{"id":91499,"date":"2024-09-03T16:24:57","date_gmt":"2024-09-03T16:24:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=91499"},"modified":"2024-09-07T13:22:46","modified_gmt":"2024-09-07T13:22:46","slug":"how-will-god-speak-to-me-part-4-of-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=91499","title":{"rendered":"How will God speak to me?\u00a0(Part 4 of 5)"},"content":{"rendered":"
By thepreacher.com<\/b><\/header>\n
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4. Knowledge<\/b><\/header>\n
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Ordained with Knowledge<\/i><\/b><\/div>\n
The third of the three channels highlighted in our primary text is knowledge:\u00a0\u201cany that knoweth.\u201d<\/i>\u00a0 So, not only by signs or by prophets, but also by the one that \u201cknoweth<\/i>,\u201d we can hear God and be saved.\u00a0 The knower could be ourselves or another.\u00a0 In other words, this knowledge that saves could come from a third party or it could be knowledge acquired by ourselves for ourselves. On facial value, it might not look as \u2018spiritual\u2019 as what comes from the Prophet, or the signs of God that we interpret to decode a divine message, yet it saves no less.<\/div>\n

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Once upon a time when crisis struck the kingdom of Babylon, the king called out for \u201cthe wise men, which\u00a0<\/i>knew the times<\/i><\/b>\u201d\u00a0<\/i>(Esther 1:13).\u00a0 Whereas prophets found truth through their spirits, those\u00a0\u201cwise men\u201d<\/i>\u00a0found truth through their understanding, their wisdom, their heads.\u00a0 Whereas prophets were\u00a0inspired<\/b>\u00a0to know, those were\u00a0skilled<\/b>\u00a0to know.<\/p>\n

The word translated\u00a0\u201cwise men\u201d<\/i>\u00a0in that passage is the Aramaic\u00a0chakam<\/i>, which means\u00a0intelligent, skillful,<\/i>\u00a0being\u00a0wise-hearted.<\/i>\u00a0\u00a0They\u00a0\u201cknew the times\u201d<\/i>\u00a0by skill, by experience, by wisdom, by investigation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The word \u201cknew<\/i>\u201d in that passage is translated from\u00a0yada<\/i>\u00a0in the same ancient language, meaning\u00a0to know, to ascertain by seeing, by observation, care, and instruction<\/i>. It means\u00a0to be aware, to comprehend, to be learned, skillful, understand.<\/i>\u00a0 All of that suggests natural awareness.\u00a0 That means that there are times knowable through\u00a0investigation<\/b>\u00a0or information, just as other times are knowable through\u00a0inquiry<\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0revelation<\/b>, as when the disciples sought from Jesus to know through enquiry the times that they were sure that He already knew by revelation (Acts 1:6-7).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Prophets might know the times by revelation, others might know some times by a careful study of signs.\u00a0 For example, there are those who know, by the global\u00a0signs<\/b>\u00a0they see, that we are in the last days.\u00a0 There are others who, through a spectacular spiritual encounter, have got the same knowledge.\u00a0 When Herod was doing his mischievous research about the coming of the Messiah, he tried all those options (Matthew 2:3-8). Providence assays to keep everyone informed in one way or the other (Psalm 19:1-4).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When Psalm 74:9 says, \u201cneither is there\u00a0<\/i>among us<\/i><\/b>\u00a0any that knoweth how long,\u201d<\/i>\u00a0it suggests that God sends or sets\u00a0\u201camong us\u201d<\/i>\u00a0not only signs and seeing prophets but also people of knowledge.\u00a0 Unfortunately, given our religious orientations, we often celebrate the prophets that God sends to us, but not so the wise men and those that know (Matthew 23:34).\u00a0 The same God that\u00a0\u201cchangeth the times and the seasons\u201d<\/i>\u00a0that prophets tell, also gives\u00a0\u201cwisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know\u201d<\/i>\u00a0\u2013 and they tell, too, to those who hear them\u00a0<\/i>(Daniel 2:21). He ordains no less with wisdom, understanding, and knowledge (Exodus 31:3).\u00a0 We celebrate Solomon for his wisdom, but that was only the first of two things he asked from God: \u201cwisdom and knowledge\u201d<\/i>\u00a0(2 Chronicles 1:10).\u00a0 Some see; some know.\u00a0 Some know through seeing; others know through knowing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Prophetic News<\/i><\/b><\/div>\n

Not only by strictly \u2018spiritual\u2019 means such as by prophets, but also by knowledge or research or inspired sourced information, we can know some times, we can tell\u00a0\u201chow long,\u201d<\/i>\u00a0we can chart our path through time, through life.\u00a0 After all, even the best of prophets knows only\u00a0\u201cin part\u201d<\/i>\u00a0(1 Corinthians 13:9, 12). \u00a0The Bible tells us to trust God enough to\u00a0not lean<\/b>\u00a0on our understanding, but it doesn\u2019t tell us to\u00a0not<\/b>\u00a0use<\/b>\u00a0it (Proverbs 3:5).\u00a0 After all, even God calls us to use our heads when He says,\u00a0\u201cCome now, and let us\u00a0<\/i>reason together<\/i><\/b>\u2026\u201d<\/i>\u00a0(Isaiah 1:18).\u00a0 I wonder what my IQ is for me to reason with God?\u00a0 But it is He that has made the invitation.\u00a0 Once upon a time, Moses did (Numbers 14:11-20).<\/p>\n

