The Eyes and Ears of God

 

II Chronicles 7:11 Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king's house. All that Solomon had planned to do in the house of the Lord and in his own house he successfully accomplished. 12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. 13 When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. 16 For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time.

God sees and He hears.  We have seen that theme for the last several weeks. There are some places and situations where we see that more intensely. Here at the dedication of the temple was one of those times and places.  God hears; He chooses; He acts.  And He will continue to hear, listening for us to call out to Him as Solomon did.  This classic promise in verse 14 is founded upon the fact that God does hear us and pay attention to us. Always has; always will.  Do you believe this? If so, act accordingly. 

Humility Helps Hearing...

 II Kings 22:16 Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. 17 Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. 18 But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, 19 because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the Lord, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. 20 Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.’” 

As we have seen the last few days, Hezekiah was a king who mostly sought God, crying out to Him for mercy and forgiveness, and God heard him. This chapter concerns Josiah, the young reformist who also brought himself and his people humbly before God.  There is definitely a connection, as these reformer kings to whom God said: "I have heard you," and to whom He also promised to hold off judgment until after their times as king.  There are many more evil kings who did not humble themselves and were not heard.

God Hears Hezekiah Again!

 

II Kings 20:1 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.’” 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, 3 “Now, O Lord, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. 4 And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: 5 “Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord, 6 and I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David's sake.” 

It is interesting that three times in a row our passages on God hearing have to do with the life and reign of King Hezekiah.  The ultimate outcome of this account is highly debated: "Would it have been better for the kingdom if Hezekiah had died at that point?" That's one of those questions for heaven, but this was not all about Hezekiah.  The prophesy of his healing is also tied into God's promise to deliver the nation from Assyria.  By healing Hezekiah, God confirmed the greater promise, increasing the faith not only of him, but the whole nation.  God's hearing and acting can be contagious. We need to ask, trust, and tell others when and how He has heard our cries.

God Has Heard... Have You?

 II Kings 19:20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Your prayer to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. 21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him:
“She despises you, she scorns you—
    the virgin daughter of Zion;
she wags her head behind you—
    the daughter of Jerusalem.
22 “Whom have you mocked and reviled?
    Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes to the heights?
    Against the Holy One of Israel!...

Yesterday we looked at Isaiah's response to Hezekiah that God had indeed heard the mocking of the king of Assyria toward Israel and their God.  Now, Isaiah reassures Hezekiah that God has heard and is going to act by telling him the message God is now sending to the Assyrians:

25 “Have you not heard

    that I determined it long ago?

God goes on to say, through Isaiah, that all the lands and peoples the Assyrians had been taking were allowed by God - that they were merely pawns in His hands.  But now that they were mocking the God who allowed them such victories, the tide was going to turn on them.  God hears all. Do you hear Him?

Maybe God Hears???

II Kings 19:1 As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord. 2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. 4 It may be that the Lord your God heard all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.” 5 When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled me.

King Hezekiah has just heard the intentions of the Assyrians to turn their siege of Jerusalem and Judea into a total annihilation of his people.  He has also heard the report that the Assyrian spokesperson had mocked God in the process.  His plea was for Isaiah to intercede on the behalf of his people - that perhaps - it may be, that God overheard.  Isaiah reassures King Hezekiah that God indeed heard and was going to do something about it.  How often do we think this way - that maybe God has heard. He has heard all right, and calls on us to believe He hears all that is going on, and call on Him ourselves to move His hand.

God Hears, Sees, and Cares

 I Kings 9: 3 And the Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. 4 And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, 5 then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’

Solomon had called out to God for His blessing on both His palace and the Temple of the Lord. He wanted God to use what he built for His glory.  When God communicates with us, He makes promises He keeps. We have already seen that God hears and sees.  Here He tells Solomon He also puts His heart where He hears and sees: He really cares about His people.  It's so basic, but we often forget the simplest things: God hears; He sees; He cares; He can do something about it. May we trust in the full character of God. 

The Song of God Hearing

 II Samuel 23:2“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
3     my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation,
    my stronghold and my refuge,
    my savior; you save me from violence.
4 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
    and I am saved from my enemies.
5 “For the waves of death encompassed me,
    the torrents of destruction assailed me;
6 the cords of Sheol entangled me;
    the snares of death confronted me.
7 “In my distress I called upon the Lord;
    to my God I called.
From his temple he heard my voice,
    and my cry came to his ears.

This Song of David is also found in Psalm 18.  Here it is in its historical context, as verse 1 says, David sang it on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. For years David had cried out to God, be it from his heart, in a cave, or through the priest with the Ephod, seeking wisdom how to proceed with persecution from the hand of Saul on one side and from the Philistines on the other. At every point, with every decision, God heard and answered.  He does the same for us, if we will only call upon Him.

