Parashat Shelach Lekha, Pt2

Hearing God's Voice Num 13:1-15:41

How does God speak to us? God speaks with a still small voice. On a day-to-day basis, God speaks to us in our minds and hearts. We may not recognize (Job 33:14) that the spontaneous, still small voice (1 Kings 19:10-12) that seems to pop out of nowhere in our minds and hearts may be God answering us. Being able to separate this from our own thoughts comes with maturity and the practice of listening. Meditation is the perfect place to start (Ps 1:2). In meditative or individual prayers (hitbodedut) we can begin listening for the voice of God. The more we listen with a clean, repentant heart, the easier it will be to distinguish God's voice from our own. As we mature, that voice will get louder and more distinctive.

God speaks to us through his word. The worlds were framed by the word of God (Heb 11:3). His word and divine will were written so that we can know him (2 Tim 3:15-17, Rom 15:4). It was given for us to live by (Matt 4:4) and it helps us find our way (Ps 119:105). His word is the truth that leads our efforts in sanctification (Jn 17:17) and helps us please him (Ps 119:11). Many times God speaks to us from the very Bible we hold in our hands. The words of our holy scripture (Tanach and Brit Chadeshah) are not just words on a page. They were breathed out (1 Tim 3:16) by God himself. When God speaks to us through his word it may seem that the words on the page "jump out at us" or seem to be "highlighted" in some way. This is accompanied by a quickening of our spirit and suddenly the scripture has a personal appeal that seems to grab us. This is a "rhema word" (see Matt 4:4, Luke 5:5). This can also happen when we are interacting with others such as when the Rabbi or congregational leader is ministering the word, or even when someone is speaking something that helps us in some way. The speaker may not or may not know that what they said in a sermon or casual conversation was anointed to help you, but God directed it and anointed it just the same.

God can speak to us through our experience by allowing us to personally live out his truth (James 1:2-4). When he speaks to us this way the revelation of what our trials were meant to teach us may be long coming, but it changes us the most. There is a purpose for every trial (Heb 12: 5-11). Even the creation God spoke into existence is made to teach us about him (Ps 19:1-2). Many times God will show us his love using the natural things around us (Jonah 4:6-11).

Sometimes the word of God reminds us of things and brings back things from our past (John 14:26). God will bring things to our remembrance (the right memory) because he has already placed in our experience the answer we need. Sometimes God will bring back a circumstance or occurrence and it will simply pop up in our mind and hold the truth we need at the moment. At times God will cause situations, words, the name of a person, or place to come across our path again and again until we stop and seek him for what he is trying to show us (this has been called the Divine Echo).

God has a language and vocabulary that can be unique to the person. Some people are visual and often see things pop into their minds. Some are word-based and hear the voice of God. This is not necessarily a prophetic office. People are just different.

God also speaks to us through dreams. Our minds normally operate in pictures. Divinely directed dreams can be a subjective subject, but some people have them. God spoke to a lot of people in scripture using dreams. Sometimes God has to speak using a dream because some people seldom stop and it may be the only time God can say anything (when people are sleeping). There are also times when we are in prayer and God will bring a picture of someone to our minds to direct us to pray for them. God uses dreams, pictures, and even visions to speak to his people.

He also uses words (as in a single word or concept). That one word may impart the meaning of his will or direction. I have been in prayer groups where God has spoken to several people this way and they discussed what God was telling them through these individual words, and began to put them together into a larger meaning. Sometimes those who God gave a picture to, combined with someone God gave scripture to, then combined again with someone God gave a word to. The results were indeed revelatory as the whole group was seeking and praying in unity.

The Audible Voice (Bat Kol) Many people experience God interacting with them but are not aware that it is God speaking. Some are looking for an audible, divine voice that will speak to them out of the heavens (this is known as a "bat kol", daughter of a voice or a divine voice {Ps 18:14} that originates from heaven). God can speak to people in this way and some have testified of hearing the audible voice of God. Paul heard a "bat kol" in Acts 9:4-7. Sometimes the voice of God moves so powerfully in a person that an audible voice is not heard, but the person is moved as though it were.

Rav Calev Lehrer, PhD Apostolic Messianic International - Gulf Coast Region