Latest / Reformed Thinking / יָדַע (Yada): What It Means to Truly Know God

Transcript

יָדַע (Yada): What It Means to Truly Know God · Reformed Thinking

0:00
You know, usually when we talk about a medical diagnosis, there
0:03
is this expectation of absolute precision.
0:06
Right. We want it to be black and
0:08
white. Yes, precisely.
0:10
Think about the engineering behind it.
0:12
You fall, you break your arm, you go to the hospital and the
0:15
technician slides you under the X-ray machine.
0:18
A few minutes later, the Doctor pulls up that stark black and
0:22
white image on a screen. Yeah, and there is a jagged
0:25
white line across the bone. Spot on.
0:27
The doctor points at it and says there it is.
0:30
It is binary. Broken or not broken.
0:33
It is the clean, visible, undeniable fact.
0:36
And I mean, human beings find an immense amount of comfort in
0:39
that kind of visual confirmation.
0:41
Oh. Absolutely.
0:42
We like things to be categorized, neat and
0:44
observable. We want the data presented in a
0:46
way that leaves no room for ambiguity.
0:48
We want to possess the facts. But then you step into the world
0:51
of ancient biblical linguistics and suddenly that X-ray machine
0:54
is broken. Yeah, completely shattered.
0:56
We are looking at a landscape of human thought that requires a
0:59
completely different set of diagnostic tools.
1:02
So welcome to reformed thinking. Glad to be here.
1:04
This is a deep dive into the linguistic and theological data
1:08
behind a single Hebrew word. Today we are looking at the root
1:13
yada, which most English Bibles translate as to know.
1:17
That's the one. And what catches my attention
1:19
right away is the massive gap between our modern English
1:22
concept of knowing and the ancient Hebrew reality.
1:26
It is a massive gap. In modern English, when you and
1:29
I talk about knowing something, it almost always implies holding
1:32
isolated facts in your brain. Right, like trivia.
1:34
Yeah, you memorize the capital of North Dakota.
1:36
You know the Pythagorean theorem.
1:38
You know the atomic weight of carbon.
1:40
It is a mental possession, a trivia game.
1:43
But when we open up the Hebrew text, knowing is not about
1:47
winning Jeopardy. Not at all.
1:49
It is quite literally a matter of life, death, divine election
1:53
and physical, tangible action. And that tension is the perfect
1:56
place to start. When we open up the
1:58
comprehensive Hebrew lexicons to study this, we are not looking
2:02
at some fringe, isolated concept that shows up once or twice in
2:06
an obscure poetic. Book right?
2:08
It's everywhere. It really is the root Yatas and
2:11
it's related dialects appear over 1100 times in the Hebrew
2:16
text. Wow, over 1000 times.
2:19
This year volume of usage is staggering.
2:21
It shows up more than 800 times, just in the most basic
2:24
grammatical form of the verb. That is a lot of data to sift
2:28
through. It is, and our aim today is to
2:30
evaluate what this vast amount of textual data means for a
2:34
Protestant Reformed understanding of God's
2:36
sovereignty and human responsibility.
2:38
Right. We are bringing this linguistic
2:40
evidence into conversation with the Westminster Confessions view
2:43
of saving faith and the divine decree.
2:45
Because I guess if we misunderstand what the biblical
2:48
authors mean by knowledge. We risk misunderstanding the
2:51
very nature of faith, revelation and salvation.
2:54
That is a heavy thought, so let us unpack this starting at the
2:56
ground floor. Before we get into the heavy
2:58
theological implications, we need to understand how the
3:01
ancient Israelites use this word in everyday life.
3:04
Yeah, we have to start with the basics.
3:06
Looking at the most basic, bare bones form of the verb, the
3:09
primary definition is noticing, observing, or finding out
3:13
information. It is incredibly sensory.
3:15
Extremely sensory. The text cites Exodus 2.4 as a
3:19
prime example. This is the famous scene in
3:21
Egypt. Miriam, the older sister of baby
3:24
Moses. Right.
