{"id":2718,"date":"2011-08-22T21:51:25","date_gmt":"2011-08-23T04:51:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ministryofgrace.com\/blog\/?p=2718"},"modified":"2011-08-22T21:51:25","modified_gmt":"2011-08-23T04:51:25","slug":"ephesians-117-seekers-of-revelation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/ephesians-117-seekers-of-revelation\/","title":{"rendered":"Ephesians 1:17 – Seekers of Revelation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ephesians 1:17 – Seekers of Revelation<\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Truth to Learn<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Christians should actively seek greater knowledge of God.<\/p>\n

Behind the Words<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

The word \u201cGod<\/span>\u201d is translated from the Greek word theos<\/em><\/span>. It was originally used by the Greeks to refer to any of their gods. In the New Testament, however, it is used in reference to the one true God. The word theos<\/em><\/span> is probably derived from the Greek theteres<\/em><\/span> (a placer of things) because the Greeks believed that their gods were the placers and disposers of things (thus, they had a god of fire, a god of wind, etc.).<\/p>\n

The word \u201cwisdom<\/span>\u201d is translated from sophia<\/em><\/span>, which refers to \u201cthe ability to think and act, utilizing knowledge, insight, understanding,\u00a0 and experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRevelation<\/span>\u201d is from apokalupsis<\/em><\/span>, which is made up of apo<\/em><\/span>, meaning \u201cfrom\u201d or \u201caway from\u201d and a form of kalupt\u014d<\/em><\/span>, meaning \u201cto cover\u201d or \u201cto conceal.\u201d Therefore, apokalupsis<\/em><\/span> refers to \u201cthe result of removing a cover.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meaning Explained<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

In the current verse Paul is expressing some of his prayers for the members of the church in Ephesus. By extension, these are his prayers for all saints. The first thing that he petitions God for is that they (and we) might receive a spirit of wisdom and revelation. Now, we have to stop here for a moment and ask ourselves whether or not this spirit that Paul is talking about is the Holy Spirit or not. The Greek text does not include the definite article the<\/em> here. Therefore, some would say that Paul is not specifically referring to \u201cthe\u201d spirit; that is, the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n

If we look at some of the attributes of the Holy Spirit, however, we may come to a different conclusion. In Isaiah 11:2<\/strong><\/span>, as the prophet is describing the Messiah, he says, \u201cThe Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding.<\/span>\u201d This, clearly, is a reference to the Holy Spirit. And in 1Corinthians 2:10<\/strong><\/span> where Paul is talking about the mystery of the wisdom of God, he says, \u201cGod has revealed them<\/em><\/span> to us through His Spirit,<\/span>\u201d which is another clear reference to the Holy Spirit. Thus, it is reasonable to conclude that Paul is referring to the Holy Spirit in this verse.<\/p>\n

But, if that is so, why does Paul not refer to Him as \u201cthe\u201d Spirit in the Greek text? Perhaps, the answer is that Paul just finished teaching that all Christians have been given the Holy Spirit as a seal and a guarantee at the time of salvation and did not want to introduce confusion on that point. In referring to \u201ca spirit of wisdom and revelation<\/span>\u201d he is implying that these are characteristics which the Holy Spirit imparts. Therefore, Paul is asking God the Father to have the Holy Spirit give wisdom and revelation to all saints. The wisdom and revelation he is referring to are in reference to Jesus Christ our Lord. In other words, Paul is asking that we, through the Holy Spirit, might know and understand more about our Lord Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

Application<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Do you know all there is to know about Jesus Christ? Of course not, none of us does. Do you want to know more about your Lord and Savior? Of course, all Christians do. Be assured that Paul also wants you to, but it doesn\u2019t happen without actively seeking it from God\u2019s Word. As you seek to know Christ better, the Holy Spirit will reveal Him to you.<\/p>\n

In God\u2019s service, for His glory,<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2011 Will Krause. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

– \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 –<\/p>\n

If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, send an e-mail to:\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ephesians 1:17 – Seekers of Revelation that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, Truth to Learn Christians should actively seek greater knowledge of God. Behind the Words The word \u201cGod\u201d is translated from the Greek […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[943,136,942,1907,1077,1908],"class_list":["post-2718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-apokalupsis","tag-god","tag-revelation","tag-sophia","tag-theos","tag-wisdom"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5geA-HQ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2718\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}