The Word Of Knowledge
The Woman at Jacob's Well, Sychar was desperate Photo: © Pearl, Lightstock.com
A WORD OF KNOWLEDGE is the supernatural impartation of a piece of information about a person for a particular occasion which is known only to that person and God.
Below are some examples:
In JOHN 4:1-24 we see the Holy Spirit giving Jesus a word of wisdom. In the following verses Jesus is given a supernatural Word of Knowledge about the woman's personal situation he could not possibly have known otherwise.
In JOHN 4:16-18"You've told the truth.You've had five men and the man you're living with at the moment isn't your husband either."
Notice the woman's response in verse 19: "I see that you are a prophet, sir!"
In other words, she realises Jesus could only have known about the intimate details of her life by supernatural revelation.
In ACTS 5:1-11 the apostle Peter is given supernatural revelation about a case of deception involving money. Ananias and Sapphira had sold some land and had said they had given the proceeds to God, when in fact they had kept some of the money for themselves. The Holy Spirit reveals the deception to Peter, who then challenges Ananias.
"Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God."
The outcome was dramatic: Ananias dropped dead in front of the assembled congregation. When his wife arrived a short time later, she was also confronted by Peter. And she too dropped dead.
THE RESULT: "Great fear spread through the whole fellowship and all who heard of what had happened."
