Did you really choose God…

[Neogaia777]

@jayem

Because of what we don't know, there is still always the possibility to choose and/or choice/chance, or free will, or of changing it right now, etc, or is still the possibility of apparent randomness, etc, when that might not actually be so, etc...

But, that being said, I hope you enjoy living your same exact life over and over again and having no conscious memory of it at all each time for all eternity without any hope or possibility of it, or that, or you, ever changing ever at all ever for you ever at all ever for all eternity, etc...

Because that sounds like somebody's kind of idea of "hell" to me...

Like forever living in a "twilight zone" episode forever, with absolutely no possibility of it ever changing, etc...

You don't know right now, so you still have a chance to change it right now, etc, but there will come a day when that will no longer be so, etc, so best to try and exercise it now for the better, etc, for "now" may be the only time you/me/we have, etc.

God Bless!

For everything and everyone down here, when it all ends and then is all re-created and/or re-made again, and then all ends again, and/or is re-made or re-created again, etc, it is always the exact same over and over again, etc, for everyone and everything in it, etc, because that is what these realities is, etc, and it is only ever any different at all ever, only for those who ever got to/get to, go beyond it at all ever, etc.

And this is "forever", etc...

For those who either do, or else don't, has already been decided, etc...

But while we still "don't know", etc, we still have a "choice", etc...

So, "choose wisely"...

God Bless!

 

[jayem]

@jayem



But, that being said, I hope you enjoy living your same exact life over and over again and having no conscious memory of it at all each time for all eternity without any hope or possibility of it, or that, or you, ever changing ever at all ever for you ever at all ever for all eternity, etc...

Because that sounds like somebody's kind of idea of "hell" to me...

Not to get too personal, but in all honesty, my life so far has been pretty darn good. I’ve made it to 70 in good health. I take no medication whatsoever. I had a rewarding 40+ year career in health care. Which provided me with the resources to retire early with no financial worries. I have a loving family and wife of 35 years. And good friends with whom I keep in touch. Really, what more can anyone ask of life? If I had to relive it, I really can’t think of much I’d change. If there is a God, for some reason he’s been very good to this non-believer. At least so far.

 

[Neogaia777]

Not to get too personal, but in all honesty, my life so far has been pretty darn good. I’ve made it to 70 in good health. I take no medication whatsoever. I had a rewarding 40+ year career in health care. Which provided me with the resources to retire early with no financial worries. I have a loving family and wife of 35 years. And good friends with whom I keep in touch. Really, what more can anyone ask of life? If I had to relive it, I really can’t think of much I’d change. If there is a God, for some reason he’s been very good to this non-believer. At least so far.

Well, I am happy for you, really I am, but would you really, really want to live that same exact life over and over again for an eternity, especially when the kind of life God can offer you, well, you get to keep your conscious memory for one, and then for another, it makes everything in this life pale greatly in comparison, etc, and I'm personally looking forward to living forever, and increasing and growing in knowledge over that kind of amount of time, and exploring the universe for another, and studying and spending life/time with every single creature out there in it, until I eventually get to know them all of them so very well to where I eventually become "one" with all of them, etc...

But whatever suits you and whatever floats your boat I guess, I personally need a whole heck of a lot of a lot more "time" to do all I want to be doing, and/or be, or be in the process of becoming, etc...

But if you are happy with what you are happy with, then I am happy for you.

But I desire something higher, and better (in my opinion), etc...

God Bless!

 

[jayem]

Well, I am happy for you, really I am, but would you really, really want to live that same exact life over and over again for an eternity, especially when the kind of life God can offer you, well, you get to keep your conscious memory for one, and then for another, it makes everything in this life pale greatly in comparison, etc, and I'm personally looking forward to living forever, and increasing and growing in knowledge over that kind of amount of time, and exploring the universe for another, and studying and spending life/time with every single creature out there in it, until I eventually get to know them all of them so very well to where I eventually become "one" with all of them, etc...

But whatever suits you and whatever floats your boat I guess, I personally need a whole heck of a lot of a lot more "time" to do all I want to be doing, and/or be, or be in the process of becoming, etc...

But if you are happy with what you are happy with, then I am happy for you.

But I desire something higher, and better (in my opinion), etc...

God Bless!

