THE VOICE OF GOD SHOWS THE RIGHT WAY
Since the time of Israel’s wandering in the wilderness, men have been depending on the written law for instruction about God. For religious people it sounds good and righteous to trust in the Torah and the Bible. Those who have put their trust in the written word will be surprised to learn that God actually wants his people to trust him to teach them directly.
Psalm 118:8-9: It is better to take refuge in the LORD Than to trust in man. 9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD Than to trust in princes.
COMMENTARY: Kings, Queens and Princes are human religious leaders who have established religious ministries (i.e. personal kingdoms) for themselves. They do this mainly through teaching from the Bible. In God’s eyes, this is the equivalent of setting themselves up as gods for others to follow. People who join themselves with these religious leaders therefore become idolaters.
Being an idolater, of course, is not the right way. The way to avoid idolatry is to stop putting trust in human religious leaders and begin trusting God. There are many ways to trust God, of course, but it all begins by trusting that he will speak to us directly by through his Spirit.
If we continue to seek to learn about God from human mediators such as pastors, rabbis and prophets, we show that we trust them more than we trust God. New Covenant disciples believe that they will no longer need any human to teach them because God will teach them everything they need to know through his Spirit.
People who trust human mediators to teach them about God are living in the Wilderness. They do not live in the Promised Land where they hear God’s spoken voice.
Isaiah 40:1-8: Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins. 3 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. 5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” 6 A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. 7 The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people is grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand for ever.
Matthew 3:3: For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, “THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT !’ “
Luke 3:4: as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT.
COMMENTARY: See Commentary in John 1:23 below.
COMMENTARY ON SCRIPTURES ABOUT THE WILDERNESS: John the baptist is quoting the prophet Isaiah who is crying out passionately to religious people with a strong appeal to stop practicing defiled religion and start practicing pure religion.
The wilderness is a symbolic place where people practice legalistic religion based on literal interpretations of the Bible taught by false prophets. The call to exit the wilderness and enter the promised land is God’s call to quit religion and become New Covenant disciples .
The wilderness of religion is the bumpy, twisted, dry, way of fleshly religion that must be leveled out and made straight and smooth. When this happens, religious people will cease receiving knowledge of God through Pastors, Priests, Rabbis, Apostles, Bishops, Elders, Deacons, Overseers, Rabbis, Popes, Missionaries and Evangelists who are all false prophets. And from that point forward they will worship God in spirit and truth.
False prophets establish their kingdoms in the wilderness where they recruit people to follow them and pay them for their teaching or writing. False prophets worship with their lips only and not with their hearts.
People who exit the wilderness only listen to true prophets who teach New Covenant disciples how to listen to God’s voice.
John 12:42-43: Nevertheless many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: 43 for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
COMMENTARY: This scripture talks about people who heard and understood what Jesus was saying about the Old/First Covenant being replaced by the New Covenant. Even though they knew the truth, however, they were not willing to sacrifice their positions and income. They were double-minded men who decided to continue practicing Old/First Covenant Defiled Religion instead of Pure Religion.
John 14:5-6: Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way ?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
COMMENTARY: Christians wrongly interpret this verse to mean that the man Jesus is the way to God and eternal life. Thus they call themselves Christians, worship Jesus, pray to him, trust him for salvation and build their religion around him.
STUDY TIP: See this link for an inventory of Christian beliefs and practices.
Christians ignore and/or willfully neglect that the only thing special about Jesus was the fact that he was anointed by God to speak God’s words. This verse should be interpreted as follows:
My words are the way to truth and eternal life. You will know God when you understand my words.
This interpretation reflects the fact that Jesus spoke God’s words. He was a mediator between God and man, but he was not God. This interpretation reflects the following facts:
In other words, when you understand Jesus’ words, you know God. This interpretation agrees with other scriptures that say that when you know/see Jesus you know/see God. These scriptures only make sense, however, when knowing and seeing are interpreted in terms of knowing/hearing God’s words in your heart.
This interpretation naturally raises the question of how you know if you have actually heard God’s words in your heart. The answer to this question is found in your response to his words. God says he is a consuming fire and a refining fire. Therefore, if you have truly heard God’s words in your heart, you will experience a change of heart. See this link for understanding of what it means to experience a change of heart.
Romans 2:29: But he is a Jew who is one inwardly ; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter ; and his praise is not from men, but from God
COMMENTARY: See Religious Rituals and Traditions: Circumcision, Baptism, Communion for understanding of circumcision.