We tend to forget that God cares about us and our struggles when life throws a lot at us at once. As a species, we have made a massive blunder in thinking that God is either removed from or uninterested in the specifics of our daily lives. However, God isn’t far away, and He isn’t blind. What is the truth about God is all knowing?
God’s vastness, wisdom, power, and awesomeness are continuously made clear in God’s Word. As with many other passages, Psalm 139 demonstrates God’s omniscience[1], but this time, it serves as a potent reminder that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love (Romans 8:38–39). What does it mean to say that “God is omniscient” and how does God’s omniscience affect the way we live our lives?
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What Does “God Is All-Knowing Or Omniscient” Mean?
One who is omniscient is all-knowing. The Latin words for “all” (Omnis) and “knowledge” (Scientia) are the origins of this term. The Latin term Scientia is the same word for “science” in English.
By “omniscient,” Christians mean that God has perfect knowledge of everything that has ever happened and will ever happen. All wisdom originates from God. Everything that might happen already has happened in God’s eyes. God’s omniscience means He is aware of our ideas even before we have them. While human knowledge has limits, God doesn’t.
God Has Perfect Knowledge
Elihu addressed Job in Job 37:16, “Do you know the amazing deeds of Him who is flawless in knowledge?” This Scripture provides a beginning point for comprehending God’s immense wisdom.
The Hebrew word “Taman,” which is translated as “perfect” in this passage, also means “complete” or “completed.” There is nothing lacking from it. God’s viewpoint on the world is flawless; He knows how the image will appear for all eternity.
Our understanding is insufficient. Even after years of research and observation, scientists continue to uncover new characteristics of creation in our bodies, the depths of the ocean, and the vastness of space. The puzzle is missing pieces. Our comprehension is imperfect.
We cannot conceive every possible circumstance and interaction in the world forever. We do not even know the details of what our lives will be like tomorrow, nor do we recall every breath we take now.
Although we cannot rely on our knowledge or comprehension, we may rely on God. God knows our individual needs before we speak, so we may safely pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).
God Is Our Source Of Knowledge
God is aware of every particle and chemical reaction in creation, just as architects know the complexities of the structures they construct. Nothing is too tiny or too massive for the intimate understanding of our Creator. God understands the details of our growth within our mother’s womb and our life before birth.
In Job 37:14–16, “Elihu said, Hear this, O Job; stop and consider the wondrous works of God. Do you know how God lays His command upon them and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine? Do you know the balancing of the clouds, the wondrous works of Him who is perfect in knowledge?”
God Knows And Sees Everything
According to Jeremiah 16:17, humans can’t hide anything from the Lord, even our inequities, for He lay His eyes on everything we do.
Hebrews 4:12–13 also states, “For the word of God is living and active… discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”
Psalm 139:4 also states that even before we say a word, or even before it reaches our tongue, the Lord already knows it.
Jesus revealed to his disciples that God would hold us accountable for our filthy thoughts in the same way that He held us accountable for our unclean deeds. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:27–28).
God Is All-Knowing Allow Us To Trust Him
Frequently, the most important questions we have concern hardship and agony. As stated in Psalm 73:11, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
Just like how the Lord conveyed to Moses He had witnessed the anguish of His people, we may have faith that God sees our unpleasant circumstances and hears the cries of those suffering.
“Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings” (Exodus 3:7)”
If God is omniscient, it’s puzzling that bad things keep happening and people keep suffering. God’s goodness and His plan may be called into question, and that’s okay. The tragedy of Job serves as a reminder that human understanding is limited and that there are certain things we will never be able to fathom.
“God thunders wondrously with His voice; He does great things that we cannot comprehend,” says Job 37:5.
God’s judgment of evil sometimes seems delayed, but it will happen eventually because He is not bound by time or location. Jesus Christ illustrated to His disciples, “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words, you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:36–37).
20 Incredible Bible Verses That Speak God Is All-Knowing
The Scripture is filled with testimonies showing God is omniscient. Here are 20 amazing Bible verses that speak of God’s knowledge:
2 Chronicles 16:9 – “For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars.”
Isaiah 48:5–6 – “Therefore I declared them to you long ago, before they took place I proclaimed them to you so that you would not say, ‘My idol has done them, And my graven image and my molten image have commanded them.’ You have heard; look at all this. And you, will you not declare it? I proclaim to you new things from this time, even hidden things which you have not known.”
1 Corinthians 2:10–11 – “For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except for the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.”
Job 34:22–23 – “There is no darkness or deep shadow where the workers of iniquity may hide. For He does not need to consider a man further, that he should go before God in judgment.”
Job 11:11 – “For He knows false men, and He sees iniquity without investigating.”
Job 34:21–22 – “For His eyes are upon the ways of a man, and He sees all his steps. There is no darkness or deep shadow where the workers of iniquity may hide.”
Matthew 10:30 – “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”
Luke 12:7 – “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.”
1 Corinthians 4:5 – “Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.”
Acts 3:18 – “But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.”
Psalm 139:6 – “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.”
Isaiah 46:10 – “Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure.”
Matthew 6:31–32 – “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.”
Psalm 139:2–3 – “You know when I sit down and when I rise; you understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways.”
Jeremiah 5:3 – “O Lord, do not Your eyes look for truth? You have smitten them, but they did not weaken; You have consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to repent.”
1 Chronicles 28:9 – “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.”
Hebrews 4:12–13 – “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”
Jeremiah 16:17 – “For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity concealed from My eyes.”
Psalm 33:13–15 – “The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men; From His dwelling place He looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, He who fashions the hearts of them all, He who understands all their works.
Job 21:22 – “Can anyone teach God knowledge, in that He judges those on high?”
Reasons To Celebrate That God Is All-Knowing
God gives us enough reasons to celebrate His omniscience. We can take comfort in knowing that He knows us and what’s best for our lives. Here are two of the many reasons we can celebrate God’s knowledge:
God Knows The Past, Present, And Future
In Isaiah 46:9–10, God reminds us that “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.'”
God, being all-knowing, prompted foreseeing prophets to speak for Him. Joseph was right on both counts in prophesying seven years of famine and seven years of plenty.
According to Daniel’s prophecy, as instructed by God, Nebuchadnezzar would be reduced to eating grass like an animal and forced to dwell in the wilderness (Daniel 4:24–33).
Prophesying the destruction of the Temple was one of God’s orders to Ezekiel. “Say to the people of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to desecrate my sanctuary — the stronghold in which you take pride, the delight of your eyes, the object of your affection (Ezekiel 24:21).'”
God Gives Us Wisdom
Instead of attempting to educate ourselves or figure things out when we feel ignorant, we should pray for God to show us what we need to know.
God assured Moses that He would show him what to say when he first felt insecure. We can get divine assistance much like Moses did when we pray for insight. As a result of our obedience, He will bestow upon us wisdom and understanding.
“Then the Lord said to him, ‘Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, deaf, seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak (Exodus 14:11–12).'”
Conclusion
Being omniscient, or having complete and total knowledge and understanding of everything is an essential component of God’s nature and character. God knows all there is to know about everything.
God is a God of infinite knowledge. Believers can trust that God sees and knows everything at all times. He has promised to supply every need of every single believer because he knows what they are. Those who have faith in God can take solace in the fact that he knows everything.