3:25
She places his little papyrus basket in the reeds of the Nile
3:28
River. Yes, and the Hebrew text uses a
3:31
form of yada to say she stood at a distance to know what would
3:34
happen to him. She is standing there watching,
3:37
taking in visual and auditory data.
3:39
Exactly. I mean not exactly, but you get
3:41
what I mean. Another example is Genesis 3.7
3:44
right after the fall in the garden.
3:45
Oh yeah, it says the eyes of both of them are opened and they
3:48
knew they were naked. Again, it is a sensory
3:51
observation. They notice their condition.
3:54
And the ancient Near Eastern context is incredibly helpful
3:57
for understanding this sensory baseline.
3:59
How so? Well.
4:01
If we look at the surrounding cultures, we see clear
4:03
linguistic parallels. In Acadian, the word Edu carries
4:07
a similar meaning of perception OK.
4:10
In Egyptian, the word rue means to perceive or to know.
4:13
But what is fascinating is the physical prerequisite for this
4:17
kind of perception. Wait, prerequisite like a
4:19
condition that has to be met? Yes.
4:22
For you to know something in this sensory way, the object you
4:26
are trying to know must be accessible to your senses.
4:29
It cannot be hidden in darkness. I see.
4:32
The text points to Isaiah 29.15, which seaks of those who try to
4:37
hide their plans in darkness so that nobody will know them.
4:40
Because you cannot perceive what is obscured.
4:43
Right, the light has to hit the object, bounce off and enter
4:46
your eye. Which brings us to a massive
4:49
difference in how we understand human anatomy compared to the
4:52
ancient Hebrews. Oh, this is a huge shift.
4:55
If I ask a modern person today where perception happens, they
4:58
will point to their head. Right, they think of the brain.
5:00
Yeah, they will say the eyes gather the light, but the brain
5:03
processes the image. But the primary organ of
5:06
perception in Hebrew thought is not the brain.
5:08
Not at all. The text highlights the heart.
5:10
Deuteronomy 8.5 uses yada in direct connection with the
5:14
heart. Talking about, considering or
5:16
knowing a truth in your heart. Yes, the the heart is the
5:18
processing center. It is the seat of the will, the
5:21
emotions, and the intellect all wrapped into one.
5:24
Yeah, the Hebrew anthropology does not split the human being
5:27
into a cold calculating brain and a warm emotional heart.
5:31
The heart, the LEB does the thinking and this creates a
5:34
severe problem when things go wrong spiritually.
5:37
What kind of problem? Well, the text notes, that
5:40
uncomprehending stubbornness literally gums up the eyes and
5:44
the heart. Gums them up.
5:46
Wow. It cites Isaiah 44.1 team, which
5:49
is a devastating critique of idolaters.
5:51
The Prophet says they do not know, they do not understand
5:55
because their eyes are be smeared or shut and their hearts
5:58
cannot understand. Let me test an analogy here to
6:00
see if I am tracking with this concept of the blocked heart.
6:03
Sure, go ahead. Think about modern data
6:05
collection. You could build a massive
6:08
computer server farm. It can gather millions of data
6:11
points every single second they. Have the raw facts.
6:13
Right, but a computer has no heart to process what that data
6:17
actually means for human existence.
6:19
No it doesn't. It has no moral center to
6:21
evaluate the goodness or vadnais of the information.
6:25
So if the human heart in the biblical worldview is the
6:27
processor of reality, does a heart and heart prevent true
6:31
knowledge, even if the sensory data hitting the eyes is
6:35
perfectly clear? Absolutely.
6:38
The sensory data hits a brick wall.
6:39
Wow. From a reformed theological
6:42
perspective, this is a vivid illustration of total depravity.
6:46
OK, let's break that down. Total depravity does not mean
6:48
human beings are as evil as they could possibly be.
6:51
It means every part of the human condition, including the
6:54
intellect and the heart, is affected by the fall.
