Isaiah 30:21, “And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This [is] the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.”
John 10:27, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:”
“When we talk to God we are praying, when God talks to us we are schizophrenic.” Jane Wagner
Few of us actually hear an audible voice telling us which way to walk. Since most of us do not hear an audible voice we take these verses that talk of hearing God’s voice as a metaphor. We start hearing voices and people will assume we are, well you know. I don’t doubt there are occasions when we do actually hear an audible voice, I can point to two times in my life I know God spoke to me audibly. But for the most part we consider the voice of God to be a prompting, or a feeling we get.
There is the story of Nikola Tesla told by Otis T. Carr. Tesla’s intelligence was considered on par or greater than that of Einstein, DaVinci, and Edison. Tesla was the inventor of the alternating current which is in use today. Edison invented the direct current which eventually fallen out of use as it was not practical. Carr who worked with Tesla relates that he and Tesla were walking in a park one day when all of a sudden Tesla started talking to someone that was not present, or at least from what Carr could see. Tesla then said, “Yes, that makes sense.” Then he knelt to the ground and with a stick began to make a design all the while saying, “Yes, we could do that, that does make sense.” It is said from that design he developed the alternative current which is what makes electricity available to everyone and literally runs our lives today. So who was he talking to. Conspiracy theorist say he was talking to aliens, some say he was just schizophrenic, others say he was talking to God, but one thing we know, he was hearing voices and people thought he was nuts, a genius, but nuts. Somehow these voices guided him to some of the greatest discoveries that are still being researched today. But because of his weirdness and feeling that he could not take credit for his discoveries, he died broke and his name is not as famous as that of Edison or Marconi who really borrowed many of Tesla’s patents and ideas for their own work. Next time you charge you smart phone you have Tesla to thank, not Edison or Marconi.
In Isaiah 30:21 the prophets tells us that our ears will hear. The word azan does indeed mean ears but in it Semitic root it has the idea of weighing or considering. It also means to discern. The word hear is shama which means to hear and obey. In John 10:27 Jesus says that His sheep hear His voice. The word hear in the Aramaic is shema which is the same as the Hebrew word and means to hear and obey. The word for voice is qal which is also a word found in Hebrew, Aramaic, Ugaritic, Phoenician, Canaanite, Akkadian and practically every other Semitic language. In all these languages it has the idea of an audible sound. For this reason many commentators say that this is referring to the reading of the Scriptures or the fact that Scripture was basically taught orally in those days and most people could not read. I am sure this is a part of it, but I tend to think there is more.
Stuart Hamblin, an old cowboy, songwriter, found Jesus at a Billy Graham crusade. He said the first thing God did was to clean up his language and as a result he lost complete control of his hound dogs. God did not equip animals with the intelligence to develop a vocabulary nor the right physiology to speak a language but He did give them an enhanced ability to discern the vibrations of sound and even feelings which give off vibrations. In taking a close look at this common Semitic word for voice, qal or QL I find it is really just a sound or a vibration.
When Isaiah speaks of ears azan – discerning and hearing shama – obeying I believe this is a reference to the ability to discern the direction coming from God. It is does not have to be an audible voice, it could be but it could also just be the vibrations, the emotions or feelings of God. It sort of like with Sparky, my neighbors Pit Bull. When I walk by I do not have to say a word to him, he can feel my negative feelings, he can smell my presence and they are louder than an audible voice. He will not bark at my neighbor but he will bark at me. Animals hear your heart cry more than the words you are speaking. If you are angry, you little pet will put his head down and feel sad because he can discern your anger, but he cannot understand your words and even if the anger is not directed at him he will discern you are angry with him. If you feel fear around an animal, he cannot discern if that fear is because you feel the animal is a threat, he will only interpret that fear as a threat to himself and attack in self-defense.
I believe this is what the prophet is talking about in Isaiah and Jesus is speaking of in John, we are to God like our fellow animals are to us, who communicate with their hearts. We hear God with our hearts. Even if it is an audible sound coming from God, it is our hearts that will interpret for us. Our hearts will know the voice of God, just as Sparky knows my voice and that of my neighbor. I may speak in the same mellow tone to Sparky as my neighbor does but Sparky listens with his heart and he knows I don’t like him and he knows my neighbor does.
We have five senses, but the Talmud teaches that God has only one sense. Taste, smell, sight, hearing and touch are all wrapped up in one sense with God. God disperses his feelings and love for us in five different ways but they filter into our heart as one sense because our heart only has one sense. We can sense the voice (qal) of God in the smell of a rose, the sight of a beautiful mountain, the touch of a cool breeze, the sound of a bird chirping and the sweet taste of honey. All five senses pick up and transfer it all to our hearts where it becomes one sense like the one sense of God which is expressing a feeling His love and presence. We hear shama hear and obey God not only with our ears, but with our eyes, our tongue, our nose or our touch.
Next time that little bird looks at you and starts to chirp, listen with your heart, God may be speaking to you through his little bit of creation.
I can’t imagine studying the Word without the simple tools Chaim has taught me. I liken learning about the nature of the Hebrew language and how to do a word study using Biblical Hebrew to when Dorothy went from black and white in Kansas to another world opening up to her in Oz, full of color! This is why I convinced Chaim to put these lessons in a workbook so that everyone with an interest will have the same opportunity to learn as I did. Laura
https://www.chaimbentorah.com/store/products/hebrew-word-study-manual/
Recent Comments