Can God foresee the future? This question causes a powerful emotional response in many people. Some have a knee jerk response that God can do all things: "Don't try to limit my God," they will respond, "of course He can see the future." "Yes, God can do anything," others will counter, "but has chosen to place certain restrictions upon himself." [He can't lie, for example... (Titus 1:1-4)] Though many will argue otherwise, the Bible does not give us a direct answer. The Bible does say God is the one foretelling the finale from the beginning, but that is not necessarily the same as foreseeing the future. (Isaiah 46:10) Let us begin by considering the meaning of three words: Foretell, foreknow, and foresee. The dictionary provides little help as it defines foresee as to see in advance; and the others with little more clarity. It does say foretell means to predict. For the sake of our consideration, lets consider foreknow and foretell as synonymous, meaning to predict in advance; while foresee means, as the word implies, to be able to literally see in advance; like fast forwarding a movie that is already written out in detail. While they sound similar, we submit those are very different meanings. Please consider why.

Knowing whether God can foresee the future actually helps us have faith in his goodness, because it helps understand why wickedness exists. It helps us see why badness has been tolerated by  יהוה God for the 6000 years counting from Adam. It also helps us understand why  יהוה  is not responsible for the terrible hurt being done in the earth! (God's personal Name is יהוה as recorded over 6000 times in the original Hebrew text of the old testament. Jewish scholars assert the Diving Name literally means: He who "causes to become." [Exo 3:13-15]The Divine Name sounds like to those who speak English) Although the Bible does not give a direct answer as to whether יהוה can "foresee" the future, there are powerful Bible principles that do help us understand.

Before considering whether God can foresee the future, we should have a background of some basic Bible truths. We believe these "truths" form the foundation and basis for understanding or at least knowing יהוה, including why He can predict, but not foresee, the future; and, to understanding the difference. The Bible speaks of the "truth" as spiritual food, (Deu 8:3) and then likens basic Bible truth to milk; and the understanding of deeper Bible principles to meat (or solid food). (Heb 5:12-14 ; 1  Cor 10:3) Just as a newborn can not eat or digest meat, but must start by eating milk, so we must learn basic Bible truth as a foundation to understanding the deeper truths revealed in the Bible. So, then, to understand whether God can "foresee" the future, we should first have some foundation knowledge of God's word. We believe the following facts are basic to understanding the whole of the Bible:
If you are not certain there is clear scriptural support for these Bible facts, you might be better served to start with meditating on the scriptures linked above, and then the Introduction and/or the Home Page of the website; along with the scriptures linked there. [You will always gain the most from your study, of course, by reading the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) and thus following God's command (Mat 17:5) to hear his Christ (Anointed One) personally teach you these things. This material is only to help you realize that need; your need to listen to Jesus.] It is not necessary to be able to cite chapter and verse [without looking them up in your Bible], but, you should know in your own mind and heart that scriptural support exists for the above basic truths. We will not cite the above supporting scriptures again on this webpage as we believe it would be better to have a familiarity with [understanding of] those scriptures as a foundation for considering the material we are about to present. You can not speed a newborn's progress by blending meat with his mothers milk. [This reference to milk and meat is drawn from the Bible (Hebrews 5:13-14) and our using it should not, and we hope does not, seem disrespectful in the eyes of any person. We are all spiritual babies when compared with our lord Christ Jesus; or, when our understanding is compared with the whole of the knowledge contained in the Bible.]

Back, though, to considering the question: Can  יהוה foresee the future? Let us begin by more clearly defining what we mean by "foresee the future."  יהוה's name means "He causes to become"; so, what ever God purposes to happen He can foreknow and foretell (prophesy) it will be done. He can foretell it simply because He has the power to cause it to be so. If he chooses the leader of some nation to accomplish some feat, for example, He can then cause that leader to do what He wishes; thus causing the fulfillment of his prophecy. (Isa 44:26-28; 2 Chron 36:22-23) God might in this way interfere temporarily with the freedom of choice of such a leader, as He uses that person to accomplish His will. Afterward, that individual would still be allowed and responsible for his own free choice as to obedience by faith in Christ, just as we all are. (Deu 30:19-20) [When King Cyrus of Persia was used by God to destroy Babylon and free his people, as recorded in Isaiah and 2 Chronicles above, Cyrus lived before Christ was born. But, in the resurrection, he will have the opportunity to put faith in Christ.]

