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Lessons
from the Wilderness, Volume 68
…What We Know… Part Eight
“You Worship What
You Do Not Know”[i] [ii]
[iii]
…A Biblical Examination of the Jewish Context of
our Blessed Hope in Messiah…
19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are qa prophet. 20 rOur fathers worshiped on sthis mountain, but you say that tin Jerusalem is uthe place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, v“Woman, believe me, wthe hour is coming when xneither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.
22 yYou worship what you
do not know;
zwe worship what we know, for zsalvation is afrom the Jews.
3 But bthe hour is coming, and is now here, when the true
worshipers will worship the Father cin spirit and dtruth, for the Father eis seeking such people
to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in
spirit and truth.”[iv]
“You Worship What You Do Not Know” (John 4:22)
John 4:22
We now enter a realm of understanding that few are aware of, but it is always present in the Scriptures. There are what scholars say are technical or philosophical ways to approach Scripture; lay persons do not usually think in those terms, but Scripture is full of epistemic accountability (see endnotes for a definition if you are unfamiliar with the phrase) moments: points where God, the prophets, or Yeshua confront people not just for doing wrong but for not knowing rightly — that is, for failure to align understanding and worship with revealed truth.
Does it align with the God who has spoken through
Torah and Prophets?
·
Does it exhibit justice, mercy, and humility? Does it affirm the
Messiah, the perfect image of the invisible God? Worship that is disconnected
from this knowledge risks becoming mere sentiment—devotion without truth, form
without covenant, zeal without understanding.
Torah: Knowledge and Accountability
Are Bound Together
• Deuteronomy 29:29 —
Revelation as Stewardship: “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but
the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we
may do all the words of this law.” Revelation creates responsibility; knowledge
is given so it may be obeyed.
• Deuteronomy 8:2–3 — Knowing
Through Testing: God’s wilderness discipline taught Israel dependence upon His
word: “that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone.”
Knowledge is experiential and ethical, learned through obedience.
• Exodus 32:1–6 — The Golden
Calf Incident: Israel used the correct name but a wrong and idolatrous concept
of God. This is an epistemic failure—a practice of worship without genuine and
proper knowledge.
Writings: Wisdom and Accountability
for What Is Known
• Psalm 82:5 — Leaders Without
Knowledge: Those lacking accurate understanding walk in darkness; the result of ignorance
by the powerful shakes the moral order.
• Proverbs 1:7 — Fear of the
LORD as the Beginning of Knowledge: True knowledge starts in reverent fear,
leading to awe; rejecting instruction is rejecting divine wisdom itself.
• Daniel 5:22–23 — Belshazzar’s
Failure to Learn from History: Belshazzar “knew all this” about God’s judgment
on Nebuchadnezzar but ignored it. To disregard and refuse knowledge brings
judgment.
Prophets: Knowledge Tested by
Justice and Faithfulness
• Hosea 4:1, 6 — The People
Destroyed for Lack of Knowledge: Lack of knowledge equals covenant
unfaithfulness; when priests fail to teach, the people reject God’s truth.
• Jeremiah 22:15–16 — Knowing
God Through Justice: A simple but profound axiom is that to know God is to act
justly: “He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Isn't this to know Me?”
• Isaiah 1:2–4 — Ignorance as
Rebellion: “The ox knows its owner, but Israel does not know.” Israel’s
ignorance is a form of moral blindness; they should have known their covenant
Lord (and by extension, so should we today).
We
can see the same patterns from the Messianic Writings (the New Testament):
The Gospels: Knowing God Through the Messiah
• John 8:19 — Knowing the
Father Through the Son: “You know neither Me nor My Father.” Accountability
now centers on recognizing the Son as the revelation of the Father.
• Matthew 7:21–23 — False
Profession and Lack of Relationship: “I never knew you.” Zeal and works
detached from obedience also reveal a relational ignorance. Apart from the Messiah,
there are no deeds worthy of Him.
