There are different ways of knowing someone. You can know a person's name or know them by reputation; you can even know someone personally. On a personal level, there are even different degrees of knowing someone. You may know someone casually or be very familiar with them. But, the type of knowing I want to discuss is that of knowing someone intimately. One of the Hebrew forms for "know" is  yada. Here are some examples of yada.

 Bereshiyth [Genesis] 4:1, Adam knew Chawwah [Eve] his wife;  YirmeYahu [Jeremiah] 1:5, " 'before i formed you in the womb i knew you' ";  Bereshiyth [Genesis] 3:22,  man knowing good and evil; HeDebariym [Deuteronomy] 8:2, to know what is in your heart;  Mishley [Proverbs] 1:2, to know wisdom and discipline;  Mishley [Proverbs] 27:23, "be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds";  YirmeYahu [Jeremiah] 9:24, let him who boasts that he understands and knows Me ( dedi );   YirmeYahu[Jeremiah] 24:7, I will give them a heart to know Me that I am dedi;  Thehillah [Psalm] 139:1,23, " ' dedi you have searched me and you know me,  search me  dedi and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts' ";   Mishley 10:32, the lips of the righteous know what is fitting;  Mishley 14:10, each heart knows its own bitterness;  I Melekiym [Kings] 9:27, sailors who knew the sea;  II Dibrey HaYamiym [Chronicles] 2:14, a man who knew ( NIV renders trained) how to work in gold and silver.... 

 These are but a small portion of scriptures using this word yada, yet they all depict a very intimate knowing, whether between a man and a woman, a person with themselves, dedi of man or man of the ways of  dedi,  shepherds and their flocks, which also applies to spiritual shepherds, or a person of a subject, such as a master craftsman or teacher. This knowing is not general or superficial. As we dig deeper into the words of dedi, we will see our need for this knowing of dedi and He of us.

 In Shemoth [Exodus] 33:17, we see a discussion between dedi and Mosheh [Moses], "and YHWH said to mosheh, 'i will do the very thing you have asked, because i am pleased with you and i know you by name.' " 

 Key to knowing YHWH

 Being known by dedi is crucial. Mosheh had an intimate relationship with dedi; He spoke mouth to mouth with Mosheh ( see Face to Face study ).  Mosheh also knew the key – teach me Your ways so that I may know You.  Mosheh was humble enough to realize that even though YHWH had shown him favor, Mosheh did not know it all and the way to know YHWH was to learn His ways.

 Thehillah [Psalm] 25:4-14,  "make me know your ways, YHWH; teach me your paths.  lead me in your truth and teach me; for you are the elohey of my salvation; on you i wait all the day long.  remember, YHWH, your compassions and your mercies; for they are from eternity.  do not remember the sins of my youth, or my transgressions. according to your mercy, remember me, for the sake of your goodness, YHWH.  good and upright is YHWH; therefore he will teach sinners in the way.  he will guide the meek in justice; and he will teach the meek his way.  all the paths of YHWH are mercy and truth to those keeping his beriyth and his testimonies.  for the sake of your name, YHWH, even pardon my iniquity for it is great.  what man is he who fears YHWH? he teaches him the way he should choose.  his nafesh will abide in good, and his seed will inherit the earth.  the secret of YHWH is with those who fear him; and he will make them know his beriyth."

 The beginning of the book of Mishley [Proverbs] lays it all out, right up front,  "to know wisdom and instruction; to discern the words of understanding;  to receive instruction in prudence, justice, and judgment, and uprightness;  to give sense to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young man.  the wise hears and increases learning, and the understanding ones gets wise counsel,  to understand a mashal and an enigma; the words of the wise, and their acute sayings.  the fear of YHWH is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction."

YHWH knowing us

In this relationship, I believe that YHWH has the easier end of things, being all omniscient and all. He not only knows our names, but how we were formed and what is in our hearts and minds.

 Those not knowing

 It is a sad thing that despite all that YHWH has shown, taught and worked, people still refuse to know Him. Some are simply so hard of heart that they refuse to;  others out of ignorance, think they already know all that there is to know of Him.

 Thehillah [Psalm] 95:7 -11,  ^"for he is our elohey; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. today, if you will hear his voice,  do not harden your heart as in the day of strife, as in the day of testing in the wilderness.  when your fathers tried me, they tested me and they saw my work.   for forty years i was disgusted with this generation; and i said, they are a people who err in heart; and, they do not know my ways,   to whom i swore in my anger, they will not enter into my rest."

