The Foreknowledge of God Put in Biblical Context

[JD731]

This is a crazy question. Have you actually READ the OT? It is full of Gentiles being brought into the covenant nation.

• Did Abram leave with just his wife, or did he bring Gentiles along?
  
• What about the family of Rahab?
  
• How about the entire nation that Israel was supposed to kill in the promised land that they made a treaty with to be their slaves?
  
• Who are the Samaritans?
• Ruth the Moabitess.

Thanks atpollard for your comments. My answer to you is to remind you that the doctrine of foreknowledge is a NT doctrine. It is not in the OT. My goal is to understand this doctrine by going to places it is mentioned, consider the context, pray for enlightenment and believe what I read.

I began the op by getting a biblical statement of who the scriptures are saying were foreknown. When I read Romans 11:1&2 I could not ignore the fact that he was not speaking of individuals being foreknown, he was speaking of God’s people and then he left no doubt about who God’s people were. They were the physical seed of Abraham, offspring of one of the 12 tribes of Israel. The language is clear and plain and unambiguous. It spells it right out.

Let me quote these verses again to see if you will at least agree with this.

Romans 11:1-2
1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.

You notice the first three words in verse 1? Why might someone get the idea that God has cast away his people? Well it is because of what he had just said about the gentiles in the last verses of chapter 10. Read it and see what you think;

Romans 10:19-21
19 But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.
20 But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.
21 But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

The imagery here is a father stretching out his arms and asking his son to come to him. We can all identify with that. We have done the same to our own children. Israel would not come and so in chapter 11 he ask the question. Hath God cast away his people Israel whom he knew before the present age after the operative principle of divine dealing with them through the Mosaic Law had ended and a new principle had been established. Because they refused to come God divided them into two groups, the believers and the unbelievers. The larger group, the unbelievers were called Israel and the small group of believers, the remnant were called the remnant according to the election of grace. The purpose of God in this age was to build a “house” for his Son, a dwelling place for the Holy Ghost, a temple if you will through his people, Israel. They were a corporate entity from the very beginning of their existence through Jacob and in Exodus 4 they are said to be the firstborn son of God. That is they were born of the flesh. God made provision for them through Christ for them to be born of the Spirit as a collective one. However, they refused Christ. You can read about this in the first two sermons in the Christian Era by Peter in Acts 2 and 3 where he is calling on every one of Israel as a collective whole to receive the Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ who was risen from the dead and gone back to heaven awaiting their full collective conversion, which should have happened by Acts 7. You should read the history in Acts 1-7 and compare it to the theology of Romans 7:1 through Rom 11:12 for a better opportunity to understand God and his works.

Now, for a historical perspective that will help with the sense of it all. Romans was written by Paul from Corinth in 58 AD. The history that had passed when he wrote the epistle was Acts 1-18. This is the seventh epistle and the sixth of the Pauline epistles. James was the first of the NT epistles. Twenty eight years had passed since Christ ascended to heaven and 18 years had passed since the gentiles had been included. The reason that God is fulfilling his purpose of forming his church, the bride of Christ, with Jews and gentiles is given as unbelief of those he foreknew in OT times, Israel. The gentiles are then included that his house might be full. When it is full Christ will come for his bride. After that, the environment on earth will be such that all Israel will call on him and be saved. See rom 11:25-36.

The scriptures are logical and makes perfect since when one begins to think like God thinks, aided by his Spirit.

Luke 14:16-24
16 Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:
17 And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.
18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.
19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.
20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.
21 So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.
22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.
23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
24 For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.

 

[1689Dave]

First a clarification; foreknowledge and omniscience are not the same in the scriptures. God is omniscience which means he knows all things by one eternal act of knowing. He is God after all. He is able to give his prophets perfect prophecy of people and events of thousands of years in advance and on in to eternity. Foreknowledge is presented as an attribute of God and is clearly defined for us in the scriptures. The scriptural definition differs greatly from what we are led to believe by the Calvinists, and frankly by most non Calvinists, most of whom have been influenced or intimidated by Calvinism's false error concerning this great doctrine..

Most teaching about foreknowledge says that God knows who will be saved and who will be lost, everything that will happen at any time and he knows everything from before the creation of the world. I agree that he does know all those things but that is not what he means when he uses the word foreknow or foreknowledge. That would be under the term omniscience.