6:57
So the physical facts of God's creation are right in front of
7:00
everyone, yes. Romans one says the invisible
7:02
attributes of God are clearly perceived in the things that
7:05
have been made. The data is accessible, the
7:08
light is shining. But without God's sovereign
7:10
grace removing that blockage. The human heart cannot truly
7:13
perceive spiritual reality. The idolaters in Isaiah 44 can
7:17
see the block of wood, right? They can see themselves carving
7:20
half of it into an idol and burning the other half to bake
7:22
bread. The sensory data is 100%
7:25
accurate. But they possess no saving
7:27
knowledge. Because the organ of perception,
7:29
the heart, is completely corrupted.
7:31
So having eyes to see is useless if the heart cannot process the
7:36
reality of what is being seen precisely.
7:38
But having the right data in your heart is also incomplete if
7:40
you do not actually do anything with that information.
7:43
Right, which changes everything. It changes how the ancient
7:45
Hebrews talked about skill. We transition from this sensory
7:49
observation to something much more hands on.
7:51
Yes, very physical. The word yada is used to
7:54
describe technical capability and lived experience.
7:57
The source material shows highly skilled individuals defined by
8:00
this exact word. Can you give an example?
8:02
Yeah. In Genesis 25.27, Esau is
8:05
described as a skilled hunter. A Yodaeus said he knows hunting.
8:09
In First Kings 9.27 the text talks about skilled sailors who
8:13
know the sea. And in Exodus 30, 1.3 it refers
8:17
to the artisans building the Tabernacle.
8:19
God fills them with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with
8:22
understanding, and with knowledge dot in all kinds of
8:26
craftsmanship. What stands out here is that
8:28
knowledge in this context requires physical action.
8:31
It is not theoretical. No.
8:33
The text contrasts this lived capability with the ignorance of
8:37
youth. It cites Deuteronomy 1.39,
8:41
describing little children who do not yet know how to
8:44
distinguish between good and bad.
8:46
They lack the lived experience. Exactly.
8:48
I mean, yes, that is spot on, but look at the artisans, the
8:51
sailors, the hunters. They possess a knowledge that is
8:55
proven by their physical output. Right.
8:58
They do not just have academic theories about how to track a
9:01
deer or how to navigate a ship by the stars.
9:04
They have the muscle memory. They have the calluses on their
9:06
hands. They have the tangible physical
9:09
results of their craft. This makes me think about the
9:11
massive difference between reading a physics textbook about
9:15
how bicycles work versus actually getting on a bicycle
9:17
and riding it. Oh, that is a great comparison.
9:19
You can memorize the equations for gravity, momentum, and
9:22
gyroscopic balance. You could ace a written exam on
9:25
the mechanics of cycling, but the second you get on that
9:28
narrow seat and push the pedals, if you do not have the muscle
9:31
memory, you're going to crash into a mailbox.
9:33
You definitely are. The person who rides the bike
9:35
everyday knows cycling in a way the physicist does not.
9:38
The knowledge is in their nervous system.
9:40
Yes. So taking this visceral, hands
9:42
on definition of the word, how should you as a reader of the
9:46
biblical text interpret commands to know God's law?
9:50
It cannot just mean memorizing the Torah or passing a theology
9:53
quiz. It completely shifts or paradigm
9:56
of what it means to be a faithful person.
9:59
It moves belief from mere well, from just intellectual ascent to
10:04
practical capability and lived reality.
10:07
That is a big shift. The text highlights that
10:09
experiencing something is a primary form of knowing.
10:12
It even applies this active experience to negative
10:14
situations. That's what Ezekiel 25.14 talks
10:17
about. Israel's enemies experiencing
10:19
God's vengeance and the text says they will know his
10:22
vengeance. Hosea 9.7 speaks of Israel
10:24
learning a bitter lesson. Again, the word is.
10:26
Yetta, to know God's commands is to live them out, yes.
10:30
Historically, theologians have broken down the concept of
10:32
saving faith into three Latin categories.
10:34
OK, lay them on me. First, noticia, which is the
10:37
mental understanding of the facts.
