Welcome to Nazarene Israel.
In the previous chapter, The Torah and the Testimony, we gave a very important teaching in preparation for this, even more important teaching on, Hearing Yahweh’s Voice. The reason that hearing Yahweh’s voice is so important is because all of Israel is commanded to “obey Yahweh’s voice”. We certainly cannot obey Yahweh’s voice if we cannot even hear it.
Before we jump into the topic of Hearing Yahweh’s Voice, first we want to quickly recap the main points of last week’s presentation, on the Torah and the Testimony.
In that chapter we talked about what the true definition of the Torah is, as well as why most Messianic teachers and leaders do not really know that definition. We also talked about why there are more than one Torah. There is a Torah for the Firstborn Priesthood, a Torah for the Levitical Priesthood, and also a Torah for the Melchizedekian Priesthood. We also discussed why we are presently part of the Melchizedekian Priesthood, which is why we should be following the Melchizedekian Torah. We talked about why the Messianic teachers and leaders do not understand this, that is why most of them are still teaching bits and pieces of the Levitical Torah (which will not pertain to us until we come back to the land of Israel, after Armageddon).
We also talked about the relationship between these different Torot (not ‘Torahs’, Torot is a feminine plural), and the Spirit. So, now, having all of that preparation, we want to talk about how we can hear Yahweh’s voice. Because, once again, we are commanded to ‘obey Yahweh’s voice’, and we certainly cannot obey Yahweh’s voice if we cannot even hear it.
And then we realized, as long as we were doing this, we may as well include another section on the two different types of prophecy. Because all of these subjects are intricately related. The Two Types of Prophecy will be the next chapter.
But as we saw in The Torah and the Testimony, Israel left Egypt in Exodus chapter 12. Then, in Exodus chapter 13, the Firstborn Priesthood was instituted. Then, in Exodus chapter 19, Yahweh spoke the following words to Israel.
Shemote (Exodus) 19:5
5 “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.”
What we see here are two main, primary components. The first component is that of obeying His voice. That means we have to listen for the Spirit, we need to hear the Spirit’s voice. We talk about that in this in this chapter. The second part is that we need to keep His covenant. This is the specifics of the Torah, the commandments, the judgements, the ordinances, the statutes, the laws, etc. But the important thing to remember here is that the way we got His covenant was that we were listening to His voice to begin with, and we wrote the specifics of the covenant down. Both of these components, obeying His voice and keeping His covenant both depend on obeying His voice. That is, we have to be able to hear the voice of the Spirit.
1. Obey His voice (Listen to the Spirit, i.e., a spiritual component).
2. Keep His covenant (specifics of the Torah- commandments, statutes, laws, ordinances, judgements, etc.).
Again, we are going to talk about this in the next chapter, because that is effectively what prophets do. They hear the voice of the Spirit, then they speak or write according to it.
But the same commands apply also to the Levitical Priesthood because it is the same precepts. Yahweh wants us to hear His voice and He wants us to obey the specifics of the covenant that He commanded by His voice in earlier times. That is what we see also in Deuteronomy chapter 28.
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 28:1-2
1 “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of Yahweh your Elohim, to observe [keep] carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that Yahweh your Elohim will set you high above all the nations of the earth.
2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of Yahweh your Elohim…”
When He says that “all these blessings shall come upon us and overtake us”, it means that we will not even be able to run away from them. These blessings will overtake us because we are obeying the voice of Yahweh our Elohim, including His written commandments which He commanded as a bridal contract to our ancestors, many years ago, in the wilderness of Sinai.
But the thing, people get lost and confused. And as we talked last week, the Rabbinical Order has a mistaken, legalistic concept that the Torah can be broken down into some 613 alleged ‘do and don’ts’. And if we will just do all the things on the list of things to do, and we avoid doing all the things on the list of things not to do, then we can basically do whatever else we want. That is basically how Orthodox Judah operates. And the Messianic, by and large, have adopted the same mistakes interpretation from them. Because most Messianic have no concept at all about what the Melchizedekian Torah is all about, or how it is we are supposed to be obeying it.
But the way we need to understand the Torah is that Yahweh is speaking to His adopted, abused children. It would be as if Yahweh were to say,
“Son, I know you have had trouble. I know you were born in Egypt; I know you had an Egyptian mom named Asenath; I know you were raised in Babylon. I know that you have picked up all kinds of bad habits. I know that you have all kinds of problems. But I love you so much, you do not have any idea how much I love you. Okay. Here is what I want you to do. Now, I know you have got troubles right now. But if you are going to listen to My voice, and I am also going to give you some house rules to follow, but just because I give you some house rules does not mean you do not need to listen to My voice from moment to moment. Okay? So, what I want you to do is, I want for you to study My house rules. And then I want you to listen to what I tell you from moment to moment. And if you will do that, then I will retrain you. And not only will you become worthy to become a Bride for My Son Yeshua, but I am going to use you to establish and then run Yeshua’s Millennial Kingdom. But the only way you can do that is if you study My house rules and if you listen to My voice from moment to moment. If you do that, everything is going to turn out just fine.”
