Articles
Listening When God Speaks
The writer of the book of Hebrews sought to remind the Jewish Christians of the first century that they should have been no longer listening to the Old Testament prophets, but to Jesus, for their instruction. In the opening words, he said, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son” (Heb. 1:1, 2). For us, listening to Jesus means listening also to the inspired writers and apostles and prophets, to whom were sent the Holy Spirit to reveal to them the message of the New Covenant and message of salvation fully (cf. John 16:13; Eph. 3:1-6). Since Jesus sent the Spirit to them (John 16:7), then it only makes sense that, as Jesus said, “…he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me” (John 13:20). In other words, listening to them is the same as listening to Jesus and the Father.
Are we listening when God speaks to us, now through the written word? We cannot expect God to come to us in a dream or a vision, or even for the Holy Spirit to come to us to reveal some new truth; as has been noted, God speaks to us now through the written word, inspired by the Holy Spirit whom the Son sent to the apostles, prophets, and New Testament writers. Are we listening to those words — really?
Throughout the Bible — Old Testament and New — God spoke to certain people on occasion to make some important points. For some of those same reasons, He speaks to us today through the written word! Are we listening? Let's consider a few Bible examples of when God spoke to men, and why He spoke to them, and let us make application to ourselves today as we ‘hear’ God speak to us through the Bible.
To Adam: When Trying to Hide From God. (Gen. 3:9) We are most likely familiar with the scene in the Garden of Eden, when Eve took of the fruit of the forbidden tree, thus sinning, and offering it to Adam afterwards (Gen. 3:1-8). When their eyes were opened, now having the knowledge of good and evil, they saw that they were naked and were ashamed and made themselves clothing out of fig leaves to cover their nakedness. When they heard the voice of God as He walked in the Garden, they hid themselves from Him, and it is then He called out, “Where are you?”
Now, of course, the all-knowing God was not ignorant of where Adam and Eve were; the point is, they were trying to hide themselves from God because they had sinned. Many years removed from that day, man still tries to hide from God because of his sins. We do it either by immersing ourselves in worldliness and ungodliness, or by denial of His very existence, but we still do try to hide!
God still calls to us as He did then, but this time from the written word. His word still reveals our sin, because we are all guilty (Rom. 3:23); not one of us can say we have not! The question is, though, Are we listening? Today, when God calls us through the gospel (cf. 2 Thess. 2:13); He is calling for us to come to Him and be freed from that sin that causes us to hide from Him! The very one whom we have offended is offering a release from that guilt! Are we listening?
To Saul: Confrontation When We Think We Are Already Pleasing Him. (Acts 9:4) When Saul was traveling to Damascus to persecute more Christians, he did so thinking he was doing the will of God (cf. Acts 26:9; John 16:2). Later, after his conversion, he stood before his former cohorts in the Sanhedrin and told them that he had “lived in all good conscience before God until this day” (Acts 23:1). Though he was sincere in his efforts to serve God faithfully, he was not doing God's will, no matter how sincere he might have been! It was during this time of his persecutions that Jesus confronted Saul and asked, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
Today, it is extremely difficult to hear God's voice from the written word, in the midst of thousands of creeds, catechisms, and just the personal beliefs of so many who call themselves 'Christian' but who do not do so based on anything found in the Bible. Far too many are listening, instead, to religious leaders who lead them astray, or their own personal desires, which also lead them astray. The devil is completely content to sit back and let religious division and confusion exist in this world, for he knows it will keep more people out of heaven than just about anything else. In the midst of this confusion, will we silence the sounds of the creeds and traditions and opinions of man [and self] and listen, instead, to what God has already told us in the Bible? Are we listening?
To Balaam: When We Are Headed Down the Wrong Path. (Num. 22:22-35) We may remember that the Moabite king Balak sought to have Balaam curse the Israelites, but Balaam refused to speak anything but God's words…initially. When they persisted, and when they offered riches, Balaam took it upon himself to go with the men. As he traveled to see Balak again, the donkey on which he was riding saw the angel of the Lord and refused to go forward. This happened enough times that the donkey eventually just lay down. After Balaam had struck the donkey now three times, God opened the mouth of the donkey and spoke to him. Let's not miss the point that God is using this donkey to speak to Balaam!
How many times do we head down a path we should not be going, and God's word convicts us over and over of this fact, but we stubbornly refuse to listen, and continue on our way down the path of destruction? How many times do we refuse to hear God's word telling us, “Flee sexual immorality” (1 Cor. 6:18), or, “repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance” (Acts 26:20)? How many times do we hear God pleading with us by the written word to “ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it,” but we refuse and tell God, “We will not walk in it” (Jer. 6:16)? When God's word tells us we all need to repent (Acts 17:30), Are we listening?
To Samuel: The Persistent Call. (1 Sam. 3) In this scene, Samuel is a young boy, serving Eli in the house of the Lord. The Lord called out to Samuel four times in the night as He sought to deliver to him the message regarding the future of Eli and his sons. Though Samuel thought it was someone else calling him, it was eventually made clear it was not whom he thought, and he then did listen to the Lord.
Friend, God's word calls to you today, too. He doesn't call you as He did to Samuel, but the call is just as persistent! Jesus invites you to come and learn from Him (Matt. 11:28-30), and the gospel call is a call to salvation through forgiveness of sins (Rom. 1:16). Over and over, within the written word, God reveals to us His love for us (John 3:16; Rom. 5:8), and His desire for our salvation (1 Tim. 2:3, 4; 2 Pet. 3:9), but Are we listening? Those words will be calling us to salvation until time ends, so when you have figured out it is truly God calling you and that these words are not just the words of mere men, He will be there.
God is calling you through the written word — maybe in all the ways we have considered today! The most important question is: Are you listening? — Steven Harper
