KNOWING GOD THROUGH OBEDIENCE

A Concessional Analysis from Genesis 1–11, Hosea, and the Reflection of King

Solomon

I. Covenant as God’s Concession — The Foundation of

Knowing Him

Definition:

A concessional covenant refers to God’s gracious act of granting relationship and responsibility

to humanity. It is not a negotiated agreement but a divine gift of mercy (ḥesed, דֶסֶח ) and) עַדָי ,revelation. Through covenant, God concedes a means by which humanity may knowsonally and experientially.Key Principle:

Covenant is the divinely revealed pathway to relational knowledge. To know God is not to

master divine information but to walk in faithful participation with His will.

“For I desire steadfast love (ḥesed) and not sacrifice, the knowledge (yadaʿ) of God rather than

burnt offerings.” — Hosea 6:6

Harold S. Bender, in The Anabaptist Vision, describes covenantal faith as “discipleship made

visible.” The believer’s knowledge of God is authenticated through obedience and a life

patterned after Christ — not through ritual confession but faithful living.

Thus, covenant knowledge is active, moral, and communal — God’s concession invites a way of

life shaped by His character.

II. Genesis 1–11 — Covenant Origins and the Knowledge of

God

1. Creation — Knowing God Through Harmony (Genesis 1–2)

• Humanity, created in God’s image (tselem Elohim), possesses the capacity for relational

knowing.

• The creation mandate (“Be fruitful… have dominion,” Gen. 1:28) functions as a

covenantal structure — stewardship under divine authority.

• Knowledge of God (yadaʿ) is expressed through obedient harmony with creation and

each other.Note:

in the world.

In creation, knowledge is covenantal — to know God is to reflect His order, peace, and goodness

2. The Fall — Breaking Covenant and Seeking Self-Knowledge (Genesis 3)

• Adam and Eve seek knowledge apart from God’s word, desiring autonomy: “You will be

like God, knowing good and evil.”

• This act replaces relational knowledge with self-knowledge — covenant ruptured by

pride.

• Yet, divine concession appears immediately: the protoevangelium (Gen. 3:15).

Even judgment is wrapped in mercy — God’s covenantal concession continues through promise.

3. Enoch & Noah — Faithful Knowing Restored (Genesis 5–9)

• Enoch walked with God (Gen. 5:24): walking implies continual covenant awareness.

• Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD (Gen. 6:8): favor (ḥen) denotes unearned

grace, not human merit.

• The Noahic Covenant (Gen. 9:9–17) reaffirms God’s universal commitment to life and

relationship.

John Howard Yoder sees in such stories a “covenantal ethic of obedience,” where knowing God

is inseparable from concrete acts of faithfulness — a principle that later defines the radical

discipleship of the early church.

4. Babel — Autonomy/PRIDE Destroys Knowledge (Genesis 11)

• Humanity’s cry: “Let us make a name for ourselves” (Gen. 11:4) embodies covenant

defiance.

• They substitute divine glory with human achievement.

• God’s concession is corrective: dispersion prevents total apostasy and preserves the

redemptive plan.

Summary of Genesis 1–11:

Knowledge of God originates in covenant fellowship, is lost through self-reliance, yet

continually restored by divine mercy. The narrative anticipates a covenantal remedy greater than

human obedience — God’s own steadfast love.III. Hosea — Covenant Broken Yet Restored

1. Forgetting the Covenant (Hosea 4:1,6; 6:7)

• Israel’s crisis mirrors Adam’s: “Like Adam, they transgressed the covenant.”

• There is “no knowledge (yadaʿ) of God in the land” (Hos. 4:1).

• Outward religiosity replaces inward fidelity — worship becomes performance, not

communion.

2. God’s Pain and Pursuit (Hosea 1–3; 14:4)

• Hosea’s marriage dramatizes divine love in the face of betrayal.

• God’s heart is wounded yet faithful: “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them

freely.”

• Covenant faithfulness (ʾemunah) flows from divine mercy, not human merit.

3. Restoration Through Knowing God (Hosea 6:1–3)

• Israel’s return is framed as a quest for knowledge: “Let us press on to know the LORD.”

• Knowledge is not intellectual recovery but moral and relational renewal.

• Rain imagery evokes covenant restoration — mercy that revives barren hearts.

Thomas N. Finger, in A Contemporary Anabaptist Theology, emphasizes that divine mercy

forms the basis of all human faithfulness. “Covenant is sustained not by law but by love, and

love is sustained by knowing God’s mercy.”

IV. Reflection: The Ending of King Solomon — Wisdom

Without Covenant

1. Solomon’s Rise and Fall (1 Kings 3–11)

• Solomon begins with relational knowledge: “Give your servant a discerning heart” (1

Kgs 3:9).

• His early wisdom mirrors covenantal intimacy — hearing God’s word, walking in His

statutes.

• Yet prosperity breeds autonomy: foreign alliances, idolatry, and self-indulgence fracture

the covenant.

2. The Tragic Lesson (1 Kings 11:9–11)• “The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away.”

• Knowledge without obedience leads to ruin; wisdom detached from covenant becomes

idolatry of intellect.

3. Ecclesiastes — The Reflection of a Broken Covenant Keeper

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon’s tone shifts from mastery to humility:

“Of making many books there is no end… Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the

whole duty of man.” (Eccl. 12:12–13)

Here Solomon rediscovered the concessional truth — knowing God is not philosophical

discovery but covenantal obedience grounded in mercy.

Anabaptist Resonance:

Like Solomon’s final reflection, “return to simplicity” — a faith that knows God by doing His

will, not merely studying His works. True knowledge, said Bender, “is proved in obedience and

love.”

V. The Goal of Every Covenant — Knowing God

Biblical Example Expression of Knowledge Result

Adam Disobedience Separation

Enoch Walking with God Fellowship

Noah Obedient faith Preservation

Israel Ritual without love Exile

Hosea’s Remnant Repentant return Renewal

Solomon Wisdom turned selfward Judgment

Summary Principle:

Every covenant moves toward one purpose — that humanity may know God relationally,

walking in His mercy and faithfulness.

VI. Reflection & Application

1. Walk Daily in Relational Obedience — Like Enoch, covenant knowledge is lived, not

learned.

2. Guard Against Self-Sufficiency — Pride (Babel, Solomon) erodes relational knowing.

3. Respond to Mercy — Knowledge begins with repentance, not performance (Hos. 6:1–

2).4. 5. Obey from Love — Covenant faithfulness flows from divine ḥesed.

Reflect God’s Character — To know Him is to show His steadfast love to others.

“To know God is to keep covenant faithfully, and to keep covenant is to walk in His mercy.”

Summary

From Genesis to Hosea — and even in Solomon’s reflection — the story of covenant reveals one

truth:

relationship.

mercy.

God continually concedes His steadfast love so that humanity may know Him through faithful

True knowledge is not intellectual mastery but obedient love — a life walking in covenant