God’s voice is to be heard and found primarily in His word, through His Holy Spirit, and in the utterances of every God-ordained prophet. Then, there is the voice of God, coming through preachers, teachers, and lay persons who have been ordained by God for the purpose of rightly dividing the word of truth. In a few rare instances, other methods, and means have been used by God in specific circumstances, but these are not to be sought after for guidance, except in such cases where God so chooses.
Some of these uniquely rare instances include the donkey which spoke to the obstinate Balaam. The Midianite soldier who spoke while Gideon was listening, and the false prophet who informed the disobedient prophet of his doom. God’s voice is also to be discerned through His providences, but since some people may have a problem in reading these evidences accurately, it is safest to stick with those means which were mentioned first.
Man’s voice is to be found primarily in political, and secular leaders. It is also to be found in the experts in various fields of study and research, and also in the popular majority opinions of the day. The voice of man is also to be found with apostate religions of the day, which cater to the masses of people. Those who have trained their minds to look to God, and to listen for His voice in all circumstances, will be led by the Spirit of God.
God does not lead those who are bent on having their own way; He will have mercy on such, but as a general rule if thumb, they will listen to those voices which they have become accustomed to. Thus, the voice of God will be heard by anyone who wants to listen and obey what He says. The various channels and agencies mentioned previously would be put in motion in different ways, and are already available to all who have heard, and have acted on their belief. Let’s read:
Romans 8: 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Proverbs 2:1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; 2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; 3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; 5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. 7 He lays up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. 8 He keeps the paths of judgment and preserves the way of his saints. 9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.
10 When wisdom enters into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; 11 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee: 12 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaks froward things.
The voice of man is often motivated by self-serving, political ambitions, public polling, majority opinions, and whatever the masses of people may clamor for; and because of this the voice of man has often been wrong, unreliable and in some instances, downright dangerous for persons to follow. The voice of God is under-girded with truth and facts and always has the general well-being, and good of all humanity as its main focus, and thus, it is often the case that God will tell us what we need to hear, and not merely what we want to hear.
The voice of man can be often fraught with political correctness, for many in such circles would say only those things that may rile up excitement, whilst the voice of God speaks truths that may not be always palatable. Thus, as a general rule, the voice of God leads in an opposite direction to the voice of man. Those who put their trust solely, and wholly in the voice of man will at times be subject to very great disappointment, for when men might speak peace and safety, the voice of God might be speaking the exact opposite.
Thus, throughout the history of our world, the voice of God and the voice of man have been at odds for the most part. In fact, there is a very great difference between the ones who place their faith and trust in man’s voice, compared with those who trust in the voice of God. The ways of God’s voice are always safe and secure, but the voice of man has often been proven time, and time again to lead into false or even dangerous paths. Let’s read:
Jeremiah 17:5 Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the Lord. 6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. 7 Blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.
8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreads out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
In the days just before the flood, man’s voice was calling for peace and safety, and because things had continued like normal for centuries the voice of God through Noah seemed ludicrous. Those so-called experts of Noah’s day pointed to the seasons that had come and gone in their unvarying round every year. They pointed to the fact that there had never been any precedents for what Noah was predicting, and for all intents and purposes, there was no scientific data, no research, nor any logical reason to believe that God’s voice was indeed coming through Noah. In their minds, if Noah was correct the experts and scientists would certainly know. Let’s Read:
Luke 17: 26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came.
[Patriarchs & Prophets pp 97] As time passed on, with no apparent change in nature, men whose hearts had at times trembled with fear, began to be reassured. They reasoned, as many reason now, that nature is above the God of nature, and that her laws are so firmly established that God Himself could not change them. They ate and drank, planted and built, laying their plans in reference to advantages they hoped to gain in the future.
