If God “Knowing” someone, equals their election and inescapable salvation, then logically speaking, God doesn’t know the reprobate, therefore, He isn’t “All Knowing.”
The transliteration of the word “know,” or “knew,” in 2 Timothy 2:19, is “ginóskó.” Another verse we see this word appear, is in Matthew 1:25, which states that Joseph took Mary as his wife, but he did not become intimate with her until she gave birth to Jesus. “Ginóskó,” doesn’t mean “know,” as in “to have knowledge of.” Its terminology is strictly intimate, God knows everyone, but he is not intimate with everyone.
A similar cross reference is in 1 Corinthians 8:3, where Paul writes, “but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.”
The Hebrew transliteration of the intimate form of “know,” regarding Old Testament examples, is “yada.” Such as in Genesis 4:1, that says, “And Adam knew his wife.” Something maybe a bit more troubling, is that this word, “yada,” is seen in Genesis 3:5, when Eve was told, “and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Furthermore, it is said again in Genesis 3:7, when they “knew that they were naked.”
It’s probably important to recognize, that the list of synonymous words is significantly shorter, both in Hebrew, as well as Greek. Like English, words can have multiple definitions, which then makes emphasizes the importance of the verses we are examining. Both, “ginóskó,” and ‘yada,” have secondary definitions which are removed from intimacy, and based on simple perception or acknowledgement. An example of this is found in Matthew 16:8, which says, “but Jesus, aware of this,” or also translated, “Jesus knew what they were saying.”
Appropriately deriving the proper definitions is critical when examining the scriptures to produce doctrine, or even understanding. I mean, it would be silly to think that when God said to Adam, “where are you?” in Genesis 3:9, as if He had somehow lost His creation like they were car keys. We might expect the original Hebrew would conjoin the words “where,” and “you,” but this isn’t the case. God calls out to Adam, “’ay·yek·kāh,” and it’s the only occurrence throughout the scriptures where we see this. The phrase translates better to, “you are no where to be found.” The Lord is actually expressing His sorrow as the intimacy between them being diminished by eating the fruit. The phrase is defined as “interrogative,” which demonstrates the Lord’s grievance during the situation.
Now the good news is, through Jesus Christ and being intimate with Him, we have become reconciled with the Father. Adam walked with his creator in the garden. Just imagine what he might have felt, had he stood witness to the crucifixion? He would say, “You. It’s, You… The one who’s presence I once dwelled in. The one I walked with, in intimacy. The one I spoke face to face with. Oh, how I’ve longed to look upon your face once again!” God, in the flesh, once again. Returning to ransom the captives, and to liberate us from the bondages of sin.
God simply being aware of our existence isn’t what guarantees our Salvation, for God is omniscient. It’s when we love God, when we are intimately known by Him. Sometimes you’ll hear people say, “God knows my heart,” and while God is certainly aware of everything that goes on in a persons heart, is there even a glimpse of a concern that God is intimate with their heart? Of course ‘God knows your heart,’ but does He come near to it? Of course ‘God knows you did your best,’ but does He accept your best because your faith in him gave root to it?
Our desire shouldn’t be that God is merely aware of our existence, but that our hearts would enter into a place of intimacy with all that He is.
