Fully Known - 1 Corinthians 13:12 - Meaning In The Bible

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.

Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known

1 Corinthians 13:12

This verse is both reassuring and hopeful.  Reassuring to know we are fully known by God himself and still loved.  He knows our thoughts, our actions, and even what we will think before we think it.  He knows our hurts, loves and anxieties.  He knows our past and future.  We are fully known in every which way by the Creator of the universe and He still loves us completely and provides us a hope for the future.  A hope so special that even in the dark of this world, we long for it.  We long for a future with Him and He promises that even though that future of eternity looks dim and unwavering like an ancient mirror; it will become clear when we meet Him face to face.  The bible gives us glimpses of eternity but one day, we will know fully.  And even more special while we are still fully known and loved by Him, we will have the privilege to fully know our Savior as well.  We will not be all knowing but know Him completely.  That’s what makes Heaven so special.  The unhindered, unrestricted presence of our Lord.

Be reminded to rest in His reassuring love and to live for the hope of our future that will one day become our beautiful reality.

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Meaning of Sheol in the Bible

I was reading Psalm 6 and came across the place Sheol.  I realized I wasn’t exactly sure what that word/place meant so I went hunting for an explanation.  Below is a brief and simple explanation. For further detail and to dive much deeper head to Desiring God’s post.

Sheol is an Old Testament term.  It’s actually very complex and used in multiple ways to describe a place where both the righteous and unrighteous go after death.  It’s not a forever status and will come to an end.  It’s essentially a dwelling place for the dead before Jesus.

Sheol is a place of darkness, but it is also a place where God still remembers his people; a place where he is still king.  The OT doesn’t go into much detail but it’s pictured as dark, dusky and gloomy. Sheol is typically viewed under the rule of God’s enemy Satan and is a place outside the land.  Or a place below.  But it’s not like Hell as we know it today.

There are many different ways Sheol is used in the OT to describe things, and as always, context is King.

• Sheol is used symbolically.  It’s used as a way to describe a place of deep abyss or chaos. Used to describe a wilderness. A place or feeling opposite the Promise Land.

• Sheol is often used as a place where the righteous are saved from.

• It’s a place or punishment for the wicked.

• Sheol is also a spiritual reference for the unseen realm of the dead or a grave where bodies are buried, a physical reference.

Fun fact:
You can find the word Sheol most often in Job, Psalms, Proverbs and Isaiah. Also, if I’m correct the NIV and NLT do not use the term Sheol.  The ESV and NKJV however do. 

Sheol Bible Verses:

• Job 11:8 - It is higher than heaven—what can you do? Deeper than Sheol—what can you know?

• Job 14:13 - Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath be past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!

• Psalms 6:5 - For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?

• Psalms 9:17 - The wicked shall return to Sheol, all the nations that forget God.

• Psalms 16:10 - For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, let your holy one see corruption.

• Psalms 49:15 -But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. 

• Psalms 86:13 - For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

• Psalms 88:3 - For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol.

• Psalms 141:7 - As when one plows and breaks up the earth, so shall our bones be scattered at the mouth of Sheol.

• Proverbs 1:12 - like Sheol let us swallow them alive, and whole, like those who go down to the pit;

• Proverbs 15:24 - The path of life leads upward for the prudent, that he may turn away from Sheol beneath.

• Proverbs 23:14 - If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol.

• Proverbs 30:16 - Sheol, the barren womb, the land never satisfied with water, and the fire that never says, “Enough.”

• Isaiah 7:11 – “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”

• Isaiah 14:9 - Sheol beneath is stirred up to meet you when you come;
  it rouses the shades to greet you, all who were leaders of the earth;
  it raises from their thrones all who were kings of the nations.

• Isaiah 28:18 - Then your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be beaten down by it.

• Isaiah 38:18 - For Sheol does not thank you; death does not praise you;
  those who go down to the pit do not hope for your faithfulness.

If you enjoy diving deeper, might we suggest these posts:

• meaning of the hyssop

• I am Statements

• Meaning of Mountains and Valleys

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Meaning of Winnowing, Winnowing Fork, Threshing Floor

When reading the Bible we often come across words, tools, or phrases that do not make sense to us in today’s world. For example: winnowing, winnowing fork or chaff. What is a threshing floor?

These terms are often used but not always as a picture of God’s judgment. It is a visual that the Jewish people understood very well but is foreign to us today.

Winnowing is a farming method developed by ancient people for separating the grain from the chaff. The chaff is the dry, scaly protective casing of the seeds of grain or the husk of corn.

In simple terms, after harvesting the grain, they would strike, beat or crush the grain to loosen it from the desirable grain from the stalk. Then they would go through a winnowing process which was to throw the mixture into the air, often with a basket or winnowing fork, so the wind blows away the lighter chaff and the heavier grain falls to the floor. It’s separating the good from the bad. In modern farming, this process is made easy by the combine.

The threshing floor is where this process happens. It could have been outdoors on a flat piece of land or indoors over a smooth floor of earth, stone or wood.

Here are some examples in scripture where the writer uses these terms to create a picture for the reader of God’s judgement. When God will separate the good from the bad.

Matthew 3:12 (Luke 3:17)

His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Isaiah 41:14-16

“You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away,

And the storm will scatter them;

But you will rejoice in the Lord,

You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

Jeremiah 15:7

“I will winnow them with a winnowing fork

At the gates of the land;

I will bereave them of children, I will destroy My people;

They did not repent of their ways.

Jeremiah 51:1-2

“I will dispatch foreigners to Babylon that they may winnow her

And may devastate her land;

For on every side they will be opposed to her

In the day of her calamity.