I'd like to turn a corner, here, and talk a bit more about other aspect of OVT that I think are reflected in Scripture quite clearly. Perhaps the most clear is the relationship God wishes to engage in with His creation. Or relationships.
I think we can all agree that God desires to have a people to Himself (Eph 1:4), and that seems to be God's intention in the garden, when He commands Adam and Eve to be fruitful, multiple, and fill the earth, and as He walks with them in the cool of the day.
But God, also knowing that a true relationship requires that rejection be possible, made a way for Adam and Eve to do so, and then commanded them NOT to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, a warning with a severe consequence attached.
And as long as they chose to refrain from doing so, they freely chose to be God's people.
Of course, we all know that they did eat, and have borne the consequences, not only for themselves, but for all the generations that would follow them: death. And death awaits us all.
But God still desires relationship with those He has created, and throughout Scripture, we see God's relationship to individuals, to nations, to kings and prophets and priests, and how the free choices they make impact that relationship.
And this is the natural reading of Scripture. If we set aside for a moment the presupposition of predestination and exhaustive and definite foreknowledge, there is nothing in the narrative of the OT to suggest that these things exist. If anything, God is alternately frustrated and pleased with choices that individuals make, causing him to repent from doing things, and to engage in covenant with those who believe in Him.
Perhaps the clearest example is the story where Abraham is told to take Isaac to a mountain to sacrifice him. Abraham takes his son and his servants to the foot of the mountain, and then takes only his son with the necessary provisions onto the mountain. And just as Abraham is about to strike, God stays his hand through an angel.
And then God says an amazing thing: "for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me."
God makes it clear that He has gained knowledge about Abraham, specifically that he truly fears God.
And this is the nature of relationship. Engaging each other to learn about each other even as we engage in new things.
I've been married for 23 years. I know my wife pretty well. But there are times when she encounters new situations that I still learn new things about her because she's learning those same things about herself. That's what makes relationship interesting.
And God desires the same things. He wants to be delighted as we discover things about ourselves, develop new thoughts and engage new situations so that we can discover and renew our hearts and minds.
And all of this requires a truly free will without exhaustive, definite foreknowledge. IF EDF were fact, then God could not say, "Now I know...", because He would have always known. The statement would have no meaning in its context.
There are countless other narratives where we have similar relational engagements where OVT is preferred over EDF, and I'll continue to post these from time to time.
Muz
