Gen. 22:12 - Did God know?

[joeteekay]

In the account of Abraham taking Isaac to be a sacrifice we read that God was testing Abraham (Gen 22:1).  Question: did God foreknow the end result of this test?

In Gen.. 22:12 God said NOW I KNOW.  Did He not know before this event occured?  Did God not know what Abraham would do before Abraham raised his knife to sacrifice Isaac?  Yet God knows the end from the beginning.  Why did God say NOW I know?  Did God doubt that Abraham would go through with it?  Was God unsure what would be the end result of this test?  I do not believe He was unsure, but in most translations it seems to indicate that He was unsure.  So did He not know before this point in time?  I believe God knew what Abraham would do but is there other scriptural verification for this specific account?  I think the answer rests in an understanding of the word NOW (H6258)!!  Just not sure how to understand this verse. :dontknow:

KJV  12 And he said, Lay not your hand upon the lad, neither do you any thing unto him: for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son from me.

CLV(i) 12 And saying is he, "You must not stretch out your hand on the lad, and you must not do aught to him, for now I know that you fear the Elohim, for you have not kept back your son, your only one from Me.

YLT(i) 12 and He saith, `Put not forth thine hand unto the youth, nor do anything to him, for now I have known that thou art fearing God, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only one, from Me.'

From Strongs for the words NOW and KNOW:

KJV_Strongs(i)
12 And he said, Lay not your hand on the lad, neither do ou any H6258 thing to him: for now H3045 I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son from me.

H6258
עתּה
at-taw'
From H6256; at this time, whether adverbial, conjugational or expletive
KJV Usage: henceforth, now, straightway, this time, whereas.
Brown-Driver-Briggs' Hebrew Definitions
עתּה
1. now
a. now
b. in phrases
Origin: from H6256
TWOT: 1650c
Parts of Speech: Adverb

H3045
ידע
yâda‛
yaw-dah'
A primitive root; to know (properly to ascertain by seeing); used in a great variety of senses, figuratively, literally, euphemistically and inferentially (including observation, care, recognition; and causatively instruction, designation, punishment, etc.)
KJV Usage: acknowledge, acquaintance (-ted with), advise, answer, appoint, assuredly, be aware, [un-] awares, can [-not], certainly, for a certainty, comprehend, consider, X could they, cunning, declare, be diligent, (can, cause to) discern, discover, endued with, familiar friend, famous, feel, can have, be [ig-] norant, instruct, kinsfolk, kinsman, (cause to, let, make) know, (come to give, have, take) knowledge, have [knowledge], (be, make, make to be, make self) known, + be learned, + lie by man, mark, perceive, privy to, X prognosticator, regard, have respect, skilful, shew, can (man of) skill, be sure, of a surety, teach, (can) tell, understand, have [understanding], X will be, wist, wit, wot.
H3045
Brown-Driver-Briggs' Hebrew Definitions
ידע

1. to know
a. (Qal)
1. to know 1a
b. to know, learn to know 1a
c. to perceive 1a
d. to perceive and see, find out and discern 1a
e. to discriminate, distinguish 1a
f. to know by experience 1a
g. to recognise, admit, acknowledge, confess 1a
h. to consider
1. to know, be acquainted with
2. to know (a person carnally)
3. to know how, be skilful in
4. to have knowledge, be wise
i. (Niphal)
1. to be made known, be or become known, be revealed
2. to make oneself known
3. to be perceived
4. to be instructed
j. (Piel) to cause to know
k. (Poal) to cause to know
l. (Pual)
1. to be known
2. known, one known, acquaintance (participle)
m. (Hiphil) to make known, declare
n. (Hophal) to be made known
o. (Hithpael) to make oneself known[/size]

[Tom]

I believe God knows everything because all is out of God, all is being operated through God's will, and all will eventually return literally into God. I also believe God transcends time, and our perception of time should not be confused with how it seems God perceives time as all in the present without past or future. So just because God said "now" doesn't mean he didn't know before "now." I think Abraham is the one who learned something there not God, and the trial was for Abraham's benefit not God's.


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[Tom]

It seems that time is linked to the eons and our mortality. I think the consummation of the eons will change our perception of "time" if such a concept even still exists. It may be that we will perceive "time" then as all in the present as God seems to do so now.