Here is foreknowledge in the scriptures;

1) It is a New Testament doctrine
2) It is used exclusively in the context of God and Israel, whom God says hundreds of times in scripture that they are his people
3) It means in it's simplest terms that God knew them before, in time past.
4) It is not used of gentiles in time past.

Here is a comparison of two passages that should be a great instructor in the term foreknowledge and how it is used in scripture. Read these and consider them.

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Now, look at who Paul thinks he is speaking of since he wrote both passages in the same discourse, Who does he say is foreknown of God, or known before?

Here is the biblical answer;

Rom 11:1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? (who are his people - keep reading) God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel saying,

Why would anyone get the idea that God has cast away his people Israel? Because for 1500 years before Christ came he had been dealing with this people exclusively and had a relationship with them and now, 28 years after the ascension of Jesus Christ, when this epistle was written and for 18 years previously, the Apostle Paul and others had been preaching that God will receive gentiles equally with his people through faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, making them sons of God and receiving them into the body of Christ which he is forming upon this testimony and in the name of Jesus Christ. Romans 7 through 11 explains the history that is contained in the first few chapters of the Acts and by studying it we can know why God included the gentiles in Acts 10, ten years after he began to form his church through Jewish believers.

This will be an important lesson and should stamp out a great deal of ignorance concerning foreknowledge. I will continue to make my points in the coming days. I hope some will participate.

“And the uncircumcised man-child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people: he hath broken my covenant.’” Genesis 17:14 (NCPB)

Jesus abolished circumcision on the cross.

 

[JD731]

Ninevites during the ministry of Jonah seemed to have turned to God by the tens of thousands

Ninevites are Shemites and represent the ten northern tribes of Israel in the prophecy of Jonah. God did not visit the Ninevites merely as a conversation piece but he did typify his end times salvation of his own people in the last days. Who do you think carried Ephraim away and where do you think they carried them to? Who do you think James was meaning when he addressed his epistle to the twelve tribes of Israel scattered abroad and Peter when he addressed his two epistles to the strangers in the area of Turkey, asia minor? The prophecy of Hosea is addressed to these ten tribes before they are displaced by the Assyrians in 721 BC with the warning that they are "not my people" but with the sure hope that where it was said they are not my people, there shall they be called the children of the living God and will be reunited with Judah and both will be one again. To be children of God requires a new birth. Jonah is the typology for this event. In our day and age in which we live this prophecy has not yet occurred. This is the other flock of sheep that Jesus mentions in John 10.

You have no idea how blind Calvinism makes you. You know there was a great rift between Judah and Samaria during the days of Jesus.See John 4 where Jesus seems to think that the Samaritans are his people too. I remind you that no one in the OT was born again. It is a time of preparation.


Heb 3:10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.

 

[JD731]

God knew me and chose me and loved me enough to die to redeem me ... all before I was born. After I was born, God sought me out, drew me to the Son and transformed me from the inside out. Scripture says so, but if you want more of the technical details on a God that exists outside of His creation, then you will have to ask Him. I just take the great I AM at His word.

Sorry, Atpollard, God did not know you are choose you except in the context of his omniscience, before you were born. God did not even choose you to be born. Whom he did choose is Jesus Christ and whoever the Spirit baptized into his body from those who were born and then born again following the death, burial, and resurrection of his Son.

God did not even choose you to be born physically. Your parents made that choice. You will immediately think that parents cannot make that choice. My answer to that is to ask if you have ever heard of birth control? Have you ever practiced it? If you have you don't really believe in the sovereignty of God in the number of children you have. You are helping him out with his choices by imposing your restrictions upon him. I am guessing you are an average person with two children. God said the blessed man is he that has his quiver full of arrows that he can shoot out into the world.

We live under natural laws. Births are in the natural order of things and can be circumvented. When God has circumvented them it is for his own purposes and they are called miracles when he does it. There have been miraculous births but they are not the norm.

Calvinism is not generally in touch with reality.

 

[Marooncat79]

How do you know that noone in the OT was born again?

How were they saved?

