“A little knowledge of God is worth more than a great deal of knowledge about him.”

To open the discussion, I put this quotation (from J.I. Packer, Chapter 2 of his book Knowing God) to my students at last Friday’s seminar and I asked them whether or not they agreed or disagreed.  As there was no consensus, I posed another quotation and I asked for a show of hands whether or not they agreed or disagreed.

“The width of our knowledge about him is no gauge of the depth of our knowledge of Him.”

With the second quotation, I was more successful in getting an answer.  The class agreed that depth of knowledge of God is more valuable than width of knowledge about him. And that a person can have a wide knowledge of facts but this does not mean that a person knows God at all.

As a review: Knowing about God is having our minds full of facts about God; knowing God is having personal dealings with God. In Tagalog the difference between knowing about God and knowing God is easier to grasp: Hindi masusukat ng lawak ng kaalaman patungkol sa Dios ang lalim ng ating pagka-kilala sa Kanya.

The difference is significant because knowing about God may assure us that we espouse all the right doctrine and theology but, knowing God himself means tasting in one’s heart and everyday experience the realities of God.

People who know their God have great energy for God. The Prophet Daniel was just a teenager when he was taken captive by King Nebuchadnezzar and brought to Babylon.  He was taken to be trained to be a civil servant in the burgeoning Babylonian empire.  He was put in a training camp and given a special diet of meat and wine from the King’s table.  But Daniel knew that the meats they were given to eat had been offered to idols.  He politely refused the meat and asked to be given vegetables, water and grains.  He vowed not to defile himself with meat offered to idols. God was holy and those who worship him must also be holy.

It seems such a small thing. But Daniel knew his God:  he knew there are meats that God has ordered Israel not to eat. Eating meats offered to idols was the same as worshiping those idols. When they were in Babylon, there was no priest or elder to enforce the Mosaic dietary laws.  There would be no sanctions for violating the Mosaic law.  But Daniel knew that God will know.  God sees him and God honors those who honor him.

People who know their God have great thoughts of God. Daniel had passed the test for the captives who were recruited for civil service in Babylon. Daniel was a “wise man,” an adviser to the King.  The King had a disturbing dream one night and when he woke up the in morning, he had forgotten the dream. He wanted to remember the dream and to learn the interpretation of the dream.

Babylonians were superstitious: they believed in omens and visions.  The King consulted his magicians and his wise men who could not give him the details of his dream– who can read another’s mind? who can know what another dreams of at night?  The King was so angry, he gave the wise men a deadline to interpret his dream on pain of death.

Daniel prayed to his God whom he knew to be a God who “reveals deep and secret things.”  He also knew that the King Nebuchadnezzar, however despotic, autocratic, cruel and unreasonable he may be was not greater than God who had power over time and seasons, over history and all knowledge and understanding.  Daniel knew the omniscience and omnipotence of God.

People who know their God have great boldness for God. Daniel had three friends: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.  They were captives just like Daniel.  They had been de-personalized because they were given new Babylonian names.  They were given new Babylonian clothes, they had new Babylonian jobs and responsibilities.  More importantly, they had to obey Babylonian laws.  One law in particular that they had to obey was that of kneeling and praising the golden statue of Nebuchadnezzar at all times of the day when, at a pre-set signal, musical instruments would be played in public.  The three refused to kneel before the statue for it was an act of worship and worship belongs to God alone.

The three Hebrew men were thrown in a fiery furnace.  Before they were thrown into the furnace, Nebuchadnezzar mocked them and said, “what God can deliver you out of my hand?”  The three Hebrews knew exactly what Nebuchadnezzar meant:  Nebuchadnezzar thought that because he had defeated Judah, leveled and razed to the ground the city of Jerusalem, the God of Israel is no match for the Babylonian gods in whose name Nebuchadnezzar conquered.  Babylonians were pagan: they believed that there are many gods, as many as there are physical and meteorological phenomena, as many as there were cities and peoples.  Every city and country had a patron god.  Some gods and goddesses are more powerful than others.  Nebuchadnezzar thought that because he defeated Israel, Israel’s God, Jehovah must not be too powerful.  Thus, he asked, “what God can deliver you out of my hand?”

The answer of the Hebrews were so matter of fact.  They said: “We are not careful (anxious) to answer thee in this matter: …”our God whom we serve is ABLE to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand. But if not, know this, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”

Even if God refused to deliver the Hebrews for whatever reason God alone knows, still, the Hebrews will not disobey their God and worship another.   It didn’t matter to them if they alone stood up against the kings command and are now facing certain death, they will worship God, even if God refuses to deliver them.  These men knew not only the omnipotence of God but the sovereignty of God.  They trust the wisdom of God even if they may not understand his purpose or his will.  They are willing to put all their trust in God even if it meant losing their lives.

People who know their God have great contentment in God. Apostle Paul came from a rich Jewish family who had enough resources to send him to study under the most well-loved and well-known rabbi of his time, Gamaliel. Although a devout Jew from the tribe of Benjamin, Paul was born in Tarsus and he was a Roman citizen.  He was a Pharisee —  a renowned legal expert.  He had influence and power among the Jews who had been scattered all over the Roman empire.  He persecuted Jesus’ disciples but when he met Jesus himself on the road going to Damascus, Apostle Paul left his former life and became an itinerant preacher, evangelist and missionary.  He lost all his influence, he lost his prestige and he lost his clout.  Instead, he was hunted like an animal, he was severely persecuted and he was often hungry and alone.

When he reflected on these things, he concluded that he counted his former life “as dung” (rubbish, manure, fit only to be thrown away) because all his accomplishments cannot be compared with the glory of knowing Christ. Most of us who have made great sacrifices for our faith and service are known to muse about what we have lost, often with a tinge of nostalgia, even regret.  But not Paul, his former life was now “as dung.” ( in Tagalog, tae, excrement, something to be refused and no longer mentioned or thought of.) Christ is enough for him.

In conclusion, knowing God is more than just cramming our heads with theological facts.

• Knowing God is a matter of personal dealing.  He is not a God from afar, or a God afar off.  He is a God who deals with individuals.  During his earthly ministry, he always dealt with people one-on-one.
• Knowing God is a matter of personal involvement: an involvement of the mind, the emotions and the will. It is not just all about doctrinal correctness or denominational membership. God does not exist for our personal comfort, happiness or satisfaction. Our relationship with God does not depend on the circumstances of our lives, instead, we have committed ourselves to be involved with God despite the sunniness or dreariness of our lives.
• Knowing God is a matter of grace.  We do not make friends with God, God makes friends with us.  The initiative is always God’s.  Knowing God points to God’s initiative in loving, choosing, redeeming, calling and preserving us.  It is a knowledge that implies personal affection, redeeming action, covenant faithfulness and watchfulness toward those whom God knows.
• Knowing God is being known of Him. We are never out of his mind.  There is never a moment when his attention is distracted from me, his care of me never falters.  His knowledge of me is realistic: he knows all the worst in me, he sees all the twisted things I hide about me, he sees my corruption more that I see them, and yet he loves me and draws me nearer to him in friendship.

Do you know God in this way?  Perhaps you may cling tenaciously to your religion, as you have been brought up to be so.  That is good, but having religion is not the same as knowing God himself.  Practicing rites and rituals do not guarantee a personal relationship with God.  You must know God and be known of God.