 YeshaYahu 1:2,3  " 'hear,  heavens, and listen,  earth. for YHWH has spoken, i have nursed and brought up sons, but they have rebelled against me.  the ox knows his owner, and the ass the manger of his master, but yisrael does not know; my people have not understood.' "

 YirmeYahu  [Jeremiah] 2:8,  " 'the kohaniym did not say, where is YHWH? and they who handle the thorah did not know me. and the shepherds rebelled against me; and the nebiyiym foretold by baal, and went after things not profitable.' "

 YirmeYahu 4:22,  " 'for my people are foolish. they do not know me. they are stupid children, and they have no understanding. they are wise to do evil, but they do not know to do good.' "

 YirmeYahu 5:1 - 4,  " 'roam around in the streets of yerushalaim and see now, and know, and seek in her plazas if you can find a man, if there is one who does justice, who seeks truth; and i will pardon her.  and though they say, as YHWH lives, surely they swear falsely.  YHWH, are not your eyes for the truth? you struck them, but they felt no pain. you consumed them, yet they refused to take correction. they made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to return.  so i said, "surely they are poor; they are foolish, for they do not know the way of YHWH, the judgment of their elohey." ' "

 YirmeYahu 8:4 – 9,  " 'and you will say to them, "so says YHWH, 'will they fall and not rise up? or will one turn away and not return?  ⁵ why has this people, yerushalaim, turned away to a never ending apostasy? they hold fast to deceit. they refuse to return.' "  ⁶ i listened and heard. they did not speak so. no man repented because of this evil, saying, "what have i done?" everyone turned in their own courses, as a horse rushes into the battle.  ⁷ also the stork in the heavens knows her seasons, and the turtledove and the swallow and the thrush observe the time of their coming. but my people do not know the judgment of YHWH.  ⁸ how do you say, "we are wise, and the thorath of YHWH is with us?" look, the lying pen of the scribes has certainly worked deceit.  ⁹ the wise are ashamed; they are terrified and are captured. look, they have rejected the word of YHWH, and what wisdom is theirs?' "

 There are many passages which speak of the people not knowing YHWH, but I think these examples will suffice to show that if you do not know His ways, word, thorah, you do not know Him.

 Yahusha` sent to restore the relationship

 The situation between YHWH and the sons of man, had degraded to the point that YHWH had to send His son to restore the beriyth [covenant] that he had made.

 In Yahuchanan [John] 10, Yahusha` uses the example of a shepherd and his sheep to better explain this relationship. Remember, this is not just a physical shepherd, but a spiritual one of souls as well.

 Yahuchanan [John] 10:1-16, " 'i tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.  the man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep.  the watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  when he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.  but they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice.' "  Yahusha` used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what He was telling them.

 Therefore Yahusha` said again, " 'i tell you the truth, i am the gate for the sheep.  all who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.  i am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. he will come in and go out, and find pasture.  the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; i have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. i am the good shepherd. the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  the hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. so when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.  the man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. i am the good shepherd; i know my sheep and my sheep know me,  just as the father knows me and i know the father, and i lay down my life for the sheep.  i have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. i must bring them also. they too will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd.' "  Yahusha` again uses the shepherd/sheep example in Yahuchanan [John] 10:23-30. Verse 27, " ' my sheep listen to my voice; i know them, and they follow me.' "  In verse 26, He is telling those who are questioning Him and don't believe, that they are not His sheep.

 Now let's back up to Yahuchanan 8: 42-47, " yahusha` said to them, 'if dedi were your father, you would love me, for i came from dedi and now am here. i have not come on my own; but he sent me.  why is my language not clear to you? because you are unable to hear what i say. you belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. he was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. when he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. yet, because i tell the truth, you do not believe me. can any of you prove me guilty of sin? if i am telling the truth, why don't you believe me?  he who belongs to YHWH hears what YHWH says. the reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to dedi.' "

 Now, this gets into another study on the Voice of dedi, but what I want to point out, are the signs of being known by dedi and Yahusha` are  and knowing them. I put dedi and Yahusha` together here, because They are of one mind/purpose-united/one-ECHAD. Yahusha`, Himself, even explains that " 'i am in him and he is in me." At some points, it is hard to separate them. Anyway, Yahusha` says in Yahuchanan [John] 10, that His sheep hear His voice and the voice of a stranger they do not know. He states here in chapter 8, that those that belong to dedi hear His voice and if you don't , it is because you don't belong to dedi. That may seem harsh to some of you, but keep reading and it will become even clearer.

 Yahuchanan 14:20-24, " ' on that day you will realize that i am in my father, and you are in me, and i am in you.  whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. he who loves me will be loved by my father, and i too will love him and show myself to him.' then yahudah [Judas] (not judas iscariot) said, 'but, adonay, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?'  yahusha` replied, 'if anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. my father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.  he who does not love me will not obey my teaching. these words you hear are not my own; they belong to the father who sent me.' "

Here are some more signs of the knowing/being known: having dedi in us ( we are the beyth [house, temple] of the ruach dedi [ breath, spirit] ), whoever loves Yahusha` and obeys His commands will be loved by the Father, and Yahusha` showing himself to you.  Now, are you beginning to see the importance of knowing dedi and being known by Him? When this relationship exists, He leads us, we hear His voice, He abides in us, shows Himself to us and loves us. That's a lot for being known by Him.