They asserted that if there were any truth in what Noah had said, the men of renown, the wise, the prudent, and the great men would understand the matter. The voice of God was again at odds with the voice of man when a decision needed to be made in the matter of conquering the city of Ai. At that time, soldiers were sent to spy out the land, and, without seeking God’s voice and advice, they came back with the recommendation that only three thousand men should go up to the battle.
After suffering defeat, they turned to the voice of God, and His counsel in this instance was that all the people should go. They then followed the voice of God, and the rest is history. Let’s read:
Joshua 7:2 And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Bethaven, on the east of Bethel, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai. 3 And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; and make not all the people to labor thither; for they are but few.
4 So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai. 5 And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men: wherefore the hearts of the people melted and became as water.
Joshua 8:1 And the Lord said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed: take all the people of war with thee, and arise, go up to Ai: see, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land. 3 So Joshua chose out thirty thousand mighty men of valor and sent them away by night.
In another instance of God’s voice versus the voice of man, we have David offering to fight and defeat Goliath, because God had spoken through Him. But Saul, who dealt strictly on a seeing is believing basis, remonstrated by saying unequivocally to David that he could not fight the giant. God’s voice is found in the realm of faith, and that’s why the scriptures teach us that without faith it is impossible to please God.
Man’s voice is found in the sphere of unbelief, doubt and finite limitations, and thus, the calculations, assessments, predictions, and evaluations of man often collide with the voice of God. Let’s read:
1st Samuel 17:32 And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. 33 And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. David finally convinces Saul, after relating to him the humanly, impossible things God had wrought through him, but yet, the voice of man surfaces again in Saul’s recommendations.
He insists that David should go prepared for battle according to conventional methods; the voice of God says in this instance, that no spear or body armor is needed. Let’s read:
1st Samuel 17:38 And Saul armed David with his armor, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail. 39 And David girded his sword upon his armor, and he assayed to go. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.
Again, we have the experience of Peter, who had fished all night and had caught nothing. Being an experienced fisherman, the command of Christ to cast down his net in the middle of the day seemed illogical, yet he humbly followed the voice of God, and the rest is history. Let’s read:
Luke 5:1 And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land.
And he sat down and taught the people out of the ship. 4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. 5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. 6 And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes, and their net broke.
7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.
The voice of God is also at odds with the voice of man as it pertains to the age of this earth, for those experts who don’t incorporate the scripture in their research, declare that the world must be millions and billions of years old. The conclusions of experts are now taught in institutions of higher and lower learning and are considered the gold standard for educational basics in most cases.
The voice of God through His word, says something entirely different, for there’s no way when the math is done from a scriptural perspective, that you come even close to a million years. In fact, God has stated that it is very much less than what the voice of man teaches. There is a type of expert who fears God, and another who does not. Be very careful! Let’s read:
Genesis 2:1 Thus, the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
Exodus 20: 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it.
Therefore, the question for each of us is “Which voice are we going to listen to, God’s voice man’s voice. Let’s read:
Deuteronomy 4:29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. 30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; 31 (For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he swore unto them.
Currently across the entire world, there is eagerness and haste to open back up the world economy, for many large and small businesses have been taking a severe beating, and millions of individuals the world over have not paid their rents and mortgages, and car notes and other bills are piling up to the sky. Parents are stuck with their kids at home, folks are not flying as they used to, restaurants are empty, and car lots are full to the brim, while the demand for oil has plummeted precipitously.
And thus, most public officials are worried, and even scared about the long-lasting impacts from the current pandemic. Farmers have been putting their livestock down under because there’s a lack of demand from those restaurants which were just recently their primary clients, and the ripple effects of these things are now being felt far and near.
Governments are being forced to hand out money by the billions, and trillions, which will eventually have to be paid back someway or somehow; yet, because of the pandemic, they seem to be left no choice, except at the risk of total economic collapse. And the carnage continues! Those ginormous sums of cash now being given out and lent to persons and businesses, will come at a price, because after the Covid-19 dust has settled, the stage could be set for something ominous which most folks are not anticipating, nor expecting.
