And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD.
(Jeremiah 31:34 NIV)
You can know a lot about someone without actually knowing them. You might know a celebrity’s biography, their accomplishments, even their opinions. But that’s not the same as sitting across the table from them, hearing their voice, and sharing real relationship.
The Hebrew word for “know” in this verse is yada’ (יָדַע), pronounced yah-DAH. In English, “knowing” usually means having information. But yada’ goes much deeper. It describes knowledge that comes from being in a relationship. It’s the knowledge of friends who have walked through life together, a husband and wife who have built years of shared experience, and a child who knows a parent’s character from daily interaction.
That’s how scripture uses yada’. When Genesis says that Adam “knew” Eve, it describes the intimate union of marriage. When God tells Moses, “I know you by name,” he’s declaring a personal relationship, not just awareness of Moses’s existence. When God tells Israel, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth” (Amos 3:2), he’s describing a covenant relationship.
And in Jeremiah 31, God promises a new covenant where everyone will yada’ him, from the least to the greatest. That doesn’t mean everyone will have perfect theology. It’s a promise of direct, personal relationship. Under the old covenant, people mostly learned about God through priests and prophets, but in this new reality, God would be known personally by all his people.
This promise finds its fulfillment in Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit. We don’t just learn about God; we encounter him personally. The Spirit within us makes God’s presence real. That’s why someone new to the faith can genuinely know God, even without years of study. Relationship always runs deeper than information.
Here’s what this means for discerning God’s will in your life. The more deeply you yada’ God, the clearer his leading becomes. You begin to recognize what reflects his heart and what doesn’t. Over time, you sense what brings him joy and what grieves him.
Think of it like a long-married couple who can often anticipate each other’s thoughts and preferences. They don’t need elaborate explanations because years of sharing life together have taught them each other’s hearts.
Similarly, as you grow in knowing God (really knowing him, not just knowing about him) his will becomes less mysterious. Not because he gives you a rulebook for every specific decision, but because relationship has trained you to recognize his ways.
The promise of Jeremiah 31 is for you. God wants to be known by you personally and deeply, so that his voice becomes familiar and his will clearer through genuine relationship.
Prayer: Father, I don’t want to merely know about you. I want to truly know you. Draw me into deeper relationship where I experience your presence, recognize your voice, and understand your heart. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Alan Smith
Reprinted with permission from Alan Smith’s Thought For the Day