I appreciate your sentiments. But let me ask you a question. Could you become a Mormon? If you faithfully abide by the directives of the LDS church, and live an exemplary earthly life, you could be raised up to an afterlife of everlasting godliness far above the rewards of other Christians. You'd live forever with your many wives and "spirit children" in an exalted state of knowledge, power, glory, and saintliness. In fact, you'd be one of the judges who decides the fate of everyone else on the final day of reckoning. I don't know what type of Christian belief you have now. But I'll assume you'd have to convert. Could you do it? Or could you decide to accept Allah and become a devout Muslim? Or maybe join the Church of Scientology and begin your climb up the Operating Thetan levels. (Assuming you have the money. ) If you wouldn't be able to sincerely change your beliefs, then you'd know why I can't honestly can't do the same.

 

[Neogaia777]

I appreciate your sentiments. But let me ask you a question. Could you become a Mormon? If you faithfully abide by the directives of the LDS church, and live an exemplary earthly life, you could be raised up to an afterlife of everlasting godliness far above the rewards of other Christians. You'd live forever with your many wives and "spirit children" in an exalted state of knowledge, power, glory, and saintliness. In fact, you'd be one of the judges who decides the fate of everyone else on the final day of reckoning. I don't know what type of Christian belief you have now. But I'll assume you'd have to convert. Could you do it? Or could you decide to accept Allah and become a devout Muslim? Or maybe join the Church of Scientology and begin your climb up the Operating Thetan levels. (Assuming you have the money. ) If you wouldn't be able to sincerely change your beliefs, then you'd know why I can't honestly can't do the same.

I can only follow the path the Father has laid before me, or has already set; a very, very long time ago already; before me, etc...

I'm a general Christian, or a Christian in general right now, "non-denominational", etc, so other than that, I do not know what I will become in the future by the path that the Father has already set before me...?

As far as judgment goes, I do not think I will be judging anybody, but leave that in the hands of the One who knows all hearts, and how He made all hearts, and each one each uniquely, and individually, etc...

I think if your heart is good, you may still have a chance, regardless of how you either came to believe, or else not believe, etc...

And I will leave it to the discerner of all hearts, in the end, etc...

Above all else, guard your hearts, for it is where your true treasure that you have stored up in Heaven, will be also, etc...

God Bless!

 

[Neogaia777]

I can only follow the path the Father has laid before me, or has already set; a very, very long time ago already; before me, etc...

I'm a general Christian, or a Christian in general right now, "non-denominational", etc, so other than that, I do not know what I will become in the future by the path that the Father has already set before me...?

As far as judgment goes, I do not think I will be judging anybody, but leave that in the hands of the One who knows all hearts, and how He made all hearts, and each one each uniquely, and individually, etc...

I think if your heart is good, you may still have a chance, regardless of how you either came to believe, or else not believe, etc...

And I will leave it to the discerner of all hearts, in the end, etc...

Above all else, guard your hearts, for it is where your true treasure that you have stored up in Heaven, will be also, etc...

God Bless!

@jayem

I think one of the very first things God is going to ask us all first, etc, is: "Were you a decent person?" And, "did you have a good heart?" Above and beyond everything else, etc...

Because if you truly were, and you really did, then I think you truly followed Jesus Christ above and beyond anyone else, etc...

A true believer is one who is truly one is his or her heart after all...

Above and beyond everything else, etc...

God Bless!

 

[Neogaia777]

@jayem

I think one of the very first things God is going to ask us all first, etc, is: "Were you a decent person?" And, "did you have a good heart?" Above and beyond everything else, etc...

Because if you truly were, and you really did, then I think you truly followed Jesus Christ above and beyond anyone else, etc...

A true believer is one who is truly one is his or her heart after all...

Above and beyond everything else, etc...

God Bless!

@jayem

And He might also ask you if you truly hated Jesus, or maybe just only maybe some of His so-called followers maybe, also, etc...?

God Bless!

 

[jayem]

@jayem

And He might also ask you if you truly hated Jesus, or maybe just only maybe some of His so-called followers maybe, also, etc...?

God Bless!

