Tag Archives: Elohim God’s own Spirit

How the Spirit of Knowledge and Understanding Helps You to Know God Intimately, to Grow and Learn the Bible

“The highest calling of God is to be a learner,” says the Spirit of Knowledge and Understanding through author and Rabbi Jason Sobel . . .

‘Love the Lord with all your heart is the first commandment. To be a lover, you have to be a learner.”

To be a learner, we must know what God says.

To know what God says, we must read what He says.

To learn what He says, we must read both the old and new testaments of His Word – the Holy Bible.

At the age of 15, Jewish children who wanted to, could choose to learn and grow in faith with a rabbi. But they had to be chosen as one who would not bring disgrace to the teacher/rabbi. When they made the ‘cut,’ they were the ‘chosen.’

Other children who were not ‘chosen,’ or did not want to learn beyond what they had learned from the Torah (first five books in the Old Testament), could choose to go into a profession of their own.

Jesus chose his twelve disciples and took them away from their professions of fishing or tax collecting, or of a zealot, to be full-time learners and followers – to be like Him.

Do we have to leave our professions and jobs to be a disciple of Jesus Christ today? No, we don’t, but some may choose to. We can choose to be ‘chosen’ by becoming a learner by reading His Word and making it priority in our lives––in order to become like Him.

We have Jesus, THE Rabbi, at our disposal, 24 hours per day, seven-days per week through the Seven-Fold Holy Spirit of the LORD. What a privilege we have with access to many Bible translations that the early disciples did not have. Are we taking advantage of it?

This is the fifth in the series from Isaiah 11:2, the Seven-Fold Spirit of the Lord, a prophecy about Jesus:

“And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him (Jesus), the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.”

Intimate knowledge and understanding of God come from the ONLY Truth that exists: making Jesus our First Love and making His Word priority of each day.

[The Spirit of Understanding will have its own article but cannot be divided from any of the other Spirits.]

How the Spirit of Knowledge and Understanding Helps

What the Bible Says About the Spirit of Knowledge and Understanding

The word knowledge is a noun in the above Isaiah passage. From the Strong’s dictionary, number 1847 it is da’ath: meaning knowledge, insight, intelligence, understanding, wisdom, cunnng. It is the Hebrew word for knowledge gained through the senses.

Though it is a general term, it can be personal, technical ‘know-how,’ or skill.  Exodus 35:30-33 gives us a perfect example of da’ath knowledge:

See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel, he son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding and in knowledge (da’ath) in all craftmanship; to make designs for working in gold and in silver and in bronze, and in the cutting of stones for settings, and in the carving of wood, so as to perform in every inventive work.

Sometime after the Red Sea crossing, all the Israelites gave a freewill offering to the LORD to build the tabernacle in the wilderness. Women whose heart stirred with a skill spun the goat’s hair. God also put in the heart of Bezalel and Oholiab to teach them. And they did the engraving and designing of embroidery in blue and purple and scarlet material, and in fine linen, and of a weaver––all done to the detailed instructions the LORD gave Moses.

We can see from this that there is no end of da’ath knowledge from the LORD to His people for righteous purposes. “For in Him, we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Art and craftmanship can be in any form, from culinary arts, paintings, writing and publishing a book, teaching, building anything and even crafting blog posts. Some Christians have felt called to run, or to make a trip around the world sailing for God’s glory.

God Possesses the Spirit of Knowledge and Understanding

Almighty God is omni (all) everything: omnipotent [Almighty or unlimited and all-powerful], omnipresent [everywhere at all times and omniscient [having complete or unlimited knowledge, awareness, or understanding; perceiving all things.]

“Such da’ath knowledge it too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain to it. Where can I go from Thy Spirit? Or where can I flee from They presence?“ (Psalm 139:7).

The whole chapter of Psalm 139 is filled with God’s intimate knowledge and understanding of us, His creation. He sees us [El Roi – the God Who Sees) and knows what we are doing at all times, He was there when we were conceived, and his eyes saw our unformed substance. He wrote a book about us before we were born, spelling out our purpose and destiny on earth. His thoughts toward us outnumber the sands on the seashore. He has called us by our name, and we belong to Him, and He us (if we choose). Imagine that!

How Spirit of Knowledge and Understanding helps to Know God Intimately to Grow and Learn Bible

God Teaches Us His Knowledge and Understanding

“The LORD gives wisdom and from His mouth come da’ath knowledge and understanding” (Proverbs 2:6).  “He teaches man da’ath knowledge” (Proverbs 94:10).

Jesus came to earth as a Rabbi and taught with His words and example. The words from His mouth contradicted everything that seemed right naturally. He taught and exemplified to do to others as we would have them do to us; to love the unlovely, even our enemies; how to pray and see people healed; how to cast out demons; to embrace persecution, insults, and all kinds of evil falsely on account of Him.

