and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”
Exodus 20:19 (ESV)
Question: What is worse than not being able to hear G-d?
Answer: Being able to hear G-d clearly and rejecting what He has to say.
You will read this a hundered different times in the average evanglical Sunday School classroom, and still it is possible to miss G-d’s heart for His people.
G-d clearly spoke, and the people of Israel clearly heard His voice. The problem here is that they did not want to hear His voice anymore.
The commands could have been too harsh-sounding to them, they could have imposed to much on the independent spirit of this Giver nation that liked to be in control, or they could have just thought, great, another master, and we have just gotten over our PTSD.
Whatever the issue, they basically told G-d to stop speaking to them.
And that is heartbreaking.
It is heartbreaking for the Father of Lights, to have created His people, and for His people to say, “we do not want this thing called relationship with You. Moses, the Exhorter, is much more user-friendly and approachable. He is easier to grumble against (Ex 15:24, 16:2, 17:3). We will speak with him.”
But the moment they stop wanting to hear the L-rd’s voice, out of a religious spirit, which is part of the Giver DNA, then trouble begins to happen, and it culminates for this same people in Numbers 13, where they reject the command of G-d to enter the Promised Land.
And my question for us today is, “have you rejected hearing His voice recently?”
In keeping with the spirit of Chanukah, have you rejected the deep voice of G-d? Have you chosen the shallow, partial, incomplete, and familiar voice of what you think is the fullness of His voice instead of hunting for the complete fullness is? You spirit knows when you have rejected that voice in some season or matter.
If so, I am being G-d’s prophet and exhorting you to repent, renounce your covenant with the Spirit of Deafness, and with Darkness, and come back into the light so you can do business with G-d. Not with religion, not with denomination. Your Father. He has things He wants to speak to you. Some of those things are fun. Some of those things are joyous. And some of those things are hard and sobering.
But He does want to speak to you, dearly beloved.
And now, I have some repenting to do…
The alternative is the Canaanite Iron Bowl, a structure that enforces your inability to hear G-d in not only the areas where you have rejected Him, but also in the areas where you want to hear Him.
Some of y’all have flat rejected His counsel concerning relationships. He has given some of y’all free will when it comes to a relationship and has told some of y’all, “You will be blessed if you move into this relationship, but I am not forcing you into this relationship. You are not required to have this relationship. But if you want it, I a completely fine with it.”
Some of y’all are so gung-ho about “obeying G-d” and wanting to know “the will of G-d”, that you cannot fathom the idea of G-d treating you like a son and giving you free will in a matter.
And you need to get used to the fact of not only being able to hear and accept the command of G-d, but also the times when G-d gives you a choice that he will bless, either way you go.
Some of you need to quit assuming that G-d’s a binary “yes and no” machine only, and need to get into, nay, dive into, and dig into, the G-d Who Gives Us Real Choices.
Discern when G-d has something clear to say for you to obey, versus when G-d has a choice for you to make and really is okay with the choice you make.
AND WHILE WE ARE AT IT…ESCAPING THE SNAKES DEN
And while I am at it, let me jump on the concept of Lauren Daigle briefly, and remind the church of something.
It was not a failure on her part, what she said about homosexuality being a sin.
Here is what it was, gang.
She was avoiding the trap of a snakes’ den.
Oh, I am sorry that offends some of y’all.
Unfortunately, some followers of Christ are so rabid for every public figure to denounce this or that sin, that our idolatry when it comes to holding one sin above all others for examination has kept us from the place of “being wise as a serpent”.
Daigle did just that.
Some of the church needs to get a freaking grip.
Some times, we need to recognize when the culture is setting us up for a trap, and ignore the trap.
Sometimes, we need to avoid some conversations, because there is bait involved.
The church in some places, has royally sucked at not taking the bait.
And it is our job to learn which unfruitful conversations to avoid.
Let me close with my paraphase of some of Paul’s final words to Timothy.
Avoid idiotic arguments that lead to more jackassery.
Gang, enough of our putting pearls out there before swine.
And good on Daigle for following Paul’s advice letter-perfect, and for increasing in Matthew 10:16 authority.
More of us would do well to emulate that principle.
Instead of wasting our time making rushing to worship at the altar of denouncing every sin.
Go right ahead if that (stoning believers without pondering their motives) is how you want to spend your time on earth.
But that will not build a lasting ministry in this Mercy season.
ἄφες τοὺς νεκροὺς θάψαι τοὺς ἑαυτῶν νεκρούς.
For those that cannot read the above text, here is some help.
νεκροὺς (necrous) means “dead” and θάψαι (thapsai) means “I bury”.
Sometimes we need to quit arranging funerals. We are living, gang. And some wish to go on acting like they are dead.
As usual David, a great word without even a hint of ambiguity.
As a RGProphet, I would not have gone into the snake’s den (national television) to even discuss such a topic. But hats off to Lauren, who chose to walk the fine line gracefully. And to you David, for reminding us of the grace required to do such a thing!