On the omniscience of God

[Adam]

Then He needed the "gory details" to make a righteous judgment? And His other sources of information are not trustworthy, apparently?

Yeah, He really might have. There have been times where he needed to know the details so that He could rightly judge the matter. Cain and David both were guilty of murder but received different punishments. God looks at the entire matter, when necessary, to know what kind of judgment needed to be meted.

 

[Derf]

Or He is the Living God and sometimes likes to see things for Himself?

Don't you think that a God who can hear from heaven could also see from heaven?
2 Chronicles 7:14 KJV — If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

And He can certainly see from heaven enough to know if men anywhere seek God:
Psalm 53:2 KJV — God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.

I don't disagree with you in this sense, that He wanted to experience the wickedness in some way. What I've suggested is that He was giving them a chance to repent by sending His angels (not going Himself, necessarily, since it was angels Lot seemed to deal with) to test the people of Sodom.

And if only angels, how is that different from how He previously received the information about Sodom's wickedness?

 

[Derf]

Yeah, He really might have. There have been times where he needed to know the details so that He could rightly judge the matter. Cain and David both were guilty of murder but received different punishments. God looks at the entire matter, when necessary, to know what kind of judgment needed to be meted.

And often tests the people to see if they will repent, like Noah preaching righteousness and Jonah going Nineveh.

 

[JudgeRightly]

Don't you think that a God who can hear from heaven could also see from heaven?
2 Chronicles 7:14 KJV — If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

And He can certainly see from heaven enough to know if men anywhere seek God:
Psalm 53:2 KJV — God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.

I don't disagree with you in this sense, that He wanted to experience the wickedness in some way. What I've suggested is that He was giving them a chance to repent by sending His angels (not going Himself, necessarily, since it was angels Lot seemed to deal with) to test the people of Sodom.

And if only angels, how is that different from how He previously received the information about Sodom's wickedness?

God led Israel personally through the wilderness as a pillar of fire and pillar of cloud. He's not averse to doing things "in person."

And while we're on the topic... Let's not forget what time of year it is. God Himself came down as a baby in a manger to save humanity from their sins.

There's no scriptural reason to force God to always remain in Heaven when interacting with His creation. Is that the norm? Perhaps. But it's not a rule that can never be broken.

God wants a relationship with His creation.

 

[Adam]

God led Israel personally through the wilderness as a pillar of fire and pillar of cloud. He's not averse to doing things "in person."

And while we're on the topic... Let's not forget what time of year it is. God Himself came down as a baby in a manger to save humanity from their sins.

There's no scriptural reason to force God to always remain in Heaven when interacting with His creation. Is that the norm? Perhaps. But it's not a rule that can never be broken.

God wants a relationship with His creation.

Amen, and He also walked bodily in the garden with Adam, and I believe that he met Cain face to face. He also met with Abram/Abraham, Moses, Manoah, Daniel, Ezekiel and others. He wasn't talking to these people from the sky, he was on earth, in a body, interacting with them face-to-face.