It was neither a \u2018revelation\u2019 nor the usual encounter with an angel but community news that made Joseph to turn \u201caside\u201d<\/i>\u00a0into Nazareth.\u00a0 It was to be said almost thereafter that his action, even though it had been \u2018inspired\u2019 by natural event, had been a fulfilment of prophecy: \u201cthat it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene\u201d\u00a0<\/i>(Matthew 2:22-23).\u00a0 In other words, the news that detoured the steps of Joseph, in his safety considerations for his young family, was prophetic.\u00a0\u00a0 Ever heard of prophetic news?\u00a0 Can something be prophetic when it did not come from the mouth of a prophet?\u00a0 The case of Joseph was not the only of such instances.\u00a0 Read the next:<\/div>\n
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12 Now\u00a0<\/i>when Jesus had heard<\/i><\/b>\u00a0that John was cast into prison,\u00a0<\/i>he departed<\/i><\/b>\u00a0into Galilee<\/i><\/div>\n
13 And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:<\/i><\/div>\n
14\u00a0<\/i>That it might be fulfilled<\/i><\/b>\u00a0which was\u00a0<\/i>spoken by Esaias the prophet<\/i><\/b>, saying,<\/i><\/div>\n
15 The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles<\/i>\u00a0(Matthew 4:12-15).<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

With discernment, can God guide through the news; through information received?\u00a0 Can \u2018non-spiritual\u2019 information be spiritually reliable?\u00a0 Should the Son of God have responded to what He heard from mortals?\u00a0 Where then was God?\u00a0 Does not the Bible say that He \u201cdid not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men\u201d\u00a0<\/i>and that He \u201cneeded not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man\u201d\u00a0<\/i>(John 2:24-25)?\u00a0 Should the spiritual person be \u2018moved\u2019 by what they hear?\u00a0 Can God also guide through natural information, or only by prophecy, or prophets?<\/p>\n

Well, God not only guides but wars with information, as you will find in 2 Kings 19:7 and Judges 7:11-15.\u00a0 The Bible speaks in many places of wisdom and strength, as if to say that wisdom grants strength (Job 12:13).\u00a0 None should be so intellectual as to deny the divine and spiritual leadership; we should neither be so \u2018spiritual\u2019 as to be stupid.\u00a0That something can be counterfeited does not mean that it has no original; that it has been abused by someone does not deny its proper use.\u00a0 Discernment is the key. Naomi and family uncritically followed the news about abundant bread and moved into Moab, to their unforgettable regret. It was news again that later restored her back to the land they had fled (Ruth 1:1-6).\u00a0 Isaac was going to follow the news into Egypt but God stopped him (Genesis 26:1-5). \u00a0Yet Jacob followed the news that started the process that found his household in Egypt, building the nation of Israel.<\/div>\n
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Jesus heard some news and moved out of the same Nazareth that He had been fulfilling prophecy when He moved there.\u00a0 His movement out had been as prophetic as His movement in.\u00a0 The summary is this:\u00a0\u201cTake heed therefore\u00a0<\/i>how<\/i><\/b>\u00a0ye hear\u201d\u00a0<\/i>(Luke 8:18), not only\u00a0what<\/b>\u00a0you hear (Mark 4:24).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Daniel the Reader
\n<\/i><\/b>It was by knowledge acquired from reading that Daniel was able to tell the season that he and his people were in, at one point in their exile in Babylon.\u00a0 That primary voice came not through a vision or an angel, even though Daniel was a very gifted prophet who often heard God through those extraordinary means.\u00a0 It came from information received, processed, discerned, applied.\u00a0 It came from the book of a prophet read and understood.\u00a0 If Daniel were some of us who are so anointed that they hear no other but themselves, I wonder how much longer his people might have overstayed in exile.<\/div>\n
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The information that Daniel got \u201cby books\u201d<\/i>\u00a0was so prophetically significant that it prompted a prayer that shook the heavens, threatened the second heavens, and activated the Prince of Persia and Angels Mchael and Gabirel.\u00a0 That info began the mobilizations that started the process of return from captivity (Daniel 9:2-3).\u00a0 Had Daniel trusted only dreams and visions\u2026\u00a0 Thank God, Daniel was also particular about what books he read: Jeremiah, an ancestral prophet; a person of like disposition as he. Not gossips and pornographies.<\/div>\n
God laments in Hosea 4:6 that His people perish\u00a0\u201cfor lack of knowledge\u201d<\/i>\u00a0\u2013 not, in that case, for lack of a prophet or from the evil activities of witchcraft.\u00a0 So, knowledge can deliver, just as prophets might guide, and signs might tell.<\/div>\n
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\u25cf From The Preacher\u2019s diary, <\/i><\/b>August 13, 2024.<\/i><\/b><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By thepreacher.com 4. Knowledge Ordained with Knowledge The third of the three channels highlighted in our primary text is knowledge:\u00a0\u201cany that knoweth.\u201d\u00a0 So, not only by signs or by prophets, but also by the one that \u201cknoweth,\u201d we can hear God and be saved.\u00a0 The knower could be ourselves or another.\u00a0 In other words, this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":91500,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5772,5782],"tags":[201,6781,6743],"class_list":["post-91499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-faith","category-opinion","tag-god","tag-knowledge","tag-speak"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=91499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/91500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=91499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=91499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=91499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}