(1.) God knows what he can do, even many things that he will not do; for as his power is unlimited, so that he can do infinitely more than he will, so he knows more than he will do. This is very obvious; for we ourselves, as free agents, can do more than we will, and, as intelligent, we know in many instances, what we can do, though we will never do them: much more must this be said of the great God, who calleth things that be not as though they were, Rom. iv. 17. so David enquires of God, Will Saul come down? and will the men of Keilah deliver me up into has hand? And God answers him, He will come down, and the men of Keilah will deliver thee up, 1 Sam. xxiii. 12. which implies, that God knew what they would have done, had not his providence prevented it. In this respect, things known by him are said to be possible, by reason of his power, whereas the future existence thereof depends on his will.
(2.) God knows whatever he has done, does, or will do, viz. things past, present, or to come. That he knows all things present, has been proved, from the dependence of things on his providence; and his knowledge being inseparably connected with his power: and that he knows all things that are past, is no less evident, for they were once present, and consequently known by him; and to suppose that he does not know them, is to charge him with forgetfulness, or to suppose that his knowledge at present is less perfect than it was, which is inconsistent with infinite perfection. Moreover, if God did not know all things past, he could not be the Judge of the world; and particularly, he could neither reward nor punish; both which acts respect only things that are past; therefore such things are perfectly known by him. Thus, when Job considered his present afflictions, as the punishment of past sins, he says, Job xiv. 17. My transgression is sealed up in a bag; thou sewest up mine iniquity; which metaphorical way of speaking, implies his remembering it: so when God threatens to punish his adversaries for their iniquity, he speaks of it, as remembered by him, laid up in store with him, and sealed up among his treasures, Deut. xxxii. 34, 35. So, on the other hand, when he designed to reward, or encourage, the religious duties, performed by his people, who feared his name, it is said, a book of remembrance was written before him, for them, Mal. iii. 16.
But that which we shall principally consider, is, God’s knowing all things future, viz. not only such as are the effects of necessary causes, where the effect is known in or by the cause, but such as are contingent, with respect to us; which is the most difficult of all knowledge whatsoever, and argues it to be truly divine.
By future contingences, we understand things that are accidental, or, as we commonly say, happen by chance, without any fore-thought, or design of men. Now that many things happen so, with respect to us, and therefore we cannot certainly foreknow them, is very obvious; but even these are foreknown by God[[54]] For,
1. Things that happen without our design, or fore-thought, and therefore are not certainly foreknown by us, are the objects of his providence, and therefore known unto him from the beginning: thus the fall of a sparrow to the ground is a casual thing, yet our Saviour says, that this is not without his providence, Matth. x. 29. Therefore,
2. That which is casual, or accidental to us, is not so to him; so that though we cannot have a certain or determinate foreknowledge thereof, it does not follow that he has not; since,
3. He has foretold many such future events, as appears by the following instances.
(1.) Ahab’s death by an arrow, shot at random, may be reckoned a contingent event; yet this was foretold before he went into the battle, 1 Kings xxii. 17, 18, 34. and accomplished accordingly.
(2.) That Israel should be afflicted and oppressed in Egypt, and afterwards should be delivered, was foretold four hundred years before it came to pass, Gen. xv. 13, 14. And when Moses was sent to deliver them out of the Egyptian bondage, God tells him, before-hand, how obstinate Pharaoh would be, and with how much difficulty he would be brought to let them go, Exod. iii. 19, 20.
(3.) Joseph’s advancement in Egypt was a contingent and very unlikely event, yet it was made known several years before, by his prophetic dream, Gen. xxxvii. 5, &c. and afterwards, that which tended more immediately to it, was his foretelling what happened to the chief butler and baker, and the seven years of plenty and famine in Egypt, signified by Pharaoh’s dream; all which were contingent events, and were foretold by divine inspiration, and therefore foreknown by God.