 

[Barry Johnson]

God knew me and chose me and loved me enough to die to redeem me ... all before I was born. After I was born, God sought me out, drew me to the Son and transformed me from the inside out. Scripture says so, but if you want more of the technical details on a God that exists outside of His creation, then you will have to ask Him. I just take the great I AM at His word.

13¶In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
eph 1 .
this is the order of salvation. What your describing is Augustines gnostic beliefs , which is very popular at the moment..
Why did God lose you ? why did you become an enemy of God , lost and without hope and God ( eph 2 ) if God loved you before you existed ?

 

[Sai]

Job

Hmmm silenced

 

[Miss E]

So what you're saying is that God foreknew His people, which are Israel, but He did not/does not know which Gentiles who will choose Him or not? That makes little sense to me if that is what you're saying. I believe God knows everyone's choice before we make it, but that doesn't mean He forces us to believe.

 

[Iconoclast]

This is a crazy question. Have you actually READ the OT? It is full of Gentiles being brought into the covenant nation.

• Did Abram leave with just his wife, or did he bring Gentiles along?
  
• What about the family of Rahab?
  
• How about the entire nation that Israel was supposed to kill in the promised land that they made a treaty with to be their slaves?
  
• Who are the Samaritans?
• Ruth the Moabitess.

Not to mention those saved before Israel was a nation.

 

[JD731]

How do you know that noone in the OT was born again?

How were they saved?

These are two excellent questions,Marooncat79. I am so glad you brought them up.

What is frustrating about Calvinism is that they do not know what salvation is. Without Jesus Christ and his work on the cross no one could be saved from the penalty of sin, which is the second death in the lake of fire forever. On other posts I have proven from the scriptures in their context that God defines salvation as receiving the Spirit into our mortal bodies through faith in what God said that was accomplished through the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. If this could have been accomplished before Christ came then one could say that the work of Christ was in vain. Scripture makes that deduction as well. Here;

Gal 3:21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, (life is God in you in the person of the Spirit) verily righteousness (another synonym for the Spirit of Christ) should have been by the law.
22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

So, what about OT saints who were justified believers in what God said to them? Two passages address this question directly.

Rom 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
26 To declare, I say, at this time his (Christ Jesus) righteousness: that he (God) might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

(33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us Rom 8:)

Heb 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.


Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.


Matt 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.


Lk 1:77 To give knowledge of salvation unto his people (Israel in context) by the remission of their sins,


LK 24:47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.


Acts 10:43 To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.

Those in the OT who believed what God said to them were justified and their faith, believing, was imputed to them for righteousness but their sins were not remitted. The shed blood of Jesus Christ is the only thing that can take away sin.In the NT, after Jesus Christ shed his blood on the cross, his blood took away our sins and we receive the Holy Spirit into our mortal bodies. The Holy Ghost indwelling us is our righteousness.and sin can not condemn us .The blood of Jesus washes sin away and the Holy Ghost can now abide in us and we can abide "in Christ" that is, in his body and become one with him. The OT believers who were in paradise has their sins remitted through his blood and their souls taken to heaven. according to Eph 4. Ephesians teaches how Christians are in Christ and Colossians teaches how Christ is in us. Both are mysteries that must be revealed to the mind by the Spirit. This will remain a mystery to the natural man.

jOHN 17:20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

Rom 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

God gives to Christ those whom the Spirit indwells.

The only way a man can be saved:
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

Re 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

If your bible does not say this then you have been snookered. I hope this is enlightening.

 

[JD731]

So what you're saying is that God foreknew His people, which are Israel, but He did not/does not know which Gentiles who will choose Him or not? That makes little sense to me if that is what you're saying. I believe God knows everyone's choice before we make it, but that doesn't mean He forces us to believe.