I don’t hate Jesus. Although, assuming he really existed, I don’t believe there was anything divine about him, or deserving of worship. Some of his moral teaching is very good (though not especially original.) But a couple of his teachings I don’t like at all. I don’t have the exact quote, but there’s a passage in a couple of the gospels where Jesus says he who is not with me is against me. He’s saying in effect that if you don’t follow my teachings, you’re not just mistaken, or lost, you’re my enemy. That’s a terrible attitude. It has be at least part of the reason why Jews, and other non-Christians were so badly persecuted. You don’t find that kind of thinking in the ethical teachings of the Buddha, or Socrates. Their attitude toward non-followers is a sort of benign patience. As I said in an earlier post, the truest test of any religion’s moral rectitude is its attitude towards non-believers. In this particular instance, Jesus failed the test.

Another questionable incident is the fig tree passage. Jesus is with the disciples and is hungry. He sees a fig tree, but it has no fruit. Because, as the Bible says, it’s not the season for figs. So Jesus gets angry and curses the tree. Which immediately withers away. The disciples are amazed. He uses this as a lesson to demonstrate God’s power to them. But think about it. Why would Jesus curse a tree that is just acting according to its nature? If he wanted to teach the power of faith, why not make the tree sprout fruit out of season? Wouldn’t that be just as much of a miracle? And it would maintain all the other good things that trees provide—like shade, and oxygen, and protection from soil erosion. I suspect this is just a parable. But it sends a totally wrong message. As I see it, Jesus comes off not as godly and forgiving, but as petulant and vindictive.

Sorry for the long post.

 

[Ligurian]

<snip>I don’t have the exact quote, but there’s a passage in a couple of the gospels where Jesus says he who is not with me is against me. He’s saying in effect that if you don’t follow my teachings, you’re not just mistaken, or lost, you’re my enemy.<snip> Jesus is with the disciples and is hungry. He sees a fig tree, but it has no fruit. Because, as the Bible says, it’s not the season for figs.<snip> As I see it, Jesus comes off not as godly and forgiving, but as petulant and vindictive.<snip>

Matthew 21:18-21 actually points to the parable, a few verses later.

The fig tree /\, is the vineyard \/, and Jesus is the Son... sent to receive the fruits thereof.

Matthew 21:33-45 "Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: 34 And when the time of the fruit drew near, He sent His servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.
35 And the husbandmen took His servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.* 36 Again, He sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. 37 But last of all He sent unto them His Son, saying, They will reverence My son..."
_________________
* Matthew 23:34-39 37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, [thou] that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under [her] wings, and ye would not!"

 

[Neogaia777]

I don’t hate Jesus. Although, assuming he really existed, I don’t believe there was anything divine about him, or deserving of worship. Some of his moral teaching is very good (though not especially original.) But a couple of his teachings I don’t like at all. I don’t have the exact quote, but there’s a passage in a couple of the gospels where Jesus says he who is not with me is against me. He’s saying in effect that if you don’t follow my teachings, you’re not just mistaken, or lost, you’re my enemy. That’s a terrible attitude. It has be at least part of the reason why Jews, and other non-Christians were so badly persecuted. You don’t find that kind of thinking in the ethical teachings of the Buddha, or Socrates. Their attitude toward non-followers is a sort of benign patience. As I said in an earlier post, the truest test of any religion’s moral rectitude is its attitude towards non-believers. In this particular instance, Jesus failed the test.

Another questionable incident is the fig tree passage. Jesus is with the disciples and is hungry. He sees a fig tree, but it has no fruit. Because, as the Bible says, it’s not the season for figs. So Jesus gets angry and curses the tree. Which immediately withers away. The disciples are amazed. He uses this as a lesson to demonstrate God’s power to them. But think about it. Why would Jesus curse a tree that is just acting according to its nature? If he wanted to teach the power of faith, why not make the tree sprout fruit out of season? Wouldn’t that be just as much of a miracle? And it would maintain all the other good things that trees provide—like shade, and oxygen, and protection from soil erosion. I suspect this is just a parable. But it sends a totally wrong message. As I see it, Jesus comes off not as godly and forgiving, but as petulant and vindictive.

Sorry for the long post.

If you don't follow His moral teachings, then yes, you are against Him, and God, and are currently one of His enemies, because They just simply cannot allow people who are not at least decent people into His or Their Heaven, because it would have the potential at least to mess it all up for everyone, and Jesus had a duty to tell us all the 100% absolute truth about that, etc...

And others like Socrates and Buddha did not carry nor have this truth, and so they had no duty to it, because they did not come from there, or come down from Heaven, etc.

