Do You Want to Hear God's Voice?
by Skip Heitzig |The meteorological phenomena that took place at Mount Sinai in Exodus 19 would've been quite the sight to see. Imagine what it must have been like for the Israelites at the foot of that mountain as God was giving them His law.
We read that "there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled" (v. 16). The Bible goes on to say that "Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly" (v. 18). Had you been there, Mount Sinai would have looked like a burgeoning volcano.
All these phenomena were a demonstration of God's perfect, holy, powerful character. God did not let the children of Israel see Him (see Exodus 33:20). Rather, He spoke His will and His words to Moses, who then delivered them to the children of Israel.
Now, God's revelation here was very dramatic. But you shouldn't look to this as the model of how God speaks. Maybe you're thinking, Yeah, this is awesome to read about. But God's never bent down to me and said, "Hey, this is God." Guess what? I've never had an experience like that either.
More often than not, God will speak to you like He did to Elijah. Elijah expected some miraculous, earth-shattering, fire-filled experience, but instead he heard God speak in a "still small voice" (1 Kings 19:12). You'll most likely hear God speak to you in and through His Word in the same way.
In fact, this is one of the big differences between Judaism and Christianity. Judaism is all about the precepts and principles of Moses. But Christianity says it's no longer about those precepts and principles--it's about the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. The focus is no longer on the law given at Mount Sinai but on the work of Jesus on the cross (see Hebrews 12:18-24).
And it's through His Son that God now primarily speaks. As Hebrews 1 says, "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things" (vv. 1-2).
Take a moment today to thank the Lord that because of Jesus, you can "come boldly to the throne of grace" (Hebrews 4:16), confident that He has spoken through His Son and that He will speak to you now in that still small voice.
We read that "there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled" (v. 16). The Bible goes on to say that "Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly" (v. 18). Had you been there, Mount Sinai would have looked like a burgeoning volcano.
All these phenomena were a demonstration of God's perfect, holy, powerful character. God did not let the children of Israel see Him (see Exodus 33:20). Rather, He spoke His will and His words to Moses, who then delivered them to the children of Israel.
Now, God's revelation here was very dramatic. But you shouldn't look to this as the model of how God speaks. Maybe you're thinking, Yeah, this is awesome to read about. But God's never bent down to me and said, "Hey, this is God." Guess what? I've never had an experience like that either.
More often than not, God will speak to you like He did to Elijah. Elijah expected some miraculous, earth-shattering, fire-filled experience, but instead he heard God speak in a "still small voice" (1 Kings 19:12). You'll most likely hear God speak to you in and through His Word in the same way.
In fact, this is one of the big differences between Judaism and Christianity. Judaism is all about the precepts and principles of Moses. But Christianity says it's no longer about those precepts and principles--it's about the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. The focus is no longer on the law given at Mount Sinai but on the work of Jesus on the cross (see Hebrews 12:18-24).
And it's through His Son that God now primarily speaks. As Hebrews 1 says, "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things" (vv. 1-2).
Take a moment today to thank the Lord that because of Jesus, you can "come boldly to the throne of grace" (Hebrews 4:16), confident that He has spoken through His Son and that He will speak to you now in that still small voice.
In His strong love,
Skip Heitzig
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