Hearing the Voice of God

Listen to today’s passage – Numbers 7

Follow along on Blue Letter Bible – Numbers 7 

Second Milers also read – Acts 10 – 12; Proverbs 17; Psalms 86 – 90

Listen to this morning’s Scripture Song – Psalm 89:1

Read the “0217 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today by Charles Spurgeon.

Imagine hearing an audible voice from heaven like Moses did—mind-blowing! Yet today, many of us scroll past the very place God speaks loudest: His Word. Have you paused long enough lately to really listen?

“And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims: and he spake unto him.” – (Numbers 7:89)

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:” – (John 10:27)

Chapter 7 of Numbers is a very long chapter, and not exactly what I would call great devotional reading. However, as with the rest of the Bible, this is a very important passage. Here we see the heads of the tribes of Israel all presenting to the Lord their offerings at the dedication of the Tabernacle. Each tribe had to offer the same thing which included some gold and silver, incense and flour, and an assortment of animals. We can see from this passage and from many other recent chapters that the Israelites were dedicated in the area of giving, and they not only gave what was required, they also gave over and above what was asked of them.

The last verse of this long chapter tells us that after the offering was made, Moses went into the Tabernacle to speak with God, and he heard the voice of God coming out from between the cherubims on top of the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies. I cannot imagine what it must have been like to hear the audible voice of God – to actually hear Him speak personally to his physical ears. I can, however, hear the voice of God today as much as I desire to because He speaks to me through His Word.

Unfortunately, the people of God do not always heed the voice of God when He speaks with them. The psalmist tells us to not harden our hearts as these Israelites often did in the wilderness:

“6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. 7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. 10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: 11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.” (Ps 95:6–11)

The Bible is God’s voice. He spoke to me this morning about this dedication offering. He also gave me some wisdom from Proverbs 17. And then he motivated me and stirred me as I read about Peter and the other apostles and people from Acts (see the “Second Miler” readings for today).

God speaks to me in other ways also besides the Bible. Sometimes, as I walk and pray, God will speak to my heart. Now, we have to be careful about these “still small voices” that we hear in our heads and our hearts. We need to be sure that it is God who is speaking with us. Sometimes our flesh and even the devil can put thoughts in our heads that are not of God. One way you can tell if it is actually God speaking is if the thing that He tells you is in agreement with the Word of God. He never goes against His Word. It always alarms me when people tell them that God told them to do something that was in complete contradiction to His clear revelation in the Bible.

“While God can impress thoughts on our hearts during prayer or daily life, test every impression against the Bible—He will never contradict His written Word.”

Have you listened for His voice today? Did you open up your Bible this morning, along with your heart and mind, and hear what God has to say to you? Have you waited on Him today in your prayer closet to hear Him speak to you about specific areas of your life? It is not that God is not still speaking today as much as it is that His children are not listening.

Today, carve out 10–15 minutes to read a chapter aloud, pray over it, and ask: “Lord, what are You saying to me right now?” Then wait in silence. It might be a good idea to journal what comes to mind or record it in the margins of your Bible.