KNOWLEDGE

Knowledge

 

"Charity (love) never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away."  1 Cor. 13:8

          Paul says it is one of the three charismatic gifts which finally ceases. At the beginning and throughout the history of Acts there were special miraculous gifts by which Divine revelation was channeled to men. These gifts were named by Paul as "knowledge, prophecy, and tongues." 1 Cor. 12:8-10, and in the same context he warns they will cease 1 Cor. 13:8. The permanent things will be faith, hope, and love. (vs. 13). Some people desire to see these gifts still present, while being blind to other things they desire not to see. It was final with the finalizing of scripture which Jude 3 speaks of. Going back to the start of the Church in Acts 2:42 we learn that the earliest Church "...were continually devoting themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."

Wisdom is capacity, where understanding suggests progress and the capacity acting in apprehension of the idea presented while knowledge is the ultimate attainment of skill resulting from intelligent action of capacity. Want to know how Noah could build the ark. That is how Adam could give meaningful names to all those animals paraded by him. This was just explained in this verse in Exod. 31:3.

Wisdom is capacity; understanding suggests progress, the capacity acting in apprehension of the idea presented; knowledge is the ultimate attainment of skill resulting from this intelligent action of capacity.
The result was "all manner of workmanship," the doing of the things appointed according to the pattern given. All this resulted from a man being filled with the Spirit of God. Thus a man was made the instrument of Divine action. To do His work, the Spirit of God needed a man. To do his work, the man needed the Spirit of God. This is perfect co-operation. The story is all the more valuable when it is remembered that this was co-operation, not for priestly or prophetic work but for work in gold, in silver, in brass in stones, in wood. Surely there is only one thing we need to be careful about and that is that the work we do is that appointed for us by God. If that is so, we need have no anxiety, for He will give us perfect equipment.

God's knowledge is said to be omniscient. He knows all things (Job 21:22; Psa. 139:1-18); His understanding is beyond measure (Psa. 147:5). He knows the thoughts of our minds and the secrets of our hearts (Psa. 44:21; 94:11). He knows past events (Gen. 30:22), present happenings (Job 31:4), and future events (Zech. 13:1; Luke 1:33).

The knowledge which God has of nations and human beings indicates that He has a personal interest--not merely an awareness--of people (Psa. 144:3). To be known by God may mean that a nation or individual is chosen by God to play a part in God's purposes in the world (Jer. 1:5; Amos 3:2; Gal. 4:9).