[rosered]

 

  Bro Joe always love your studies and how you   search     them out !



I remember  seeing the same thing   
    This is what I have   understood   and sharing it   also

   When we see   Abraham    as our father Abraham   children of   ,its the'' seed of  faith''       and   obedience is though Faith ,   faith with works is alive  ,not dead  This to me is why   it said      now I know    you fear God and   have not withheld your son only son   from Me
  fear  of the Lord   is the beginning of Wisdom Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.

   and so  I saw in Jesus   the same ''sacrifice'' he asks of us    in this    MATT 10 37"He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38"And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me...   

  for me its the exact    same example in the old as the new   testaments      for me Abraham was proving His LOVE for God   and putting GOD FIRST    as  His faith was tested 
everyone    has    their  faith is tested  though trails and tribulations       the   proof   shows    in Abraham   Gen 22

  when the

[Lazarus Short]

Joeteekay, your post takes my mind back to Adam, Eve, the Serpent, and God in the Garden.  After the apple incident, the making of aprons, the hiding, the admission that they were naked and afraid, God said, "Who told you you were naked?"  [I can just about picture the facepalm in my mind.] He sounds surprised, but He must have known all along, and even before He created all the above.

I think it is a way for Him to communicate with us on our level, in ways we can get our limited, carnal minds around.

[Lazarus Short]

I find it interesting.....Gen 4:1  And Adam knew(H3045 yâda‛A primitive root; to know (properly to ascertain by seeing)Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.

At least to me :2c:

"Yada"?  As in "yada, yada, yada"?? :laughing7:

[rosered]

  Hi  guys
  ever wonder if it was    Not God to Know  , but for us to know  God , and realize what God knows already ?

[marie glen]

  ...I think it is a way for Him to communicate with us on our level, in ways we can get our limited, carnal minds around.

     :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: ..and,

  ....to ascertain by seeing...

God knows all but then it was proven..?

..I think Abraham is the one who learned something there not God, and the trial was for Abraham's benefit not God's.

:thumbsup: :banana:

..and for mankind's benefit/learning as sister Rose said..

Great thread Joe! :smile:

[Tom]

Amen, sisters, I agree that it's always about us learning what's up.

[rosered]

  ...I think it is a way for Him to communicate with us on our level, in ways we can get our limited, carnal minds around.

     :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: ..and,

  ....to ascertain by seeing...

God knows all but then it was proven..?

..I think Abraham is the one who learned something there not God, and the trial was for Abraham's benefit not God's.

:thumbsup: :banana:

..and for mankind's benefit/learning as sister Rose said..

Great thread Joe! :smile:

Amen, sisters, I agree that it's always about us learning what's up.

Yes it is about the   revealing and making KNOWN what has been hidden     for a very long time   and in ways we would least expect  about Gods  desire   for all  !!

  wisdom God knowledge of God    THE     CHRIST    , being the anointing itself ,,, 

ever notice how its worded ?    sometimes its Jesus Christ     , sometimes its just Christ and  other times its the LORD   JESUS CHRIST

   These   are carefully  placed and not by accident        to me   bros and sisters   
just as   those being addressed are     brethren  and saints       in places ,        these    are also  very revealing      when you look at them  as to  whom   it is  speaking       :flowerred:

  1 COR 1   Christ the Wisdom and Power of God
...23but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness,

24but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

[eaglesway]

I think God could get tired of already knowing everything all the time, and maybe even likers an open growing relationship of sorts.

I am not nearly so convinced that God has to, or wants to, know every single thing that will occur in every relationship He has.

Could God limit His own knowledge within Himself somehow?

Why not?

Could God delight in discovering that Abraham's willingness to yield all meant that He had a new friend?

Why not?

I think God can do anything He wants, and He created us in His own image for the purpose of FELLOWSHIP.
So I have never been sold on the idea that God has to know and sort of pre program every event and every interaction between Himself and His creation.

I see it more like the current of a river he controls, and I believe He foreknows every drop, in a general way- but I don't think He presets the course of each one in minute detail or prohibits Himself from the joy of discovery, the sorrow of disappointment or many other things He expresses so beautifully as He speaks to us in His word of them.

Hosea was a type of God. Look at those emotions!

So I don't quite see how God can be nothing more than the source of endless object lessons- but that's just my opinion :o)