Yahweh witnesses to this in many different places and He speaks to the importance of this in many different places. For example, Isaiah chapter 8
Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 8:20
20 “To the Torah and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”
(H7837: שַׁחַר Morning dawn, daybreak).
What Yahweh is effectively saying is, “for the specifics of what I commanded, to the manifestation of My Son’s Spirit”, because that is what the testimony is, when we manifest Yeshua’s Spirit. So, if they do not understand which Torah we are under, and they do not understand that we are under the Melchizedekian Torah right now. And if they are not teaching according to the Melchizedekian Torah (if they do not even know what it is!), and they are not even manifesting Yeshua’s Spirit. It is because ‘daybreak’ (the morning dawn) has not ‘dawned’ on them yet. The daylight has not broken for them, they are still in darkness. Leave them alone, it is like the blind following the blind. They are all going to fall into a pit. Just leave them alone, get away from them, save yourself.
Yahweh is also speaking the same thing to His people in the days of Jeremiah the prophet.
Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 11:1-4
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,
2 “Hear the words of this covenant [The one that Yahweh spoke], and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem…” [“Hear”, not read, not think, not make it up. Not check out the Talmud].
3 “And say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh Elohim of Israel: “Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant
4 which I commanded your father in the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and do according to all that I command you; so shall you be My people, and I will be your Elohim’…”
What He is saying is the same thing. We have to hear His voice from moment to moment, and we have to obey His house rules, which He dictated to our fathers many, many years ago. It is the same thing. But now, here is where it gets tricky. Because Satan also has a voice. Notice Genesis chapter 3.
B’reisheet (Genesis) 3:1
1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which Yahweh Elohim had made. And he said to the woman, “Has Elohim indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” [Trying to get us to question what the things are that Yahweh has commanded].
So, Satan has an easier time with us. Because Satan is going to tempt us with the lust of our eyes, with the lusts of the flesh, and with our pride. It is going to be much, much easier for us to follow Satan’s voice and the voice of his minions, which also have voices. Because they are going to tell us to do things that are gratifying and pleasing to our flesh. He can also speak with a very loud, angry voice, and can push us into wanting to do things. He will talk to us when we are angry, and he will try to get us to continue on in anger. Whereas Yahweh is going to speak to us in a very small, still voice. It is going to be a very calm, quiet, and confident voice. We need to learn to distinguish and differentiate between the two, that is so important.
B’reisheet (Genesis) 3:6
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food [lust of the flesh], that it was pleasant to the eyes [lust of the eyes], and a tree desirable to make one [worldly] wise [pride], she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
This was a terrible thing, because they began ‘thinking about’ what they could do apart from ‘hearing and obeying Yahweh’s voice’. It is not that we are not allowed to think, we have brains, Yahweh expects us to use them. But, first and foremost, we are supposed to hear His commandments and then think within the confines of that. And what Satan wants us to do is for us to think ‘outside’ the confines of that. That is the big difference, and it is an easy mistake to make, so we always have to be vigilant and watchful.
B’reisheet (Genesis) 3:8-10
8 And they heard the sound [קֹל] of Yahweh Elohim walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh Elohim among the trees of the garden.
9 Then Yahweh Elohim called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” [As if He did not know!]
10 So he said, “I heard Your voice [קֹל] in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
Now, it is the same word in verse eight as it is in verse ten. Notice it says that Adam and Chavah heard the ‘sound’ (or qol; kole) of Yahweh Elohim walking. But in verse ten this qualifies as ‘hearing the voice’ of Yahweh Elohim. What we need to understand here is that Yahweh’s voice can either be a voice or it can be a sound.
Strong’s H6963
Kole; qol; קֹל
From an unused root meaning to call aloud;
A voice or sound; – + aloud, bleating, crackling, cry (+ out), fame, lightness, lowing, noise, + hold peace, [pro-] claim, proclamation, + sing, sound, + spark, thunder (-ing), voice, + yell.
Total KJV occurrences: 506
There are two ways to spell it, but it is pronounced the same and it translates to either a voice or a sound. And this is one of the things that is so important for people to understand. Because many times people are listening for a literal, audible voice. And if they do not hear a literal audible voice, and they do not hear audible words in their inner ear, then they think that Yahweh is not speaking to them. But that is not true, because Yahweh is always speaking to us. Because He commands us to ‘hear and obey’ His voice. He is always speaking to us; it is simply a matter of us learning how to tune in to what Yahweh is saying through His Spirit. Shemuel is learning what the voice of Yahweh Elohim sounds like. Here, Yahweh is calling Shemuel.