There is no such thing as a free lunch, thus, if the outflow of governments and individuals becomes greater than their inflow, at some point, something will ultimately give way. We cannot borrow our way out of this current problem, neither can we print our way out of it. The mark of the beast is not Covid-19, as some have been suggesting, but rather, a general consolidation of religious and economic forces to coerce persons into a form of worship which is entirely contrary to the scriptures.
Therefore, the voice of God through His word, and His prophets, bids us to observe the regrouping and the consolidation that is now rapidly changing the economic landscape in unprecedented ways. Folks are warned that final movements will be rapid ones, and there are precursors that will set in motion the very things written in Revelation. Let’s read:
Revelation 13:16 And he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads. 17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Yet, those who listen for God’s voice must not lose sight of the fact that the just shall live by faith, and therefore, even during this down-time we are now experiencing, we should be seeking Jesus through earnest prayer, so that He may direct and guide us with wisdom and discretion. In our eagerness to get the economy rolling again, and in our zeal to resume work, even though a cure has not yet been found, let us make certain that we are listening to the voice of God in every situation, because one ill-advised move on our part can prove fatal to those who place implicit trust in the voice of man.
In every emergency, God will rise to the occasion to do what He has always done, in providing a way of escape to those who are willing to trust in Him. But we must be willing to listen to His voice via all of the various agencies He has put in place, primarily the Bible, and then His prophets and ordained servants. There is nothing that takes place in our world that catches God off-guard and therefore He has already made ample provision for all who have been, or, are willing to listen for His voice.
God’s prophets have written an abundance of very valuable information which directly pertains to the very times we’re now living in but it will be incumbent upon us to believe. Thus, to better understand the ways of God via His voice, it is necessary to observe how He has moved in times past, which will prepare our hearts to hear His voice in our day, whenever He speaks. God did not appear to every person living in Noah’s day, to warn them of the coming flood.
Instead, His voice was heard through His prophet, because where there is no vision, the people perish. But it would be left up to the people to believe or not. Physical and literal evidences were then given to the masses which portended the coming of some great calamity, yet the voice of man prevailed with the majority. Let’s read:
[Patriarchs & Prophets pp 97>98] The period of their probation was about to expire. Noah had faithfully followed the instructions which he had received from God. With an agony of desire that words cannot express, he entreated them to seek a refuge while it might be found. Suddenly a silence fell upon the mocking throng. Beasts of every description, the fiercest as well as the most-gentle, were seen coming from mountain and forest and quietly making their way toward the ark.
A noise as of a rushing wind was heard, and lo, birds were flocking from all directions, their numbers darkening the heavens, and in perfect order they passed to the ark. Animals obeyed the command of God, while men were disobedient. Philosophers were called upon to account for the singular occurrence, but in vain. It was a mystery which they could not fathom. But men had become so hardened by their persistent rejection of light that even this scene produced but a momentary impression.
Again, God did not speak personally to every Jew in Moses’ day, yet he sent His servant as a mouthpiece and it would be left up to the people whether they would believe him or not. But God did give signs and evidences that were to convince the people of the divine origin of the message. Let’s read:
Exodus 3:4 And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. 7 And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; 10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.
Exodus 4:2 And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. 3 And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent. 4 And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand. 5 That they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.
As the citizens of earth adjust to the new normal, and as great and permanent changes begin to take root across the nation and the world at large, let us never forget that God has spoken by His prophets, declaring that there will come a time when there will be universal consolidation of world economies. And as world leaders predict a robust recovery, and that against all odds, let all those who are willing to listen to the voice of God, look beyond that which is seen to that which is eternal, for we look for a city whose builder and maker is God.
We therefore end with a promise of God’s continual guidance and protection during these times of great uncertainty and adversity, but again, He appeals to us to listen for His voice, for the voice of man often leads astray into forbidden paths. Let’s read:
Isaiah 30:20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers. 21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
God Bless!