Welcome back to the Ask Pastor John podcast with longtime pastor and author, John Piper. And a longtime listener to this podcast, Romella, wants confirmation on something that she's beginning to sense in Scripture and from listening to what we've been saying on this podcast over the years. Romella asks this, "Pastor John, is it true that nothing ever takes God by surprise?" Yes, that's true.

God is never surprised. To be surprised, you have to be uncertain about what's coming. You have to be ignorant. God is never ignorant about the future or about anything. He is never uncertain about what is coming. And we can know this for at least two reasons. One is that the Bible shows that knowing the future, even the future of human decisions, is part of what it means to be God.

And the other is that the Bible shows that God's foreknowledge is not the knowledge of something different from His will and plan, but that He knows the future because He plans the future. So let's look at those one at a time and passages to support them. Isaiah 41, 22.

God calls the idols. He calls them to give an account, and He challenges them to show that they are God's. How does He do it? Like this, "Announce to us what is coming. Declare the things that are going to come afterward, that we may know that you are God's." What does that mean?

In other words, in God's mind, the capacity to predict the future belongs to God as God. It was part of His deity to be able to declare things that come afterwards. He makes the same point in Isaiah 42, 8. He connects the power to foreknow and divine glory. "I am the Lord, that is my name.

I will not give my glory to another nor my praise to graven images. Behold, the former things have come to pass. Now I declare new things before they spring forth. I proclaim them to you." So you see the connection. "I am Yahweh, and this is part of my divine glory.

Before they spring forth, I proclaim them to you. Foreknowledge, knowledge of the future, is part of my glory," He says. Here it is again, Isaiah 45, 21. God throws up the challenge of whether there is any other God besides Him, and He does it by asking about their powers to announce the future.

"Declare," He says, "set forth your case. Indeed, let them consult together. Who has announced this from of old? Who has long ago declared it? Is it not I, the Lord? And there is no other God besides Me, a righteous God and a Savior. There is none except Me." So here it is again.

God says that what's at stake in His capacity to announce the future affairs of men and nations, that's a lot of human decision, what's at stake is His divinity, His godness. "I, the Lord, there is no other God besides Me when I predict the future. I show that." And then, this is really important, I think, in settling issue, then we see Jesus do the very same thing as God.

He connects His foreknowledge, even His knowledge of sinful choices like Judas' sinful choice and Peter's sinful choice to deny Him. He connects that with His deity, just like Isaiah did with God's deity in John 13, 19, where he says at the Last Supper, "From now on, I am telling you before it comes to pass," he's referring to Judas' betrayal, "I'm telling you about Judas' betrayal before it comes to pass so that when it does, you may believe that I am." Period.

Now, most of the English translations say that "I am he," which is understandable because it sounds odd to just, "that you may believe I am." That's what the Greek says. And we know where that phrase "I am" comes from. It's a play on the name of God from Exodus 3.

"I am who I am. Tell them I am sent you." Jesus is claiming to be God, and the basis of it is, "I know Judas is going to betray me." This is huge. So, the same thing is true of Peter's denial. Jesus knows precisely who will deny Him. He knows how many times He will deny Him.

He knows when in the morning He will deny Him. Same thing with Judas—when, where, why. And He knew this about Judas from the beginning. We know that from John 6, 64. I knew from the—when He chose Judas, He knew what He would do. Now, here's the text that connects the prediction of God with the planning or the performing of God.

Let's say of 46.9, "I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there's none like Me, declaring"—now, here's His foreknowledge—"declaring the end from the beginning." So He declares it. He knows it. And then He goes on. "And from ancient times, things not yet done, saying, 'My purpose will stand, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure.'" So now we get a window onto how God knows the future.

He knows it because He plans it and does it. He knows it because He plans it and performs it. Jeremiah 1, 12, the Lord said, "I am watching over My word to perform it." God doesn't just predict. He does what He predicts. Or Ezekiel 12, 25, "For I am the Lord, I will speak the word, I will speak it, and I will perform it." I will speak the word and perform it, declares the Lord God.

In other words, God knows the future because He performs the future. He's never surprised because He's not surprised at His own work. Foreknowledge is not an awareness of what the fates will make happen. Foreknowledge is not an awareness of what random chance is going to bring about. Foreknowledge is not an awareness of what ultimate human autonomy is going to produce.

There is no fate. There is no random chance. There is no ultimate human autonomy. What God knows is what God will do. The future is not some kind of freewheeling reality separate from God's will that He has to try to catch on to and adapt to. He knows the future because He plans the future, and He's never surprised by what He plans.

Profoundly true from Scripture and a deep personal comfort to know that God is in sovereign control and in His reign over His creation. Thank you, Pastor John, and thank you for the question, Romella. As you know by now, nothing is off limits on this podcast. We welcome questions all across the spectrum of issues in life from people who are struggling with faith or struggling with suffering or struggling with various relationships.

All of us struggle, and we want to offer you hope from God's word. So thank you for joining us, and thank you for sending your questions in to us. For just about everything you need to know about this podcast, go to our online home at zeroingod.org/askpastorjohn. Of course, there you can send us a question of your own.

You can browse our archive now of over 1,000 episodes to date as well. But for now, we must break for the weekend, and we'll be back on Monday. I'm your host, Tony Garanki. We'll see you then.