My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
| 219 |
| GOD OF KNOWLEDGE |
| 1 Samuel 2:3 Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. |
| As we venture through the Names of God, it should become obvious of how great and awesome our God is, of His multifaceted, unfathomable depth of character, of His ability to address every one of our needs, concerns and questions. Each time we consider a certain characteristic of the Lord, we by necessity exclude other characteristics of His Person simply because we cannot plunge the depth of His goodness, grace, justice and love. Out of each of these short studies, I tend to come away thinking of Him in a slightly different way, and find my understanding of Him to somehow expand. He is really beyond our imagination. One additional outcome of these short posts is that the God we learn about in each study is also teaching us of our own condition, our weakness, our inabilities and our sin. We are not God, and every time we consider the greatness of our God, we consider our own “not greatness”. We are not God! In our passage this morning, a woman has suffered years of provocation, sadness, distress 1 Samuel 1:7 So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the LORD, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. 1 Samuel 1:8 And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?” 1 Samuel 1:10 She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly. Hannah suffered for years, being taunted and without child, praying at the temple with such deep emotion that the priest assumed she was drunk. 1 Samuel 1:13 Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. Hannah received answers to her pleadings before the Lord, and a son was born to her that would grow to be one of the greatest prophets Israel has known. After the arrival and weaning of the child, Hannah gave back to the Lord that which she prayed for. A tremendous sign of self sacrifice for the Lord’s sake. She gave her only child up to be dedicated to the Lord, being separated from him for most of his life. 1 Samuel 1:28 Therefore I have lent him to the LORD. As long as he lives, he is lent to the LORD.” And he worshiped the LORD there. After all of this, Hannah prays again, and we find she describes the Lord as the God of Knowledge. After all her struggles before the Lord, she brings up the topic of arrogance and pride in relation to our God. Now I know it is easy to relate this statement to Peninnah, her husbands other wife, and likely this is the aim of the claim, for she speaks of her mouth deriding her enemy. 1 Samuel 2:1 And Hannah prayed and said, …My mouth derides my enemies… She provides counsel for the arrogant and the proud, a rebuke to those who speak great pompous words. But Hannah speaks of God as a God of Knowledge. Now it may be said that Hannah is not referring to God’s ability to perform calculus, or His knowledge of number of stars in the sky. No – she is speaking of God’s knowledge of a souls actions, even of His knowing of our reasonings, motivations and desires that produce our actions. Now there are often times when I have thoughts or desires to perform some action, but after consideration (or by distraction), I do not complete those actions. Truly Jesus knows my heart, but Hannah speaks of His knowledge as it pertains to our actions, our work. That which I do, not what I think. Now there is no denying that what and how I think is critical in my life to perform works that may be judged positively, but for our verse this morning, Hannah is not considering only motivations or secret thoughts, but actions that are evident to all. Nothing is hid. Jesus spoke of the eventual revelation of our actions while He was walking amongst us. Mark 4:22 For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. Luke 12:2 Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. The proud and arrogant are to recognize this truth, but as the proud and arrogant, they reject our God of Knowledge, sometimes with great violence, and pursue selfish goals. But no matter our reaction, whether by violent rejection or in a peaceful acceptance, He is the God of Knowledge. He knows our lives, our works, our actions, and it is the wise one who recognizes the God of Knowledge in a spirit of humility. To know the God of Knowledge, to walk with Him, demands a humility before Him. We need to recognize Him as much greater that us, as the One who knows and who judges our actions. |
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
Your message has been sent
Come join us at Considering the Bible
Considering the Bible 
One response to “Names of God – GOD OF KNOWLEDGE – 219”
Amen! God bless you all there. 😇😍👍🙏
What We Thinks Is What We Are!
LikeLiked by 1 person