10:39
Second, a census, which is the agreement that those facts are
10:42
true. And the third.
10:44
Fiducia, which is a lived, active personal trust.
10:47
This biblical word, yada, absolutely demands that third
10:51
category. So if your knowledge does not
10:53
manifest in the fingertips of your daily life.
10:56
You do not actually possess biblical knowledge.
10:58
And the intensity of that active lived experience reaches an
11:02
absolute peak when we move from the workshop to human
11:06
relationships. We move into the realm of
11:09
extreme relational intimacy. The Hebrew text uses yada as a
11:13
euphemism for sexual intercourse.
11:16
Anyone who grew up reading the King James this version of the
11:18
Bible is familiar with the phrasing in Genesis 4.1.
11:22
And Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived.
11:25
The linguistic data explicitly links this Hebrew usage to
11:28
parallel euphemisms in Arabic and acadium.
11:31
It was a recognized Semitic idiom.
11:33
But we have to be very careful not to brush past this as a
11:35
polite, prudish cultural idiom. It's more than that.
11:39
Much more. It is not just an ancient way of
11:42
avoiding a sensitive topic. It stems directly from the
11:45
contextual aspect of the word that we've been discussing.
11:48
Contextual meaning contact. Yes, knowledge in the Hebrew
11:51
mindset requires absolute vulnerability.
11:55
It requires your physical presence.
11:57
It requires the total removal of barriers between the subject and
12:00
the object. So you cannot know someone in
12:03
the sense from a distance. You cannot know them through a
12:05
mediator. It is the most intense, private
12:08
and vulnerable knowledge to human beings can share, and it
12:12
results in the creation of new life.
12:14
Wait, if this word implies that level of exclusive, vulnerable
12:18
intimacy, does that explain the prophet's obsession with marital
12:22
metaphors? How do you mean?
12:23
Is this why the biblical authors use marital unfaithfulness as
12:27
the primary metaphor for idolatry?
12:29
That has always seemed like a massive jump in logic to me.
12:31
Why not just call idolatry treason against a king?
12:34
Why call it adultery? Because of the precise nature of
12:36
the covenant, the text notes that but not knowing Yahweh
12:39
means apostasy. First Samuel 2.12 describes the
12:43
wicked sons of Eli the priest by saying they did not know Yahweh.
12:48
Now these men were priests serving in the Tabernacle.
12:51
Right. They obviously had the
12:53
intellectual data about God. They knew the sacrificial
12:56
system. They knew the history of the
12:58
Exodus. But they lacked that covenantal
13:00
intimacy, yes. The text also links this concept
13:03
to Hosea 5.4, where apostasy is explicitly equated with the
13:08
spirit of harlotry. Knowledge of God is exclusive
13:11
intimacy. So when Israel worships the
13:13
balls or the Asherah poles? They're taking that exclusive,
13:17
intimate knowledge and giving it to a false deity.
13:20
It is a betrayal of the highest order.
13:21
Because they were the only nation God brought into the bed
13:24
Chamber of His covenant. Spot on.
13:26
So worshipping another God is not just breaking a law, it is
13:28
shattering a marriage. That sets up the theological
13:31
peak of this discussion. We have looked at human beings
13:34
knowing things. We have looked at humans knowing
13:36
trades and humans knowing each other.
13:38
But the text shifts gears drastically when God is the
13:41
subject of the verb yada. What does it mean when the
13:44
creator of the universe knows someone?
13:47
This is where it gets really beautiful.
13:49
The source defines this as God taking care of someone like in
13:53
Second Samuel 7.20 and specifically selecting or
13:56
choosing them as seen in Genesis 18.19 and Amos 3.2.
14:01
We really need to pause and examine Amos 3.2 closely.
14:05
Go for it. Through the prophet Amos, God
14:08
says to Israel, You only have I known of all the families of the
14:12
earth utilizing A Reformed theological framework.
14:15
We have to recognize that God's knowledge here cannot be simple
14:18
omniscience. God is infinite.
