GOD CHOOSES WHO HEARS AND WHO DOES NOT HEAR
God has purposely established the conditions by which people do or do not see and hear with spiritual eyes and ears. This is confusing, but it does not relieve us from the responsibility to listen to God’s voice. God’s commands are always to listen to his voice because the words of his voice give all the life and instruction that we need.
The Bible, of course, is one of those things that we can see. Because it is visible and tangible, however, does not suggest that it is among those things that we should discount or ignore because it is temporal and passing away. We must keep in mind that the Bible also has a spiritual quality that is eternal. Therefore, we take seriously the truth that all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
Our challenge, therefore, is to access the spiritual quality without getting bogged down in the temporal, literal language and fussy details of religious legalism the Bible presents. Therefore, the Bible should not be the first, last and only thing that we should consult when we want God to teach us. Consultation of the Bible is only the beginning of seeking knowledge of God. If we begin and end with the literal words written in the Bible, we will not develop the ability to hear God’s voice and would therefore not satisfy his command to obey his voice.
AUTHORS’ NOTE: See Literal or Symbolic Interpretation Part 1,Literal or Symbolic Interpretation Part 2 and Literal or Symbolic Interpretation Part 3 for more about the written word of God and the spiritual word of God.
The Biblical principle we apply in listening for the voice of God is that we do not judge by what our natural eyes see. That includes what we read. We see this principle in these scriptures:
1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
COMMENTARY: God does not judge righteousness according to outward appearances or what man does with his physical body — including the religious things man does with his physical body. Religious activity is all flesh which has no value to God.
John 7:24: Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.
COMMENTARY: When we think about judging we typically think in terms of judging people. We also use judgment when evaluating anything we see or hear. We constantly make judgments about accuracy, truth, safety and so on to guide our everyday life.
This verse says that we should not make any of these judgements according to outward appearances. This exhortation applies to Bible study along with everything else that we might ever judge, If we do not judge by outward appearances, then we judge by what we cannot see. The voice of God cannot be seen, but can be heard. We can call that using experience, or wisdom.
When we make judgements according to what we cannot see we bring the Spirit of God into play. Effectively we listen to God’s voice.
STUDY TIP: See this link for a detailed discussion about judging.
Isaiah 11:1-3: There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. 3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear;
COMMENTARY: This is a prophecy about the Messiah. It is also a prophecy about followers of the Messiah whom we otherwise call New Covenant disciples because the Messiah is the physical embodiment of the New Covenant where the law is written on their hearts.
Neither the Messiah nor New Covenant disciples make judgments according to what their natural eyes see or their natural ears hear. They always make judgments according to what they hear from God through his Spirit. In other words, they listen to God’s voice. Among other things that might be judged, this includes how we read and interpret the Bible.
Zechariah 4: And the angel who talked with me came again, and waked me, like a man that is wakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps which are on the top of it. 3 And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” 4 And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 Then the angel who talked with me answered me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerub’babel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts. 7 What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerub’babel you shall become a plain; and he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!'” 8 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 9 “The hands of Zerub’babel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. 10 For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerub’babel. “These seven are the eyes of the LORD, which range through the whole earth.” 11 Then I said to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?” 12 And a second time I said to him, “What are these two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the oil is poured out?” 13 He said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 14 Then he said, “These are the two anointed who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”
COMMENTARY: This is an example of what happens when someone does not judge by what his natural eyes see. Zechariah, being a prophet, knew that there was more to the vision than what he saw with his natural eyes. So he asked to know the deeper meaning of the vision. This is an example of the wisdom and character of a prophet: Ask to know the deeper meaning of whatever you see with your natural eyes.
Since he asked, God explained the deeper meaning to him. The voice of God spoke to Zechariah and he listened to it.
The ability to hear God’s voice is the essence of having eyes to see and ears to hear. Everyone can read, but not everyone can hear God’s voice. Anyone can read the Bible and make a literal interpretation of it. But few can understand its many multiple meanings and deep mysteries. Such understanding only comes by hearing the voice of God — not by using natural wisdom or intellectual ability. Consider what Jesus says about the ability to interpret the many parables found in the Bible:
Matthew 13:1-18: That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat there; and the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they had not much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched; and since they had no root they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell upon thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.” 10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to him who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which says: ‘You shall indeed hear but never understand, and you shall indeed see but never perceive. 15 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are heavy of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should perceive with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn for me to heal them.’ 16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 Truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. 18 “Hear then the parable of the sower.
COMMENTARY: See this link for interpretation of the parable.
We learn here that Jesus often spoke in parables. Since Jesus only does what he sees the father doing, does nothing on his own authority, and speaks what the father tells him to say, we assume that what he says about parables applies to the entire Bible. And since parables, by their nature, need interpretation, we need to hear God’s voice to interpret the Bible.
We learn also in this story that Jesus and God speak in parables because the hearts of people have grown dull, their ears are heavy and they have closed their eyes. In other words, they have become deaf and blind with respect to their ability to spiritually discern God’s voice.
Jesus’ comments about perceiving with eyes, hearing with ears, and understand with hearts introduces a critical truth about the symbolism of healing deafness and blindness. Obviously he is not referring to natural eyes and ears. He is referring to their spiritual eyes and ears which are symbolic of the heart which, in God’s language, is what people use to listen to God’s voice. This is our clue that all Biblical references to healing, whether of the eyes, ears or any other part of the body, are to healing man’s spiritual condition that renders him unable to hear God’s spoken voice — not to healing of the physical body as is commonly believed.
Since the heart is a code word referring to the New Covenant, we interpret Jesus’ statement to mean that the people to whom Jesus was speaking were not New Covenant disciples. And if they were not New Covenant disciples, they were Old/First Covenant religionists. Thus we see that a key characteristic of an Old/First Covenant religionists is that they do not hear God’s voice.
Christians like to think that they have an advantage over the Jews because they believe in Jesus. And because they celebrate their communion rituals which references the New Covenant, they like to believe that they are New Covenant disciples.