Musing – Do We Really Want to Know God?

Hebraic Musing – Do We Really Want to Know God?

Remember the Julie Andrews song in “The King & I”?  ♫ Getting to know you Getting to feel free and easy.  When I am with you   Getting to know what to say.   Haven't you noticed Suddenly I'm bright and breezy?  Because of all the beautiful and new Things I'm learning about you …Day by day ♫

After our Sunday school class shared their weekly litany of Prayers and Praises, it was clear to me that everyone in the class was getting to know each other’s hearts.  Later that same day, Rabbi Eckstein’s blog “God is renowned in Judah”* really explained how we get to know one another, and getting to know God.  Here is how he explained it.

Psalm 76 begins “In Judah God is known; his name is great in Israel.” NIV    The literal translation from the Hebrew is “God is known in Judah,” but what does it mean to really know God?   In the Jewish tradition, there are three types of wisdom.

The first, chochma, is pure knowledge.  It’s knowing facts and figures.

The second, binah, is understanding.  This kind of wisdom goes beyond simple facts into understanding the reason why the facts exist.  Example, knowing that four times eight is 32 is knowledge.  Knowing why four multiplied eight times becomes 32 is understanding.

Finally, there is da’at, or knowing – truly knowing something to the point where it affects the way a person lives.  Example, a person can know that eating too much cake makes you overweight and sick, and might even understand the science behind weight gain.  But da’at is using that knowledge to adopt and live a healthy lifestyle.  Da’at is knowing something so deeply that it directs every thought and action in your life.

This psalm is generally thought to refer to a time in the reign of King Hezekiah when he was threatened by the Assyrian King Sennacherib (2 Kings 18—19).  Assyria was the superpower of its time and had already captured many countries, including the Northern Kingdom of Israel.  And it was clear that Jerusalem and the Kingdom were to be the next conquests.  From all appearances, Judah was doomed.  But Judah had a God-fearing king who prayed, acted with righteousness, and trusted in God.  King Hezekiah’s prayers were answered, and God caused a great miracle.  The entire Assyrian army was destroyed by God’s angel of death.  Sennacherib had no choice but to retreat home – where he was promptly assassinated by his own sons.

This is how Judah came to know God – to really know God to the point where their lives were profoundly changed.  They had seen firsthand how God was present in their lives, how He loved them, and how He would do anything for them.  How could they not be permanently and fundamentally changed?

Applying this to us -- we may not experience miracles on the magnitude of Hezekiah’s time, but God shows us other experiences that make it clear He is present and lovingly involved in our lives.  If we take the time to seek God, we will find Him and come to truly know Him – in a way that profoundly affects our lives.

 Points to ponder

How well do you know your God?

When we experience answers to prayers, how does that help us to know God?

♫   Getting to know you, Getting to know all about you.  Getting to like you, Getting to hope you like me…
Because of all the beautiful and new Things I'm learning about you… Day by day.  ♫

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                          June 19, 2018

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”   Weekly “Hebraic Musings”

*    Excerpted from Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein’s God is renowned in Judah dated June 3, 2018.

Note – Similarly, in Spanish, there are two words for the concept “to Know”.  Saber - "To Know” is used to talk about a facts or learned skills. You can use it to talk about information you've memorized or to say you know how to swim, draw, speak a language, etc.  Conocer - “To Know”  is used to express familiarity or acquaintance (or lack thereof) with a person, place, or thing. This distinction  is important because life changes are seldom accomplished by knowledge of facts.  Rather effective change in life is almost always established by a relationship with someone. 
Thus “conociendo”, knowing  the person of Jesus is by far more important than sabiendo, knowing about Him.