The prophecy of Ezekiel 40-48 may also be relevant here. Ezekiel
speaks of the Levites offering sacrifices in the new temple (cf. Ez
40:46; 43:19; 44:10; 45:5; 48:11). These prophecies may be related to similar
descriptions in the New Testament (cf. Ac 15:16-18; Ac 1:6-8; 26:7; Jm
1:1; Rm 11:26; Gls 6:16). Other outstanding features of Ezekiel 40-48 which
correlate with New Testament imagery are: Ez 40:20/Ap 21:10; Ez 40:3/Ap 11:1;
Ez 40:17/Ap 11:2; Ez 41:23/Hb 9:23; Ez 42:20/Ap 21:16; Ez 44:4/Ap 15:8; Ez
44:17/Ap 19:8; Ez 47:1/Ap 22:1; Ez 47:7, 12/Ap 22:2; Ez 47:22/Ep 2:12f; Ez
48:35/Ap 21:3; Ez 48:1-35/Ap 7:1-8. Many of these passages coincide with the
prophecies of Zc 14:1-21. At least three interpretations are possible for Ez
40-48: (1) it is symbolic of the New Testament period, which will pass into
eternity; (2) its meticulous detail forces it to be a literal prophecy of
future events which have not yet been fulfilled; (3) it is a conditional
prophecy only for the post-exilic remnant of Jews, which was not fulfilled due
to their disobedience (Ml 3:8-12). (Robert A. Sungenis, Not By Bread
Alone: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for the Eucharistic Sacrifice
[2d ed.; State Line, Pa.: Catholic Apologetics International Publishing, Inc.,
2009], 99-100 n. 101, emphasis in bold added)
Shall a man afflict God? for you
afflict me. And you have said: Wherein do we afflict thee? in tithes and in
firstfruits. And you are cursed with want, and you afflict me, even the whole
nation of you. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat
in my house, and try me in this, saith the Lord: if I open not unto you the
flood-gates of heaven, and pour you out a blessing even to abundance. And I
will rebuke for your sakes the devourer, and he shall not spoil the fruit of
your land: neither shall the vine in the field be barren, saith the Lord of
hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for you shall be a delightful
land, saith the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 3:8-12 | Douay-Rheims)
In
support of the thesis that "God knows some things contingently":
Contingency” is the theological term
used to distinguish between God’s sole predeterminations as opposed to
determinations based on man’s free will decisions or the natural working out of
events. In other words, “contingency” means that some or all of God’s
predeterminations are made based on what man will decide to do or the natural
outworking of events. Scripture gives us some interesting examples of
contingency. In one instance, David inquires of the Lord if a certain event
will take place in the future if David stays at the place where the event would
have happened. God tells him that the event will occur if David stays there.
David decides not to go to that place and the foreseen event never occurs (1Sm
23:1-14). Although this is a rudimentary example of contingency, it
nevertheless gives us a glimpse into the dynamic relationship between what God
sees as real possibilities in the future and the free decisions of man. (Robert
A. Sungenis, Not By Faith Alone: The Biblical Evidence for the Catholic
Doctrine of Justification [2d ed.; State Line, Pa.: Catholic Apologetics
International Publishing, Inc., 2009], 417 n. 518)