• John 4:22 — True Knowledge in Worship: “You worship
what you do not know.” True worship aligns with covenantal revelation fulfilled
in the Messiah. This brings us full fore to our anchor passage.
1) The line in
context
·
Setting: A Samaritan woman
raises the old dispute—Gerizim or Jerusalem? Jesus answers with
two claims: (1) Samaritans worship “what they do not know,” and (2) “salvation
is from the Jews” (Jn 4:22). He then lifts the question from place
to truth and Spirit (4:23–24).
·
Second Temple backdrop: Samaritans held the
Torah but not the Prophets/Writings and located the sanctuary on Gerizim; Jews
received the whole Tanakh and the Davidic/Zion promises. Jesus isn’t mocking
Samaritan piety; he’s calling out deficient knowledge of God’s
self-disclosure in Israel’s story.
2) What “know” means
in a Jewish frame
·
Yādaʿ / Daʿat (ידע
/ דעת):
To “know” is relational-covenantal knowledge—not mere data but fidelity
shaped by revelation (Exod 33:13; Jer 9:23–24).
·
’Emet & ’Emunah (אמת / אמונה): Truth and faith/faithfulness are twins; you
“know” truly when you trust and walk truly (Deut 7:9).
·
Yir’at Shamayim (יראת שמים): The “fear of Heaven” grounds knowledge;
wisdom is ethical and worshipful (Prov 1:7).
·
Kavanah (כוונה): Intentionality in
prayer/service; right form without right intent fails (Isa 1; Mal 1).
Takeaway: In Scripture, knowing
God is covenantal participation. If worship divorces itself from God’s
revealed identity and will, it slides into a state of not-knowing (Hos
4:6).
• Romans 1:21–22 — Knowing Yet
Refusing to Honor God: Humanity’s guilt stems from suppressing known truth;
knowledge without honor leads to foolishness.
• Romans 10:2–3 — Zeal Without
Knowledge: Israel’s zeal for God lacked covenantal understanding.
Sincerity without truth still demands accountability.
• James 4:17 — Knowledge
Increases Responsibility: “Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do
it, for him it is sin.” Knowledge creates moral obligation.
When all this is taken into
consideration, with a proper understanding of what epistemic accountability
truly means, we are without excuse to not hold fast to truth, to faithfully
follow the examples that have been set before us, so that we walk circumspectly
with this God we profess to know.
It has been a long post; I hope I haven’t lost anyone. In the next post, we will take up the idea of
Covenantal
Participation and the Knowledge of God. I pray I’ll see you then.
Shalom
Amein
[i]NOTICE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
RIGHTS: Unless
otherwise cited, all material found on this blogsite (original text, opinions,
conclusions, and other material not related to cited sources remains the
collected intellectual property of the author of this site, David E. Robinson,
Elder, teacher, and minister, and are owned and controlled by myself and are
protected by copyright and trademark laws and various other intellectual
property rights and unfair competition laws of the United States, foreign
jurisdictions, and international conventions. Any errors found within rest
solely upon me; please do not blame the Father for my mistakes. I am teachable
and correctable, not infallible. 😊 What I aim to do in this
blog is to help you study your Bible better, by providing you with notes
and explanations that you, my dear reader, may not have the resources available
to you.
[ii] FAIR USE DISCLAIMER: This
blog site may contain content that is not authorized for use by its owner. All
such material will be cited back to its original source. According to Section
107 of the Copyright Act: “…the fair use of a copyrighted work […] for purposes
such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies
for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of
copyright…” I have made and will continue to make every effort to adhere to all ethical and moral guidelines in the use of the material presented here. The use of these materials is solely intended for educational purposes only, and
all efforts to obtain or sustain fair use of non-owned material will be made.
