What does God know? It is mind boggling when you take time to consider the limitless knowledge of God!
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The Knowledge of God
This morning I want to meditate with you on the knowledge of God. Last time we studied the omnipresence of God and our question was “Where is God?” Today we are going to study the knowledge of God and our question will be “What does God know?” So, let’s get right into the Scriptures. What does God know? We are going to see what the Bible says about what God knows under 4 headings:
- God Knows All Things About Himself
- God Knows All Things About His Creation
- God Knows All Things About The Future
- God Knows All Things About The Hypothetical
1. God Knows Himself
The Three Persons Of The Trinity Know One Another. Jesus said in Matthew 11:27, “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”
God Knows His Own Thoughts. 1 Corinthians 2:10-11, “for even the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.”
God Knows His Own Plans. Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” This comes out also in 1 Peter 1:18-21, “knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you.” Christ was foreknown, in the sense that God knew His plans concerning sending Christ into the world to save sinners, and God knew these plans from eternity.
2. God Knows All Things About His Creation
By this I mean that God knows all things that have actually occurred or will actually occur.
God knew that Cain killed his brother Abel, although no human eye saw it. God said in Genesis 4:10 to Cain, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground.”
God knew Sarah laughed derisively in her tent when the Lord told Abraham that she would bear a son. Sarah denied that she had laughed, but the Lord said, “No, but you did laugh” (Gen. 18:10-15)
God knew that Achan had stolen a wedge of gold and hid it under his tent
God knew about David’s adultery, lying and murder and sent Nathan to rebuke him.
- A) God knows about every detail about the universe.
In Isaiah 40:26 the Bible says, “Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, the One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing.” Well, surely if God has named every star, He knows their exact number, and He knows each one individually. So, how many stars are there. Scientists believe there to be roughly 2 with 23 zeros behind it! I don’t even know what that would be called. And that is only the observable universe. As we develop stronger telescopes, undoubtedly we will discover many more! Think of every beach on this planet, and every grain of sand on every beach. That’s staggering isn’t it? Well, scientists believe there are about 10,000 stars for every grain of sand on the earth! This just blows the mind. There is no way I can even conceive of the immensity of God’s universe. Yet God knows everything about every star, planet, moon, comet, and asteroid out there in space.
- B) God knows every detail about the animals on earth. How do I know? Jesus said in Matthew 10:29, “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.” What does He mean? I take Him to mean that although a sparrow is almost worthless, not a single sparrow can die without God’s knowledge and permission. Listen to Psalm 104:25-28, “There is the sea, great and broad, in which are swarms without number, animals both small and great. There the ships move along, and Leviathan, which You have formed to sport in it. They all wait for You to give them their food in due season. You give it to them, they gather it up; You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good.” Basically that psalm is teaching us that it is God Himself who gives all the creatures their food. God knows about all the animals in the sea, and on land, and all the insects, and is intimately acquainted with all their ways.
- C) God knows every detail about us. Jesus said in Matthew 10:30, “The very hairs of your head are all numbered.” God knows how many hairs are on your head! Every time you comb your hair, He has to recount. The average person has about 100,000 hairs on his head! In fact, Jesus said in Matthew 6:8, “your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” God knows about every need that we have. He knows our financial needs. He knows that we are short on our rent or mortgage payment. He knows about our emotional needs, our loneliness, our broken heart, and our need for Christian fellowship. God knows every detail about our lives. And, wonder of wonders, He still loves us and cares for us. 1 Peter 5:7 says, “casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”
Psalm 139:1-6 says, “O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain to it.” God knows what I am doing at all times. He knows what I am going to say before I say it.
God knows what we are thinking. Hebrews 4:12-13 says, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” How is God able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart? He can do that because there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Nothing escapes God’s notice, including what you are thinking, and what is motivating you! Psalm 139:2 says “You know my thoughts from afar.”
God knows the motives of our heart! 1 Corinthians 4:5 says, “Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.” Now this is fascinating to me, because often I don’t know the motives of my heart! But God does. Even when I don’t know what is prompting me to do what I am doing, God does. I may be doing something that looks good to everyone else, but God sees that I am prompted by vanity, or man-pleasing, or pride, or envy, or jealousy. Just because man praises us, does not mean that God will. He knows all things!
2) God knows every detail about the future. Of course, that assumes He knows what took place before He created the angels and the universe. He knows every detail of ancient civilizations that has been lost to us forever. God still knows it. He knows about animals that once lived on the earth, but became extinct. He knows exactly how old the universe is.
How do we know God knows the future? Well, for one, because we know that He has foreordained whatever comes to pass. If that is true, then surely He has known all things from the beginning of the world. We also know this from the many prophecies of Scripture.
God knew what king Josiah would do. The Bible says in 1 Kings 13:1-3, “Now behold, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the Lord, while Jereboam was standing by the altar to burn incense. He cried against the altary by the word of the Lord, and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.’” Then, 300 years later, a man named Josiah did exactly what this man of God had prophesied! You can read about it in 2 Kings 23.
God knew what Cyrus would do. Again, God revealed that a heathen king of Persia, Cyrus, would one day make it possible for the Jews to return home from their exile in Babylon, which is exactly what happened. Notice Isaiah 44:28, “It is I who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd! And he will perform all My desire.’ And he declares of Jerusalem, “She will be built,’ and of the temple, “Your foundation will be laid.” Now this is fascinating. Some might say that Josiah merely read of the prophecies about a Josiah in the future, and went out to fulfill them. However, a heathen king would not know the Jewish prophecies. There would be no way that Cyrus would set out to fulfill this prophecy, and there would be no motivation for him to do so. His natural inclination would be to keep the Jews in bondage in Babylon. But he did the exact thing God said he would do, 150 years earlier.
