Christian Ministry Articles & Teachings: 'History: God's Voice Speaking To His Children'

History: God's Voice Speaking To His Children

Creation

In this study, we have referenced only a few of the many scriptures showing God speaking to His chosen people, His children. The Bible recites one incident after another.

In the following chapters, we will progressively follow the history of God's 'voice', beginning with His creation in Genesis. We will conclude our study, proving that God's people receive His Holy Spirit in order to hear His 'voice', and complete His Eternal Will. He is Righteous and Holy; and it is His Will to see mankind created in His Spiritual image.

We will identify the necessity of God's Law within Moses' Old Testament covenant with Israel; and God's need to have His perfect Law of righteousness written in our hearts, today. This, of course, was completed through Jesus Christ's death and resurrection; and the giving of His Holy Spirit, His voice, who now lives within each of us, and all of us together.

"No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared {spoken} Him"
(John 1:18; NKJ)

Genesis 1-2:3 gives the details of God's 'creation', as opposed to His 'formation' which begins in Genesis 2:4. As you read Genesis 1-2:3, please notice that all of Creation, including man(kind), is SPOKEN into physical manifestation by God Himself. This is confirmed in Hebrews 11:3, "By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible" (NKJ).

Of course, this is not extraordinary because God is the Word: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it" (John 1:1-5; NKJ). Revelations 19:13 tells us that Christ Jesus was/is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.

Before the fall of mankind, the LORD God spoke with Adam in the garden in Eden, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (Genesis 2:15-17)

In Genesis 3:7-10, God details the fall of mankind brought about by Adam and Eve's disobedience to His law, the commandment not to eat from the tree of KNOWLEDGE of good and evil. "Then the eyes of both of them {Adam and Eve} were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And they heard the VOICE of the LORD God WALKING in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the PRESENCE of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?" So he said, "I heard Your VOICE in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself."

Notice, that Adam responded to, and hid from, God's VOICE. There is no mention of the physical manifestation of God, who is Spirit. Why? This is explained in John 1:18, "No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared {told of; considered out loud} Him".

As mankind fell, we are told in Genesis 3:11-17, that the sinful Adam and Eve, and even the evil serpent heard God speak. And He {the LORD God} said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?'... And the LORD God said to the woman, 'What is this you have done?'... So the LORD God said to the serpent... Then to Adam He said, 'Because you have heeded the voice of your wife {instead of My Voice}..."

In Genesis 4, immediately after Cain murders Abel, we read a lengthy conversation between God and Cain. When we consider the LORD God's conversation with the serpent, who embodied all evil, and the murderer, Cain, it is difficult to understand why His children are reluctant to hear God's voice today.

In conversing with Noah, the LORD God began the formative process in which He gave birth to His chosen nation, Israel. In fact, 2 Peter 2:5 teaches us that Noah was a preacher of righteousness. In other words, he spoke God's Word as God had taught it to him. During this age of conception God spoke in person, or through His angels, to, and through, chosen individuals such as Abram/Abraham, Isaac and Jacob/Israel, and of course Moses.

Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary says the following about these men: "God has used people in every age to fill the prophetic role of proclaiming His word. Noah was a "preacher of righteousness" to his generation <2 Pet. 2:5>. Abraham was considered a prophet <Gen. 20:7>. So was his son Isaac <Ps. 105:9,14-15> and his grandson Jacob <Genesis 49>. Moses was eulogized as the greatest prophet of all, due to his major accomplishments as well as his many writings <Deut. 34:10-12>. His successor, Joshua, received the commission to continue Moses' work and so assumed the prophetic role also <Deut. 34:9; Josh. 1:1,5>.

Of course, all of God's true prophets HEAR God's voice. Although all these men were prophets, we find that the only reference to the word 'prophet' in the Bible, prior to Israel's exodus from Egypt under the leadership of Moses, is in reference to Abraham in Genesis 20:7: "Now therefore, restore the man's {Abraham's} wife; for he {Abraham} is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours" (NKJ).

James 2:23, and 2 Chronicles 20:7 informs us that the LORD Jehovah called Abraham His 'friend forever'. The LORD did this because Abraham believed what Jehovah said to him. Concerning Abraham's ability to hear Jehovah speak to him, the LORD makes a beautiful comment in Genesis 18:17-19, "And the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham {my friend} what I am doing, since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He HAS SPOKEN TO HIM." (NKJ)

Abraham was to teach his children "to do righteousness and justice" according to the Will and way of his friend, the LORD Jehovah. We understand, of course, that the Bible had not yet been written. Obviously, Abraham received his instruction directly by the voice of God. Today, we also are to hear God's voice so that He, as our parent, can teach us how to 'keep His way', and 'do righteousness and justice'.