14:21
He knows that the Babylonians, the Egyptians and the Assyrians
14:24
exist. Right, he knows the exact number
14:26
of hairs on the heads of the Philistines.
14:27
Yes, but Amos says he only knew Israel.
14:31
Therefore, this knowledge is the electing, distinguishing love of
14:34
God. It is God determining from
14:37
before the foundation of the world to set His special
14:40
affection and His redemptive purpose on one specific group of
14:43
people out of the mass of fallen humanity.
14:45
Let me see if I can clarify that distinction between general
14:48
omniscience and electing knowledge with an analogy.
14:50
I'd love to hear it. Imagine a powerful king ruling
14:53
over a massive empire. He has an exhaustive registry, a
14:57
detailed census of every single citizen in his realm.
15:01
OK, he knows they all exist. Right.
15:03
He knows their addresses, their occupation, their tax brackets.
15:07
He possesses perfect data about them.
15:09
But he only knows his own son in a way that confers an
15:12
inheritance, intimate love and a permanent place at the royal
15:16
table that is a. Perfect picture of it.
15:18
That intimate choosing knowledge is a completely different
15:21
category from the census data. So when we apply this electing
15:24
knowledge to the life of a Christian walking through a
15:26
difficult week, what does this actually do for them?
15:29
It provides absolute, unshakable assurance.
15:33
The data connects this concept to Exodus 33.12 where God tells
15:37
Moses I know you by name. I know you by name.
15:40
That's huge. To be known my name by the
15:42
Sovereign of the Universe means you are entirely secure in His
15:45
decree. Your salvation is not resting on
15:47
your own fragile daily grip on God.
15:49
It rests on God's eternal electing grip on you.
15:52
He decided to know you. However, there is a very
15:55
sobering side to this reality. I was wondering when the other
15:57
shoe would drop. As the text notes regarding that
16:00
exact verse in Amos 3.2, this electing knowledge brings
16:04
terrifying accountability. Let us look at the second-half
16:07
of that verse. What does it say?
16:09
God says you only have I known of all the families of the
16:12
earth, therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.
16:17
Israel receives A stricter judgement specifically because
16:20
they were exclusively known. Privilege brings accountability.
16:24
So God disciplines those he loves and knows covenantily.
16:28
Yes, the surrounding nations are judged for their general
16:31
wickedness, but Israel is judged for breaking a marriage vow.
16:34
That concept of accountability forces us to look at human
16:37
behavior on a Tuesday morning. What happens when humans are the
16:40
subject and God is the object? What does knowing Yahweh
16:44
actually look like when you walk out your front door?
16:46
It looks like action. The text shows that it involves
16:48
highly practical, tangible behavior.
16:50
It involves fearing him, executing justice and keeping
16:54
the covenant. The primary passage the text
16:56
cites for this behavioral reality is Jeremiah 22.16.
17:01
God is speaking about the legacy of King Josiah, and he says he
17:05
judged the cause of the poor and needy.
17:07
Then it was, well, is not this to know me?
17:11
Says Yahweh. Think about the weight of that
17:13
statement. Judging the cause of the poor is
17:16
what it means to know God. It is not a secondary byproduct.
17:19
It is not an extracurricular activity for advanced believers.
17:22
It is the core demonstration of the knowledge itself.
17:25
That is intense. Furthermore, the source points
17:27
to the terrifying warnings in Hosea 4.1 and 4.6.
17:31
God says there is no truth, no steadfast love, and no knowledge
17:35
of God in the land. And what happens as a result?
17:37
He says his people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, a lack of
17:40
dot. The entire society is collapsing
17:43
into violence, bloodshed and theft.
17:44
Why not? Because they forgot the liturgy
17:47
or the temple rituals, right? They are still offering
17:49
sacrifices, but they lost the moral active knowledge of God.
17:52
Do you know it is remarkably easy in our current cultural
17:56
moment for people to claim completely Orthodox theology?
