Follow The Voice

Loving God by Hearing and Obeying His Voice

By: Richard W. Greene

In Deuteronomy 4, Moses spoke to the children of Israel who were about to go into and conquer the land God had promised to their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.His message included the command to “Live and go in and take possession of the land,” and a reminder that God had revealed Himself to them with no outward visible forms, but only with His voice. That is a main theme in the book of Deuteronomy, to “Follow the voice of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 4, 5:25, 8:20, 13:18, 15:5, 18:16, and 26:14).

As we study the voice of the Lord let us note some basic truths:

God speaks!

The first recorded act of God was to speak (Genesis 1:3).

God created by speaking all things into existence (Psalms 33:6).

God acts by speaking!

The voice of God has the power and life force of God.

God had fellowship with man through His voice (Genesis 3:8).

God’s voice is the means by which we have fellowship with Him and one another.

God relates to us through His voice; therefore, we must relate to God through His voice.

The power and authority of God is not in outward forms or systems, but in the intimacy of His voice (Deuteronomy 4:12).

To have access to that power and authority, we must have access to God’s voice, which is the spoken word (Matthew 4:4).

God’s voice and God’s word are one and the same (Isaiah 55:11).

God’s voice is His revealed word. The revealed word is the word that has been heard (Romans 10:17).

The revealed word comes only through the power and work of the Holy Spirit (John 6:63; 1 Corinthians 2:10).

In Joshua 5:6, it says the children of Israel perished in the wilderness because they did not “listen to the voice of the Lord.”

1 Samuel 15:22 “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord?”

Psalms 29:3-9 “The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the glory of the Lord thunders, the Lord is over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; yes, the voice of the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. The voice of the Lord hews out flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness.”

Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”

John 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”

John 5:24-25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment but has passed out of death into life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.”

John 8:43, 47 “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hearMy word… He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason, you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”

John 10:1-5 “Truly, truly, I say to you, … he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out … the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”

John 10:16 “I have other sheep which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.”

John 10:27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with Me.”

Jesus made it clear that those who are of God hear His voice. I pray that you will set aside the outward forms of Christianity, which so often deny “the power of godliness” (2 Timothy 3:5) and turn our attention away from His voice and His word, and fix your heart on hearing and obeying the voice of the Lord. It is through God’s voice that you will have and enjoy intimate fellowship with Him.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®️, Copyright ©️ 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org