Tag Archives: knowledge of God
Bless-ed! 52 Blessings You Have As a Believer! (Blessing #8)
BLESSING #8: The Blessing of a Longing to Know God
My friend Mike is unsaved. That’s biblical language for his condition before God. In trying to reach my friend, I’m becoming more aware of what I have as a believer and what my friend Mike doesn’t yet have.
8. WE HAVE A LONGING TO KNOW GOD THROUGH STUDYING HIS WORD!
ACTION STEPS 1. Complete the following sentence: “I want to be a student of God’s Word because ___________________.
Getting to Know . . . I Samuel! (2:1-11) A MIGHTY PRAYER OF FAITH!
“No more diapers to change!” I doubt those were the words of Hannah as she left Eli’s presence after turning over her son Samuel! Some suggest she may have had six other sons (see 2:5) to take care of. But she keeps her vow and praises God for His answering her agonized prayer.
Please notice several features in Hannah’s prayer:
1. She focuses on the character of her God! “There is no one holy like the Lord, no one besides you, no Rock like our God.” (v. 2). “The Lord is a God who knows; by him deeds are weighed.” (v. 3). He is the Lord who brings death and makes alive; He sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and exalts (vv. 6-7). The Lord will judge the ends of the earth (v. 10). Hannah knew her Lord!
2. She rejoices in God’s meeting her need! She describes herself as “those who were hungry are hungry no more. She who was barren has borne seven children! (v. 5). She sees herself as one who has been raised from the dust, from the ash heap, and has been seated with princes (v. 8).
3. She speaks warnings to the wicked! Those who talk proudly or speak arrogantly will be weighed by the Lord (v. 3). He breaks the bows of the warriors (v. 4). The wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness (v. 9). Those who oppose the Lord will be broken (v. 10).
Elkanah (with Hannah and Peninnah) return home, “but the boy ministered before the Lord under Eli the priest (v. 11).
Oh, that my knowledge of and faith in the Lord were close to Hannah’s!
Back to the Basics: Theology Proper #15 God’s KNOWABILITY! (Part 1)
We’ve looked at the logic of God wanting to know His creatures, made in His image, and how special revelation makes sense. A good Creator would want to reveal truth about Himself so that human beings, made in His image, could have a relationship with Him.
Let’s think a bit more about God’s knowability. He is not some far-off deity who doesn’t care about His creation, but rather One who wants an intimate relationship with each one of us through His Son Jesus. We can know God! Of the many verses in the Scriptures about knowing God, several speak to the issue of knowing about God and His works. For example,
1 Kings 8:60 “so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other.”
2 Kings 19:19 “Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.”
Psalm 100:3 “Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.”
The entire book of Ezekiel (an Old Testament book seldom read) makes one overall point: “that they may know that I am the Lord!”
Many verses talk about God’s actions on behalf of His people Israel and against those enemy nations that sought to do them harm. But there is a difference between knowing that and knowing . . . Him (to be continued)