Apart from events being directly controlled by God, certain other things happen as a natural consequence of laws or principles; which God can also foreknow. For example: If we hold an apple in front of us and let go, even we can foreknow it will fall to the earth as a natural consequence of physical law. We don't have to wonder or doubt; it will do so every single time. When God said Adam would die if he disobeyed, God could foreknow Adams death as a natural consequence of disobedience; just as easily as we can foreknow a motor will slow down and stop truning if we unplug it from the electric source. Adam needed God's direction to know how to do the right thing. Any deviation from those instructions would be a turning away from the correct way of doing things and would eventually lead to death. Obviously, God could foreknow that would happen. Controlling what will happen, and knowing the result of breaking his laws, are both examples of what the Bible means when it says God is the one foretelling the finish from the start. (Isaiah 46:8-11)

The next logical question that must then arises is this: If we were to believe God can foresee our future in detail, why has He permitted wickedness during all these 6,000 years of Bible record? That is the question asked by every parent who has lost a child: Why didn't God protect my child? Please note what this understanding leads us to: If God can foresee our future, why hasn't he simply looked to see where we will be in a few thousand years and moved us forward in time, as it were? He can resurrect the dead to life with all their memories and feelings intact. (Matthew 22:31-32)
So... And this is very important: If  יהוה (sounds like ) could foresee our future choices, it would mean He could simply look to see who we will be after we make those choices, and just change us (resurrect us) into who He can see we are going to become. By doing so, He could move mankind past all the pain and suffering now being caused at the hands of those disobedient [the wicked]. Do you see how this issue impacts your love for God? If we assert God can foresee the future in detail, and that is not true, we are in effect accusing God of being responsible for all the badness done by bad or imperfect men.
When someone's little child dies, it is hard for the parent to understand why. It is hard for them not to blame God. Those who assert God took their child to be an angel in heaven do not help. God does not kill little children to make angels. If He doesn't kill them, though, why does He permit them to be killed by others? Understanding that God can not foresee the future will also help us understand why bad exists.

First... To those who say God can do all things and that we can not place limits on the true God: Let me say, that is every bit true! Except... We must also recognize God can choose to limit himself. As an example: God cannot lie! (Titus 1:2) That is a limit he has chosen to place on himself. We can all be very thankful He has done so. As a result of God limiting himself to being upright, we can always depend on worshiping a God of truth. What He says, He will always do! We would be silly not to recognize God cannot lie, and we do not limit him by having knowledge of that fact. There is another limit God has placed upon himself which we do well to recognize: He gave us all freedom of choice. By virtue of that gift, we can choose to be obedient; or, we can choose to be disobedient. (Deuteronomy 30:15-16 ; Deuteronomy 30:19-20) Obedience is a freedom we possess. God could have programmed us with instinct as he seems to have done with the animals. Dogs, for example, behave according to a certain set of instinctive rules. I don't believe, then, a dog can sin [unless it is somehow polluted by human badness]. It is also unlikely a dog will ever look up at the starry sky and fall upon his knees giving thanks to his Creator for the gift of life. He will not share with others in giving thanks for our earthly home. As with God's other Creatures, dogs certainly enjoy life, but he seems to have no real appreciation that his gift of life came from God. Even if the dog could worship God, but only did so because he had been programmed to, how special would his pre-programmed worship really be? Does a computer worship you because it absolutely obeys your commands? [That is not to equate the beauty of God's animal creation with a computer.] We humans are created to be very special: In God's image... As free moral agents, we can choose to worship and give thanks to our Father! We have been given the freedom to choose what we will do with our life, and how we will expend our energies. We can be helpful and loving to others as we attempt to magnify and glorify our Heavenly Father, (Luke 1:46-47) or, we can choose to resist his efforts; thereby choosing to be wicked. Humans also have the wondrous gift of procreation: We can produce new little free moral agents, who also have the gift of choice. Even the Angels don't possess the gift of re-creating other angels. Happily, we and our little ones can use our free will to love and obey our heavenly Father: (John 4:34) Learning and being ever thankful He always has our best interest in focus. (Hebrews 11:6 ; Isaiah 48:17) If God had programmed us to be obedient, we would be little more than exquisitely made, self replicating, robots; just following the rules of our programming. We would not, and we could not, be God's true friends. (Isa 4:8; Jas 2:23) God has given us freedom as sons and daughters! (Rom 8:19-21) Like Abraham, we can become God's friends. (John 15:11-16; Isa 41:8; Gal 3:26-29)