Regarding 'prophets', Nelson's continues, "Except for God's call, prophets had no special qualifications. They appeared from all walks of life and classes of society. They included sheepbreeders and farmers like Amos... and Elisha ... but also princes like Abraham ... and priests like Ezekiel.... Even women and children became prophets <1 Sam. 3:19-20; 2 Kin. 22:14>. In rare circumstances, God used the hesitant or unruly to bear his message. Balaam prophesied <Num. 22:6--24:24> the Lord's message but was actually an enemy of God <2 Pet. 2:15-16; Rev. 2:14>. Saul certainly was not in fellowship with God when he prophesied <1 Sam. 10:23-24>.

Yes, God speaks to, and through, His friends; and even His enemies. Let us ask ourselves why we do not expect Him to speak with us, His children. What good parent would not speak to their child?

In Genesis 16, we find the LORD'S angel becoming God's spokesman for the first time. "Now the Angel of the LORD found her {Hagar} by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. And He said, "Hagar, Sarai's maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?... And the Angel of the LORD said to her: "Behold, you are with child, and you shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has heard your affliction." (Gen 16:7-11; NKJ)

This is, of course, reminiscent of the angels announcement to Mary, Jesus' mother, that she would conceive a son, "Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus" (Luke 1:30-31). Both of these physical births demonstrate the power in God's spoken Word, when manifesting His Will into the physical realm.

The LORD'S angel continued as God's go-between, speaking to both men and women, until Israel's exodus from Egypt under the leadership of Moses. The LORD speaks to Moses for the first time in Exodus 3:3-6: "Then Moses said, 'I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.' So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, 'Moses, Moses!' And he said, 'Here I am.' Then He said, 'Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.' Moreover He said, 'I am the God of your father-- the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God." (NKJ)

After leaving Egypt, we see a sympathetic LORD conversing with Moses in the wilderness, as Moses declares: "Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive all these people? Did I beget them, that You should say to me, 'Carry them in your bosom, as a guardian carries a nursing child,' to the land which You swore to their fathers'. Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? For they weep all over me, saying, 'Give us meat, that we may eat.' I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me. If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now-- if I have found favor in Your sight-- and do not let me see my wretchedness!"

So the LORD said to Moses: "Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you. Then I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will put the same upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone.

Then the LORD came down in the cloud, and spoke to him {Moses}, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again. But two men had remained in the camp: the name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. Now they were among those listed, but who had not gone out to the tabernacle; yet they prophesied in the camp. And a young man ran and told Moses, and said, 'Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.' So Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, one of his choice men, answered and said, 'Moses my lord, forbid them!' Then Moses said to him, "Are you {jealous} zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the LORD'S people were prophets and that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!" (Num 11:11-29; NKJ)

Please notice, in the previous scripture, that as the seventy elders received the Holy Spirit they "prophesied". Strong's Concordance defines this Hebrew Old Testament word as: "to prophesy, i.e. SPEAK (or SING) BY INSPIRATION (in prediction or SIMPLE DISCOURSE)". To "prophesy" is to speak or sing under the inspiration of God, or as the Spirit gives utterance {Acts 2:4}, in a simple discourse or prediction (of a future event)."

Moses' prayer is "that all the LORD'S people were prophets and that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!". The word translated as "prophet" in this verse, is defined by Strong's as follows: "... INSPIRED MAN: KJV-- ... that prophesy".

In fact, when Moses makes the statement, "I wish they were all prophets", he is saying "I wish they would all speak (or sing) by/through the inspiration of God, as the Spirit gives them utterance". Surely, God was speaking a prophetic prayer through Moses on that day. As we will read, God did deliver His Holy Spirit to all His people, and they all "prophesied" (spoke under the inspiration of God, as the Spirit gave them utterance).

In our next chapter, in this series, we will discuss Paul's warning to Christians, "See that you do not refuse Him who speaks"; and how this relates to both the Christians and Israel.

Next In This Series: God Speaks His Law To All Of Israel

If you would like to print this and share it with your brothers and sisters in Christ, or the world, please feel free to do so. However, I ask that you always leave my name on the messages God writes through me; and never sell them. Thank you so much for your love.

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