Hosea 8:5, "How long will they be incapable of innocence?"

by Matt Slick

"He has rejected your calf, O Samaria, saying, “My anger burns against them!” How long will they be incapable of innocence?" (Hosea 8:5).

We can see that God asks questions even though He already knows the answer to the question.  God asking "How long will they be incapable of innocence?" does not mean He didn't know the answer.  For example, Jesus asked who the Jews came for in the Garden of Gestheme when the text clearly states that Jesus knew all things.  John 18:3-5 says,

"Judas then, having received the Roman cohort, and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. ⁴Jesus therefore, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth, and said to them, "Whom do you seek?" ⁵They answered Him, "Jesus the Nazarene." He *said to them, "I am He." And Judas also who was betraying Him, was standing with them."

Notice that Jesus, God in flesh, knew all things yet He asked a question.  If you think like an open theist, this would mean Jesus didn't know who they came for.  Of course, this doesn't make any sense.

So, it is certainly biblical to say that God was merely asking a question that He already knew the answer to.