Shemuel Aleph (1 Samuel) 3:8-10
8 And Yahweh called Shemuel again the third time. So he arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you did call me.” Then Eli perceived that Yahweh had called the boy. [The light comes on for Eli and he perceives that Yahweh is the one calling Shemuel].
9 Therefore Eli said to Shemuel, “Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, ‘Speak, Yahweh, for Your servant hears.’” So Shemuel went and lay down in his place.
10 Now Yahweh came and stood and called as at other times, “Shemuel! Shemuel!” And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears”.
So Shemuel began to understand what it is to ‘hear Yahweh’s voice.
Now, it can be a literal voice, or it can be a sound.
Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 30:21
21 Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it”, whenever you turn to the right hand or to the left.”
We are talking here about the inner ear, spiritual hearing. Him telling us, “No, no, no! This is the way, walk in it. Do not go that way, I want you to go this way. I do not want you to choose that, I want you to choose this”. We have to listen for it. All we have to do is listen.
And this is the problem, most people are not aware that they need to be listening for a spiritual voice from moment to moment. But once they realize that it is a question of hearing what Yahweh is saying, then it becomes a simple matter of discipline and obedience. It is simply something that we have to do. And that is all, it just takes practice. And as the saying goes, ‘practice makes perfect’.
Yahweh’s voice can be a literal voice, as can be seen in Matthew chapter 3.
Mattityahu (Matthew) 3:17
17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
And for another example, we can read Matthew chapter 17.
Mattityahu (Matthew) 17:5
5 While He was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!”
But is it a voice, or is it a sound? Or is it perhaps both?
Yochanan (John) 12:28-29
28 “Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice [or sound (qol), same word] came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”
29 Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. [They heard the sound]. Others said, “A messenger has spoken to Him.” [They heard a voice].
So, perhaps our level and ability of hearing makes a difference with whether we hear a sound or whether we actually hear His voice. Again, it is something that we have to tune in to and to listen for.
We also need to understand that this listening needs to be a continual kind of thing. Because we see in Genesis how Yahweh had commanded Avraham to take his only begotten son, his beloved Isaac, to a place that He would show him, and offer him as a sacrificial offering. We read about how Avraham went to obey.
B’reisheet (Genesis) 22:10-11
10 And Avraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
11 But the Messenger of Yahweh called to him from heaven and said, “Avraham, Avraham!” So he said, “Here I am”.
Avraham had to remain listening from moment to moment, because that is when Yahweh called to him from heaven. And said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy, do not slay him!” We could imagine what would have happened if Avraham had not continued listening.
So, it is a continual conversation that He wants with us.
In First Kings chapter 19 we see how Eliyahu (Elijah) had fled from Ahab and Jezebel. And so he went to the mountain of Sinai. There was a strong wind, and earthquake and a fire. But Yahweh was not in any of those things. But after the fire there was a still, small voice, or we could say a still, small sound.
Melachim Aleph (1 Kings) 19:12-13
12 …and after the earthquake a fire, but Yahweh was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
13 So it was, when Eliyahu heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Eliyahu?”
Let us take a look at Acts chapter 10, where Apostle Kepha (Peter) is up on a rooftop, and he has a vision. In the vision this giant sheet is let down with all these unclean animals in it.
Ma’asei (Acts) 10:13-15
13 And a voice came to him, “Rise, Kepha; kill and eat.”
14 But Kepha said, “Not so, Adon! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.”
15 And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What Elohim has cleansed you must not call common.”
In context, what this is speaking of (as we explain in the Nazarene Israel study and elsewhere) is that this is Elohim’s way of telling Kepha to begin taking the ‘good news’ to the gentiles. So, it is not only for the Jews, but also for the gentiles, as Kepha himself says later in the chapter. And shortly after this, Cornelius was the first gentile to be brought into the covenant, in Acts chapter ten, and then in chapter 11 many were brought into the covenant in Antioch.
But we are not necessarily listening for an audible voice. It can be audible, but it can also be an inaudible voice that we have to hear in the Spirit or in our inner ear.
John chapter 5 gives an example of this.
Yochanan (John) 5:28-29
28 “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice
29 and come forth- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”
Clearly, this is not an audible voice, or how could those in the graves hear it?
We also know in John chapter 10 that Yeshua says, “My sheep hear my voice”.
Yochanan (John) 10:27
27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”
But, if Yeshua is not physically here, how can this be an audible voice? This has to be a spiritual voice, that we have to be listening for. Just as in Revelation chapter 3.
Hitgalut (Revelation) 3:20
20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”
Clearly, since this is a vision, this is a spiritual voice that we are listening for.
Now, let us notice what Job says in Job chapter 33. Job says some very important things.
