God's Omniscience Questioned
Genesis 22:12
If God is omniscient, then how did he "come to know" Abraham feared God?
11/6/2023
In Genesis we have the story of Abraham and Isaac where Abraham is asked by God to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, to prove his devotion to God. God then tells Abraham (through an angel) not to lay a hand on Isaac as it was a test to prove Abraham's loyalty to God and willingness to obey. So if God is all-knowing, why did he have an angel tell Abraham he
now knows
Abraham is God-fearing? Did God not know?
“And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for NOW I KNOW that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me." Genesis 22:12
Hebrew word for " know " in this verse is “ yada ,” and means to ascertain by seeing. God’s previous knowledge of what Abraham would do was seen by observing Abraham’s obedience. When the angel speaking on God's behalf said, “I know that thou fearest God,” it did not mean that God did not know previously what Abraham would do. God knew beforehand that Abraham would be obedient, but the angel said “now I know” since the angel had now observed the obedience that God already knew would happen.