Word of Knowledge 101
I guess I’m going to try to do the impossible, which is to address Word of Knowledge without addressing Word of Wisdom. Most of the time these two gifts of the Holy Spirit are address together. I think the reason for addressing them together is that they flow so well from one to another. In this article I will try to sever the flow at the point where Word of Knowledge ends, and Word of Wisdom begins.
So, have you ever solved a problem or gave a person right advice concerning their spiritual situation, and as you were answering them, thought to yourself “How in the world did I know that?” If so, it may very well have been the Holy Spirit working in you in the form of the spiritual gift of Word of Knowledge. Word of Knowledge is one of the less recognized of the spiritual gifts and unlike Prophecy, Word of Knowledge can sometimes be overlooked or confused with other spiritual Gifts.
For the Christian there is a real need, and even a requirement to be able to correctly discern all spiritual gifts, the Apostle Paul tells us that concerning spiritual gifts we should not be ignorant. (1Cor 12:1), Knowing not just spiritual but intellectually knowing the spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit is necessary for us to be able to identify, utilize, and grow into these gifts. Therefore, that we might not be ignorant concerning this spiritual gift, let us examine just what this gift Word of Knowledge really is.
I think it’s very important to understand it is called the Word of Knowledge, not gift of knowledge, which is because we are given only a fragment of the Knowledge of the Holy Spirit concerning a specific person or specific situation. Consider this, God is All Knowledge, not God has all knowledge, or God attains to all knowledge, God is all Knowledge. And through the works of the Spirit of God, God imparts a single Word of His Omniscience into us at a specific time for a specific person or a specific situation as He desires us to impart.
What is the Word of Knowledge?
The Word of Knowledge is knowledge received from the Holy Spirit to which we would not have otherwise any access to. This spiritual knowledge enables us to more effectively minister to the Body of Christ. When the Holy Spirit gives you His Word of Knowledge you are then able to know and understand the situations, circumstances, and strategies of the enemy or whoever may come up against the Body of Christ. You can then confidently speak on situations with knowledge, which can baffle, the enemy, make known the deceptions of the principalities and powers, as well as bring healing and understanding to those that have been targets of the enemy.
John Wimber defines Word of Knowledge as a supernatural revelation or fact about a specific person or situation, which is not learned through the efforts of the natural mind, but is a fragment of knowledge freely given by the Holy Spirit disclosing the truth which He wishes to be made known concerning a particular person or situation.
Word of Knowledge almost always deals with the present or past, however, in a very few cases it may express itself in the future tense. Key indicators that the Word of Knowledge is being imparted are words like “have been,” or “are going through,” or “in the past” Word of Knowledge will reveal a problem, or an attack of the enemy, however the knowledge of the attack may not always be enough to form a spiritual solution.
Tools of a Prophet
The revelation gifts, Word of Knowledge, and Word of Wisdom often operates in synergy with one another, with Word of Knowledge being the raw materiel and Word of Wisdom being the application of the raw material.
Even though Word of Knowledge and Word of Wisdom are revelation gifts, they by definition of their name are vocalized or spoken since the Greek word “logo” means spoken. The fact that these two revelation gifts are spoken can cause confusion to the hearer when trying to distinguish between prophecy and the synergy of Word of Knowledge and Word of Wisdom.
When Word of Knowledge and Word of Wisdom are correctly used by a true prophet, the imparting of these two revelation gifts flow from Word of Knowledge to Word of Wisdom in a seamless application as through they were prophecy. True Prophets (those living in the office of a prophet) often operated in at least two of the revelation Gifts while simultaneously operating in the Gift of Prophecy.
To better understand this lets imagine God puts a Word of Knowledge into your spirit (You know something about a specific person or specific situation you would not otherwise be able to know) in addition to that Word of Knowledge, God gives you instruction as to what you should do to correct the problem or avoid whatever attack the Word of Knowledge has warned you of. When these two gifts are verbalized it often appears to be prophecy and more often then not the Holy Spirit uses a prophet to impart this knowledge. So it may seem as though prophecy and the synergistic working of Word of Knowledge and Word of Wisdom are the same but they are not.
Run of the Mill Prophecy
Let’s get this clear prophecy is not simply the vocalizing of the revelation gifts. Absolutely not! Prophecy, by definition is for the edification, and exhortation, and comfort of the Body of Christ;(see blog Prophecy 101) while revelation gifts almost always are for the correcting of erred spirits (Acts 10:9-17), and the revealing of deceptions, lies (Acts 5:1-3 )and the hidden intents of principalities and powers that set themselves against Jesus and the Body of Christ. Furthermore Word of Knowledge is always specific never generalized, while prophecy can be at times generalized
Here are a few biblical examples of Word of Knowledge as appear in the bible
1. John 4:15-19 (Jesus to The Samaritan women at the well)
2. Matthew 16:13-1( Simon Peter’s Revelation knowledge of who Jesus really was [is])
3. Acts 5:1-3 (Simon Peter knowledge of the sin of Ananias and his wife)
4. Acts 9:10-18 ( Ananias conversion of Saul of Tarsus
5. Acts 10:9-17 ( breaking the bigotry against the Gentiles)
6. Acts 22:17-21 ( Paul warned to leave Jerusalem
7. 2 Kings 8:1-2 ( Elijah’s Warning of Famine)
8. 1 Samuel 9:15-27 (Calling of Saul)
So in conclusion we can say that Word of Knowledge is a spiritual gift given by the Holy Spirit. When working with Word of Wisdom it appears to be like prophecy, accept Word of knowledge is for the revealing of lies and deceptions that may attack the body of Christ, while Prophecy is for the exhortation, edification and comfort of the Body of Christ, while Word of Knowledge is a revelation gift that is verbalized ( spoken) Your Brother in Christ
T. Charves FireSpeaks
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