Written by Jacob Stump
Foreknowledge = Predestination?
To a Calvinist, foreknowledge is no different than predestination. If God foreknows with 100% certainty, then foreknowledge is no different than predestined. According to them, we do not have free will or choice because we cannot go against God’s foreknowledge.
I Samuel 23 disproves this.
In I Samuel 23, after David delivered the city of Keilah from the Philistines, Saul determined to go to Keilah to kill David. News reached David, and he asked God two questions:
11 Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? Will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O Lord God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And the Lord said, He will come down.
Upon hearing this from the LORD, David fled Keilah and Saul returned home, having heard David was no longer there. Based upon David’s choice, Saul never came down to Keilah and the city of Keilah never delivered David up to Saul.
God’s foreknowledge did not lead to predestination. God did not just know what WOULD happen; God knew what COULD happen based upon the circumstances and the individual choices the parties would make. If this / then this.
God does not just know a single timeline. God knows all potential timelines. God’s foreknowledge is not limited to what we will do but also what we might do.
Most importantly, I Samuel 23 proves that God’s foreknowledge does not equal predestination.