God purposely raised up a people through Abraham through whom he could make himself known to the world as the one true God and could redeem the rest of the world through them. Think of humanity in the first 2000 years of history before Abraham as being a polluted river. God diverted a small stream away so he could purify it and then turn it back into the river downstream, thus purifying the whole river. That is God's plan with his people Israel. He made covenants with these people nationally that is still in force today but have not yet been realized. They will be in the future. In the OT time Israel is said of God to collectively be his firstborn son. What father does not know his son? In the NT when God was ready to send his Spirit to this son so the natural son could be "born again" and each individual could be a :son of God" as well as being born again collectively, they refused. Since God's plan through them at this time was to fashion a bride for his son in the same way he had fashioned a bride for Adam back in Genesis, from his side, after he had put him into a deep sleep, God is not frustrated in fashioning a bride for his Son, since those who were originally bidden, his people Israel, refused, he sent out into the world of the gentiles and whosoever will come by faith becomes part of his bride and his body. When they are joined, a man and his bride, they become one flesh. ! Cor 7 says so.This does not mean he has abrogated his covenants he made with his people Israel When the bride and body of Christ is complete (full) he will keep every one of his covenants with Israel, including the part that deals with the land. His covenants are immutable. Foreknowledge is used in a completely different way as omniscience. Confusing the two will blind your mind.

Ex 4:22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:

23 And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.

This is Israel in his natural birth. Individually God was not their Father. God intends a second birth for them collectively when he will become their Father. These are glorious truths if you can latch on to them. Israel's failure became our opportunity as gentiles. Thank God for this blessing.

Rom 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh (by trying to keep the law for righteousness) , ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

The context proves that Israel in this chapter is the main focus of Paul even though some of these truths does apply to gentile believers as well. Paul deals with these subjects as they relate to gentiles in Ephesians and in the last half of Rom 11.

God did not foreknow gentiles;

11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

, Would you disagree with inspired words from God and say God did know us before we are in Christ? I am not that bold. What does without God and Christ no hope mean to you? The gentiles began receiving the Spirit 10 years later than did the Jews.History bears out what Paul says.

 

[JD731]

Hmmm silenced

Lol. I love your humor Sai.

I don’t see any reference in Scripture where Job is “foreknown.” Foreknowledge is the subject of my op. I have never claimed that there were no believers except Israel in the OT.

Where did you learn that God foreknew him?

 

[Sai]

Lol. I love your humor Sai.

I don’t see any reference in Scripture where Job is “foreknown.” Foreknowledge is the subject of my op. I have never claimed that there were no believers except Israel in the OT.

Where did you learn that God foreknew him?

I guess I didn’t read your post. I only saw the non Jews saved in OT question. Remind me, what are we taking about again

 

[JD731]

I guess I didn’t read your post. I only saw the non Jews saved in OT question. Remind me, what are we taking about again

No Jew or gentile was saved in the OT. How would an OT person gets their sins washed away before the cross? I have addressed this in several of my comments and on different threads. I thought you knew. Are you hinting salvation is something else?

 

[Dave G]

Here is foreknowledge in the scriptures;

1) It is a New Testament doctrine
2) It is used exclusively in the context of God and Israel, whom God says hundreds of times in scripture that they are his people
3) It means in it's simplest terms that God knew them before, in time past.
4) It is not used of gentiles in time past.

1) I agree.
2) I disagree. It is not used exclusively in the context of God and Israel.
The Lord caused Peter to write that the "strangers" ( Gentiles, see 2 Chronicles 6:32, Isaiah 14:1, Isaiah 56:3 ) in Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia and Pontus were foreknown:

" Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
2 elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied." ( 1 Peter 1:1-2 ).

Elect ( chosen ) according to the foreknowledge of God.

Scripture also addresses the Ephesians, as well as all the faithful in Christ, as chosen in Christ from the foundation of the world and predestinated to the adoption of sons as God's children ( Ephesians 1:3-14 ), as well as telling us that all believers were loved by God, even when they were dead in trespasses and sins, and that we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus ( Ephesians 2:1-10 ).

In addition, the book of Romans was written to Gentiles as well as Jews, as evidenced by Paul's address in Romans 11:13.
It's contents are intended for believers that are made up both Jews and Gentiles, as evidenced by Romans 9:22-24.

All believers are the foreknown.

3) I agree.
See Jeremiah 1:5 and Psalms 139.

4) But it is used of Gentiles in the epistles.

 

[Dave G]

Why didn't God foreknow some gentiles in the 4000 years previous to the coming of Jesus Christ?

He did.

I ask this question because the Reformed says he "pre-planned" everything "before" the foundation of the world? Seems as if he would have foreknown at least one gentile in the OT, don't you think? Can you think of any?