Iyov (Job) 33:14-16
14 “For Elohim may speak in one way, or in another, Yet man does not perceive it.
15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, When deep sleep falls upon men, While slumbering on their beds,
16 Then He opens the ears of men, And seals their instruction.”Mishle (Proverbs) 8:1-3
1 Does not wisdom cry out, And understanding lift up her voice?
2 She takes her stand on the top of the high hill, Beside the way, where the paths meet.
3 She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city, At the entrance of the doors:
Wisdom is likened unto a woman, because the “Spirit” in Hebrew is a feminine.
Mishle (Proverbs) 8:32-34
32 “Now therefore, listen to Me, my children, For blessed are those who keep My ways.
33 Hear instruction and be wise, And do not disdain it.
34 Blessed is the man who listens to Me, Watching daily at My gates, Waiting at the posts of my doors.”
The visual imagery here is that of the Spirit coming out of Her doorway and literally posting notices, tacking them to the doorposts.
So, this speaks of something active, this speaks of something that we actually have to actively do. We have to seek out what it is that Wisdom is saying to us. We cannot just be passive and wait for voices to come to us. We have to seek wisdom. As we seek for hidden treasure.
We can trust and rely on the things that we hear from the Spirit.
Yochanan (John) 16:13
“However, when She, the Spirit of truth, has come, She will guide you into all truth; for She will not speak on Her own authority, but whatever She hears She will speak; and She will tell you things to come.”
We can trust Her voice.
We cannot always be passive about this, we have to take an active role.
Mishel (Proverbs) 2:4-5
4 If you seek Her as silver, And search for Her as for hidden treasures [If we will ask, and seek, and knock];
5 Then you will understand the fear of Yahweh, And find the knowledge of Elohim.
So, this is something active. We must be active in pursuit of our spiritual wisdom. We cannot just wait for things to come to us.
We also have to take care of what it is we are listening to. We have to discern the spirits.
Yochanan (John) 4:1
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of Elohim; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
And the way we test the spirits is very important. Typically speaking, we can test the spirits by Yahweh’s written word. Now, it might violate the letter, but it will never violate the precept. That is why we emphasized precepts in last The Torah and the Testimony teaching. So, it may violate the specific, but it is never going to violate the goal of establishing Yeshua’s ordered kingdom.
Further, the Spirit is never going to violate the fruits of the Spirit. If you hear a voice that sounds angry, or agitated, or is pushing you to do something (Now! Now! Hurry up, now!), that is not His Spirit. Because Yahweh is completely in control, He is in control of all things. He is going to be a quiet voice, a calm voice, a still voice, a confident voice. That is how you know it is Yahweh’s Spirit.
Iyov (Job) 34:3
3 “For the ear tests words as the palate tastes food.”
I do not know if you have ever heard someone say, “Yeah, that sounds right.” Or “Hmm, no, that just does not sound right.” That is the kind of thing we are talking about when talk about testing words as the palate tastes food.
Now, another difficulty many people have is that sometimes, since we were born and raised in Babylon, many of us were abused. Many of us have problems, many of us still have leftover confusion form the Babylonian system. So, we need to learn how to quite and how to still ourselves.
Finally, we should mention that there is a strong, emotional component to all of this. Have you ever known someone who was not comfortable with silence? They always have to have the television blaring, they always have to have the radio on, because they are not comfortable with just sitting quietly and having a conversation with Elohim. Or, if you have known someone perhaps who is afraid for the end-times, he is afraid with what is going to happen with his family. This is why, speaking according to the Spirit, David says the following in Psalms chapter 10.
Tehillim (Psalms) 46:10
10 Be still, and know that I am Elohim;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
Yahweh is going to win; He already has the victory. So, if we simply stay with Him, He will be with us. And everything is going to be okay. It is all going to work out alright if we will listen to His voice and keep His house rules.
This is also if you have met people who have inner turmoil. Now, we have all been raised in Babylon. Some of us have been abused. Some of us have been given complexes by families, by our parents, by our neighbors. These kind of things. Again, speaking by the Spirit, David says the following in Psalms chapter 131.
Tehillim (Psalms) 131:2
2 Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with his mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.
Today, weaned simply means that we are no longer taking milk. But back then, in those days, weaned meant that we are now responsible, young adults who have self-control over our own emotions. That is the importance of biblical weaning. But this is a responsibility over each and every one of us to do.
So, if you have inner turmoil, doubts or fears or complexes that are stopping you in your relationship with Yahweh Elohim, ask Him to help you calm and quieten your soul. And to become like a weaned child with self-control.
These are the kinds of things that we all need to learn to do in order to hear Yahweh’s voice. So that we can please Him by obeying it. And we are going to talk more about the ramifications of that in the next chapter when we talk about the two different types of prophecy in Two Types of Prophecy.