Knowing

If you do not speak French, Latin or Italian and as a result don't know the different verbs translated "know" try reading this. It sounds very similar--I've been thinking about this a lot!!


what is it to know God? we know it is not to simply know of Him (savoir), but to actually know (connaitre) Him personally. And what does he say it is to know him?  In Jeremiah 22, God gives a warning to Josiah's wicked son, Shallum, who oppressed his workers for his own personal gain. In the midst of warnings, God uses Josiah as an example of a man who knew him, and it showed in his actions: "He judged the cause of the poor and needy. Then it was well 'was this not knowing Me?' says the LORD" (Jeremiah 22:16)

Josiah was quite a man. Crowned king at the age of 8, he ruled over Judah for just 31 years, dying before 40 because he "did not heed the words of Necho, from the mouth of God" He died because he ignored a warning not to engage in battle. This was the logical consequence for his mistake. However, Josiah left an amazing legacy. At the age of 16, we are told he began to seek God, and at the age of 20, began to clean Judah of its idolatrous way. He completely destroyed the centres of idol worship, and in the midst of this deep cleaning, the Book of the Law was found. When Josiah learned of the law, he was broken over the way his nation had completely rejected God's law.  He reinstituted the Passover when he was 26.  In just 39 years of life, Josiah left quite a legacy--" Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him" (2 Kings 23:25)  So in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, we see that Josiah changed the ways of his nation, bringing them back to righteousness before God, and in Jeremiah his legacy was performing righteousness and justice and defending the cause of the poor and needy. What a man to emulate!! What can I be doing in my sphere of influence to do as he did? How can I awaken my nation to God's ways; how can I be known for righteousness and justice?

Last week I read these two verses in my devotions:

"To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice." (Proverbs 21:3) 

"For I desire mercy and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings." (Hosea 6:6; Jesus quoted this verse twice--in Matthew 9:13 and 12:7)

and this week, I was re-reading Isaiah 58:

"Is this not the fast that I have chose: To loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh?" (vv 6, 7)

Social justice is not just a fad or something we do to feel better about ourselves. God has called us to this fast, for he desires justice more than any sacrifice we could ever give. It's not about a backwards social snobbery. It's not about a show. It's about a heart that desires to honour God.  He gave us an easy way to do it. We crave the tangible in our lives. And he put his people made in his image--his beloved creation here on this earth. We can show our love of God, our fellowship with him, by showing it to his people.