And His attitude toward non-believers was that He loved the sinners, and saved His most harshest words of criticicism for the religious crowds, and more specifically the Jewish Pharisees, etc.

And the fig tree example was meant as a message to the Pharistical Jews and Jewish Pharisees/Priests at that time, because it was right as He (Jesus) was about to go up to Jerusalem to be crucified at that time.

And God will judge you by your heart also, and by what causes/caused you not to believe or think ill of Jesus also, and will take all into full account, because He is a just God, etc.

God Bless!

 

[Neogaia777]

Well, I am happy for you, really I am, but would you really, really want to live that same exact life over and over again for an eternity, especially when the kind of life God can offer you, well, you get to keep your conscious memory for one, and then for another, it makes everything in this life pale greatly in comparison, etc, and I'm personally looking forward to living forever, and increasing and growing in knowledge over that kind of amount of time, and exploring the universe for another, and studying and spending life/time with every single creature out there in it, until I eventually get to know them all of them so very well to where I eventually become "one" with all of them, etc...

But whatever suits you and whatever floats your boat I guess, I personally need a whole heck of a lot of a lot more "time" to do all I want to be doing, and/or be, or be in the process of becoming, etc...

But if you are happy with what you are happy with, then I am happy for you.

But I desire something higher, and better (in my opinion), etc...

God Bless!

And about what I want, and that I'm 100% sure God will grant me and or give me, etc, people in Heaven will probably say, or will ask and say, etc, "Hey, where is Jay at...?", and then some of them will probably say, "Yeah, well, you know Him, He's out there learning and studying from all the other creatures/life in the universe and such, etc, we will probably see him in another eon or two or so, when he will drop in or stop by temporarily just to say Hi, before he packs his bags again and he is on his way out again for another little while, etc, lol"...

God Bless!

 

[Reasonable Christian]

[QUOTE="If a deity exists, who is the ultimate universal sovereign with a plan for everyone and everything, then logically, no one’s belief—or lack thereof—is her/his own decision. It’s all God’s will.[/QUOTE]

This only follows if God didn't give us free will when it comes to choosing to believe in Him -- in other words, if He just made us puppets on a string. You would have to demonstrate that this is true in order for your argument to be valid.

 

[Neogaia777]

This only follows if God didn't give us free will when it comes to choosing to believe in Him -- in other words, if He just made us puppets on a string. You would have to demonstrate that this is true in order for your argument to be valid.

Determinism, from the beginning, it has dictated and decided all since that time, which only God the Father, apparently, has, or did have, etc, absolute full knowledge of from before that time, or from at the beginning of that time, etc...

It has even dictated all the actions/decisions/choices/in-actions, etc, of even God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit since that time, etc, and it was the Father who set those wheels in motion originally, etc, and has been able to fully know it and/or predict it since that time, and all throughout the rest of time, since the beginning of (that) time, etc...

All has all been "cause and effect", or "reactions to a reaction", to "a previous action or reaction", since that time, even down to the atomic/subatomic levels, since that time, only one way things can ever go at all ever, for everyone, since that time, etc... And it was/is God the Father who always knew/already fully knows, it all, since that time, etc...

Since "setting the wheels in motion" there has been no reason for Him to interact, or interfere, or intervene, cause He already knows all since that time, etc...

And He has others for that also, etc, namely God the Son and God the Spirit, etc, who have also been locked into all the "cause and effect" "cycle" since that time, etc...

And He also could not show Himself to us without them also, etc... Which made "Them" "absolutely necessary", etc...

Because, if anything, that is one of His (God the Fathers) limits or limitations, etc, and it necessitated others, in order for Him to do that, etc...

And to tell us, and to show us, "His story", etc...

God Bless!

 

[Neogaia777]

Determinism, from the beginning, it has dictated and decided all since that time, which only God the Father, apparently, has, or did have, etc, absolute full knowledge of from before that time, or from at the beginning of that time, etc...

It has even dictated all the actions/decisions/choices/in-actions, etc, of even God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit since that time, etc, and it was the Father who set those wheels in motion originally, etc, and has been able to fully know it and/or predict it since that time, and all throughout the rest of time, since the beginning of (that) time, etc...