So... יהוה God could foreknow that if Adam disobeyed (sinned) he would die as a natural consequence of separating himself from his Creator's blessings and protection; but, God could not foresee whether Adam would choose to disobey. God has limited himself in that regard; He limited himself by giving Adam the freedom to make that choice. Could יהוה foreknow that some of his earthly sons might disobey? Probably. It is possible a rebellious spirit had already developed in Satan even before the creation of Adam and Eve. God would certainly have known if it had. (Mark 2:6-8) For a certainty, יהוה could foresee that the gift of life to his free sons and daughters was good and worth giving. That is why He made it so. If some choose to become bad and throw away that gift, it does not lower the value of the gift to God's obedient children.

That is what the problems we live through in this old system amount to. God is patiently dealing with those who refuse to be obedient: And, we should remember, we all started our life in that crowd of disobedient individuals. (Rom 3:21-26) If we must suffer because of disobedience chosen by men, it does not make it God's fault. God does not kill little children to make angels. Disobedience to God (sin) is what brought about death; sometimes of little children, and eventually of everyone. (Rom 5:12) God created the resurrection in order to undo the death our ignorant sinful choices brought. We might reflect on it this way: If you saw your young child reaching to touch something that would give him a minor burn, you would certainly tell him no. If you could see he was going to disobey and touch it anyway, you might allow him to do so: Knowing his minor burn might teach him why he needed to obey. It might help him realize you have only his care and protection in mind going forward. Your tolerating his disobedience, just long enough to give him a better understanding of the outcome of his choice, might protect him from later disobeying your command not to play in the street and so run in front of a car; or even worse. (If you burned your finger as a young child, that burn was your whole world for a few minutes. You thought of nothing else. When it stopped hurting, it was no longer a concern. In a week it was a small matter. As an adult, you probably don't even remember. So it will be with the pains we now suffer in this old system. It is impossible to have free choice to serve God without the possibility of some refusing.) Though some individuals may harm (or have harmed) us by abusing their gift of freedom,  יהוה will make (and/or is making) it all better! And we must remember, we have most certainly harmed others... (Ecclesiastes 7:22) We are thankful for God's patience in our behalf. Realizing we made mistakes that hurt others, we should in turn be patient with the sins of other people.

God's inability to foresee our choices is illustrated for us in the example of Abraham: Abraham loved יהוה and was faithful to Him all through his life. (Genesis 11:27 through Genesis 25:10) As a result of his early faithfulness, God promised a youthful Abraham [then Abram] He would cause all the nations of the earth to bless themselves by means of Abraham's seed. (Genesis 12:1-3) Abraham loved that promise! He realized that promise meant the hoped for messiah (Genesis 3:15) would come through his descendants; (Matthew 1:1) and later that the promised deliverer would come through his son Isaac. (Gen 21:12) From the test that came upon Abraham, we might infer that Abraham started to love that promise too much. Abraham apparently loved Isaac, and the promises associated with him so much, God could no longer be certain whether Abraham loved God, or just God's promises of good things. There is a big difference, and, if God couldn't know, it meant Abraham hadn't fully decided! God intends and wants us to love life and good things; as those good gifts are all from him, because he loves us. We can never forget, though, who provides those gifts. That is not vanity on God's part! If we allow the gifts to become our God, (the gifts to become the love of our heart,) we have made good things into bad. Failure to remember that our Father is the giver of life, and that He alone is good, (Mark 10:18) will make us turn to doing bad (and will cause harm). That is the freedom of choice we have been given. (Deu 30:19-20) We choose to appreciate the Father of our life, or we choose not to. Because Abraham had apparently become divided in his love for God, יהוה requested Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. What would Abraham do? He had expended his whole life looking forward to a promise that was finally realized in Isaac; but all that didn't happen until Abraham was in his old age. Wouldn't the death of Isaac amount to a breaking of God's promises to Abraham? Abraham resolved the matter in his own heart, and then (as good as) offered up Isaac without hesitation. God did not allow Isaac to be put to death, of course, but by his request He helped Abraham to fully and completely make the choice as to what was most important. Because of his faithful obedience, Abraham came to be called God's friend. (James 2:21-23) Just think about that! Abraham was a "personal friend" to the Creator of everything we can know. [You can be too! (Gal 3:26-29)] God can know what is in our heart, but not before we have first fully decided who we are. We must choose if we love God, or if we are rebellious. That is our gift: Our freedom of choice. And, that choice defines who we are. A wise choice to obedience and thanksgiving will become a treasure we can carry forever! (Deuteronomy 30:15-16 ; Deuteronomy 30:19-20) Make no mistake, what you love is what comes out of your mouth; and judges you! (Mal 3:16-4:3; Rom 10:9-10)

