances. Yet it has been argued that God brought special influences to bear to secure these results, and that Peter's will acted irresponsibly under a law of cause and effect. Foolishness!
It was on another occasion, in connection with Peter's affirmation of faith in Christ as the Son of the living God (Matt. 16:13-20), that Jesus began "to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day" (verse 21). The particular sins of the elders and chief priests and scribes were here predicted. Jesus said that He would "be killed." The greatest sin that men have committed was the murder of the Son of God. This the Old Testament prophets had predicted. This Jesus preknew, and His foreknowledge of the sins of the scribes and Pharisees did not prevent the murder, or require it, or interfere with the free moral agency of the perpetrators of the crime. Divine foreknowledge was not an influence operating for or against the murder, so far as the criminals' free choice was concerned. Of this evil act of men, the Scriptures declare, in Acts 2:23, "him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God."
Crucifixion Foretold
The events of the crucifixion of our Lord were described in Old Testament prophecies. "They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture" (Ps. 22:18). "Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me" (Ps. 41:9). Was the scornful irreverence of the soldiers at the cross a matter of preknowledge to God? Was the treachery of Judas also foreknown? These texts indicate that it was. Concerning the events in connection with Christ's trial and crucifixion, Ellen G. White has made the following profound observation:
Each actor in history stands in his lot and place; for God's great work after His own plan will be carried out by men who have prepared themselves to fill positions for good or evil. In opposition to righteousness, men become instruments of unrighteousness. But they are not forced to take this course of action. They need not become instruments of unrighteousness, any more than Cain needed to. God said to him, "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door." Cain would not hear the voice of God; and as a result, he became his brother's murderer.
Men of all characters, righteous and unrighteous, will stand in their several positions in God's plan. With the characters they have formed, they will act their part in the fulfillment of history. In a crisis, just at the right moment, they will stand in the places they have prepared themselves to fill. Believers and unbelievers will fall into line as witnesses to confirm truth that they themselves do not comprehend. All will co-operate in accomplishing the purposes of God, just as did Annas, Caiaphas, Pilate, and Herod. In putting Christ to death, the priests thought they were carrying out their own purposes, but unconsciously and unintentionally they were fulfilling the purpose of God. He "revealeth the deep and secret things: He knoYveth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him."
Heaven and earth will pass away, but not one jot or tittle of the word of God will fail. It will endure forever. All men, whatever their position, whatever their religion, loyal or disloyal, wicked or righteous, are fitting themselves for a part in the closing scenes of this earth's history. The wicked will trample one another down as they act out their attributes and fulfill their plans, but they will carry out the purposes of God.—Review and Herald, June 12, 1900.
Actions Not Forced
Note these inspired words: "In opposition to righteousness, men become instruments of unrighteousness. But they are not forced to take this course of action. They need not become instruments of unrighteousness, any more than Cain needed to. God said to him, 'If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.'"
Sin led to the murder of Abel by Cain. Sin led to the murder of Christ by Caiaphas, the priests, and the Romans. These men were not forced to do this. "Men of all characters, righteous and unrighteous, will stand in their several positions in God's plan. With the characters they have formed, they will act their part in the fulfillment of history. In a crisis, just at the right moment, they will stand in the places they have prepared themselves to fill." Wrote Strong:
Prescience is not itself causative. It is not to be confounded with the predetermining will of God. Free actions do not take place because they are foreseen, but they are foreseen because they are to take place.
Seeing a thing in the future does not cause it to he, more than seeing a thing in the past causes it to be. As to future events, we may say with Whedon: "Knowledge takes them, not makes them."--Strong, Systematic Theology, p. 286.
Thomas Aquinas wrote that "God is not the cause of all things that are known by God, since evil things that are known by God are not from him."
God has His purposes, His plans. Men work to thwart God's plans; Satan works to contravene God's intentions. The omniscient Lord is able to operate in a wise manner that permits men to function as free moral agents while the development of prophecy continues in history. His foreknowledge is useful in aiding Him in shaping human events. Yet this is done in the setting of human decisions. There is no retraction of men's free moral agency on God's part. "Each actor in history stands in his lot and place; for God's great work after His own plan will be carried out by men who have prepared themselves to fill positions for good or evil." (Italics supplied.) Men act out their character patterns. They are not puppets or robots under constraint of invisible and relentless forces. Yet, mysteriously, God is at work as the Omniscient Lord of history! Ellen White wrote:
In the annals of human history the growth of nations, the rise and fall of empires, appear as dependent on the will and prowess of man. The shaping of events seems, to a great degree, to be determined by his power, ambition, or caprice. But in the word of God the curtain is drawn aside, and we behold, behind, above, and through all the play and counterplay of human interests and power and passions, the agencies of the all-merciful One, silently, patiently working out the counsels of His own will.--Education, p. 173.
