Exhaustive Foreknowledge- "I Thought"

What does it mean to you when someone says, "I thought..." something would go a certain  way but it did not? Maybe they thought another would have a certain reaction but had a reaction that may not have been expected. Maybe several reactions were possible and there were one or more that were certain while others were unlikely but the unlikely was chosen. Another possibility exists; the "I thought" phrase could be completely sarcastic in nature where the person already knew the reaction or outcome and was just stating "they knew it"!

The phrase "I thought" occurs in scripture as words that God used. It should cause us to wonder if God really meant it. Did God really not know something would turn out a certain way after the fact? Did God know or consider a few possibilities and think that one outcome was certain to be the  correct one? Such considerations for many are quickly buried because God knows everything before it happens.

Jeremiah chapter 3 offers three passages that beg the question, did God know before hand or was God surprised by an outcome? In this chapter we have a lament given by God regarding the unfaithfulness of Israel. God seems to be questioning what He thought the outcome of a relationship gone horribly wrong was going to be. Is this anthropomorphic in nature? Did God really know and was just speaking in human terms for Israels (or human) benefit? 

Jeremiah 3: 4,5
"My Father, you are the friend of my youth--  will he be angry forever, will he be indignant to the end?"

Israel asks, will God be indignant still? Or, will God forgive? They seem unsure themselves yet they still continued to worship other gods. Imagine such a relationship! You offer genuine and unlimited love to someone who throws it in your face and trollops around with others while still coming back and asking if you will be angry forever? You extend the olive branch of forgiveness yet the other continues in unfaithfulness. Maybe you hold out hope that your love will be understood and returned in a lasting and faithful relationship for the benefit and enjoyment of both. I believe this is exactly what God was doing! God could not believe that Israel would continue in unfaithfulness. God genuinely thought that Israel would return. 

Jeremiah 3:7
And I thought, "After she has done all this she will return to me"; ..."

God said, "And I thought".  What does this phrase really mean? I believe that God is expressing extreme disappointment! God was either sure that Israel would return or at least held great hope that it would be so. 

Jeremiah 3:19
I thought how I would set you among my children, and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful heritage of all the nations. And I thought you would call me, My Father, and would not turn from following me.

In verse 12 God offers forgiveness if they return. But they would not. God simply states, "I thought" I would give you the land I promised and "I thought" we would have the familial relationship that I have always desired. God truly has thought that by now Israel would be firmly in a loving relationship with their Father. Of course God has contingency plans if Israel does not return. But God still holds out hope and sends Jeremiah to question Israel and prophecy of the options in their possible relationship. 

If God already knew that Israel, and Judah to follow, would chose the path of whoring after other gods, then why would God state "I thought"? Would we not have different phraseology in scripture? 

Alternate absolute truthful Jeremiah 3:19 as most Christians believe God to be:
I knew how I would not set you among my children, and would not give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful heritage of all the nations. And I knew that you would not call me, My Father, and would  turn from following me. And I knew that because you would not follow me that I would send you into captivity, so it was pointless to ask you to return and pointless to offer forgiveness because I already knew the outcome. 

Isn't this how we read God's exhaustive foreknowledge into our theology? Even though we read "I thought", we actually believe it says "I knew". Worse even is the idea that God knew all of this before Abraham was promised a great seed that would inherit the promised land! And what is far more terrible to imagine is that God knew all of this before creation! At least it is terrible to me. What do we ascribe to our all loving God?

I believe God knew it was possible that they would not return but that God really thought that they would! This is how a true relationship develops. There may be uncertainty. At some point in this relationship God desires, it will be realized, this God certainly knows. However, God will not force and coerce false love just to be right. God will wait with great patience for true love. God is so sure that love will win there is no need to push. All, including Israel, will come. In the meantime, God and the faithless will suffer the effects of a tumultuous love as we see in Hosea.