The Voice of God… “SHEMA”

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might….” (Deut. 6:4-5)

“And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,…” (Deut. 11:13).

“The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner. And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the Lord your God.” (Num 15:37-41).

“SHEMA”

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matt 7:24-25). “But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold” (Mark 4:20). “Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great” (Luke 6:47-49). “Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God” (John 8:47). “The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price” (Rev 22:17). “He who has ears to hear let him hear” (Matt. 11:15).

“SHEMA”

How seriously do you think Jesus took the “SHEMA”? The Shema was the core Jewish prayer which the nation of Israel was grounded upon. The Law and the Prophets were grounded on the Shema. Everything about Israel was grounded on the Shema. The Shema was all encompassing. It was central to Jewish faith. And Jesus was Jewish. So, how does the Shema affect the New Testament Church. Since Jesus is the core of the New Testament, and all the writers, except “maybe” Luke, were Jewish and therefore lived by the Shema day in and day out. Do you think that all these, “hear” statements from Jesus were grounded upon the Shema: “Hear, O Israel…”? I am convinced these many times that Jesus repeats both in the gospels and in Revelation: “He who has ears to hear let him hear”. That He is not using, “hear” lightly! But in the way of, “listen very, very closely, and obey!”

So, do you have “ears to hear” the voice of God? Both the Logos and the Rhema of God? The “written” Word of God and the “spoken” word from the Spirit of God, which is always of course based on the written Word of God, but personal to the individual, or as a “message” to the Church, prophetically? Knowing the voice of God is central to our personal relationship to God. For, without communication there is no relationship. Have you ever had the Holy Spirit reach deep into your soul through the scriptures? Or reach deep into your soul during a time of prayer? Let me use this verse as an example, when Jesus was talking with the two men on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection: “They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” (Luke 24:32). Isn’t that awesome to have our Father speak intimately with us! Anyway, my point here is this: God talks to those who BOTH, have ears to hear, and the willingness to listen, meaning heed or follow, through the Holy Spirit according to the Word of God. However, those who are not willing to “hear and listen” may miss His “voice”. Actually, I am convinced the reason there is so much confusion and division within the Body-of-Christ regarding political and social issues right now is because only “some” have been living consistent with the ways of our Lord. Living with open ears to hear and not just once and awhile, but as a lifestyle. Because those who were already living “by the Spirit” before 2020 came, responded by the Spirit when it hit. So that is just one example I wanted to point to. But there could be so many! For, when the child of God hears their Dad speak, and obeys, there is more blessing and more “light” revealed to them. And the more they practice heeding the voice of God, the more they are sensitive to the Spirit, and the more there is blessing and joy from the Father. And the reverse is true also. The more we refuse to “hear and heed” the more we lose discernment and as a result we grieve the Holy Spirit, and even our hearts can become hard, and it’s just downhill from there!

Thankfully, wherever we are with our Lord. Whether we have been heeding His voice and walking in His favor, or if we have been neglecting Him, and walking in disobedience. We can always go to our Dad. He is merciful and gracious. Slow to anger and willing to forgive. Therefore, let us “walk with God” and reap the fruit of fellowship with Him as we “hear His voice”