Huh? God uses his foreknowledge selectively? Where is this found in scriptures? And why would he selectively choose not to know Adam and Eve were going to disobey? If his intent was to have them remain in the Garden and populate the earth, don't you think he would have his finger on the pulse of his creations?
That Jehovah God uses his foreknowledge
selectively can be seen that he provided a test for Adam and Eve with the "tree of knowledge of good and bad."(Gen 2:17) Had he known in advance that they would sin, would violate his command, there would have been
no need for a test.
In fact, had he known that they would rebel in advance, then by his foreknowledge he would have set in motion all the oppression, the corruption, the hate that has since come into existence. If a person knew in advance that a product that he designed would cause deaths, but went ahead anyway to produce it, would he be guilty ? Yes.
For example, before putting the Pinto car into production in 1971, Ford Motor Company was well aware that its Pinto was a potential death trap, but chose not to fix the problems. Ford knew from its crash tests that the Pinto's design rendered it liable to explode in a rear-end collisions as low as 20 miles per hour. Ford did nothing for 5 years, with President Lee Iacocca disregarding safety and saying "Safety doesn't sell", and with the company estimating that the unsafe fuel tank would cause 180 deaths, 180 serious burn injuries and 2,100 burned vehicles at a cost of $49.5 million dollars, against a safe repair per vehicle of $11 but that would cost the company an estimated $137.5 million dollars. And it happened, death did occur in several instances from ruptured gas tanks caused by rear end collisions. Eventually, Ford Motor Company was taken to court and had to pay a $128 million fine in February 1978 involving a personal injury lawsuit.
If a weight lifter can bench press 400 pounds readily, does he need to carry around 400 pounds everywhere he goes ? Only in certain circumstances do they lift this amount of weight. Likewise of our Creator, Jehovah. Though having the capability to look into the future, he does this with
discretion, only as needed to fulfill his purpose. He has used his foreknowledge with regard to the line of world powers that
directly affects his people, as at Daniel 7, 8 and 11. This he has also done in Revelation, laying out certain events and situations that
impacts his people.
At Genesis 18, Jehovah says concerning wicked Sodom and Gomorrah: "The cry of complaint about Sodom and Gomorrah, yes, it is loud, and their sin, yes, it is very heavy. I am quite determined to go down that I may see whether they act altogether according to the outcry over it that has come to me, and, if not, I can get to know it."(Gen 18:20, 21) Had God known in advance concerning Sodom and Gomorrah, would he have needed to inspect the situation ? No. Hence, he uses his power of foreknowledge only in
select situations, to inform his "servants, the prophets" of future events.(Amos 3:7)
In the Garden of Eden, Jehovah God allowed both Adam and Eve
free will, but kept "his finger on the pulse of his creations". One afternoon, he sent an angel to inspect how things were going, but it was noticed that Adam was hiding, unlike before when Jehovah in effect talked to him "face to face". Adam now admitted that "your voice I heard in the garden, but I was afraid because I was naked and so I hid myself."
Now Jehovah knew something was wrong, asking him: "Who told you were naked ? From the tree from which I commanded you not to eat have you eaten ?" Adam owned up to his violation, but "passed the buck" to Eve.(Gen 3:8-13)
Only then, did God know that Adam and Eve had broken his command regarding the "tree of knowledge of good and bad." He chose to allow matters to play out, to see how they would respond when tested, not aware that one of his spirit sons would start a mutiny against his sovereignty.