He taught them to rejoice and be exceedingly glad no matter the circumstances; how to confront evil rulers without prior preparation; how to steward money and give from meager resources; and what to expect in the end times when they would be hated on account of His name.

Jesus used harsh words to call out hypocrites [Greek word Hupokrinȏ indicating secrecy; to judge, to divide, separate … to emulate anything as an actor, to act a part or pretend to be what they are not]. He called them:

“hypocrites, children of hell, blind guides, fools, white-washed sepulchers, full of iniquity, serpents, murderers, robbers.”

He did everything he could to make people face the true state of their spiritual nature. He was not politically correct. For crying out loud! He even turned over tables in the church (temple) calling out money changers as thieves, saying, “My house shall be called a HOUSE OF PRAYER but you are making it a robbers’ den!” (Matthew 21:13).

Should this not motivate us to look CLOSELY at Jesus’ life in the New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and be more like him––as His Spirit leads? If we are wrong, would we not want to have someone speak the Truth in love to us, so we be right with God?

Is Da’ath Knowledge a Spiritual Gift of the Holy Spirit of the Bible?

Put simply, the answer is no. The spiritual gift of the ‘word of knowledge’ that is found in 1 Corinthians 12:8 says, “For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit.”

The word knowledge here is from the original New Testament Greek, root word gnȏsis (Strong’s #1108) meaning “to know experientially. A present and fragmentary knowledge . . . a clear and exact knowledge which expresses a more thorough participation in the object of knowledge on the part of the knowing subject.”

In other words, there are times when a godly Christian can say or write something to you and it’s like you know that God just spoke to you. You feel as though He read your mail or saw directly into your heart and it impacted you greatly.

How Can a Person Gain this Da’ath Knowledge?

Remember, the five senses have to be involved; therefore, there is a choice to be made here – a quality decision to get it!

It takes time and effort. It takes learning something you are interested in; passion follows faith steps. When it comes to Jesus and spiritual knowledge and intimacy with Him and how to live, it means spending quality time with Him. That comes ONLY through His Word for:

“In the beginning [before all time] was the Word {Christ} and the Word was God Himself. . . And the Word {Christ} became flesh {human, incarnate} and tabernacled {fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile} among us; and we [actually] saw His glory” (John 1:1, 14 Amplified)

My Story of Learning Intimacy with God

Bird Watching in the Spirit of Knowledge and Understanding

Let me tell you a story about how Jesus taught me how important it is to Him that we spend time in His Word, and that it is spending quality time with Him alone that makes Him our First Love:

One day last winter on a snowy day, I was watching the birds eat the seed my husband had just put out for them. I thanked the Lord for being able to watch them and let Him know how much I enjoyed being able to do so through my back porch window in the comfort of my warm, cozy home.

He immediately spoke to my heart so clearly, “That’s how I feel when I watch you eat my Word.”

I thought about the Scripture in Revelation that we have probably misinterpreted to mean Salvation only, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into him, and will dine with him, and he with Me.”

There’s nothing better than to dine with Jesus over His Word! His da’ath Spirit of Knowledge and Understanding are the servers.

When we spend time with Him and He sees the devotion of our heart to be a learner, He will share His heart with us.

*More Scriptures from Jesus, the Word

Psalm 119:50, “This is my comfort in my affliction, that Thy Word has revived me.”

Psalm 119: 66-67, “Teach me good discernment and da’ath knowledge, for I believe in Thy commandments. Before I was afflicted, I went astray, But now I keep Thy word.

Psalm 119: 71, “It is good for me that I was afflicted, That I may learn Thy statutes.”

Revelation 2:3-4, “You have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary, but I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”

# # #

My Challenge to You

*All Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Version of the Bible (NASB) except where noted. The best study Bible for the real, ordinary Christian, like myself, is the Key Word Study Bible (NASB or NKJV). It has the Strong Dictionary numbers for key words of each Scripture, and gives all the Scriptures in the Old and New Testaments in Hebrew/Greek that apply.

It also has a Concordance, Word Studies, Introductions and Footnotes––all in one book. It is worth at least 10 million dollars to me, which is the value of one of the 48 Guttenberg Bibles remaining of the original 180 printed in 1452. Learning the original word meanings brings intimacy with Jesus when you know that you know.

I challenge you to get a good study Bible like this. If you are a new believer, you will love my book, GOD Who Are You? AND Who Am I? Knowing and Experiencing God by His Hebrew Names. I break down the Hebrew names of God for you. There is no better way to find intimacy with God of the Bible than knowing who His is—that reveals who we are in the process.

