Knowledge of God
I’ve written about the word “belief” before, and how in the Hebrew culture to believe means more than mental knowledge. It means you act on what you believe. So, we err when we think salvation by believing in Christ only involves mental acceptance of him. It involves obedience also. Obedience doesn’t save us. We’d have to be perfect for that, but it does give evidence of real belief, real faith, and is essential as a verifying element of faith. Faith without works is dead we’re told (James 2:14-26).
In a similar way, when we say a person has knowledge of God, that they “know” God, it involves more than what we typically attach to the word knowledge. The Hebrew phrase is “da’at Elohim”, and we see this communicated many places in scripture. “For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings” we are told by God in Hosea 6:6.
For the normal English-speaking person, if we hear “to know” we tend to think of our mental grasp of facts. But in Hebrew the word for “to know” is “yadah,” and is much broader than our English concept. The word “yadah” speaks of knowing from experience, from a relationship, and based on that experience or relationship we act on that knowledge. It is an intimate knowledge, and, in the Bible, we see the term used for a sexual relationship between a husband and wife. In Genesis 4:1 we are told, “And Adam knew (yadah) Eve his wife; and she conceived and gave birth to Cain.”
When “to know” (yadah) becomes “knowledge of God” (da’at Elohim), we are tempted to think it simply means to prove that God exists, or for us to know things about him. Not to the studied Jew. In the Hebrew concept, knowledge of God means to have a dedicated life of relationship with God.
Consider this comparison of Isaiah 11:2 in the NIV translation and then the Jewish Publication Society translation:
“The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him, the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord” (NIV)
“The spirit of the Lord shall alight upon him; a spirit of wisdom and insight, a spirit of counsel and valor, a spirit of devotion and reverence for the Lord” (JPS)
To the Hebrew reader, knowledge isn’t just knowing who someone is. It is devotion to them, an active reverence for them. It is a true intimacy with God, when he is the focus, similar to a husband knowing his wife (devoted to her), or a son knowing his father (devoted to him). And this should impact our approach to evangelism. Our job in witnessing and testifying to the truth of Jesus is not just so people acknowledge who he is as a fact, but to do what Jesus commissioned in Matthew 28, to “make disciples” who are devoted to Jesus as Lord, “teaching them to obey all that I (Jesus) have commanded.”
So, I might ask at this point: do you know Jesus? Not just the flannelgraph image of some historical person you agree lived two thousand years ago, but someone you believe to be the Messiah, the son of God, the Savior who has rescued you from sin, and who you follow with devotion. That is “da’at Elohim”.
Cross Point: “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Hab. 2:14). Thanks to Lois Tverberg’s “Our Rabbi Jesus” for the inspiring concepts incorporated within this Cross Point.
In a similar way, when we say a person has knowledge of God, that they “know” God, it involves more than what we typically attach to the word knowledge. The Hebrew phrase is “da’at Elohim”, and we see this communicated many places in scripture. “For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings” we are told by God in Hosea 6:6.
For the normal English-speaking person, if we hear “to know” we tend to think of our mental grasp of facts. But in Hebrew the word for “to know” is “yadah,” and is much broader than our English concept. The word “yadah” speaks of knowing from experience, from a relationship, and based on that experience or relationship we act on that knowledge. It is an intimate knowledge, and, in the Bible, we see the term used for a sexual relationship between a husband and wife. In Genesis 4:1 we are told, “And Adam knew (yadah) Eve his wife; and she conceived and gave birth to Cain.”
When “to know” (yadah) becomes “knowledge of God” (da’at Elohim), we are tempted to think it simply means to prove that God exists, or for us to know things about him. Not to the studied Jew. In the Hebrew concept, knowledge of God means to have a dedicated life of relationship with God.
Consider this comparison of Isaiah 11:2 in the NIV translation and then the Jewish Publication Society translation:
“The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him, the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord” (NIV)
“The spirit of the Lord shall alight upon him; a spirit of wisdom and insight, a spirit of counsel and valor, a spirit of devotion and reverence for the Lord” (JPS)
To the Hebrew reader, knowledge isn’t just knowing who someone is. It is devotion to them, an active reverence for them. It is a true intimacy with God, when he is the focus, similar to a husband knowing his wife (devoted to her), or a son knowing his father (devoted to him). And this should impact our approach to evangelism. Our job in witnessing and testifying to the truth of Jesus is not just so people acknowledge who he is as a fact, but to do what Jesus commissioned in Matthew 28, to “make disciples” who are devoted to Jesus as Lord, “teaching them to obey all that I (Jesus) have commanded.”
So, I might ask at this point: do you know Jesus? Not just the flannelgraph image of some historical person you agree lived two thousand years ago, but someone you believe to be the Messiah, the son of God, the Savior who has rescued you from sin, and who you follow with devotion. That is “da’at Elohim”.
Cross Point: “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Hab. 2:14). Thanks to Lois Tverberg’s “Our Rabbi Jesus” for the inspiring concepts incorporated within this Cross Point.
Posted in Cross Points