God knew every detail about the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. There are many prophecies of Jesus, including the fact that He would be born of a virgin, be born in Bethlehem, live in Egypt, perform miracles, ride into Jerusalem on a donkey, be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, that the soldiers would cast lots for His garments, that He would be laid in a rich man’s tomb, that He would rise again on the third day. And that is only a small sampling!
Isaiah 46:9-11, “Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure.” God declares the end from the beginning, and He declares from ancient times things which have not been done.
3. God Knows All Things About The Hypothetical
God not only knows Himself, and all things actual, but also all things hypothetical. What do I mean? I’ll give you a few examples in Scripture.
1 Samuel 23:11-13. In this passage, David and his men have gone down to the city of Keilah to deliver them from the Philistines. While they are in Keilah, Saul learns of it, and summons all of his soldiers for war, to go down to Keilah to conquer David and his men. David asked Abiathar the priest to bring the ephod to him. Then he said, “O Lord God of Israel, Your servant has heard for certain that Saul is seeking to come to Keilah to destroy the city on my account. Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down just as Your servant has heard? O Lord God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant.” And the Lord said, “He will come down.” Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the Lord said, “They will surrender you.” Then David and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the pursuit.
Now, here is an interesting situation. David asked the Lord if Saul would come down. The Lord said, “Yes.” David asked the Lord if the men of Keilah would surrender him and his men to Saul. Again the Lord said, “Yes.” However, Saul never did come down, and the men of Keilah never did surrender him into Saul’s hand. Here we are taught that God knows not only all things actual, but all things possible. God knows what would happen in all situations, even if those situations never come to pass.
Matthew 11:21, “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.”
Again, we have an example where God knows what would happen if something else happened, even though that thing never happened! God knew that if the miracles occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in Chorazin and Bethsaida, they would have repented.
Therefore, I conclude that God possesses the knowledge, not only of what has happened, what is true now, and what will happen in the future, but He also knows what would happen if any of a limitless number of other options were to take place. He knows all things hypothetical.
Conclusion
Summary of the Biblical Teaching on the Knowledge of God
Psalm 147:5, “Great is the Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite.”
1 John 3:20, “God knows all things.”
Romans 11:33, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!” So how deep does God’s knowledge go? It is unsearchable! It is a chasm that has no bottom. You will never be able to search out the extent of God’s knowledge. It is infinite!
God’s knowledge is comprehensive, perfect, and exhaustive. Therefore God has never had to learn anything. It is part of His divine nature to know all things. He has always known all things. He is not like us. We must study, and read, and observe, and ponder in order to learn new things. God knows all things immediately, without effort, because of who He is. God can’t learn anything new, and God can’t unlearn anything. He never forgets.
Application
1) God’s Omniscience Brings Comfort to Believers
- God Knows Me. You and I are really not that significant. In God’s universe, the earth is nothing but a microscopic speck. Out of the 7.8 billion people on the planet, I’m just a drop in the ocean. Yet, God knows me as much as if there were nobody else in the world for Him to care for.
- God Knows my Heart. If you are a Christian, God has given you a new heart. You have a heart that loves Him. However, there are days when God wouldn’t know we loved Him if He were not omniscient. I’m thinking of Peter after he had denied the Lord three times. Jesus asked him three times if he loved Him. Finally, Peter blurted out, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You” (Jn.21:17). Some days, we have bad attitudes, a temper, lash out with our tongues. Thank God that He is omniscient, for He knows that in spite of our sin, we do love Him!
- God Knows my Trials. Psalm 56:8 says, “You have taken account of my wanderings; put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book?” Folks, we don’t go through trials alone. God knows and cares and will be with us in them. Remember the three Hebrew youth who were cast into the fiery furnace. One like the Son of God was walking around in the furnace with them!
- God Knows my Needs. How discouraging it would be if God didn’t know what I was going through, and left me to go through with all by myself!
- God Knows My Sins. However, in spite of my sins, He still loves me! My whole life has stood open to Him from the beginning. He knows every fall, sin, and backsliding I would experience. Let’s just admit it, all of us have skeletons in our closet. And God knows all about those skeletons. He knows things that could destroy our reputation and yet He still loves us! How comforting that is! No enemy of ours can make an accusation at the Judgment that He doesn’t already know. There are no hidden skeletons that will come tumbling out of the closet that will expose us on the last day. God knew us from eternity and called us to Himself in full knowledge of all of our sins and failings.
2) God’s Omniscience Brings Correction to Believers
- It Provides a Holy Motivation to Flee from Sin. Psalm 90:8, “You have placed our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence.” Hebrews 4:13, “There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” We can’t hide anything from God. This should provide a holy motivation to live as holy a life as a saved sinner can. It should compel us to seek inward purity of heart as well as outward purity of life.
3) God’s Omniscience Will Result in An Accurate Judgment of the Unsaved
- Revelation 20:11-15, “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” According to this passage, the deeds of the lost have all been written down in God’s book, and will be read on the last day. God’s judgment will result from His infallible knowledge.
- Ecclesiastes 12:14, “For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.” Folks, you can’t play games with God. You may be able to fool man, but you will never be able to fool God. He knows every one of your sins, and He will render strict justice for every one. Confess your sins and seek His forgiveness while there is still time! “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Is. 55:6-7).
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