All has all been "cause and effect", or "reactions to a reaction", to "a previous action or reaction", since that time, even down to the atomic/subatomic levels, since that time, only one way things can ever go at all ever, for everyone, since that time, etc... And it was/is God the Father who always knew/already fully knows, it all, since that time, etc...

Since "setting the wheels in motion" there has been no reason for Him to interact, or interfere, or intervene, cause He already knows all since that time, etc...

And He has others for that also, etc, namely God the Son and God the Spirit, etc, who have also been locked into all the "cause and effect" "cycle" since that time, etc...

And He also could not show Himself to us without them also, etc... Which made "Them" "absolutely necessary", etc...

Because, if anything, that is one of His (God the Fathers) limits or limitations, etc, and it necessitated others, in order for Him to do that, etc...

And to tell us, and to show us, "His story", etc...

God Bless!

This is probably, way, way to "oversimplified", and definitely doesn't do it proper justice, but, imagine a pool table on the break, etc, and think of all the pool balls as all the particles and substance of the universe, etc, well, using trajectories and angles and trigonometry and advanced mathematics and such, from the break, and first knowing just how He did the break, etc, He could fully know and predict all the balls from that time, and with how He originally did the break, etc, to where/how they all would "go" all along the way, and to where/how they would all go and ultimately end up, and/or stop/go, or go/stop, etc, at the end, etc...

And this is probably what the universe looks like to God the Father, etc, if that makes any kind of sense to you, etc...

It seems like unpredictable chaos, as all the pool balls are all going everywhere and running around, and are bumping into each other and such, etc, but it is not, and is all 100% totally and fully predictable from the very beginning, and everything in-between to it's ultimate ending, etc, to an always fully all-knowing, and always 100% fully omniscient God in the end, etc...

And this is also how determinism from the beginning works in the end also, etc...

God Bless!

 

[Neogaia777]

This probably, way, way to "oversimplified", and definitely doesn't do it proper justice, but, imagine a pool table on the break, etc, and think of all the pool balls as all the particles and substance of the universe, etc, well, using trajectories and angles and advanced mathematics and such, from the break, and first knowing just how He did the break, etc, He could fully know and predict all the balls from that time, and with how He originally did the break, etc, to where/how they all would "go" all along the way, and to where/how they would all go and ultimately end up, and/or stop/go, or go/stop, etc, at the end, etc...

And this is probably what the universe looks like to God the Father, etc, if that makes any kind of sense to you, etc...

It seems like unpredictable chaos, as all the pool balls are all going everywhere and running around, and are bumping into each other and such, etc, but it is not, and is all 100% totally and fully predictable from the very beginning, and everything in-between to it's ultimate ending, etc, to an always fully all-knowing, and always 100% fully omniscient God in the end, etc...

And this is also how determinism from the beginning works in the end also, etc...

God Bless!

I also wouldn't want to play a game of pool probably with God the Father either, for from the moment of the break, His knowledge and expertise would be so extensive, that He could probably take just one shot on the break and cause all of the pool balls to all go into their respective pockets or holes from the very moment of first performing the break in the end, etc, lol...

And He would have known it all along also, etc, and even be able to make each one go into whatever each pocket He wants, from just first performing the break at the beginning, and/or at, or in the end, etc...

And I am fairly certain He has already done this with the entire universe, and all of us already, as well, already, etc...

So there is nothing He does not know, or has not already made or caused to already happen already, since that time already, etc...

Down to the very end, etc...

God Bless!

 

[James_Lai]

or did God choose you? I’ve read a lot of posts where believers say they became Christians after having a life-changing spiritual experience of some sort. If that’s true, then becoming a Christian wasn’t really your choice. It was an act of God. By logical extension, it raises the question does anyone make a free-will decision to be a Christian? If you were born into a Christian family, raised in the church, and have been a believer your entire life, then that was also an act of God. The same would be true if you were a Christian at one time, and now have a different faith, or have become an atheist. If a deity exists, who is the ultimate universal sovereign with a plan for everyone and everything, then logically, no one’s belief—or lack thereof—is her/his own decision. It’s all God’s will.

Absolutely and totally correct logical conclusion. By the same understanding, the “original sin” that condemned people to the eternity of hell suffering is 100% God’s doing as He created people, Satan, the world, the temptation of the trees etc and put them in that predicament.

