In God I will praise His word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.
~ Psalm 56:4
The Voice of God in Judgment
The people chosen by God under the old covenant lost Him. He is the God who fills heaven and earth, and they lost Him! How can you lose your God? Adam disobeyed God, but he did not lose Him. He and Eve hid themselves in the garden, so real was their expectation of His very presence. They were afraid because of their disobedience, but they answered when He called. The voice of God and the judgments, which they feared, called out, “Where are you?”
Adam admitted, “We hid ourselves because we are naked.”
See the correlation? When the Word God speaks and convicts us we may want to hide, but hiding is the first step toward losing God. Look at every successful man or woman in the Scriptures. The thing they have in common is that they bowed to the judgment of God. When God’s people left the voice of God and its correcting of their actions, they actually committed two evils. First, they rejected God’s judgment on the subject and elevated the flesh above God. (Whosoever you yield yourself servant to obey, his servant you are to whom you obey. Romans 6:16) When men reject the voice of God with its real-time judgment, they reduce God to something smaller than man. The first step in losing Him is rejecting His Word. God’s judgment can often make us angry because we see our own cause through eyes of the flesh. The flesh does not want any king but self.
When God raised up Moses to represent Himself, the first thing that the people said was, “Who made you a judge and ruler over us?”
Acts 7:27 (KJV) But he that did his neighbor wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Wilt thou kill me, as thou did the Egyptian yesterday? 29 Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Midian, where he begat two sons. 30 And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. 31 When Moses saw [it], he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold [it], the voice of the Lord came unto him, 32 Saying, I [am] the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold. 33 Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground. 34 I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt. 35 This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? The same did God send [to be] a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush. 36 He brought them out, after that he had chewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years. This is which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God 37 This is that Moses, who said up unto you of your brethren, like unto me: him shall ye hear.
Notice, the man whom God chose to be a judge was rejected before he ever made a judgment! Look also at verse 37; this explains the transition from the relying on God’s voice to relying on man.
Deuteronomy 18:15 (KJV) The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; 16 According to all that thou desirest of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. 17 And the LORD said unto me, They have well [spoken that] which they have spoken. 18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. 19 And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require [it] of him. 20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. 21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken? 22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that [is] the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, [but] the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
God gave His people what they asked for: “Don’t let us hear His voice or see His great fire anymore that we die not.” The very way for us to die to self is to hear God’s voice and see His fire! Do you see what prompted this request? Fear! Seeing how great God is produced fear in these people. We need the fear of God to return. Part of the will of God is for us to see Him as He is. When John saw Jesus on the Isle of Patmos, he was afraid, and then God raised him up and took away his fear.
THE VOICE OF GOD THROUGH THE PROPHETS
In this story, we see that the first step in reducing God was set in place. The second step in rejecting God was also in place. Jesus, the priests said, was just a man who made Himself equal with God. The man, this man, only a man — the stumbling block and rock of offense. Jesus is the man who has a name written that no man knows but He Himself, and His name is called the Word of God. (Revelation 19:13)
Revelation 22:6 (KJV) And he said unto me, These sayings [are] faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. 7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed [is] he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. 8 And I John saw these things, and heard [them]. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. 9 Then saith he unto me, See [thou do it] not: for I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God. 10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. 11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. 12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward [is] with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
John would never have bowed at the feet of an angel! This was a prophet! As such, John knew he was hearing the voice of Jesus, so he bowed.
Acts 13:27 (KJV) For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled [them] in condemning [him].
They did not know God and they did not know the voices of the prophets. They did not know the voices of the prophets? The voices of the prophets are the voice of God. If you know the voice of God, would you not recognize that it is God no matter who is speaking?
After a time of punishment and dryness, where God was bringing about the people’s return to Himself, there was a difference in the hearing. Look at these verses:
Zech 8:9 (KJV) Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which [were] in the day [that] the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. 10 For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither [was there any] peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbor. 11 But now I [will] not [be] unto the residue of this people as in the former days, saith the LORD of hosts. 12 For the seed [shall be] prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these [things]. 13 And it shall come to pass, [that] as ye were a curse among the heathen, 0 house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, [but] let your hands be strong. 14 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the LORD of hosts, and I repented not: 15 So again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not. 16 These [are] the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbor; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates: 17 And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbor; and love no false oath: all these [are things] that I hate, saith the LORD.
