I read the following words in three places,Esther 4 v 14/Jonah 3 v5/ Joel 2 v14,there may be other times its mentioned.We read how Mordecai is pleading with Queen Esther to intervene with the king in order to stop the wholesale slaughter of the Jewish people. He tells her,'who knows' but that you come to royal position for such a time as this?. ,he wasn't certain but he felt that it may be so,and indeed it was.The other two occasions ,are mentioned in respect to God judging,Nineveh was told by Jonah that God's judgement was going to fall on that wicked city.The king took it very serious,and gave orders for the people (and animals) to fast,and for the people to call on God,and to forsake their evil ways.So the king says,'Who knows ? God may relent and with compassion turn from His fierce anger so that we will not perish', so it came to pass.Next Joel, disaster was coming ,Joel the prophet exhorts the people to totally repent of their evil ways,then he says ,'who knows?,God who is gracious, compassionate,slow to anger,and abounding in love may not judge them.Yes who knows,we should not take that for granted,a man called Renan said,' God will forgive, its His business', no it is not as simple as that, one cannot presume on the mercy of God. David Prior writes,' One of the balancing acts in-Christian prayer is to combine faith with humility, to ask with confidence but to refrain from insisting on what we want'.
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