 I Samuel 23:7 Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, “God has given him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” 8 And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. 9 David knew that Saul was plotting harm against him. And he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” 10 Then David said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account. 11 Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O Lord, the God of Israel, please tell your servant.” And the Lord said, “He will come down.”

In Old Testament Isreal, God made ways for communication to take place between Him and His people. One such way was through the priest using this special ephod.  This was especially used when the answer to a question would affect the whole nation. David knew this and sought an answer to a pressing question: "Was Saul's intention to come fight his fellow countrymen and destroy David and his faithful fighting men?" God answered clearly.  David knew what he needed to do: promptly withdraw.  Sometimes we just need to ask God out questions clearly and concisely.  He will answer clearly as well, showing He has heard. 

Because God Hears Us

Deuteronomy 26: 5 “And you shall make response before the Lord your God, ‘A wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. 6 And the Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labor. 7 Then we cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8 And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders. 9 And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 

As God prepared His people for entering the Promised Land, he provided ways to help them remember that He had heard them in the past.  Bringing of the firstfruits was one of those memory devices. As one brought his gifts to the Lord, the statement above was to be recited.  We need to remember where we have come from to have what we have.  The Lord heard, saw, and acted, and because He did, we have all we do. Because God hears us, we respond with thanksgiving. 

God Hears Our Promises

 Deuteronomy 5:28 “And the Lord heard your words, when you spoke to me. And the Lord said to me, ‘I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. 29 Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!

In this chapter we have Moses reminding the people of the giving of the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai and the sense of Holiness experienced by His people.  They were overwhelmed that God would speak to them, and asked Moses to be their go between, receiving the fulness of His commandments to then share with them.  They had then committed to live by His covenant. The above is His response: He heard their words and the intent they had to reverently obey.  But God knows the hearts of men. He knew that they (and we) would not always reverence and obey Him. God hears the promises we make Him, and also knows our inability on our own to always keep them. This leads God in the next chapter to remind them of their greatest commandment: 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

The Lord Hears Our Rebellion...

 Deuteronomy 1:34 “And the Lord heard your words and was angered, and he swore, 35 ‘Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers, 36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the Lord!’ 37 Even with me the Lord was angry on your account and said, ‘You also shall not go in there. 38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.

We have moved now to the time after the Wilderness Wandering of Israel, when God gave them instructions as they prepared to enter the Promised Land.  But first, they needed to be reminded of why they had been wandering around for the past forty years: God heard their rebellious words of refusal to enter the Promised Land in the first place. Only Joshua and Caleb, who gave the hopeful report would be  able to go into it. How much has our rebellion cost us in our lives? How many times has God said "go," "do," or "trust" and we have refused to obey?  Let's not say that today. God hears it all and knows our hearts behind our words.

When You Know God Hears

 Numbers 20:14 Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: “Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the hardship that we have met: 15 how our fathers went down to Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time. And the Egyptians dealt harshly with us and our fathers. 16 And when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. And here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory. 17 Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard, or drink water from a well. We will go along the King's Highway. We will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory.”

The people of Israel were moving through the wilderness, led by the cloud of God's presence.  They had seen every time they had a need or became rebellious that He heard their cry. He led them smack onto the King's Highway, which passed through Edom. Rather than force themselves through by the power of God, they respectfully asked permission to pass through.  As the passage goes on, they were repeatedly denied, so God led them another way.  The point is that God did not say "barge through; I will give you the battle." They did not presume upon the presence of God, nor the fact that He always heard them. They waited for His time and way.  So should we.  Ultimately this event came back to haunt Edom, not Israel. 

The LORD Hears That Too!

Numbers 12:1 Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman. 2 And they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it. 3 Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth. 4 And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” And the three of them came out. 

We have seen the last two days that the Lord not only sees, but He hears. He hears our grumbling and complaining - especially against Him.  He also hears our critical speech and gossip against others, like our God-given leaders and relatives.  Remember Moses was both to Miriam and Aaron.  Do we really take this seriously? Imagine how our speech (and thoughts) would be changed if we really lived like God hears it all. (And He does!) We must always think and speak as if God is in the room (and He is!), and if we are going to talk about others, include Him in the conversation, expecting Him to speak into the situation, because He will, and He will act accordingly. (Continue reading in the chapter to see how He does here.)

The Lord Hears Our Complaining

 

Numbers 11:1 And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the Lord heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. 2 Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down. 3 So the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the Lord burned among them.

