Willing To Know
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled by His blood 1 Peter 1:2
Foreknowledge – Do we dare peek into such a controversial topic? Why not? It might be fun – and illuminating. Peter begins this thought with “according to”. The Greek is used metaphorically to mean “as one thing stands in relation to another”. So, what are the two things that stand in this relation? One is the elect foreigners and the other is God’s knowledge (in the next word). There is a crucial relationship between these two. Let’s see if we can determine what that relationship is.
Peter’s next word is the difficult one (maybe). Foreknowledge comes from two Greek words, pro (before) and ginosko (to know). In classical Greek ginosko is used for intelligent comprehension with the stress on the act of knowing. There are three different words in Greek for knowledge. One emphasizes knowledge through the senses (aisthanesthai), another emphasizes knowledge as opinion (dokein), but ginosko is the idea of knowledge that is experientially verified as true knowledge. The Gnostics enhanced this idea by making knowledge the basis of control of the world. This became secret knowledge, known only through special religious rituals. It was connected with the belief that Man has a divine spark within him and he only needs to understand his divinity and allow it to grow in order to become like God. Here, in combination with pro, the word can mean “prior acknowledgement” or “known beforehand”.
Do you think that Gnostic ideas are popular today? What modern trends are really Gnostic ideas? Our society is filled with the belief that knowledge is power and secret knowledge is even more powerful. This is the realm of magic, from Wall Street to Tarot readings. It’s pervasive, but it isn’t biblical.
This Greek word is influenced by the Hebrew idea of “know” (yada). The Hebrew word covers a much larger range of meanings, from perception to sexual intimacy. But, unlike the Greek usage, the Hebrew word stresses the knowing subject, not the information known. In Hebrew, knowledge is a function of the will, not of the intellect. It is related to decision and commitment, especially when it is about God. Therefore, ignorance is not excusable because ignorance is a refusal to act according to God’s direction – see Rom. 1:20. This background is implied in Peter’s use of the Greek term. Remember that Peter is a Jew writing in Greek so his thought patterns are Hebrew, not Greek.
Do you understand the difference between knowledge as a function of intellect and knowledge as a function of the will? Do you see how the stress on knowledge in our culture is Greek, not Hebrew? Do you now understand why the Scriptures say that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom?
This word (prognosin) is used here and in Acts 2:23, Rom. 11:2, Rom. 8:29, 1 Peter 1:20. Look at these references. Does this help you understand the meaning in this verse? Is this word used in the sense of “acknowledgment” or in the sense of “prediction”? What do you think? Does God know the subject matter beforehand, or is Peter saying that God acts in accordance with the role of His chosen children? Is foreknowledge about the box sitting on the road just over the horizon (the future), or is it about the God who is walking along with you, acting on your behalf in the next step?
Or maybe it’s all just to hard too think about. 🙂
Topical Index: foreknowledge, prognosin, ginosko, 1 Peter 1:2
I like the whole idea of intimacy of God’s knowing us and I think Skip is leaving some wiggle room or the Arminians among us.
If we really “know” Him we would have a very healthy “fear/reverence” for Him – if we “know” His Word/Him in the flesh – we would fear Him & His Word – but most don’t know Him like they should or could or need too…
He wants us to know Him as He knows us… 🙂
jano
btw: it’s a relationship for sure… 🙂
it takes two baby…. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eazW3G2Y3iw
I was confused by one sentence today. Should it REALLY read like this? “But, unlike the Greek usage, the Hebrew word stresses knowing the subject, not the information known.”
BTW, Skip, thanks for bringing us uninformed Gentiles back to Hebrew basics every day!
Actually, I like this verse (and II Thess 2:13) because it reminds me that the entire God-head is actively involved in sourcing and resourcing my spiritual walk with Him. He brings His whole self (Father, Spirit, Son); He wants me to bring my whole self and for me to be funded in appropriating His truth daily in my life (gifted faith by God’s grace and appropriated in my life through obedience to Christ’s commands – submitting my will to His will moment-by-moment). “That you may obey” tells me that it is up to me to appropriate the sourcing and resourcing of all that God has available to/for me because of His character and work on my behalf. Obviously, the bended knee toward these truths is an activity of the will.
I think this is tough stuff but interesting to think about. Some thoughts:
It may be Greek thinking but I’m not giving up knowledge to wander aimlessly and unengaged in the world, sitting on tufts waiting for bushes to ignite. Surely, God doesn’t expect us to fail to master scripture or to abandon study. After “I’m sorry”, most of my prayers have to do with “please show me”. We are endowed with the capacity to observe, explore, ponder, and seek. This isn’t accidental. Isn’t every “willful” effort to align with God’s purpose appropriate, correct, and even worshipful? Aren’t we perpetuating Greek thinking by continuing a false dichotomy? It seems to me we are in perfect union with God when we abandon self-determination for God’s will, and are enlightened through relationship to perfect knowledge. Part of serving the Master is in the learning process. The more I learn, the more I let go of my way for His way. I don’t believe God’s wants pets. I believe God wants obedient children fully capable and empowered to be His hands and feet.
Seems to me the slipperly slope is in thinking we become equal to God just because we know stuff. Scholarship should make us MORE humble.
Our Father must find us endlessly amusing……..
(if there were a place for a subject I would have titled this question Lost in Translation)
You say that when Paul used the Greek word for the verb to know in his letter, we can assume that what he really meant was the Hebrew idea of knowledge.
Why wouldn’t he have just said in Greek exactly what he meant? For example, why not say in Greek that God was intimate with us according to His will?
Did he intend for every reader to translate from Greek to Hebrew and then possibly from Hebrew to their own languages?
Why not just write the letters in Hebrew/Aramaic?
This one hurt my brain a bit, I have to admit. It is like when you try to imagine eternity. You get a glimpse of it, and then immediately it turns to mush….or at least that is what happens with me. I like how Rox put it, “Scholarship should make us MORE humble.” I think many view God (btw, is this the right name for Him? I am so confused about that whole subject)…from a “studying” point of view, and never get to the “experiential” knowledge of being in intimate relationship with Him. Both are necessary to make it to the end. But when I study God in His word, I am compelled to get closer to Him, relationally. I am also humbled that this awesome creator knows me and loves me so intimately. Just my 2 cents.
“Is foreknowledge about the box sitting on the road just over the horizon (the future), or is it about the God who is walking along with you, acting on your behalf in the next step?”
This is a cool question for sure! The latter makes a lot of Scriptures make more sense. As I have stated here before, long ago I pretty well rejected the the idea of Calvinistic predestination and of God being in total control of everything that happens. I don’t think He is. Nor does He want to be. That is why He created us.
While I think He can certainly make certain things happen that He wants to happen, like resurrecting Yeshua from the dead, He could NOT have done that had Yeshua decided not to die on the cross. Which I think He clearly could have. And I think YHWY enjoys the drama being played out in His creation waiting to see how all the stories will turn out, including a lot of His own story.
I like this community because I can state some of the radical things I came to believe a long time ago as I thought long and hard about tough questions that bothered me. Skip and others, with a Hebrew worldview, have really helped answer for me many verses in the Bible that did not make sense if you looked at the simple English words. What a relief to find out that we serve a Hebrew God with a very different worldview typically found in the Gentile church world.