Skip to main content

God Talked

God Talked 

Well, the new year is here and it's time to begin reading through the Bible again. It seems like I just finished Revelation, and it's time to start again. Are you going to read through the Bible this year? I hope so.


Actually, I started a tad early and am already ten days into a reading plan. Which brought me to Genesis 25 this morning. While reading through this chapter, the following text caught my attention: 


"And Isaac entreated Yahweh on behalf of his wife because she was barren; and Yahweh was moved by his entreaty. So Rebekah his wife conceived. But the children struggled together within her; and she said, 'If it is so, why then am I this way?' So she went to inquire of Yahweh. And Yahweh said to her, 'Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger'." (Genesis 25:21-23 LSB)


This is a crucial passage that explains the coming turmoil in Abraham and Sarah's family. It explains how two future nations will get their start. But my mind was struck with the fact that Rebecca went to God for answers to a perplexing physical situation.


I began to think about how many people, to this point in the narrative of Genesis, God had spoken to. Now, mind you, we are approximately 2,000 years into the history of the world if we use the genealogies as a ruler. We often think that God talked to a lot of people back in the olden days. But I could only think of nine to this point in the story. There was Adam, Eve, Cain, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Abimelech (in a dream), and Rebekah. Also, there was a lot of time between those conversations. Guessing one thousand years between Adam, Eve, Cain, and Noah, and another thousand between Noah and Abraham and crew.

Where are you going with this thought, Mike?

Sometimes I think it would be neat if I could just ask God a question and get an audible answer. Have you ever thought that? Wouldn't it be cool if we could ask God something and know that he would give us a direct answer? Wow, God speak would beat any AI speak a trillion times over. 

Well, here's the deal. Back in the olden days of the Old Testament, God would communicate audibly every millennium or so. Of course, people like Adam, who had walked and talked with God, lived a long time and could share what communication with the Almighty was like. That is, Adam passed stories from one generation to another verbally.  But Adam was one person, and the Bible never records how conversations with him might have gone. We do know that only eight people were saved by the ark. So there wasn't much spiritual fruit from those Adamic conversations. 

Another thought came to me while pondering this brief account. Those Old Testament people didn't have what we have. There were no Bible reading plans back then because there was no Bible. 

We have never experienced what Adam experienced. We've never heard exactly what God's voice sounds like. But we have a treasure Adam, Noah, and Abraham never had. We have the Bible! We have the living Word of God. We can know more about God and his plan than Abe could ever have imagined. If we read it, that is.

So, in this new year, you should be able to put your name alongside the above list of people to whom God has spoken. Don't let a day go by without opening your Bible, your, heart and, ears to what he wants to communicate. Set a time and let God lead you through the victories and trials of 2024. I can guarantee that you won't regret those moments invested in the Word if and when you come to January 1st, 2025.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Tottering!

I was watching my one year old grandson, Brandon, today. He had on some baggy little shorts, weird flip-flops over his socks, and he was tottering. It made me think about how I often feel these days. Funny how that when we are little and "innocent" and tottering in our baggy pants, with our little potbelly sticking out from under our t-shirt we look precious. When we are older and tottering in our low slung trousers and the same potbelly, we looks pathetic! I guess that the two drastically opposite points of view are based on the viewer's chronological perspective. Brandon is growing and I'm dying. He is cute because the little guy has a lot to learn and we love to see him progress. The old guy has already had his chance at learning and what he is progressing toward is not quite so much fun to ponder. When I have these weird thoughts I praise my God because He never lets go of my hand whether a tottering little guy or an old one. And I found this verse to prove my po...

What Are You Worth?

What are you Worth?  Have you ever thought about what you are worth? In investing circles there is a term used to gauge this exact question, it's called Net Worth. You take all of your assets, like property owned, funds in your bank account, clothes, jewelry, car, etc.. You total all of these things. You then take everything you owe, like mortgage, car loan, and credit card debt, and you subtract these items from the first total. This gives you your net worth. That number represents where you are financially. Most people never stop to think about this number because they don't understand anything about it. They never have two nickels to rub together. They live from hand to mouth and know (or at least believe) nothing will ever change so, they fall into the "daily grind" mentality. Psalm 49 should be a great encouragement to such as these. The sons of Korah write about them. These sons write about all of us. They call all people everywhere to listen to their wisdom. Bo...

Church Isn't a Place

  Many times we say, I'm going to church on Sunday. What some fail to understand is that "church" isn't a building. I remember our pastor saying, "the church is an organism, not an organization." He was teaching us the Bible truth about the church. Jesus Christ is the head of the body, and the church is his body on earth. Another pastor once said, "God's hands have human fingers." This is a difficult concept for some to grasp, pun intended. However, it is important to understand that God accomplishes his work through human beings. He uses us, the church, to do his will and work. It's not that if we don't do his will that he is stymied. But he does use willing servants. To be in the church, one must be a part of the family. You cannot be in the church if you don't have the Savior. The church is not for the lost; it is for the edification of the saved. The lost can come and hear the message of salvation. But the church is made up of t...