Hear What God Wants and Believe It

“Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, ‘You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.’ And Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear, for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.’” Ex. 20:18-20.

The people were afraid; they trembled and stood afar off. Their sins made them afraid, because they did not see God for what He is: a merciful God whose desire is to liberate and save. Instead, they viewed Him as an avenging God who would punish them. What an enormous misunderstanding that was. People cannot see because they cannot hear and do not believe. We are converted when we believe that God is our Helper.

“For God may speak in one way, or in in another, yet man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, while slumbering on their beds, then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction. In order to turn man from his deed, and eradicate arrogance from man, He keeps back his soul from the Pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.” Job 33:14-18 [Emphasis added].

God does all this because He loves people and wants to liberate them from the power of sin and its consequences.

It is imperative for God to persuade people to hear and to believe, also in our days. He could use those who listened to Him and did what He said. He blessed them, and they became a blessing to many people and generations.

Arrogance must be eradicated; it is an absolute barrier to God’s work. The Word says that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Jas. 4:6. May the seriousness of this fill each and every one of us; then it will be noticed in many things. The Lord could not help the proud unless he forsook his pride and inclined his heart to listen to what the Lord said. “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud. He who heeds the word wisely will find good, and whoever trusts in the Lord, happy is he.” Prov. 16:18-20.

Listening ears are needed, and the Lord asks for such, for He can save them and help them. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Matt. 11:15. “Who among you will give ear to this? Who will listen and hear for the time to come?” Isa. 42:23.

“Then the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation.” 1 Sam. 3:1. Samuel was lying down in the Lord’s tabernacle where God’s ark of the covenant was. God called Samuel and he answered, “Here I am!” for he thought Eli was calling him. So Samuel ran to Eli three times after God had called him. Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy, and so he said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.’ So Samuel went and lay down in his place. Then the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ And Samuel answered, ‘Speak, for Your servant hears.’ Then the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Behold, I will do something in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.’” Read 1 Samuel, chapter 3.

The Lord spoke to Samuel, and he heard. God had spoken to Eli many times, but he did not hear so that he acted on it. Now God pronounced a harsh sentence concerning Eli, and He spoke about it to the boy Samuel; the Lord had found someone who heard, and therefore He could confide in him. God’s business is advanced by such people. They testify to the fact that there is a God and that He is mighty to lead a person to such an exalted position of being His fellow worker. Glory to God and to the Lamb!