17:58
Oh, very easy. Someone can subscribe to the
18:01
right confession, argue brilliantly about the Greek and
18:04
Hebrew on social media, and read massive volumes of systematic
18:08
theology while utterly failing to live justly in their own
18:11
neighborhoods. They might ignore the
18:14
vulnerable, exploit their workers or harbor bitterness.
18:17
Which is a tragedy. Based on what Jeremiah is saying
18:20
that defending the poor is knowing God, is it fair to say
18:24
that an unjust person is literally an ignorant person
18:27
regardless of how many degrees they have on their wall?
18:29
Yes, the biblical text leaves no room for any other conclusion.
18:33
The source specifically associates dot elohim, the
18:37
knowledge of God, with priestly instruction.
18:40
True knowledge encompasses the statues of Yahweh's law, which
18:43
are intensely concerned with justice, honest weights and
18:46
measures, caring for the immigrant, the widow, and the
18:49
orphan. It.
18:49
Was very practical. In Reformed theology, we
18:52
maintained A strict, vital distinction between
18:54
justification and sanctification.
18:57
We are justified by faith alone, not by our works of justice.
19:00
Right, that's a core tenet. But we also insist, along with
19:04
the Westminster Confession, that justification and sanctification
19:07
cannot be separated. The faith that justifies is a
19:11
faith that inevitably produces good works.
19:14
You cannot possess saving knowledge of God without it
19:17
resulting in obedience if. There is no justice in your
19:19
life. There is no yada in your heart.
19:21
The orthodoxy of the brain must be proved by the orthodoxy of
19:25
the hands. That is a stark warning.
19:28
Let us take this concept of knowledge back to the very
19:31
beginning of the human story. We need to look the tree of the
19:34
knowledge of good and evil in Genesis 2.9 and Genesis 2.17.
19:39
This tree has puzzled readers for thousands of years.
19:41
Oh yeah, the text we are working from outlines 4 major theories
19:46
regarding what this specific knowledge actually was.
19:49
Theory 1 argues it was the capacity for ethical decision.
19:52
Theory 2 suggests it was autonomous life shaping, Theory
19:55
3 claims it was sexual experience, and theory 4
19:58
proposes it was comprehensive cultural knowledge.
20:00
Evaluating these theories is absolutely vital for
20:03
constructing a proper biblical anthropology.
20:05
Where do we start? We could dismiss Theory 3 fairly
20:07
quickly. The idea that the tree
20:09
represents sexual experience was a common reading in some early
20:13
ascetic circles, often tied to Adam and Eve suddenly realizing
20:17
they were naked. But that doesn't hold up.
20:20
No, because human reproduction, the command to be fruitful and
20:22
multiply, was given before the fall.
20:25
Right. What about theory 4?
20:26
Theory 4. Comprehensive cultural knowledge
20:30
is simply too broad to fit the specific narrative of rebellion.
20:34
OK, so we're left with one and two.
20:36
Theory 1. Ethical decision gets closer to
20:39
the truth. Knowing the difference between
20:41
right and wrong is part of maturity, but the strongest
20:45
position which the text highlights is the second theory.
20:48
Autonomous life shaping. Yes, the capacity to shape life
20:52
based on autonomous decision. It is the desire to decide for
20:56
oneself what is good and what is evil, entirely independent of
21:00
the Creator's decree. It sounds like the ultimate
21:02
cosmic version of teenage rebellion.
21:05
Yeah, it really does. Picture a 16 year old sitting in
21:07
the passenger seat while their father is driving down a winding
21:10
mountain Rd. The teenager suddenly reaches
21:13
over, grabs the steering wheel and tries to force the car onto
21:16
a different path. It is not just that the teenager
21:19
wants a different piece of data about how the engine works.
21:23
It is a violent, desperate, desperate desire for
21:26
independence. They want to be the one driving.
21:28
They want to set the rules. They want absolute autonomy.
21:31
That captures the psychological dynamic of Genesis 3 perfectly.
21:34
Yeah, when we look at the Westminster Confessions view of
21:37
the fall through the lens of this linguistic data, we see man
21:41
seeking autonomy apart from God's decree.