Not only can God see what is in our heart (after we first define what that is), יהוה can get to know us well enough to judge that we are righteous. Abraham was likely judged righteous at the time God called him friend. With his decision to obey even under great test, Abraham unreservedly decided in his heart God was most important to him, and by that display of faith he became God's friend. Abraham might still need to be resurrected and exercise faith in Christ Jesus; but, God's calling Abraham friend likely indicates God is certain Abraham will do so.

What ever the case with Abraham, we can see God's perfect ability to judge one as righteous made plain in the example of Christ Jesus. Satan basically said we are all bad, and that we will all fail when put to the test. (Job 1:11) Satan said we will fail when it costs us something to remain faithful.  יהוה said that was not so, and that He knew one individual well enough to know that one would never prove unfaithful; his firstborn son. (Psalms 40:7-8) That firstborn then came to earth as the man Jesus Christ, with responsibility to make that prophecy come true. (Philippians 2:8-11 ; Matthew 26:39) The Bible tells us Jesus learned obedience from the things he suffered. (Hebrews 5:8) The prehuman Jesus had been obedient all his life, of course, but his obedience had always resulted in blessings at his Father's hand. Now, though, for the first time, obedience by Jesus would cost him something. It cost him the most precious thing he had (that could be taken from him): His very life. Jesus suffered a horrible death both physically painful and spiritually humiliating (punished as an asserted enemy of truth). No one could conceivably be asked by Satan to give more! There is no more... Even so, Jesus remained faithful, just as  his  our Father had said he would.

Among other things, Jesus faithfulness proves יהוה can get to know us so well, He can judge who is and will forever remain, righteous. (Genesis 22:18 - Jesus is the faithful seed of Abraham.) If יהוה could simply have looked into the future to see who would prove faithful, it would not have been necessary for Jesus to suffer. Even Jesus had to make the choice to be faithful. What God could know, of course, was Jesus had already made that choice. Because of satan's accusations, God allowed Jesus to demonstrate his absolute faithfulness under extreme pressure. (Isa 6:8; Psa 40:6-8) Even Jesus himself was concerned he might make the wrong choice. (Matthew 26:38-39) Jesus maintained faith his Father's judgment that he was righteous would prove true. It did! God's judgment ability can only be appreciated through our understanding that  יהוה can not foresee the future choices of free moral agents; until after they make them. By giving the gift of freedom, יהוה has limited his ability to foresee the future of individuals. While not being able to foresee our choices, He can get to know individuals who have chosen faithfulness to him well enough to know (and judge) they will never prove disloyal. Righteous persons can be known by God, and thereby become his friends. You personally have the opportunity to become God's friend: To become a loyal person! Note also, suffering is not necessary for  יהוה to judge who is righteous. יהוה absolutely knew Jesus would prove faithful even though Jesus had never suffered or been tested in that way. (Prov 8:30-31) As with everything He does,  יהוה's judgment is thus forever proved by Jesus to be perfect and above reproach. May we use our freedom of choice to realize what is truth! (1 John 5:20-21) It is knowledge of the Bible [the words of Jesus] that can help us exercise faith in Jesus Christ now; as we build friendship with his Father  יהוה. Soon, the reality of the life God intended for us will be upon us. God's promises are now resulting in a world where his purpose will be accomplished "on earth as in heaven." (Mat 6:10) We have the opportunity to live on an earth full of people who love others as themselves, (Mat 7:12) and where all recognize God's way of doing things is always the very best way. All who will be there would rather die than disobey our heavenly Father. They each recognize any deviation from God's way will bring harm. We say to the king of God's kingdom, come quickly Lord Jesus! (Mark 11:9-10)

