Don't Let God Talk to Us!

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In my quiet time with God, I usually begin by reading a chapter from the Old Testament. Before I start reading, I always try to remember to pray that God would speak to me through His Word, whatever message He has for me for that day.

A few weeks ago, as I prepared to read, I knew I would be in Exodus 20, where Moses and the people receive the Ten Commandments from God at Mount Sinai. So when I talked to God that morning, I told Him that I really expected to focus on His commandments, but if that wasn’t the passage He wanted me to hone in on, would He please help me recognize what He wanted me to see instead? As I read through the Ten Commandments, I was reminded how relevant they still are today – though they are not considered so by most of the world. But as I read on, I noticed something else:

All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. Then they said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself, and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die.” (Exodus 20:18-19)

Are you willing to listen?

Did you see what I saw? The people did not want God to speak to them! They wanted the go-between, Moses, to just tell them God’s message, because they thought they would die if God spoke to them Himself.

And yet … we wonder why the Israelites wandered in the wilderness and how people can listen to false teachers.

As I read the familiar and not-so-familiar words of Exodus 20, here are a couple of things that struck me:

God has given us His Word so that we can hear what He has to say to us. (I know that seems like a “Well, duh!” statement, but bear with me.) If we are willing to hear Him and surrender to Him, God will reveal Himself and His message to us through His Word – sometimes in more general terms that apply to all of His people, and at other times, His words connect with an individual in a very specific and personal way. But whatever the case, He will speak through His Word.

That doesn’t mean God cannot or does not speak through wise pastors, teachers, and other godly counselors. But we must listen to them with an ear of understanding, making sure that what they say aligns with God’s Word – that they are “accurately handling the word of truth,” as 2 Timothy 2:15 instructs believers to do. If that person’s counsel deviates from what God has already revealed in His Word, then His Word is what we must stand on – not another human’s re-interpretation of it.

The Israelites said they were afraid they would die if they listened to God. Exodus 19:10-25 reveals that they had been given specific instructions about how to prepare for God to come down to the mountain – that they were to wash themselves and be consecrated for this event. They were also told not to allow any person or any animal to touch the mountain while God’s presence was there, or they would die. But they took it a step further and did not want to even hear His words for fear He would kill them, which was not at all what He had said!

Is it just me, or does that reasoning sound vaguely familiar?

The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17)

The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” (Genesis 3:2-3, emphasis mine)

What is it with humans? Do we think God’s words are not dramatic enough on their own and need a little assistance to give them more effect? (Here’s a clue: They don’t!)

Are you willing to obey?

As I was reading in Exodus, it called to mind some words that Jesus spoke many years later:

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”(Matthew 16:24-26)

I think that today, we often hesitate to listen to God for the same reason as those ancient Israelites – not that we think we would literally die just by listening. But in the 21st-century American-church mindset, we think that if we actually listen to God, we will find out what He requires of us … and if we know what He requires of us, then we will be expected to obey it … and if we have to follow God’s rules, we will just die! (Think “melodramatic young person who has just been grounded for a week from a cellphone, video game, or $10 loaded teas.”)

However, truth be told, if we follow Christ, we will:

· Die to our desires

· Die to our excuses

· Die to our plans

And if we live long enough, and Jesus doesn’t return before then, we may be required to give our lives in service to Him – maybe even just for reading His Word. Many have done so through the centuries … many across the world are doing so as I type this. Is God’s Word worth that to you? If that was the kind of price you would have to pay to know what God said, would you be willing to listen?

Pray for those who don’t have the “easy Christianity” we have in America. Voice of the Martyrs has set November 1 as their International Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians, and you can find testimonies and resources on their website.

Of course, we don’t have to wait until November to pray for our brothers and sisters living under persecution. Let’s remember them each time we pick up our favorite Bible – most of us probably have at least three. Even better (and likely far more often), let’s pray for them each time we pick up our cellphones, a fancy cup of coffee, or the TV remote. It doesn’t have to be a 10-minute recitation. Just remember them and ask God to give them strength for whatever their day may hold. Then thank God for giving us His Word. Let’s determine to read it often and with a heart that longs to hear Him speak … a heart willing to obey.

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