Click the book below for more information…

Couples and Mixed Company Bible Study Workbook
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M2B Because God is Elohim, I am Alive

Eyes Wide Open, I am Alive!

Eyes Wide Open I am Alive BookletThere’s Mama kissing Daddy–and her eyes are wide open!” Kurt and Francy exclaim every time they open our wedding album. My most embarrassing moment is ever before me, with no similar pose to replace it. This chapter is an analogy of how God as Elohim, opened my eyes and gave me the ability to say I Am Alive.

Our wedding took place three weeks after Jim’s return from Vietnam in the small church where my father was pastor. The ceremony and reception happened so fast I do not even know who was there; we might as well have gone to the Justice of the Peace.

But anyway, there were still the pictures for which to pose. Although they were the typical wedding poses, we thought they would never end. At last, we came to the final shot, with all eyes on us, for Jim to “kiss the bride.” This one ought to be fun, but I was caught by surprise as Jim put his cold hands around my neck. My eyes shot open like I’d been hit with a bullet!

My unforgettable moment reminds me of Saul, a man who had been persecuting the early Christians after Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. He dramatically met Jesus on the road to Damascus to persecute more Christians. A light flashed from heaven; he arose from the ground, “but though his eyes were opened, he could see nothing.”(5) He was led to Damascus where Ananias came to him three days later:

And he laid his hands on Saul and said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you along the way by which you came here, has sent me that you may recover your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. And instantly something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he recovered his sight.  Acts 9:17-18 Amplified

Likewise, my eyes were open, but spiritually speaking, something like scales was over my eyes. Although I had accepted Jesus when I was young, and He had been real to me until my husband entered my life, Jim then became my idol.

Four and one-half years later with our second child on the way, Jesus became real again as He was brought before my open/closed eyes as I read the book, Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey. It caused me to stop, face myself squarely, and to become open and honest with Him.

I shuddered to think of Jesus returning to earth. Could it be in my own lifetime? To look into His eyes-I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. I hadn’t been what He wanted me to be; my life would not be acceptable to Him. I was afraid to utter His name to anyone, even my very best friend who didn’t know Him. But, how could I when my life didn’t show any reason for her or our friends to give Him a second thought?

Where Was the Ability to BE able to say, I Am Alive?

Even so, I knew I was going to heaven, and I highly valued my Christian upbringing, but that’s not what I was giving my children. Jim and I went to church, but it was out of a sense of duty and to ease the conscience. In pondering these thoughts, I knew there had to be more: where, just where, was the ability to be what God wanted me to be?

 

In looking back at what happened then and in the succeeding seven years, the following allegory is what I believe happened:

At eight years of age, I opened my heart’s door to Jesus, the King of Kings and LORD of Lords! An attendant rolled out the red carpet6 and in walked Jesus as tall and grand as any king could ever be, with love pouring out from His eyes to me.

I gave Jesus a seat at my dining room table7 where I kept Him for the next fourteen years. He did not catch my attention until He reflected Himself through two “mirrors” in my living room-Christian television and Christian books. Could He really be alive, the same yesterday, today and forever like the Bible said?8

I walked into the dining room where Jesus was and asked Him, “Are you really alive, Jesus?” I could plainly see that He was. “Then, you didn’t just die on the cross for my sins where I have been identifying with you?”

“That’s right, I did arise,” He told me. “Don’t you think it’s about time you decided for yourself what you believe and quit relying on your parent’s Christianity? You know that will never do.”9

“I suppose you’re right, Jesus. Tell me what makes these people in the books and on television so happy all the time, and what causes them to talk like they know just what is what?”

JESUS: I thought you’d never ask that question. It’s not what but who.10  Turn around and you will see Him.

I turned around and there in the corner of the room sat a Person I barely recognized as the attendant who rolled out the red carpet for Jesus years ago.

ME: Excuse me, Jesus, I’m so-o em-m-ba-r-rassed. I do-o-n’t believe I know His name.

JESUS: Mr. Holy Spirit.

ME: Mr. Holy Spirit, I apologize for not having known you were here. Would you please forgive me? How have I not known you were still here?

MR. HOLY SPIRIT: It’s not my mission to draw attention to myself,11 but to reveal Jesus to you12 and all He has freely given you from God the Father.13 But, don’t be condemned. Do you remember where Paul, in Acts 19, asked the twelve Ephesian disciples, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?  They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit,”14
Isn’t that where you stand today? You just haven’t acknowledged me yet, nor understood who I am, nor have you received what I can do for you and in you.

ME: I don’t understand.

