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.

 


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Did Pharaoh Have a Choice?

Listen to today’s passage – Exodus 7 – 9

Follow along on Blue Letter Bible – Exodus 7 

Second Milers also read – Mark 15 – 16; Proverbs 22; Psalms 106 – 110

Listen to this morning’s Scripture Song – Proverbs 27:15

Read the “0122 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by Charles Spurgeon.

Read a previous post from this passage – “Sin Stinks“

The Biblical Tension

“And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand.” (Exodus 3:19)

“And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.“ (Exodus 7:3)

“What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.“ (Romans 9:14-18)

“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” (Romans 8:29)

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)

Common Views in the Debate

I have listed a lot of verses above that are important for our discussion this morning regarding whether or not Pharaoh had a choice when he refused to let the children of Israel leave the land of Egypt. There are many more verses that could be used by either side of the argument, but I will use these just to start the discussion. It is my firm belief that Pharaoh acted according to his own free will when his heart was hardened, whether or not the Scripture states that it was hardened by God, or that he himself hardened his heart. Theologians on the other side of this argument would almost have us to believe that Pharaoh’s personal desire was to convert to Judaism (or volunteer to be the Sunday school superintendent), but God forced him against his will to oppose Moses and the Nation of Israel. Please do not misunderstand, I am not saying that God did not work in Pharaoh’s heart in order to achieve His goal of glorifying Himself in the sight of both His people and in the eyes of the Egyptians. However, God had a very willing participant. Pharaoh had already rejected God:

“And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.” (Exodus 5:2)

My Take: Pharaoh’s Initial Rejection + God’s Foreknowledge

I firmly believe that God wants all men to be saved, and he desires all men to serve and glorify Him, but He also has given man the free will to make his own choice about that. God did not create a bunch of robots that do exactly what He wants at all times. It wasn’t God that caused Satan to rebel against Him, and it wasn’t God’s manipulation that forced Adam and Eve’s choice either. Does God know who will be saved? Absolutely! But, He doesn’t make that choice for them. Pharaoh had already made his mind up about God and His people, Israel, and God knew that there was nothing that would change Pharaoh’s will about that. So, God used Pharaoh to help Him achieve His (God’s) goal. God is big enough and sovereign enough to use both the saved and the lost (and the myriad of free-will choices that they make) to achieve His purposes.

God’s Sovereignty and Our Responsibility Today

God will have mercy on whom He will have mercy, and He has chosen to have mercy on “whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord.” In my view, this makes God infinitely bigger and more powerful. He runs His creation, and will achieve all of His purposes, even though the people He created are acting according to their own will. He is absolutely awesome!

I’ve counseled people who felt their hearts were too hard for God to reach—yet Scripture shows us that God both hardens and softens hearts, and He invites every person to call on Him today. 

If you have not yet received the forgiveness of your sins through God’s graze and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, do not put it off another day. God wants you to be saved. Check out the “Are You Saved” page at the top of this blog. Reach out to us if you have any questions. We would love to help you meet the Savior who shed His blood for your sins.

What do you think—did Pharaoh ever really have a chance to say yes? How does this affect the way you share the gospel with resistant people?


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