That being said, this site is intended for educational purposes only and is not affiliated with any
institution, organization, or religious group. It is the sole production of its
editor/author. Use of information from Jewish-themed websites (or any other
source material) should not be construed as these sites endorsing or confirming
any thesis introduced by the author of this epistle. I present the information
from their respective sites for instructional purposes only and/or to aid in
the reader's understanding of the subjects discussed.
(end
of): {End Net® Notes}
Breakdown
of the symbols
·
B:
This refers to Codex Vaticanus, one of the oldest and most important
Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. Dating back to the 4th century CE, it is a key witness to the Alexandrian text type.
·
Ψ
(Psi): This is a standard abbreviation for the book of Psalms, from the
Greek word psalmoi. In New Testament textual notes, it can also refer to
the essential 8th-century Greek manuscript Codex Athous Lavrensis.
·
892*:
This is a number assigned to a specific ancient biblical manuscript. The
asterisk (*raised to the * power*) indicates that the reading came from the
original, uncorrected version of the manuscript. The manuscript itself is a
9th-century Greek minuscule manuscript containing the Gospels and Acts.
·
2427:
This refers to another Greek minuscule manuscript, dating to the 14th century,
containing the Gospels.
·
sys:
This is an abbreviation for the Syriac manuscript tradition, which was a critical early translation of the New Testament into Syriac, a dialect of
Aramaic.
·
For those who wish to take their studies to the next
level, a list of symbols used in textual criticism can be found here: https://www.cob-net.org/compare/docs/reference-charts-ciampa.pdf
Additionally, in these studies, I have utilized the notes that accompany the passages cited from the sources, which are notated. However, these notes require a disclaimer. As in all
things, not everything that is footnoted is something that I necessarily
agree with [nor specifically disagree with]; the only instances will be where I
may find it not compatible with what I believe pertains to any matters of the
Torah or the commandments of God. I give you the notes as they are written by
the authors of the material I cite from, so that you can see the information
contained within them. It truly is not my place to edit or ignore them; if they
state anything that contradicts what I teach, then so be it. I will
address these issues if requested. That is not to say I should not challenge
something I believe, in my humble opinion, might contradict the truth of God’s
word; that I will do in the main body of my epistles, for that is where my
gentle dissent belongs. Most (but not
all) of the differences will come when a QUOTED source displays a
decidedly Western/Greek mindset, as opposed to one of the Hebraic Perspectives.
I must be intellectually honest – I am biased toward the God of Avraham,
Issachar, and Yakob, and his son, Yeshua, the Messiah. I pray that we can all find
common ground as we study the Scriptures. Additionally, some readers may be put off by the length or depth of the notes; not everyone has access to the references I do. Therefore, I try to include the notes that accompany the material I use, so each reader can see for themselves the information the originator has pointedly
gleaned. I hope you take advantage of these inclusions – they help us understand how the material in Scripture is laid out and the thought process of
the original writers of Scripture.
q
Luke 7:16, 39; See Matt. 21:11
r
Gen. 12:6, 7; 33:18, 20; Deut. 11:29; 27:12; Josh. 8:33
s
Judg. 9:7
See Deut. 12:5
u
[ch. 11:48]
v
ch. 2:4
w
ver. 23; ch. 5:25, 28; 16:2, 25, 32
x
Zeph. 2:11; Mal. 1:11; 1 Tim. 2:8
y
[2 Kgs. 17:28–34; Acts 17:23]
z
Ps. 147:19, 20; Isa. 2:3; Rom. 3:1, 2; 9:4, 5
z
Ps. 147:19, 20; Isa. 2:3; Rom. 3:1, 2; 9:4, 5
a
Matt. 2:4, 5; Acts 13:23; Rom. 11:26
b
ver. 21
c
[Rom. 8:15; Eph. 2:18; 6:18; Phil. 3:3]
d
Ps. 145:18; [ch. 1:17]
e
[ch. 6:44]
[iv]
The Holy Bible: English Standard
Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jn
4:19–24.
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