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Noah, Enoch, Abel and many others.
Also, He didn't "pre-plan" everything that was to happen.

He wrote the names of His people in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world ( Revelation 13:8, Revelation 17:8 ), chose us in Him from the foundation of the world ( Ephesians 1:4-5 ) and called us by His Gospel.

JD, who are God's people according to the Bible?
Just the physical nation of Israel, or are there others who are said to be beloved of God as well?

 

[Sai]

No Jew or gentile was saved in the OT. How would an OT person gets their sins washed away before the cross? I have addressed this in several of my comments and on different threads. I thought you knew. Are you hinting salvation is something else?

Yeshua died not only for the sins that were committed after His death, but also for the sins committed prior to His death. He died not just for the sins of New Testament saints, but also for the sins of Old Testament saints. God could have judged the Old Testament saints immediately , but He deferred their judgment until the cross. Then that judgment fell upon the Messiah as their substitute as well as the substitute for New Testament believers. In that way, their sins were removed.

This is taught by Acts 17:30: The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he commands men that they should all everywhere repent: ...

He made the same point in Romans 3:25: ... whom God set forth to be a propitiation, through faith, in his blood, to show his righteousness because of the passing over of the sins done aforetime, in the forbearance of God; ... Again, he pointed out that the sins committed before the death of the Messiah could have been judged immediately , but they were deferred, temporarily overlooked or “passed over,” until the death of the Messiah as their substitute.

In Hebrews 10:4, the writer said: For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins.

Animal sacrifice did not and could not remove the sins of the Old Testament saints; it merely covered them temporarily . Once the Messiah died, only then were their sins removed as well.

 

[JD731]

Yeshua died not only for the sins that were committed after His death, but also for the sins committed prior to His death. He died not just for the sins of New Testament saints, but also for the sins of Old Testament saints. God could have judged the Old Testament saints immediately , but He deferred their judgment until the cross. Then that judgment fell upon the Messiah as their substitute as well as the substitute for New Testament believers. In that way, their sins were removed.

This is taught by Acts 17:30: The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he commands men that they should all everywhere repent: ...

He made the same point in Romans 3:25: ... whom God set forth to be a propitiation, through faith, in his blood, to show his righteousness because of the passing over of the sins done aforetime, in the forbearance of God; ... Again, he pointed out that the sins committed before the death of the Messiah could have been judged immediately , but they were deferred, temporarily overlooked or “passed over,” until the death of the Messiah as their substitute.

In Hebrews 10:4, the writer said: For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins.

Animal sacrifice did not and could not remove the sins of the Old Testament saints; it merely covered them temporarily . Once the Messiah died, only then were their sins removed as well.

I am totally confused by your comments. What is going on with this Yeshua name? Your using this name is the source of my confusion. I will not be dealing with people who throws this wrinkle into the discussion.

 

[JD731]

Ll the passages in the scriptures where the word foreknowledge is used.

Acts 2:23
Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:

Spoken to Jews only.



Romans 8:29
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

The primary context of Rom 8 is Jewish

Romans 11:2
God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel saying,

God's people are always Israel in the scriptures. The context of Romans 11 proves it is the case here as well.



1 Peter 1:2
Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

Peter addressed this epistle to "strangers" in places in Asia. Strangers in scriptures are people who are out of their own land and are in someone elses. This passage is Jewish.

God does not foreknow individuals and he does not foreknow gentiles within the definition of foreknowledge that we have in scriptures. The scriptures are the only place we have to determine what God means by it and it takes comparing scripture with scripture. If someone besides these inspired writers have different definitions, they are suspect. They have made it up.

 

[Van]

Foreknowledge refers to knowledge acquired or formulated in the past being utilized in the present, such as Christ being put to death according to the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God. When a believer is chosen and placed in Christ, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that whole process is according to the foreknowledge of God, i.e. according to His redemption plan.

The effort to redefine the Greek words translated foreknew and foreknowledge as referring to future knowledge is simply an effort at corruption. Why might you ask? To build support for the fiction that scripture teaches God has chosen to know everything imaginable, past, present and future. Never mind, God says "now I know" implying He did not know beforehand, or Jesus is said to be "all knowing" yet did not know the time of His return.