Religion column: Biblical texts offered as evidence of God's knowledge of future

Does God know the future? Some say no; some say yes. I would like to offer a view on how to understand God and whether he knows the future. I introduce three texts from the Hebrew Bible (more generally known as the Old Testament).

The first text is found in Psalm 22, attributed to David, the “sweet singer of Israel” and perhaps ancient Israel’s greatest king. The opening words at verse 1 are ominous: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” From there, the psalm proceeds to describe a person surrounded by a blood-thirsty mob. Three metaphors are used to make the description more vivid: strong bulls, roaring lions and wild dogs. These men, in wild animal manner, are mocking a person who is in extreme distress, pain and shock. The text at verse 16 then depicts this afflicted individual voicing the following experience in his own words: “They have pierced my hands and feet.”

This first person account is intriguing because it invites a sobering question: who is this describing? Although this psalm is attributed to David, the Hebrew Bible never shows David undergoing such an experience. The historical books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles provide no information that David ever experienced such a traumatic moment in his life. In fact, these historical books never show anyone suffering such a fate. But the totality of scripture does reveal such a person. When we combine the Old Testament with the New, only one person fulfills the words of the text — Jesus. This is remarkable because Psalm 22 was written some 1,000 years before Christ.

The second text is that of Isaiah 53. This account gives the above events from a different perspective. While Psalm 22 is a first person account, using some 34 personal singular pronouns (“I” or “me”) in the first 20 verses, Isaiah 53 uses the plural pronouns of “we” and “our,” thus shifting the vantage point from the one suffering to the doubts of skeptical onlookers. For the text says, “We esteemed him not.” Isaiah depicts humanity observing someone being abused — indeed, he is viewed as being “pierced” (verse 5). Yet, the viewers place no value on the figure’s sufferings.

The prophet Isaiah, however, makes several very bold statements, affirming that such an event was “for sins” and that it can actually bring healing and peace to the human heart. This chapter from Isaiah was probably written 700 years before Christ.

The third and final text is that of Zechariah 12:10. This verse states, “They will look on me whom they have pierced.” This statement, also spoken in the first person singular, is attributed to the Lord and it contains another reference to being pierced. Those who do the piercing are stated in the future tense, but this piercing is presented as an accomplished fact. This text was likely written more than 400 years before Christ.

The three texts mentioned above provide evidence of a kind that God can and does know the end from the beginning. The conclusion I offer from Psalm 22 is that God knew the events of the death of Christ centuries before the event took place. More specifically, if one takes this psalm as an account of the sufferings of the Christ, we then become privy to his very thoughts while suffering a terrible death — anticipated hundreds of years before the actual day.

If the text of Isaiah 53 is taken as a reference to Christ, then this would provide further evidence of the predictive nature of Scripture and how God does know the future. These projections into the future of an unnamed person suffering innocently on behalf of others defy human understanding. Such glimpses into the future are impossible for us, but not for God.