The God Who Speaks

According to Genesis 1, God spoke the universe into existence emphasizing God's power and authority—the God who speaks and it came to be! Psalm 33:6-9 confirms and magnifies this truth: “By the Word of the LORD the heavens were made. And the breath of His mouth all their host. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deep in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done. He commanded and it stood fast.” God spoke everything into existence from nothing! Hebrews 11:3 states, "By faith we understand that the universe was framed by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible." God communicated with Adam and Eve in the Garden; God spoke to the fathers, the prophets and others in the Old Testament; God spoke through His Son, through whom the world was made and who is heir of all things in the New Testament and He continues to speak in various ways in these last days. The Old Testament anticipates the significance of Christ in the New Testament. Both the Old and New Testaments are breathed out by God and are essential for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. (2 Tim. 3:16) God who created all by the power of His command is the same God we serve today—the same Jesus Christ, who is God, and is the assurance to believers that we can rely on His promises and character regardless of the changing circumstances in the world. (Hebrews 13: 8) When God speaks, everything changes—except Him. God is still at work in His creation and in His church, guiding it to His intended end.

God Speaks Directly to People:

In the Old Testament, God is reported to have spoken directly to individuals multiple times. According to a study on God's communication in the Bible, there are about 476 instances where God speaks directly to a person or people in the Old Testament. These are some of the accounts when God spoke directly to people: As we mentioned before, God spoke to Adam and Eve in the Garden each day teaching them His ways until their disobedience required that they leave the Garden in judgment (Genesis 1:2, 2: 15-17, 3: 9-19). God spoke to Noah and his sons giving them His instructions for building the Ark and saving a remnant of His creation for a new beginning (Gen 6:13-21, 7:1-4, 8:15-17, 9:1-17). God called Abraham as His Divine instrument in Genesis 12: 1-3 and continually spoke to him on his journey to the Promised land. In the Book of Job, we have the record of God speaking to Satan and angels on the Divine Council and with Job and his friends. Jacob had a Divine visitation from the LORD in Genesis 28: 13-15 when the ladder extended from heaven. We all remember the appearance of the LORD to Moses in a burning bush when God identified Himself as “I AM WHO I AM” in Exodus 3: 14. God appeared and spoke to His beloved and anointed David on many occasions in the Books of 1 and 2 Samuel. In 1 Kings 3: 5-15 we have the account of God granting Solomon’s request for wisdom and the promise to him of both wisdom and riches. Elijah was one of God’s chosen prophets that He spoke directly to on many occasions in 1 and 2 Kings until he was taken up into heaven in a chariot of fire. God spoke directly to Isaiah many times in 2 Kings and then in the Book of Isaiah as the greatest of the writing prophets. God spoke to him about the eternal counsels of God, the creation of the universe and forward to the time when He will create new heavens and a new earth. God spoke these words to Isaiah in 55:11 “So is My Word that goes out from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” The story of Jonah is very familiar to us as God gave him a divine command to go witness to Nineveh and by his rebellion ended in the belly of a whale. The prophet Hosea played out an allegory through his adulterous marriage God commanded as a picture of God’s experience with Israel. In the Book of Zechariah God gave him commands, visions and prophecies about Israel and Christ’s second coming.

God Speaks Through Natural Phenomena:

God is not confined to a single manner of communicating with His people. In Job 38:1 He communicated through a whirlwind. He announced His presence by an earthquake in Exodus 19:18. He spoke in a voice that sounded like thunder in I Samuel 2: 10; Job 37:2; Psalm 104:7; John 12: 29. In Psalm 77: 18 His voice is compared to both thunder and a whirlwind. In Deuteronomy 5: 22, 24-26 His voice was heard in the fire and a cloud. And in Revelation 4:5, we’re told that lightning and thunder proceed from the throne in heaven. “And out of the throne proceeding lightnings and thunderings and voices; and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.”

