Hebrew Word Study – Seeing Voices – Raim  Qol    ראים קול    Resh Aleph Yod Mem  Qop Vav Lamed     If We Could See Love, What Would It Look Like?

Exodus 20:18: “And all the people were seeing the thunder voices and the torches  and the voice of the shofar and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance.”

Something quite curious, how could people see the thundering voices.  Many translations will simply render this  as “thunder and lightning.”   Still, you can not get away from the fact that the words here are raim eth equloth which literally means see the voices. Well, you simply can’t see voices so there must be something metaphoric about this.  But then again I ran across something when I was reading in Jewish literature. 

Jewish sages teach that this is expressing a sensory experience beyond the normal division of the five senses. It is an overflow of experience that super activates all the senses merging them together.  In this case, you are actually seeing a sound. Your eyes are hearing and your ears are seeing.   Then there was the sound of the shofar and the people yarah the sound of the shofar.  They saw the sound of the shofar.  Yarah can mean both physical seeing and spiritual seeing.  

What is most likely happening here is that the people were seeing into the invisible, supernatural realm. Their five senses were merged into one super sense. They did not like it, it terrified them such that in verse 19 they ask Moses to speak to them, they did not want to hear directly from God.  Moses told them not to be afraid, yet in verse 21, the people stood at a distance and only Moses entered the cloud.

This idea of the five senses combining into one sense in the supernatural realm could possibly explain Ezekiel’s wheels.  In his vision, he saw: “Ezekiel 1:16: “The appearance of the wheels and their work [was] like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work [was] as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.”  Bible scholars have speculated for centuries as to what the meaning of this vision was.  Many explanations are put forth but all are nothing more than speculations. The simple fact is we do not know, must simply speculate, guess what it means. it means. There are many things in the Bible that we cannot understand, we can only speculate.  Why did God give us a Bible with so many mysteries?  He told us that we must seek Him with all our hearts, Jeremiah 29:13.  In our Western culture, we are basically a mathematical and scientific culture, hence, we seek only one interpretation.  Yet in the Semitic culture, there can be many interpretations and all could be correct. That is why you need the Holy Spirit to be your guide and teacher when studying Scripture and if you seek to know God with all your heart, the Holy Spirit will make know to you what interpretation God wants you to draw.

So, what interpretation do I draw from Ezekiel’s wheels?  In his vision, all five senses became one sense.  So, he was actually seeing love.  What does love look like?  Well, we only know what it looks like from demonstrations of acts of love but to actually see love what would see?  Well, we would, like Ezekiel, see into the supernatural realm.  The only way to describe the supernatural is to compare it to something natural. But there is nothing in the natural to compare it to, so whatever description we give it is still difficult for us to understand.  I believe one thing Ezekiel saw was the love of God but he described it only in natural terms which fall short.

Ok, back to our study verse, what was so terrifying?  The word qol for voices is plural.  The thundering voices may be the sound of everyone’s thoughts, reactions, and feelings.  In that cloud, all five senses became just one sense and the result was that there were no secrets, no playing games.  They were just given the ten commandments, such as “Thou shalt not commit adultery.  A man glances at his neighbor’s wife and immediately all know what he is thinking.  “Thou shalt not steal” and a woman looks at her neighbor and instantly knows what happened to that coffee pot.  

If next Sunday you have an experience of the cloud or glory of God descending upon you and your congregation, what would happen?  Most likely there would be rejoicing, celebration, book deals, and movie rights.  I don’t think any of us would have a problem entering that cloud or glory of God.  In fact, we seek it and pray for it.  It is no big deal that God would know our thoughts, He will forgive, it will remain just between us and Him.  I don’t think the children of Israel were much different from us.  

But what if your congregation enters that cloud and suddenly your give senses become one and everyone knows your thoughts about that deacon, or they know about that little lustful thought you recently had?  You might be making for the exit very quickly.  Maybe we should not be too harsh on the children of Israel asking Moses to be the spokesmen.  “Uh, Moses, why don’t you go it alone here with God.  I just as well not end up as one of God’s sermon illustrations.”  

As I draw closer to the heart of God, I am more aware than ever of the impurities of my thoughts. I wonder if I would want to enter that glory cloud and allow my five senses to become one.  Am I that sanctified in my thoughts and motives that I would not mind who knew my heart?   If not, is my heart really one with God’s heart?  If my heart and motives were one with God’s heart and motives I could easily say: “Let the cloud descend for all to know my heart and motives.”  But if I am hiding something unclean in my heart, I wouldn’t mind that cloud as long as it was a feel-good cloud of God’s presence.  But if it was the Exodus 20:18 cloud where everyone could “see a voice” I would most likely make for the closest exit.

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