📒 Mosiah 5
📜 13 For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?
“Knoweth” in Mosiah 5:13 is not casual recognition—it’s covenantal intimacy. It’s the difference between seeing a face in a crowd and being known in the marrow of relationship. King Benjamin’s warning is stark: if Christ is a stranger to our service, He remains distant from our thoughts and intents. And if He is far from our heart, we are far from His fold.
To “know” in scripture often implies deep spiritual union. In Hebrew, yada carries connotations of covenant loyalty, experiential understanding, and even marital closeness. In Greek, ginosko suggests progressive revelation—knowing through encounter, not mere information. In this verse, “knoweth” is a litmus of discipleship: not just whether we’ve heard of Jesus, but whether we’ve served Him, loved Him, and let Him shape our inner life.
The verse builds a triad of estrangement:
- Has not served: no labor, no loyalty, no offering.
- Is a stranger: no relationship, no recognition.
- Far from thoughts and intents: no meditation, no alignment, no heart.
To know Jesus, then, is to serve Him—not out of duty, but devotion. It is to bring Him near in thought, to let His will shape our intent. It is to move from stranger to son, from distant observer to covenant partner.
This is why we must get to know Jesus: because salvation is not transactional—it’s relational. And the Master does not recognize the voice of those who never walked with Him.
📗 Jeremiah 4
📜 22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
📒 Mosiah 26
📜 24 For behold, in my name are they called; and if they know me they shall come forth, and shall have a place eternally at my right hand.
📜🗝 25 And it shall come to pass that when the second trump shall sound then shall they that never knew me come forth and shall stand before me.
📜 26 And then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, that I am their Redeemer; but they would not be redeemed.
📜 27 And then I will confess unto them that I never knew them; and they shall depart into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Mosiah 26:25 is the hinge of a terrifying reversal. It names a future moment when those who “never knew” the Lord will be summoned—not to communion, but to confrontation. The second trump sounds, and they rise not in glory, but in reckoning. They stand before the Redeemer they refused to know, and in that moment, they are forced into knowledge—but it is too late. Their knowing is not relational, not redemptive. It is judicial. It is the knowledge of the condemned.
This verse is the echo chamber of Mosiah 5:13. There, King Benjamin warns that a man cannot know the master whom he has not served. The knowing is not intellectual—it is forged in service, in proximity, in the alignment of heart and intent. To know Christ is to have walked with Him, labored under His name, and allowed His will to shape one’s own. Without that, He remains a stranger. And if He is a stranger now, He will be a stranger then.
Jeremiah 4:22 adds the ancient lament: “They have not known me.” The people are described as foolish, sottish, wise only in evil. Their knowledge is misdirected. They are clever in corruption but bankrupt in righteousness. The prophet’s grief is not just over sin—it is over estrangement. The people do not know their God. They do not understand His ways. They are children without wisdom, called but not consecrated.
Mosiah 26:24–27 unfolds the final consequence of this estrangement. Those who know Him are called to His right hand. Those who never knew Him are called to stand before Him, not as children, but as strangers. And then comes the final confession—not theirs, but His: “I never knew them.” It is the inverse of covenant. Instead of mutual recognition, there is mutual alienation. They would not be redeemed, and now they cannot be.
The lesson is clear and urgent. Knowing Christ is not optional. It is the axis of salvation. And knowing Him is not a matter of name or affiliation—it is a matter of heart, service, and surrender. To know Him is to serve Him. To serve Him is to be transformed by Him. Anything less is estrangement. Anything less is the path to the second trump and the final fire.
Mosiah 5:13 is not just a warning—it is a plea. Know Him now, so He will know you then. Let Him be near to your thoughts and intents, so that when He calls, you rise not in fear, but in joy.
"And the Master does not recognize the voice of those who never walked with Him."
ReplyDeleteActually, I think He does know us and recognize us, but if we never stopped to listen to Him, never served with Him, how will we recognize Him when He calls us?