the voice behind the Word

The Word for today:

Exodus 19, 20

mark this:  Exodus 20:2-3

"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.  You shall have no other gods before me." 

I don't often wonder what God looks like.  What I really need to know is what he sounds like.

The Word of God in paper form seldom indicates tone of voice.  Other than the surrounding context, we are left to guess whether a word is said matter-of-factly, or ironically, or wistfully, or regretfully, or…

But those who believe in Jesus can discern his actual voice: 

And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.   (John 10:4)

The Old Testament uses a figure of speech to convey the same principle. Believers, we are told, have a blood-tipped ear (1)--an ear that is tuned in to the wavelength of the Holy Spirit.  The blood-tipped ear "hears" the voice behind the words, while the unbeliever only sees the printed text:

 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.   (1Corinthians 2:14)

A good example of how the blood-tipped ear hears God's tone of voice is found in the First Commandment.  The First Commandment is actually found in various places in your Bible.  It is first pronounced in Exodus:
"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.  You shall have no other gods before me."  (Exodus 20:2-3)

Jesus pronounces it in the gospel of John:

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)

The Holy Spirit (speaking through Peter) pronounces it in Acts:

"There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)

The natural eye reads the First Commandment as narrow, restrictive, and exclusive. But the blood-tipped ear will come to hear those same words sound like this:

"Follow me, keep your eyes on me.  I know the way out of here.  But if you lose sight of me, if you lose track of me, you won't get out alive." (2)

It's a miracle!  The blood-tipped ear hears love in the law.  It's the "audio" equivalent of turning water into wine.

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(1) Exodus 29:20: (2) Cf. Genesis 19:17 and 2 Chronicles 20:12.