SOME SAY that there is a hidden voice in the written word of God, a voice that, at certain times, speaks clearly to the one who cries out to God wholeheartedly for understanding. About this, let us first consider the words of the prophet Jeremiah. “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jer. 29:13) Now, hear from Jesus: “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26) Throughout the scriptures, beginning with Adam and Eve, God speaks to people, and according to what they hear and what they do with what they hear, destinies are changed. And so, Jesus also says, “Consider carefully what you hear. With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more.” (Mark 4:24)
The early church Latin theologians speak of the voice of God in scripture as both *“ipsissima verba” and “ipsissima vox.” The first is meant to describe “the precise word of God,” and the second “the precise voice of God,” or, “the very voice of God.” And while there is great debate around these terms as they impact the discussion and debate of inerrancy of scripture, for most of us it is enough to consider the accuracy of the written word and the enhanced revelation of that word when God speaks through it.
The question, “Does God speak?” is clearly answered in the affirmative throughout the scriptures, in both old and new testaments. The question for us is, “Does God speak to me?” In the thrust of a half-millennium of evangelical Christianity, especially so in the evangelical emphasis on a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, the clutter and cacophony of the intellect struggling with doctrine and dogma dominates in the rational mind, even as the heart goes hungry. The doorway of intellectual faith can sometimes be a detour from a meeting place with the holy. It doesn’t have to be, but perhaps God places it there as a snare for those who would co-opt God’s will.
Our heart prays the O.T. prayer of the Psalmist: “O, God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land.” (Psa. 63:1) The Psalmist knew of the voice of God, who said, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.” (Deut. 29:29) And God also said, “I reveal deep and hidden things; I knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with me.” (Dan. 2:22) God promises the seekers, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” (Jer. 33:3)
Jesus, Logos incarnate, knew the Father’s very voice in ways that we can only wonder about. But, he shares that knowledge, at least as much as we can hear, with us. He said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” (Matt. 11:25, 27)
He promises us the intimacy of the very voice of God even as he challenges us to realize that to hear is to obey. “What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.” (Matt. 10:27) He adds to this the need for our careful consideration of how we engage with what we hear. “For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. Therefore consider carefully how you listen.” (Luke 8:17-18)
The salvation of God is always hidden from those who attempt to unlawfully break into heaven. This is the great hidden thing, all the more concealed because it is in plain sight. Jesus says , “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.” (John 10:7-9)
To hear the voice of God is to hear undiluted ordinal truth. To hear the voice of God is to hear by the Holy Spirit, whose voice, says Jesus, “will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” (John 16:8-11) He adds, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.” (John 16:13) And then he promises that the Holy Spirit “will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.” (John 16:14)
The hidden things are hidden no longer. Yes, they will always be a shrouded mystery to the people of the lower realm. But for you and for me, the words of Peter strike straight to the heart of the matter. He speaks as a prophet about all of the prophets and all that is written, saying, “It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.” (1 Pet. 1:12)
Q. Not a question, but a prayer: “Father, speak to me…”
* “Ipsissima verba;” “ipsissima vox.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary (2011), Merriam-Webster, Accessed 10 May, 2022.
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