It may well be that God made the physical creation so wondrous and complex that even He can't foresee such detail as what snowflakes will form today. Then again, since he is wise and powerful enough to conceive and create it all, it may be He can foresee every snowflake that could ever possibly form, right out into eternity. The Bible doesn't say, so we can't know. The Bible would seem to teach however, that even יהוה himself can not foresee the choices of his free sons and daughters; until after we have made those choices. May we choose wisely! May we choose obedience and life. (Deuteronomy 30:15-16) Throughout history, God has made many changes in response to free choice. When the Jews were being led into the promised land for an example: When they proved unfaithful, God made them wander in the wilderness 40 years while the unfaithful generation died off. A new generation was then led in; after that 40 year postponement. (Numbers 14:30-34) God's purpose was still fulfilled, but the timing of his plan had changed to allow for free choice.

One thing that can cause confusion about whether God can foresee our future is believing in (having faith in) the science fiction notion of time travel. That is just another one of satan's lies. As one man said, "the past is gone, and the future hasn't happened yet." You can't travel forward to something that doesn't yet exist, nor back to something that has gone out of existence. When our future is being caused to become by God, but is also being impacted by those with free choice, what that future will become (or more accurately the details of how we will get there) must rest in some measure on those choices; because those choices can't be foreseen until we make them. God has, of course, retained enough control to keep the wicked from destroying everything; including our individual hope for life. The choice as to our own personal obedience, however, rests in our own hands and our hands alone; and, our choice can not be foreseen. (John 3:17-21) But, God is paying attention as we make it! (Mal 3:16-4:3)

As to why wickedness has been tolerated for so many years, then: It is because God is good! He gave us freedom to choose to become his friends as sons and daughters. (Romans 8:20-21) Even when Adam and Eve abused that gift of freedom to make themselves bad,  יהוה still made a way to extend the chance for life to their descendants, to those among them who would choose to be loyal. (Rom 3:21-26) All the pain we see or experience is the result of the actions of those who chose to disobey our Creator. The death of a little child is the result of sin and disobedience by mankind. (Rom 5:12) It is not God's fault. What God is doing, however, is making it better. While some of what we suffer in this current system is certainly terrible, יהוה has given us hope through the knowledge he is working to undo the harm that has been done (and is being done). (1 John 3:8b) Soon, the pain we now endure will be no more to us than a bee sting to a grown man who can only remember receiving that sting as a small boy. (Micah 4:3-4) Even the sting of the death of a child will be taken away, as we welcome such children back to life in the resurrection. (1 Cor 15:55-57) The Bible knowledge supporting that hope lessens that sting of death, even now.

God told Adam if he and his wife disobeyed they would die, and so, their children do as well. Shortly after their disobedience, Cain followed their pattern of sinful disobedience as he killed his brother Able. Satan and Adam and Eve, and the sin they introduced, caused the death of Able: God did not! If God had protected Able, (which would have required God protect an imperfect sinner,) how would anyone be able to know God is righteous and it is Satan who is the evil liar? [God actually has protected Able, of course, through the hope of the resurrection. (Genesis 4:10 ; John 11:23-24)] What God has allowed to happen in this old system provides eternal proof Satan is the liar and a killer! We are all born sinners, with an inclination to do harm. (Genesis 6:5) Even though we are sinners, and the imperfect children of disobedient Adam and Eve; God is giving us the opportunity to learn to show love (Matthew 22:37-40) and to be obedient. (1 John 5:3) The 6000 year drama of our lives has thus proved as eternal witness, that יהוה is righteous... (Rom 3:21-26)

May all lovers of righteousness, throughout all the earth, join in this prayer: "Act quickly lord Jesus!" (Rev 22:20; Mal 3:16-4:3)


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