We saw yesterday that the Lord hears our grumbling.  That is something we mumble under our breath. Complaining takes it up a notch to a very audible level.  Context, as usual, is extremely important. What has just happened at the end of the preceeding chapter? Israel had just left Mt. Sinai. They hadn't gone far before the complaining began.  It's like going on vacation and after half an hour a voice in the back seat says: "Are we there yet?"  How much complaining does God have to put up with from you?  Let's tone it down today.  Better yet, let's eliminate it all together. 

He Hears Our Grumbling

Exodus 16:6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For what are we, that you grumble against us?” 8 And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.” 9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’” 10 And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. 11 And the Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”

The above is God's response to the people complaining about having no food and His giving them manna. Four times He speaks of their grumbling.  Why does He listen? Why does He answer and give? The key is in the last verse:  Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God. When we grumble, we are not treating God as Lord. There is a difference between grumbling and asking.  God answered and provided, but not because they (or we) deserve it. We have something to learn: He is Lord.

He's Waiting to Hear

Exodus 3:7 Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 

As we transition from "The God Who Sees" to "The God Who Hears," we again find overlap in God's call to Moses at the burning bush.  God told Moses that He had seen and heard (and knew) the sufferings of His people, and as a result, was "coming down" to do something about it. God had seen all along what was going on, but now, added to that, He had heard their cry. They were calling out to Him for help.  We often wonder of God sees or hears, but does it ever occur to us that He does see and is waiting to hear from us? There are times when God does look down and reach down and do something without being asked (that's called "grace"), but there are also many times He is waiting for us to cry out and be heard (that's "mercy"). So, let's not play around.  Let's call out to Him, knowing and believing He sees, and is waiting to hear from us. He knows exactly what to do. 

God Sees And Hears

Genesis 29:31 When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. 32 And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, “Because the Lord has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.” 33 She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon.

We saw last month that God saw how Hagar was mistreated by Sarah and made sure she was cared for. We find a similar scenario here when it came to Rachel and Leah.  Jacob adored Rachel and neglected Leah. To compensate for this, Leah bore a child first, removing some of her scorn.  Leah understood that it was not something she had done, but that the Lord saw and looked upon her situation and was moved with compassion to do something about it. This passage also makes the transition to the next phase of our study with what Leah says next: Because the Lord has heard that she was hated, she named him Simeon, which in Hebrew sounds like the word for heard.  God both sees our condition and hears our petition. Even if it is called out silently from within our hearts, God hears as well as sees and He acts. 

Until He Looks Down and Sees

 

Lamentations 3:46 “All our enemies
    open their mouths against us;
47 panic and pitfall have come upon us,
    devastation and destruction;
48 my eyes flow with rivers of tears
    because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 “My eyes will flow without ceasing,
    without respite,
50 until the Lord from heaven
    looks down and sees;
51 my eyes cause me grief
    at the fate of all the daughters of my city.

Yesterday we looked at Jeremiah's struggle of being called to preach repentance on deaf ears, only to be persecuted for proclaiming God's Word.  Lamentations gives a final cry to his suffering, as he must watch his people - young and old, innocent and guilty, suffer.  His eyes flowed with tears.  What kept him going? How did he find any hope? He knew that Lord could and would "down and see." It was not that God had a blind spot and was clueless as to what was going on. It was not yet time for Him to "see" and do something. That time would come. For now, Jeremiah grieved over what he could see.  Sometimes our tears will flow, cleaning out the hurt, until He looks down and sees. 

Because God Sees, I Can Sing

 

Jeremiah 20:11 But the Lord is with me as a dread warrior;
    therefore my persecutors will stumble;
    they will not overcome me.
They will be greatly shamed,
    for they will not succeed.
Their eternal dishonor
    will never be forgotten.
12 O Lord of hosts, who tests the righteous,
    who sees the heart and the mind,
let me see your vengeance upon them,
    for to you have I committed my cause.
13 Sing to the Lord;
    praise the Lord!
For he has delivered the life of the needy
    from the hand of evildoers.

Besides the frustration of being called upon to preach repentance to his people and have them refuse to listen and repent, then end up in Exile, Jeremiah experienced great persecution from the priests and other leaders. At the beginning of this chapter, Jeremiah had been arrested by the priest and put into stocks. After a scathing denouncement of his persecutors, he says the above.  As angry as he was, he knew that he had to trust the Lord as his defender. The reason he could do so is because the Lord sees all, including what is in the heart and the mind, and vengeance belongs to Him.  This enables Jeremiah to set aside his anger and sing to the Lord. Right after this, Jeremiah relapses into self-pity for awhile, wishing he had never been born, but ultimately, he knows and lives with the truth that God sees and will make things right.