21:43
Because man was created as a dependent.
21:45
Creature. Yes.
21:46
He was designed to receive knowledge from God, to trust
21:49
God's definition of good and evil.
21:51
But at the tree, Man attempted to seize that defining authority
21:55
independently. And the result was disastrous.
21:57
The text points to Job 28.23, which states that true wisdom,
22:02
the deep structure of reality, was reserved for God alone.
22:06
The human attempt to seize that wisdom autonomously did not
22:09
bring enlightenment, it brought immediate death.
22:12
The serpent promised they would be like God, knowing good and
22:15
evil. But by grasping at a divine
22:17
prerogative, they lost the true yada of fellowship with their
22:21
Maker. They got the autonomy they
22:23
wanted and it ruined them. And that rupture and fellowship
22:26
creates the massive crisis of the rest of the Bible, because
22:29
if man has severed the relationship and his heart is
22:32
now gummed up and hardened, as we discussed earlier, how can he
22:35
ever know God? He can't, not on his own.
22:38
He cannot reach up and grab the knowledge.
22:40
The text shifts our attention to the passive and causative forms
22:44
of the Hebrew verb. Yes, the Nephal and the Hifel.
22:46
Right, the Nephal, which means to reveal oneself, and the
22:50
Hifel, which means to make known the initiative, The action has
22:55
to come entirely from outside of us.
22:57
It has to come from God. And it does come from God in a
23:00
very specific, repeated pattern throughout the Old Testament.
23:04
The text introduces us to what scholars call the prophetic
23:06
recognition formula. Recognition.
23:08
Formula. It is a phrase you will
23:10
recognize immediately if you've read the prophets.
23:13
The phrase is that you may know that I am Yahweh.
23:16
Oh yeah, that is everywhere. The linguistic data points out
23:19
an astonishing fact. This exact formula appears 78
23:24
times in the Book of Ezekiel alone. 78 times.
23:28
It is also heavily concentrated in the Exodus narrative.
23:31
During the 10 plagues. It is God intervening directly
23:35
in human history, causing spectacular and terrifying
23:38
events to happen for the express purpose of forcing human beings
23:42
to recognize His absolute sovereignty.
23:44
But wait, look at the vastly different people receiving that
23:47
revelation. How so?
23:48
Well, the plagues of Egypt forced Pharaoh to know God.
23:52
The text explicitly says God multiplied his signs and wonders
23:55
so the Egyptians would know he is Yahweh, right?
23:58
But on the other hand, the miraculous salvation at the Red
24:01
Sea forced the Israelites to know God.
24:04
It is the exact same recognition formula, but the experiences are
24:08
worlds apart. One group is drowning and the
24:10
other is walking on dry ground. Are there 2 completely different
24:14
kinds of knowledge happening simultaneously?
24:16
Yes, the subjective experience and the ultimate outcome of the
24:18
knowledge are entirely different depending on the status of the
24:21
individual before God. So God's sovereignty over
24:24
history guarantees that absolutely everyone will
24:26
eventually acknowledge Him. The New Testament echoes this
24:29
when it says every knee will bow and every tongue will confess.
24:33
For the reprobate, like Pharaoh and his armies, they know him
24:37
through sudden, crushing judgment.
24:40
The text makes a fascinating linguistic note here regarding
24:43
the negative phrase loyata. It can mean unexpected or
24:47
unawares as seen in Isaiah 47.1 and where disaster falls upon
24:52
dabble on unexpectedly. They do not see it coming.
24:55
They recognize God's sovereignty only when the hammer of divine
24:58
justice strikes them. But for the elect, for the
25:01
people of Israel crying out in slavery, they know Him through
25:06
salvation, deliverance and covenantal grace.
25:08
The exact same revelation of God's authority results in
25:11
terror for the wicked, but worship and profound gratitude
25:14
for the redeemed. Both groups are forced to
25:17
recognize reality, but only one experiences that knowledge as
25:20
life. We're looking at the final
25:22
sections of the linguistic data, and it concludes by contrasting
25:25
true knowledge, which is dot in the wisdom literature, with
25:28
false illegitimate knowledge. This is a crucial distinction.
