And [those rebuilding the temple] returned us an answer, saying: “We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and completed. But because our fathers provoked the God of heaven to wrath, He gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and carried the people away to Babylon. However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus issued a decree to build this house of God.” Ezra 5:11-13
Were these events predestined by the God of heaven without regard to any human decisions? Is God’s foreknowledge based on such divine predestining of events, or is His predestining based on His foreknowledge of all actions, both His own and those of His creatures?
The best (and only) answer that can be given comes from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, who declared “there is no searching of His understanding”. This sentiment is echoed in the New Testament by the apostle Paul who wrote, “How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!”.
