Articles
Desiring God's Voice
Every once in awhile, I hear of one who seems to be seeking God to speak to him or her, or whom claims God has spoken to them. Occasionally, I will read about an avowed atheist who boasts of how he will question God's action or inaction when he sees Him in the end; if He even exists, that is. Many of the declarations of a desire to hear God speak, or even to see Him face to face, demonstrate ignorance of the very nature and character of God. Before we ask to hear God, or even demand He speak to us, let's consider a few things He has revealed to us about Himself.
First, we must go back to the beginning of God's relationship with mankind, as recorded in the early part of the book of Genesis. It is there we find that God “created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it’” (Gen. 1:27, 28). Let us note that, in the beginning, God spoke directly to man; but let us also note the text does not tell us where God was when God spoke to man. We may conclude that He was speaking face-to-face, but that is not necessarily the only possibility.
Later, we see that after Eve had taken of the forbidden tree and had also given its fruit to Adam, they then knew both good and evil, and they saw they were naked, and they then made simple coverings for themselves. When they “heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day,…Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden” (Gen. 3:8). Then God called out to them, “Where are you?” (Gen. 3:9). Again, we see God speaking directly to man, but since we know they were hiding from Him, it was not face-to-face.
In neither case do we find the record telling us explicitly that God spoke with man face-to-face. At the same time, however, we acknowledge that God directly communicated with man. In the beginning, God had a close relationship with man, and it appears that His presence was nearby at times, and that He even walked among man.
But let us note, too, that this was before sin entered into the world. After their sin was revealed, God revealed the consequences — the punishment — for their sin: He “drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life” (Gen. 3:24). No longer would man have the peace of knowing God was near, and no longer could he speak with God as had been the case before sin entered.
That is not to say God never spoke directly to man after that; He most certainly did, but not just to anyone, and seldom by request — and never because someone demanded He show Himself or speak up. He spoke to men He called prophets, and what He spoke to them, they were to pass on to others; most often, the message was delivered to the Israelites, but sometimes it was to individuals, and others times to foreign nations.
One particular time when God spoke, it was a case of Him speaking directly to man; the occasion was when the Israelites were at Mount Sinai, and He delivered to them what are called the Ten Commandments. Just prior to that, “there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain” (Exod. 19:16, 17). God spoke to them (Exod. 20:1) and, afterwards, because “the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, ‘You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die’” (Exod. 20:18, 19). Later, when Moses recounts this day, he would remind them they had told him, “if we hear the voice of the Lord our God anymore, then we shall die. For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?” (Deut. 5:25, 26).
It would be wise to re-think that demand that God speak to you; we probably couldn't handle it.
But God, knowing the frailty and weakness of man, especially when compared to His overwhelming glory, knew that we could not bear His presence in that form, and when His Son came to earth, He came in the form of man (cf. Phil. 2:5-8). When Jesus [God the Son] walked this earth, He spoke as a man, without all the glory and majesty of the presence of God in His natural form [a Spirit]. As such, when He spoke, others were drawn to Him by His wisdom, His honesty, and His love. In this form, man could literally hear the voice of God and not be overcome with fear and terror, and he did not die by its overwhelming power and glory.
And as you probably know, not everyone who heard the voice of God through Jesus liked what they heard. Oh, some would claim that they sought to hear God's word on a matter, but proved themselves hypocrites or merely too worldly-minded when He spoke. The religious leaders so disliked what they heard, they sought to put Him to death; others, such as the rich young ruler, simply walked away (Matt. 19:22). Some, it seems, want to hear not God, but merely words of approval for themselves and for the life they are now living. For such ones, the voice that guides them is not the voice of God, but their own voice.
And for those who request, or demand, that God speak to them today, we should know that He will not come to us in a dream, no "sign" will be given to point us in the right direction or to help us make the right decision, and no new revelation will be forthcoming. No, friends and brethren, God has spoken to us already.
The writer of the book of Hebrews begins his letter to the first century Jewish Christians by reminding them, “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). So, if you really want to know what God would say to you, open up your Bibles and read it for yourself. It's right there, and it is all there. If that voice you claim to have heard says anything other than what you find in your Bible, that voice wasn't God's. If that "sign" you claimed to have seen directs you to do something contrary to what the Bible teaches, that wasn't a sign from God. The reality is, God is not going to speak to us in any of those ways, or any other form than the written word of God, the Bible.
Many people would like to believe God is going to speak to them or has already spoken to them, but that is just not true. God has spoken to us, but it is through His Son. Are you listening to what He has said? Are you willing to hear Him? Don't declare your desire to hear God's voice, and then close your eyes and stop your ears when someone reads from the Bible as they try to teach you what God is trying to tell you.
“If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear” (Mark 4:23). — Steven Harper
