He Knows

Objection:

Some Bible texts say that God knows and sees everything  (Job 42:2; Psalm 44:21; 139:7-8; Proverbs 15:3, Jeremiah 16:17; 23:24; Acts 1:24; 1 John 3:20), yet other Bible texts say that He does not (Genesis 3:8; 4:14, 15; 11:5; 18:9, 20-21; 22:12; 32:27; Numbers 22:9, Deuteronomy 8:2; 13:3; 2 Chronicles 32:31; John 1:7; 2:2; Hosea 8:4; Jonah 1:3, 10). Textual evidence indicates that God is not as all-knowing as He seems.

Answer:

First, many of the texts used to disprove God’s omniscience actually demonstrate His full absolute knowledge. The context reveals God allowing man see from His perspective, so man can see what he (as a created being) does not know. Often, proof texts are used without discretion, such as Genesis 18:17 which speaks of Abraham, not God, who does not know.

Second, language of other texts (such as those mentioning hiding or being hidden from God) does not imply that God does not know the location of that which is hidden. God wants man to understand that nothing is hidden from his site. There is no place God cannot be and there is no place He cannot know. When I played hide and seek with my children, I knew where they were the whole time and their fun increased the more I pretended I did not know where they were. The same is true with sinful man: he is convinced that he knows where God cannot see and tries to hide there. God wants man to understand that He will search not because He cannot see, but because nothing will escape His sight.

"It will come about at that time That I will search Jerusalem with lamps, And I will punish the men who are stagnant in spirit, who say in their hearts, ‘The LORD will not do good or evil!'”  (Zephaniah 1:12)