“KNOWING THE HEARTS OF MEN”
II Chronicles six deals with the dedication of the temple by Solomon. In one part, if pestilence, blasting, mildew, locusts or enemies besiege the city of Jerusalem, if they made prayer from this place, God would hear from heaven (II Chronicles 6:28-30). We find in verse 30 something about the power and nature of God. God knows the hearts of men. The writer of Hebrews describes God by saying, “...all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” (Hebrews 4:13). We then take these truths and make some observations about God and us.
First of all, nothing can be hidden from God. Men must have secret meetings to plot their evil. No meeting can be held anywhere that God is not aware of. Hence, the idea that so many today are speaking about a thousand year reign of Christ on earth in our times works only if God did not KNOW what they were planning. Matthew records a meeting of the chief priests, scribes and elders at the house of Caiaphas (Matthew 26:3). The death of Jesus was being plotted. The death of Jesus could come about only by His rejection by this group of men. If, as Solomon said, God knows the hearts of men then was God aware of the hearts of these men? If as the Hebrew writer stated all things are naked and opened before God, did God KNOW about this meeting.
What position then does this put God in? If God KNEW about the meeting, then what? He knows men were plotting to kill His Son and, thereby, His Son would be rejected. Yet, those who hold to the thousand year reign maintain that God did not know that His Son would be rejected. One cannot have it both ways. If God. according to Scripture. knows the hearts of all men and the actions of all men, then He knew about this meeting recorded by Matthew. On the other hand, if God did not know about the meeting, then what do we do with Solomon’s statement and the one in Hebrews?
The apostles, on the day of Pentecost, revealed the actions of God. How was Jesus delivered to men to be crucified? Jesus was delivered by the “determinate council and foreknowledge of God.” (Acts 2:23). This affirms what Solomon revealed as well as the statement in Hebrews. God knew about the meeting recorded by Matthew. He knew what men were planning. Jesus was delivered by the foreknowledge of God. Does this not match up with what Jesus had been teaching in His public ministry? Jesus is God and therefore He and the Father were aware of what was taking place.
Jesus began His preaching by telling His audiences, “...repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). Some, in their efforts to take away the meaning of this verse, try to make a difference between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God. However, God prevents such a false idea by giving us a scriptural answer. Here is how Mark records it. Jesus began to preach by saying, “the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:15). Therefore, the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God are the same thing. Jesus said the kingdom was about to come. The meeting recorded by Matthew was all part of the plan.
God KNEW that men would reject His Son. If God knew that men would reject His Son, then why was the kingdom not established? If the reason that God did not establish the kingdom was because He did not KNOW the Jews would reject His Son, we will have serious problems with what the Scriptures reveal about God and His power. If God did KNOW then what possible reason could there be for not establishing the kingdom.
Jesus began preaching that the kingdom was near. The apostles were going to be given the “keys to the kingdom” (Matthew 16:19). Upon the day of Pentecost, the church began by the apostles giving men the keys to salvation through the preaching of Jesus and His authority. The church is the kingdom that God promised. God knows the hearts of men and their actions; the church validates that proposition.