KNOWING GOD
The challenge to understand the Third Commandment is possible only by knowing God. Therefore, we will spend some time on this topic before proceeding.

The story of Moses’ dialogue with God in Exodus 33:12-23 and Exodus 34:1-7 is full of symbolism that must be understood in order to comprehend the meaning. Here are the key meanings:

A cursory reading of Exodus 33:12-23 and Exodus 34:1-7 may not seem like these verses reveal what it means to know God. Indeed, they are quite general, but when combined with what we know about God’s love, compassion, mercy, and concern for the best interests of all people in view at all times, a clearer vision of God emerges. And if we read the rest of the story about God’s relationship with Israel, we see how it plays out in real life circumstances from which we can learn and apply in our own lives.

It is interesting to remember that Moses did not have as much of that story as we do, and yet he enjoyed a relationship with God like no other man before or since. But if the knowledge of God that Moses had was good enough for Moses to guide him in all his travels, it should be good enough for us also. The important thing is that Moses started out with the little knowledge that God gave him, applied obedience (mostly) to the knowledge he had, and God gave him more knowledge as he journeyed through the desert leading others to freedom.

We may have a hard time relating to Moses, but we must consider him a model for our own journey just like we follow Jesus and imitate the Apostle Paul. Moses faced a lot of uncertainty, and we won’t have all the answers in the beginning either, but the answers are not what we need. What we really need is the kind of faith that Moses and other Bible heroes had. Of course, we also need to exercise that faith with obedience, or else the faith counts for nothing.

There is a tendency in each of us that makes us want answers and knowledge before we act because they offer security and because knowledge can be used for control. This can be true regarding knowledge of God also, but there is a point where knowledge of God can become an idol for us. In other words, instead of knowing God in an intimate way, we can become obsessed with knowing about God in the abstract (i.e. theoretically). We see this kind of tendency at work in people who are constantly engaged in various kinds of religious activities — including Bible reading. They wear their intellectual knowledge of God like an ornament and appear to be spiritual, but they do not have a relationship with God. This seems spiritual to religious people, but it means nothing to God.

We do not deny that intellectual knowledge is important to knowing God. In fact, God said that The Law was put in charge to lead us to Christ. But there is much more to knowing God than intellectual knowledge. Churches are full of people who know a lot about God, but who do not know him intimately. That is when the unfruitfulness creeps in. So our desire should be to know God intimately.

STUDY TIP: In Greek, there are three words that are translated as “know” or “knowing.” They are “eido“, “ginosko” and “epiginosko.” If you will click on each of these Greek words, you will find their relative meanings.

The word epiginosko is the word on which we must focus to come to an understanding of what it means to know God intimately. The other two words deal with intellectual and perceptual knowledge.

STUDY TIP: Clicking here will take you to a definition of epiginosko that reveals it to be a type of knowing that is very deep and intimate.

Clicking here will take you to a collection of scriptures in which the word is translated as know, knew, knowing, perceived, and recognize.

Looking at these scriptures we see that when people “knew” Jesus with an epiginosko kind of knowing, good things happened. This is the kind of spiritual knowledge for which we should diligently search. It does not come easily, but it is worth searching for. And it only comes to those who can hear God’s voice.

In First Covenant (i.e. Old Testament) scriptures, this kind of knowledge is equated with “wisdom.” Biblical wisdom, however, is not abstract like we think of worldly wisdom. Biblical wisdom is very real and practical. Unlike worldly wisdom which seems to just show up in our minds when needed, Biblical wisdom has real, specific terms and conditions that God has laid out for us. If wisdom is the embodiment of knowledge and truth, and we would say that it is, then wisdom is nothing less than God’s commandments and statutes (i.e. The Law of Moses).

Tying it all together, we see that epiginosko knowledge is the wisdom that exists behind the written words of The Law of Moses. Recognizing that fact, we have clear direction about where to read to learn about God.

STUDY TIP: Readers who want to know God intimately, must read and understand the books of The Law. Since they are very deep and full of mystery and symbolism, one or two readings will not be enough. It will be necessary to read them over and over again. See Study Tips and STUDY for more about how to study.

It must be said, however, that a study diet that includes only The Law will be unbalanced. God did give us the entire Bible and it is all useful for training in righteousness and preparation for service. It is good to know God conceptually, but it is better to know him through experience. That is what Moses learned when God showed him his back. God said, in effect, that he would reveal himself through his works. So, we should want to read all of the Bible to see God at work in and through his people.

When it comes to our relationship with God, faith is the most important ingredient. In fact, he said that it is impossible to please him without faith. Perhaps the reason God hides in a cloud is that more faith is required to trust him if he cannot be fully seen. Again we will say that if seeing God in a cloud was good enough for Moses and Israel, God in a cloud should be good enough for us.

We mention this about faith to help explain why we will not report much more detail here about God’s character. We could fill an entire website about God’s character, but we will not do that because doing so would only replicate the Bible. We have presented much scripture in this website to aid understanding of God’s character and how he works. But there is a point when readers must venture out on their own to learn about God. Earnestly seeking him is critical to the process of knowing him. That being true, we would not want to deceive you into thinking that we could present to you all the information you need to know in order to know God’s character.

So we leave it up to you to do the searching. We have provided some helpful hints from our own experience, but it is up to you to do the work. And don’t forget to apply what you learn. Faithfulness to God’s covenant (i.e. obedience to The Law) earns great rewards.