Knowing
About God

This is the post-Information Age, that time in history when misinformation is more insistent than Truth. And we love to have it so. We like information that agrees with our worldview, the way we feel things ought to be and so we embrace that which supports our feelings. The recent and rapid growth of Ai (artificial intelligence) internet resources weighted toward Confirmation Bias—the giving of answers skewed in favor of the way the query was asked—have only multiplied this misinformation acceptance. But, this is not a new phenomenon. The judgment of Proverbs 14:12 has always been prevalent,

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. ¹

We like what we like no matter the consequences, even if the outcome is fatal. We tend to claim authority for ourselves for knowing what is beyond our ability to perceive and yet make life decisions upon that judgment. We live by the belief that what we see is an accurate observation of what is True. For instance, the Israelites claimed to be the people of God, to know Him, to represent Him yet we are told in Psalms 103:6-7 that,

The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. ²

While the people of Israel knew the acts of God, only Moses understood the Ways of God. There is a vast difference between knowing the apparent rather than the reason. If you read through the Exodus back to Canaan and then the early years under the Judges, you find the Israelites did not know God well, their misconceptions abounded. Even though God specifically, repeatedly warned them regarding consequences, they did not stay the course but wandered astray frequently. The blessing or cursing was clearly laid out:

“See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known. ³

Have you picked up the undercurrent of ‘Knowing God’ and that is more than knowing there is a god or knowing His name or enough about your god to satisfy you? Knowing and taking appropriate action based in that knowledge is foundational. To highlight the importance of action appropriate to the knowledge, let us take a little detour to make the point. Jesus has been teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum on the Sabbath, gone to Peter and Andrew’s home where he healed their mother of a fever and then,

That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. ⁴

‘…and cast out many demons. And He would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew Him.’ Two interesting points: ‘they knew Him’ and ‘He won’t let them speak’ about what they knew. Why? What they knew and what they did were not compatible. Remember, Jesus created all that is in concert with the Godhead and these were part of the created beings that rebelled against the LORD and were cast out of heaven with Satan in the original Fall. Jesus had told the disciples when they were amazed at the effectiveness of the authority He delegated to them,

The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” ⁵

This pre-Creation Fall (of the world we know) is in focus in Revelation 12,

Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. ⁶

Yes, the demons and evil spirits ‘knew’ Jesus from the time of their creation when they were as created before they rebelled. They had seen the LORD in His Glory in Heaven before they decided to rebel and follow Satan. Knowing was not their problem, agreeing with what they knew was.

And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. ⁷

Even knowing accurately is no substitute for acting in agreement with what is known. Yes, Jesus is ‘the Holy One of God’ but there is no merit in mere words from one rebelling against the scope of meaning in that Truth. The response of the satanic is just the opposite of serving God, embracing His desires. Jesus gave a parable of the response of the satanic to the Truth of God:

Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the Word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. ⁸

This response to Truth is contrary to the character of God and serves to keep seekers from knowing God in His fullness. The desire of the satanic is to keep all in darkness. This is a deliberate denial for the demonic know the Truth but have chosen to remain in rebellion despite knowing the character, nature, power and authority of the LORD.

Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.) Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. ⁹

The demonic Legion knew who Jesus was, the character of Jesus in desiring the man freed, the power and authority of Jesus to make it happen and their own inability to stand against the will of the LORD. They also knew their fate and ultimate destination but only were concerned with escaping. There is no Biblical account of the rebellious spirits ever wanting to repent for what they had done against God. Satan is not a supporter of Truth and his demonic spirits do not either for they all seek to deceive those who would serve God as He truly is:

And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. ¹⁰

Not all that seems Light, that seems righteous, is for the satanic’s intent is to deceive, to present themselves as Light, their disguise for their own darkness. While they know about the LORD, they do not know the LORD and embrace His nature and character. They seek to take His place as false light and false righteousness.

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? ¹¹

There is an almost humorous aside in Acts 19 where some sons of a Jewish exorcist try to use knowing about God as a way to be somebody without having truth behind it. They are called to task by the demonic who know more about God than they do:

Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. ¹²

Next week, we will look at the opposite of knowing about God and look at actually knowing the LORD as He intends.