 Yahuchanan [John] 15:1-17, " 'i am the true vine, and my father is the gardener. he cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.  you are already clean because of the word i have spoken to you. remain in me, and i will remain in you. no branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. i am the vine; you are the branches. if a man remains in me and i in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  if anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.  if you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.  this is to my father's honor, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my thalmiydiym [students, disciples]. as the father has loved me, so have i loved you. now remain in my love.  if you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my father's commands and remain in his love. ' "

 In this example of the vine, Yahusha` again brings into focus the importance of abiding/remaining in Him and obeying His commands and His (the Fathers) love will remain with you and you will bear much good fruit. Now, let's depart from the book of Yahuchanan the Beloved and go to MaththiYahu [Matthew] 25.

 MaththiYahu [Matthew] 25:1-13, " 'at that time the kingdom of dedi will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.  five of them were foolish and five were wise. the foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them.  the wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps.  the bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. at midnight the cry rang out, "here's the bridegroom. come out to meet him." then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps.  the foolish ones said to the wise, "give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out." "no," they replied, "there may not be enough for both us and you. instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves." but while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. the virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. and the door was shut. later the others also came. "sir. sir." they said. "open the door for us."  but he replied, "i tell you the truth, i don't know you." therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.' "  Those ten virgins were with the bride, yet the groom ( Yahusha` ) didn't know 5 of  them? Why?  Because they were not His sheep, they didn't hear His voice, they didn't love Him and keep His commands, they didn't remain in the vine- therefore, He didn't know them!

 MaththiYahu [Matthew] 7:15-23, " 'watch out for false nebiyym [prophets]. they come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. by their fruit you will recognize them. do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?  likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.  every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. not everyone who says to me, "adonay, adonay," will enter the kingdom of dedi, but only he who does the will of my father who is in the heavens. many will say to me on that day, "adonay, adonay, did we not foretell in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?"  then i will tell them plainly, "i never knew you. away from me, you evildoers." ' "

 There are people who call themselves believers, that need to realize the state they are in. Many have not remained in the vine, many do not hear the voice of Yahusha`, many walk with the bride, but will never enter the feast. How do I know that there are many? Because Yahusha` Himself gave the numbers - MaththiYahu 7:13,14, " 'enter through the narrow gate. for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. but small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.' "  We need to know dedi and Yahusha`, His Son. We need to be known by Them; our very salvation depends on it. In Galatians 5:22,23 there is a list of the fruit of the ruach [breath, spirit of dedi], " 'but the fruit of the ruach is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.' "  We just read in MaththiYahu 7, that by the fruit they will be known. We will be known by our fruit, being a thalmiydiym [student, disciple] of Yahusha` , who teaches His Fathers ways.

 Acts 19:13-17, " some yahudiym [jews] who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of adonay yahusha` over those who were demon-possessed. they would say, 'in the name of yahusha`, whom shaul [paul] preaches, i command you to come out.'  seven sons of sceva, a yahudiy [jewish] kohen [priest], were doing this.  one day the evil spirit answered them, 'yahusha` i know, and i know about shaul [paul], but who are you?'  then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. he gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. when this became known to the yahudiym [jews] and yawaniy [greeks-hellenis] living in ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of adonay yahusha` was held in high honor.' "

 Amazing! An evil spirit knew Yahusha`, even knew Shaul [Paul], yet didn't know the seven sons of Sceva using the name of Yahusha`. They will be like those Yahusha` foretold, "I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers."

 Do you know?

 Mishley [Proverbs] 30:4,  "who has gone up to the heavens, and come down? who has gathered the wind in his fists? who has bound the waters in his garments? who has made all the ends of the earth to rise? what is his name, and what is the name of his son? surely you know."

 Yahuchanan 17:25, 26,  " 'my righteous father, the world has not known you; but i have known you, and these have known that you have sent me. and i have made known to them your name, and i make it known that the love itself, which you have loved me, may be in them, and i may be in them.' "

 Remember, the key to being known by dedi and Yahusha` is to love Yahusha` the son dedi sent, to believe in dedi and to obey His commands. Then Yahusha` will proudly say before His Father, " come, you who are blessed by my father; take your inheritance, the malkuth [kingdom] prepared for you since the creation of the world." – MaththiYahu [Matthew] 25:34. 

 I Corinthians 8:1-3, " 'we know that we all possess knowledge. knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. the man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. but the man who loves YHWH is known by YHWH.' "