Jehovah's limitations

Think Again

As I have stated before, and will probably state again, in cases where the Bible presents two opposing points of view, for argument's sake, I will stress the one that theologians and preachers would rather just sweep under the rug.

We continue now where we left off in the last post.

If one reads the Bible with an open mind, one comes to the same conclusion as the philosophers Plato and Plotinus (from about 450 years before Christ was born) who taught that above the Gods of traditional belief was "The One" also called God. The One is the impersonal unifying principle of divinity. To believe that there is “The One” seems necessary to the human mind, for without that belief we cannot imagine the origin of the universe. 

The Church, following the Jewish lead, has ascribed infinity to Jehovah, and that is not surprising, for the Bible is replete with references, which indicate that He is infinite and invisible.  

However, remembering the statements made about the inspiration of the Bible, we see that we must give the Bible writers “poetic licence” to write this way about Jehovah.

However, in many cases what they wrote may not have been “poetic licence”, but rather a real, heartfelt belief, based on experience, because of what “their God” had done for them. 

Is it not very believable that since the Bible writers were not aware of the Akashic field, they, at times, ascribed the attributes of the Akashic field to Jehovah, their own God? 

However, on the other side, many times they wrote of a God that was much more human-like: a God they had seen, a God that might forget, a God who needed to ask questions, a God who lived in tents.

To even suggest that Jehovah has limitations, is no doubt, considered to be blasphemy.  I would not go there if an open-minded approach to Bible study had not lead me there, but it did!  To try to fit what the Bible says about Jehovah into what is The One unifying principle of divinity is not at all possible.

Let us turn back to the Bible again. 

Is Jehovah really omniscient?

First, we look at Omniscience, that word means, to know everything.

After Adam and Eve had sinned, God was looking for them but He could not find them so He called out to them, where are you? Gen. 3:9.

After Cain had killed Able, Jehovah asked him, Where is your brother? If Jehovah is omniscient how is it that he did not know where Abel's body was?  If He is as awe-inspiring as we have been taught He is, would Cain have dared to be so evasive, perhaps even flippant, with his answer?  I don’t know, am I responsible for him? Gen. 4:9.

Yahweh regretted having made man on the earth. Gen. 6:6 The Jerusalem Bible. 

The Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel. 1 Sam. 15:35.  If Jehovah is omniscient how can either of those scenarios be true; did the omniscient God not foresee what was coming?

When… the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; … I will remember. The KJV says, more pointedly, I will look upon it that I may remember the everlasting covenant. Gen. 9:13.   It sounds as if God knew that he might forget (we are created in his image in this area also) and needed a reminder in the sky, much as a child needs a string around a finger to aid his memory.

Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. Ex. 2:23-24.  Does God need reminders, like hearing people groan, to help Him remember His promises?  It seems as if He does.

In many different translations of the Bible, Ex. 13:17, reads something like this, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was nearer; for God thought, “If the people face war, they may change their minds and return to Egypt”’.  The Bible clearly says that God thought, but He did not know!

There are also the questions that the Lord asked of Satan when Satan came to the general meeting of the sons of God.  The Lord asked him, From where do you come?  Satan, seemingly, did not think that it was a redundant question because he gave the Lord a straightforward answer.  The Lord asked him another question, Have you considered my servant Job. Job 2:2.  Again, Satan answered the question, as if it was a reasonable question for Jehovah to ask. 

Furthermore, Satan suggested that Job worshipped the Lord for selfish reasons and that they should have ‘a little contest’ to see if he was right.  The Lord must have thought that this "contest thing" was a good idea.  From reading the story, it seems that the Lord also did not know the outcome of that contest.

In the next post, we will look at what the Bible says about Jehovah's omnipotence.