God Speaks Through His Son, the Lord Jesus:

The writer to the Hebrews opens his letter with this truth: “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom He created the world.” (Hebrews 1: 1-2) Paul wrote this about Jesus in Colossians 1: 17-20 “He exists before everything, and in Him all holds together. He is the head of the body, His Church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead—so that He might come to have first place in all things. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, making peace through the blood of His cross—whether things on earth or things in heaven!”

The voice of Jesus is the same voice that created all things. The Pharisees who challenged Jesus claimed that He did not have the evidence or authority to support His claims. (John 8: 13) Jesus had been pointing to various proofs—“I can do nothing on My own. Just as I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, for I do not seek My own will, but the will of the One who sent Me.” (John 5: 30) In doing so, Jesus also noted that His words were those of God the Father Himself. He reminded them in the Law that the testimony of two men is true. Then He said in 8: 18 “I am one witness for Myself and the Father who sent Me bears witness for Me.” He was pointing out that the words He said were a part of God’s will and God’s plan for the One He sent so Jesus said “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know who I am. I do nothing by Myself, but speak just what the Father has taught Me. The One who sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to Him.” (Jn. 8: 28-29) To reject Jesus was to reject God. (Jn. 12: 44-48) There is only one way for mankind to be saved, and that is through belief in God the Son. (Jn. 3: 16)

Jesus made it clear to the disciples and to believers today in John 14: (1) I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. (2) The Father dwells in Me and does His works. (3) He who puts his trust in Me, the works that I do, he will do and greater than these he will do because I am going to the Father. (4) If you ask Me, anything in My Name, I will do it. (5) I will ask the Father and He will give you a Helper so He may be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. (6) He will abide with you and in you. Shortly before He ascended into heaven it essentially outlines what Jesus expected the apostles and those who followed them to do in His absence.

God Speaks Through the Writers of the New Testament and Apostles:

We are doing a Bible study on the Acts of the Holy Spirit that reveals that Christians understand the voice of God to be the activity of the Holy Spirit. The rest of the New Testament scriptures tell how this unfolds—the Spirit speaks to give direction for the church, preparations and instructions for caring out the Great Commission according to Matthew 28: 18-20: “And Jesus came up to them and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember ! I am with you always, even unto the end of the age.” Acts 1:8 is a part of the Great Commission as well: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The Great Commission is enabled by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are to be Christ’s witnesses—His voice to others—Christ within us! Every born again believer is in constant communication with Him through His Holy Spirit.

God Still Speaks Through His Spirit Within Us:

In Colossians 1: 27 we read that we as believers have Christ within us—His Holy Spirit that is our blessed hope now and in heaven! The Holy Spirit equips each born-again believer with a particular gifting for His purposes. Ephesians 4: 11-13 says “So Christ Himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip His people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” The Holy Spirit is at work in our life—the God whose word brought the world into existence is for me. (Rom. 8: 31) Whatever He calls us to do, His power that is at work in our life and is sufficient to see it done. (Eph. 1: 19) No challenge we may face is too difficult for Him. And because of that, we can echo the words of Paul: “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.” (2 Tim. 1: 12b)

God’s Word and the unction of the Holy Spirit in our hearts is what guides us—God is still speaking today! Throughout our lives, God will speak changes He wants to make. He will guide us to see things in a new way or follow a new path. When we hear Jesus speak in Scripture, in our hearts and souls, and through our dreams and prayers, we are hearing the same voice that will one day call us home to heaven. In the Book of Revelation, Jesus addresses each of the seven churches with specific messages, ending each letter with the phrase “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” This phrase emphasizes the importance of listening attentively to the spiritual guidance of the Holy Spirit and not only hearing but also heeding and fully surrendering to His voice. If we learn to listen to the voice of Jesus in our lives today, His voice will be easy to recognize on the day Jesus returns!

God, amplify Your voice to the Church that we will truly hear You speak—increase our hearing and the manifestation of Your Spirit throughout Your Body. Speak to people who have never heard you and bring in a harvest of souls! “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh.” (Acts 2: 17)