 

[zippy2006]

If a deity exists, who is the ultimate universal sovereign with a plan for everyone and everything, then logically, no one’s belief—or lack thereof—is her/his own decision.

That view is sometimes referred to as "theological fatalism" and it is a minority view in Christianity. Most Christians would say something like, "God invites, and we either accept or decline." There is no need to hold to a deterministic model of sovereignty.

 

[Waymarker]

Did you really choose God or did God choose you?....If a deity exists, who is the ultimate universal sovereign with a plan for everyone and everything, then logically, no one’s belief—or lack thereof—is her/his own decision. It’s all God’s will.

God gives us free will, nothing is pre-ordained..
Remember when he ordered Abraham to kill his young son, Abraham raised the knife-
"But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”..Do not lay a hand on the boy.. do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” (Genesis 22:11-12)

Notice God said through the angel "Now I know", which indicates God didn't know before the test.

 

[jayem]

God gives us free will, nothing is pre-ordained..
Remember when he ordered Abraham to kill his young son, Abraham raised the knife-
"But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”..Do not lay a hand on the boy.. do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” (Genesis 22:11-12)

Notice God said through the angel "Now I know", which indicates God didn't know before the test.

I agree completely that the account of Abraham's near-sacrifice of Isaac implies God didn't know the outcome. The same would be true regarding the flood:

Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.”
Genesis 6:5-7 (NASB)

This passage implies that God didn't know that mankind would turn out to be evil. But this, and what you pointed out in Gen. 22, conflict with many other Bible verses suggesting that God is omniscient and knows everything that will happen:

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Jeremiah 1:5

"He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will",
Ephesians 1:5

I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
Isaiah 46:9-10

"Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
Isaiah 42:9

Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
Psalm 139:4

"He who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds."
Psalm 33:15

"Would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart."
Psalm 44:21

"I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am He".
John 13:19

To my understanding, it's a basic doctrine of both Christianity and Judaism that God is omniscient. God supposedly knows everything that has and will happen. But that would logically contradict the Genesis incidents we noted above.

 

[Neogaia777]

I agree completely that the account of Abraham's near-sacrifice of Isaac implies God didn't know the outcome. The same would be true regarding the flood:

Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.”
Genesis 6:5-7 (NASB)

This passage implies that God didn't know that mankind would turn out to be evil. But this, and what you pointed out in Gen. 22, conflict with many other Bible verses suggesting that God is omniscient and knows everything that will happen:

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Jeremiah 1:5

"He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will",
Ephesians 1:5

I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
Isaiah 46:9-10

"Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
Isaiah 42:9

Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
Psalm 139:4

"He who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds."
Psalm 33:15

"Would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart."
Psalm 44:21

"I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am He".
John 13:19

To my understanding, it's a basic doctrine of both Christianity and Judaism that God is omniscient. God supposedly knows everything that has and will happen. But that would logically contradict the Genesis incidents we noted above.

God is a Trinity in Christianity, and there are differences between them, and it's up to us to discern which ones are being talked about at which times, and God in the OT, and God the Son (Jesus) had a lot of foreknowledge, and could foresee a lot, but just not all or full foreknowledge always, etc...

And as far as Abraham and Issac goes, God in the OT had Abraham do that, because He knew of that being a possible plan with Himself, etc, and He wanted Abraham to know Him, etc, and He stopped Abraham at the end, which He knew may or may not happen with Him or His Son, etc. You know it's funny, but I actually heard a TV preacher say, "God spoke to the Father, and the Father told Him "take your Son, your only begotten Son, and offer Him up as a sacrifice to me", and this is not far from the Truth, because God in the OT knew this as being what might have to happen with Himself regarding Jesus, etc, but didn't want it to happen or didn't want to do it so He tried everything else He could before finally enacting it, because He didn't want to have to do that with His Son, etc...

But they had a lot of knowledge, God the Son, and God the Spirit did, and could see, or foresee "a lot", or "very much", but just not all like the Father always could from the very beginning, etc...

Jesus with fish and the coin in it's mouth, and the donkey that had never been ridden upon in another town, and the man carrying a waterpot to lead the disciples into the upper room, etc, but did not know the exact time of the end like He said only the Father alone did, etc, and it is the same with God in the OT, He knew a lot, and could foresee/predict much, but just not all, etc...

God Bless!