What power God exhibited through the men He called as prophets! When men heard the word of God through the prophets, great things were accomplished. However, more often than not, they rejected the voice of God, using the excuse that it was not God but the words of just the man. When men rejected the higher plane of the Spirit for the lower plane of God’s voice coming through man, they opened up the door to false prophets. Once they left the personal relationship of the Spirit they were reduced to the temporary and external, and they were content for the most part with things that way. God had chosen to reveal Himself through His voice and His Word — two witnesses to manifest not only His glory but also His will and His ways. In the transfer from the spiritual to the temporal, the priests sent by God excluded Him and exalted their office. Rejecting the voice of God in His servants the prophets became the way of life in Israel, and completed the second step man takes when he rejects God.
Read Matthew 23:31-39 and Luke1:68-80
RESTORING THE JUDGES
Read with me from Isaiah 1:21-27. How has the faithful city become a harlot? What is the remedy? He will restore her judges. The Book of Judges gives us God’s view of the problem and God’s solution to it. I want to use one illustration that sums up so many of the things we are talking about.
Judges 17:6 (KJV) In those days [there was] no king in Israel, [but] every man did [that which was] right in his own eyes. 7 And there was a young man out of Bethlehem Judah of the family of Judah, who [was] a Levite, and he sojourned there. 8 And the man departed out of the city from Bethlehem Judah to sojourn where he could find [a place]: and he came to mount Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed. 9 And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto him, I [am] a Levite of Bethlehem Judah, and I go to sojourn where I may find [a place]. 10 And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten [shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in 11 And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was unto him as one of his sons. 12 And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. 13 Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to [my] priest.
18:1 In those days [there was] no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day [all their] inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel. 2 And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there. 3 When they [were] by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite: and they turned in thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this [place]? and what hast thou here? 4 And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me. and hath hired me, and I am his priest. 5 And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.
What we see here is a priest whose calling was for sale, using his office for personal gain. This life full of falsehood could only exist without a judge. This deceptive situation needed a judge, yet every man in the story knew better than to do these things. The Ten Commandments judged every action and should have brought repentance. A Levite, a graven image, a molten image, an ephod — this man had all the things that impress the flesh and he was from the tribe called by God to do the work of the ministry.
We cannot become separated from the ministries that God has sent to bring us to perfection. Jesus told us to judge ministries by their fruit. The Apostle Paul said, “I’ve told you the truth. Do not let anyone change what you have been taught already. Even if I come back and tell you that what I said before is wrong or if an angel from heaven tells you something different, don’t receive it!”
In Ephesians chapter 4, Paul talked about the duty of the church, the obligations of the people and the ministries ordained by God. God gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, pastors, and teachers. For today? Yes, for today. They are for the perfecting of the Holy Ones. The saints are already holy, but not yet brought to perfection. In Galatians 4:7-20, we see something more of the truth about ministry. Verse 16 says: Am I become your enemy because I tell you the truth? Verse 19 says: My little children of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you. We have an adversary who knows that if we get angry enough, the man of God seems like our enemy. The parental ministry only can travail until Christ is formed in the people of God.
Losing God starts with shrinking God. It starts by rejecting His voice and accepting another voice — our own or any other voice except that voice ordained by God for our benefit. Down the road the flesh will take us, leadership gives power to all the emotions: fear, frustration, anger, jealousy, hatred. The flesh can make anyone its priest, even our self. The outcome is the missing voice, the missing God.
The church of Jesus Christ today is at just such a juncture. Before us is a choice: find a place of surrender to God or a place of hiding from God. Before us is the will of God or our own will. Saul of Tarsus is a perfect example to us of victory. Guilty of treason against the very kingdom he sought to defend and confronted by Jesus, like Adam, he submitted to the judgment of that voice, admitted his terrible crimes, and surrendered for the rest of his life to the sentence handed down to him by God. This man returned to the reality of God, who talks in real time to those who hear His voice.