25:32
In Proverbs 1.22, we see a stark contrast drawn in the sand.
25:36
The wise man loves dot, but the fool hates it.
25:40
True wisdom begins with the fear of Yahweh, but there is a dark
25:45
shadow side to the human pursuit of knowledge.
25:48
The text points out a derivative Hebrew word.
25:50
The Yideoni, yes. This translates to the familiar
25:53
spirit, the ghost or the soothsayer, which we see
25:56
strictly forbidden and warnings like Leviticus 19.31.
26:00
The Yideoni represents the illegitimate, rebellious pursuit
26:04
of knowledge. It is the human attempt to
26:06
bypass God's ordained means of revelation.
26:09
Like trying to cheat the the system.
26:11
In the ancient Near Eastern world, kings and commoners alike
26:14
would consult mediums, necromancers, and familiar
26:16
spirits to gain hidden knowledge about the future or the unseen
26:19
spiritual realm. And the root of the word is
26:21
still yada. Yes, because they are
26:23
desperately seeking to know, but it is strictly forbidden by God.
26:27
Why? Because seeking hidden knowledge
26:29
through illicit occultic means is an exact repeat of the
26:33
rebellion in the Garden of Eden. Oh, I see the connection now.
26:36
It is humanity once again grasping for divine
26:40
prerogatives, trying to control the future without submitting to
26:44
the divine person. It is trying to find a shortcut,
26:47
making a connection here. Seeking a yidione is like a
26:50
student trying to cheat on a massive final exam using a
26:54
stolen answer key, right? Rather than sitting down,
26:57
submitting to the teacher, and actually learning the material
26:59
over the course of a semester. You want the results without the
27:03
relationship. You want the data without the
27:05
discipline. That is precisely the issue.
27:07
The book of Joe points out in chapter 37 verse 16, that God
27:11
alone is perfect in knowledge. He have all the answers to the
27:14
cosmos. But true knowledge is not
27:16
something we can steal from him. It is a gift granted by grace.
27:21
Isaiah 11.2 prophesies about the coming Messiah, saying the
27:24
Spirit of Yahweh will rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and
27:27
understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of
27:30
knowledge and the fear of Yahweh.
27:32
True knowledge requires absolute submission to the Creator.
27:34
It is a gift of the Holy Spirit, not a prize. 1 by consulting the
27:37
occult, reading astrological charts, or grasping at personal
27:40
autonomy. Bringing together this massive
27:43
scope of discussion, we have traversed a vast linguistic and
27:47
theological landscape today. You really have.
27:49
To know in the biblical Hebrew true sense is not just to pass a
27:53
written exam on systematic theology.
27:56
It means to see reality clearly with your eyes and process it
28:00
with a soft, regenerated heart. It means to build and act with
28:04
the calloused hands of practical skill.
28:07
It means to love with the intense, vulnerable intimacy of
28:10
a marriage bed. It means to be specifically
28:13
elected, chosen, and held by a sovereign God.
28:17
And it means to execute tangible physical justice for the poor
28:20
and vulnerable in the streets of your city.
28:22
And that leaves you listening right now with a final concept
28:26
to Mull over based on the text. Lay it on.
28:28
Us we live in a modern information age where we have
28:30
access to more raw data on the phones in our pockets than any
28:33
humans in the entire history of the world.
28:36
We are saturated with facts, but based on the rigorous biblical
28:39
definition of yada we just examined, are we actually the
28:42
most ignorant generation to ever walk the earth?
28:45
If true knowledge requires moral action, covenantal relationship,
28:49
and humble submission to God's absolute sovereignty, our
28:52
massive data saturation might just be a brilliant disguise for
28:55
terrible foolishness. What a heavy thought to leave
28:58
on. Thank you for joining us for
28:59
this analysis and we hope this deep dive into the text
29:02
continues to shape your thinking throughout the week.
29:04
Goodbye.