How much freedom did Israel have in responding to Jesus' Kingdom offer?
Israel had absolute freedom either to accept the King and receive the Kingdom or to reject that offer by their own free will. God's sovereignty and foreknowledge did not remove their liberty; He knew what they would do, yet they remained fully responsible for refusing Him.
Les explains that God in His sovereignty is in control of everything, yet He never takes away the free will of men and nations. Before creation, the Godhead could look down through the eons of time and knew exactly what every person in every nation would do—foreknowledge. With that foreknowledge He could plan for any contingency. The same was true for Israel: Les teaches Israel had absolute freedom to accept Him and have the Kingdom, but also the free will to reject it. Their response, such as “Does anything good come out of Nazareth?” and “you would not,” shows they were rejecting the offer. The offer still went out that He was their King and was ready to give them the Kingdom if they would just believe. This did not throw God a curve, because He knew what they would do.