MR. HOLY SPIRIT: Remember the other night when your friend Martha came to the door and you still had your hair in rollers? Jim and the children, even the baby, met her at the door and received her in. But, you were fixing your hair while she waited patiently on you. I’ve had to be patient waiting on you, too. But at the same time, I’ve been grieved,15 and quenched,16 by your ignorance and shunning of Me. I am a Person, too, you know. I have a mind,17 a will,18 emotions,19 and I can speak.20 I am to be received by faith21 just as you received by faith the person, Jesus Christ.

ME: That makes sense but I don’t understand what receiving by faith means. But, first, may I ask you just who you are?

Elohim is God’s Own Spirit Who Gives Life

Yellow flowers with text overlay Because God is Elohim, I am Alive

 

MR. HOLY SPIRIT: Certainly. I am God’s own Spirit. No one can really know what anyone else is thinking, or what he is really like deep inside except that person himself. And, no one can know God’s own thoughts except God’s own Spirit. That’s me! I search God’s mind and I know His deepest thoughts, secrets, and ways. I will reveal them to you and show you things to come.22 That is, if you will believe and allow me to be released from this corner to fill you as you have been commanded to do in the Bible in Ephesians 5:18.

But, that’s not all. I am the very same Spirit and dynamos power who went to the bowels of the earth where Jesus and I openly defeated Satan in his own domain.23 Then, I catapulted Him from the hell He took for you24 and set Him at the right hand of the Father in heavenly places, far above all forces of evil.25

That’s where I have put you, too. Jesus is in you and you are in Him.26 So, if you are just the little toe of Jesus’ foot, you are also above Satan, and have all the power and authority of heaven behind you, just as Jesus does.27 Therefore, you can speak to your mountains “in the name of Jesus” and they will disintegrate.28 You will be able to overcome your problems instead of them ruling over you.29

ME: You really are a very important Person then, aren’t you? But, I don’t fully comprehend what you’re saying. Anyway, Satan’s never bothered me.

MR. HOLY SPIRIT: He has, you just don’t know it. He’s the one who has kept your eyes blind. Furthermore, you haven’t given him any reason to bother you-yet.30 As far as comprehension, that’s my job-to lead you and guide you into all truth31 as you are ready to comprehend, and to give you spiritual discernment of the Scriptures and all things.32

ME: That’s interesting, but may I ask a somewhat selfish question? What does that mean to me personally?

MR. HOLY SPIRIT: That means that when you pick up this Bible and read, you will understand it and know that it is God Almighty speaking directly to you.33 I will make the Word come alive to you personally as I lead and guide you through its pages.34 Nothing will ever be by chance.35 And when you need to recall a Scripture, I will cause you to remember it, giving you instant recall.36

What does it mean to you personally? It means I am able to teach you everything you need to know, as your personal ’round-the-clock tutor.37 I will teach you to pray in faith, believing,38 bestow on you magnificent gifts39 and luscious fruit.40

ME: Then, how can I do without you? Please, please fill me!

MR. HOLY SPIRIT: I can’t.

ME: But, why?

Selfish Self-centeredness – the Root of All Evil

I am Alive

MR. HOLY SPIRIT: I’ve been snooping around in all the corners where you’ve kept me. Don’t you know these books on the occult and astrology are an abomination to God?41 See this bottle you hid from your folks? Just look at all this selfish, unforgiving dirt. My first name is Holy. I can’t live in this mess!42

 

Awhile later:
ME: Okay, Mr. Holy Spirit, I burned the books and cleaned house.43 Thank you for giving me the power to go to my friend and to ask for her forgiveness. Thank you for the words you gave me, to tell her about Jesus when she was about to get a divorce.44 Thank you for the love you gave me for her, and the joy in obeying You, and especially for saving her marriage. That must be some of the fruit you were talking about.45  My house is clean now as far as I know; will you fill me now?

MR. HOLY SPIRIT: You have been seeking to learn of Me and are therefore looking for Me to release myself from this corner, but even I don’t have the power to do that. Remember what John the Baptist said? He said, “Jesus will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”46 I am the gift;47 He is the giver.48 So, you need to talk to Jesus now.
I turned to Jesus and asked Him to fill me with Mr. Holy Spirit, and to please, please, release Him from the corner where I had neglected Him for so long.

JESUS: There’s still one problem. You are in the way. He can’t fill you as long as you are here.

ME: But, this is my home!

JESUS: We want to live here. Isn’t that what you’ve been asking for? For us to take over now and do the housekeeping?49 You haven’t allowed us to do anything but sit here.50

ME: WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?

JESUS: It’s not so much what we want to do, it’s what we want to be in you.51 Have you noticed where you seated me? In the baby’s highchair! I want to be LORD of all in you, seated in the Daddy’s chair, the Head, Number One!52

ME: How do I make you Lord?

JESUS: By pulling out the head chair for Me and leaving- permanently.

ME: How can I leave my own home, my husband, my children, forever?

JESUS: By dying.53

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