Yesterday we concluded all but the final verse of Numbers 7 which appears to begin a new section that goes with Numbers 8.
"When Moses entered the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim above the atonement cover on the ark of the covenant law. In this way the Lord spoke to him." (Numbers 7:89) Previously the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai. Now that the tabernacle has been set up and dedicated, Moses goes inside to consult with the Lord. Our text seems to indicate that the Lord communed with Moses by using an audible voice.
This is not the only passage in the Old Testament which suggests the Lord spoke this way to human beings in the days of old. In Genesis we learned that the Lord was in the habit of walking in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day and communing with Adam. We find the Lord calling Abraham out of the pagan city of Ur and then making him many promises during his lifetime regarding his descendants and the promised land. We find the Lord giving direction to men like Isaac and Jacob. We see from our text today that He spoke audibly to Moses, plus earlier in the Bible He spoke audibly to the entire congregation of Israel when they were assembled at the foot of Mount Sinai. Later in the Old Testament, when the Lord places a prophetic calling upon the life of Samuel, the young Samuel keeps being woken out of slumber thinking he hears a voice calling his name.
In the New Testament we find God speaking audibly in the presence of the crowd by the river when Jesus was baptized. He also spoke audibly in the presence of three of the disciples at what is called the "transfiguration" when Jesus was on a mountain with Peter, James, and John and His appearance changed in a glorious way that gave these men a glimpse (as much of a glimpse as they could stand) of His true power and radiance.
Does God speak audibly today? Well, He certainly could if He wanted to, but these speaking occasions became farther and farther apart in the Old Testament as He called men to be prophets to speak to Israel on His behalf and as more and more of the Scriptures began to be written down. In New Testament times (and in the current church age) believers in Christ are literally indwelt by the Holy Spirit who speaks to us in addition to us having the word of God to consult. If the Lord needed to speak audibly in our times then I believe He could and would, but in our day each of us who belongs to the Lord has the ability to come to Him directly in prayer to seek His will, and each of us has access to the Bible and the actual words of Jesus Christ which we are to read in a prayerful and obedient attitude, and each of us has the Holy Spirit to whom we should yield ourselves for instruction. The Lord has spoken to human beings using a variety of methods over the ages. He used whichever method was needed for the time period and whichever method was most suitable for the instruction of the person or persons with whom He was communing. But these days He speaks to us primarily through God the Son whom He sent into the world at the proper time to carry out His plan of salvation. "In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom also He made the universe." (Hebrews 1:1-2)
The Lord Jesus Christ communicates with us through His word and also through the Holy Spirit. Jesus told the disciples that the words God the Holy Spirit speaks come directly from Him---God the Son. "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify Me because it is from Me that He will receive what He will make known to You." (John 16:13-14) The Holy Spirit speaks to man what the Lord Jesus tells Him to speak to man. This is how we know we can trust the guidance of the Holy Spirit. He doesn't work independently. He doesn't offer us a mere opinion. He provides us with the truth---the truth He receives from the Lord Jesus Christ.
God the Father is also included in this passage from John 16 and we see the Holy Trinity working together to help us live godly victorious lives, for Jesus says, "All that belongs to the Father is Mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from Me what He will make known to you." (John 16:15) In the Old Testament we find man's instructions coming directly from God, either by audible voice or by the prophets He called. God the Son doesn't say anything that God the Father wouldn't say, and God the Holy Spirit doesn't say anything God the Son wouldn't say. So it's clear that we must take the Bible as a whole to understand what the Lord wants to say to us. We must look at the things God the Father said in the Old Testament. We must study the words of God the Son in the gospels. We must take to heart the things the Holy Spirit said to the apostles in the New Testament. And we must submit ourselves to what the Holy Spirit says to our own hearts.
God is still speaking to man. All the way back in the beginning, when He first formed man on the earth, He was speaking to him. He will keep on speaking to man through the end times. And then, when the Lord Jesus Christ sits enthroned on the earth as the eternal King of kings and Lord of lords, we will forever behold His face and hear His voice. This is the glorious future He promises to those who believe on His name: "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and will be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Revelation 21:3b-4)
No comments:
Post a Comment