Commentators are divided in their treatment of the meaning of the

foreknowledge of God.  The Calvinist sees in the word a synonym for

predestination.  Others an indication of love and favour.  Apart from

theological necessity, the word means to know beforehand, without

responsibility as to the event.  Dr. Liddon says of the earlier suggestions,

'The New Testament use of the word does not sanction this (not even Rom.

11:2; 1 Pet. 1:20), or any other meaning than to know beforehand'.  To us,

creatures of time and space, such knowledge borders upon the impossible.

Indeed, some, like Jonathan Edwards, have boldly said: 'It is impossible for

a thing to be certainly known to any intellect without evidence' and have

come to the conclusion that the foreknowledge of God compels Him, the Most

High, to decree, foreordain, and unalterably fix every act and word that He

has foreknown.  It is extraordinary that any should thus presume to say what

is or is not possible to the Lord; nor can such avoid the logical conclusion

of their argument, that God must be, if they are right, the author of sin, a

conclusion diametrically opposed by the Word of God, and odious to the

conscience of His children.

Time is the measure of motion, and in our limited state, the idea of a

timeless state expressed by the title, I Am, is beyond our comprehension.  A

very crude illustration, however, may be of service in arriving at some

understanding of the matter.  Suppose the reader to be standing at a small

table upon which rest books, paper, ink and pens.  As he stands, he

comprehends the whole table and contents as one; there is neither a first nor

a last.  The articles could be as well enumerated from the left hand as from

the right.  Now, further, suppose that an ant has crawled up one of the table

legs, and that he visits each article in turn.  To the ant there will be

definite sequence because the element of time is introduced, and resultingly,

there will be a first and a last.  So, also, if a spider crawls up the

opposite leg, its enumeration would be reversed.  God, as it were, sees all

at a glance; He knows the end from the beginning, but the future is hid from

our eyes.

We shall be wise, therefore, to leave the word 'foreknowledge' to mean

just what it says and no more.  The infinite knowledge of God makes it

impossible that He shall not know who will preach and who will teach; where

they will go, and when they will go; who shall hear, who reject, who accept,

and who be left without a word of the gospel.  The one great demand upon all

who hear the gospel is that they believe the testimony of God concerning His

Son.  Whoever so believes passes into all the blessings purchased by the

blood of Christ.  Whoever does not believe makes God a liar (1 John 5:9,10).

If there were any idea of preordination in this, refusal to believe would be

as much a part of God's predeterminate decree as is election to glory, and it

would not be possible to make God a liar by so refusing His testimony.

Further, in the passage before us, foreknowledge is differentiated from

predestination, for we read: 'Whom He did foreknow He also did predestinate'.

If we alter the word 'foreknow' to any word bearing the sense of pre-

determining or predestinating, the sentence ceases to have meaning, as, for

example, if we read: 'Whom He did foreordain He also did predestinate'.

We therefore understand the passages before us to declare that God, Who

is not under the limitations of time and space as we are, and needs no

external evidence to attain to this knowledge, knows all things, past,

present and future; knows them perfectly and completely, and can, therefore,